ADHDifference

Julie Legg speaks with Ryan Turner — motocross rider, recruiter, content creator, and founder of Dopamine Hunters. After receiving his ADHD diagnosis in adulthood, Ryan began reflecting on a lifetime of intensity, stimulation-seeking, and relentless energy that had previously felt chaotic and misunderstood.
Through motocross and other high-adrenaline pursuits, Ryan discovered that the environments many people see as risky or extreme can actually bring calm, focus, and clarity to ADHD minds. That insight inspired Dopamine Hunters, a growing community, podcast, and documentary exploring how dopamine drives passion, performance, and purpose.
Ryan shares candidly about late diagnosis, substance use, self-medication, education systems that miss neurodivergent children, and why interest-based learning is often the key to unlocking potential. This episode is an honest and energetic conversation about finding healthy outlets for ADHD intensity and creating spaces where neurodivergent people can thrive.
Key Points from the Episode:
Ryan’s late ADHD diagnosis and emotional aftermath
Growing up masking ADHD while siblings received support
The connection between ADHD and substance self-medication
Why adrenaline environments can calm ADHD brains
Motocross as regulation, focus, and community
The idea behind Dopamine Hunters and how it started
Interest-based learning and why traditional classrooms fail many ADHDers
The “hidden 20%” of students with internalised neurodivergency
Burnout vs healthy stimulation for ADHD minds
Reframing hobbies as exploration rather than “quitting”
The link between ADHD, dopamine, and purpose
Ryan’s mission to create a platform for neurodivergent stories
Links:
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dopamine-hunters/
WEBSITE: https://www.dopamine-hunters.com/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@DopamineHuntersRyanTurner-h8z
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/ryanturner751/
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🌐 WEBSITE: ADHDifference.nz
📷 INSTAGRAM: ADHDifference_podcast
📖 BOOK: The Missing Piece: A Woman's Guide to Understanding, Diagnosing and Living with ADHD
ℹ️ DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or ADHDifference. Read More

Julie Legg speaks with accountant, financial educator, podcast host, and author of ADHD Money, Tina Mathams. Together they unpack the emotional side of money for ADHDers — the impulsive spending, the avoidance, the shame, and the cycle of guilt that can quietly spiral into financial overwhelm.
Tina shares her personal story of hitting financial rock bottom while undiagnosed, and how understanding her ADHD completely changed the way she approached money. Rather than relying on willpower or rigid budgeting systems, she explains how tools like gamifying, body doubling, identity-based goals, and nervous system regulation can create sustainable financial change.
This is a great reminder that money struggles are not moral failings — and that small, imperfect action can change everything.
Key Points from the Episode:
Growing up with limiting money beliefs
Impulse spending as dopamine-seeking
Avoidance, shame, and money guilt cycles
Separating self-worth from financial mistakes
Understanding your “money story”
Why willpower-based budgeting fails ADHD brains
Gamifying savings and body doubling for money tasks
Breaking long-term goals into present-moment identity shifts
Persistency over consistency
The power of self-compassion in financial recovery
Tina’s rock-bottom moment and rebuilding journey
Why money doesn’t have to be perfect to improve
Links:
WEBSITE: https://www.instagram.com/theadhdaccountant/
ADHD MONEY & FINANCE PODCAST: https://open.spotify.com/show/25LpCxWszqhkbmS8tcvLa1?si=891d61c6f6714cc0
BOOK: https://amzn.to/3ZDExkN
LINKTREE: https://beacons.ai/adhdmoney
Send a text
Thanks for listening.
📌 Don’t forget to subscribe for more tools for beautifully different brains.
🌐 WEBSITE: ADHDifference.nz
📷 INSTAGRAM: ADHDifference_podcast
📖 BOOK: The Missing Piece: A Woman's Guide to Understanding, Diagnosing and Living with ADHD
ℹ️ DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or ADHDifference. Read More

Julie Legg speaks with psychotherapist Karen Dwyer-Tesoriero, who specialises in adult ADHD, complex trauma, and attachment. With over 25 years in social work and psychotherapy, Karen brings both professional expertise and lived experience to the conversation after discovering her own ADHD later in life through her son’s diagnosis.
Together, they discuss powerful overlap between ADHD and trauma, particularly how negative childhood messaging can evolve into legacy burdens that shape adult identity, attachment styles, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. Karen unpacks how rejection sensitivity can be mislabelled as personality disorder, how masking impacts women especially, and how internalised “I’m not good enough” narratives quietly drive anxiety and depression.
Key Points from the Episode:
Discovering ADHD later in life through a child’s diagnosis
Masking in women and the “talks too much” childhood narrative
ADHD and complex trauma: where they overlap
Rejection sensitivity vs borderline personality misdiagnosis
How negative childhood messages become “legacy burdens”
Perfectionism and people-pleasing as trauma responses
Attachment styles in ADHD relationships
The role of nervous system regulation in healing
Using EMDR and Internal Family Systems to untangle beliefs
Why “normal” and “perfect” don’t actually exist
Building evidence for “I am good enough”
A daily mantra: Dare to believe in yourself
Links:
WEBSITE: https://www.kdtesorierolcsw.net/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kdtesorierolcsw
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kdtesorierolcsw.net/ 
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-dwyer-tesoriero-lcsw-emdr-certified-411316a1/
Send a text
Thanks for listening.
📌 Don’t forget to subscribe for more tools for beautifully different brains.
🌐 WEBSITE: ADHDifference.nz
📷 INSTAGRAM: ADHDifference_podcast
📖 BOOK: The Missing Piece: A Woman's Guide to Understanding, Diagnosing and Living with ADHD
ℹ️ DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or ADHDifference. Read More

Julie Legg chats with Douglas Katz — West Point graduate, Army veteran, inventor — about receiving an ADHD diagnosis in his 50s and how that moment reframed his entire life. Rather than seeing ADHD as something to “manage” or suppress, Douglas began to recognise how his urgency-driven thinking, rapid problem-solving, and constant scanning for stimuli had actually fuelled his success in the military and entrepreneurship. What once felt like quirks or liabilities became strategic advantages in the right environments.
From inventing adaptive tools inspired by his own physical limitations (such as his NULU knife), to embracing what he calls “Forrest Gumping” (allowing ideas to flow rather than forcing control) Douglas shares how understanding his brain allowed him to build a life based on ability rather than disability.
This conversation is a reminder that adult diagnosis is not an ending. It is often the beginning of self-acceptance, recalibration, and unlocking a different lens on success.
Key Points in the Episode:
Receiving an ADHD diagnosis in his 50s and the surprising sense of validation
Why military and startup environments can reward ADHD traits
The difference between managing ADHD and positioning yourself strategically
Reframing “disability” into contextual mismatch
The power of building a complementary team as an entrepreneur
“Forrest Gumping” — letting ideas flow instead of forcing control
Why intention is the most misunderstood ADHD trait
How adult diagnosis can become a turning point rather than a setback
Makers vs consumers — why producing creates regulation
Viewing ADHD as a superpower when aligned with the right environment
Links:
DOUGLAS KATZ: https://linktr.ee/dougkatz
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/d.m.katz/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/DOUGLASMKATZ/
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglaskatz/
Send a text
Thanks for listening.
📌 Don’t forget to subscribe for more tools for beautifully different brains.
🌐 WEBSITE: ADHDifference.nz
📷 INSTAGRAM: ADHDifference_podcast
📖 BOOK: The Missing Piece: A Woman's Guide to Understanding, Diagnosing and Living with ADHD
ℹ️ DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or ADHDifference. Read More

Julie Legg is joined by Kit Slocum, neurodiversity lead and learning experience designer at Flown. With a background in psychology and behavioural neuroscience, and lived experience of ADHD, Kit brings both science and compassion to the conversation about focus, productivity, and nervous system regulation.
From going from failing grades to straight A’s after receiving accommodations, to questioning the systems that label distraction as a personal flaw, Kit reframes ADHD through the lens of nervous system science and the neurodiversity paradigm. She explains why modern environments are fundamentally overstimulating, why burnout is often the predictable result, and how small, intentional shifts can radically change how ADHDers experience work and life.
This episode offers insight into body doubling, nervous system check-ins, structured flexibility, and how leaders can design workplaces that actually support neurodivergent brains rather than forcing them to adapt.
Key Points from the Episode:
Kit’s journey from academic struggle to thriving with accommodations
The shift from the pathology paradigm to the neurodiversity paradigm
Why distraction is often a dysregulated nervous system, not laziness
How modern over-stimulation keeps ADHD brains in “on” mode
Burnout as the end result of chronic nervous system activation
Nervous system check-ins and micro-regulation strategies
Why many productivity apps fail ADHDers
Creating a personalised “toolbox” through experimentation
Designing workplaces around curiosity and structured flexibility
The Neural Passport: communicating how you work best
Body doubling as a powerful focus strategy
The importance of language — disability, difference, or superpower?
Community as the most powerful ADHD tool of all
Links:
WEBSITE: https://flown.com/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/flownspace/
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flown/
ADHD MASTERY PROGRAM: https://flown.com/adhd-focus-program
Send a text
Thanks for listening.
📌 Don’t forget to subscribe for more tools for beautifully different brains.
🌐 WEBSITE: ADHDifference.nz
📷 INSTAGRAM: ADHDifference_podcast
📖 BOOK: The Missing Piece: A Woman's Guide to Understanding, Diagnosing and Living with ADHD
ℹ️ DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or ADHDifference. Read More