ADHD Running in Heels

Mineela Chand
  • 5.0 (2)
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Imagine running a marathon, but instead of a smooth track, it’s filled with hurdles only you can see. For female entrepreneurs with ADHD, including, and maybe especially, those who have been late diagnosed, this is not just a metaphor - it’s life. Welcome to 'Running in Heels,' where we explore the unique challenges and triumphs of women balancing business dreams, life, relationships, and ADHD. The plan is to dive deep into the reality of building a business while managing a brain that doesn’t always play by the rules. Whether you've been diagnosed with ADHD or self-identify with its traits, this space is for you. Here, we don’t just talk about surviving - we’re all about thriving. So, lace up your choice of footwear and let’s hit the ground running.

  1. Ep014 - ADHD, Brain Fog and Estrogen

    11/07/2025

    Ep014 - ADHD, Brain Fog and Estrogen

    What if the problem isn’t burnout, age, or motivation - but estrogen? In this episode of Running in Heels, we unpack the cognitive chaos that hits high-functioning ADHD women during perimenopause and menopause. The conversation moves beyond hot flashes and mood swings into the neurochemical fault line where estrogen and dopamine collide. You’ll hear what the data actually shows - 94% of ADHD women report worsening symptoms, 70% call the brain fog life-altering, and nearly half don’t discover their diagnosis until their forties. You’ll meet Elaine, a senior executive whose sharpness starts to slip as her chemistry rewrites itself, and you’ll learn why this isn’t personal failure - it’s biology misread by systems built for hormonal stability. This episode explains how fluctuating estrogen disrupts executive function, why medication suddenly feels unpredictable, and how workplaces mislabel neurological volatility as burnout. You’ll also learn what scaffolds actually work - cycle mapping, medication synchronization, load redesign, and language that turns shame into data. This episode isn’t about fixing women’s brains. It’s about redesigning systems that still expect linear performance from cyclical bodies. Key Topics: The dopamine–estrogen link and its role in executive function How perimenopause unmasks long-compensated ADHD patterns The difference between burnout and biochemical fluctuation Scaffolds that stabilize function during hormonal transition Why leadership and medicine must evolve beyond the male baseline Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD? Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3 Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about

    49 min
  2. Executive Function Deep Dive: Organization

    11/04/2025

    Executive Function Deep Dive: Organization

    Disorganization isn’t about mess - it’s about inability to find what you need to accomplish a task. This episode breaks down the executive function of organization through a practical, neurological lens: what it is, how it works, and the ten principles that make order sustainable across every domain of life.  We’ll strip the concept of organization down to its real function - a system for finding what you need when you need it. You’ll learn why ADHD brains struggle to maintain structure even when motivation is high, how dopamine and working memory affect system reliability, and why most “get organized” advice collapses under real conditions.  From physical environments to digital files to thought processes, this episode offers specific strategies you can apply immediately: visibility that keeps your brain anchored, proximity that reduces friction, labeling that mirrors your cognitive patterns, and maintenance rhythms that keep systems alive without demanding perfection.  Because organization isn’t about being tidy.  It’s about designing your world to remember for you.  By the end, you’ll know exactly what the organizational executive function does, why it fails under pressure, and how to rebuild trust between your brain and your environment one findable thing at a time.  Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD? Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3 Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about

    44 min
  3. ADHD and the Trap of Imposter Syndrome

    10/30/2025

    ADHD and the Trap of Imposter Syndrome

    Why do so many high-performing women with ADHD feel like frauds—even when they’re crushing it? In this episode, we unpack the deep connection between ADHD and imposter syndrome, and why this experience is so often missed or misunderstood in women.  We explore how a lifetime of masking, over-functioning, and internalized self-correction can create a disconnect between external success and internal self-trust. If you’ve ever felt like you’re faking it—like your competence is a performance, like you’re one mistake away from being exposed—this conversation is for you.  This episode isn’t about “overcoming” imposter syndrome. It’s about understanding it. And more importantly, reclaiming your identity, authority, and leadership as a neurodivergent woman.  Key Points Covered  The silent burden of masking ADHD symptoms and how it fuels imposter syndrome  Why women with ADHD often feel like their success isn’t “real” or sustainable  The difference between performing competence and embodying self-trust  How rejection sensitivity, perfectionism, and emotional dysregulation reinforce internalized fraudulence  The cultural and systemic forces that invalidate neurodivergent strengths  The role of feedback loops, working memory, and trauma in shaping imposter narratives  What it means to strategically unmask in high-responsibility spaces  Why your adaptability isn’t fraudulence—it’s fluency  How to begin rewriting the internal story from “I’m faking it” to “I’m navigating it”  The power of self-recognition and identity reclamation in dissolving imposter syndrome   Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD? Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3 Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about

    35 min
  4. Executive Function Deep Dive: Metacognition

    10/29/2025

    Executive Function Deep Dive: Metacognition

    What if the real problem isn’t your attention - but your awareness? In this episode, we unpack the often-overlooked executive function called metacognition: the ability to notice your own thinking while it’s happening. For ADHD brains, this function doesn’t always show up on time. And when it lags, everything else goes sideways. We’ll explore why delayed self-awareness creates patterns of impulsivity, emotional reactivity, and decision fatigue, and how that lag affects not just productivity, but confidence, leadership, and relationships. You’ll learn: What metacognition actually is (and what it isn’t) Why ADHD disrupts this skill in real time, but sharpens it in reflection How late insight warps self-trust and creates reputation gaps Practical ways to build real-time awareness without constant self-monitoring or shame Why “trying harder” doesn’t work and what to design instead This is about catching yourself before you’re in clean-up mode. And it starts with seeing your mind clearly, while it’s still moving. Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD? Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3 Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about

    30 min
  5. What Happens When the Assessment Says "Normal"?

    10/23/2025

    What Happens When the Assessment Says "Normal"?

    What Happens When the Assessment Says "Normal"? You got tested. You wanted answers. You expected clarity - maybe even a name for what’s been quietly draining your capacity. Instead, you were told your executive function was “within range.” No ADHD diagnosis for you. No plan. No support.  And now you're left trying to reconcile test results that say you're fine with a life that feels anything but manageable.  This episode examines what happens when the assessment misses the reality - especially for high-functioning, high-responsibility adults who are navigating subclinical ADHD symptoms and executive dysfunction that doesn’t show up on paper.  Inside:  Why traditional ADHD evaluations miss so many competent adults  How coping strategies can hide executive breakdown until it’s too late  The emotional toll of being told you’re fine while still unraveling  What research says about subclinical symptoms and real-world impact  Why access to care, meds, and accommodations still hinges on thresholds that don’t reflect reality  If you’ve ever walked out of a diagnostic process more confused than when you walked in, you’re not imagining the disconnect. And you’re not alone.  Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD? Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3 Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about

    33 min

  6. 10/20/2025

    Executive Function Deep Dive: Goal-Directed Persistence

    Executive Function Deep Dive: Goal-Directed Persistence Goal-Directed Persistence: How to Return to Yourself When Urgency Disappears Why can you move mountains for other people but lose traction the moment the only person depending on your persistence is you? Why do your goals feel solid one day and dissolve into fog the next? And why does trying harder keep making it worse? In this episode of Running in Heels, we dismantle the myths about ADHD and “inconsistency” and trace the real story: how persistence fractures when external urgency goes quiet, and how to rebuild functional return pathways that don’t rely on panic, pressure, or other people’s expectations. You’ll learn: How early socialization trains ADHDers to anchor persistence to external expectations, not internal goals. What Goal-Directed Persistence actually is and how it differs from motivation, grit, or self-control. The neurological fault lines where ADHD persistence snaps: temporal flattening, dopamine depletion, urgency binary, emotional weight accumulation, phase fragmentation, and post-success shutdown. T he hidden social cost of “inconsistency” and why shame becomes the real derailment engine. Why trying to brute force your way back into a goal just drives the fracture deeper. The scaffolds that make return possible: frictionless re-entry, visible anchors, value visibility, soft accountability, effort calibration, interruption mapping, emotional threat calibration, structured recovery, and quiet proof points. How to build persistence that belongs to you - not your deadlines, your boss, or the crisis. This isn’t about becoming more disciplined. It’s about lowering the emotional cost of return so your goals don’t die in the silence between bursts of urgency. Listen if your goals keep slipping out of reach the second no one’s watching. Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD? Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3 Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about

    34 min
  7. How Did I Miss It?! (Mineela's ADHD Story)

    10/16/2025

    How Did I Miss It?! (Mineela's ADHD Story)

    How Did I Miss It?! (Mineela's ADHD Story) How does a therapist and executive function coach - someone trained to spot ADHD in others - completely miss it in herself? In this episode, Mineela breaks down the subtle ways ADHD hides in high-performing women. She explains why “high-functioning” is a misleading label, how performance becomes a mask, and what finally made the patterns impossible to ignore. You’ll hear the difference between coping and scaffolding, the role of executive function in late-diagnosed adults, and why support often arrives too late - or not at all. This is not a diagnostic checklist or a memoir. It’s a precise, strategic map of how ADHD performs in people who overcompensate by default. You’ll learn: Why being “high-functioning” often delays recognition and blocks support What performance masking actually looks like in adult life How executive function impairment can exist under outward success What finally brought clarity after years of overcompensating The six foundational anchors Mineela now uses with clients to rebuild function If you’ve ever been praised for how well you’re holding it together - while quietly unraveling - I am in good company!  Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD? Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3 Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about

    26 min
  8. Executive Function Deep Dive: Emotional Management

    10/13/2025

    Executive Function Deep Dive: Emotional Management

    Executive Function Deep Dive: Emotional Management Feel It Without Falling Apart: ADHD, Emotional Management, and the Myth of Stoicism Someone told to stay calm, be professional, and don’t take things personally. But for ADHD professionals with reactive nervous systems, emotional regulation is a survival skill. In this episode, we dismantle the cultural obsession with stoicism, clarify what emotional regulation actually is, and unpack why traditional advice fails the ADHD brain. We cover: The cultural lie of stoicism as emotional strength How emotional suppression leads to executive dysfunction, not composure The difference between awareness, expression, intensity, and regulation Why emotional regulation relies on executive function and where ADHD disrupts it The neurobiology of fast feelings and the reality of amygdala hijack What ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) offers ADHDers that other frameworks don’t Concrete practices for emotional containment, not erasure External scaffolds for ADHD emotional recovery and regulation What to do when you’ve already lost access to your tools How to rebuild self-trust after dysregulation without shame This episode is not about becoming less emotional. It’s about building the capacity to lead, respond, and recover while feeling everything - without letting it destroy your credibility, your relationships, or your nervous system. Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD? Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3 Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about

    32 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Imagine running a marathon, but instead of a smooth track, it’s filled with hurdles only you can see. For female entrepreneurs with ADHD, including, and maybe especially, those who have been late diagnosed, this is not just a metaphor - it’s life. Welcome to 'Running in Heels,' where we explore the unique challenges and triumphs of women balancing business dreams, life, relationships, and ADHD. The plan is to dive deep into the reality of building a business while managing a brain that doesn’t always play by the rules. Whether you've been diagnosed with ADHD or self-identify with its traits, this space is for you. Here, we don’t just talk about surviving - we’re all about thriving. So, lace up your choice of footwear and let’s hit the ground running.

Information

  • Creator
    Mineela Chand
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 2025
  • Show Website
    ADHD Running in Heels