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Is masking a sign of maturity—or a survival strategy? In this solo episode of Neurodivergent Solutions, Dr. Regina McMenomy challenges the idea that “professionalism” means suppressing who you really are. She explores how masking shows up in the workplace for neurodivergent adults, why it’s often misread as emotional maturity, and how that misperception leads to burnout, disconnection, and self-doubt.

You’ll learn:

• What masking looks like for ADHD and autistic professionals
• Why emotional suppression is not the same as emotional intelligence
• Three safer ways to begin unmasking at work
• How to shift workplace expectations without putting yourself at risk

Whether you're navigating a corporate job, academic space, or creative field, this episode will help you recognize the hidden costs of masking—and offer tangible ways to honor your authentic self on the job.

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About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

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Why do so many late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults feel like frauds—even when they’re thriving? In this episode of Divergent Paths, Regina McMenomy, Ph.D., unpacks the neuroscience behind imposter syndrome and explains why it hits harder for people with ADHD, autism, and other forms of neurodivergence.

With co-host Russ Catanach, Regina shares personal stories, expert insights, and practical strategies to help you recognize imposter syndrome for what it really is: a stress response shaped by masking, rejection sensitivity, and years of chronic invalidation.

Whether you’ve ever thought “I don’t deserve this” or struggled to believe your own success, this conversation will help you reframe self-doubt and start building confidence from the inside out.

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Rest isn’t a reward, it’s a requirement. In this solo episode of Neurodivergent Solutions, Dr. Regina McMenomy explores why rest is essential for neurodivergent bodies and brains, and why our cultural beliefs about laziness, productivity, and burnout often fail those of us with ADHD, autism, and other neurodivergences.

Regina shares personal stories and hard-won insights about redefining rest—not as a failure to hustle, but as a radical act of self-preservation and nervous system regulation. You’ll learn how masking, hyperfocus, and chronic stress lead to burnout, and why intentional rest might be the most productive thing you can do.

If you’ve ever cursed your “lazy” self or struggled to stop when your body is screaming for a break, this episode is for you.

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Struggling to manage your time, stay on schedule, or even feel the passing of time? You’re not alone. In this episode of Divergent Paths, host Dr. Regina McMenomy and co-host Russ Catanach unpack the neuroscience behind time blindness, a common experience for people with ADHD and autism.

We explore:

• What time blindness really is (hint: it’s not just poor time management)
• Why ND brains perceive time differently
• Shame-free strategies that actually work

Whether you’re neurodivergent yourself or supporting someone who is, this episode will help you understand the why behind the chaos—and how to work with your brain, not against it. Plus, Regina shares personal stories, practical tools, and accommodations she uses to stay anchored in time.

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in systems thinking, higher education, and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

About Russ Catanach

Russ is a marketing executive, podcast host, and longtime friend of Regina’s who brings curiosity, candor, and levity to every conversation. As the co-host of Divergent Paths, Russ plays the role of thoughtful interviewer and relatable everyman, helping unpack complex topics in a way that’s both grounded and accessible.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Why do so many neurodivergent adults resist going to bed even when they're exhausted? In this episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy and co-host Russ Catanach explore the psychology and neuroscience behind revenge bedtime procrastination, a common but misunderstood behavior where people delay sleep to reclaim autonomy and personal time.

This episode explores why neurodivergent brains often don’t "power down" like those of neurotypical individuals and what we can do about it. Learn how overstimulation, delayed melatonin release, and unmet emotional needs fuel this cycle, and why rest is more than a luxury—it’s a right.

Plus, Regina shares gentle, practical strategies that support your nervous system without relying on shame or willpower.

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

About Russ Catanach

Russ is a marketing executive, podcast host, and longtime friend of Regina’s who brings curiosity, candor, and levity to every conversation. As the co-host of Divergent Paths, Russ plays the role of thoughtful interviewer and relatable everyman, helping unpack complex topics in a way that’s both grounded and accessible.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Is it emotional immaturity or the long-term impact of masking, trauma, and survival mode? In this heartfelt episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy explores how neurodivergent individuals often experience delayed or disrupted emotional development, not because they’re broken, but because they’ve been adapting to environments that never fully accepted them. Co-host Russ Catanach asks the big questions as Regina shares lived experiences, cultural insight, and unfiltered emotion, including tears on the mic for the first time. If you’ve ever felt behind in your emotional growth or misunderstood for your reactions, this episode will make you feel seen.

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

About Russ Catanach

Russ is a marketing executive, podcast host, and longtime friend of Regina’s who brings curiosity, candor, and levity to every conversation. As the co-host of Divergent Paths, Russ plays the role of thoughtful interviewer and relatable everyman, helping unpack complex topics in a way that’s both grounded and accessible.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

What exactly is a special interest and why are they so essential to neurodivergent people? In this episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy breaks down how special interests go far beyond hobbies. From emotional regulation to identity formation, we explore the deep role these passions play for ADHD and autistic folks. Joined by co-host Russ Catanach, Regina shares personal stories, clinical insights, and cultural observations about how special interests fuel joy, soothe overwhelm, and sometimes become lifelines. Whether yours is dinosaurs, data, or DIY crafts, this episode validates why it’s more than “just a phase.”

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D.

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals and organizations create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

About Russ Catanach

Russ is a marketing executive, podcast host, and longtime friend of Regina’s who brings curiosity, candor, and levity to every conversation. As the co-host of Divergent Paths, Russ plays the role of thoughtful interviewer and relatable everyman, helping unpack complex topics in a way that’s both grounded and accessible.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Do you ever feel emotionally overloaded without knowing why? Or find yourself mirroring someone else's mood without realizing it? You’re not alone—and you’re not broken. In this episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy and cohost Russ Catanach unpack two powerful but often misunderstood neurodivergent experiences: emotional contagion and alexithymia.

You’ll learn what these terms mean, how they often show up together, and why they’re so common among ADHD and autistic individuals. Regina explains how catching someone else’s emotions (emotional contagion) can collide with difficulty naming your own feelings (alexithymia), creating what she calls “emotional static.” From personal stories to practical insights, this episode helps you build emotional fluency, set better boundaries, and stop absorbing what doesn’t belong to you.

Key topics:

• What emotional contagion is and why it hits neurodivergent folks hard
• Understanding alexithymia and the difference between thinking and feeling emotions
• How these experiences impact relationships, parenting, and workplace dynamics
• Practical tools for checking in with your body and reclaiming emotional clarity

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

Regina McMenomy, PhD Regina is a neurodivergent leadership consultant, podcast host, and systems thinker who helps organizations build workplaces where everyone can thrive. With a background in higher education and a passion for inclusion, she brings insight, empathy, and a lot of lived experience to every conversation.

Russ Catanach Russ is a marketing professional, speaker, and co-host of the DIY for Business podcast. Known for his humor and clarity, he brings a grounded, real-world lens to workplace challenges and personal growth conversations.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

In this episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenemy and co-host Russ Catanach explore the all-too-relatable phenomena of DOOM piles and task saturation—when your physical and mental clutter team up to ambush your productivity and sanity. From unopened mail to emotional overload, this conversation blends humor, insight, and compassion for chaotic brains trying to survive modern life. If you've ever hidden a mess in a box just to make it "go away" or felt like your brain was made of oatmeal after a big project, this one's for you.

They unpack how executive dysfunction plays into everyday overwhelm, strategies to break the shame cycle, and the power of playful productivity rituals (yes, Duolingo counts). Whether you're neurodivergent or just overworked, this episode validates your exhaustion and offers practical tools to get unstuck, one doom pile at a time.

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

Dr. Regina McMenomy is a writer, educator, and self-professed digital hoarder with a deep commitment to unpacking the complexities of neurodivergent life. With a PhD in hand (but not the medical kind), she brings compassion, lived experience, and a sharp wit to conversations about executive dysfunction, ADHD, burnout, and creative recovery.

Russ Catanach is a media pro, digital archivist of everything since 1994, and a long-time advocate for navigating mental clutter with humor and honesty. Equal parts practical and perceptive, Russ helps bridge theory with the lived chaos of doing-all-the-things, often while fighting his inbox and clinging to his boogie board (not the beach kind).

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Burnout isn’t just about being tired—it’s what happens when your nervous system is screaming for a better way to live. In this episode of Divergent Paths, host Dr. Regina McMenomy is joined by Russ Catanach for a deeply honest conversation about neurodivergent burnout. They unpack how masking, misaligned environments, and hyperfocus can quietly push us toward the edge and why recovery isn’t about powering through, but embracing rest as a radical act of survival.

Learn how Regina redefined productivity, the cost of perfectionism, and what it really means to live within your capacity. Whether you're in the middle of burnout or trying to avoid it, this episode offers powerful validation and practical insights for neurodivergent minds.

Book a Free Clarity Call with Regina

Regina McMenomy, PhD Regina is a neurodivergent leadership consultant, podcast host, and systems thinker who helps organizations build workplaces where everyone can thrive. With a background in higher education and a passion for inclusion, she brings insight, empathy, and a lot of lived experience to every conversation.

Russ Catanach Russ is a marketing professional, speaker, and co-host of the DIY for Business podcast. Known for his humor and clarity, he brings a grounded, real-world lens to workplace challenges and personal growth conversations.