If there’s one thing we’ve learned throughout this show, it’s that people can thrive at work not in spite of their differences, but because of them. People with learning and thinking differences like ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia all have strengths. But sometimes it takes finding the right job — and the right tools — to allow them to shine. In this final episode of How’d You Get THAT Job?! , host Eleni Matheou looks back at themes we’ve seen from guests in the series. Tune in to learn how taki...
Jun 28, 2023•18 min•Ep. 50
It’s the last interview for How’d You Get THAT Job?! For this special episode, our guest is Nathan Friedman, co-president and chief marketing officer at Understood.org. Nathan was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a child. Early in his career, he didn’t openly discuss his learning and thinking differences. But now he recognizes the value of being vulnerable and embracing them. Today, Nathan is helping shape the world so people with learning and thinking differences can thrive. Nathan went from...
Jun 14, 2023•20 min•Ep. 49
Dr. Loucresie Rupert is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist with ADHD. She wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until she was a medical intern. Now, being open with her patients about her own neurodivergence allows her to connect with them — and be the best doctor she can be. Loucresie didn’t have an easy time getting her diagnosis as a Black woman. When she first sought an evaluation, she was labeled as narcissistic and told she wasn’t smart enough to be in medical school, even though she was alr...
May 31, 2023•16 min•Ep. 48
Kristjana Williams is a London-based Icelandic artist with dyslexia. She wasn’t diagnosed until she was 25 and attending Central Saint Martins, an art school with many students who learn and think differently. Now, she’s a renowned collage artist with her own studio. Growing up in Iceland with undiagnosed dyslexia was frustrating for Kristjana. She would try so hard to accomplish her work, but she just couldn’t quite get it without the support that she needed. Today, she knows that her brain wor...
May 17, 2023•14 min•Ep. 47
Aideé Chávez Frescas is a senior social media manager at Understood. She also has ADHD and creates her own social media content that has gone viral again and again. She shares about her life as a Mexican person living in the United States, and the intersection of being Latina and having ADHD. Her videos and posts help end stigma and show others they’re not alone. Understood is the first workplace where Aideé has been open about her ADHD. She felt comfortable disclosing because of Understood’s mi...
May 03, 2023•18 min•Ep. 46
Alex Gilbert is a career coach and consultant with ADHD and dyslexia. She helps people with learning and thinking differences navigate their day-to-day work — and play to their strengths. After working in leadership development for years, she pursued her dream and started her own coaching business, Cape-Able Consulting. Because Alex was diagnosed at age 8, she had accommodations throughout school. During college, she realized that all of these supports would disappear when she graduated. So she ...
Apr 19, 2023•17 min•Ep. 45
Dan Reis is a product designer at an e-commerce startup — and a listener of the podcast! Like many others, Dan saw his coping skills vanish during the COVID-19 lockdown. This led to him finally getting diagnosed with ADHD. Since then, Dan has made it his mission to explore different tools to build his own “ADHD toolkit.” Through trial and error, he modifies strategies to work for him. And he uses these tools to get his work done. Through self-compassion, routine changes, and experimentation, he’...
Apr 05, 2023•14 min•Ep. 44
Rachel Basoco has ADHD, and she works in two very different industries. She’s a full-time director of advancement and growth for digital communities at Fidelity. She also works part time for 11:11 Media, Paris Hilton’s company, building their Web3 community. She considers herself “the finance bro AND the finance bro’s girlfriend.” Having two very different jobs makes planning the workday easier for Rachel. She can be flexible with her schedule, pivoting from one project to another when her brain...
Mar 22, 2023•16 min•Ep. 43
Gil Gershoni is the founder and creative director of the branding firm Gershoni Creative. He says that everything he does, he does dyslexic. Gil sees dyslexia as a hyper -ability. His goal is to show the world that dyslexic thinkers can open new doors and innovate anything. Along with Gershoni Creative, Gil created Dyslexic Design Thinking, a method that helps clients see new perspectives and tell the story of their brand. Gil also hosts Dyslexic Design Thinking , a podcast that explores the lin...
Mar 08, 2023•22 min•Ep. 42
Claire Odom has always worked in the disability inclusion world, even before she knew she had ADHD. When she related a little bit too much to everyone’s answers in an ADHD focus group, she knew it was time to get evaluated. Now, Claire is a psychotherapist at a private practice that embraces neurodiversity. She’s also a disability inclusion consultant for Understood’s Workplace team, which focuses on building stronger, more equitable, and more inclusive work environments. Listen to this week’s e...
Feb 22, 2023•22 min•Ep. 41
Michael Upshall Senior and Junior both have ADHD. This father-and-son duo doubles as boss and employee in their carpentry business, Probuilt Design + Build. In both work and life, they understand how the other thinks. For Michael Sr., school never matched how his brain worked, and he left high school in the 10th grade. That’s when he took up an apprenticeship, eventually starting his own business. He’s now a master carpenter. And he was diagnosed with ADHD in 2012. Michael Jr. was diagnosed when...
Feb 08, 2023•23 min•Ep. 40
Darcey Gohring was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. But she didn’t feel comfortable disclosing her dyslexia at work until she was a manager. She was scared that her co-workers in the editing and writing world would look at her work differently. Now, she teaches writing classes and is an editor at Zibby Magazine . When Darcey was diagnosed, her father didn’t believe that her dyslexia was real. He thought she just needed to “try harder.” This shame followed her into adulthood. And it made her w...
Jan 25, 2023•20 min•Ep. 39
Isaac Zablocki always had messy handwriting and trouble getting his thoughts down on paper. When he was growing up, teachers in both Israel and the United States assumed his challenges had to do with switching between languages. It wasn’t until college that he was diagnosed with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and ADHD. Because it was hard for Isaac to express himself through writing, he found himself drawn to film. Now, he’s the director of film programming at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) Manhattan....
Jan 11, 2023•20 min•Ep. 38
Trying to figure out the right job can be challenging — and feel pretty lonely — especially when you have learning and thinking differences. But luckily, there are ways to smooth your career path, and people to get advice from. In this bonus episode of How’d You Get THAT Job?! , host Eleni Matheou shares what we’ve heard throughout the show so far, and things we’ve learned. Tune in to explore common threads, like trying new things and being open to failure. Listen now to learn how to stack your ...
Dec 14, 2022•21 min•Ep. 37
Dina Ragab is a lawyer with ADHD working on the California high-speed rail project. Dina has always known that she was “neurospicy,” but therapists couldn’t see past her anxiety to the ADHD underneath. It wasn’t until after law school that she was diagnosed, went on medication, and realized there were ways to manage her sometimes all-consuming emotions. Dina’s job path wasn’t always a smooth one. She went through a few positions and work environments until she found the honest, straightforward b...
Nov 30, 2022•20 min•Ep. 36
Omar Mouallem is a journalist and filmmaker with ADHD. Omar has worn many hats — journalist, documentary filmmaker, “fake dean” of his self-made school Pandemic University School of Writing, and real professor — all without a college degree. When he began writing Praying to the West , he struggled to focus on one topic for an entire book. That led Omar to his ADHD diagnosis. As a freelance writer for many years, Omar flourished as his busy mind moved from project to project. He’s won awards for ...
Nov 09, 2022•28 min•Ep. 35
Delia Gallegos combined her love of fandoms with her business experience to create the perfect job for her ADHD. Delia is the chief financial officer of Black Nerds Create (BNC), a collective for marginalized creators to make fandom content. Delia first joined BNC as a side hobby to her business operations career. But during the pandemic, she took part in the great resignation and left a job she loved at the Smithsonian. Delia realized that everything she loved about that job was about being the...
Oct 26, 2022•24 min•Ep. 34
Scottie Donovan is a New York City wastewater engineer with ADHD. When she entered the field, being on the frontlines of a pandemic wasn’t what she expected. But since wastewater helps determine positive COVID-19 cases, she’s played a vital role in public health information. She’s also heard enough poop jokes to last a lifetime. Scottie chose to study civil engineering because of how interactive it is. She’s worked in water treatment plants, and eventually found herself at a desk job in a consul...
Oct 12, 2022•17 min•Ep. 33
Luke Kolpin is a chef with dyslexia. He’s cooked in high-pressure environments, from Top Chef to the critically acclaimed Noma in Copenhagen. Luke didn’t have the best relationship with school when he was first diagnosed with dyslexia. After high school, he started taking community college courses. But he still wondered what he really wanted to do. That’s when his best friend suggested culinary school. After all, Luke’s nickname was Lunchbox when he was a kid. Culinary school changed Luke’s worl...
Sep 28, 2022•22 min•Ep. 32
Hanna Brooks Olsen is a freelance writer with ADHD. Coming to her ADHD diagnosis was a long journey. Like so many, Hanna thought ADHD was purely hyperactivity, and she didn’t fit that description. But when she learned about the inattentive aspect of ADHD, she saw the connection to her life. She realized that her ADHD symptoms were intertwined with her bipolar disorder, anxiety, and eating disorder. As a freelance writer, Hanna does it all — from editing nonprofit newsletters to writing tweets. B...
Sep 14, 2022•34 min•Ep. 31
Rohan Chhabra found out he had dyslexia during graduate school by tagging along with a friend to her evaluation. He went in knowing nothing about dyslexia — and came out with a diagnosis. After learning more about it, so many things about how his brain worked finally made sense. Dyslexia had been guiding his life and his career choices, and he hadn’t even realized it. Growing up in India, Rohan was a quiet kid who worried about keeping up with academic classes. He gravitated toward creative fiel...
Aug 31, 2022•25 min•Ep. 30
Robert Carroll, a New York State Assembly member, has dyslexia. He was born and raised in the district he represents, the 44th Assembly District in Brooklyn. Growing up with dyslexia helped make Robert an independent, out-of-the-box thinker. Sometimes it was hard for him to read or think the “right” way, so he learned to see things differently. After law school, Robert dived into the world of politics, a field that requires a lot of technical reading and writing. But he thrives in the work throu...
Aug 17, 2022•19 min•Ep. 29
Phoebe Gavin has ADHD — and a passion for helping others thrive in the workplace. She’s an executive director of talent and development at Vox.com, a veteran, and a private career coach. Phoebe was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, and she enlisted in the military after high school. Transitioning back into civilian life was difficult, but she had a mentor who made all the difference. Now Phoebe gives that same support to her colleagues and clients. In this week’s episode of How’d You Get THAT Job?...
Aug 03, 2022•29 min•Ep. 28
Liz Miele is a comedian with dyslexia. She has an eye for spotting comedy in her daily life, and a thousand jokes up her sleeve. Being a comedian fits perfectly with her creative, storytelling brain. Her material comes straight from her experiences — like repeating the phrase “commitmentless sperm” until she can say it smoothly on stage. She puts having dyslexia and all that comes with it in the spotlight. Liz was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age. Growing up, she considered herself a “con ...
Jul 20, 2022•28 min•Ep. 27
Brendan Mahan has ADHD — and the drive to help others navigate their own ADHD landscapes. From a young age, Brendan knew he wanted to help people. When his college major options left little room to do that, he forged his own path. Now, he’s an ADHD coach and podcast host. From parenting to marriage to the workplace, Brendan’s got you covered. And he’s there to remind you that it’s OK to have ADHD. On this week’s episode of How’d You Get THAT Job?! , Brendan talks about how to stack different ski...
Jul 06, 2022•30 min•Ep. 26
Help us make our podcasts better. Take our listener survey. Growing up with ADHD and dyslexia, Jacquelyn Spathies didn’t picture herself one day working on a doctorate in biomedical studies. Teachers told her she wasn’t trying hard enough and discouraged her from dreaming big. Kids bullied her about her school supports. Like lots of kids with dyslexia, she felt like an outsider, and she found acceptance in a rebellious crowd. Then Jacquelyn went to community college, where she found encouragemen...
Jun 22, 2022•24 min•Ep. 25
Ryan Walter Wagner needs a schedule, yet daily variety, to work with his ADHD. Ryan has lived multiple lives, from touring in his punk band, to owning his own record store, to working in a portrait studio. Now, he thinks he’s finally found his home in freelance photography. Being his own boss fits his need for freedom and doing things in his own way. After being diagnosed in his 40s, so much of Ryan’s past started to make sense: His brain just works differently. He documents this, and stories fr...
Jun 08, 2022•27 min•Ep. 24
Ship captain Dave Gugliotti has ADHD — and a love for the ocean. Full of energy, yet calm under pressure, Dave’s strengths help him flourish on open water. As the seasons change, so does his work. Every day is different, with varied activities and constant repairs to keep Dave’s bouncing mind happily engaged. Dave's never been one to sit still, and he works best with his hands. He tried to sit at a desk for an office job, but he left after a week and never looked back. In this week’s episode of ...
May 25, 2022•22 min•Ep. 23
When you have ADHD and dyscalculia, you need lots of tricks for keeping up while running a business. Taking advantage of her smartphone is just one of the tricks Lindsay Miguelez uses. Like so many of us, when Lindsay was growing up, she was told that she wouldn’t always have a calculator in her pocket to help with math. Thank goodness that was wrong! It took seven years of struggling in college for Lindsay to decide to focus on wedding photography. Today, she’s in demand for her whimsical, roma...
May 11, 2022•25 min•Ep. 22
When Eric Tabach, a YouTube host and producer for the channel Yes Theory, went to Ukraine, he didn’t just want to create a video. He wanted to make a difference in the war. Eric grew up with ADHD in a Ukrainian family in Russia. As a child, his endless energy and racing mind led him into theater and into making YouTube videos at home. Eventually, his family moved to the United States, where he acted in movies. He started college but then dropped out. Social media was calling. He became the maste...
Apr 27, 2022•34 min•Ep. 21
