October 20, 2025 • 22 mins
Do you manage someone with ADHD? Or, do you have ADHD or ADHD type symptoms? Our guest today is Skye Waterson, and she shares with us some techniques and strategies to help support the ADHD brain.
TODAY'S WIN-WIN:
If your systems are not working, it is likely your systems and not you.
LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:
- Schedule your free franchise consultation with Big Sky Franchise Team: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/.
- You can visit our guest's website at:
- https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/
- https://open.spotify.com/show/1zofe0f1hq94ZLHTC2xsTD
- Attend our Franchise Sales Training Workshop:
- https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/franchisesalestraining/
- Connect with our guest on social:
- https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/unconventionalorganisation/
- https://open.spotify.com/show/1zofe0f1hq94ZLHTC2xsTD
- https://www.youtube.com/@unconventionalorganisationadhd
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Skye Waterson is an ADHD strategist who helps entrepreneurs and executives with ADHD or ADHD symptoms replace chaos with clear, workable systems that fuel growth. As founder of Unconventional Organisation and host of The ADHD Skills Lab podcast, she’s worked with business leaders worldwide to stay focused, follow through, and scale sustainably. Drawing on science-backed strategies, Skye shows that it’s not your brain that needs fixing, it’s the system – and equips leaders with practical tools they can implement immediately to drive measurable results.
ABOUT BIG SKY FRANCHISE TEAM:
This episode is powered by Big Sky Franchise Team. If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/.
The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified professional before making any business decisions. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host, Big Sky Franchise Team, or our affiliates. Additionally, this podcast may feature sponsors or advertisers, but any mention of products or services does not constitute an endorsement. Please do your own research before making any purchasing or business decisions.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom DuFore (00:01):
Welcome to the Multiply Your Success podcast,
where each week we helpgrowth-minded entrepreneurs and
franchise leaders take the nextstep in their expansion journey.
I'm your host, Tom Dufour, CEOof Big Sky Franchise Team.
And as we open today, I'mwondering if you happen to
manage someone with ADHD ormaybe ADHD symptoms.
(00:22):
Or do you have ADHD or maybeexhibit ADHD type symptoms?
Well, our guest today is SkyeWaterson, and she shares with us
some of the techniques andstrategies to help support the
ADHD brain.
Now, Skye is an ADHD strategistwho helps entrepreneurs and
executives with ADHD or ADHDsymptoms to replace chaos with
(00:48):
clear, workable systems thatfuel growth.
She's the founder ofUnconventional Organization and
host of the ADHD Skills Labpodcast.
She's worked with businessleaders worldwide to stay
focused, follow through, andscale sustainably.
Drawing on science-backedstrategies, Sky shows that it's
not your brain that needsfixing, it's the system and
(01:09):
equips leaders with practicaltools they can implement
immediately to drive measurableresults.
And that's exactly what we talkabout in our interview today.
You're gonna love this one, solet's go ahead and jump right
into it.
Skye Waterson (01:23):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
My name is Sky Waterson.
I run UnconventionalOrganization.
We help business owners withADHD symptoms focus, get their
time back, and grow consistentrevenue.
Tom DuFore (01:36):
Fantastic.
Well, thank you for thatoverview and intro.
And the focus of ourconversation is really to talk
about owners, founders, businessleaders that have ADHD, ADHD
symptoms, or maybe may not evenbe aware that those types of
things exist.
So talk a little bit aboutchallenges that you see
(01:58):
entrepreneurs, founders havethat have ADHD.
And what do you generally seeas those challenges, I guess?
Skye Waterson (02:06):
Yeah.
Yeah, 100%.
And a lot of people will cometo me and say, you know, hey, I
don't have a diagnosis, but Ijust resonate with the systems.
You know, ADHD symptoms arevery common when it comes to
entrepreneurs specifically.
That's why we like to run ourown businesses.
So there's some strengths,amazing creative thinking,
(02:26):
outside of the box thinking,taking action, etc.
But there's also weaknessesaround particularly working
memory.
So forgetting things thatyou've just been told, you know,
hey, can you grab this?
No worries, awesome.
And then oh, it's out of yourbrain.
Things around time blindness,we're gonna get this done by
next week.
Realistically, it's next month,you know, things like that, as
(02:48):
well as impulsivity.
You know, you hear of theentrepreneur whose team are
like, oh, what book are theyreading now?
Like, what giant new system arewe gonna have to do now?
Or on the other side, you know,hey, what happened to that lead
flow process?
It was working really well.
Could you delegate it?
And they're struggling to dothat, they're struggling to kind
of organize their theirbusiness as they scale.
(03:10):
So I have clients from, youknow, people who are running
software businesses to peoplewho run, you know, trades
businesses.
And, you know, I have, forexample, I have a client in the
building industry right now, andthe biggest problem that he's
had is the lead flow has beengood, like they've dialed that
in, but okay, then you get aquote, and then it just sits
(03:33):
there, you know, what happensnext?
So, so it's not necessarilyalways about not knowing what to
do, it's about knowing how todo it.
How to actually say, okay, howdo I focus on doing the admin
when I just want to get back onthe tools?
I want to get back to work andit's not my thing.
How do I delegate that piecewhen delegation involves
(03:56):
actually sitting down and doinga little bit of work to get to
that delegation?
Like, how do I run that cadencewith my team members?
The amount of business owners Itell you who have
million-dollar businesses, and Iask them, do you have an
assistant?
And they say no, is massive.
So, how do we build out thesystem that's going to support
(04:18):
you as you scale, which is amassive struggle for a lot of
entrepreneurs, especially thosewho have ADHD symptoms, because
they will often build in thisvery hard, you know, they'll
they'll do a lot of work,they'll push through a lot of
things, and it's that growth.
And, you know, obviously youwork with franchisees, so you
will understand that scalingthat becomes hard because the
(04:40):
dopamine and a lot of ADHD stuffis about dopamine regulation.
It just isn't there as much asit used to be when it was like,
hey, we've got to put food onthe table.
How are we gonna do that?
Tom DuFore (04:51):
I liked how you started talking about some of
that delegation.
What are some of thosechallenges that you see with the
delegation?
And how have you found folks beable to do that successfully?
Skye Waterson (05:03):
One of the biggest things I found is that,
and I and I relate to thisbecause I'm a business owner
with ADHD myself, but you know,once you've decided, okay, I
want to delegate this task, yourdesire to ever do the task
again drops to below zero.
You're like, I never want to dothis again.
And I work with a lot ofbusiness owners who you know who
you are, you have that taskthat's gonna be a massive lever
(05:24):
in your business, and you'rejust not doing it week after
week.
Something else is coming up.
And so when it comes todelegation, we have a process
that we teach where basicallyyou talk to AI to get the sort
of like little framework, yougive that to your team member,
and then we have a process yougo through where you're
essentially empowering them tobecome responsible and take
(05:47):
ownership of the task.
And all you're doing isanswering questions at the right
time.
So we give you that sequence,and what that allows you to do
is essentially hand off taskswithout doing them, which is
massive for entrepreneursbecause so often they'll come to
me and they'll say, Yeah, sure,I did the thing, and maybe I
even talked to the AI and I gota doc and now I have to read it
(06:08):
and finalize it and format it.
And so it just goes in the pileof things that never get done.
Tom DuFore (06:13):
Talking about ADHD and ADHD symptoms, how do you
see owners turn that into astrength or an advantage for
them?
Skye Waterson (06:23):
Yeah, there are a lot of real advantages.
Like everything I do is basedon research.
I'm a former academic before I,you know, grew this business.
And when we're talking aboutthe strengths, you know, we see
a lot of creative thinking.
So the ability to go, oh, let'slet's think outside of the box.
When everyone else is like,what are we gonna do?
Da-da-da-da-da.
(06:43):
You know, it's the it's theentrepreneurs with the ADHD
symptoms who will come in andsay, oh, well, let's do this
wholly different idea, which isoften, you know, massively it's
great for being first to market.
It's great for being somebodywho is able to sort of cut
through the competition.
That whole blue ocean, redocean thing is really helpful.
(07:04):
And then in terms of action, alot of times when you are a
business owner, that impulsivityhas been great.
You know, other people aredithering around, like, oh, I
don't know, we should askstakeholders, et cetera, et
cetera.
And you're going, let's do it,let's do it by next Friday.
And you've got that hyper focuswhen you're, you know, directed
to actually get it done.
(07:24):
And so you can push a massiveamount of movement through when
you are motivated.
And so often for businessowners, that is the those
strengths are what got them tothat million-dollar business
that they have now.
The only problem is now thebusiness is okay.
There is nothing on fire, onfire.
(07:45):
Like, yes, there's still allthese fires, and we can talk
about how to prioritize withthat.
But we're in the buildingphase.
And the building phase is oftenwhere people really, really
struggle when they have thesesymptoms.
Tom DuFore (07:57):
How do you kind of help work through some of those
things or process some of that?
Skye Waterson (08:02):
Well, the first thing we do is we look at focus.
So generally, people will bevery unfocused.
They'll have kind of like halfa dozen things going on,
especially, you know, you youstart the day, you open your
email, there's like tons ofpeople talking to you.
There's lots of things that areon fire.
The first thing we want to dois prioritize what is truly
important, what is truly urgent.
(08:23):
Then we want to go in and say,okay, what is your actual 80-20
task?
What is the thing that's gonna,the 20% that's gonna give you
80%?
Usually it's a mundane thingthat you don't want to do.
And so then from there we go,how do we get you to do it?
We have a focus formula thatwe've taught for years that
works really effectively.
And then we help build thisinto your team processes as
(08:45):
well.
Tom DuFore (08:46):
Thinking of the tasks to be delegated.
My son has ADHD, and sometimesthere's a struggle in kind of
figuring out what do I actuallyprioritize in going through
certain tasks and things.
So I'd imagine, and I've seenthis in other owners, sometimes
there's a challenge withfiguring out what do I
prioritize?
(09:06):
How do you help folks sortthrough that?
Skye Waterson (09:09):
Yeah, I have a process actually, and and I give
this one away.
If you message me success onInstagram at unconventional
organization, I give it to youbecause I don't think anyone
should be overwhelmed.
But the process essentially isyou go through and first thing
you want to do is you want tograb a document or a journal,
something you're gonna be ableto reuse, because we don't
believe in writing a list andthen ditching it.
(09:31):
And you want to go ahead andjust write down everything that
is in your brain.
So don't go to your emails,don't go to your extra task
list, just what is in your head,what's cluttering up your brain
right now.
All the tasks, whether they'rehome tasks or work tasks,
anything like that, write themall down.
Once you have those, you wantto go in and you want to say,
okay, what is truly urgent fortoday?
(09:55):
As in, if I didn't do it today,there would be a negative
external consequence.
And one of the ways, again,with ADHD, we can be a little
bit tricky to really understandthis.
And so a metaphor that I use isthe waiting room metaphor.
So if you your day wentsideways and you ended up in a
waiting room, that was your day.
(10:17):
Uh, what would this what arethe things you would still do on
your phone, or the things youwould message someone and say,
Hey, I can't do this tomorrowbecause I'm not going to be
prepared?
Those are truly urgent.
Nothing else is truly urgentfor tomorrow.
And then from there, you know,and I've done this with hundreds
of people, we never get morethan five.
Even the people who swear theyhad 200 never get more than
(10:39):
five.
And then from there, youactually have time and you can
use that time to say, okay, whatare the needle movers?
What is that 80-20 task andfind time for that?
And we have a more in-depthprocess in, you know, seven
days, et cetera, et cetera.
But essentially, this is howyou prioritize, especially when
you have ADHD symptoms.
Tom DuFore (11:00):
Thank you for sharing that.
And listening to you talkthrough that made me think a
little bit about we work withcompanies that franchise our
business, and now they're afranchise or they eventually
will have franchisees.
Well, there's probably a goodchance either subordinates or
employees or some of thesefranchisees in the system, now
you're managing a key person atyour company that may exhibit
(11:22):
ADHD type symptoms.
How do you help a leadersupport their staff or support
their franchisees in this typeof a situation?
Skye Waterson (11:32):
It's a great question.
And I, you know, I've workedwith the New Zealand government
on this exact problem becausethey, you know, especially when
ADHD became something thatpeople were looking into more.
Like, what do we do?
How do we manage the managerswith ADHD?
When it comes to these kinds ofstrategies, the biggest thing
is really understanding thestruggles that they're gonna
(11:53):
have.
So, understanding, for example,that if you just send out an
email with a reminder, like, oh,can you do this on Wednesday?
Da-da-da-da, it's probably notgonna get done.
It's hard for those things tobe processed.
It's really important to havesystems and processes system
that they can see and useeasily.
(12:13):
One of the things that I teachfor my my entrepreneurs, and I
also recommend if they'reworking with their own team, is
to build an SOP pipeline.
So it's not just a document,like a big book of stuff.
There's actually a visualpipeline of, you know,
acquisition, lead flow, youknow, first value, retention,
(12:36):
things like that, where they cansee these are the different
pieces of the business that youvalue, and then they can link in
there.
And I just use Mira, butthere's lots of different ways
you can do it.
They can link in there to theSOP for that particular task.
Things like that, making alittle bit more visual and
working on, and this isn't, youknow, I have mentors who say
(12:59):
this all the time.
This is not for me, butunderstanding is it a people
problem or is it a processproblem?
But really focusing if it's aprocess problem, then we should
be going into that SOP pipeline,looking at, you know, red,
orange, green, like what SOPshave we missed, and having a
cadence with the team to say,okay, we're gonna look at this
(13:21):
on a, you know, when whensomeone is an entrepreneur and
they're working with their ownteam, I highly recommend a
weekly basis where they look atthe pipeline and they review it.
Obviously, you guys will bemore experts on that and how
that would work with afranchisee, but really having
that connection rather thanrelying on ad hoc emails,
because that is not gonna growyour team's understanding.
(13:45):
It's usually gonna lead to alot of overwhelm.
Tom DuFore (13:48):
That really helps out a lot.
And thinking about, okay, thisis great and helping sort out
delegation, helping get uhsomeone a little bit more
organized.
What about on the other sidewhere someone maybe is at a
burnout phase or maybe helpingsomeone avoid or prevent that
kind of burnout?
Skye Waterson (14:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I think this is soimportant because especially
when you struggle with ADHDsymptoms, burnout is often on
the other side of it.
Because usually what peoplewill say to themselves is
they'll say, Well, I just needto work harder.
They'll listen and they'll belike, that's cool, Sky, but
mostly I need to work harder.
I am the poster child for that.
When I was in academia, Iworked so hard up until the end
(14:30):
of my master's.
I was working three jobs,contracted with multiple
universities, that when Igraduated my PhD, I just left
and worked as a cashier for ayear in a bakery.
Like I could not do it.
So trust me, I have done theum, you know, just try harder,
just push through method to itsextreme.
And, you know, one of thethings that I see often is that
(14:53):
you will reduce burnout when youbuild systems that work for
your brain.
So if you are in a positionwhere you're saying, I just need
to give myself, give that extra10%, give that extra 20%,
usually what people are doing isthey are working as hard as
they can.
And that goes for you, and thatoften goes for your team as
well.
It doesn't necessarily alwayslook like the same in terms of
(15:16):
output, but when you look at itin terms of input and the amount
of times they spendprocrastinating, because that is
the time.
And yes, I see you spending allday not doing the thing and
then doing it right beforedinner and coming home late and
being like, oh, work was crazy.
You know, that that kind ofthing, it's still effort.
(15:36):
So if we can build a systemwhere everything flows more
effectively, your time is usedmore effectively, you're not
gonna have that.
You're gonna be able to be morepresent, you're gonna spend
more time with family, and youare going to be able to reduce
that burnout risk.
Tom DuFore (15:51):
As someone's tuning in and says, Sky, love what
you're sharing.
What's the best way for someoneto get in contact with you or
find out more information?
Skye Waterson (15:57):
Yeah, so you can find me at unconventional
organization or on Instagram atunconventional organization, you
can DM me success, and I'llsend you the focus routine to
help you go from overwhelmed tofocused.
And then if you are in aposition where you want to
listen to another podcast, Ihave the ADHD skills lab.
We focus on helpingentrepreneurs who want the
(16:20):
strategies, want the research,and just want the next steps.
Tom DuFore (16:24):
This is a great time in the show, and we make a
transition.
We ask every guest the samefour questions before they go.
And the first question we askis Have you had a miss or two on
your journey and something youlearned from it?
Skye Waterson (16:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we had a ton of misses.
I think the first thing I'd sayis like before this business, I
was the co-founder of a frozenfood business that I ran with my
boyfriend now husband.
The big miss for us was thebusiness got shut down during
COVID.
So we spent years setting up,you know, there's a lot of
regulation that goes intorunning food, making finding a
(16:57):
kitchen, renting a kitchen isvery expensive to do.
And then setting it up and, youknow, making it all great,
A-grade, et cetera, et cetera,only to have the whole thing
shut down.
So that was a huge, you know,ultimately it was a good because
the business I think that werun now is is just a better fit
and it just makes more sense.
(17:18):
It's that first business energywhere you're like, I would have
done it differently.
But it was it was a miss interms of actually the success
that we were looking for, but itwas definitely a benefit in
terms of the amount of learningthat we got out of it.
Tom DuFore (17:32):
Excellent.
Well, let's look on the otherside.
Let's talk about a make or ahighlight or two you'd like to
share.
Skye Waterson (17:39):
Yeah, well, highlights for me, I think, have
been really focusing in onbusiness owners who have ADHD
symptoms.
So when I started this businessspecifically, we're working
with professionals and thenbeing able to focus in on
business owners and bring inbusiness strategies, which is
something I'm really passionateabout and I've been doing for a
(18:00):
long time, has been amazing.
It's been amazing to see thewins that people have been
getting.
We've had people triple theirrevenue from the previous month.
We've had people get thesponsorships they need to race
overseas or, you know, getgrants to be able to, you know,
really push their businessforward in terms of growth.
(18:20):
So that would be the thingsthat I really appreciate is the
wins that other people have beenable to get and the ability to,
you know, have a stablebusiness that they don't have to
spend all their time on.
Tom DuFore (18:33):
The name of the show is Multiply Your Success.
And we like to ask have youused a multiplier to grow
yourself personally orprofessionally or any of the
organizations you've run?
Skye Waterson (18:42):
Yeah, well, I mean, I love podcasting.
I love going on podcasts, Ilove talking on podcasts.
I was so nervous, you know,when I started podcasting, I
think a couple of years ago.
And it's just been an amazingexperience.
Everyone has been so lovely.
And especially when I firststarted, I remember there were a
few podcasts that just so manyresponses from so many people
(19:04):
saying, This is me, this is myexperience.
So the ultimate multiplier forme has been connecting with
other people and talking aboutwhat I do.
Tom DuFore (19:11):
And the final question we ask every guest is
what does success mean to you?
Skye Waterson (19:16):
Success for me means having stability, the
ability to support my family, todo what I want while I support
my family, and to help otherpeople do the same.
Tom DuFore (19:29):
And Sky, as we bring this to a close, is there
anything you are hoping to shareor get across that you haven't
had a chance to yet?
Skye Waterson (19:36):
Not really, but I think I just want to remind
people (19:39):
you know, if the systems you're using aren't working,
chances are you need differentsystems.
And it's not just you doingbadly.
Because so often we can we cantell ourselves that.
And it's sad because it'sactually really simple to get
systems that are going to workbetter for you.
Tom DuFore (19:56):
Sky, thank you so much for a fantastic interview.
And let's go ahead and jumpinto today's three key
takeaways.
So, takeaway number one is whenshe talked about the challenges
for entrepreneurs and leaderswith ADHD.
And some of those examples areforgetting things that you've
been told, time blindness,impulsivity, not knowing what to
(20:20):
do and how to delegate it, andhaving challenges with
delegation.
And takeaway number two are theadvantages.
So here's some really greatthings that someone with an ADHD
brings creative thinking andthinking outside the box.
It's great to help you be thefirst to market or come up with
a brand new product or service.
And she said that actionimpulsivity is also a positive
(20:45):
because it gives you the abilityto get things done and push for
a lot of action and seesomething through in a short
window of time.
Takeaway number three is whenshe talked about what happens
when you're managing staff ormanaging franchisees with ADHD.
And she talked about havingclients build an SOP pipeline to
(21:07):
see all of the pieces and howthey sync together.
And she talked about makingthat a visual pipeline.
I thought that was a great ideaand asking the question is it a
people problem or a processproblem?
And now it's time for today'swin-win.
So today's win-win is tied tothe very end of takeaway number
(21:32):
three, which is where we talkedabout is it a process problem or
a people problem?
And what she said is if yoursystems are not working, it's
likely your systems, and it'snot you.
And she said, sometimes peoplethink, oh, I just have to work
harder.
And she gave that example ofherself when she was finishing
her PhD, and she kept pushing,pushing, pushing and burned out.
(21:55):
And she said she took a yearoff of just doing almost
anything and just took a jobworking at a local coffee shop
or local bakery that she hadsaid and talked about.
And so I just think the win-winis recognizing that sometimes
grinding it out or quote,working harder is not always the
(22:15):
solution.
It's sometimes taking a lookback to see what is the process
here.
Maybe you can improve on that.
That's the episode today,folks.
Please make sure you subscribeto the podcast and give us a
review.
We always greatly appreciatethose.
And remember, if you or anyoneyou know might be ready to
franchise their business or taketheir franchise company to the
next level, please connect withus at BigSkyFranchise Team.com
(22:38):
to schedule your free, noobligation consultation.
Thanks for tuning in, and welook forward to having you back
next week.
Welcome to the Multiply Your Success podcast,
where each week we helpgrowth-minded entrepreneurs and
franchise leaders take the nextstep in their expansion journey.
I'm your host, Tom Dufour, CEOof Big Sky Franchise Team.
And as we open today, I'mwondering if you happen to
manage someone with ADHD ormaybe ADHD symptoms.
(00:22):
Or do you have ADHD or maybeexhibit ADHD type symptoms?
Well, our guest today is SkyeWaterson, and she shares with us
some of the techniques andstrategies to help support the
ADHD brain.
Now, Skye is an ADHD strategistwho helps entrepreneurs and
executives with ADHD or ADHDsymptoms to replace chaos with
(00:48):
clear, workable systems thatfuel growth.
She's the founder ofUnconventional Organization and
host of the ADHD Skills Labpodcast.
She's worked with businessleaders worldwide to stay
focused, follow through, andscale sustainably.
Drawing on science-backedstrategies, Sky shows that it's
not your brain that needsfixing, it's the system and
(01:09):
equips leaders with practicaltools they can implement
immediately to drive measurableresults.
And that's exactly what we talkabout in our interview today.
You're gonna love this one, solet's go ahead and jump right
into it.
Skye Waterson (01:23):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
My name is Sky Waterson.
I run UnconventionalOrganization.
We help business owners withADHD symptoms focus, get their
time back, and grow consistentrevenue.
Tom DuFore (01:36):
Fantastic.
Well, thank you for thatoverview and intro.
And the focus of ourconversation is really to talk
about owners, founders, businessleaders that have ADHD, ADHD
symptoms, or maybe may not evenbe aware that those types of
things exist.
So talk a little bit aboutchallenges that you see
(01:58):
entrepreneurs, founders havethat have ADHD.
And what do you generally seeas those challenges, I guess?
Skye Waterson (02:06):
Yeah.
Yeah, 100%.
And a lot of people will cometo me and say, you know, hey, I
don't have a diagnosis, but Ijust resonate with the systems.
You know, ADHD symptoms arevery common when it comes to
entrepreneurs specifically.
That's why we like to run ourown businesses.
So there's some strengths,amazing creative thinking,
(02:26):
outside of the box thinking,taking action, etc.
But there's also weaknessesaround particularly working
memory.
So forgetting things thatyou've just been told, you know,
hey, can you grab this?
No worries, awesome.
And then oh, it's out of yourbrain.
Things around time blindness,we're gonna get this done by
next week.
Realistically, it's next month,you know, things like that, as
(02:48):
well as impulsivity.
You know, you hear of theentrepreneur whose team are
like, oh, what book are theyreading now?
Like, what giant new system arewe gonna have to do now?
Or on the other side, you know,hey, what happened to that lead
flow process?
It was working really well.
Could you delegate it?
And they're struggling to dothat, they're struggling to kind
of organize their theirbusiness as they scale.
(03:10):
So I have clients from, youknow, people who are running
software businesses to peoplewho run, you know, trades
businesses.
And, you know, I have, forexample, I have a client in the
building industry right now, andthe biggest problem that he's
had is the lead flow has beengood, like they've dialed that
in, but okay, then you get aquote, and then it just sits
(03:33):
there, you know, what happensnext?
So, so it's not necessarilyalways about not knowing what to
do, it's about knowing how todo it.
How to actually say, okay, howdo I focus on doing the admin
when I just want to get back onthe tools?
I want to get back to work andit's not my thing.
How do I delegate that piecewhen delegation involves
(03:56):
actually sitting down and doinga little bit of work to get to
that delegation?
Like, how do I run that cadencewith my team members?
The amount of business owners Itell you who have
million-dollar businesses, and Iask them, do you have an
assistant?
And they say no, is massive.
So, how do we build out thesystem that's going to support
(04:18):
you as you scale, which is amassive struggle for a lot of
entrepreneurs, especially thosewho have ADHD symptoms, because
they will often build in thisvery hard, you know, they'll
they'll do a lot of work,they'll push through a lot of
things, and it's that growth.
And, you know, obviously youwork with franchisees, so you
will understand that scalingthat becomes hard because the
(04:40):
dopamine and a lot of ADHD stuffis about dopamine regulation.
It just isn't there as much asit used to be when it was like,
hey, we've got to put food onthe table.
How are we gonna do that?
Tom DuFore (04:51):
I liked how you started talking about some of
that delegation.
What are some of thosechallenges that you see with the
delegation?
And how have you found folks beable to do that successfully?
Skye Waterson (05:03):
One of the biggest things I found is that,
and I and I relate to thisbecause I'm a business owner
with ADHD myself, but you know,once you've decided, okay, I
want to delegate this task, yourdesire to ever do the task
again drops to below zero.
You're like, I never want to dothis again.
And I work with a lot ofbusiness owners who you know who
you are, you have that taskthat's gonna be a massive lever
(05:24):
in your business, and you'rejust not doing it week after
week.
Something else is coming up.
And so when it comes todelegation, we have a process
that we teach where basicallyyou talk to AI to get the sort
of like little framework, yougive that to your team member,
and then we have a process yougo through where you're
essentially empowering them tobecome responsible and take
(05:47):
ownership of the task.
And all you're doing isanswering questions at the right
time.
So we give you that sequence,and what that allows you to do
is essentially hand off taskswithout doing them, which is
massive for entrepreneursbecause so often they'll come to
me and they'll say, Yeah, sure,I did the thing, and maybe I
even talked to the AI and I gota doc and now I have to read it
(06:08):
and finalize it and format it.
And so it just goes in the pileof things that never get done.
Tom DuFore (06:13):
Talking about ADHD and ADHD symptoms, how do you
see owners turn that into astrength or an advantage for
them?
Skye Waterson (06:23):
Yeah, there are a lot of real advantages.
Like everything I do is basedon research.
I'm a former academic before I,you know, grew this business.
And when we're talking aboutthe strengths, you know, we see
a lot of creative thinking.
So the ability to go, oh, let'slet's think outside of the box.
When everyone else is like,what are we gonna do?
Da-da-da-da-da.
(06:43):
You know, it's the it's theentrepreneurs with the ADHD
symptoms who will come in andsay, oh, well, let's do this
wholly different idea, which isoften, you know, massively it's
great for being first to market.
It's great for being somebodywho is able to sort of cut
through the competition.
That whole blue ocean, redocean thing is really helpful.
(07:04):
And then in terms of action, alot of times when you are a
business owner, that impulsivityhas been great.
You know, other people aredithering around, like, oh, I
don't know, we should askstakeholders, et cetera, et
cetera.
And you're going, let's do it,let's do it by next Friday.
And you've got that hyper focuswhen you're, you know, directed
to actually get it done.
(07:24):
And so you can push a massiveamount of movement through when
you are motivated.
And so often for businessowners, that is the those
strengths are what got them tothat million-dollar business
that they have now.
The only problem is now thebusiness is okay.
There is nothing on fire, onfire.
(07:45):
Like, yes, there's still allthese fires, and we can talk
about how to prioritize withthat.
But we're in the buildingphase.
And the building phase is oftenwhere people really, really
struggle when they have thesesymptoms.
Tom DuFore (07:57):
How do you kind of help work through some of those
things or process some of that?
Skye Waterson (08:02):
Well, the first thing we do is we look at focus.
So generally, people will bevery unfocused.
They'll have kind of like halfa dozen things going on,
especially, you know, you youstart the day, you open your
email, there's like tons ofpeople talking to you.
There's lots of things that areon fire.
The first thing we want to dois prioritize what is truly
important, what is truly urgent.
(08:23):
Then we want to go in and say,okay, what is your actual 80-20
task?
What is the thing that's gonna,the 20% that's gonna give you
80%?
Usually it's a mundane thingthat you don't want to do.
And so then from there we go,how do we get you to do it?
We have a focus formula thatwe've taught for years that
works really effectively.
And then we help build thisinto your team processes as
(08:45):
well.
Tom DuFore (08:46):
Thinking of the tasks to be delegated.
My son has ADHD, and sometimesthere's a struggle in kind of
figuring out what do I actuallyprioritize in going through
certain tasks and things.
So I'd imagine, and I've seenthis in other owners, sometimes
there's a challenge withfiguring out what do I
prioritize?
(09:06):
How do you help folks sortthrough that?
Skye Waterson (09:09):
Yeah, I have a process actually, and and I give
this one away.
If you message me success onInstagram at unconventional
organization, I give it to youbecause I don't think anyone
should be overwhelmed.
But the process essentially isyou go through and first thing
you want to do is you want tograb a document or a journal,
something you're gonna be ableto reuse, because we don't
believe in writing a list andthen ditching it.
(09:31):
And you want to go ahead andjust write down everything that
is in your brain.
So don't go to your emails,don't go to your extra task
list, just what is in your head,what's cluttering up your brain
right now.
All the tasks, whether they'rehome tasks or work tasks,
anything like that, write themall down.
Once you have those, you wantto go in and you want to say,
okay, what is truly urgent fortoday?
(09:55):
As in, if I didn't do it today,there would be a negative
external consequence.
And one of the ways, again,with ADHD, we can be a little
bit tricky to really understandthis.
And so a metaphor that I use isthe waiting room metaphor.
So if you your day wentsideways and you ended up in a
waiting room, that was your day.
(10:17):
Uh, what would this what arethe things you would still do on
your phone, or the things youwould message someone and say,
Hey, I can't do this tomorrowbecause I'm not going to be
prepared?
Those are truly urgent.
Nothing else is truly urgentfor tomorrow.
And then from there, you know,and I've done this with hundreds
of people, we never get morethan five.
Even the people who swear theyhad 200 never get more than
(10:39):
five.
And then from there, youactually have time and you can
use that time to say, okay, whatare the needle movers?
What is that 80-20 task andfind time for that?
And we have a more in-depthprocess in, you know, seven
days, et cetera, et cetera.
But essentially, this is howyou prioritize, especially when
you have ADHD symptoms.
Tom DuFore (11:00):
Thank you for sharing that.
And listening to you talkthrough that made me think a
little bit about we work withcompanies that franchise our
business, and now they're afranchise or they eventually
will have franchisees.
Well, there's probably a goodchance either subordinates or
employees or some of thesefranchisees in the system, now
you're managing a key person atyour company that may exhibit
(11:22):
ADHD type symptoms.
How do you help a leadersupport their staff or support
their franchisees in this typeof a situation?
Skye Waterson (11:32):
It's a great question.
And I, you know, I've workedwith the New Zealand government
on this exact problem becausethey, you know, especially when
ADHD became something thatpeople were looking into more.
Like, what do we do?
How do we manage the managerswith ADHD?
When it comes to these kinds ofstrategies, the biggest thing
is really understanding thestruggles that they're gonna
(11:53):
have.
So, understanding, for example,that if you just send out an
email with a reminder, like, oh,can you do this on Wednesday?
Da-da-da-da, it's probably notgonna get done.
It's hard for those things tobe processed.
It's really important to havesystems and processes system
that they can see and useeasily.
(12:13):
One of the things that I teachfor my my entrepreneurs, and I
also recommend if they'reworking with their own team, is
to build an SOP pipeline.
So it's not just a document,like a big book of stuff.
There's actually a visualpipeline of, you know,
acquisition, lead flow, youknow, first value, retention,
(12:36):
things like that, where they cansee these are the different
pieces of the business that youvalue, and then they can link in
there.
And I just use Mira, butthere's lots of different ways
you can do it.
They can link in there to theSOP for that particular task.
Things like that, making alittle bit more visual and
working on, and this isn't, youknow, I have mentors who say
(12:59):
this all the time.
This is not for me, butunderstanding is it a people
problem or is it a processproblem?
But really focusing if it's aprocess problem, then we should
be going into that SOP pipeline,looking at, you know, red,
orange, green, like what SOPshave we missed, and having a
cadence with the team to say,okay, we're gonna look at this
(13:21):
on a, you know, when whensomeone is an entrepreneur and
they're working with their ownteam, I highly recommend a
weekly basis where they look atthe pipeline and they review it.
Obviously, you guys will bemore experts on that and how
that would work with afranchisee, but really having
that connection rather thanrelying on ad hoc emails,
because that is not gonna growyour team's understanding.
(13:45):
It's usually gonna lead to alot of overwhelm.
Tom DuFore (13:48):
That really helps out a lot.
And thinking about, okay, thisis great and helping sort out
delegation, helping get uhsomeone a little bit more
organized.
What about on the other sidewhere someone maybe is at a
burnout phase or maybe helpingsomeone avoid or prevent that
kind of burnout?
Skye Waterson (14:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I think this is soimportant because especially
when you struggle with ADHDsymptoms, burnout is often on
the other side of it.
Because usually what peoplewill say to themselves is
they'll say, Well, I just needto work harder.
They'll listen and they'll belike, that's cool, Sky, but
mostly I need to work harder.
I am the poster child for that.
When I was in academia, Iworked so hard up until the end
(14:30):
of my master's.
I was working three jobs,contracted with multiple
universities, that when Igraduated my PhD, I just left
and worked as a cashier for ayear in a bakery.
Like I could not do it.
So trust me, I have done theum, you know, just try harder,
just push through method to itsextreme.
And, you know, one of thethings that I see often is that
(14:53):
you will reduce burnout when youbuild systems that work for
your brain.
So if you are in a positionwhere you're saying, I just need
to give myself, give that extra10%, give that extra 20%,
usually what people are doing isthey are working as hard as
they can.
And that goes for you, and thatoften goes for your team as
well.
It doesn't necessarily alwayslook like the same in terms of
(15:16):
output, but when you look at itin terms of input and the amount
of times they spendprocrastinating, because that is
the time.
And yes, I see you spending allday not doing the thing and
then doing it right beforedinner and coming home late and
being like, oh, work was crazy.
You know, that that kind ofthing, it's still effort.
(15:36):
So if we can build a systemwhere everything flows more
effectively, your time is usedmore effectively, you're not
gonna have that.
You're gonna be able to be morepresent, you're gonna spend
more time with family, and youare going to be able to reduce
that burnout risk.
Tom DuFore (15:51):
As someone's tuning in and says, Sky, love what
you're sharing.
What's the best way for someoneto get in contact with you or
find out more information?
Skye Waterson (15:57):
Yeah, so you can find me at unconventional
organization or on Instagram atunconventional organization, you
can DM me success, and I'llsend you the focus routine to
help you go from overwhelmed tofocused.
And then if you are in aposition where you want to
listen to another podcast, Ihave the ADHD skills lab.
We focus on helpingentrepreneurs who want the
(16:20):
strategies, want the research,and just want the next steps.
Tom DuFore (16:24):
This is a great time in the show, and we make a
transition.
We ask every guest the samefour questions before they go.
And the first question we askis Have you had a miss or two on
your journey and something youlearned from it?
Skye Waterson (16:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we had a ton of misses.
I think the first thing I'd sayis like before this business, I
was the co-founder of a frozenfood business that I ran with my
boyfriend now husband.
The big miss for us was thebusiness got shut down during
COVID.
So we spent years setting up,you know, there's a lot of
regulation that goes intorunning food, making finding a
(16:57):
kitchen, renting a kitchen isvery expensive to do.
And then setting it up and, youknow, making it all great,
A-grade, et cetera, et cetera,only to have the whole thing
shut down.
So that was a huge, you know,ultimately it was a good because
the business I think that werun now is is just a better fit
and it just makes more sense.
(17:18):
It's that first business energywhere you're like, I would have
done it differently.
But it was it was a miss interms of actually the success
that we were looking for, but itwas definitely a benefit in
terms of the amount of learningthat we got out of it.
Tom DuFore (17:32):
Excellent.
Well, let's look on the otherside.
Let's talk about a make or ahighlight or two you'd like to
share.
Skye Waterson (17:39):
Yeah, well, highlights for me, I think, have
been really focusing in onbusiness owners who have ADHD
symptoms.
So when I started this businessspecifically, we're working
with professionals and thenbeing able to focus in on
business owners and bring inbusiness strategies, which is
something I'm really passionateabout and I've been doing for a
(18:00):
long time, has been amazing.
It's been amazing to see thewins that people have been
getting.
We've had people triple theirrevenue from the previous month.
We've had people get thesponsorships they need to race
overseas or, you know, getgrants to be able to, you know,
really push their businessforward in terms of growth.
(18:20):
So that would be the thingsthat I really appreciate is the
wins that other people have beenable to get and the ability to,
you know, have a stablebusiness that they don't have to
spend all their time on.
Tom DuFore (18:33):
The name of the show is Multiply Your Success.
And we like to ask have youused a multiplier to grow
yourself personally orprofessionally or any of the
organizations you've run?
Skye Waterson (18:42):
Yeah, well, I mean, I love podcasting.
I love going on podcasts, Ilove talking on podcasts.
I was so nervous, you know,when I started podcasting, I
think a couple of years ago.
And it's just been an amazingexperience.
Everyone has been so lovely.
And especially when I firststarted, I remember there were a
few podcasts that just so manyresponses from so many people
(19:04):
saying, This is me, this is myexperience.
So the ultimate multiplier forme has been connecting with
other people and talking aboutwhat I do.
Tom DuFore (19:11):
And the final question we ask every guest is
what does success mean to you?
Skye Waterson (19:16):
Success for me means having stability, the
ability to support my family, todo what I want while I support
my family, and to help otherpeople do the same.
Tom DuFore (19:29):
And Sky, as we bring this to a close, is there
anything you are hoping to shareor get across that you haven't
had a chance to yet?
Skye Waterson (19:36):
Not really, but I think I just want to remind
people (19:39):
you know, if the systems you're using aren't working,
chances are you need differentsystems.
And it's not just you doingbadly.
Because so often we can we cantell ourselves that.
And it's sad because it'sactually really simple to get
systems that are going to workbetter for you.
Tom DuFore (19:56):
Sky, thank you so much for a fantastic interview.
And let's go ahead and jumpinto today's three key
takeaways.
So, takeaway number one is whenshe talked about the challenges
for entrepreneurs and leaderswith ADHD.
And some of those examples areforgetting things that you've
been told, time blindness,impulsivity, not knowing what to
(20:20):
do and how to delegate it, andhaving challenges with
delegation.
And takeaway number two are theadvantages.
So here's some really greatthings that someone with an ADHD
brings creative thinking andthinking outside the box.
It's great to help you be thefirst to market or come up with
a brand new product or service.
And she said that actionimpulsivity is also a positive
(20:45):
because it gives you the abilityto get things done and push for
a lot of action and seesomething through in a short
window of time.
Takeaway number three is whenshe talked about what happens
when you're managing staff ormanaging franchisees with ADHD.
And she talked about havingclients build an SOP pipeline to
(21:07):
see all of the pieces and howthey sync together.
And she talked about makingthat a visual pipeline.
I thought that was a great ideaand asking the question is it a
people problem or a processproblem?
And now it's time for today'swin-win.
So today's win-win is tied tothe very end of takeaway number
(21:32):
three, which is where we talkedabout is it a process problem or
a people problem?
And what she said is if yoursystems are not working, it's
likely your systems, and it'snot you.
And she said, sometimes peoplethink, oh, I just have to work
harder.
And she gave that example ofherself when she was finishing
her PhD, and she kept pushing,pushing, pushing and burned out.
(21:55):
And she said she took a yearoff of just doing almost
anything and just took a jobworking at a local coffee shop
or local bakery that she hadsaid and talked about.
And so I just think the win-winis recognizing that sometimes
grinding it out or quote,working harder is not always the
(22:15):
solution.
It's sometimes taking a lookback to see what is the process
here.
Maybe you can improve on that.
That's the episode today,folks.
Please make sure you subscribeto the podcast and give us a
review.
We always greatly appreciatethose.
And remember, if you or anyoneyou know might be ready to
franchise their business or taketheir franchise company to the
next level, please connect withus at BigSkyFranchise Team.com
(22:38):
to schedule your free, noobligation consultation.
Thanks for tuning in, and welook forward to having you back
next week.
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