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This episode is a proper, unfiltered conversation between Maddy and Lucy Power about neurodivergence, trauma, identity, and what it really means to be yourself in a world that constantly tries to put you in a box.

From ADHD and autism to trauma responses, masking, queerness, and visibility—this is a deep, honest, sometimes funny, sometimes heavy chat about how our experiences shape who we are… and how we can start reclaiming that.

There are big conversations here. Real life. Real stories. And a lot of “oh shit, that makes sense.”

🧠 What We Talk About

• Lucy’s journey into ADHD diagnosis later in life
• The overlap between trauma and neurodivergence
• Why so many neurodivergent people carry trauma
• How trauma gets “stuck” and shows up in everyday life
• Masking, identity, and feeling like you don’t fit
• The pressure to conform to societal expectations
• Queerness, visibility, and living authentically
• Parenting, identity, and supporting neurodivergent kids
• The impact of cancel culture and social rejection
• Nervous system dysregulation and reactive behaviour
• What it actually means to be radically authentic

🔥 Key Takeaways

• Trauma isn’t just what happened, it’s how your body holds it
• Neurodivergence and trauma can look very similar
• You’re not “too much”—you’ve just been unsupported
• Masking disconnects you from who you really are
• Identity is often a story we’ve been taught, not the truth
• Being yourself in a world that doesn’t get you is an act of rebellion
• You can build a life and business that actually fits who you are

💬 Real Talk Moments

• Maddy sharing her personal experiences with trauma, grief, and ADHD
• Lucy opening up about late diagnosis and queerness
• Honest chat about feeling excluded and self-protection responses
• The reality of raising neurodivergent kids and navigating identity
• A raw moment around grief and loss mid-recording

💥 What Lucy is “Mad About”

Lucy shares what truly fires her up:

• The way society treats trans people
• The impact of capitalism on wellbeing
• Global injustice and inequality
• And her deep passion for trauma work and transactional analysis

🧩 About Lucy

Lucy is a psychotherapeutic coach specialising in:

• Trauma
• Neurodivergence
• Transactional Analysis
• Radical authenticity

She helps people understand themselves on a deeper level and unlearn the layers that stop them from being who they truly are.

🌍 Connect with Lucy

• Instagram: @IamLucyPower
• Facebook: Lucy Power
• LinkedIn: Lucy Power
• Email: lucy@iamlucypower.com

📲 Connect with Maddy

• Instagram: Maddy Talks Money
• TikTok: Mad About Money Official
• Book: Mad About Money

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Mad About with Maddy Alexander-Grout
Episode: Internalised Ableism, Burnout & Owning Your Soundtrack

💥 What this episode is about

This is a real, honest chat about internalised ableism — what it is, how it shows up, and why so many neurodivergent and disabled people end up pushing themselves to breaking point trying to “keep up.”

Maddy shares what this has looked like in her own life, from burnout and overworking to navigating new health challenges, and why learning your limits is actually where your power starts.

🧠 In this episode, we cover:

• What internalised ableism actually means (and how it sneaks in)
• Why calling yourself “lazy” is complete bullshit
• The pressure to act “normal” in business and life
• Burnout, guilt, and the toxic productivity trap
• Learning your capacity and working with your energy, not against it
• Why rest is not something you need to earn
• The importance of boundaries, even in your business
• How community can help you unlearn ableist thinking
• The reality of advocating for yourself (and why it’s so hard)
• Accepting new diagnoses and evolving health challenges

🔥 Key takeaways

• You are not broken. Your brain just works differently.
• “Should” belongs in the fuck it bucket
• Pushing through burnout is not strength, it’s self-abandonment
• Your worth is not measured by productivity
• You are allowed to do things in a way that actually works for you
• Support is not a weakness, it’s a strategy

🎧 Maddy’s real-life moments in this episode

• Navigating multiple chronic conditions and new diagnoses
• Coaching clients from bed on low-energy days
• Using a walking stick for the first time and dealing with the mindset around it
• Letting her community step in and support her
• Having honest conversations with her kids about her limits

🌈 Big message

Owning your “soundtrack” means accepting every part of you — your brain, your body, your limits, and your strengths.

When you stop trying to fit into a world that wasn’t designed for you, you can finally start building one that is.

🧩 Resources & mentions

• Access to Work (UK) – Government support for disabled people in employment
• The Maddyverse – Free community for neurodivergent and chronically ill humans
• The Core – Paid membership focused on money, life, business, and support

💬 Final thought

You don’t have to prove your worth by burning out.

You get to build a life and business that actually fits you.

📲 Connect with Maddy

• Instagram: Maddy Talks Money
• TikTok: Mad About Money Official
• More: Maddy Alexander-Grout

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In this episode of Mad About, I’m joined by the brilliant Sophie Jane Lee, coach for voice, visibility and strategy, and author of Beyond Palatable: A Manifesto for Unapologetic Women.

We chat about Sophie’s journey from running a successful business on paper while struggling deeply underneath it all, to doing the hard inner work that helped her step into who she really is.

We get into:
✨ success vs actually feeling successful
✨ self-worth, self-sabotage and healing
✨ the drama triangle: victim, prosecutor and rescuer
✨ people pleasing, boundaries and nervous system responses
✨ neurodivergence, relationships and being misunderstood
✨ finding the right rooms, the right people and the right way to show up
✨ pregnancy, business and why “hard” doesn’t have to define everything

This is a really honest, funny, powerful conversation about accountability, self-expression, healing, and what it means to stop abandoning yourself.

Sophie’s book is out now and available from all major bookshops, on Kindle, and soon on audiobook.

Follow Sophie:
Instagram: @electricpeachstudios
LinkedIn: Sophie Jane Lee
Book: beyondpalatable.com

Follow me:
Instagram: @maddytalksmoney
TikTok: @madaboutmoneyofficial
Everywhere else: Maddy Alexander-Grout

If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe, leave a review, share it with a friend, and let me know in the comments if this conversation resonated with you.

#podcast #neurodiversity #boundaries #peoplepleasing #visibility #selfworth #healing #womeninbusiness #adhd #autism #madaboutpodcast

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This episode got real. I sat down with Sara-Louise Ackrill, founder of Wired Differently and co-author of The ND Lovers Club, to talk about something that's not spoken about enough: what it really means to be neurodivergent when it comes to love, money, and healing from trauma.

We covered everything from late autism and ADHD diagnoses (Sara at 38, me at 37), to the impact of coercive control and abusive relationships, and how financial instability often shows up alongside neurodivergence. Sara opens up about going bankrupt at 26, the weight of debt and mental health, and why she refuses to be ashamed of any part of her journey.

She also shares the behind-the-scenes of writing a book on ND relationships, the concept of limerence (yep, obsessive love was a big theme for both of us), and how masking, infatuation, and rejection sensitivity show up in romantic dynamics.

It’s raw, it’s funny, and it’s brutally honest - from both of us.

Resources mentioned: StepChange, Freedom Programme, Own My Life.

Connect with Sara-Louise: https://www.sara-louise.co.uk/

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Neurodivergence and Entrepreneurship
01:24 Personal Journeys of Neurodivergence
04:24 The Impact of Diagnosis on Self-Understanding
06:19 Navigating Financial Challenges and Debt
14:37 Experiences with Coercive Control and Relationships
20:37 Experiencing Coercive Control
23:44 The Impact of Neurodivergence on Relationships
24:44 The Endy Lovers Club: A Safe Space for Neurodivergent Women
28:14 Understanding Limerence and Obsession
33:41 Navigating Relationships and Neurodivergence

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This one’s for my fellow multipotentialites - the humans who do all the things and want to know how to promote them without totally confusing people.

I got a great question from one of my Invisible to Influential members who asked: “How do you promote your business when you do multiple things?”

As someone who’s a money coach, ADHD business coach, speaker, author, visibility strategist, and more - I get it. And I break it all down for you in this episode.

Here’s what I cover:

• How to clarify your messaging even when you’ve got 5+ job titles
• The 4 content pillars I use to stay consistent without being boxed in
• Why your job title isn’t what matters (your story is)
• How to show up so your audience “gets” you - no matter how many things you do
• When to separate your services, and when to combine them

If you’ve been stressing about how to market yourself as a multi-passionate biz owner, I got you.

Spoiler: It’s not about being everything to everyone - it’s about leading with YOU.


YT:

1. “Stop changing your job title every day”
2. “Be you, not your offers”
3. “Own your story, own your soundtrack”
4. “It’s not about your job title”
5. “The right people will find you”

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100 Neurodivergent Voices

This episode is different.

To celebrate the 100th episode of the Mad About… Podcast, I didn’t want to make it about me.

Instead, I wanted to do something bigger.

For years, neurodivergent people have been spoken about, researched, analysed, labelled and misunderstood. But far too rarely are we simply given the microphone to speak for ourselves.

So for this episode I asked one question:

“What are you mad about?”

And 100 neurodivergent humans answered.

In this episode you will hear 100 different voices, from people with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette’s, chronic conditions and other beautifully complex brains.

People from different backgrounds.
Different ages.
Different experiences of the world.

Some answers are funny.
Some are powerful.
Some are heartbreaking.
Some will make you nod your head and feel seen in a way you never have before.

Because neurodivergent people are not one story.

We are not one stereotype.
We are not one narrative.
We are not a box.

This episode is a reminder that behind every diagnosis is a human being with passions, anger, joy, interests, obsessions and things that make them mad about life.

100 people.
100 voices.
100 things they are mad about.

And every single one of them deserves to be heard.

Time Stamp

0:00 Intro and the 100 Voices Mission
2:15 What Maddy is Mad About
4:45 Kindness and Empowerment with Vie
7:10 ADHD Myths and Diagnosis Trends
9:30 Dogs and Emotional Support
11:50 Crafting and Mental Health
14:15 Challenging Normality and Boxes
16:40 Cult Recovery and Pokémon
19:05 Changing Attitudes Toward Death
21:30 Systems for Sideways Thinkers
23:55 Stationery and Organisation Addiction
26:20 Appearances and Snap Judgments
28:45 Inclusion and Chronic Pain
31:10 Reeducating the Public on Autism
33:35 Comedy Improv and Confidence
36:00 Sensory and Emotional Needs in Kids
38:25 Navigating Access to Work Support
40:50 Child Safety and Online Bullying
43:15 Late Diagnosis and Allotment Gardening
45:40 Role Playing Games and Escapism
48:05 Cultural Bias in Spanish Diagnosis
50:30 Strategy Games and WWE Sacrifice
52:55 Expression and Fulfilment in Tech
55:20 Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria Explained
57:45 Silk Art and Creative Storytelling
1:00:10 Reforming the Education System
1:02:35 Neuroscience and the Human Body
1:05:00 Content Creation and the 1% Tweak
1:07:25 Sustainable Jewellery and Cork
1:09:50 Perinatal Mental Health Advocacy
1:12:15 Energy Management over Time Management
1:14:40 Fixing Founder Dependency and Burnout
1:17:05 Mental Health Awareness and Car Culture
1:19:30 Consumer Rights and Effective Complaining
1:21:55 Entrepreneurship and Late Diagnosis
1:24:20 The Joy of Airsoft and Inner Children
1:26:45 Nature, Spiritual Self, and Obsidian
1:29:10 Food, Cooking, and Happy Places
1:31:35 Rescue Dogs and Unconditional Love
1:34:00 Supporting PDA and Pressure-Sensitive Kids
1:36:25 Reconnecting with Self and Reiki
1:38:50 Education Advocacy and SEN Support
1:41:15 The Magic of Transformation Coaching
1:43:40 Holistic Health and Reclaiming Uniqueness
1:46:05 Success, Burnout, and Body Signals
1:48:30 Primitive Reflexes and Movement Therapy
1:50:55 Aphantasia and

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This episode was hard to record - but also deeply needed.

I'm in the thick of it right now.

My dad passed away suddenly, and I've been trying to navigate the heartbreak, PMDD, business, burnout, and the wild mess that is life with ADHD.

And today, I'm sharing what it's really like to grieve with a neurodivergent brain. I talk about the guilt, the impulsive spending urges, the dark thoughts, the small victories (like showering!), and the strange comfort of laughing in the middle of it all.

If you're in the "messy middle" too, whether it's grief, depression, burnout, or just being human, I hope this episode reminds you that you're not alone, and that showing up messily is still showing up.

I also open up about the financial impact of losing my Access to Work support, why this will be the last podcast episode for a little while (spoiler: we’ll be back for episode 100 in the new year), and how I’m coping one tiny step at a time.

Whether you’re neurodivergent or not, if you’ve ever felt like life is a bit too much, I hope this makes you see you're not alone, and this is what you need right now. Not in a fluffy way. In a "holy shit, how am I still standing?" kind of way.

Come for the raw truth, stay for the stories about my ADHD dad, impulsive motorbike buys, and why I might be turning into a runner (???).

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