ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup
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You worked harder than everyone around you and still felt like you were falling behind. This episode unpacks why the workplace was never built for your ADHD brain.
Meghan French Dunbar, author of This Isn’t Working, is an entrepreneur, former business journalist, CEO, speaker, and workplace consultant. After years of building and selling a company, going to grad school, launching a media career, and burning out more than once, Meghan was diagnosed with ADHD only four years ago.
That diagnosis reframed everything. Instead of forcing herself into traditional work models, Meghan started building systems around how her brain works best, from stronger boundaries and values-based decisions to AI support, intentional work hours, and a new definition of success.
In this episode, Tracy and Meghan talk about late ADHD diagnosis, ADHD workplace burnout, entrepreneurship, guilt, toxic management, and why so many high-achieving women leave jobs before anyone connects the dots with ADHD.
If achievement has always been your scorecard, this conversation offers a better one: purpose, passion, quality of life, and work your brain is able to sustain.

Resources:
Website: https://www.meghanfrenchdunbar.com 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meghanfrenchdunbar 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghanfrenchdunbar
TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZfuHsa27yk&authuser=0 
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message
If this podcast helps you understand your ADHD brain, Shift helps you train it. Practice mindset work in just 10 minutes a day. Learn more at tracyotsuka.com/shift
Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? 
ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. 
That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy
Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.

Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book

Visit our website:  https://tracyotsuka.com

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup
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What if your “motivation problem” has nothing to do with discipline?
In this episode, Tracy sits down with Liz Tenuto, better known as The Workout Witch, to talk about the body, trauma, neurodivergence, and why so many ADHD women feel stuck even when they know exactly what they need to do.
Liz’s work focuses on somatic healing, using small, accessible movements to help the nervous system release stress and come out of survival mode. But this conversation goes far beyond movement. Liz and Tracy talk about what happens when a body has spent years bracing, masking, people-pleasing, and trying to stay safe.
They get into CPTSD, ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivities, functional freeze, and the difference between pushing through and actually feeling regulated enough to act. Liz also shares how her own diagnoses helped her understand parts of herself she had spent years trying to explain away.
This episode is for anyone who has ever looked at their life and thought, “I know what to do, so why can’t I do it?”
Because the answer isn’t always more motivation.
Sometimes, the first step is helping your body feel safe enough to move.

Resources:
Website: https://liztenuto.com 
The Workout Witch Website: https://theworkoutwitch.com 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theworkoutwitch 
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theworkoutwitch 
YouTube: https://www.tiktok.com/@theworkoutwitch  
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-tenuto 
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message
If this podcast helps you understand your ADHD brain, Shift helps you train it. Practice mindset work in just 10 minutes a day. Learn more at tracyotsuka.com/shift
Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? 
ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. 
That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy
Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.

Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book

Visit our website:  https://tracyotsuka.com

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup
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In part one, we talked about her story. In this episode, we go deeper into what shame actually is. She explains that shame is not internal. It is a social emotion that forms when we feel like we have violated someone else’s standard, and for many ADHD women, that correction starts early and happens often.

That matters because ADHD creates what she calls the perfect storm. A sensitive nervous system, frequent correction, and social exclusion all combine over time, shaping how we interpret ourselves and others. Without understanding what is happening, those moments do not just pass. They become identity.

In this episode, we talk about the difference between shame and guilt, why ADHD makes you more vulnerable to shame, and how rejection sensitive dysphoria is actually a trauma response. We also get into neuroception, what your body is scanning for at all times, and why social media can trigger the shame reflex even when nothing is actually wrong.

If you have ever wondered why your reactions feel so intense or why you keep replaying social moments long after they happen, this episode will help you understand what is happening in your body and not just your mind.

Resources:
Website: https://www.drshawnhorn.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drshawnhorn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drshawnhorn
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/drshawnhorn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-shawn-horn-2934347 
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message
If this podcast helps you understand your ADHD brain, Shift helps you train it. Practice mindset work in just 10 minutes a day. Learn more at tracyotsuka.com/shift
Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? 
ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. 
That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy
Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.

Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book

Visit our website:  https://tracyotsuka.com

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup
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The hardest part of ADHD is not the symptoms themselves, but the shame story built around them?

Dr. Shawn Horn is a licensed clinical psychologist and the author of Thrive Socially with Adult ADHD. Known as The Shame-Busting Psychologist, she helps adults understand the painful stories they have carried about being “too much,” “not enough,” or “bad at relationships.”

Growing up, Shawn was constantly corrected for talking too much, interrupting, and not paying attention. She was placed in special education, misunderstood at school, and spent years believing those experiences meant something was wrong with her. It was not until much later, after earning her doctorate and looking back at her history, that ADHD finally made sense.

In this episode, we talk about how shame gets attached to ADHD early, how those experiences shape identity, and why being misunderstood can turn into a lifelong story. We also get into rejection sensitivity, nervous system dysregulation, and why healing starts with changing the story you tell yourself.

If you have spent years feeling like you were too much or not enough, this episode offers a different lens. You may not need a new personality. You may need a new story.

Resources:
Website: https://www.drshawnhorn.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drshawnhorn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drshawnhorn
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/drshawnhorn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-shawn-horn-2934347

Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message
If this podcast helps you understand your ADHD brain, Shift helps you train it. Practice mindset work in just 10 minutes a day. Learn more at tracyotsuka.com/shift
Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? 
ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. 
That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy
Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.

Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book

Visit our website:  https://tracyotsuka.com

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup
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What if the hardest part of friendship isn't meeting people, but knowing when a connection is real?
For a lot of ADHD adults, friendship still feels confusing, painful, or just out of reach. Not because they don't care, but because the actual steps were never clear. How do you move past an acquaintance? How do you know if someone genuinely likes you? How do you stop rushing in and ending up hurt?
Caroline Maguire has spent 21 years answering exactly those questions. She's a coach, educator, and author of Why Will No One Play With Me and the newly released Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults, the first book by a neurodivergent person, for neurodivergent people, on friendship. Diagnosed with ADHD at 12 but told it wouldn't matter because she was a girl, she grew up carrying what so many ADHD women carry: the weight of feeling socially behind without ever knowing why.
What changed everything was breaking friendship down into something learnable. Patterns. Stages. Signs. Instead of treating connection like something that should just happen, she teaches how to actually build it. From understanding the impulsive friendship cycle, to recognizing that trust is a track record, not a feeling, to knowing the difference between a participationship and a real friend.
If you've ever felt like you missed the memo on friendship, this episode will show you that nothing is wrong with you. You may have just been moving faster than the relationship was ready for.

Resources:
Website: https://carolinemaguireauthor.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorcarolinem
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@authorcarolinem
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorcarolinem
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorcarolinem 
Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message
If this podcast helps you understand your ADHD brain, Shift helps you train it. Practice mindset work in just 10 minutes a day. Learn more at tracyotsuka.com/shift
Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? 
ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. 
That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy
Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.

Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book

Visit our website:  https://tracyotsuka.com