Raised to be precious, sweet, and never ugly, Megan Pettus spent decades performing and observing to be the perfect Southern little girl and woman.

In this episode, Megan Pettus, a wedding filmmaker, social media strategist, former Miss Alabama contestant, mom, and bunny foster mom, joins Alex for a funny, honest, and deeply relatable conversation.

Megan grew up hyperactive, voraciously reading, and constantly studying other people to learn how to be liked. She built her personality from books, praise, and the Southern rulebook of "keep it sweet" — all the way through pageantry, college, and building her own business. It wasn't until 2020, when the pandemic stripped away all structure and left her cycling through burnout and shutdown, that she finally got her ADHD diagnosis and started meeting her real self.

In this episode, they talk about the grief of late diagnosis and mourning who you could've been, losing your sense of self to masking and people-pleasing, watching her daughter go through the same struggles and fighting to get her the support Megan never had, and why accommodations aren't shortcuts or being lazy... they're options to give you an equal playing field to neurotypicals.

In this episode:

• Getting diagnosed with ADHD in 2020 when pandemic burnout made masking impossible
• Late diagnosis grief - who she could've been with support
• Building a personality from books, "precious" praise, and the pressure to keep it sweet
• Competing for Miss Alabama without knowing who she actually was
• Seeing her own brain in her daughter and getting her the support she needs
• Outsourcing, AI, and why accommodations aren't cheating
• Burnout, rest, and learning to ask for what you need
• Suspecting Autism... sensory issues, stimming, meltdowns, and black and white thinking

Connect with Megan:

📸Instagram - @meganpettusfilms⁠ and @meganpettusmedia ⁠meganpettus.com⁠

Connect with BoldlyWired:

📬 ⁠Subscribe on Substack⁠

📸 ⁠Instagram @boldlywiredpod

⁠🎵 ⁠TikTok @boldlywiredpod⁠
[email protected]

Boldly Wired is not created by a licensed doctor, therapist, or mental health professional. The content shared here reflects the personal lived experiences of the host and guests, along with personal research and learning. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical support. Please do your own research, learn from multiple sources, and keep your care team close.

Diagnosed with current-day Level 3 Autism at 18 months old, Jenna Noble was blissfully unaware of her diagnosis for the first half of her life.

In this episode, Jenna Noble, a violinist, singer, orchestra director, mom, and military spouse, joins Alex for an honest, moving, and genuinely fascinating conversation.

Jenna has been on the Autism spectrum her whole life. However, for 17 years, she never knew. She was diagnosed at just 18 months old, given a level three diagnosis, and told she may never live independently. Nobody told Jenna this, and she didn't find out this imperative information about herself until she stumbled across messages on her mom's phone.

In this episode, they talk about growing up autistic without knowing it, the complicated feelings that come with finding out the way she did, how music quite literally changed the trajectory of her life, and what navigating relationships, motherhood, meltdowns, and emotional regulation looks like as an autistic woman.

In this episode:

• Finding out about her diagnosis at 17 - through her mom's phone
• Growing up level three autistic and being told she'd never live independently
• How music became her first language and changed everything
• The grief, confusion, and relief of finally having an answer
• Masking, social scripting, managing expectations and what's actually going on inside her head
• Meltdowns - what they look like, how she recovers, and the Peloton that saves her
• Motherhood, emotional regulation, and parenting while autistic
• PDA, emotional fluency, and people-pleasing

Connect with BoldlyWired:📬 Subscribe on Substack📸 Instagram @boldlywiredpod🎵 TikTok @boldlywiredpod

[email protected]

Boldly Wired is not created by a licensed doctor, therapist, or mental health professional. The content shared here reflects the personal lived experiences of the host and guests, along with personal research and learning. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical support. Please do your own research, learn from multiple sources, and keep your care team close.

On this episode, Alex sits down with Sarah Sunstrom, who spent decades wondering why everything felt just a little harder than it looked for everyone else. She built a successful photography business, burned out four times, managed anxiety, hormones, three kids, a studio, five employees, and still didn't have an answer.... When she was nearly 40, she finally got her answer, a diagnosis of ADHD.

In this episode, we're talking about the grief that comes with a late diagnosis (and the "what if" that follows it), four burnout cycles and what they actually looked like, sensory overload and parenting while dysregulated, how hormones make an impact, and what it felt like when her brain got quiet for the first time.

Connect with Sarah:

• @sarahsunstromphotography
• @gildedkeytravel

Connect with Boldly Wired:

• @boldlywiredpod
• Follow on Substack

More details and show notes can be found here.

Boldly Wired is not created by a licensed doctor, therapist, or mental health professional. The content shared here reflects the personal lived experiences of the host and guests, along with personal research and learning. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical support. Please do your own research, learn from multiple sources, and keep your care team close.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, please know you are not alone. Help is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or visiting 988lifeline.org.

Class is officially in session.

In this episode, Alex goes full Professor Ferreri and gives you the ADHD info dump she wishes she had years ago.

This episode covers it all - from the surprisingly long history of ADHD (we're talking 400 BC) to dopamine, executive function, time blindness, and what you can actually do about it.

Whether you're newly diagnosed, self-diagnosed, still figuring it out, or just trying to understand someone you love, this episode is your starting point.

Because knowledge really is the first step to better days ahead.

In this episode:

• The history of ADHD (it's not a trend, we promise)
• What ADHD actually is and what it definitely isn't
• Dopamine dysregulation and why your brain has low dopamine
• All ten executive function departments and why so many feel understaffed
• Time blindness: now, not now, and nothing in between
• How to get diagnosed and how to advocate for yourself
• Treatment options: medication, therapy, coaching, accommodations, and community

Connect with BoldlyWired:

• Instagram - ⁠@boldlywiredpod⁠

• ⁠Follow the Substack⁠
• Email - [email protected]

BoldlyWired is not created by a licensed doctor, therapist, or mental health professional. The content shared here reflects the personal lived experiences of the host and guests, along with personal research and learning. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical support. Please do your own research, learn from multiple sources, and keep your care team close.

In this episode, Alex sits down with Ashley Frye for an honest, relatable, and hilarious conversation. Ashley is an artist, an entrepreneur, a twin mom, and newly diagnosed with ADHD.

Ashley built a wildly successful wedding invitation and stationery business, was constantly booked, making six figures, and doing everything "right". But then walked away at the height of her success. Why? Because on the inside, she was drowning.

In this episode, they talk about burnout, RSD, what it actually looks like to parent neurodivergent kids when you are neurodivergent, late diagnosis, medicating, and finding systems that finally work with your brain instead of against it.

In this episode:

• Walking away from a six-figure business at its peak
• What RSD looks like in real life and how Ashley manages it
• Late diagnosis and that "I'll drink bleach if it helps" moment
• Parenting neurodivergent kids as a neurodivergent parent
• Finding accommodations that actually work for your brain
• The Sims ADHD brain analogy that will make you feel SO seen

Connect with Ashley:

• @ashleyfryestudio and @paperlovecollective
• Paper Love Collective, Batavia, IL

Connect with BoldlyWired:

• @boldlywiredpod
• Follow on Substack

More details and show notes can be found here.

BoldlyWired is not created by a licensed doctor, therapist, or mental health professional. The content shared here reflects the personal lived experiences of the host and guests, along with personal research and learning. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical support. Please do your own research, learn from multiple sources, and keep your care team close.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, please know you are not alone. Help is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or visiting 988lifeline.org.

In this solo episode, Alex shares her full story with neurodivergence - ADHD and Autism (AuDHD) and being late diagnosed. From little Alex in elementary school who always felt a little different, to the college years that were less than stellar, and all of the years of pushing through that led to a night in 2023 that ended in the ER.

This episode covers all of it... from the undiagnosed years, self-medicating without knowing it, late diagnosis at 26, what an autistic burnout and meltdown actually look and feel like, the depression that followed, and what life looks like now as a self-aware, medicated, still-figuring-it-out AuDHD adult.

In this episode:

• Growing up as the "good kid" with undetected ADHD and autism
• Masking, people pleasing, and performing normalcy
• College, alcohol, and accidentally self-medicating
• Late diagnosis at 26 and that first week on medication
• Autistic burnout, meltdowns, and the ER visit
• What Alex 2.0 actually looks like day to day
• Why she finally made BoldlyWired

Connect with BoldlyWired:

• Follow the Instagram: @boldlywiredpod
• Follow the Substack

BoldlyWired is not created by a licensed doctor, therapist, or mental health professional. The content shared here reflects the personal lived experiences of the host and guests, along with personal research and learning. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical support. Please do your own research, learn from multiple sources, and keep your care team close.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, please know you are not alone. Help is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or visiting 988lifeline.org.

Alex Ferreri is finally hitting record on the very first solo episode of BoldlyWired.

In this debut episode, Alex gets real about the imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and fear that kept this podcast on the back burner, and why she's finally here anyway. Learning she was neurodivergent changed everything, and hearing other people's stories and experiences was the thing that shifted it all, and what she wants YOU to walk away with every single time you hit play.

Consider this the official introduction to BoldlyWired. Who it's for, why it exists, and what's coming next.

In this episode:

• Why Alex avoided making this podcast for three years
• Imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and putting yourself out there as an ND woman
• How understanding neurodivergence helped her stop fighting against herself
• Who BoldlyWired is for and what you'll get out of listening
• The bigger picture. Building a community where people actually get it

Resources & Links:

• Follow on Instagram
• Subscribe on Substack

*BoldlyWired is not created by a licensed doctor, therapist, or mental health professional. The content shared here reflects the personal lived experiences of the host and guests, along with personal research and learning. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical support. Please do your own research, learn from multiple sources, and keep your care team close.*

Welcome to the very first sneak peek of BoldlyWired with Alex Ferreri!

Discovering you are neurodivergent is a complete game-changer. Suddenly, your lifelong quirks, struggles, and traits finally have a name. But finding out is just the first step. True validation comes from hearing other people's stories, sharing those "wait, me too!" moments, and learning how to build a life that actually works with your brain.

In this trailer, host Alex Ferreri shares the heart behind BoldlyWired: a safe, unfiltered space for neurodivergent adults, creatives, and entrepreneurs (including ADHD, Autism, AuDHD, OCD, bipolar, and more) to feel seen, connect, learn, and thrive.

Grab your noise-canceling headphones, hit that follow button, and let’s begin!

🚀 Official Launch: June 16th, 2026! Subscribe now so you never miss an episode

📸 Instagram: Follow the journey @boldlywiredpod https://www.instagram.com/boldlywiredpod

✍️ Substack: Get all the behind-the-scenes and be the first in the know - https://boldlywiredpodcast.substack.com/

📧 Email: For all questions, comments, and inquiries - [email protected]