Functioning Is Not Thriving: Late ADHD & Autism Diagnosis, Burnout & Finding Freedom in Midlife l EP40

Have you ever felt like you were working twice as hard as everyone else — just to cope? If you've ever been told you're "too sensitive," struggled with overwhelm, burnout, or that nagging sense of being different without knowing why — this episode is for you.

In this episode of The Midlife Awakening, Odilia sits down with Isobel Lepist — ADHD coach, neuro-inclusion consultant, and founder of At the Millpond — who built an extraordinary international career across the UK, Angola, Berlin, and The Hague, while privately exhausted and masked.

At 52, Isobel received a dual diagnosis of ADHD and Autism — a moment she describes as equal parts relief and grief. Relief, because her life finally made sense. Grief, for the decades spent blaming herself for neurological differences.

In this episode:

•        Why high-achieving women are so frequently missed in ADHD and autism diagnosis

•        What masking really is — and what it costs you over decades

•        How burnout is an access issue, not a character flaw

•        The link between ADHD, dopamine, impulsivity, and relationship vulnerability

•        Why "functioning" does not mean thriving

•        Practical strategies for nervous system regulation, executive function, and building a life that works with your brain

Whether you suspect you may be neurodivergent, are in burnout recovery, or simply feel like you've never quite been able to keep up the way others seem to — this conversation will leave you feeling deeply seen.

🌐 Connect with Isobel Lepist:

Website: www.atthemillpond.co.uk

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/isobel-lepist-a0b72a43

Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583383604976

Novel (The Event by I.G. Lepist): Available on Amazon

Transcript

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The Midlife Awakening (00:00)
Welcome back to the Midlife Awakening, a podcast where we have real, raw and deeply honest conversations about healing, identity and what it truly means to come home to yourself in the second half of life. I'm your host, Odelia, and today's guest is someone whose story I know is going to stop so many of you in your tracks, because it might just be your story too. Isabel Lepest spent nearly three decades building an extraordinary international career. She worked across the UK, Angola, Berlin and The Hague.

collaborating with over 90 nationalities and earning awards for innovation and leadership. From the outside, she was exceptional. On the inside, however, she was exhausted, anxious and quietly convinced that something was fundamentally wrong with her. At 52, Isabel received a dual diagnosis of ADHD and autism.

A moment she describes as equal parts relief and grief. Relief because her entire life suddenly made sense. But grief for the decades spent blaming herself for differences that weren't neurological, not personal.

Since then, Isabel has retrained as an ADHD coach and founded At the Mill Pond, where she supports neurodivergent adults, primarily women aged 18 to 80, with executive functioning, emotional regulation, burnout recovery, and self-compassion. She also consults with organizations on neuro-inclusive workplace practices, helping employers build environments where neurodivergent people can actually thrive. Today, we're going deep. We're talking about what masking really costs you.

why burnout is an access issue and not a character flaw, the very real link between ADHD, impulsivity and relationship vulnerability, and what it feels like to finally stop fighting yourself and start building a life that fits your brain. If you ever felt like you were working twice as hard as everyone else just to cope, this one is for you. Let's dive in.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (01:57)
Welcome to the Midlife Awakening podcast. I'm your host, Odilia. This is a podcast about transformation for women who are waking up to who they really are while navigating everything that comes with midlife. And I want you to know I'm on this journey right alongside you.

This is the show where we explore everything from the spiritual tools that can help us in our daily practices to healing modalities that we can use to heal what we've been carrying for so long to the everyday midlife topics that a midlife woman faces like perimenopause, finances, career changes, and so much more. Each week we go deeper into what it means to heal, to awaken, and to finally become the most authentic version of yourself. I'm so glad that you found your way here.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (02:45)
So Isabel, welcome to See the Midlife Awakening. I'm so glad that you're here and to have you on today.

Isobel Lepist (02:50)
Thank you. Thank you very much for having me.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (02:52)
you have such a powerful story and I know our listeners are going to feel so seen by this conversation. before we dive in, can you introduce yourself in your own words and tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Isobel Lepist (03:02)
My name is Isabel. I'm often known as Izzy for short. I'm nearly 56. Recently, diagnosed with ADHD and autism. I have spent 25, 30 years in the corporate world

I was in global roles in the energy and global logistics sector and then retrained as an ADHD specific coach. most of my clients are actually autistic as well, similar to myself. And largely they're women who are in a corporate environment or studying, often high achieving, high performing individuals looking to thrive rather than survive.

So that's the potted version. Was there anything else you'd like me to add to that?

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (03:41)
No, mean

that's perfect. So you spent decades building this extraordinary international career working across the UK, Angola, Berlin, The Hague, collaborating with over 90 nationalities, if I'm correct. So on the outside that must have looked really incredible, but what was really going on on the inside?

Isobel Lepist (03:58)
was very hard, but it was exciting and it was very good. mean, what's important for me is to have intellectual stretch because my brain needs stuff that's hard. it's a double edged sword. So I do enjoy problem solving, difficult things. And it is important to do things that scare you a little, I think. It's good for you, but there is a price to pay for that.

Because of the processing time that I need, which is longer than other people, and my difficulty in assimilating or following instructions, so the format in which information comes at me can only be processed in a certain way. that can make certain situations very, very challenging. I have probably invested more hours than

I should have done or should needed to have done and perhaps more compared to others because of those things and I didn't know why. So I was often ill, fatigued and stressed and we're talking debilitating anxiety brought on by that. So when people hear and learn about ADHD, they may think, oh, it's just a bit of inattentiveness and distractibility and

forgetting things and you know there are some serious aspects to it that can affect one's life quite significantly and anxiety and stress is one of them certainly something that I've experienced that made life very difficult so getting to places travel is probably the one of most stressful things for me I absolutely hate flying and one role I

flew every week to the Hague or to Schiphol. I had shingles like three or four times a year. I was just shattered. I'm doing contractor hours, so 12, 13, 14 hour days, and back to back. But the job itself was great. People were great. But yeah, the physical and mental cost was very, very high.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (05:56)
Yeah. And so here you are, you're working twice as hard as anyone else because of your processing needs and you're flying back and forth, which is not good for your anxiety. So for women in the audience who recognize that, that exhaustion of just keep, you're obviously exhausted, but you keep going. So what do you think is actually happening for you neurologically?

Isobel Lepist (06:12)
Yes.

Well, there's sensory overload which you can not necessarily be aware of. mean certain things you aware of where things just do your head in and there's too much but you can actually be overwhelmed and not actually realise that that is what it is. So going into an airport for instance for me is like walking into a rock concert and I now through diagnosis and research and understanding myself

Like today I went to Sainsbury's. I would never dream of going into a supermarket without my noise cancelling headphones on because I just can't do it. So going into an airport for a start was just so stressful, overwhelming that you just want to curl up into a little ball. And as soon as I got to my hotel, is pretty much what I did because I was just exhausted and my ears would be ringing and it would just be...

taking cover really.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (07:07)
I think you've described that pretty well about what's happening for you neurologically. When you're, when you're, yeah.

Isobel Lepist (07:11)
I mean, that's just one aspect. Yes.

and I think also just to add to that, if that's okay, is that in ADHD brains, the neurotransmitters work differently and the brain structure is different for a neurodivergent person. So most ADHDs, it's not the same for everybody because everybody is different and can have other co, I don't like the word, comorbidities or other conditions that, you know, makes the interface with the world different.

But often dopamine or neuroadrenaline can be at very low activity levels. So what happens is that if it's low, the transporters kind of suck it away so it doesn't stay in the neural pathways as long as it does for a non-neurodivergent person. So your motivation can be lacking and also you record the message, there's no payoff because you don't feel and sense the dopamine.

the pleasure, the fulfillment, the satisfaction. And it's your system is saying to you, what's the payoff? What's the point? What's the payoff? So to actually continue to drive yourself forward to complete and finish or instigate can be very, very hard. And that is one of the reasons. That's a very simplistic explanation of what is happening. So to actually

motivate yourself or to focus and sustain that level of focus requires strategies, brain training. And for me, most recently, it's been able to come about through understanding self-compassion as well, but also understanding the neuroscience. it's not my fault. there's an explanation and you can.

devise ways of managing how one's operating system works. So you can work optimally. But when you're employed full time, required to deliver on a job, there's very little room to be able to accommodate what you're actually needing to be able to do to perform the best. You just have to step up and crack on and deliver whether it

Does you in or not? It's just the reality of it.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (09:12)
And I can really relate to that. And sometimes what you can end up doing is because you're not getting that hit, you then procrastinate until it's the very last minute. And then now you're under pressure.

Isobel Lepist (09:19)
To create, yeah.

So you're actually through lastminute.com, you're creating adrenaline to do the sprint finish, which is highly stressful because it doesn't always go according to plan, but it is the conditions that you need. But there are ways of bottling that in a way to help

create conditions so that you can actually deliver on things differently and work with how your brain performs rather than against it.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (09:51)
We'll talk a little bit about that later on in the episode. But yeah, something else I want to touch on the noise thing where you mentioned going into Tesco. I never knew that that was part of... Would that be part of your ADHD or your autism or a little bit of both?

Isobel Lepist (10:06)
I think it could be both. I think commonly the sensorial sort of overload is often recognized as very much an autistic thing. But, you know, ADHD brains and bodies, think also neurodivergent people, we're sensitive to temperature, smell, all sorts of things that other people don't notice. So for me, I think perhaps it's a combination of the two. It's not always possible to separate it out.

but smell, sound, electricity, the hum, you don't notice it. So if you ever have headphones and experiment, go into the supermarket and put your noise cancelling thing on and then you just open your headphone like that, you will hear the din. You will notice it. Whereas when you walk in, you're just like, it's not really apparent, but...

There's so much lighting, overhead lights. I have a real problem with this light in my face. You know, I don't like these bright overhead lights. So people often see me, they're going, well, look, it's the sun in your eyes. I'm like, no, no, no, it's just, I just can't stand the light. I can't think straight because the lights, you know, where it...

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (11:10)
Wow, that's really interesting to talk about and I'm sure we'll come onto it as we go through. So that really comes into the environments that you're in. ⁓ Especially if you're working for yourself, you can sort of control it. But if you're not working for yourself, you're working for corporates, you really do need those adjustments to be put in place to help you so that you can be focused and productive.

Isobel Lepist (11:17)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Yes, mean there's what they call reasonable adjustments which can often be technical, ergonomic, but that's not just what you need. You need a manager or a leader who really knows how to aid their team member or colleague to perform to their best regardless of whether they're neurodivergent or not. And it's how do I help you perform the best?

because for example moons ago I had an excellent manager who's now retired and I would say you know if there's deliverables she says well that's not you know priority now I said you have to give me a deadline because if you don't give me a deadline it ain't gonna happen so so we agreed ways of working that work well

for me. So it isn't just having a quiet space to be able to sit with your headphones on and cut yourself off and the lights low and not be hassled by background noise. It's more extensive than that. It's not just physical, it's spiritual if you like, just like anybody, any human being. And I also, I've said this many times that the corporate environment

is not necessarily particularly humane for individuals who aren't neurodivergent. You we used to have back-to-back meetings where you're literally running for the loop because the one, you know, where there's no gap between Zoom meetings or you've got a meeting and there's no time to eat and I'm somebody who needs to graze because boom and bust with...

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (13:04)
Yes.

Isobel Lepist (13:17)
sugar, thirsty and I can discover that I'm really thirsty and really, really hungry and not realise. I'd be very, very uncomfortable. So there's lots of things about the workplace that can afford to change in many, many ways anyway. But yeah, I think people and employers perhaps need to understand it's not just tick box exercise with setting somebody up physically. It's all of the things and it's ongoing because our symptoms can exacerbate

because it's highly situational. Just because we were able to do something brilliantly yesterday does not necessarily mean we can do it equally brilliantly today. There are factors that can affect, just like anybody, but to the extreme. And everything is in the extreme. think particularly with ADHD as well, there's no middle ground. So when you're tired, you're absolutely wiped out. And when you have an emotional reaction to something in a meeting, for example, it's huge.

and your heart's palpitating and you're trying not to.

you know, say something.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (14:12)
No, I can definitely relate to that, definitely. So let's go back to when you received your dual diagnosis. So you were diagnosed with both ADHD and autism. And was that, was there some parts of you that were relieved and some parts of you that were grieving? Could you take us back to that moment?

Isobel Lepist (14:26)
Yeah,

there was quite a lot of things going on. So I had the formal diagnosis for ADHD and I met the criteria for autism, which I already knew that I would. And that's why I didn't pursue the formal diagnosis for autism. It's in my family. I knew that, but later then went on to understand how much more autistic I was than I actually realized.

So it was, and it starts before the diagnosis that there is a run-up period where you've made a decision that you, for whatever reason, it is different for different people. Cause I really was shocked at the idea that I could be ADHD. It didn't connect for me. It didn't resonate at all. I didn't know anything about it, but was only when I read an article about anxiety, I was researching anxiety. Cause I'd got to the point where I was thinking,

All of my strategies and tactics and ways of working are no longer enough. Menopause kicks in and your energy levels are taken up with dealing with whatever's going on, new things going on with your body. So the mask of pretending to be a, you know, dare I say it, normal person, it was just taking up too much juice. And I was still suffering from the, you know,

anxiety. And this is where I found this article about this. And it discovered it was a lady with ADHD who was talking and I was like, flipping it, am I allowed to say that? This is like, ⁓ this is is me and how can that be possible? So I was so shocked. And that's why I think I also needed the the diagnosis because I thought no, I'm just being self indulgent here. I'm just losing the plot here and making stuff up and and I just need to know, really.

I am somebody that is, I was working in data, I need evidence, need proof, need referencing, I need articles, need to do the research and stuff like that. So that's why it was important for me. So there was that whole thing where I thought, no, yes, so you're going up this, can't be, yes I am. How very dare you spend, because I went private, that diagnosis, because I'm inpatient.

How dare you spend so much money on something that's self-indulgent? That's how I felt it was. So there was all of that, and I very nearly cancelled on two occasions. But it wasn't just that, it was also the stuff that you have to read and the questionnaires that you have to fill in. A sort of self-reporting, if you like. And there was one from my family member or my parent and looking at your childhood. So it was very much like... ⁓

You know, you've got all your stuff sorted and it's nice and sitting at the bottom of the water and you've got your clear water and it's like someone's just gone and shaken it all up and it was very unsettling, the whole thing. It made me feel very vulnerable and fragile and weird and very peculiar because a lot of stuff had to be dredged up. And then there's the actual assessment itself.

and then afterwards. there's the before, the thing, and then afterwards. It was very, very helpful, more than anything. But it was, I was sad looking back at the girl and the young woman.

because it was quite clearly obvious to me, not that making excuses, because we take accountability and responsible for actions, and we look at how do we make the future better. But I felt quite Sad for her, because had some really, really awful things, not great things happen. And I think with the knowledge and the empowerment I have now,

That would never have happened to me. And I think that was what really drove me to help other women and girls and men to take the shortcut. I'd taken 40, 50 years to get to the point of enlightenment, if you like, but a better place to be able to manage my life well, understand myself and be kind to myself. And the coaching was just like mind blowing that

I retrained to be the coach so that people would not have to take 40, 50 years, but have a 12 week program that's really gonna help, really gonna help or give them an advantage for them then to build on and work with. Because it just horrified me. Because of the things that have happened, I'm a domestic abuse survivor, I've had some things happen.

that because I realized how vulnerable I was as well. I couldn't read people's intentions, interpret behavior, how I came across people would misinterpret because I was just being nice, unwanted attention. There are some rather horrifying statistics about

neurodivergent individuals, particularly women with ADHD, homelessness, domestic abuse, harmful relationships, sexual assault, all of these things, because fundamentally it does have this extra layer of vulnerability, which is frightening and very, very worrying when you think about young girls in school who are often not diagnosed and they themselves don't realise

how to look after, take care of themselves and understand what is actually going on. Because ADHD can mean unfavourable life outcomes. It can do. If it's not diagnosed or it's not managed well.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (19:37)
Wow, I didn't even, I mean, you hear a lot about ADHD and autism and you, you know, but you never think about it in that, from that perspective. Wow. And I mean, I did have a question around that, around how does ADHD affect us in relationships? Do we become more vulnerable to things like love bombing and limerence? Yeah. Yeah. Because of the, and because, is it because of the dopamine hits that we're looking for?

Isobel Lepist (19:56)
Yeah, limerence. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yes.

Yes, and I think also validity, approval. I mean, it also depends on your upbringing, your attachment, perhaps if you've had attachment disorder, you know, or trauma, early life trauma, which I've also experienced. All of these things can sort of bring about a very, unhelpful mix, if you like. So, yes, there are these, the boundaries.

of keeping yourself safe, impulsivity, reacting rather than responding to that dopamine. So yes, you can get into some real sticky situations or dive headlong into something without really, really thinking. I I've really noticed, I to notice how there were other individuals in my life who I admired and respected and they seemed to be able to make

calm, rational, and I put this in my novel actually, because I've written a novel, a thriller, and my main protagonist, these things are highlighted and talked about, or, you know, that other people seem to be able to have a linear progression through life and think about things and, you know, we're able to have a level of, not assertiveness, but a certain amount of agency, self,

respect and determination, self-determination. I mean, I had all of those things that I had desires and aspirations, but I couldn't necessarily fulfill them, because I just didn't know how to. And some of our factory settings are not in place, and we have to learn the boundaries to set, to say, I'm not doing that. No, I'm not doing that now. I'll have to wait, think about it.

act in it. there's lots of things that I've learned. Impulsivity, yeah, we can all do silly things, but sometimes we can make some very expensive mistakes. Just as an example, many moons ago, walked into Ford's of Winnsford, big car showroom for a Citroen Picasso and came out with a Mitsubishi Shogun.

Yeah, I've done some, you know, it's not about adrenaline seeking, throwing myself off a building, bungee jumping or roller coasters. Can't stand anything like that. So the impulsivity can affect you long term. Yeah.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (22:09)
I mean, I didn't even think about ADHD and autism from that perspective. You think when people talk about it, you just think like, you know, making adjustments for your environment, learning new simple routines, but you've really taken it to a whole other level in terms of, yeah, like your vulnerability, even in relationships, the impulsivity. And do think the impulsivity paired with people pleasing could be quite...

Isobel Lepist (22:29)
you

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (22:33)
I mean, that could be quite a dangerous combination on Earth.

Isobel Lepist (22:36)
It can, because often what you find, and also with my clients, when we look at strengths and saboteurs, that the, it's very, very, it's a commonality, if you like, that overplayed strengths is people pleasing, giving, high empaths. And when you've got that, plus the vulnerability and in danger of being a foil for a narcissistic personality, you can be in trouble, you know, because you have this strong desire to

give, to love, to fix, rescue, to save and take on the emotions of others. And if you're not aware of that, you can end up being totally exhausted and consumed by the emotional state of other people or that your partner. And that can be extremely damaging and unhealthy. And the empathy is a

a marvelous quality But in good measure, because everything, as I say, with ADHD in my experience is extremes. There is no middle ground. You can also have this with no empathy whatsoever, or extreme, and you're blubbing your heart out for no apparent reason over something and getting all caught up in it, where you want to try and aim for

the middle with most things. So, I mean, this is the thing, I've done some LinkedIn posts about it, like it's, you know, done, not done, now, not now, you know, everything is that or that, and it's very difficult to cruise in the middle.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (24:09)
Yeah, yeah. And I've definitely seen that with myself. I think I was people pleasing for very long time. So it was like overly giving overly being empathetic with everybody else and exactly what you've just said giving just giving so much to everybody else. And then I've sort of hit perimenopause and I think I've gone completely the other direction where I'm like, no, no, I'm not doing it. No. And yeah, this but there is no middle ground. It's either a complete yes, over giving or

Isobel Lepist (24:28)
Hmm. Yeah.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (24:35)
complete note and just leave me alone. Yeah.

Isobel Lepist (24:37)
Yeah, yeah,

because you do have to take care of yourself and love yourself. I know the lady who trained me, Leanne Maskell, she always said you put your, you know, in a plane, you always put your oxygen, your own oxygen mask on first before you help others. Quite like that analogy, but yeah, so.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (24:55)
And that's hard for any woman, whether you're neurodiverse or not. I think the self-love thing is it's very, very difficult because of the way, because of culture really, the way we raised as women. Yeah. So it is very, very difficult for us to find that self-love. ⁓

Isobel Lepist (25:05)
⁓ yes. Yes.

Yeah, because

we are products of our generation. We also can have culture, generational trauma, And then How you process things can make life events more traumatic than they would necessarily be for somebody else.

and the healing process for trauma can be complex and difficult for that reason. So yes, it's complicated.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (25:34)
⁓ And there's definitely this emergence and all this awareness now of women being late diagnosed. And why do you think that is? I mean, I don't know what the percentages of women that have ADHD, but it definitely seems like there's more of an awareness now. Why do you think that is?

Isobel Lepist (25:51)
So I there's a greater understanding about how things show up because the actual criteria generally apply to, well, obviously with medical things, often they apply to male white individuals or children. So the assessments, a lot of example, I was saying, no, no, no, no, no, didn't have that because my...

Often with women and girls, it's internalized, so it's not necessarily seen or attributed. And the symptom of it, like anxiety, is identified more commonly. And the other things overlooked. And I don't think it's necessarily through bad medical practice or anything like that. I just think that the criteria

research, I know it's ongoing because I've looked into it, needs to be looked at to, you know, capture it and be able to recognise it in women and girls. So, you know, it can look very, different. Zoning out, quiet, not understanding the instructions in the classroom, being too shy to say, you explain that to me again?

fear of being stupid because that's how I felt. It was the person sitting next to me that educated me most of the time because they would explain things to me because I just thought I was just thick and stupid but in other areas I was exceptional. So again, no middle ground extremes and stuff. So yeah, I think with women and girls it's that sort of understanding of how it shows up.

is far, far greater than it was.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (27:23)
And also I think masking plays a part in it because we tend to mask it a lot more than boys.

Isobel Lepist (27:25)
Yes. Yes.

Yes, think, you know, there's certain expectations of women and of girls because of the roles that we play. So we are programmed often to be mothers. We may be bringing up other back end of the family. know, the older sister, daughter can be bringing up the younger children. Conditioning, compliance.

You've seen and not heard, you just crack on, you have to be polite, have good, nice manners, deportment, know, whereas, you know, little boys, it's their job, you know, they're going to be help to become men, you know? So physicality, hyperactivity, boisterousness, that's all normal and part of development. But

women and girls masking and also fitting in and not being any trouble is very, very important. And particularly for teenagers, teenage years are so hard. Your brain is developing and you...

You so desperately want to express yourself as an individual, through doing that, you end up being the same as everybody else, because you ultimately want to be part of the pack and fit in. you are, I mean, I did, I just, I mean, I think some of the, I mean, I have an old friend from high school, but from junior school, don't have any friends from then. And I think they would be horrified to hear about, they would have no idea, never guess.

because I was expert ⁓ at fitting in.

and meeting expectations, but it didn't always work.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (28:56)
So if you think between spanning from your school years to corporate world, can you share some of masking examples that you had put in place? Like you said, your friend next to you would would explain the instructions to you.

Isobel Lepist (29:11)
Yeah, so I mean, I had exceptional ability with language writing, reading. I mean, couldn't necessarily read what I'd written, but you know, so I did all sorts of whirs and things. I still get my Bs and Ds the wrong way around. But yes, it would be a case of, you know, the teacher does their thing and it would be like...

what are we doing? And they'll go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

You know, and I'd keep my head, you know, I just don't know how to do it and, you know, often not do it. You know, and we're talking 1970s classroom here, 1980s, when I was like, you know, it's not as different now. There's a lot more scrutiny. You know, you could, particularly in maths, yeah. I did my maths, it's interesting, I got my degree first before I got my maths.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (30:00)
Okay, okay.

Isobel Lepist (30:01)
But I love maths now and I'm quite good at maths. So it just shows you, you your neurodevelopment and how you, you know, they talk about late developers. Well, I was certainly a late developer when it came to maths. But nobody seemed to be that bothered that I could draw like an adult when I was a teenager and read and write in languages and taught myself like different alphabets for kicks. was, had a reading age, you know,

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (30:03)
Yeah.

Isobel Lepist (30:23)
know, first year high school when people went round the room about like, is anybody reading anything? You know, what are you reading? and they'd be like, you know, Jacqueline Wilson or Enid Blighton or whatever. Like, what are you, you know, and I put my hand up, Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. And the teacher would be like, right, moving on. Or, you know, they just...

Anyway, and then you just feel like a complete and total weirdo and then you would not bother telling anybody anything ever again after that. And also very early childhood, mean, I've said in some of the interviews that I've done is that when I did have a maths meltdown, this is like first year, junior school, I think, do they call it year three now?

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (30:45)
Yes.

Isobel Lepist (31:00)
Yeah, so after Infants, was first year juniors, I had a bit of a meltdown about my maths and I was just so frustrated because I just couldn't do it. I swept the maths book off the table and it went... The teacher was horrified, so horrified because up to that point I was quite a good girl and was kept very able writing, drawing, you know, of the rest of it.

So this was just like, whereas the other little boy who was constantly naughty and disruptive, that was okay. But for me to do this, she was like, her face was just like, God, children like you, children who behave like you will end up in prison. And I was like.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (31:37)
Wow.

Isobel Lepist (31:37)
So I didn't get any help with my maths and that sort of taught me to write, you don't express your emotions, especially because it was extreme in that, you and you had to be very careful about there was obviously something wrong with me because I thought I was extremely thick and stupid because I couldn't do the maths thing and that I behaved and I was out of control and I was totally confused because I was somebody who was ultra compliant, strictly brought up.

I mean, to breathe. You know, I came from that sort of cultural upbringing. My dad was a refugee and you, you know.

because we had everything. You just had to crack on and you were going to be brilliant. Everything. You had to be. And you would be good. So it was very confusing. Very confusing.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (32:22)
Yeah,

yeah, that could really mess with your mind. Absolutely, especially at a young age like that. Yeah, yeah. And I think this happens a lot for girls. Like, you know, you have to be the good girl, like you said. So any bad behavior, you get reprimanded. ⁓ But the boys, because that's expected of boys, it's almost, it's fine, right? And you can also, you can already.

Isobel Lepist (32:25)
Hmm. Well, it did. It did. Yeah.

Mmm.

Mm.

Yes, that's right.

and I think, you know, women can get caught up in that, can't they? That even without being your divergent, if you're loud and assertive, you're bossy rather than all... You've got, you know, you're assertive and leadership qualities and you're strong and you, you know, you your own mind. Why is that unfeminine?

You know, so, yeah, was very confusing and school was very, very difficult. Because on one hand, it was, you know, I got the intellectual stretch and on other hand, was socially, environmentally pretty hellish.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (33:15)
And how was it forming friendships for you because you did mention about not being able to read other people's intentions.

Isobel Lepist (33:22)
Yeah, I think with other girls, I mean, I only had one or two very close friends. I couldn't have buddies and I still have one or two very close friends. And I've still got the one from first year high school, the day we met. So, yeah, generally they're all, all of my friends are, had them for decades. We pick up where we left off.

I don't think I have any difficulty, but it's usually when it's one-on-one and you've got something in common to talk about, that's okay, but throw me into a room or a party, I'll just want to dive for cover and hide. Unless it's a group of people that I've worked with, like for instance, I'm a part of an arts and drama group and we put on a play and a show and there was an after party, no difficulty with that. So, yeah.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (34:10)
Interesting.

Okay, so it depends on the environment too. That plays a big factor. Yeah.

Isobel Lepist (34:14)
Absolutely it does, yeah, yeah,

yeah.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (34:16)
So you use the phrase, functioning does not mean thriving. So can you unpack that a little bit for us, for the listeners?

Isobel Lepist (34:19)
Hmm.

Yeah, this hyper achieving is fine, but I think there can be a cost for it. And it's recognizing, through the self-awareness and the coaching program develops true self-awareness, because we all think I'm self-aware, you know, but when it comes to awareness of one's neurodivergence and how it shows up.

as different and to ⁓ truly understand it and how it manifests itself I've found to be super important so that I achieve hyper achieve perform well without paying too a too higher cost for it. I've also learnt about good enough.

fit for purpose. And then you've got enough fuel in the tank to go for broke on the things that you really, really want to impression about and you've got enough energy left for it. Because you can invest all of your energy into all the negative things or swimming against the current. If you're completely acting contra to your strengths.

it becomes self-sabotage. So it's getting acquainted with all of that and understanding that. And that takes work, some degree of introspection, why the coaching has changed everything to really put a spotlight on how, what, and you know, to, you know, it's a bit like,

I mean it worked, always continuous improvement and efficiency in lean and agile models. Well yeah, you can use the similar sort of things with project management methodology, agile, and apply it to your own home. mean, like women and girls, we're all like estate managers, aren't we? We've got a house to run, we've got things. And also how you work, you can actually apply all of these theories and practices to your own advantage with how your own operating system works.

You know, I could sprint in the morning, have a huddle with myself and sprint in the morning. And then I know that it will wear off by about half past 11. And then I therefore need to go and do the things that require, you know, when the engine is running idle, ticking over, I'll go and maybe mow the lawn or I'll pull up some weeds. I'll put the washing out and I'll be thinking, hmm. And then energize, refuel.

spark plugs have gone off, I'm like, all right, I can do that. So, you know, certain things will generate dopamine and then I will surf the wave to do the things that are hard. I did speak, did publicly speak recently and did a post about it is that, you know, often in the corporate environment, I was constantly told, you swallow the frog first. What is that all about? You know, like when we were a kid, you have to eat your greens first before you can eat, have your pudding.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (36:57)
Yes.

Isobel Lepist (37:03)
Well, with an ADHD brain, that doesn't work. You if you want your pudding first, eat your pudding if it's gonna give you what you need to get all the other stuff done. So for me, something that is rewarding and with guaranteed payoff is essential to get started. So you start with that and then with the motivation, the satisfaction and the fulfillment, because you know it would be short-lived, you ride that and you go and do the next thing that's really like,

horrible light, I don't know, renewing your car insurance or checking your insurance covers your keys because you lost them like I did the other day. You know, that sort of thing. So all of these things, if looking at what drains your energy, what gives you energy, and that can directly influence how you structure your day. I mean, I am very privileged and very, very fortunate in that I work for myself now and I can structure my day that plays directly

into my strengths and how my brain system operates. it keeps me energized, energy levels good, mood is constant. I mean, it's not infallible. I'm not saying it's perfect. I'm not fixed. There's no such thing. You live with it all the time. And some days I'll think, I haven't got ADHD. What a load of nonsense. I'm having a really great day.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (37:58)
I'm not sad yet.

Isobel Lepist (38:17)
⁓ And then it's like, huh, yeah, right, well, you know. So, yeah, each day is different and it can catch you out. Like when I went to Sainsbury's today, for some reason I just felt suddenly really, suddenly really anxious. I've got my headphones on. I think, what, why is that? What's that all about? And it's a habit. can learn habits. think, no, no, no, this is okay.

I've got a structure, got a direction, I know what I'm doing and I will come out with what I went in for and it's going to be fine. Because I went as soon as the shop opened because I have to go when it's empty, I can't go when there's other people there. But yeah, can put everything you can in place but there will be moments when it perhaps might leak down but you're in a much stronger place to recover from and to take action and think...

This is what this is. It's okay. I can manage and deal with this. I will. And this moment will pass.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (39:12)
So this is like a different level of self-awareness really. Yes.

Isobel Lepist (39:14)
Yes, yes, completely.

Yeah, yeah. But it's switched on, that mode, 24-7. It has to be, because you, there's no off button.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (39:23)
It's because of you are and you're living in a system that's not actually built for you. So you just have to...

Isobel Lepist (39:24)
Yeah, yeah.

But it does have its gifts, you know. I I wrote the book and I do art and drama and embroidery and lots of things. I have to have lots of different things, you know. So, you know, the active imagination. So a lot of the things that I wrote were, you know, perhaps ideas when I was looking out the window, maybe in a meeting.

⁓ So that's, you know, it's always at work all of the time. So that helped me write the novel. I did that for escapism and for kicks. And I did finish it.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (39:51)
you

done. Yeah.

Isobel Lepist (39:59)
which was an achievement.

Because I started two or three novels, wrote the first one when I was nine, never finished it, wrote the next one when was like 13, never finished it, had one on the go for a while, never got it out of my brain. So I got it out of my brain, I got it on paper, then I got it into a computer, and then it took me six months to write it, and then took me 18 months to edit the thing. So, and then, yeah, got it out there.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (40:22)
Yeah, you're speaking my language. I think I've got like four books that I've started writing.

Isobel Lepist (40:31)
Yeah, yeah, so now I've got short stories and I was sitting in the... I can't say that. Sitting

on the loo, I was thinking, I've got another idea for a short story. Because I thought, why do I write novels then? If I can't finish them, why don't I just write short stories as well? So was like, yeah. So I've got... Yeah, so I'm on, yeah. And I'm starting the sequel for the novel as well, because I love my characters and I miss them. But that, again, it's highly situational. I have to be really in the right mood. I can't have too much of the stuff.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (40:38)
You

that's a good idea.

going on. yeah, absolutely. And how much does nervous system play into it? like keeping your nervous system regulated? How important is that for someone who's neurodiverse

Isobel Lepist (40:59)
going on. Yeah.

Very, because that's everything. I mean, like I said, it's intrinsic, you can't get away from it. So, and I think all of those things that I've described about playing to your strengths and understanding when you're optimal actually helps staying regulated. So there's no one trick that will keep you regulated. It's a way of life that keeps you regulated for me.

So the coaching and the structure and the direction that I have for a day, what I do when, what I eat, when I eat, how I exercise, routines, those sorts of things have a massive influence on staying okay and in control of my life because before I was not in control of my own life.

because I wasn't in control of my ADHD symptoms or even my autistic symptoms that were not always conducive to achieving what I was trying to achieve. So it's a whole thing. I mean, do stim. I didn't know that I needed to. And I didn't actually know that that is what I did. So I do do it. And I actually find...

I was sitting next to my mum the other day and she's like, stop jiggling your knee. And I'm like, I have to jiggle my knee. She goes, yeah, but it's annoying. I said, well, I don't think that you, I have to, because it keeps you sort of able to stay in the moment, but not get the panic. So you're not overwhelmed by the senses because your body is kept in rhythm and stimulated by something else.

I had no idea the value that that offered me. had a lovely lady that I had a call with and she very kindly sent me a wearable stim thing. And I lost it and then I found it and I thought I can't possibly wear something because I can't stand things on me. And then I found it and I was sitting there and I was like and I actually found that absentmindedly I was

popping this thing and rubbing this thing the whole time. think, this is great. I am super chilled. you know, so I, you know, I say to my clients, it's about experiment. We can't possibly know what we need until we explore and figure it out. I haven't got all the answers, but you know, even now I'm just learning every day. learn every day from clients who have certain things that they do.

or books that they've read, you know, it's great learning experience as well to find out what other people do to help themselves that can be shared or taken on yourself or shared with somebody else. Because it's not static, it's evolving all of the time. So lives are always changing in a situation, as I said, you have to find what works for that particular moment and that...

particular thing that's going on. So yeah, the stimming thing. Yeah, totally amazingly light bulb moment thing.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (43:55)
And had you always been doing that with your knee and you only just realized it or were you always aware of it?

Isobel Lepist (43:59)
Yeah, well,

foot jiggling and finger sort of fiddling and I would always be doing it in the meeting like this. So I'd have different things I hadn't actually realised. But what I also did was where I didn't and I would be stuck still because you are expected to be absolutely still. And when I was younger and little and I would sit, we'd watch the telly and I'd sit in between my grandparents and you weren't allowed to stop fidgeting.

and it would just be awful. And it's just stress and overwhelm and you then start to realize about the, that you then become aware of the sensory overload. So, but I've just sort of discovered, this is a discovery journey, that that is what that was all about, you know. And why I would say I would go sensory seeking certain things. We can laugh about it now.

mom and I, where I would do things like, I mean, some kids are like cutting, cutting things, sensation of cutting things with scissors. I got to the curtains, but I went from my dad's razor blades, you know, I was quite little and we had those, you remember little boxes of like Wilkinson sword razor blades, yeah, climbed up and got those and thought, they look interesting, get one of those out, know, finger chop, you know, anyway, cutting things with them, cutting, slicing, because it's literally like,

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (45:12)
Yes, a little blade.

Isobel Lepist (45:13)
Magic, the way a razor blade

can go through stuff. hot water bottles, hot water bottles full. Needle, sensation of sticking a needle into a full hot water bottle. ⁓ my God. And we had five or six and I did them all.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (45:22)
You

Isobel Lepist (45:24)
Yeah, so anyway, we can laugh about it now, but yeah, that's the sort of things that I would just go off exploring, looking for stuff to get into because everything was fascinating.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (45:25)
Interesting. Yeah.

Isobel Lepist (45:37)
And I was, you know, interesting. I was curious. And I think something I heard the other day actually, was it something I read on Facebook? Can't remember. Curiosity. It's a ADHD thing which is really great and that we should champion it, praise it, value it, because our curious brains that we have in childhood do not change. We have, I think, or it certainly applies to me, the curiosity levels still.

kid and that's why I find it very hard to stick it because I'm into everything I want to know about everything

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (46:08)
I'm the same. have I don't know how many courses I've signed up for. tell you. I started making. Yeah, I started making a list the other day and I stopped and I was like, my God, this is.

Isobel Lepist (46:12)
Yeah, yeah, because you don't want to be just thinking, you want, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

did bonkers things like I had to learn how to ice skate. I had to be brilliant at ice skating. Slightly dyspraxic, so my partner, who's a very good figure skater by the way, very annoying, had the most terrible time teaching me how to ice skate. Why couldn't I do it? Meltdowns, tears, had to be able to do it. Pursued it for like two years. I've forgotten about that now. Never put my ice skates on since. Had a horse, itch I scratched, next, you know.

and slightly less expensive and bonkers. I've got a hobby room and sometimes the door's shut. I'll forget it's there. And I'll go in and like, ooh, crikey, yes, yes, I remember that now. Because I love being on a baking binge. I'm into baking at the moment. Well, I've always been into baking, massive foodie, love making bread, cakes, all of that. And yeah, I can be very monotropic.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (47:01)
yes.

Isobel Lepist (47:10)
massively into that and then you forget all about all of the other things in life. It's like I'll have a full-on conversation with somebody and then there's anything else to add. yeah, I wrote a novel. yeah, I completely forgot. Because the things just take up so much of your capacity stealers.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (47:28)
Yes, yes. And I find even with reading books, right, so I've got a lot of books I love reading, but I have to be reading at least three or four books at the same time because if I'm reading a book for too long, like if I'm focused on just reading this book, I get bored with it or I feel like, ⁓ it's just getting too much. I need, I need something different. So I'm always reading like three or four books at the same time. So I alternate between them just because if I focus too much and this is a really, really good book.

Isobel Lepist (47:36)
Right.

Right.

Right.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (47:54)
like really good. Yes, yes I will.

Isobel Lepist (47:55)
Well you'll have to read mine then, see what you think.

be mortified if you'd want to put that down for something else but anyway I didn't feel like I failed, FAILED

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (48:00)
I mean, I mean,

but I think it's like my brain just gets, it's like it becomes overwhelmed and too much. And then I I need to move on to the next thing to stimulate, re-stimulated. And so I'm always moving. It's very, I think maybe it's one or two books that I've actually finished reading in one sitting. I always have to change it up. Like, otherwise I just get, my brain just can't. And I need, I need to move on. need something else just to reset. And then I come back.

Isobel Lepist (48:07)
overloaded. Yeah.

Yes, yes.

Yes. I don't know what you mean with that.

you can have too much of a good thing and then you have to drop it and move on to something else. So yeah, I mean I am inconsistently inconsistent. Consistently inconsistent, I think is what I was saying. That's what I meant to say.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (48:29)
Yeah, yeah.

So let's talk a little bit about burnout. So burnout is something many women in our audience are either in the middle of or recovering from. So, and you talk about burnout as an access issue, not a character issue. Let's talk a little bit about that. What do mean by that?

Isobel Lepist (48:53)
Yeah, because I think burnout can build over a long period of time and it's not necessarily one trigger. Or it could be, but sometimes one trigger can just be the last straw of the camel's back that's like, that's it. I think my experience of burnout has been all of those factors that I've talked about where you are being sensory overloaded, fatigued, no recovery time, processing super fast.

again, you know, which is taking up so much energy because you're not, your processing is slower than perhaps other people's. And yeah, running on empty constantly. So I have managed not to burn out for nearly two years now, but I was constantly in burnout.

when I was in the workplace because I just did not know how to avoid it. So, and it is very, very difficult when you have got small children, even neurodivergent children or children with special educational needs or just demanding family life, complicated relationships, families, know, illness, loss of employment, house moves, you name it, everybody's got loads of

stuff on their plates and to be able to try and wade through that and look after oneself at the same time sounds absolutely impossible. And people think, ⁓ she's all right because she works for herself. She doesn't have to get up at six o'clock in the morning and drive three hours to wherever it is. Well, used to, I did do that. Did all of those things and had a single parent for quite a long time.

I admittedly only had one child, but I have gone through these things. And through a combination of small things, a little, a lot can make a difference so that your burnout chances are reduced. But it can mean...

Lots of things, I mean I've had some clients where they were absolutely shredded. One lady was hospitalized, she was so stressed and anxious. She thought she'd had heart problems, tachycardia, arrhythmia, complete stress head and poor woman was just struggling really, really hard. So, and we went through the coaching program, so that's looking at everything, sort of 360, so.

home, relationships, communication, work, what's going on at work, the environment, the processes, and looking at all of the things that were tipping her over the edge and stealing all of her energy and how to look at that and to examine it. So it's quite an in-depth thing.

Anyway, I'm delighted to say that after the end of the by the end of the program, she'd got herself a different job. re-energized, happy, optimistic, looking forward to the next chapter and also enjoying her home life more and the interactions with her family members. And she'd also built a sensory room for herself that she and her sons could also share and experience. And the

the lady that I saw on the phone, you know, rubbing her face and twiddling and you could see the anguish in the hand wringing, the hair twiddling and the face rubbing to the more serene, excited but calmer person at the end of it. It's wonderful to then...

get their updates later about what they're doing. That's what it's all about.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (52:08)
and your program is a 12 week program.

Isobel Lepist (52:11)
There is a programme, there's also one and one in single sessions. So the 12 week programme is based on Leanne Maskell's ADHD Works ADHD coaching which focuses on executive function. All executive functions and how they're affected by ADHD symptoms, your ADHD symptoms, yours personally not. I mean there is a commonality and there is a gamut of ADHD symptoms. So we can look at priority, priorities.

So it's looking at and coaching through lived experience and looking at how the ADHD under autism shows up and is impacting life adversely or positively. This is not correctional, fixing its collaboration and devising strategies and ways of living to improve and build skills so that you can

thrive rather than just purely survive. I also do one-on-one single session coaching which can be very specific. So I have a lady who's got real family relationship issues and we are coaching through those and looking at how her ADHD and autism is showing up there to influencing that. So we're just really looking at coaching through how she actually speaks to them.

what she says and how she says it and positioning and also thinking about messages received, how the message is received and how it's relayed back because she has a husband who's autistic and she's ADHD. So quite interesting, fascinating. I also do body doubling and accountability buddy sessions.

So there's a combination of things. And I'm also working on a specific, like a neuro audit for high impact, say an hour and a half session, looking at what, it could be a precursor to the program actually, but that sort of big deep dive on what is, what the, perhaps the factors are that are going to be contributing to burnout. What things in the workplace could be, even just things like

managing your inbox, or relationship with your manager and how to actually have the one-to-one situation or post one-to-one because we get a lot of rejection sensitive dysphoria. So there's that.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (54:25)
So it's lot of relearning a lot of how you relate to other people, the world, that's what it sounds like, and you sort of help people, you sort of coach people to get there, right?

Isobel Lepist (54:36)
Yes.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (54:36)
So Isabel, before I let you go, what are some of the key things that you really want the audience to walk away with today from our conversation?

Isobel Lepist (54:43)
It's never too late to take action and to improve your life outcomes and experiences through understanding and opening your mind to the possibilities, because it might be suspected, know, or, you know, to have things work out better, live better, manage them better.

Yeah, definitely. that coaching, I have such belief in it because I did it and it really helped me.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (55:10)
And one of the last questions I want to ask you and I'll ask this to all my guests is what would you tell your younger self if she was sitting right next to you?

Isobel Lepist (55:17)
Get ADHD coaching as quickly as you can.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (55:21)
some great advice.

Isobel Lepist (55:21)
and find other people

with it. think, know, we're all products of our environment and generation. I was a product of my time. was not, it wouldn't have been available then. You know, so if I went back in time, I'd take what I know now back there and talk to that person and say, life doesn't have to be like this.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (55:44)
There's nothing wrong with you.

Isobel Lepist (55:45)
There's nothing wrong with you. This is what it is and why it is and here's how it can make you make it work better for you. Because, you know, it's not a curse. There are really great gifts it can give you. But the reality of it is a lot of it can just not fit in with how the world works. ⁓ So it's just understanding that and finding your path through.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (56:05)
simply.

Isobel Lepist (56:10)
through the woods. Yeah. Yeah.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (56:11)
learning to navigate the world. yeah.

And finally, where can our listeners find you if they want to learn more about your work or they want to reach out and work with you?

Isobel Lepist (56:20)
Yes, so I'm on, I have a company website, which is www.atthemillpond.co.uk. I'm on LinkedIn. I'm the only Isabelle Lepist, Isabelle with an O, L-E-P-I-S-T, and I post on there so there'll be useful insights. I also have an author website. If you would like to go and have a look at the novel.

That is iglepistoauthor.com. It's the books on Amazon. But if you look up IG Leppist, that's my author name, you'll find the book and it's called The Event. So you search on my name, because nobody else is called IG Leppist in the world, maybe in Estonia, where it's from. And you'll find it. Yeah, so a number of places, but the main one is the, if it's ADHD coaching, you'd like to get in touch.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (56:58)
You

Isobel Lepist (57:07)
Fill in the form or email me, message me directly on Facebook as well as have a company page on there at The Mill Pond.

Odilia|The Midlife Awakening (57:14)
Okay, great. And I'll put the links in the show notes as well if anybody wants to reach out to Isabel and work with you. Well, Isabel, this has been a very rich and validating conversation. Thank you so much for your openness, your wisdom and the work that you're doing in the world. Our listeners are very lucky to have you on today to share your experience.

Isobel Lepist (57:18)
Thank you very much. Yeah.

Well thank you very much, it's been a pleasure and thank you for this opportunity to talk about it and I hope it resonates and that will help somebody.

Thank you.

The Midlife Awakening (57:41)
I just want to take this moment to say thank you to Isabel again for joining me on the show today and sharing her story. It was such a rich, validating, and genuinely eye-opening conversation. And I know it's going to resonate with a lot of you listeners that have been sitting with us for a long time. If today's episode landed for you, if you've heard something in Isabel's story and thought, that's me, then please know you're not alone. And more importantly, you are not broken. You just haven't been given the right framework yet.

To find Isabelle and work with her and learn more about what she does, you can visit her website at www.atthemillpond.co.uk, where she offers one-to-one ADHD coaching for neurodivergent adults and a 12-week program focused on executive function, emotional regulation, and burnout recovery. If you're curious about whether coaching could support you, Isabelle offers an initial discovery call. The link will be in the show notes. You can also find Isabelle on LinkedIn.

She's the only Isabelle Lepist in the world, so you should be able to find her easily and on Facebook at The Milbound. And if you'd like to read her novel, The Event, it's available on Amazon under the author name IG Lepist. Details are in the show notes. You know where to go. Now, if the episode resonated with you, the most powerful thing that you can do is to share it. Send it to a friend who's been feeling exhausted and out of sync. Share it in a group. Leave a review.

Every share puts this conversation in front of someone who might really need it.

And remember what Isabelle said to her younger self, there is nothing wrong with you. This is what it is. And here's how you can make it work better for you. That's it for today's episode of the Midlife Awakening. Take care of your heart, take care of yourself. And remember, it's never too late to begin again. Bye for now.