199. The Highly Sensitive ADHDer - Neurodivergence in Quiet Leaders

We have a tendency to underestimate quiet leaders. Or we assume anyone successful ISN’T a quiet leader. This hit home for me when my friend Ashley Looker said she wanted to come to my Gathering of Quiet Leaders. As an Empowerment Coach, Mindfulness Teacher and Journaling Expert for ambitious over-achieving humans, Ashley’s got 11,000+ followers for each of her biz and podcast accounts on IG. Her voice is definitely getting heard, and she’s no beginner.  Listen to our co-hosted convo to reorient and peel away layers of internalized bias. AND if you’ve got a more mature business and want to be in the company of other established quiet leaders! In this episode, Ashley and I talk about…  How our relationships with our voices have evolved over the past several years Who we’re taught to be as business owners & disrupting the expectation to be loud and showy How we are each doing things differently than we were taught  Why she hadn’t thought of herself as a quiet leader until now and what shifted Mentioned in the Episode: Ashley’s Website: http://uniqueholistichappiness.com  Ashley’s Instagram  Rest is Resistance Book Adrienne Maree Brown Rachel Cargle Connect with Adria:  Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Adria's Instagram @iamadriasophia

When we choose to take our work deeper and bring others into it, some inquiries arise: How do we create offerings that forward our message and mission, that are thought leadership, personified? How do we share in ways that help people feel our offering and that light our fire and keep it burning? And when what we’re creating is so potent and felt, how do we convey it CLEARLY? Recording this episode with my friend Ahava Shira — author, memoirist, caregiver for her husband with Parkinson's and creative midwife for other writers and caregivers — became a transmission of energy, of feeling. We’ll help you feel what it is to breathe life into your work, to commune with the soul of your offerings and to channel that into sharing.  In this episode, Ahava and I talk about…  Co-creating with the souls of Rooted and TendHer  What it means to create on a felt level versus an intellectual level How we share without losing that felt sense and bring people inside that feeling How we talk about our work clearly without losing the beauty of the language Connect with Ahava: Ahava’s website & TendHer lovinginquiry.com Substack “What the Day Holds”  Ahava's IG @ahava.shira  Connect with Adria:  Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Connect with Adria on Instagram.  

We are made up of those who came before us, and the story of our lineage (which doesn’t have to be blood relatives) may hold clues for how we want to show up. Ancestral work can be a way to understand our own voices and can be healing for us and our leadership, helping us show up as fuller, more rooted versions of ourselves.  For quiet leaders, ancestral work can create a pathway back to our own power, to feel safe to be ourselves in ways we haven’t before, to take up more space and to speak quietly but clearly.  In episode 206 of Quiet Messenger, I’ll help you investigate the themes in your own lineage, what you hold carried down from your ancestors, what patterns you’re here to shift. In this episode, I talk about… How ancestral connection helps quiet leaders find the courage to speak up Stickier aspects like cultural appropriation and the erasure that came with "white"ness  What it means for those of European ancestry to connect back to their indigeneity  Ancestral connection as a spiritual practice & my rituals to connect with ancestors  How to draw on the strength of your ancestors and questions to take you deeper, wherever you’re at in your journey Mentioned in the Episode https://landback.org/ Nisha Moodley  Becca Piastrelli, Belonging Podcast Susanna Barkataki - Cultural Appropriation in Yoga Dr Rosales Meza’s Decolonize Your Mind course Racial Justice educator Lettie Gore - @sincerely.lettie  Mallorie Vaudoise - Honoring Your Ancestors Connect with Adria Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Connect with me on Instagram.

The final step in rekindling your work is to SHARE it. To be leaders and create ripple effects, we can’t stay in our creative caves. Our work needs to live out in the world in order to do its magic.  But this step doesn’t just “happen” when you’re someone who may rarely feel ANY nudges to share publicly.  Episode 205 of Quiet Messenger is dedicated to helping you step out of your creative cave...without disconnecting from your creativity (or yourself).  In this episode, I talk about… Two questions to ask yourself in order to share your leadership if you’re an introvert Why I had to restart the entire rekindling process in order to spark the nudge to share  The voice inside that said “this needs to be heard”  How I applied my power of hyperfocus to creating & releasing podcast episodes Ways to leave the creative cave when that’s your natural space  Links from the episode My free Rekindle Map Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Connect with me on Instagram.

After a season of following the sparks of inspiration, my creative fire was rekindled. I was finally ready to create again. Exploring what this work artistically and creatively wanted to become turned into a many-month process. We often get advice but wonder how to apply it, especially as quiet leaders that don’t see that many leaders out there like us. Episode 204 of Quiet Messenger is packed with the how. I share exactly what I did – thought processes, exercises, and all! In this episode, I talk about… Why I had to burn things down before I got the spark of what to create How I answered the question — What’s my quiet way of being counter-culture, non-conforming? Why writing the story of my ancestors brought understanding of my own leadership The vulnerability of coming out of the broom closet & weaving my spiritual practice into my work Links from the episode My free Rekindle Map Azalea Moen & Wilder Ones Studio Kelly Diels article Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Connect with me on Instagram.

If we don’t want to do business + leadership the way it’s always been done, we can’t keep using the same tools. Traditional planning aims for what you already know. But what if we want to end up somewhere different…and we don’t yet know what that looks like? Here’s what happened on my biz sabbatical when I let following the sparks of inspiration be my method of “planning.”  In this episode, I share… How I infused excitement and fire back into my work, without “trying” to  Why following your yeses is a counter-culture act of rebellion How to lean into the void when we can’t yet know what comes next  Grab the free Rekindle Map, a 4-step guide to unhooking from biz culture, reclaiming your creativity & rekindling your work.  Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Connect with me on Instagram.

Think of a plant that’s been in a pot that’s too small for too long. It’s grown as much as it can in that container. When you give that plant a bigger pot, its roots grow deeper and spread out to take up more space. Until finally you start to see fresh growth above the soil.  I was like that rootbound plant that had outgrown its pot. And going on sabbatical gave me all that fresh soil. But before I could rekindle my work and feel creative flow again, I needed to expand my root system.  In this episode, I share… The four pillars that led to stability for me (and maybe you) Two barriers of conditioning I had to break through Why tending your mental health creates stability How I reclaimed social media as a place of pleasure Get your free Rekindle Map here.  Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Connect with me on Instagram.

Do you ever feel resistance to sharing and super OVER the way things are done? Uninspired and out of alignment with your work? Funky that your business hasn’t caught up to your values? In the past decade, I’ve learned this is usually a cue that I’ve outgrown my current business.  In this episode, I share… A framework for rekindling fire in our work  The practical - what I put in place to go on sabbatical How a brief hiatus from my business turned into a year-long sabbatical My vulnerable story of what led to breakdown & need for sabbatical How removing pressure on my creativity let me unhook from biz culture Why I couldn’t jump straight to creating — what had to come first How to go from a funk to creatively flowing (not just for the afternoon, but for the year) Grab the FREE "Rekindle Map" (the companion to this episode) here. Other links from the episode: Wilder Ones Studio The Messenger Archetypes QM #197 on Body-Doubling Connect with me on Instagram or learn more at AdriaSophia.com.

Many of us view being consistent and reliable as a badge of honor. It’s natural and inevitable in the productivity culture we live in.  But what if we redefined consistency? What if we recognized that consistency isn’t a rigid thing? That it’s about continuing to show up and giving yourself what you need to do that.  AND what showing up looks like might be fluid. Especially if you’re highly sensitive or neurodivergent and struggle to keep up. That’s what I’ve learned from doing 200 episodes of my podcast...and taking almost 8 years to do it.   In episode 200, we turn the tables and Kat asks me The #1 thing I’ve learned doing 200 episodes of my podcast What’s changed in the messaging landscape since I started in 2015 The key to continuing to show up & create for 8 years   The top 3 episodes downloaded, all-time (I was surprised by this) Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Connect with Adria.Connect with Kat.

This is for you if you’re neurodivergent, suspect you are, love someone who is, or are simply ADHD-curious. For years, I suspected I was neurodivergent, that my brain worked differently than others. BUT I thought of ADHDers as bold, rash, outspoken and disorganized risk takers with overflowing energy. I, on the other hand, was a careful, shy, sensitive overthinker who ran out of steam by the afternoon.  It didn’t seem possible to match up the view I had of ADHD with how I saw myself as an HSP (highly sensitive person). Until I read about masking.  Kat and I talk about: Busting the ADHD stereotype with quiet, sensitive women Our own ADHD & HSP stories  The impact of being undiagnosed for decades Unconsciously masking, being highly sensitive & our voices  Uncover your Messenger Archetype & more at AdriaSophia.com. Connect with Adria.Connect with Kat. Links from the episode:  The Inflow app  “A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD” by Sari Solden  “The Highly Sensitive Person” by Elaine Aron Jacqueline Sinfield  Kat’s ADHD Resources Page