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Barbara Baskin spent 30 years convinced she wasn't very smart. School was academic probation and "needs to try harder" report cards. Then came an ADHD diagnosis at 30, followed by three decades of raising four kids (including triplets), caring for her mother with dementia, and running a business while being everyone's executive function.
At 60, Barbara made a decision that shocked everyone: she moved from a small town in Florida to a fifth-floor walk-up in New York City and started online dating.
Barbara is a writer, journalist, and author of The Ponytailed Guy from Last Night. She discovered that journalism was perfect for her word-loving, curious ADHD brain after struggling through university with brilliant workarounds—alternating "hard" semesters that put her on academic probation with "easy" semesters of ceramics and tennis. She learned she could master anything if she could touch it, which made her an excellent videographer and producer.
But decades of being the family's executive function while masking her ADHD took its toll. High functioning, Barbara realized, wasn't the same as being okay. When a psychiatrist asked what she'd done for herself that week, she couldn't think of a single thing.
In this episode, Barbara and Tracy explore how she built a successful career around her learning differences, survived the chaos of managing everyone else's life, and found the courage to reinvent herself in her 60s completely. They talk about why New York City feels like home to an ADHD brain, how online dating became an unexpected path to self-confidence, and what it means to choose adventure over settling.
Her motto: if they're not interesting, they better be damn interested in me.
Resources:
- Website: https://hightechindustrynews.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbaraqualmann
- Website: theponytailguy.com
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Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.
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