Harnessing the Power of Neurodivergent Minds in Podcasting w/ Meghan Bonde

This is Tools of the Podcast Trade, where you can learn about the tools and resources you can use to start and grow your podcast Tune in this week, as we talk about the help you need to remove the mystery from podcasting so you can become a successful podcaster that can reach your audience where they are, my guest today is Megan Bondi. Welcome, megan. Thank you for coming and talking to me at Tools of the Podcast Trade.

Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Of course. So before we get into what you do, could you tell us who is Megan?

So one of my favorite parts of me is I'm a dancer. I love to perform on stage with my dance group as a backup dancer for my teacher when he plays with his band in Denver. I'm a mom of a seven and 10-year-old. I'm an educator I was a leader in public education for many years and I'm a recent TEDx speaker, so that was really exciting. I'm a partner to my husband and a daughter and friend so many different hats. And an entrepreneur, nature lover in the mountains lots of things.

Yeah, all right, thank you, and thank you for doing that. Sometimes I get guests on and they just want to talk about what they do and this tells me so much about you and our audience. So thank you for sharing. Yeah, absolutely, yes, all right. So I want to get into what you do and so tell me who are you professionally and explain your work to us.

Yeah, so I'm a neurodiversity specialist and what that means is I really understand a lot of different brains and ways that people think. I was originally trained as a speech language pathologist and worked as a part of special education teams in schools and really specialized in creating inclusive environments for autistic students ADHD dyslexic, gifted, twice exceptional and I transitioned to be a coach and really enjoy leadership and thinking about systems change and working with teachers and parents and adults to really adjust the environment to celebrate these students and their different minds. And then I realized that my kids were neurodivergent and I'm neurodivergent and my needs weren't being met in my workplace as an employee, and so I have really shifted to being a professional that works with businesses who are wanting to leverage the unique strengths of people who are really wired differently in how they think and be able to make small adjustments that aren't hard and really get a lot of impact and success for their business as a result of that.

Okay, this sounds very interesting, but I'm going to ask you to explain neurodivergent to our audience. I we sometimes refer to entrepreneurs as ADHD, I sometimes refer to myself as OCD, and I think these are terms that we sometimes use, for that probably describes neurodivergent, right.

Yes, so neurodivergent was a term that was coined by Judy Singer, who is an autistic sociologist, and it was in the 1970s, and it's starting to gain a lot of momentum in terms of the movement around social justice with people who think differently. So there's not one agreed upon definition for neurodivergent, but how I like to describe it is you think, perceive and behave possibly different than what's considered the norm or most common in a culture, and so it's not a really clear cut term. There's a lot of gray area for interpretation, but the important thing yeah.

So it's like when they tell your kid, your child is special because they're not learning the you know the straight line, right Is that what it is Okay.

So yeah, there's so many different. The neurodivergent is this umbrella term, and then I'm going to be learning disabled or gifted or twice exceptional or OCD or ADHD. All of those different things can sort of follow that umbrella of like I don't quite fit into the norm of what's typical for how I think. Yeah.

Right, okay, all right, thank you. I get it now, and I'm sure a lot of entrepreneurs get that. Yeah, yeah, all right. So our audience are mostly podcasters, and podcasters tend to have a lot going on. You know, whether they're just doing podcasting or they're using it to support their business or they it's just a side hustle. They have a lot going on. How can someone who is who falls under the umbrella of neurodivergent create a life that makes them successful at what it is they do, ie podcasting?

Yeah, such a good question. So because I identify as neurodivergent, I'll share a little bit about my story and approach for how I have success in my business and the most important thing for me to realize is that my productivity is not my worthiness and my value, that I am enough just as I am, and now I can pursue what brings me joy, what brings me energy, and when I do that, I'm able to contribute so much and live into my purpose, align with my values, be an inspiration for others to do the same, and I've been able to find ways that really just match with my unique brain, and it's about not going with what other people think that you should do and what everybody else thinks is going to be the answer.

So that's what I've found. Okay, all right, thank you. And I, like that trainer thought, because it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately you know you are a podcaster and there's a standard to follow, but there are so many different ways of achieving your goals in podcasting and if you listen to everybody, you could end up saying I'm not going to do anything because you know it's just not going to work for me because, as the person I am, doesn't allow me to catch all those, you know, stars or whatever. Right, yeah.

And one common trait of many neurodivergent people is analysis, paralysis and analyzing everything. The strength is we're insatiable learners. When we get excited about something, we want to dig in deep, we want to learn everything and read and listen to everything about it, and that's a beautiful strength to celebrate and it's important to reflect on. Is this helping me to achieve my goals? How do I find alignment with pursuing the learning that I love to do, while putting myself out there and sharing my strengths and wisdom with the world? Yeah, even if it's not perfect.

Right, yeah. Yeah, I can totally relate. It took me six years to start my first podcast. All right, so tell us what you do for your clients. I think I ask you to explain your business, but tell us exactly how you help clients and how we can get in touch with you.

Absolutely so. I offer consultation and coaching for executives and leaders to really look at their systems and structures and policies within their business to attract and retain and grow people with different brains or address the needs of their clients or listeners, or if they identify as neurodivergent themselves, I can help them understand themselves and be able to notice their strengths and areas that are challenges and navigate through that to be able to thrive. And then I also offer group workshops and speaking to be able to facilitate really transformational learning for groups of people around their lens. When it comes to neurodiversity, really make an impact on the climate and culture and how teams collaborate and innovate together.

Okay, and how can we get in touch with you?

So I have a website called teamneurodivergentcom and I'm on LinkedIn and Facebook with the pages for Team Neurodivergent and through all of those ways I'll be sharing my TEDx talk soon, when it's released.

Okay, so we put those links in the show notes. What was your TEDx about?

It was about realizing that I'm neurodivergent, because it only happened recently.

Yeah.

And it really talks about how we need to come out as neurodivergent at work and not hide or mask, but use our intensity. Part of my neurodivergent brain is having these five intensities that there's research about and I share a little bit about those intensities and how I could start seeing them as a strength rather than a deficit.

Yeah, because I would think and I'm just talking from my own experience you kind of get overshadowed by everybody else when you're this way, right?

It can happen, where you're often told you're too much, too sensitive, too loud, too perfectionistic, too bossy, too controlling, too anything All these different things. People are told they're too much, over and over again. And these intensities are part of how many neurodivergent brains are wired. And they're a strength and they're amazing, and we do need to be able to navigate our own needs and other people's needs, and so that's something to consider. But we need to see those as strengths and stop hiding those. It's exhausting.

Yes, definitely All right, thank you. And what is Megan grateful for today?

I'm grateful for my intensity. I love to talk, and so I get to be a guest on podcasts and do what I love to do.

Okay, cool, thank you All. Right before I let you go, give a podcaster, aspiring on otherwise, three tips on navigating their neurodiversity.

So tip number one is learn about yourself, understand the different pieces and parts of how you're wired and be able to see them as strengths. Number two is find your tribe to connect with other people who might have some similar experiences, so that you don't have to feel alone and be trying to fix yourself of something that does not need to be fixed or changed. And number three, learn about the neurodiversity, movement and the lens, because it's really cool to see our different brains in a way that's similar to biodiversity. We need so many different plants and animals in nature for our environment to thrive. There's not one that's better than another. They're all just different, and the more diversity we have, the better things flourish. And the same is true for our brains. There is no one ideal type of brain. Gifted is not better than neurotypical. Autism is not worse than neurotypical. All of our brains are important and all of our needs matter.

Yes, yes, definitely, and I was just thinking about what you said. We tend to be pushing this herd mentality, but even in the herd, the members of the herd are different, right? Right, it's not a monolith.

It's not one thing that defines everybody. It's a piece that's important to embrace, and it's not all of you.

Yes, definitely, thank you. I'm really glad we had this conversation, yeah, because it is an interesting topic and one that I'm sure a lot of podcasters can relate to. So thank you, megan, for coming and speaking to us today. Any parting shots?

I will say take some time to rest and think about what it is that most energizes you.

Okay, some reflection. All right, thank you, thanks, so much. Thank you, megan.