Stop Trying Harder - guest Karyn Whitaker

Jenn wilson

“Being kind to ourselves. Being honest about what we need.”— Karyn Whitaker

Jenn Wilson is joined by guest Karyn Whitaker. Karyn Whitaker is a neurodivergent coach, disability advocate, and founder of Try Harder Is BS, where she helps people with ADHD, autism, chronic fatigue and other invisible disabilities build easier, more sustainable lives that work with their nervous systems.

Episode Overview

In this deeply resonant episode, Karyn joins Jenn to talk about the lifelong impact of being told to “try harder” while navigating undiagnosed neurodivergence, chronic fatigue, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She shares how years of masking, burnout cycles, people-pleasing, and internalised expectations shaped her career path — and how receiving her diagnoses finally gave language to her lived experience.

Karyn explains why traditional responses to burnout miss the mark, what nervous system regulation really means, and how embracing ease has changed every part of her life. She also speaks powerfully about inclusion, access, invisible disability advocacy, and challenging systems that rely on neurodivergent people pushing themselves beyond capacity.

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About Karyn Whitaker:

Karyn is the Founder of “Try Harder is BS.” She helps people whose brains work differently (and those who support them) learn strategies to calm the chaos in their heads so they can move from overwhelm to action without going via burnout.

She is also an ex‑nurse, ex‑social worker, and soon‑to‑be ex‑project manager. A recovering serial burnout, she lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, AuDHD, and dyslexia — alongside a lifelong feeling that she didn’t quite fit in. Now she is owning her uniqueness, and life is better than it has ever been.

Episode Takeaway

Trying harder isn’t the solution — compassion is.

Karyn invites us to stop forcing ourselves into burnout and start listening to our bodies, strengths, and nervous systems. True change — personally and socially — comes not from pushing through, but from working differently, choosing ease, and creating environments where everyone can participate without needing to mask or suffer.

Further Resources: links to offers from Irregular that are relevant to the episode

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The Irregular Membership

Map My Month Method

More about this episode:

• The emotional impact of masking and decades of “try harder” messaging
• Living with ADHD, dyslexia, autism, chronic fatigue, and Ehlers-Danlos
• Why burnout recovery shouldn’t mean returning to the thing that broke you
• Fight/flight/freeze/fawn explained simply (and why many of us live there)
• How to stimulate the vagus nerve and support nervous system regulation
• The myth of “jack of all trades, master of none” — and the real full quote
• CliftonStrengths and why neurodivergent people thrive when playing to strengths
• Inclusion vs. real inclusion: accessibility before someone even reaches the door
• Advocating inside organisations and redesigning “reasonable adjustments”
• Building a business designed around ease, capacity, and neurodivergent needs

Season 2 Episode 19