The Couple Making the Most of ADHD for Their Creative Business
Jan 8, 2025
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Penn and Kim Holderness, former Amazing Race winners turned entrepreneurs, share their journey of navigating ADHD as a couple. They discuss how they embraced neurodiversity to create a thriving business, offering strategies for balancing emotional dysregulation and task management. The couple highlights finding humor in creative pressures and the importance of adaptable environments for growth. They reflect on their transition from corporate life to creative freedom, embracing risk-taking in the digital landscape while maintaining family support.
Emphasizing communication and understanding each other's emotional triggers enhances both personal relationships and collaborative workflows for those with ADHD.
Creating a structured yet flexible schedule, with intentional breaks and brainstorming time, fosters creativity and productivity in neurodivergent individuals.
Deep dives
Understanding Neurodivergence and Emotional Impact
The podcast highlights the emotional aspect of ADHD, addressing how it often goes unnoticed compared to its behavioral symptoms. Penn shares insights about the 'second arrow' in Buddhism, where the first arrow represents the initial mistake and the second arrow embodies the shame felt afterward. This shame is persistent for individuals with ADHD, complicating their emotional landscape and affecting relationships. The discussion reveals that both partners have developed a deeper appreciation for each other's emotional responses, which has improved their relationship dynamics.
Effective Communication and Collaboration
Communication is emphasized as a key component of the Holdernesses' work and personal relationship, particularly given their close collaboration. They navigate challenges by using specific language to identify emotional triggers, like referring to overwhelming feelings as 'flooding’. This terminology helps them recognize when stress levels are high and allows them to manage their interactions more effectively. Their commitment to understanding each other’s needs improves their workflow, ensuring that their creative processes do not become overwhelming.
Scheduling for Success and Creativity
The couple establishes a structured yet flexible weekly schedule that maximizes their creative potential. They prioritize intense meeting schedules on Mondays to clear the week for creative work, while keeping Fridays lighter to encourage brainstorming and spontaneity. This approach allows them the space to be creatively productive without overwhelming themselves during busy spells. Incorporating breaks and time for daydreaming into their routine proves beneficial for nurturing creativity in their work.
Leveraging Strengths for Creative Success
Penn and Kim share how embracing their neurodivergent traits has been pivotal for their business success. By understanding and capitalizing on their strengths, such as Penn's ability to hyper-focus and Kim's organizational skills, they cultivate an environment where creativity thrives. They also discuss how micro-deadlines can help maintain productivity without stifling creative flow, suggesting that breaking tasks into smaller, manageable chunks can be advantageous for those with ADHD. Their journey of finding joy in creativity and leveraging their unique perspectives exemplifies how neurodivergence can be a powerful asset in work.
When you are neurodivergent, it can feel like you are always behind, don’t fit in, or even worse - wreak havoc on the lives of those who love you. But Penn and Kim Holderness faced ADHD as a couple and a family head on. Through five years of research, they figured out ways to harness Penn’s superpower of ADHD and even built a business around it. The former Amazing Race winners share their perspective and tools on how to have a successful family life -- and business--when your brain works differently.