February 25, 2026 • 29 mins
Embracing Neurodiversity: A Conversation with Sarah Hartley
In this episode of 'Why Not Me: Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide, Sarah Hartley, founder of SLH Creative Group and an advocate for the neurodivergent community.
Sarah shares her journey as the mother of two neurodivergent boys and details her work as an ADHD and neurodiversity certified coach.
She discusses her 'Purposefully Me' series, a collection of children's books addressing topics like anxiety, ADHD, dyslexia, and more.
These books are designed to foster understanding and offer practical strategies for children and their parents.
Sarah also talks about her hope to implement these resources in schools to facilitate early intervention and support for children.
The episode explores the emotional and logistical challenges Sarah faced during the creation of her books and her plans for future expansion
Meet Sarah Hartley: Advocate and Author
Sarah's Journey into Coaching
Addressing Sensitive Topics in Children's Books
Feedback and Impact of Sarah's Books
Challenges and Inspirations Behind the Books
Future Goals and Expansion Plans
Echo Parenting and Aligned Parenting Method
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
INTRO/OUTRO: T. Wild
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The content on Why Not Me: Embracing Autism amd Mental Health Worldwide, including discussions on mental health, autism, and related topics, is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only.
The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not reflect those of the podcast, its hosts, or affiliates.
Why Not Me is not a medical or mental health professional and does not endorse or verify the accuracy, efficacy, safety of any treatments, programs, or advice discussed.
Listeners should consult qualified healthcare professionals, such as licensed therapists, psychologists, or physicians, before making decisions about mental health or autism- related care.
Reliance on this podcast's contents is at the listener's own risk.
Why Not Me is not liable for any outcomes, financial or otherwise, resulting from actions taken based on the information provided.
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SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
Welcome to Why Not Me, Embracing Autism and Mental
Health Worldwide.
Hosted by Tony Mirator.
Broadcasting from the heart ofMusic City, USA, Nashville,
Tennessee.
Join us as our guests sharetheir raw, powerful stories.
Some will spark laughter, otherswill move you to tears.
(00:30):
These real life journeysinspire, connect, and remind you
that you're never alone.
We're igniting a global movementto empower everyone to make a
lasting difference by fosteringdeep awareness, unwavering
acceptance, and profoundunderstanding of autism and
(00:52):
mental health.
Tune in, be inspired, and joinus in transforming the world one
story at a time.
Hi, I'm Tony Mantura.
Welcome to Why Not Me, EmbracingAutism and Mental Health
Worldwide.
Joining us today is SarahHartley.
She is the visionary behind SLHCreative Group and a fierce
(01:15):
advocate for the neurodivergentcommunity.
She's an author, a storyteller,a guide, and a champion for
those whose minds dance to adifferent rhythm.
She channels her livedexperience into books that are
both a rally and cry and aroadmap.
She will give us insight to herPurposely Me series, which is a
collection of engaging,heart-centered social-emotional
(01:38):
books for kids navigating,anxiety, ADHD, dyslexia, and
other neurodiverse experiences.
Whether she's coachingindividuals, consulting with
organizations, or penning hernext book.
She hopes to inspire everyonewhen it comes to living
authentically and thriving onour own terms.
She has a great story to tell,so before we dive into our
(02:00):
episode, we'll be back with anuninterrupted show right after a
word from our sponsors.
Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01 (02:08):
Oh, thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here.
SPEAKER_00 (02:10):
Yes, my pleasure as well.
If you would give us a littleinformation on what you're
doing.
SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
I'm Sarah Hartley.
I'm a mom of two neurodivergentboys.
I'm a healthcare executive andI've written 14 now.
A couple weeks ago it would havebeen 13, but 14 children's books
are centered aroundneurodiversity and difficult
topics for children.
And I'm also an ADHD andneurodiversity certified coach.
SPEAKER_00 (02:37):
That's really good.
Let's start with the coachingside first.
What led you to get involvedwith coaching?
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
Honestly, it was my son's journey and everything
that we have gone through toreally understand his ADHD
diagnosis.
He's now almost nine, and a lotof this started around even 18
months old, of where there werespecific things that we saw, of
where he might have needed someearly intervention.
And so that really took me on ajourney of understanding my own
(03:08):
ADHD a bit more and really justwanting to be able to provide
information to parents andchildren out there within my
children's books so that itbecomes a more of that credible
source and have those trueparenting strategies that will
ultimately help for us to calmourselves, to help mirror that
(03:30):
and calm our children as well.
And so within each of the booksthat I've written, in the back,
there are discussion questions.
There are different calmingstrategies used throughout.
And so I wanted to ensure thatwhat I was articulating to those
that will read these, that itwas as accurate as possible
because I am touching on verysensitive subjects.
SPEAKER_00 (03:52):
You say you touch on some sensitive subjects.
Can you expand on that?
SPEAKER_01 (03:56):
One is around bullying, death, divorce.
There's another, given theappropriateness level of the age
group, it being more elementaryschool kits, there is one on
drills as well.
And so I know that one reallyhits close to home in Colorado.
And you know, a few weeks ago wehad the shooting at Evergreen
High School.
And so even just the anxietythat comes with children doing
(04:18):
fire drills and tornado drillsand now active shooter drills,
there's a tremendous amount ofanxiety from that.
And so other topics are anxiety,dyslexia, ADHD, autism.
So it really runs a full gamutof various things that can be
neurodiverse, but really are allcentered around mental health.
SPEAKER_00 (04:38):
Yeah, those are all great topics.
What kind of feedback are yougetting when you put something
new like this out?
You never know what to expect.
You can get positive, you canget negative.
You just never know what toexpect.
So how's the feedback?
I'm assuming it's good.
SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
So far, we've only shown these books to therapists,
OTs, and different members ofschool organizations.
So whether it's been a principalor a social emotional
coordinator or teachersthemselves or teachers that are
within the gifted program to getthat feedback.
That was really step one, evenbefore I was paired with an
illustrator.
So we've already run throughthat process.
(05:17):
The first book will actuallylaunch in November, and then
we'll have one a month comingout after that.
So stay tuned, they're comingvery soon.
But one of the most criticalpieces of feedback I received
from actually a therapist is shesaid, I see myself in this book,
but I see my daughter in theother book.
And so I think it's reallyimportant that while this is
(05:39):
directed for children, there'sstill this element of where an
adult can say, Oh wow, I seemyself there.
And an adult can feel a littlebit less alone in their own
brains as well.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
As I understand it, then you have written this
mainly for children, even thoughadults may see themselves in it.
This is written so children canfocus on things that may affect
them.
SPEAKER_01 (06:02):
Absolutely.
So they are children's books.
They're written in lyricalformat.
The illustrations really bringto life the raw emotions of the
characters.
It's a classroom of students,and so you're hearing from a
different child who's going tobe shown throughout the entire
series where they are integratedinto each other's lives.
Given that there are specificneurodiversities that these
(06:24):
topics are touching on, I'mensuring that the font is open
dyslexic font so that those whohave dyslexia have an easier
time reading this.
And while of course it'scentered around children, there
is an element that I believethere might be an older group
that may find this just asappealing.
When I think about the ADHDbrain, it's not always the
(06:46):
inability to focus, butsometimes determining, you know,
what to focus on because thereare so many things.
And so sometimes when it comesto self-help books or things
that might not have as much of aattention grab to really fully
get ingrained in the book, thatmight be where an adult says, oh
wow, this was very digestibleand yet very helpful.
(07:06):
And the questions at the endwere very thought-provoking and
really allowed me to take a stepback and look at myself and what
really was causing maybe some ofmy triggers or noticing some of
those differences and reallyhaving that moment of, oh wow,
that that might be me.
That that character sounds a lotlike me.
So, you know, it's fourchildren, but I think it really
(07:27):
can appeal to all ages.
SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
Yeah, I can see why.
You know, I have heard so manystories of where a parent would
take their son or daughter to adoctor trying to find answers to
their questions.
When they started getting theanswers to their questions, then
they started realizing, hey, Ihave the same issues they're
(07:49):
having.
This could be me.
So with that said, are yougetting the feedback that you
thought you might get from allthis?
SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
Some just elements of language used that maybe
modify this or make sure there'sa glossary of terms so that
you're able to truly resonatewith all elementary students.
My son, my oldest son, and evenmy younger one as well, they're
both highly gifted.
And so they're in the gifted andtalented program.
Their vocabulary is much largerthan, say, the average
(08:21):
nine-year-old.
My oldest is actually eight, buthe's in fourth grade.
He started kindergarten at fouryears old.
He'll be nine actually in a fewweeks.
What he understood and knewwithin the book and the
vocabulary I initially was usingwas maybe not as friendly or
user-friendly for you know allchildren that are elementary
school age.
So there was a, you know, a bitof those revisions to go back
(08:43):
and say, okay, I really need tothink about how this might land.
And then would it be beneficialto layer in some of those words?
And so my oldest son really wasinstrumental and one inspiring
most of these books.
And also he's walked through allof them with me as well and
said, Oh, mom, I think youshould maybe change it to this.
Or I don't think we're gonnaunderstand what that means.
(09:04):
We're gonna need a definitionfor that one.
But I also want for a parent tobe able to walk through it or a
teacher and have thatconversation that will continue
throughout the book.
So it gives a teaching moment aswell of, oh, maybe I'm not sure
what ADHD means, or what is anintervention?
You know, things like that whereyou can really take a moment and
pause and have some of thoseadditional conversations with
(09:26):
your children.
SPEAKER_00 (09:27):
Well, sounds like all the comments you got were
very constructive.
How long did this take you toput together?
SPEAKER_01 (09:32):
It's taken quite some time.
It's been a labor of love asit's not my day job, and so is
definitely a passion project ofmine.
It was probably in 2021 that Ihad the first idea, and I was
really at a low point andbreaking point.
I had just been diagnosed withLyme disease.
My oldest had just beendiagnosed with ADHD and sensory
processing disorder and highlygifted.
(09:54):
And so, with all thatinformation, I was having that
moment in the shower of, youknow, what is my purpose?
Why am I here?
And that really sparked mycreativity for the first book.
And then they grew a bit fromthere and I'd put it down or
maybe come back to it.
And it wasn't until last summer,July of 24, that I was able to
meet with a book coach.
(10:15):
And that really took it fromseven books to really developing
this full theme and now what aregoing to be 14 books, and making
sure that all of those elementsreally tie together.
And also, again, having thosereaders on the front end to help
with that sensitivity aspect.
One thing I learned as well, youalluded to earlier, around
(10:36):
autism and understanding thatthere can be a bit of
controversy of are you personfirst or are you diagnosis
first?
And many people want to leadwith person first.
You know, I am Sarah, I'm notleading by my diagnosis.
So that was something that wewalked through and played around
with to decide, you know, whatdirection we would go.
And we ultimately went withperson first.
(10:57):
So that, you know, thatultimately autism is not
defining who you are, but it isa part of who you are.
And so that could be one laterthat might spark some
controversy or just spark someconversations, which I think are
all healthy.
And I don't know that thateverybody is in on one side or
the other.
So I think that gives a niceplatform to just continue some
of those conversations.
SPEAKER_00 (11:17):
Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
Did this lead you to create agroup?
I see on your website it saysSLH group.
Is that you or do you have otherpeople that are involved in what
you're doing?
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
I am primarily the group.
There are definitely otherconsultants that are coming in
and giving those opinions.
They are also giving quotesaround what they found
informative within the books,what they found really powerful.
And so that will also be part ofeven the front and back cover
where you'll see some of thosequotes from certified
(11:51):
professionals.
But yes, you know, my hope is toone day be able to expand this
further, where there are more ofthese conversations happening,
but a lot of them in the schoolsystem and allowing for children
to ultimately feel less alone inwhat that diagnosis that they
have might be.
So maybe they're paired withanother child who has some
(12:13):
similarities.
Maybe they both like Legos, butthey also have autism.
Or maybe, you know, they bothhave parents that have cancer.
You know, there's a lot of thosehard topics that we do not touch
on.
And when I was in school, Ididn't have that kind of
support.
I didn't know that I had ADHDuntil I was 25 years old, which
is apparently, as I've learnedmore, an interesting time frame
(12:34):
in life to learn that.
Most people, it's either whenthey're very young or usually
when they're, you know, hittingtheir 40s and they've become
moms, especially for women.
And so for me, I could have goneback to that child and said, you
know, hey, it's okay of whyyou're feeling this different in
your own brain.
And this might be why.
SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
You just touched upon expansion.
What are your goals, let's sayover the next three to five
years, to build a biggerplatform in order to help more
people?
SPEAKER_01 (13:03):
I ultimately would really love to have a full
running platform within theschool system that allows for
some, maybe it's virtualconnection, but that we leverage
the books for a essentiallycurriculum and have use each one
of those almost, you could eventhink of it like a book club, in
essence, where you have thesehard topics that you're having
(13:26):
conversations about.
You know, they read together thebook as a group.
There's a counselor who ishelping to guide them.
And then ultimately they havesome sort of commonality that
allows for them to feel a littlebit less alone.
In my opinion, we have a mentalhealth crisis.
That is that's what's happeningwithin our schools.
And I think there's a lot thatwe have to do to ensure that our
(13:49):
children are not having any ofthose mental health capabilities
that are going to lead to gunviolence later.
You know, I always have thatmoment of what was going on in
that child's mind.
Did they have support?
Did they have some sort ofneurodivergency or mental health
thing that was going on that wemissed?
And what could we have done ifthat child had a friend?
(14:10):
And that friend said, Hey, Ifeel that way too.
And then there's this moment ofconnection.
And that somehow allows for usto no longer have to worry.
This morning, you know, I huggedmy child goodbye, and uh, it's
not every day, but this morningI had that moment of I'm gonna
make sure this is a big hug anda good goodbye.
Because I don't know ifsomething could happen in your
(14:32):
school today.
SPEAKER_00 (14:33):
Yeah, it's a scary time.
There's no doubt about that.
When you're dealing with seriousmental illness, that's a whole
complete different situationthan ADHD, bipolar, or autism.
Even though sometimes they allcan overlap each other.
So because of that, it can fallunder that mental health
umbrella with the mentalillness.
(14:56):
Okay, this is kind of a two-partquestion.
When you say school system, areyou thinking local schools or
are you thinking maybenationwide?
The second part of this questionis are you concerned because
you're touching on subjects thatcould possibly be a little
(15:17):
overwhelming for some of them?
The school system now sometimeshave these people that look at a
book and if they don'tparticularly like it, all of a
sudden banned.
And it might be just because ithas ADHD or whatever word that
person may not like.
Does that concern you at all?
SPEAKER_01 (15:35):
Absolutely.
You know, I had momentsthroughout the entire last year
of pause thinking, as I heard ofother books being banned in
other states and areas, and hadthis moment of what I'm actually
doing and all the time I'mspending, is that pointless?
And so, you know, that's wheremy own self-doubt creeps in, and
I have to have that.
I think my book coach really waswonderful and that reminder of
(15:57):
you're here for a reason.
This is your purpose, and youhave to continue to get that
message out.
But I would start locally uhbeing in Colorado, it depends on
the school, but I am veryfortunate that while we are in
Jefferson County public schools,my children are going to what I
find to be one of the bestschools in the county.
They have a gifted and talentedprogram where it's a school
(16:19):
within a school.
And so, you know, whether it'stheir library, music, art, PE,
the classes are all intermingledwith general education.
And so there are many kidsthere, of course, who have a lot
of neurodiversity with largegifted classes.
And so they are very heavysocial emotional based.
And they even follow the theythis is a program called Leader
(16:42):
and Me.
It's based on the highly uh theseven uh habits of highly
effective people for children.
And so they work through thosehabits every month.
There's a different onethroughout the year.
And so it's something that thereare specific schools that this
will resonate with, and that's agreat place to start.
I also think after, you know,having a tragedy as we did with
(17:04):
Evergreen High School and inbeing the home of Columbine as
well, Colorado might look atthis a bit differently and say,
okay, I see where this is goingto be powerful and what can
eventually lead for those whoare neurodiverse or have ADHD or
autism or sensory processingdisorder, all of that can lead
to anxiety and depression intheir teen years, especially
(17:26):
when the hormones begin.
And so if we can start earlier,as I felt like my child
benefited so much from earlyintervention, starting that at
two and a half years old.
And I had really wished he hadgotten into it sooner.
I think the earlier that westart with building that
foundation that they're acceptedfor all of their differences,
that's going to grow intosomething along the way.
(17:48):
And so I imagine in certainareas, I will get pushback.
I think there's others that willembrace it and eventually it
will catch on.
Of course, my ultimate goal isfor this to be national.
SPEAKER_00 (17:59):
Are you going to be selling this book nationwide?
Is it going to be for anyonethat would like to have it?
SPEAKER_01 (18:05):
Absolutely.
So it will, it will be, youknow, direct to consumer.
There will also be an avenue forschools.
But, you know, someone may onlywant to buy the book on ADHD and
they may not want the full set.
And because of that, you know, Iwant to make that very flexible
where there might be some grouppackagings that make sense
together of, you know, now wehave uh ones that are around,
(18:27):
you know, certain confidence orresilience that that really pair
well together, and others thatyou could just buy a single
book.
And I will also have an ebookavailable as well.
A few teacher friends have said,you know, with our students, we
like to put it up on their Mimeoboards so that they're able to
show it in a large format so allthe kids in the entire classroom
(18:49):
can see makes it a lot easier.
I've gone in and been a parentreader and done um the mystery
book reader with my son's classbefore.
And it is difficult because youhave 30 kids crowded around you
and they all want to see theillustrations and they're, you
know, fighting with each other,you need to sit down, or I want
to sit in the front.
And so being able to have it ona large screen in the classroom,
(19:09):
I think is going to be reallyimportant.
I've also noticed that my sonwill bring home a few pages of a
book, and a lot of them do haveto do with differences, and
there are they are socialemotionally heavy and there's
questions in the back, and thenfor homework, they'll have to
bring that back in.
So that's where I could see thisgoing long term as well.
Of it could be a handout that'ssent home with children, and
(19:29):
then they have to actually dosome of those discussion
questions in the back.
SPEAKER_00 (19:33):
Yeah, great idea.
Where will they be able to getit?
SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Right now, all of the information that I'm putting
out there for updates andcalming strategies and my
aligned parenting method, all ofthat is is found um either on my
website or Instagram.
It's Sarah LewisHartley.com,S-A-R-A-L-E-W-I-S-H-A-R-T-L-E-Y.
And then at Sarah Lewis Hartleyis my Instagram handle.
SPEAKER_00 (19:58):
That's good for them to know.
Now, do you see it eventuallygetting to Amazon and other
bookstores around the country?
SPEAKER_01 (20:04):
Yes, potentially.
I've learned a lot about Amazonand how that works, so it's an
interesting animal, but yes,absolutely.
We will make it as easilyaccessible as possible.
SPEAKER_00 (20:13):
Of course, they can get it from your website, which
is actually a more direct path,anyways.
SPEAKER_01 (20:17):
Absolutely.
And that's what we're workingthrough right now, the logistics
around being able to take theeverything from print to the
direct to consumer and get thatout there for everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (20:28):
Yeah, that's great.
Now, what would you like to tellour listeners that you think is
very important that they knowabout what you're doing and your
plans for the future?
SPEAKER_01 (20:39):
There are two things that I'd really love for
listeners to grasp onto.
The first is a philosophy thatI've developed around echo
parenting.
And it you said it yourselfearlier when you mentioned a lot
of parents will understand thatthey might have ADHD or autism
after their child has beendiagnosed.
So echo parenting is reallyunderstanding and learning that
(21:00):
you're on this parallel journeywith your child and you're
really learning alongside ofthem.
And their behaviors are really areflection of what you may need
to heal with your inner child.
And I think the hardest partabout having a child who's
neurodivergent is beingneurodivergent yourself and
trying to maintain that calmpresence.
Because what I've learned iswhen your child is melting down,
(21:23):
you have to also stay calm.
And if you're not calm, it'sgoing to exacerbate what's
happening with your child andthey may explode further.
And so the aligned parentingmethod that I have developed is
really a way to walk through andunderstand that awareness within
your body, figure out and labelwhat those emotions are that
you're having, then identify thetriggers, what's causing that?
(21:44):
There's always that root cause,whether that is you're hungry or
maybe you've had a long day orit's hot outside or it's
crowded, you're overwhelmed withsensory overload.
And then you use and leverage agrounding technique that works
for you.
And lastly, whether you're doingthis alongside your child or
just doing it for yourself tocalm down, there's a big element
of nurturing where you can allowyourself grace and say, it's
(22:07):
okay.
You know, I'm feelingoverwhelmed and give yourself
compassion, or you do the samewith your child and you really
try to empathize with them.
Becoming curious and empathy,when those things happen, you're
not able to be angry at the sametime.
SPEAKER_00 (22:22):
Yeah.
Great points.
Now you mentioned you went intothe schools and did some
reading.
I'm assuming you read one ofyour books.
I did.
What was their reaction?
First, what did you pick toread?
And second, how did they respondto it?
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
The first one I picked was Purposefully Calm.
It's the purposefully me series,so all titles will be
purposefully brave, purposefullyresilient.
I chose purposefully calm.
I wanted to do purposefullybrave, but that one the
character looks a lot like myson and he was the one that
pushed back and said, you know,mom, they're gonna know that's
me.
I don't want to do that one.
(22:59):
I said okay buddy, I totally getthat.
So purposefully calm is a lotabout sensory processing
disorder.
But I read this to it was lastyear for third grade.
It was the third grade giftedclass.
So they have a lot of thoseoverwhelming sensory things that
come into play.
And so that one was aboutmanaging your anger and they had
(23:19):
there was a you know centralizedconflict this try to understand
of what the purpose was and thenthat went into you know the
conflict resolution and actuallywent and showed different
calming strategies that theycould do.
And so they were all veryreceptive to it.
I was hoping there were weresome that that I know that can
run hot.
You know, there are always kidswho um we all know those kids
(23:41):
that we were in class with thatmaybe run hot a bit.
And so you know that's where Iwanted for them to really have
that moment of okay thisresonates with me.
And so I didn't have a lot oftime to stay and get the
feedback but I did speak with myson afterward it's and he said
that he really enjoyed the bookand he felt like everyone else
in the class did as well.
And I've talked to a few of hisfriends since and they said that
(24:03):
it resonated with them.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
Good.
You mentioned you're ahealthcare executive what does
that entail?
SPEAKER_01 (24:09):
I am in healthcare marketing and technology.
So I work with health systemsand help patients find the right
doctor and right care.
I do work with manypsychiatrists, companies and
psychologists.
SPEAKER_00 (24:20):
So my question to you and this is why I asked what
you do when you do your job andyou're dealing with
psychologists, doctors, etc, youcan get their perspectives on
things.
You've written a series of booksthat gives your perspective on
neurodiversity and the way thatothers might see it.
So with all the professionalsthat you've talked with then you
(24:43):
start talking with the kidsgetting their perspective on
things.
So my question is what have youlearned out of this whole
process?
SPEAKER_01 (24:52):
Oh there's there's so much um all of it is a very
difficult process.
If you think oh I'm gonna writea book it is especially
children's book being theillustrations that is a
different layer that's added init can be tough.
And then being able to findthose individuals who can help
lend that credibility and havingthem truly understand and buy in
(25:14):
and one of the therapists whohas read these specializes in
neurodiversity.
So you know holds a lot ofcredit there of helping and
understanding you know will thisbe something that resonates?
And so I think it's justimportant that you know whatever
it is you're doing that is notyour expertise.
It's maybe for me it was drivenby my own emotions, my own
(25:36):
healing process.
It was very cathartic for me towrite I am in most of these
books, especially the one aboutADHD, what this child is feeling
and that was me.
So you know what I'm sharingit's more about deep emotions
and how you truly are feelingbeing trapped in that
neurodiverse mind, but alsoshowing that it's not a curse.
(25:59):
It is this beautiful thing thatwhere you have so many strengths
that sometimes it just getsovercrowded or you people are
focusing more on what you needto work on versus really
highlighting what you do sowell.
And so that's where you know alot of it it's not too in the
weeds or technical into thediagnosis, but there's these
(26:22):
moments of understanding ofthese might be some quirks or
characteristics of someone whohas ADHD or autism.
And so it's um hopefullysomething that will resonate a
lot but learned a lot along theway of you know I hopefully
thought oh I'm I'm just this ismy creative outlet not realizing
the full business portion that'sbehind all of it.
SPEAKER_00 (26:43):
Yes, unfortunately the business side can take a lot
of joy out of the project.
During this you mentionedemotions while writing this a
lot of memories went into itmemories of your son of course
memories of your life so myquestion to you is how did your
emotions run during this wholeprocess?
SPEAKER_01 (27:04):
It was eye-opening for me.
I do find while it brings andbubbles up emotions to the
surface it's also very healingat the same time and another
element of this that I didn'tknow would be part of writing a
book was developing an authorplatform and putting all of that
out onto social media.
And there's a moment of where Ihad to get over what other
(27:26):
people might think and alwaysground myself back in this is my
mission, this is my purpose andI'm here to help someone and
even through social media fromthe people that have responded
or reached out and said thatthat really helped them and they
saw themselves and whatever itwas that I was discussing.
(27:47):
That to me if if it doesn't doanything else, you know, I've at
least helped you know somepeople.
And so I think that's myultimate goal of what I have to
go back to and know that becauseI'm continuing to talk about it,
it's helping me in my ownhealing process.
So if I would have just writtenthe books, I maybe wouldn't have
had this continuation of talkingabout it basically every day as
(28:09):
I'm posting things and I'mhaving conversations and just
being very authentic and openand honest about my own
experience.
And that's the only thing that Iknow is my experience and I know
the experience I've hadalongside my children.
You know I don't really knowother people's and how they felt
in those moments but I'm hopingthat the depth of the connection
(28:29):
that I'm sharing will resonatewith someone.
SPEAKER_00 (28:32):
Yeah good and I believe that it will resonate.
This has been great greatconversation great information I
really appreciate you taking thetime to join us today.
Oh thank you so much for havingme.
Oh it's been my pleasure thanksagain thanks for taking time out
(28:54):
of your busy schedule to listento our show today.
We hope you enjoyed it as muchas we enjoyed bringing it to you
if you know someone who has astory to share tell them to
contact us at whynotme.world onelast thing spread the word about
why not me our conversations ourinspiring guest the Joe you are
(29:21):
not alone in this world
Welcome to Why Not Me, Embracing Autism and Mental
Health Worldwide.
Hosted by Tony Mirator.
Broadcasting from the heart ofMusic City, USA, Nashville,
Tennessee.
Join us as our guests sharetheir raw, powerful stories.
Some will spark laughter, otherswill move you to tears.
(00:30):
These real life journeysinspire, connect, and remind you
that you're never alone.
We're igniting a global movementto empower everyone to make a
lasting difference by fosteringdeep awareness, unwavering
acceptance, and profoundunderstanding of autism and
(00:52):
mental health.
Tune in, be inspired, and joinus in transforming the world one
story at a time.
Hi, I'm Tony Mantura.
Welcome to Why Not Me, EmbracingAutism and Mental Health
Worldwide.
Joining us today is SarahHartley.
She is the visionary behind SLHCreative Group and a fierce
(01:15):
advocate for the neurodivergentcommunity.
She's an author, a storyteller,a guide, and a champion for
those whose minds dance to adifferent rhythm.
She channels her livedexperience into books that are
both a rally and cry and aroadmap.
She will give us insight to herPurposely Me series, which is a
collection of engaging,heart-centered social-emotional
(01:38):
books for kids navigating,anxiety, ADHD, dyslexia, and
other neurodiverse experiences.
Whether she's coachingindividuals, consulting with
organizations, or penning hernext book.
She hopes to inspire everyonewhen it comes to living
authentically and thriving onour own terms.
She has a great story to tell,so before we dive into our
(02:00):
episode, we'll be back with anuninterrupted show right after a
word from our sponsors.
Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01 (02:08):
Oh, thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here.
SPEAKER_00 (02:10):
Yes, my pleasure as well.
If you would give us a littleinformation on what you're
doing.
SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
I'm Sarah Hartley.
I'm a mom of two neurodivergentboys.
I'm a healthcare executive andI've written 14 now.
A couple weeks ago it would havebeen 13, but 14 children's books
are centered aroundneurodiversity and difficult
topics for children.
And I'm also an ADHD andneurodiversity certified coach.
SPEAKER_00 (02:37):
That's really good.
Let's start with the coachingside first.
What led you to get involvedwith coaching?
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
Honestly, it was my son's journey and everything
that we have gone through toreally understand his ADHD
diagnosis.
He's now almost nine, and a lotof this started around even 18
months old, of where there werespecific things that we saw, of
where he might have needed someearly intervention.
And so that really took me on ajourney of understanding my own
(03:08):
ADHD a bit more and really justwanting to be able to provide
information to parents andchildren out there within my
children's books so that itbecomes a more of that credible
source and have those trueparenting strategies that will
ultimately help for us to calmourselves, to help mirror that
(03:30):
and calm our children as well.
And so within each of the booksthat I've written, in the back,
there are discussion questions.
There are different calmingstrategies used throughout.
And so I wanted to ensure thatwhat I was articulating to those
that will read these, that itwas as accurate as possible
because I am touching on verysensitive subjects.
SPEAKER_00 (03:52):
You say you touch on some sensitive subjects.
Can you expand on that?
SPEAKER_01 (03:56):
One is around bullying, death, divorce.
There's another, given theappropriateness level of the age
group, it being more elementaryschool kits, there is one on
drills as well.
And so I know that one reallyhits close to home in Colorado.
And you know, a few weeks ago wehad the shooting at Evergreen
High School.
And so even just the anxietythat comes with children doing
(04:18):
fire drills and tornado drillsand now active shooter drills,
there's a tremendous amount ofanxiety from that.
And so other topics are anxiety,dyslexia, ADHD, autism.
So it really runs a full gamutof various things that can be
neurodiverse, but really are allcentered around mental health.
SPEAKER_00 (04:38):
Yeah, those are all great topics.
What kind of feedback are yougetting when you put something
new like this out?
You never know what to expect.
You can get positive, you canget negative.
You just never know what toexpect.
So how's the feedback?
I'm assuming it's good.
SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
So far, we've only shown these books to therapists,
OTs, and different members ofschool organizations.
So whether it's been a principalor a social emotional
coordinator or teachersthemselves or teachers that are
within the gifted program to getthat feedback.
That was really step one, evenbefore I was paired with an
illustrator.
So we've already run throughthat process.
(05:17):
The first book will actuallylaunch in November, and then
we'll have one a month comingout after that.
So stay tuned, they're comingvery soon.
But one of the most criticalpieces of feedback I received
from actually a therapist is shesaid, I see myself in this book,
but I see my daughter in theother book.
And so I think it's reallyimportant that while this is
(05:39):
directed for children, there'sstill this element of where an
adult can say, Oh wow, I seemyself there.
And an adult can feel a littlebit less alone in their own
brains as well.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
As I understand it, then you have written this
mainly for children, even thoughadults may see themselves in it.
This is written so children canfocus on things that may affect
them.
SPEAKER_01 (06:02):
Absolutely.
So they are children's books.
They're written in lyricalformat.
The illustrations really bringto life the raw emotions of the
characters.
It's a classroom of students,and so you're hearing from a
different child who's going tobe shown throughout the entire
series where they are integratedinto each other's lives.
Given that there are specificneurodiversities that these
(06:24):
topics are touching on, I'mensuring that the font is open
dyslexic font so that those whohave dyslexia have an easier
time reading this.
And while of course it'scentered around children, there
is an element that I believethere might be an older group
that may find this just asappealing.
When I think about the ADHDbrain, it's not always the
(06:46):
inability to focus, butsometimes determining, you know,
what to focus on because thereare so many things.
And so sometimes when it comesto self-help books or things
that might not have as much of aattention grab to really fully
get ingrained in the book, thatmight be where an adult says, oh
wow, this was very digestibleand yet very helpful.
(07:06):
And the questions at the endwere very thought-provoking and
really allowed me to take a stepback and look at myself and what
really was causing maybe some ofmy triggers or noticing some of
those differences and reallyhaving that moment of, oh wow,
that that might be me.
That that character sounds a lotlike me.
So, you know, it's fourchildren, but I think it really
(07:27):
can appeal to all ages.
SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
Yeah, I can see why.
You know, I have heard so manystories of where a parent would
take their son or daughter to adoctor trying to find answers to
their questions.
When they started getting theanswers to their questions, then
they started realizing, hey, Ihave the same issues they're
(07:49):
having.
This could be me.
So with that said, are yougetting the feedback that you
thought you might get from allthis?
SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
Some just elements of language used that maybe
modify this or make sure there'sa glossary of terms so that
you're able to truly resonatewith all elementary students.
My son, my oldest son, and evenmy younger one as well, they're
both highly gifted.
And so they're in the gifted andtalented program.
Their vocabulary is much largerthan, say, the average
(08:21):
nine-year-old.
My oldest is actually eight, buthe's in fourth grade.
He started kindergarten at fouryears old.
He'll be nine actually in a fewweeks.
What he understood and knewwithin the book and the
vocabulary I initially was usingwas maybe not as friendly or
user-friendly for you know allchildren that are elementary
school age.
So there was a, you know, a bitof those revisions to go back
(08:43):
and say, okay, I really need tothink about how this might land.
And then would it be beneficialto layer in some of those words?
And so my oldest son really wasinstrumental and one inspiring
most of these books.
And also he's walked through allof them with me as well and
said, Oh, mom, I think youshould maybe change it to this.
Or I don't think we're gonnaunderstand what that means.
(09:04):
We're gonna need a definitionfor that one.
But I also want for a parent tobe able to walk through it or a
teacher and have thatconversation that will continue
throughout the book.
So it gives a teaching moment aswell of, oh, maybe I'm not sure
what ADHD means, or what is anintervention?
You know, things like that whereyou can really take a moment and
pause and have some of thoseadditional conversations with
(09:26):
your children.
SPEAKER_00 (09:27):
Well, sounds like all the comments you got were
very constructive.
How long did this take you toput together?
SPEAKER_01 (09:32):
It's taken quite some time.
It's been a labor of love asit's not my day job, and so is
definitely a passion project ofmine.
It was probably in 2021 that Ihad the first idea, and I was
really at a low point andbreaking point.
I had just been diagnosed withLyme disease.
My oldest had just beendiagnosed with ADHD and sensory
processing disorder and highlygifted.
(09:54):
And so, with all thatinformation, I was having that
moment in the shower of, youknow, what is my purpose?
Why am I here?
And that really sparked mycreativity for the first book.
And then they grew a bit fromthere and I'd put it down or
maybe come back to it.
And it wasn't until last summer,July of 24, that I was able to
meet with a book coach.
(10:15):
And that really took it fromseven books to really developing
this full theme and now what aregoing to be 14 books, and making
sure that all of those elementsreally tie together.
And also, again, having thosereaders on the front end to help
with that sensitivity aspect.
One thing I learned as well, youalluded to earlier, around
(10:36):
autism and understanding thatthere can be a bit of
controversy of are you personfirst or are you diagnosis
first?
And many people want to leadwith person first.
You know, I am Sarah, I'm notleading by my diagnosis.
So that was something that wewalked through and played around
with to decide, you know, whatdirection we would go.
And we ultimately went withperson first.
(10:57):
So that, you know, thatultimately autism is not
defining who you are, but it isa part of who you are.
And so that could be one laterthat might spark some
controversy or just spark someconversations, which I think are
all healthy.
And I don't know that thateverybody is in on one side or
the other.
So I think that gives a niceplatform to just continue some
of those conversations.
SPEAKER_00 (11:17):
Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
Did this lead you to create agroup?
I see on your website it saysSLH group.
Is that you or do you have otherpeople that are involved in what
you're doing?
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
I am primarily the group.
There are definitely otherconsultants that are coming in
and giving those opinions.
They are also giving quotesaround what they found
informative within the books,what they found really powerful.
And so that will also be part ofeven the front and back cover
where you'll see some of thosequotes from certified
(11:51):
professionals.
But yes, you know, my hope is toone day be able to expand this
further, where there are more ofthese conversations happening,
but a lot of them in the schoolsystem and allowing for children
to ultimately feel less alone inwhat that diagnosis that they
have might be.
So maybe they're paired withanother child who has some
(12:13):
similarities.
Maybe they both like Legos, butthey also have autism.
Or maybe, you know, they bothhave parents that have cancer.
You know, there's a lot of thosehard topics that we do not touch
on.
And when I was in school, Ididn't have that kind of
support.
I didn't know that I had ADHDuntil I was 25 years old, which
is apparently, as I've learnedmore, an interesting time frame
(12:34):
in life to learn that.
Most people, it's either whenthey're very young or usually
when they're, you know, hittingtheir 40s and they've become
moms, especially for women.
And so for me, I could have goneback to that child and said, you
know, hey, it's okay of whyyou're feeling this different in
your own brain.
And this might be why.
SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
You just touched upon expansion.
What are your goals, let's sayover the next three to five
years, to build a biggerplatform in order to help more
people?
SPEAKER_01 (13:03):
I ultimately would really love to have a full
running platform within theschool system that allows for
some, maybe it's virtualconnection, but that we leverage
the books for a essentiallycurriculum and have use each one
of those almost, you could eventhink of it like a book club, in
essence, where you have thesehard topics that you're having
(13:26):
conversations about.
You know, they read together thebook as a group.
There's a counselor who ishelping to guide them.
And then ultimately they havesome sort of commonality that
allows for them to feel a littlebit less alone.
In my opinion, we have a mentalhealth crisis.
That is that's what's happeningwithin our schools.
And I think there's a lot thatwe have to do to ensure that our
(13:49):
children are not having any ofthose mental health capabilities
that are going to lead to gunviolence later.
You know, I always have thatmoment of what was going on in
that child's mind.
Did they have support?
Did they have some sort ofneurodivergency or mental health
thing that was going on that wemissed?
And what could we have done ifthat child had a friend?
(14:10):
And that friend said, Hey, Ifeel that way too.
And then there's this moment ofconnection.
And that somehow allows for usto no longer have to worry.
This morning, you know, I huggedmy child goodbye, and uh, it's
not every day, but this morningI had that moment of I'm gonna
make sure this is a big hug anda good goodbye.
Because I don't know ifsomething could happen in your
(14:32):
school today.
SPEAKER_00 (14:33):
Yeah, it's a scary time.
There's no doubt about that.
When you're dealing with seriousmental illness, that's a whole
complete different situationthan ADHD, bipolar, or autism.
Even though sometimes they allcan overlap each other.
So because of that, it can fallunder that mental health
umbrella with the mentalillness.
(14:56):
Okay, this is kind of a two-partquestion.
When you say school system, areyou thinking local schools or
are you thinking maybenationwide?
The second part of this questionis are you concerned because
you're touching on subjects thatcould possibly be a little
(15:17):
overwhelming for some of them?
The school system now sometimeshave these people that look at a
book and if they don'tparticularly like it, all of a
sudden banned.
And it might be just because ithas ADHD or whatever word that
person may not like.
Does that concern you at all?
SPEAKER_01 (15:35):
Absolutely.
You know, I had momentsthroughout the entire last year
of pause thinking, as I heard ofother books being banned in
other states and areas, and hadthis moment of what I'm actually
doing and all the time I'mspending, is that pointless?
And so, you know, that's wheremy own self-doubt creeps in, and
I have to have that.
I think my book coach really waswonderful and that reminder of
(15:57):
you're here for a reason.
This is your purpose, and youhave to continue to get that
message out.
But I would start locally uhbeing in Colorado, it depends on
the school, but I am veryfortunate that while we are in
Jefferson County public schools,my children are going to what I
find to be one of the bestschools in the county.
They have a gifted and talentedprogram where it's a school
(16:19):
within a school.
And so, you know, whether it'stheir library, music, art, PE,
the classes are all intermingledwith general education.
And so there are many kidsthere, of course, who have a lot
of neurodiversity with largegifted classes.
And so they are very heavysocial emotional based.
And they even follow the theythis is a program called Leader
(16:42):
and Me.
It's based on the highly uh theseven uh habits of highly
effective people for children.
And so they work through thosehabits every month.
There's a different onethroughout the year.
And so it's something that thereare specific schools that this
will resonate with, and that's agreat place to start.
I also think after, you know,having a tragedy as we did with
(17:04):
Evergreen High School and inbeing the home of Columbine as
well, Colorado might look atthis a bit differently and say,
okay, I see where this is goingto be powerful and what can
eventually lead for those whoare neurodiverse or have ADHD or
autism or sensory processingdisorder, all of that can lead
to anxiety and depression intheir teen years, especially
(17:26):
when the hormones begin.
And so if we can start earlier,as I felt like my child
benefited so much from earlyintervention, starting that at
two and a half years old.
And I had really wished he hadgotten into it sooner.
I think the earlier that westart with building that
foundation that they're acceptedfor all of their differences,
that's going to grow intosomething along the way.
(17:48):
And so I imagine in certainareas, I will get pushback.
I think there's others that willembrace it and eventually it
will catch on.
Of course, my ultimate goal isfor this to be national.
SPEAKER_00 (17:59):
Are you going to be selling this book nationwide?
Is it going to be for anyonethat would like to have it?
SPEAKER_01 (18:05):
Absolutely.
So it will, it will be, youknow, direct to consumer.
There will also be an avenue forschools.
But, you know, someone may onlywant to buy the book on ADHD and
they may not want the full set.
And because of that, you know, Iwant to make that very flexible
where there might be some grouppackagings that make sense
together of, you know, now wehave uh ones that are around,
(18:27):
you know, certain confidence orresilience that that really pair
well together, and others thatyou could just buy a single
book.
And I will also have an ebookavailable as well.
A few teacher friends have said,you know, with our students, we
like to put it up on their Mimeoboards so that they're able to
show it in a large format so allthe kids in the entire classroom
(18:49):
can see makes it a lot easier.
I've gone in and been a parentreader and done um the mystery
book reader with my son's classbefore.
And it is difficult because youhave 30 kids crowded around you
and they all want to see theillustrations and they're, you
know, fighting with each other,you need to sit down, or I want
to sit in the front.
And so being able to have it ona large screen in the classroom,
(19:09):
I think is going to be reallyimportant.
I've also noticed that my sonwill bring home a few pages of a
book, and a lot of them do haveto do with differences, and
there are they are socialemotionally heavy and there's
questions in the back, and thenfor homework, they'll have to
bring that back in.
So that's where I could see thisgoing long term as well.
Of it could be a handout that'ssent home with children, and
(19:29):
then they have to actually dosome of those discussion
questions in the back.
SPEAKER_00 (19:33):
Yeah, great idea.
Where will they be able to getit?
SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Right now, all of the information that I'm putting
out there for updates andcalming strategies and my
aligned parenting method, all ofthat is is found um either on my
website or Instagram.
It's Sarah LewisHartley.com,S-A-R-A-L-E-W-I-S-H-A-R-T-L-E-Y.
And then at Sarah Lewis Hartleyis my Instagram handle.
SPEAKER_00 (19:58):
That's good for them to know.
Now, do you see it eventuallygetting to Amazon and other
bookstores around the country?
SPEAKER_01 (20:04):
Yes, potentially.
I've learned a lot about Amazonand how that works, so it's an
interesting animal, but yes,absolutely.
We will make it as easilyaccessible as possible.
SPEAKER_00 (20:13):
Of course, they can get it from your website, which
is actually a more direct path,anyways.
SPEAKER_01 (20:17):
Absolutely.
And that's what we're workingthrough right now, the logistics
around being able to take theeverything from print to the
direct to consumer and get thatout there for everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (20:28):
Yeah, that's great.
Now, what would you like to tellour listeners that you think is
very important that they knowabout what you're doing and your
plans for the future?
SPEAKER_01 (20:39):
There are two things that I'd really love for
listeners to grasp onto.
The first is a philosophy thatI've developed around echo
parenting.
And it you said it yourselfearlier when you mentioned a lot
of parents will understand thatthey might have ADHD or autism
after their child has beendiagnosed.
So echo parenting is reallyunderstanding and learning that
(21:00):
you're on this parallel journeywith your child and you're
really learning alongside ofthem.
And their behaviors are really areflection of what you may need
to heal with your inner child.
And I think the hardest partabout having a child who's
neurodivergent is beingneurodivergent yourself and
trying to maintain that calmpresence.
Because what I've learned iswhen your child is melting down,
(21:23):
you have to also stay calm.
And if you're not calm, it'sgoing to exacerbate what's
happening with your child andthey may explode further.
And so the aligned parentingmethod that I have developed is
really a way to walk through andunderstand that awareness within
your body, figure out and labelwhat those emotions are that
you're having, then identify thetriggers, what's causing that?
(21:44):
There's always that root cause,whether that is you're hungry or
maybe you've had a long day orit's hot outside or it's
crowded, you're overwhelmed withsensory overload.
And then you use and leverage agrounding technique that works
for you.
And lastly, whether you're doingthis alongside your child or
just doing it for yourself tocalm down, there's a big element
of nurturing where you can allowyourself grace and say, it's
(22:07):
okay.
You know, I'm feelingoverwhelmed and give yourself
compassion, or you do the samewith your child and you really
try to empathize with them.
Becoming curious and empathy,when those things happen, you're
not able to be angry at the sametime.
SPEAKER_00 (22:22):
Yeah.
Great points.
Now you mentioned you went intothe schools and did some
reading.
I'm assuming you read one ofyour books.
I did.
What was their reaction?
First, what did you pick toread?
And second, how did they respondto it?
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
The first one I picked was Purposefully Calm.
It's the purposefully me series,so all titles will be
purposefully brave, purposefullyresilient.
I chose purposefully calm.
I wanted to do purposefullybrave, but that one the
character looks a lot like myson and he was the one that
pushed back and said, you know,mom, they're gonna know that's
me.
I don't want to do that one.
(22:59):
I said okay buddy, I totally getthat.
So purposefully calm is a lotabout sensory processing
disorder.
But I read this to it was lastyear for third grade.
It was the third grade giftedclass.
So they have a lot of thoseoverwhelming sensory things that
come into play.
And so that one was aboutmanaging your anger and they had
(23:19):
there was a you know centralizedconflict this try to understand
of what the purpose was and thenthat went into you know the
conflict resolution and actuallywent and showed different
calming strategies that theycould do.
And so they were all veryreceptive to it.
I was hoping there were weresome that that I know that can
run hot.
You know, there are always kidswho um we all know those kids
(23:41):
that we were in class with thatmaybe run hot a bit.
And so you know that's where Iwanted for them to really have
that moment of okay thisresonates with me.
And so I didn't have a lot oftime to stay and get the
feedback but I did speak with myson afterward it's and he said
that he really enjoyed the bookand he felt like everyone else
in the class did as well.
And I've talked to a few of hisfriends since and they said that
(24:03):
it resonated with them.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
Good.
You mentioned you're ahealthcare executive what does
that entail?
SPEAKER_01 (24:09):
I am in healthcare marketing and technology.
So I work with health systemsand help patients find the right
doctor and right care.
I do work with manypsychiatrists, companies and
psychologists.
SPEAKER_00 (24:20):
So my question to you and this is why I asked what
you do when you do your job andyou're dealing with
psychologists, doctors, etc, youcan get their perspectives on
things.
You've written a series of booksthat gives your perspective on
neurodiversity and the way thatothers might see it.
So with all the professionalsthat you've talked with then you
(24:43):
start talking with the kidsgetting their perspective on
things.
So my question is what have youlearned out of this whole
process?
SPEAKER_01 (24:52):
Oh there's there's so much um all of it is a very
difficult process.
If you think oh I'm gonna writea book it is especially
children's book being theillustrations that is a
different layer that's added init can be tough.
And then being able to findthose individuals who can help
lend that credibility and havingthem truly understand and buy in
(25:14):
and one of the therapists whohas read these specializes in
neurodiversity.
So you know holds a lot ofcredit there of helping and
understanding you know will thisbe something that resonates?
And so I think it's justimportant that you know whatever
it is you're doing that is notyour expertise.
It's maybe for me it was drivenby my own emotions, my own
(25:36):
healing process.
It was very cathartic for me towrite I am in most of these
books, especially the one aboutADHD, what this child is feeling
and that was me.
So you know what I'm sharingit's more about deep emotions
and how you truly are feelingbeing trapped in that
neurodiverse mind, but alsoshowing that it's not a curse.
(25:59):
It is this beautiful thing thatwhere you have so many strengths
that sometimes it just getsovercrowded or you people are
focusing more on what you needto work on versus really
highlighting what you do sowell.
And so that's where you know alot of it it's not too in the
weeds or technical into thediagnosis, but there's these
(26:22):
moments of understanding ofthese might be some quirks or
characteristics of someone whohas ADHD or autism.
And so it's um hopefullysomething that will resonate a
lot but learned a lot along theway of you know I hopefully
thought oh I'm I'm just this ismy creative outlet not realizing
the full business portion that'sbehind all of it.
SPEAKER_00 (26:43):
Yes, unfortunately the business side can take a lot
of joy out of the project.
During this you mentionedemotions while writing this a
lot of memories went into itmemories of your son of course
memories of your life so myquestion to you is how did your
emotions run during this wholeprocess?
SPEAKER_01 (27:04):
It was eye-opening for me.
I do find while it brings andbubbles up emotions to the
surface it's also very healingat the same time and another
element of this that I didn'tknow would be part of writing a
book was developing an authorplatform and putting all of that
out onto social media.
And there's a moment of where Ihad to get over what other
(27:26):
people might think and alwaysground myself back in this is my
mission, this is my purpose andI'm here to help someone and
even through social media fromthe people that have responded
or reached out and said thatthat really helped them and they
saw themselves and whatever itwas that I was discussing.
(27:47):
That to me if if it doesn't doanything else, you know, I've at
least helped you know somepeople.
And so I think that's myultimate goal of what I have to
go back to and know that becauseI'm continuing to talk about it,
it's helping me in my ownhealing process.
So if I would have just writtenthe books, I maybe wouldn't have
had this continuation of talkingabout it basically every day as
(28:09):
I'm posting things and I'mhaving conversations and just
being very authentic and openand honest about my own
experience.
And that's the only thing that Iknow is my experience and I know
the experience I've hadalongside my children.
You know I don't really knowother people's and how they felt
in those moments but I'm hopingthat the depth of the connection
(28:29):
that I'm sharing will resonatewith someone.
SPEAKER_00 (28:32):
Yeah good and I believe that it will resonate.
This has been great greatconversation great information I
really appreciate you taking thetime to join us today.
Oh thank you so much for havingme.
Oh it's been my pleasure thanksagain thanks for taking time out
(28:54):
of your busy schedule to listento our show today.
We hope you enjoyed it as muchas we enjoyed bringing it to you
if you know someone who has astory to share tell them to
contact us at whynotme.world onelast thing spread the word about
why not me our conversations ourinspiring guest the Joe you are
(29:21):
not alone in this world
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