Welcome to Branding Room Only, the podcast where your personal brand gets a front-row seat. I'm Paula Edgar, and if you're here, it's because you know your brand isn't just about what you do. It's about how people experience you. In each episode, you'll hear stories, strategies, and lessons from leaders and influencers who built their brands and made their mark. And I'll share the tools you need to do the same. Let's go.
Welcome back to Branding Room Only. I'm Paula Edgar, and today I want to talk about something personal to me that I know impacts my brand and maybe yours, too. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. I have been very open about the fact that I have ADHD. It shows up in different ways for me, and over time, I've had to learn not to see it as something I'm suffering from, but it's part of who I am.
My brain works differently. That doesn't mean it works wrong. It means that I'm neurodiverse. Understanding and owning that has been a huge part of how I build and manage my personal brand. When you live with ADHD, you hear words like scattered, distracted, or inconsistent. Yes, sometimes that is very true for me. There are days that I feel like I've got 15 tabs open in my brain and someone keeps clicking refresh.
But there are also incredible upsides. Creativity, energy, hyper-focus when I'm locked in, the ability to juggle multiple projects, and to connect the dots that other people may not see. That's a part of my superpower and helps me to be a really great speaker and consultant as well. I've never tried to hide the fact that I have ADHD, but there were times after I was diagnosed when I wasn't as vocal about it. I was still working to understand it and how it showed up for me.
But once I reframed it, I realized it is not a liability. It's part of what makes my personal brand uniquely mine. Now, let's be clear, that doesn't mean I just wing it. I can't. ADHD requires strategy and support. For me, navigating it means outsourcing as much as possible in the areas where my skill set does not align. So I have the support I need.
I have learned to focus on my strengths and to get help in the places where I can get stuck. What does that mean for me? Sometimes that means leaning in on the people close to me, like my husband, my coaches, and my personal board of directors, to help catalyze me and support me when my brain is slowing me down. It also means using my tools, my calendar. I don't know what I would do without my calendar, a Pomodoro Timer, reminders and checklists, AI recorders for meetings, and anything else that helps me to stay organized and accountable.
I want to be transparent about this. I do take medication, and I work closely with my doctors, and that has been incredibly helpful. I feel supported because I am supported. For a long time, I thought the answer was just to keep grinding harder. Let's keep it real. I'm the child of immigrants, and I'm a Gen Xer, so that mindset came naturally to me. But I always work hard. What's changed is that now I work smarter and more strategically. That shift has made me stronger.
I want to encourage you to think about that too, whether it's for yourself, a family member, or a colleague. Ask for the support you need and think about the systems that can help you to thrive. So let's get into it a little bit more. How does ADHD impact your personal brand? Your brand is the perception others have of you and also the perception you have of yourself, and how they come together.
ADHD can shape that perception for better or for worse. If you're not intentional, people may see only the scattered side. But if you lean into your strengths, you can flip that narrative. For example, my ADHD does not define me, but it does influence how I operate. So for me, by acknowledging it and putting tools in place, I get to shape the story people tell and experience about me.
Y'all know that I love a framework, so of course I created one. Guess what letters I'm using? You guessed it, ADHD, as a guide for how to navigate ADHD while protecting and even enhancing your personal brand. So the A is for awareness. You need to, number one, assess, know that you have ADHD, and if you do, how it shows up for you. Self-awareness is the foundation. Once I was assessed and diagnosed, it changed everything for me.
Then I started thinking, "Okay, it's my brain and how it works as opposed to something being wrong." So think about how it shows up for you. Do you lose track of deadlines? Do you interrupt in meetings? Do you hyper-focus until you burn out? What are the other things that might be showing up for you? As I mentioned, there is a lot of literature, data, and support out there, but you need to figure out how it shows up for you.
Once you see your patterns, you can then plan how to better navigate them. The D stands for discipline. That doesn't mean rigid discipline, but it means intentional habits. I'm encouraging you to build systems, checklists, reminders, and workflows that support you when your brain wants to wander. Why? Because discipline creates consistency and consistency builds credibility and credibility builds a strong brand.
The H is for honesty. Be honest with yourself and, when appropriate, with others. You don't need to disclose everything. I'm not telling you to do that, but acknowledging that your brain works differently can reduce shame and create understanding. So for me, being open about my ADHD has strengthened my connections and deepened trust in so many places and got me a lot of resources that I didn't even know existed because I was open.
Then the final D is for distinction. Your ADHD can actually be a part of what makes you stand out. Maybe that's your creativity, your energy, or your ability to think laterally. Don't hide the traits that make you different. Difference is where distinction and personal brand power lives, right? You don't want to be the same as everyone else. You want to figure out what your superpowers are and how to amplify them and navigate them for your best self to show up.
So if you're someone who has ADHD or any neurodiversity, here's what I want you to remember. Your brain isn't broken. It's different. Different can be powerful. Use tools and systems to set yourself up for success. Don't rely on willpower alone. Trust me, it does not work. Ask for support. Frame your ADHD not as a detriment, but as a distinctive part of your brand story.
Remember my acronym: Awareness, Discipline, Honesty, and Distinction. At the end of the day, any great personal brand is about authenticity. Owning my ADHD, navigating it, reframing it, and sharing it as a part of my superpower has helped me to step into my brand more fully. So if you've been struggling with the idea that having ADHD might diminish your credibility or make you less professional, I want you to hear this.
Your personal brand is not about perfection. It's about showing up consistently and authentically. Sometimes what feels like a challenge is exactly what makes you magnetic. As always, my friends, thank you for joining me on this episode of Branding Room Only. If this resonated with you, share with a friend, a family member, or a colleague and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/branding.
It really means a lot and helps other people to see the episode and definitely reach out and tell me how ADHD shows up in your brand. If you have resources that I don't, please share them. I will share them with everyone else. Until next time, keep owning your brand. See y'all later. Bye.
That's it for this episode. I appreciate you hanging out with me on Branding Room Only. Now, please do me a quick favor: head over to ratethispodcast.com/branding so more people can join this conversation. And make sure to stop by at paulaedgar.com/events to see what's next. Whether I'm live, online, or in person, I'd love to see you there. See you next time in the Branding Room. And until then, stand tall, shine bright, and always stand by your brand.
