Lindsay Guentzel: Finding Focus, Passion, and Purpose

As a TV and radio producer and a podcast host, Lindsay Guentzel is used to telling other people’s stories. But recently, after her diagnosis with ADHD, she’s been coming to terms with her own story, her own potential, and how she can make a difference in the world.
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Guest
Lindsay Guentzel

Radio and Television Producer, Podcast Host and Writer

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Highlights

Lindsay was recently diagnosed with ADHD and has been working hard to understand the impact it has had and how to manage it going forward.

Growing up in a small town in Minnesota, Lindsay says she saw the benefits and problems of living in a secluded community.

As a college dropout, Lindsay has struggled with confidence as she’s worked to build her career, but she’s finally starting to understand what she brings to the table.

Her podcast, Refocused with Lindsay Guentzel, brings new voices and perspectives to help people understand the world of ADHD.

Transcript

Intro

IVAN STEGIC: Hi there! You’re listening to ONE OF 8 BILLION, a podcast about all of us! I’m your host, Ivan Stegic. This podcast is supported by TEN7, a technology studio whose mission is to Make Things That Matter. Online at ten7.com.

We all have a story, don’t we? We’ve all had successes and failures, joy and disappointment, love and sadness. And yet, we’ve all made it to here… to right now! Our stories are one amongst eight billion others… eight billion other stories, each of them unique, each of them grand in their own way, and each of them a window into the humanity that connects us all. ONE OF 8 BILLION tells life stories of people from around the world… let’s listen!

Guest

Our story today is about radio and television producer and host of the podcast Refocused with Lindsay Guentzel, Lindsay Guentzel. Lindsay is an accomplished broadcaster who is using her talents to raise awareness of ADHD, after coming to terms with her own diagnosis, how it impacted her life, and how she can manage going forward.

Let’s listen!

Interview

IVAN: Welcome to ONE OF 8 BILLION, would you please introduce yourself.

LINDSAY GUENTZEL: My name is Lindsay Guentzel, and if I'm being brutally honest, I'm recovering from a family weekend wedding for my brother-in-law. And it was a lot of fun, probably too much fun, and I did some projects for the bride and groom for the wedding. So I think I'm coming off of the high of having this amazing event that I was super excited about, and I had these projects I was working on that I was super passionate about.

So, I'm in that phase, I'm kind of putting my life back in order after a little bit of chaos. And if we look at the big picture, I am the host of Refocus with Lindsay Guentzel, which is a brand new podcast that I launched about a month ago with ADHD Online. And ADHD Online is a telemedicine health care company that focuses on ADHD specifically. And their goal is providing assessments, medication management and teletherapy that is affordable and accessible, because telemedicine really was given kind of this boost because of the pandemic. And so was ADHD, all of these people, myself included, had our routines ripped out from underneath us without any sort of notice. And there were a lot of people who were holding life together by routine, by things like body doubling, by having standards set by work, and then all of a sudden, we were home, and we had too much freedom. And so it's been a really interesting collaboration and partnership, and we're only a couple of weeks in, and it has been so amazing to connect with other people who have ADHD and to keep learning.

I was only diagnosed a year and a half ago, and that later-in-life diagnosis was completely a game changer for me. And every conversation I have, I'm learning more about myself, and I'm learning more of how I can live a life where my ADHD doesn't disrupt it as much. And so, it's been overwhelming, the capacity that I have to work at right now to get this thing off the ground. But on the same side of it, it's been so rewarding. And so all of those moments of frustration or burnout feel worth it if that makes sense.

IVAN: Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you for sharing that with us. It's so great to hear you speak about that. And I hadn't heard the term body doubling before, so I'd like to ask you about that. But I want to go back to where you were born, where life started for you and what that looked like. But before we go there, tell me what body doubling is. I've not heard that before.

LINDSAY: So body doubling, a lot of people who are diagnosed later in life developed a lifetime of coping mechanisms where we were able to hide certain characteristics or symptoms that would stand out as being connected to ADHD. I think there is a very, very outdated idea of what ADHD is the stereotype cliche, young boy in class who can't sit still who gets sent into the hallway because he's a disruption, and yes, that is very much a part of it, hyperactive.

But there are a lot of emotional and behavioral symptoms tied to ADHD. There's actually three different types of ADHD. There’s the Hyperactive Impulsive, which is the one most people are familiar with. There’s the Inattentive, which has a lot more of the hidden side effects or symptoms. And then there's the Combined type. The majority of people diagnosed have a Combined type. And the thing with ADHD is your symptoms ebb and flow where you are in life and whatnot.

But body doubling is a coping mechanism that a lot of people pick up, and it's essentially, if I don't know how to self-regulate, or how to set a routine, let's say I work in an office, and it's a very standard office eight to five. You go in, you do your job, you take a lunch break, you come back. I learned to mimic those around me. So, if I'm sitting next to you, and you are really good at setting your routine, I'm going to follow you. I'm going to look and I'm like, okay, he's doing this, and he's doing that. And now we're going to do this. And this is kind of how adulting works. Body doubling is setting up that accountability in a way that works for you.

So, body doubling for me, I have a virtual assistant in Pennsylvania, her name is Camilla, and she's amazing. And when I am really struggling to get something done, something very important that's at the top of my list, and I'm being pulled in all these different directions and there's all of these shiny objects around of things that I I'm doing to essentially put off the one task I need to be doing, we set an hour, we do body doubling, and I start working and she checks in every 10 minutes, every 20 minutes. She tells me how much time is left. She asks me about my progress. And she'll offer to help throughout that hour. A lot of people have turned to body doubling as we've gone into this more virtual work mode, where you could do a Zoom body doubling with a colleague, and you just work for a couple of hours, and you’re both there holding each other accountable through the video call or through just a regular phone call. But it really helps set a standard for how you are supposed to be working, but you just don't have those executive function skills to actually get there.

IVAN: Got it. Wow, that makes sense. I didn't realize it was a thing. Thank you for explaining that. You're in Minnesota is my assumption.I follow you on Twitter and I think you're in Minnesota. We actually never asked you where you are right now.

LINDSAY: Yes, I am in Minnesota. I am in a suburb of Minneapolis. I'm just about 10 minutes from downtown. And I actually grew up in New Prague, so, about an hour south of the Twin Cities.

IVAN: Tell us about that. What did life look like in New Prague? Am I saying it correctly? New Prague.

LINDSAY: New Prague because we're in Minnesota. My father was very much a new Prague, because that’s how you say it in Czechoslovakia. Growing up in a small town was difficult. I think I have a greater appreciation for it now that I'm an adult, because when my dad passed away, there were so many people who stepped up to help my mother. And I don't necessarily think that you get that environment or that community in the Twin Cities. I think you have to work much harder for it. You aren't just building these relationships, the way that you are in smaller towns.

That said, New Prague has had kind of a tumultuous last couple of years, there have been a lot of racially insensitive and straight up discriminatory events that have happened there. And it's been really hard to be somebody who has spoken out about being from New Prague and then have these things happen. And we're talking really horrific language being used at sporting events, and stuff that is making national headlines and it's your hometown.

IVAN: What did your growing up situation look like? Do you have any brothers or sisters?

LINDSAY: Yes. So, what was the Guentzel household like?

IVAN: What did it look like? Yeah.

LINDSAY: I'm the youngest of four girls, but it's a little bit more complicated than that. My father was married before he met my mother, and so I have a half-sister. Allison was 24 when I was born. So my parents were older when I was born. My dad was 46, my mom was 38. She somehow hasn’t aged past 54, so I don't know how she's doing it. I just aged my mother everywhere I go. But in our little Guentzel unit in New Prague there were three girls. I had an older sister, who was eight when I was born, and then another sister that was six when I was born. So yes, that's four daughters.

IVAN: Wow.

LINDSAY: When I was born, my dad had four daughters, ranging in age from 24 to a newborn.

IVAN: Wow.

LINDSAY: I'm the baby of the family but I also have this very long stretch where I was an only child. So I was the baby until sixth grade, and then my next sister graduated and then I was an only child from seventh grade to graduation with my parents. And I definitely have only child tendencies, those formative years of freedom and independence. I had parents who were just checked out. I don't mean that to be finger pointing or placing blame on them, but I was kind of given free rein, as long as I didn't get in trouble.

IVAN: Which is great. That's awesome. Once you've done four kids, by the last one, you kind of know what you're doing. I understand that. I was an only child growing up the whole time, and I have three kids, also 11 years between the oldest and the second oldest, and he's my stepson, so two blended families. Yeah, once you've done it a couple times, I guess you think you know what you're doing. I would love to know what your earliest memory is. What do you remember about your sisters in New Prague and growing up there?

LINDSAY: They were so creative and outgoing, and I got to tag along a lot. I also didn't get to tag along a lot. I was kind of the annoying baby sister at a certain point. I have a lot of memories at our childhood home, because we grew up in this great little cul de sac and there were kids in every house. And we would leave in the morning, and we'd come back for meals and then we'd come back for dinner and then it'd be 10 o'clock and every parent would be on the front step yelling, “it's time to come in”, and it was just a wonderful childhood. I'm probably talking more about summer because it is summer right now, so you leave and go to the pool or go to the library. Or we had this spot in town that hadn't been developed yet and so we were building tree forts. It was great. It was a great childhood. It was a rough adolescence.

IVAN: So, adolescence being specifically when your sisters left and you were in high school?

LINDSAY: Yeah, late middle school, high school was tough for me. I think that's just a time for women specifically, where it is just hard and hindsight being what it is, I know that I had undiagnosed ADHD. And I was very sensitive. I was an incredibly highly sensitive kid, young adult. It just was very sensitive. I went to school with the same people from preschool through graduation. There were no interruptions. I see kids now where they go to a middle school, but they play baseball with completely different kids. So, you have a better chance of meeting people that you actually connect with. It was tough. It was very tough.

IVAN: The diversity of experience and exposure now is much higher than it used to be. And getting so many different ideas nowadays is easier. I guess there are other things that adolescents deal with now, but at least it's not like one singular pathway that you can take, and you have to take it. You kind of have more options now.

LINDSAY: Oh, absolutely. I remember my older sisters in high school, and things were pretty tough, pulling me aside and just saying, “Hey, you're going to meet your forever friends in college. These are people that you’re around, and they're your friends, but you don't necessarily have a lot in common with them. And then you'll go to college, and you'll meet people that you share passions with.”

And I think even when connecting with people on social media, I always joke. I invite people over or I see them out and someone's like, “Well, how do you know them?” I'm like “Twitter”. And they’re like, “Wait, you meet people on Twitter?” And it's like well, yeh, because you fall in with people you have things in common with that you wouldn't have been able to connect with if the internet didn't exist. Now, again, as you mentioned, kids today, there's definitely different problems. But you can find your space and your people a little bit easier. The one thing I think is so great for this generation is they can explore different career paths and different colleges, and they can see what's out there a little bit easier than we did.

IVAN: Yeah, I agree with that. You've got an education in communication and you've spent time working in PR, and you're basically in media. Is that what you wanted to do growing up? Is that what you were thinking you were going to do? Or was that sort of a left-hand turn when you got to college?

LINDSAY: So actually, I studied communication, yes, but I don't have a degree. I failed out of college twice. And I would say within the last couple of years is really the only time I've become comfortable saying that, again knowing I had ADHD, coming from high school to college, the wheels just fell off. There was no structure, it was all on me. Honestly, I don't think I met my advisor at the University of Minnesota until I was failing out, and they were having me sign paperwork, basically saying I was no longer a student there. That was probably my first interaction.

And I didn't know I had no idea what was happening. And I was so ashamed of it that I didn't say anything to anyone. It was that feeling of like, oh, I guess it's just me. But really deep down, there was so much more at play. And I don't know that I wanted to study communications. I don't like to play the what if game. If I had gone to college with a better understanding of how my brain works, what would I have studied? What would I have been passionate about?

I do love creating things. I love making things. And so, the communication side of that working in journalism, or doing this podcast and getting to build things that I'm proud of, and putting it out there and have people connect with that, that’s something I've always been very passionate about. But I truly kind of think I was meant to be an entertainer, I just wasn't given the substantial gifts that an actual entertainer would have been given. I sing, but I'm not the world's best singer. I dance but I'm not the world's best dancer.

I just have always found myself really drawn to being in front of a microphone or being on stage, or holding court when you're bellied up at the bar, you start meeting the people around you. I love everything that goes into being a creator and connecting with people.

IVAN: When you were at the University of Minnesota, and you said the wheels fell off, in retrospect, could you notice signs? Were there hints that something might be remiss? That something might be going on now that you've experienced this diagnosis, and you know what the symptoms are and you know how ADHD functions? Were there any signs? Any signals that even crossed your mind back then?

LINDSAY: I don't know that it crossed my mind. I don't think I really truly understood what mental health was. And I say that in the sense of when I realized when someone explained to me what anxiety was and how it could manifest. My earliest memory, we’re going all the way back to elementary school, of things happening and feeling a lot of shame and being very anxious and on edge. And I'm someone who is very outgoing. I just mentioned, I love holding court at the bar, I love being in front of people but at the same time I'm an incredible introvert.

And a lot of that comes from anxiety and self-esteem issues, and something called Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, where I'm very aware of how people respond to me, and I internalize that and allow that to affect me.

So, a lot of that was there in college, but I think I was so disconnected from everything that was happening. And I also, at the same time, was coping in really unhealthy ways. A lot of partying. A lot of being social. I was explaining to someone the other day, I would get ready for class, and I would be on time and I would be excited to go and I get out of the dorm, and it would be in the middle of winter, and I'd have flip flops on my feet, like my shower shoes were still on. And so, then I'd have to go back into the room and change my shoes, and then I would be running late. And this term adulting, like the verb 'to adult' was very hard for me.

IVAN: Yeah, there seems to be this trend. And I've seen it with my kids as well. Executive functioning comes not to everyone. And that's okay. There are ways in today's society that you can deal with that kind of stuff. And I don't think we had that 20, 30, 50 years ago.

LINDSAY: No, I don't think we still have a full grasp on how detrimental it can be in someone's life to lack executive function skills.

IVAN: Let's talk a little bit about right now. So you're spending time as the producer and the host of this new podcast, Refocused with ADHD Online as you said at the beginning. But that's not your full-time job, right?

LINDSAY: So, I am an on call temporary producer at Minnesota Public Radio, I joined in April of 2021. It was supposed to be a two-month commitment, and I'm still there. I have worked on a ton of different shows in the last year and however many months. And it has made me a much better storyteller. And I think it really is the only way I was prepared to take on this podcast. And everything that I've learned there and the people I've gotten to work with, it’s really been such a wonderful crash course in the art of audio storytelling.

I had worked at WCCO Radio for a few years as a newsroom reporter and then as a producer. And the stuff I was doing there, I think the max length was maybe a five-minute segment that I did for Twins baseball games, like a Saturday morning pregame show or something like that. But at MPR, I've been given the opportunity to work on 12-minute pieces and bringing in different audio to enhance the storytelling. And it's just been really cool to learn and explore audio storytelling. And to learn it from people who are really good at it.

IVAN: What makes you anxious about the work?

LINDSAY: Deadlines. I am someone who I do not like disappointing people and I always take on too much. And deadlines have been always very hard for me. I'm someone who thinks that they thrive on the pressure of doing things last minute, which really is just an excuse I've told myself. I would say what also might make me anxious about it is, and I wouldn't say that this is isolated to my work at MPR, but I do think I have been very self-conscious about the fact that I don't have a college degree.

 I do think you hit a point as an adult in the workforce where your education is overshadowed by your work experience. And I feel like I’ve been there for a long time, but it's getting out of my own head and reminding myself that I am worthy of being where I'm at. I am worthy of these jobs. Just because my college experience wasn't that of the people working around me, in fact I think it helps because I bring in a different experience. I bring in a completely different side. I didn't know even in high school that people would pick schools that specialize, yes, I’m going to go to Mizzou because it's a great journalism school, or I'm going to go to Syracuse because it's a great journalism school. That was just so outside my realm of comprehension.

IVAN: Yeah, it's all in your head, right? I don't care that you didn't get your degree, show me what you can do now. Show me how you're kind to the world. Show me how you're willing to learn and how curious you are. And let's work together in making this thing. And let's learn from each other because you certainly have experience, I don't, and I have something that I can offer too. I hope that that perspective changes. And you kind of have to have a degree if you're going to operate on someone's eye, because their retina is detached, I understand that. But for the majority of other things, like you said, there's this experience that begins to just outweigh the fact that you got a degree 20 years ago,

LINDSAY: I just wrapped up my first season coaching for the nonprofit Girls on the Run, and what you mentioned, where you're like, it's all in your head. What I said to them every single time we were talking about living life as our true selves, I would say to them, “Your parents and your teachers and your best friends, how they feel about you and how they see you? Wouldn’t it be so amazing if we all walked around with that confidence all the time?”

Think about what we all would accomplish if we walked around with the view of ourselves that other people have of us. But it is so hard to get to that point.

IVAN: To have that perspective of the child that you have that looks up to you and thinks the world of you, or that brother or that mother that just wants you to succeed. If you had that in your brain? Yeah. Wouldn't that be great?

LINDSAY: If you could bottle that up. As I mentioned, I don't like to live in the past. I don't like to think about what if. It’s a very slippery slope. And I do have a lot of regret and shame about my time in college and my 20s and some of the things that I let happen, because I was just not comfortable with myself and not comfortable talking about things. I hid so much, I’m so good at hiding things from people. And I do think every once in a while where I would be if I hadn't let other outside forces get in the way. And that's not just the ADHD, it's not just failing out of college. It's even things like allowing other people's treatment of me and viewpoint of me to affect what I went after.

IVAN: I’m sorry that happened, and that is in the past. But it's also good that it's in the past. And you can control your own current and your own now and your own future. And it sounds like you're well on your way to doing that. So that's a good thing.

LINDSAY: It is a good thing. Yes.

IVAN: I would love to know more about Girls on the Run. One of our project managers, Kelly Auxier, she is also involved with Girls on the Run. And she talks about that organization all the time. And she loves those girls. And she was raising funds for them last week or the week before, I think there was a fundraiser going on. Tell me how you got involved with them and what they do.

LINDSAY: So Girls on the Run is a national nonprofit. And there's a great base of programs here in Minnesota across the whole state. I mean, we're talking Duluth down to Rochester, and there's a few different programs. The one that I was involved in is the specific Girls on the Run which is third through fifth grade girls. It's based around running, I mean the name is Girls on the Run. But it really is a program that's built to address the whole person, and to give these young humans tools and resources and human connections to empower themselves, to make sure that what some of us went through. I think that's a big reason why a lot of women coaches, we know how hard it is to be a young woman growing up.

And it's not to say that young boys don't have their own stuff going on. But young women specifically, it's so easy to develop low self-esteem, to put unnecessary beauty standards on yourself, to view yourself as unworthy because your body doesn't look like the person next to you.

I was introduced to the program through my own running buddy, her name is Laura. And she's lovely. And she has coached for many, many seasons. I reached out to Girls on the Run, and they were looking for one more head coach for a suburb here in Minnesota, and they needed a head coach so that they could have two teams. There were that many girls that wanted to come out. Yeah, a bunch of the girls had been waitlisted in the fall, and so they were really trying to put together the second team.

So the school I was at actually had two teams, each team had 20 girls, so we're talking 40 young women, and I was one of the only coaches at our school who didn't have children on the team. And it was like day two and I was running with a young girl, and she turned to me and she goes, “So which kid is yours?” And I was like, “None of them. I don't have kids.” And she was like, “Then why are you here?” And I thought about it a lot. And I've been thinking about it a lot since the season wrapped up not too long ago, about a week ago.

And I do think it's so important for young people to have connections with adults who don't have children. And I also think for me, I don't know that kids are in my future, I haven't really figured that out yet. I'm probably going to have to figure it out real soon. But I want to still have those relationships. I love kids. I love my friends’ kids. I grew up babysitting and nannying and I do think I connect well with kids. And I got out as much as I put in.

IVAN: Wow, what a great organization.

LINDSAY: It’s wonderful. And I should say that it's not all women coaches, there are men coaches, dads, runners. It is just as important for males to have that positive impact, too.

IVAN: I totally agree with that as well. So, the name of our podcast is ONE OF 8 BILLION. It conjures up a bunch of ideas in my head and feelings and thoughts. And I'm curious, and I ask this of every guest, how does it make you feel? What thoughts come to mind when I say, “Hey, you're one of eight billion?”

LINDSAY: Overwhelmed. I'm someone who, if I start to go down that path of thinking big picture, and you know, big picture of my place in the universe, and all the things that I want to do, but I know I'll never get to do all of them. And then you start to think of this one life and are you living it the way you want to? And oh, it gets to be very overwhelming. And yeah, that's where a lot of my anxiety will pop up, in some of those big picture things.

IVAN: To me, there's a bit of comfort in knowing that I'm one of eight billion. It's like, oh, there are all these other eight billion people out there, and they're all kind of going through it at the same time with me. And we're not really very different. That gives me comfort, but I can totally see how it makes you totally overwhelmed as well. That's definitely a perspective.

LINDSAY: Well, I think your perspective is a little bit more on the positive side. Comfort yes. Wouldn't it be great if that is where my brain went?

IVAN: I'm a little bit of an optimist.

LINDSAY: I like it.

IVAN: A couple of last questions. What's bringing you joy these days? What's making you smile? Is it something you're doing or something you're reading? What's making Lindsay smile?

LINDSAY: What is making me smile right now is for the first time in my career, I'm really investing a lot of time and resources in building my own career. And that's not just with this podcast Refocus with Lindsay Guentzel which I kind of have full control over creativity that goes into it. And what I'm covering in that feels, most days really exciting, some days a little overwhelming. But this is the first time in my career where I'm putting myself first. I've always built other people's dreams. And obviously, I'm still building other people's dreams, because that's how you pay the bills.

But I think I'm at a point where I see what is possible. And I'm seeing other people see that and that is really exciting. It's really awesome to have put in a lot of hard work and to have questioned the path a lot, and to have worried that I will just never be satisfied or never reach the point that I want to reach, and to have people respond to me in a way that makes me feel like my dreams are actually possible is really refreshing.

On a much less serious note, I have two kittens living with me right now who are about nine weeks old. Full disclosure on the background, I went on Nextdoor to sell old patio furniture and instead came home with two kittens because someone was giving them away. And I hyper-focused in that split second of seeing the post and realized that I was the only person in this world capable of making sure that they found a good home.

I would say it's a two-sided symptom of my ADHD, of being very manic and being able to step up in a moment. And I feel like I'm someone who's great and in an emergency but also, I don't know how to disconnect from that. I’m very tied emotionally to those feelings, and I can let that really take over my life. So, I have two kittens right now, I actually think they're going to get adopted this weekend together, it’s one of the things I was worried about.

IVAN: Oh yay!

LINDSAY: So they are making me smile, because they're kittens. And it does make me feel really good that my boyfriend and I and our resident dog and cat, were able to give them a great home over the last couple of weeks, and they'll thrive in their new home because we gave them that start.

IVAN: I think that's so awesome. We need more people like you who are ready to step up and take that initial step. Make that decision and give kittens homes, and help refugees out, and do all these things that can be done.

LINDSAY: Yes, I think there are a lot of people who want to help more. I think that they are just afraid. I do think that there is something to be said about sometimes the treatment of people who step up and who try to get things done and do it without asking permission.

IVAN: Yeah. Before we end off, I would love to hear about what your hopes and dreams are for your new podcast. Tell us where we can hear it and how we can get more information about it. And I'm very interested in knowing that.

LINDSAY: Oh, man, it's a very big question. Well, I'll start with the easy part. Refocus with Lindsay Guentzel is available pretty much wherever you listen to your podcasts. So, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, you can go to ADHD Online, and there's a link there as well. So, all of the episodes are available there.

When I think big picture for this podcast, the thing that comes out all the time is this podcast, and I know I'm going to get emotional here, I get emotional about this every time, because I don't quite know if people truly understand the gravity of my diagnosis. And the answers that I have now that I wouldn't have had and the person I get to be because I have those answers. And if I get to provide that path forward for even one person, if one person hears this podcast and connects with it, and it pushes them to seek out answers.

And I know that kind of sounds so cliche, because that really you know, it's like if just if I can help one person but I truly mean it because that little secret in my life, that unknown, it ruined a lot for me. And I get to go forward with all those answers. And I get to go forward with these new techniques and work arounds and safety nets. And I truly kind of feel like the sky's the limit right now.

But there was a time where I was in a really, really dark place, and when you don't know something's wrong, and you don't know that not everyone around you feels that way, and you feel like that is just the way you're supposed to be living, it is unreal. And to really have those answers and be in a position to take my oversharing and my candidness, like, there was a reason why I was given no filter, and I think it was really truly for this.

IVAN: When was the moment that you realized that you had the answer?

LINDSAY: It was the first day I took medication. I was given my diagnosis officially on a Wednesday and when I went to the pharmacy after to get my stimulant, which essentially is trying to work to balance out the dopamine in your brain, I remember exactly where I was. The ADHD hyperfocus, I was sitting in the parking lot of my favorite Home Goods store and there was a moment, it was about two o'clock in the afternoon and I wasn't exhausted. I didn't feel like I needed to go home and take a nap.

The fog in my brain was gone. The veil that I didn't know was a thing, it just always was foggy, I always was struggling to get through the afternoon. And at that time, at about two o'clock, I was clear headed, and I had energy. And I really truly at that moment went this is what it's supposed to feel like. And that was amazing. But there's so much that comes with that.

IVAN: How long ago was that?

LINDSAY: That would have been January of 2021.

IVAN: Right in the middle of the pandemic. Right in the middle of probably a snowy parking lot. What a wonderful story of clarity there. That moment is, I'm sure rare, and how wonderful that you were able to find it. What inspired you to start the podcast? It’s a big thing. You must have been totally inspired to do something when you had that moment of clarity.

LINDSAY: I was very excited. I've always had my hand in so many different things. I worked in baseball, I worked in high school sports. I've done cooking on TV. I've done DIY projects, and news and politics and all of these different things. And honestly, I didn't seek out the podcast. In fact, ADHD Online had reached out to me. And I do feel like, I finally know, the stories I'm supposed to be telling. I still get very excited about all of those other things in life that I'm passionate about. But I do think that I have figured out my space.

IVAN: Wow. Sounds like this is what was absolutely meant for you, and all the stars have aligned, and your experiences have aligned. And I'm just so happy for you. And I'm just glad that this is a thing that you're doing. I'm going to be subscribing to it as we speak. Just as soon as this is done, I'm going to be subscribing to it, because of course there are people with ADHD in my life. And I want to be able to understand that more than I do right now. So, thank you. Thank you for doing that. And thank you for being on the show.

LINDSAY: Thank you for having me. Thank you for providing this amazing space to share some personal stuff. It speaks volumes about you.

IVAN: Thank you. That's so nice. It's just great to have had you on and really appreciate your time. It's really precious to me and come back again.

LINDSAY: Please. I would love that.

Preview

IVAN: I hope you’ll join us in the next episode of ONE OF 8 BILLION… when we hear from nationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Jeremy Messersmith.

JEREMY MESSERSMITH: There's a few different schools of thought, that either your fingerprint should be all over the song, or you should just get out of the way of it completely and just let the song be. And for this batch of tunes I just got out of the way as best I could. And I tried to write my deeply held beliefs, my core values. And I just tried to write them as absolutely simply as I possibly could.

And then I thought of the songs that were really important to me. They weren't the songs that I'd heard on the radio. They were the songs that I grew up singing. Passively listening to music is a great and wonderful thing. Moving your body to it is fantastic. But actually singing, performing, playing songs is just wonderful. And I don't know if there's any better way to encode information for people.

Outro

This has been ONE OF 8 BILLION, a podcast about all of us... online at 1of8b.com. Join us again next time as we listen to one of eight billion other stories!

ONE OF 8 BILLION is supported by TEN7, a technology studio whose mission is to Make Things That Matter. Find out more at ten7.com. I’m Ivan Stegic. Thank you for listening.

Credits

This is Episode 137 of ONE OF 8 BILLION. It was recorded on June 14, 2022 and first published on July 06, 2022. Audio length is 39 minutes. Transcription by Roxanne Chumucas. Summary, highlights and editing by Brian Lucas. Music by Lexfunk. Produced by Jonathan Freed.

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