The AuDHD Boss: Neurodiversity at Work with Brett Whitmarsh

Do you ever feel that wave of avoidance with your ADHD, even with the things you genuinely want to do? Or, if something doesn't have a clear direction or maybe there are too many steps or it just isn't a rewarding task -- is it hard for you to start?

I know these are some of the issues I struggle with when faced with getting started on many projects. It's known as having trouble with task initiation.

If you’re a regular listener, you might remember an episode from The ADHD Channel for Women on the feed recently. Well, today I am excited to share another! It’s from Understood.org, a nonprofit helping millions navigate neurodivergence. Their channel features three distinct shows covering relationships, neurodivergence in current news, and practical strategy from an ADHD clinical psychologist —who you’ll hear today.

The episode I’m about to play for you is about ADHD and avoidance.

Dr. Monica Johnson, also known as Dr. J, helps us identify why our executive function has so much trouble with task initiation and why our ADHD does this. This is another episode that just shows why I love Understood.org so much. Dr. J offers up very accessible explanation about the "why" behind our ADHD and then moves right into what we can do when the avoidance happens. I know for me the avoidance can hit hard and it feels like trying to run fast but I'm stuck in slow motion.

This episode is so incredibly helpful and also covers the emotional impact of how this affects us.

For more episodes, search for “THE ADHD CHANNEL FOR WOMEN” in your podcast app or click here for more:

https://lnk.to/adhdchannelforwomenFD!theaudhdboss

We’re doing something a little different today. I’m sharing an episode from The ADHD Channel for Women.

It’s from Understood.org, a nonprofit helping millions navigate neurodivergence. Their channel features three distinct shows covering relationships, neurodivergence in current news, and practical strategy from an ADHD clinical psychologist —who you’ll hear today. The episode I’m about to play for you is called, “ADHD and living up to potential.”

Dr. Monica Johnson, also known as Dr. J, helps us with that voice in many of our heads that often makes us feel those elements of shame for not being perfect because of our ADHD.

Here is the episode from the ADHD Channel for Women called: ADHD and living up to potential.

You can learn more about Understood.org and the ADHD Channel for Women here:

https://lnk.to/adhdchannelforwomenFD!theaudhdboss

If you've been placed on a Performance Improvement Plan—or think one might be coming—you may be wondering whether it's actually a chance to improve or whether your company has already decided it's time for you to go.

In this episode, I talk with Vicki Yang, a fractional people leader with more than 20 years of HR experience, about what Performance Improvement Plans, or PiPs, are supposed to do, what they may mean for your job, and whether it's possible to come back from one.

We talk about what can make a PiP more recoverable, warning signs that performance concerns may be escalating, what to know when you're asked to sign a PiP, and what to consider once you've been placed on one.

We also dig into the experience of autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD employees—including vague expectations, unclear feedback, documentation, workplace accommodations, and the communication breakdowns that can happen long before someone reaches a PIP.

Vicki also shares what managers can do differently, including giving clearer feedback, explaining what expectations actually look like, checking for understanding, and addressing problems before they reach the point of a formal performance plan.

This conversation is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Employment laws vary by location, and workplace policies and individual circumstances differ.

For more information about Vicki:

https://www.victoriayang.com/

Can you take a special interest or hyperfixation and turn it into a job?

I never intended to become a vice president. It happened accidentally.

When I look back at my career—from video production and broadcast journalism to social media, podcasting, publishing, leadership, and the work I do now—I can see how one interest kept leading to another.

In this episode, I talk about how I used transferable skills to move from one kind of work into another, and how breaking down the things you do around a hobby, special interest, or hyperfixation can help you identify skills you may be able to use on a résumé, in a cover letter, or during an interview.

I also talk about how discovering that I'm autistic and ADHD helped me understand my own career differently: the hyperfixations, the monotropism, and why I needed work that interested me and gave me energy.

Because when you break an interest down into the individual things you're actually doing, you may find skills you can take with you into other kinds of work.

Skills are skills.

Check out the Drains and Sparks AuDHD Workplace Workbook

My AuDHD masked persona helped me succeed at work. The problem is, the more successful that persona became, the more I leaned into it—and now I’m trying to figure out how to let it go.

In this episode, I talk about autistic and ADHD masking, the different personas I’ve created throughout my life, and how one of the strongest became my workplace persona.

I look back at how I learned the language of corporate leadership, why that persona worked so well for me, what happened when my work and personal personas collided, and why it can be so hard for me to turn the work version of myself off.

I also talk about growing up and adopting different personas long before I understood masking, my connection to Jim Carrey and The Mask, the difficulty of work social events, burnout, unmasking, and the question I keep coming back to:

Did the same masking that helped me succeed also hold me back?

At the same time, I still need masking. For me, it can be protective. So this isn’t about simply taking the mask off. It’s about trying to figure out the balance between safety, success, and getting closer to my authentic voice.

If you’re autistic, ADHD, or AuDHD and have ever felt like you became a different version of yourself at work, I’d love to know if this feels familiar.

You can also find my AuDHD Workplace Workbook, coaching, speaking, consulting, and more at:

AuDHDBoss.com

There's a certain tension that comes up. A wall. An invisible force field around my body, my brain, my mind, that I can't move past no matter how much I want to.

That's what masking actually feels like for me, not as a concept, but as a physical sensation. In this episode I break down what masking actually is, where it started for me, and what it took to finally start recognizing it happening in real time.

Drawing on Dr. Megan Anna Neff's work in the Autistic Burnout Workbook, I walk through the different forms masking takes, scripting, mimicking, assimilation, camouflage, code-switching, excessive helpfulness, and how each one shows up for me specifically. I get into where this started as a kid, why I built a different persona for every room I walked into, and how switching between those personas has come to feel like regenerating into a new person every time, the way the Doctor does in Doctor Who.

Then I get into the part I most wanted to talk about, what masking actually feels like in my body. The tension. The wall. What I can only describe as shields going up. And why recognizing that sensation, even before I could name it, changed how I handle it.

I also talk through what an actual unmasking plan looks like for me, why I can only fully unmask alone, and why recovery isn't about getting back to who you were before, it's about getting somewhere healthier than that ever was.

Resources mentioned on play and AuDHD Burnout:

What does Play look/feel like for an adult from AtsedeScarseth AuDHD Therapist:https://www.tiktok.com/@atsedescarseth/video/7675894691077950751https://www.tiktok.com/@atsedescarseth/video/7675894019267857695The direct line from masking to AuDHD burnouthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loz1viIIB9U

Wondering how to manage you needs at work as a late-diagnosed AuDhd, ADHD or Autistic adult? Check out my Drains and Sparks Workplace Workbook.

A video version of this episode, with chapters, is also up on YouTube if you'd rather watch. I'm starting a series on Substack going deeper into unmasking, link in the show notes if you want to follow along.

I offer workplace talks and coaching for organizations and professionals navigating autism, ADHD, and AuDHD at work, especially for managers and HR teams. Reach out through my website if that's something you need.

A viewer sent in a question that a lot of neurodivergent professionals are sitting with right now. Their boss doesn't believe ADHD is real, and they suspect that boss might be neurodivergent themselves. Dr. Bowen Marshall's answer reframes the whole situation: the resistance isn't about you. It's about them.

You've done the hardest part of unmasking, which is asking for help. And then the person with power over your career looked at you and said no. That moment doesn't just sting. It confirms every reason you had for keeping the mask on in the first place.

Brett and Bowen get into why that happens, what it says about the manager, and what you can actually do about it. They also cover the history of management culture and what it continues to demand from neurodivergent employees, why neurodivergent professionals sometimes become each other's biggest obstacles at work, deliberative processing and the professional cost of not having a quick answer ready in a meeting, recovery versus reconstitution at the end of a workday and why those are not the same thing, and practical scripts and strategies for getting your needs met without disclosing your diagnosis.

Topics covered in this episode:
*Why a neurodivergent boss may be your greatest skeptic
*Internalized neurophobia and what it looks like in leadership
*Masking until burnout and asking for help
*Why neurodivergents sometimes take advantage of other neurodivergents at work
*Recovery versus reconstitution after a workday
*Deliberative processing and the cost of not having a quick answer
*Fawning and people pleasing under a resistant manager
*The history of management culture and compliance
*Authenticity versus consistency at work
*Workplace scripts to buy processing time in meetings
*The test balloon approach to figuring out who is safe to talk to at work
*When to go to HR after a negative disclosure response

Dr. Bowen Marshall, PhD is a licensed psychotherapist, author, and career coach specializing in ADHD, Autism, and neurodivergent career development. As part of his work, he helps neurodivergents navigate the complexity of career demands helping ADHDers, AuDHDers and Autistics find and create systems, workflows, and leadership styles that help them succeed and thrive at work and life.

Check out Bowen's Substack
Subscribe to Bowen's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DrBoTyler

Drains and Sparks: An AuDHD Workplace Workbook: https://payhip.com/AuDHDBoss

Book a coaching call or speaking engagement: audhdBoss.com

Processing a layoff is different when you're autistic or have ADHD. Brett Whitmarsh, host of The AuDHD Boss, shares what he learned in the ten months after his own layoff from a twelve-year corporate role, and what actually helped him grieve, rest, and figure out what came next.

In this episode, Brett covers:

• Why a layoff isn't a reflection of your performance, even when it feels personal
• How to let yourself grieve a job loss without rushing past it
• Why taking time before making major decisions matters, especially with a severance package
• How to turn your job history into a list of transferable skills
• Why applying through AI-driven hiring platforms alone often isn't enough, and how to use personal connections instead
• Where to find real support without paying for resources that should be free

Brett also references the exercise from his Drains & Sparks: An AuDHD Workplace Workbook, and shares the personal decision-making mistake he made in the weeks right after his own layoff.

Isabel Fields, ESG Manager at Hearst, helped build the company's first Neurodiversity at Hearst hiring program from the ground up. In six months, Hearst had a fully running program. Years later, it's still growing, and it's shaped how the company trains, hires, and retains Autistic and ADHD talent at every level.

We talk about how the program came together, why executive buy-in came easier than expected, and the distinction Isabel draws between accommodations and adjustments, the small, low-cost changes a manager can make without a formal process. We also get into personal brand for neurodivergent employees and managers, practical ways to manage ADHD and Autistic burnout, and how to work through rejection sensitivity with a manager or trusted colleague.

Isabel Fields is an ESG Manager at Hearst with expertise in sustainability strategy, ESG reporting, and inclusive workplace initiatives. She serves on Understood's Women's Council and is a Women inPower fellow at the 92NY. Prior to Hearst, she was part of Oracle's Social Impact team and has held roles at Nike, the United Nations Foundation, and Iron Mountain.

Mentioned in this episode: my Drains & Sparks AuDHD Workplace Workbook.

If you or your organization want to work on neuroinclusion, train your managers, or explore individual coaching, reach out using the contact info in the show notes.

Self-employed with ADHD or autism? For a lot of people, it's not a lifestyle choice, it's the only option left when a corporate job stops working.

Brett talks with Liora, founder of Colorful Futures, a neurodivergent, queer-run HR and career consulting business. Liora spent years as a recruiter before starting the business, and this conversation gets into what actually triggers the leap into self-employment, how a late ADHD or autism diagnosis can be part of that decision, and what that choice looks like once you get past the LinkedIn version of it: the guilt, the uneven pace, and the fact that the whole business model doesn't have to be figured out before starting.

Liora and their colleague Caitlin Fisher are hosting the Entrepreneurial Horizon Workshop on Thursday, July 16 at 6:30 PM Eastern. It's a 90-minute session for anyone with an idea they haven't figured out how to build yet. $18 to attend, replay included.

Register here: https://colorfulfutures.thrivecart.com/entrepreneurial-horizon/

More on Colorful Futures: https://colorfulfutures.us/about

This conversation is also available as a video on the AuDHD Boss YouTube channel.

Interested in working together? Brett offers coaching for neurodivergent professionals and consulting for organizations working to become more neuro-inclusive, including speaking to employee resource groups. Reach out: [email protected] or at AuDHDboss.com