Shauna Fields built a 20-plus year career in communications and marketing, which is the part that should not have happened. She is ADHD, raised by Depression-and-WWII-generation grandparents who told her the way she felt was just the way everybody felt, and she spent decades being told she was blunt, rude, and hard to talk to. She is also, by her own description, an outgoing introvert and the Disney princess of a house full of pets and three kids. She did not get diagnosed until 2020, when COVID ripped away the quiet, the focus time, and all the invisible systems she had built to fit in. This is the story of how someone who kept getting in trouble for how she talked turned communication into the thing she does for a living. This is a conversation between two neurodivergent people who both went the long way to the same place. James naming the architecture, Shauna out in the field doing the work of getting humans to feel connected to each other. No script, no agenda, just an hour of two late-diagnosed people comparing notes on what it actually costs to be earnest in a world that reads earnest as a problem. From friction to flow. Shauna opens with the path: AOL as a kid, researching UX on the Nielsen Norman website because the internet frustrated her that much, hyperfocus on design and architecture and the feel of a room, and finally choosing marketing because it was the only major that fit a little bit of everything. From there she gets into the grandpa who screamed when you interrupted his football and why she now understands the rage of being unlocked against your will, the one coworker, Celia Cienfuegos, whose single kind comment landed so hard it carried thirty years, the closed call-center door and "I am trying to keep the noise out," getting laid off in the recession with nothing to lose but time to practice being a person, Geek Girls of the East Valley and the discovery that everybody is uncomfortable at networking events, doing office politics by building trust instead of schmoozing, predictive risk mapping for executives, the bid for connection that neurotypicals misread as stealing the spotlight, vulnerability as the door, how to deliver bad news without dragging your boss into caveman brain, and a full playbook for the high performer who feels invisible. Along the way: people permanence, AFK and the body powering down, four rounds of long-term burnout, masking fatigue, and Susan Cain on speaking up in meetings. A Few Lines Worth Lifting "It can be physically painful to be unlocked against your will." "I have pissed so many people off that I now have the expertise to know how to." "I do the office politics by building trust and being genuine and keeping my side of the street clean." "People will stay invisible until their work is documented in some way." "I have a job because nobody is perfect at communicating, and people need that support." "The people that are really, really great at it, you don't even realize they're doing it sometimes. That's how good they are." Topics in This Episode A 2020 diagnosis, and the hidden systems that propped her up getting ripped away by COVID AOL, the Nielsen Norman website, and a kid too frustrated by bad UX to let it go Choosing marketing because it was the only path that fit a little of everything Grandpa locked into football, the rage of interruption, and watching the same lock-in in her youngest Celia Cienfuegos and the one moment of compassion that landed for life The closed door, the call center, and "I am trying to keep the noise out" Laid off in the recession, broke, back home, and nothing to lose but time to practice Geek Girls of the East Valley, and learning that everyone is uncomfortable at networking events Office politics by trust instead of schmoozing Predictive risk mapping for executives, internal marketing, and a bit of QA Why some people instantly dislike us, masking, and the demons it stirs in others People permanence, AFK, and the computer powering down Four rounds of long-term burnout, and six years finding the right Shauna The bid for connection, and why neurotypicals read it as taking the spotlight Vulnerability as the door, and the mental math before you open it Communicating hard things: prep, caveman brain, and your vibe becoming theirs Feeling invisible: documenting your work, skip levels, and employee resource groups Susan Cain, speaking up in meetings, and James's three questions Nobody is good at everything, and the best communicators you never notice The Social Connection Summit 2026 About Shauna Fields Shauna Fields is a communications strategist based in the Phoenix area, with more than twenty years in communications and marketing across multiple industries. Her work lives at the threshold between technical teams and non-technical people, translating between the two and managing internal communications so the people inside an organization feel connected to each other, to leadership, and to the mission. She is ADHD, identified in 2020, and she leads with the same instinct that runs through all of it: make people feel included, safe, and seen. She founded and led Geek Girls of the East Valley, and she is generous with her time for anyone trying to figure out their career. Find Shauna Fields Website: shaunafields.com LinkedIn: she is happy to connect, just do not try to sell her anything. About the host James Hickey is the founder of PathWays Collective and host of The Sight Side. He is an AuDHD systems architect, Licensed Peer Recovery Supporter, and author of Cyberspace Psychosis and the Virtual Reality Blues. He was identified as autistic and ADHD in his forties, after decades of being labeled unfocused, underperforming, or not living up to his potential. Website: https://pathwayscollective.net/the-sight-side LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/james-hickey-9b8ab43a2 Social Connection Summit 2026 A virtual networking event built specifically for neurodivergent professionals. September 23rd and 24th, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Central Time. This year's theme is Neurodivergence Plus. Registration link to come.
