How'd You Get THAT Job?!

It’s the last interview for How’d You Get THAT Job?! For this special episode, our guest is Nathan Friedman, co-president and chief marketing officer at Understood.org. Nathan was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a child. Early in his career, he didn’t openly discuss his learning and thinking differences. But now he recognizes the value of being vulnerable and embracing them.  

Today, Nathan is helping shape the world so people w...

Dr. Loucresie Rupert is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist with ADHD. She wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until she was a medical intern. Now, being open with her patients about her own neurodivergence allows her to connect with them — and be the best doctor she can be.  

Loucresie didn’t have an easy time getting her diagnosis as a Black woman. When she first sought an evaluation, she was labeled as narcissistic and told she wa...

Kristjana Williams is a London-based Icelandic artist with dyslexia. She wasn’t diagnosed until she was 25 and attending Central Saint Martins, an art school with many students who learn and think differently. Now, she’s a renowned collage artist with her own studio.  

Growing up in Iceland with undiagnosed dyslexia was frustrating for Kristjana. She would try so hard to accomplish her work, but she just couldn’t quite get it withou...

Aideé Chávez Frescas is a senior social media manager at Understood. She also has ADHD and creates her own social media content that has gone viral again and again. She shares about her life as a Mexican person living in the United States, and the intersection of being Latina and having ADHD. Her videos and posts help end stigma and show others they’re not alone. 

Understood is the first workplace where Aideé has been open about her...

Alex Gilbert is a career coach and consultant with ADHD and dyslexia. She helps people with learning and thinking differences navigate their day-to-day work — and play to their strengths. After working in leadership development for years, she pursued her dream and started her own coaching business, Cape-Able Consulting.  

Because Alex was diagnosed at age 8, she had accommodations throughout school. During college, she realized that...

Dan Reis is a product designer at an e-commerce startup — and a listener of the podcast! Like many others, Dan saw his coping skills vanish during the COVID-19 lockdown. This led to him finally getting diagnosed with ADHD.  

Since then, Dan has made it his mission to explore different tools to build his own “ADHD toolkit.” Through trial and error, he modifies strategies to work for him. And he uses these tools to get his work done. ...

Rachel Basoco has ADHD, and she works in two very different industries. She’s a full-time director of advancement and growth for digital communities at Fidelity. She also works part time for 11:11 Media, Paris Hilton’s company, building their Web3 community. She considers herself “the finance bro AND the finance bro’s girlfriend.” 

Having two very different jobs makes planning the workday easier for Rachel. She can be flexible with ...

Gil Gershoni is the founder and creative director of the branding firm Gershoni Creative. He says that everything he does, he does dyslexic.  

Gil sees dyslexia as a hyper-ability. His goal is to show the world that dyslexic thinkers can open new doors and innovate anything.  

Along with Gershoni Creative, Gil created Dyslexic Design Thinking, a method that helps clients see new perspectives and tell the story of their brand. Gil als...

Claire Odom has always worked in the disability inclusion world, even before she knew she had ADHD. When she related a little bit too much to everyone’s answers in an ADHD focus group, she knew it was time to get evaluated.  

Now, Claire is a psychotherapist at a private practice that embraces neurodiversity. She’s also a disability inclusion consultant for Understood’s Workplace team, which focuses on building stronger, more equita...

Michael Upshall Senior and Junior both have ADHD. This father-and-son duo doubles as boss and employee in their carpentry business, Probuilt Design + Build. In both work and life, they understand how the other thinks.  

For Michael Sr., school never matched how his brain worked, and he left high school in the 10th grade. That’s when he took up an apprenticeship, eventually starting his own business. He’s now a master carpenter. And ...

Darcey Gohring was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. But she didn’t feel comfortable disclosing her dyslexia at work until she was a manager. She was scared that her co-workers in the editing and writing world would look at her work differently. Now, she teaches writing classes and is an editor at Zibby Magazine. 

When Darcey was diagnosed, her father didn’t believe that her dyslexia was real. He thought she just needed to “try ha...

Isaac Zablocki always had messy handwriting and trouble getting his thoughts down on paper. When he was growing up, teachers in both Israel and the United States assumed his challenges had to do with switching between languages. It wasn’t until college that he was diagnosed with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and ADHD.  

Because it was hard for Isaac to express himself through writing, he found himself drawn to film. Now, he’s the director o...

Trying to figure out the right job can be challenging — and feel pretty lonely — especially when you have learning and thinking differences. But luckily, there are ways to smooth your career path, and people to get advice from.  

In this bonus episode of How’d You Get THAT Job?!, host Eleni Matheou shares what we’ve heard throughout the show so far, and things we’ve learned. Tune in to explore common threads, like trying new things ...

Dina Ragab is a lawyer with ADHD working on the California high-speed rail project. Dina has always known that she was “neurospicy,” but therapists couldn’t see past her anxiety to the ADHD underneath. It wasn’t until after law school that she was diagnosed, went on medication, and realized there were ways to manage her sometimes all-consuming emotions. 

Dina’s job path wasn’t always a smooth one. She went through a few positions an...

Omar Mouallem is a journalist and filmmaker with ADHD. Omar has worn many hats — journalist, documentary filmmaker, “fake dean” of his self-made school Pandemic University School of Writing, and real professor — all without a college degree. When he began writing Praying to the West, he struggled to focus on one topic for an entire book. That led Omar to his ADHD diagnosis. 

As a freelance writer for many years, Omar flourished as h...

Delia Gallegos combined her love of fandoms with her business experience to create the perfect job for her ADHD. Delia is the chief financial officer of Black Nerds Create (BNC), a collective for marginalized creators to make fandom content.  

Delia first joined BNC as a side hobby to her business operations career. But during the pandemic, she took part in the great resignation and left a job she loved at the Smithsonian. Delia rea...

Scottie Donovan is a New York City wastewater engineer with ADHD. When she entered the field, being on the frontlines of a pandemic wasn’t what she expected. But since wastewater helps determine positive COVID-19 cases, she’s played a vital role in public health information. She’s also heard enough poop jokes to last a lifetime. 

Scottie chose to study civil engineering because of how interactive it is. She’s worked in water treatme...

Luke Kolpin is a chef with dyslexia. He’s cooked in high-pressure environments, from Top Chef to the critically acclaimed Noma in Copenhagen.  

Luke didn’t have the best relationship with school when he was first diagnosed with dyslexia. After high school, he started taking community college courses. But he still wondered what he really wanted to do. That’s when his best friend suggested culinary school. After all, Luke’s nickname w...

Hanna Brooks Olsen is a freelance writer with ADHD. Coming to her ADHD diagnosis was a long journey. Like so many, Hanna thought ADHD was purely hyperactivity, and she didn’t fit that description. But when she learned about the inattentive aspect of ADHD, she saw the connection to her life. She realized that her ADHD symptoms were intertwined with her bipolar disorder, anxiety, and eating disorder.  

As a freelance writer, Hanna doe...