A Holistic Approach to Fitness and Neurodiversity Among Black Women

Have you ever considered how a high-achieving childhood might mask the whirlwind of ADHD? This revelation hit my former fitness coach, Cookie, like a thunderclap, sparking a shift from medication to natural supplementation and influencing her holistic coaching approach. Join us as Cookie opens up about her personal battle with ADHD and how she's channeling her understanding of hormonal balance and nutrition to revolutionize fitness coaching. Her story is a profound testament to harnessing self-awareness and finding personalized strategies that resonate with one's lifestyle and professional aspirations.

The landscape of neurodiversity is rich and varied, yet too often, some voices go unheard. Today, we're amplifying those voices, particularly those of Black women like Cookie, who navigate the complexities of ADHD. We reflect on the impact of racial tensions on mental health and the importance of tailoring fitness and coaching practices to meet the unique needs of Black women. This episode is a crucial intersectional exploration, shedding light on the multifaceted experiences of neurodiversity within our communities.

Ever felt the need to mask who you are to fit in? This conversation is for those who are tired of code-switching and are ready to embrace their ADHD or dyslexia as part of their unique professional identity. I share my journey and the unexpected ways my fitness program supports neurodivergent clients. Plus, get excited for our upcoming six-week coaching program designed to boost career prospects for those with neurodivergent talents. And for ongoing support, discover NeuroEnigma, a program providing comprehensive assessments, mental health resources, and productivity strategies. Remember, your feedback is the heartbeat of our community; it helps us grow and ensure our space is a supportive haven for all.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Hello and welcome to Divining Egma, a podcast that talks about how to navigate through the complexities of the workplace as a modern day professional whilst simultaneously having a side hustle. We appreciate all of our audience members for taking some time out of their day to tune into another episode and look forward to providing you all with some value through our show today. My name is Sarah and I'll be the host for this podcast. This podcast is available on all platforms where you can find podcasts, including Spotify, amazon, apple Podcasts, and we're also on YouTube. So let's get started.

Speaker 1: 0:54

Hey, cookie, how are you?

Speaker 1: 0:58

Thanks for coming on to my podcast, divining Eggma, and this is such a surreal moment for me because you were my coach for just over a year and, um, do you know?

Speaker 1: 1:08

The crazy thing is I didn't know you had um, adhd, like I didn't know that that's what you had, and my podcast is around people with, like all kinds of neurodiverse conditions, but being an adult and managing that and trying to navigate the world in the corporate sector as well as maybe running a business as well, and it I just thought it would be so like interesting, like to understand, like how you came to realize you had ADHD, um, and how that kind of aligned with, like, what you do as a fitness coach, because I loved being trained by you, like for the year that I was with Cookie, like, like guys, if you listen, like when I was a Cookie, cookie was always on me, she was like, she kept me accountable.

Speaker 1: 1:58

Um, she's one of the best coaches I've ever had when it comes to fitness. But I don't want to keep talking. I'm going to give the floor to to kind of tell me about her sort of ADHD journey and um, that, yeah, and also just introduce yourself, because I feel like I've just thrown you in. Introduce yourself, tell people about who you are, what you do, and, yeah and yeah, how you found that you had ADHD, how you relate that to your coaching and all that fabulous stuff.

Speaker 2: 2:25

Well, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be on the podcast. I remember, I guess a year ago, when we first connected and we were going through your consultation call on a video call kind of like this and you had mentioned the podcast to me and I was very intrigued by it because, yeah, I do have ADHD. I, like many other women, was not diagnosed until adulthood. So I went through my entire childhood being a very high achieving kid.

Speaker 2: 2:57

I had a 4.0 in college or in high school had a full ride to college and just had no idea that there was something that was even impeding on my ability to go through my classes and my coursework and just life in general. So when I was around I guess maybe 28 years old I was like you know what I?

Speaker 2: 3:20

started looking up things online, I was like this sounds like me, you know, like this is this feels like what I'm going through. So I went and I saw a specialist someone who specialized in treating ADHD in adults and he had me go through the entire testing and after the testing he was like I knew from the moment you walked in and started explaining everything that you know that was probably the case. So I found out that I was that I had ADHD and I began.

Speaker 2: 3:52

I took the medication route initially, so I was medicated. For maybe two to three years I took Adderall, but then, as I started to go into my practice which you know about and working more so focusing on niching down, working with women who have hormonal imbalance and nutrition or nutrient deficiencies and things like that I started to realize that maybe the medication was pulling a little bit too much for me in terms of my nutrients and was kind of starting to have an opposite effect and I started to look into some alternate methods in terms of my nutrients and was kind of starting to have an opposite effect and I started to look into some alternate methods in terms of supplementation to help with ADHD. So that's kind of where I am now. I am no longer medicated I haven't been, at least for the past three years and I've just been kind of out here managing ADHD on the fly, which is crazy here, managing ADHD on the fly, which is crazy, but we can definitely do it, that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 4:54

Oh, I love that because I don't take away from people that do medicate Some people do need to have that medication to help them. But also, I always feel it's important that if you can try to find a natural route of managing your ADHD, it's so important that you get that balance. But I wouldn't take away from people that, like, for some people, they need the medication they can't focus, their brain will be too busy and it just messes them up. But if you can find, like, a natural alternative which you did, cookie that is ideally what you would want to go down that road and it it can take a while, you know it can take a while to figure that out and figure out what works for you and how to kind of understand your brain, because sometimes, like for a long time you'll be, you've learned to, I guess, manage or cope, find sort of coping mechanisms to deal with the ADHD. And it's only now, when you're you this revelation oh, I have ADHD. What do I do with this? Okay, um, should I take medication? Should I change? Like? And it's, it's a journey because for me, like when I found out I had a neurodiverse condition.

Speaker 1: 5:56

Although I did well at school, I knew that there was something not quite right. I knew that my, my brain wasn't like everyone else. Um, and obviously, over time, I've learned ways that I can navigate my neurodiverse conditions and enable myself to succeed in the, in the business world and also in the corporate world, and I must. I also have ADHD, but I feel my ADHD makes me my mind very busy, so I have to do loads of things that I can't just do one thing. I have to be doing a multiple of different things in order to feel like I'm normal, even though that could essentially exhaust me. But that's just how my brain works and I've just kind of learned to accept that I'm not someone that can do one thing. I have to be, I have to be doing lots of things, and I think that's a good thing. I think that's a cool thing about ADHD, like the fact you don't just do one thing, you can do loads of things. I don't know whether you can resonate with that as well, cookie.

Speaker 2: 6:53

Yeah, absolutely. I've always had my hand in a million things at once. It's just who I am as a person. If I don't have my hand in a million things at once, I'm probably very bored we If I don't have my hand in a million things at once.

Speaker 2: 7:05

I'm probably very bored. We know that our ADHD brain is very, very bored, so it needs to be stimulated. And I'm glad you brought that up because I think in us talking about the connection between ADHD and the fitness world, a lot of the times when we think about ADHD in general or any type of neurodivergence, we kind of look at it, as you know, as a disability of sorts. You know there's a negative connotation. But, like you said, I think there are so many benefits to being ADHD. You know, especially when I think about or to be neurodivergent in general, like we're people who are very good at having routine, we thrive in structure, so it's like incorporating a fitness routine, a meal routine. We also tend to be the people who can eat the same thing. So I find that a lot of my ADHD clients don't have so much trouble with food because they can kind of repeat meals once they find what the thing is for them. And that held true for me as well during my weight loss journey. A lot of people will say well, what do?

Speaker 2: 8:07

I eat, I don't know what to eat, or I get bored of eating this and I'm like I can keep eating it, you know. So I think that that's something that really works in our favor when it comes to neurodivergence in general and especially ADHD in the fitness sector?

Speaker 1: 8:21

Yeah, definitely, I agree. I wanted to ask you something as well, quickly. I know within your coaching um fitness coaching and profession, you tend to um focus your support on helping black women and women of color. Like generally, your clientele tend to be people that look like me, people like you. Why do you tend to feel that that is the best target market for you? Why do you feel black women, generally women of color, are particularly important to you to serve in your business?

Speaker 2: 8:55

yeah, well, I started coaching. I guess it's been well 2024, so it's been 10 years now and when I initially started I was coaching in person and I worked with everyone. I worked with men, women, I worked with husband and wife couples a ton of people. I worked in the corporate wellness space. So I've put in my years of kind of working with the general population.

Speaker 2: 9:17

But around 2019, I started to get really, really interested in finding out more about what is the underlying cause of why people are having such a difficulty losing weight, like it can't just be that they just don't have the discipline to diet and exercise. And so that's when I started getting into the functional side and really looking at things like hormones, looking at vitamins and nutrients, looking at lab work. And that's when I brought in my functional registered dietitian. I first did a mentorship with her and then I brought her on and said, hey, I have a lot of women who are dealing with things like this. Now, mind you, this happened in 2019.

Speaker 2: 9:58

So 2020, at least for the US was a horrible time, obviously with the pandemic, but also with racial tension in the US, with the death of George Floyd, which was he was a Houstonian and I was living in Houston at the time. I attended the protest and I was working with my clients still online at that time and I saw how much my Black clients in particular were being impacted by what was going on and I decided to kind of let my other contracts finish out and I really didn't know what the direction was going to be. But I knew that I really needed to hone in and focus on women of color, because there was also another situation that happened around that time. I forgot his last name, but his first name, I believe, was Ahmaud Ahmaud Aubrey.

Speaker 2: 10:47

He was a Black man who was running around his neighborhood. So I had clients who I was saying, get out there and go get your steps in your neighborhood. And they're looking at the news. Like you know, that's not an option. You know, like if you remember what it felt like in that time, it can kind of feel a little off now talking about it, but in the moment it was very, very real.

Speaker 2: 11:08

So I shifted my focus to really work with women of color because one it was just where we were at that time in the world, especially in the US, which is where most of my clients are on the deficiencies, the hormonal imbalances and just realizing that as Black women, we tend to struggle with these things a lot more for a multitude of reasons, and we need a very specific type of support.

Speaker 1: 11:36

No, I really agree with that because even in the UK we recently had an issue in politics where one of our elders, who is one of a well-known politician, was actually the first black female politician. Um, that served for the labour party in the uk and there was a particular mp that said that he hates black women when he sees her. Her name's called diane abbott. She is a well-known like figure. She's 70, she's she's the first black mp and mp is like um minister of parliament, which is like the highest rank of um person that is in government, and she managed to be the first one like of color black woman to be able to be allowed to do that. And um, the guy was like I hate all Black women when I see Diane Abbott and that hit a real, real like fear in a lot of Black women because we feel like we're not safe. You know, if somebody who's the highest, he's one of the highest donor payers of the Conservative Party in the UK, so he has a lot of influence, he has a lot of power in the sense of when we're making decisions in the UK. I might going to feel protected as a black woman if someone has those type of ideologies and thoughts that they, when they look at black women, it makes them angry and they hate us. So, as much as you guys have it in the US, we have it much the same in the UK. Ours is more so microaggressions and, you know, silly questions about your braids and things that are very typical to black people and black culture. And, yeah, like when I, when you hear these kind of things, it makes you think do I feel safe in this country? And it's a really weird thing because, um, my parents are from the diaspora. I was born in the UK, but I, even though I was born in the UK, I went to school in the UK I don't, I don't feel British. I still feel other, which is a very weird, complex feeling to feel.

Speaker 1: 13:40

Even though you're born in a country that essentially should be your home, a lot of black people don't feel that the uk is their home. So it's always that that, yeah, we have. We have the same issues, but in a different way. I know, with the us, um, and the black life matters like affected you guys, it affected us in a different way as well, um, but, yeah, racism is still prevalent very much in the west and in europe and um, there's some places that um, like if you're black, you're not really safe to be around. It's literally, it literally feels like it's not safe to be black if you're in the western world or europe, but, um, but, um, I don't like to think all people are like that, but we, we have the same issues in terms of we're fighting for equality, we're fighting for the same rights, we're fighting to just be seen the same, and sometimes I find racism such a weird thing, because how can you just have a dis-hate to someone because their skin is different from yours? It doesn't make sense to me, but I guess that's just how, how the world is right now. Um, another thing I would want to ask you about, cookie, is like, as a black woman, I'm sure you've kind of met the unique challenges of dealing with the intersectionality of being an ADHD person and also being a black woman.

Speaker 1: 14:59

There's some sort of crossover intersections. Whilst I've been doing a lot of research into neurodiversity and how neurodiversity is viewed, it's always viewed from the lens of, from a sort of white perspective, like when we look at neurodiversity, we don't see neurodiversity from a black perspective, and I'm and they're currently doing, I'm actually going to be part of this research that they're doing at greenwich university in the uk, where they're trying to look at the effects of how adhd affects black women, because a lot of the time when they look into research they find that black women tend to be diagnosed much later. Um, they tend to be high, masking um and they tend to um their their neurodiverse condition. The adhd tends to um act in a different way, not in the same way that maybe white caucasians or even men, because even the first part we look at is adhd in boys. When, when looking at boys, people were able to diagnose adhd because um, they would just view you as a naughty boy in school who's hyperactive.

Speaker 1: 16:23

But the ADHD in girls wasn't quite kind of recognized because of the mannerism girls have in terms of what girls are brought up to be like.

Speaker 1: 16:34

So when you're a woman or when you're a girl, girls tend to be a bit more reserved, whereas if you look at the ADHD in girls, it tends to manifest in a different way. So you'll tend to be a bit more reserved, whereas if you look at the adhd in girls, it tends to manifest in a different way. So you'll tend to find girls tend to be daydreaming more or they tend to look like they're not paying attention as much when you look at the adhd in girls and boys, whereas boys you will see, oh, he has adhd, he's having a tantrum, he's being aggressive, because boys are allowed to show those tendencies of boisterous tendencies and behaviors. So I just wanted to kind of get your understanding of the sort of intersectionality of being, I guess, black neurodiverse and having ADHD and how that's kind of manifested for you, for you well, I'll say um, it's not an easy thing, that's for sure, because, as a Black woman, in general, you are already masking whether you're ADHD or not.

Speaker 2: 17:31

You walk into a corporate space that's often filled with middle-aged white men and at that point you have to begin to mask whether it's.

Speaker 2: 17:42

You know, it's a little different for you guys maybe, but whether it's, like your accent or certain things that you say or slang verbiage that you might use, that you may not use in the corporate space, and just kind of not feeling already authentically like yourself, and on top of that, then having to also mask the neurodivergent side of it as well.

Speaker 2: 18:05

I found it to be incredibly challenging and I also find it to be a part of the reason why I left the corporate space to begin with. There were a multitude of things, but also just not being able to fully operate in it as my authentic self, and it was just something that at that time, you know, 10 years ago maybe a bit of a rush decision, but, you know, luckily I don't have any kids or anything, so I was able to make decisions like that to just leave and try to do something on my own, because I find that being able to put together my own schedule, organize my own time, have the luxury of working from home that I think we all pretty much, or many of us have now, which is great, also takes off some of the pressure of having to go into the office and now mask or go into the office and now be, asked about your braids, or go into the office and be asked that your hair grow, you know, 15 inches overnight.

Speaker 2: 19:00

You know you don't have to deal with all of those things. So it's definitely a tough, you know, world for black women in general to be in, but especially for those of us who are neurodivergent, who I feel are then having to double mask yeah, it can be.

Speaker 1: 19:16

You know, I think it's quite exhausting, to be honest with you, because you're not really yourself. You're like you're trying to navigate this corporate landscape. You're trying to pretend almost pretend to be something you're not and by the time the day comes, it can be very, very exhausting. I think I've now got to this stage where I'm not even prepared to even mask anymore. I'm just like I can't. Yeah, I'm ADHD, I've got dyslexia, whatever. That's just who I am now.

Speaker 1: 19:46

Because it's like sometimes, when you're doing it all the time, it can really drain you to the point that you just you're not functioning at your fullest and at your best. Um, and then, coupled with the fact that you have to code switch, so we could I'm sure you know what that is where you're having to switch, code switch and speak the lingo and act like assimilate the environment you're in just to fit in, and in that sense it's exhausting as well. So, yeah, I totally get you on that. I really do understand, because it is something that even right now, as I'm on this journey of like learning more about my neurodiverse, like neurodiverse conditions, um, it is quite, it is. It is something I'm trying to figure out how I can just be myself and not try to be something I'm not just to fit into this, this square, when I'm not out of the square pegs. If that makes sense, it makes 100% sense.

Speaker 2: 20:49

I think that it's also.

Speaker 2: 20:50

It's clearly a societal issue as well, in terms of just general society being able to accept things that are different, whether it's autism or ADHD or you know whatever, just people being different in general.

Speaker 2: 21:05

You know, we as Black women and as Black people in general, are not a monolith and everybody is different regardless of skin color, you know. So I think there needs to be an acceptance from a societal standpoint of just people who are different, people who move differently, think differently, because there's something in that, you know, if just because a neurodivergent person may process things differently doesn't mean that their end outcome won't be just as good, and oftentimes better, if I must say so myself, because we tend to do things very, very well, you know that's a part of our superpower is that we are great at once we get there. I know it takes us a while, but executing, you know, through things. So there's so much that neurodivergent people can bring to the table, especially if they were able to not have to waste half of their brain power on trying to look the part or sound the part, you know no, I totally agree.

Speaker 1: 22:05

I feel like if you could just be allowed to be yourself and not have to, you know, put this mask on and pretend to be you something else, you're taking away what innately is what you're supposed to be, but you're not allowing that true person to come out because you're trying to be something that doesn't come naturally to you. So I do, I do agree with that. Um, there was something else I wanted to ask. You kind of mentioned this before. It was about your fitness programs and how you accommodate for people with neurodiverse conditions. That I know you worked with me, so I you were really accommodating for me. I wasn't an easy client, but you know I loved working with you. But yeah, like I, I know I know there were times that I was just like having my meltdown moments, but you were so patient with me, so like yeah it's gonna happen, you know it's gonna happen

Speaker 2: 22:58

on a weight loss journey because it's it's personal. You know it's something that you're going through. It's your relationship with food and fitness and your self image and your self worth, like it's such a deep journey. So those types of things don't don't bother me. You're going to have your moments, you know, as a client. But in terms of accommodating clients it's funny. I don't really feel the need to do anything extra that I wouldn't already do for my other clients because I'm ADHD.

Speaker 2: 23:29

When I was making this program and creating the program even prior to my diagnosis, I didn't know. So, like some of the things that I was creating or tips that I was giving, some people would kind of look at me like was creating or tips that I was giving. Some people will kind of look at me like, wow, that's a lot. Like you want me to label every single thing that I have to do for the entire day and then I'm going to drink water at this time and I'm going to this appointment and then I need time to drive. Like they're like, wow, that's a lot.

Speaker 2: 23:54

So I would say my program is already really meant to accommodate people who are ADHD. That's why there are so many little steps and so many things in the course because it's meant for, because it was made from my ADHD brain. You know, and that's how I learn, and that's how I think, and we need all the extra stuff and all the little details. So I think it's just kind of a natural occurrence of how it landed in this way. I don't know if you would agree.

Speaker 1: 24:23

You can tell the people I do Like let me tell you guys. Cookie would like tell me how much water are you drinking, sarah? Sarah, you need to make sure you do your 7k a day. Oh my gosh, I was like what. And then the worst thing for me was like taking pictures of everything I ate. I just felt like, but you know what? It really helped me because it actually gave me a lot of structure and every Wednesday I knew that Wednesday was going to come up and I had to do my check-in and Cookie was going to be like Sarah, what have your week been like? And I'm like, oh my god, I have to and there'll be times I'm like I'm in the middle of work, I've got to do this check-in before it's too late, and but it really helps because having that person who understands, like your ADHD being someone who has ADHD themselves, it really made me like see exactly what's the problem and the things that I'm facing and what is my barriers.

Speaker 1: 25:19

And since not coming off the program, I've kind of naturally gone into that rhythm of oh, I don't need to eat that type of food and I'm not cookies. In my brain thinking, sarah, you should be eating this, you should be eating that you need to log and I'm naturally logging and making sure that I'm doing my steps and this is like it's become kind of a natural thing, without me even realizing. Um, and it's just having that, that person that understands like your brain and how you work. But at the time when you're doing it, you're like, oh my gosh, he's just pushing me. But like you're really thorough and I like anyone that wants to get finished, that you should book her.

Speaker 1: 25:56

She's amazing. But, um, yeah, that's that's, that's my perspective. Like just being a client of yours, like I really got so much, like I feel really blessed that I got to find you. And like, like I've had coaching in the past and it's really not been as thorough and as like really well thought out in terms of what I need to get, like even though, like I didn't even know that you could have a blood test to actually find that what is going on inside your body. A fitness coach has never done that for me in my life, never. I'm not even like kidding, like that's the detailed cookie which you even ask you like TMI, what was your skills like?

Speaker 1: 26:36

I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to tell her how my skills are like and I've never had that before, but it's good because it makes you like really think okay, this is not in my head. These are things I've got to do to improve my, my body, my health and my well-being overall, and I find that even just doing the coaching has actually helped me improve in other areas in my life without me even trying to, because I've become so, like, disciplined in that sense. So, yeah, um, yeah, it's, yeah, it's been amazing working with you for that over a year. I really enjoyed that. Sometimes kind of miss it, but I'm like later when we'll come back together, yeah, so, yeah, anyway, like Cookie, how can people find you and what? Yeah, how can people find you as well? And what would you say to people who may be suffering from a neurodiverse condition, how they should embrace it or what they should do if they think they might have it or they just found that they had it. What kind of advice could you give to them?

Speaker 2: 27:49

You know, the best advice that I could give to someone who may have been recently diagnosed, or even is neurodivergent and wants to go on some sort of weight loss journey, is to, before you go on to the journey, to really shift your perspective about what the journey is going to look like and how your ADHD is impacting you. I find that when people enter into any type of program or have any type of goal that they start off on, if their perspective is already that they have this debilitating condition that isn't going to help them to push past it, then they've already been defeated in their mind.

Speaker 2: 28:26

And when I say this, I really do mean that ADHD is truly a superpower. I kid you not. We can do things that other people just simply cannot do. And again, like I said in the beginning, with the food, there are so many other things that we're really great at as people who are neurodivergent, and I think it's important for us to lean into that and not always lean into the societal view that something is wrong with us. We actually have something that really benefits us if we learn how to use it.

Speaker 2: 28:55

If people would like to find me, they can find me on Instagram at Cookie Miller, they can find me on my website, cookiemillercom, and I'm also on TikTok as Cookie Miller Fit.

Speaker 1: 29:06

Cookie, thank you so much for coming on Divining Eggma today. Normally I have really long podcast sessions, but we're having a lot of connection issues and I don't want to lose all the gems that you're telling me right now. So, thank you so much. Bless you, and may your journey with the ADHD continue to be positive for you and being an ADHDer. And yeah, I like the term superpower, but I always like to always think that it's also just something you have.

Speaker 1: 29:33

It doesn't have to be defined as whether you're somebody who has a neurodiverse condition or not. You're not defined by it. You're not. It's not a deficit, it's just what you have and I think it's OK just to have that. It doesn't mean that you're to me, is not good or bad. It's just what you have and you can use that to your strength and sometimes, if you have weaknesses because of it, that's fine too. But I, I, I just see I don't look at neurodiversity as anything other than something someone has. That's how I plan to. Yeah, it's just what you have and I, and I think it's. I think neurodiverse people are like amazing people, just like myself and um, you don't have to feel any way about whether your neurodiverse is um a negative or positive thing. It's just who you are and just yeah, just accept it now. That's what I'll end on anyway, just accept yourself for who you are, thank you thank you all right, then I'll.

Speaker 1: 30:31

We will catch up soon again. We will meet again. But, yeah, thank you so much, and thank you for all the audience members for taking time to listen to Cookie today and reach out to her if you're looking for guidance within your fitness journey. Thank you, our audience members know about the six-week coaching program I'll be offering for people who are neurodivergent, who want to improve their career prospects in general, or for those who want to get into project management. I've mentioned this earlier in previous episodes, but I want to make the time up to offer it again for those who are looking for help in those areas of life, as this is a great way to learn a new skill to help you advance in your career. Now, before you go on a six-week program, you need to make an application for it to see if you are suitable for the program, to ensure that I'm giving you the best type of help. The best type of help. The application will be in the show notes or you can check diviningegmaorg and complete the neurodiversity quiz to see if you potentially have a neurodiversity trait and also to complete the application form to ensure you're eligible for the six-week coaching program. I'm also offering support to people who want to pass the PRINCE2 practitioner exam. As I've taken, I've failed the test a few times and I'd like to help others by showing them how I have passed the exam. I'm a project manager at trade and a program manager as well, and I just love you know managing the different stages of how a project can be. That can be simply an idea and then just come to life, and I love seeing that go from the end, from the, from the initiation right to the end point. So if you want to learn more about how to pass the prince to, more about how to be an amazing project manager with a neurodiverse condition, then you can also contact me via my email, which is hello at divineenigmaorg Now if this sounds interesting to you, like I said, contact me. All my information's in the description Now.

Speaker 1: 33:04

My baby, my blood, sweat and tears have gone into this and it's my membership. Neuro enigma, um. Neuro enigma. It's um, an amazing membership and you should definitely join. At the moment I'm having special discounted um offers for the membership, which is usually priced at 35 pounds per month, which I believe is very, very reasonable.

Speaker 1: 33:38

Within the membership, you will get a free neurodiversity assessment and not just like one of those quizzes which, by the way, is within the membership but actually a fully full diagnostic test of your neurodiverse condition. I'm currently in the works with lexic, which are one of the biggest neurodiversity um providers, and also with the british dyslexia Association. I'm working with them right now to ensure that NeuroEnigma and their organisation can work very closely together with me, so NeuroEnigma, british Dyslexia Association and Lexit can work together to ensure that any neurodiverse person that signs up to this membership will get a full assessment. And when I'm talking about a full assessment, I'm talking about a two-hour assessment, um. In one of my previous episodes, I talked about having a two-hour assessment to find out I had dyslexia, and it was written by an educational psychologist. That's what I'm talking about, and it will be something that you can take to an employer um, something that you can use within your business if you're applying for access to work, um. So, yeah, it's so important that you join this membership because we're really trying to change the narrative Currently right now, the waiting lists for the NHS to get assessments are sky high and just for a small fee of £35 a month, you can skip the waiting list of having to wait for the NHS to assess you for your neurodiverse condition.

Speaker 1: 35:31

So this is why I've created neuro enigma. And then, on top of all of that as well, we also offer mental health well-being days. We're going to be having mental well-being retreats that are neurodivergent friendly. We have unlimited body doubling sessions, so you can just book for double bodily bodying, but it's completely free if you're a member. If you're not a member, you can go to um diviningegmaorg and click um to book a session for body doubling. However, that would be five pounds, which is very, very, very cheap.

Speaker 1: 36:10

Um, if you need to get a piece of work done whether that is your tax return, your bookkeeping, whatever, if you're a business owner, or it's just for you just to find a way to, like, pour out your thoughts if your bride is super busy, like I am so, um, that is available for you. So I'm just telling you all of this right now, because this is so important to me, and I also hope, from listening to this particular episode around fitness, you got a lot of value from it as well, because I know that, particularly with people with ADHD and autism, exercise can be a really key element into managing your neurodiversity. So, um, I hope you were able to get value from listening to myself on cookie on the last episode. Anyway, I think I've spoken long enough, so please follow me on all platforms where you listen to podcasts. Thank you so much for following.

Speaker 1: 37:15

Please subscribe to Divine Enigma. I need to get more people to subscribe to this channel. If you're watching on YouTube, make a comment, give me feedback, let me know, even if you didn't like it and you thought it was crap. Please give me feedback. I need to know. I need to know that I'm giving you guys value. So, um, like I said always, thank you for listening to Divine Enigma. If you got to the end, this is a safe place for project managers, professionals, side hustlers, business owners to give you the tips and tools on how to navigate the complexity of being neurodiverse in the workplace and beyond. I'll see you next time, take care.