What if the “missing piece” of your story isn’t a flaw to fix but a new lens that finally makes everything make sense? Katie sits down with coach and community builder Natalie Sharp, who’s preparing for her own ADHD assessment at 40, to unpack why so many women are getting diagnosed later in life and how that knowledge reframes everything from school memories to motherhood.

We talk about the realities of assessment access—like the UK’s right to choose pathway and long waitlists—and the quiet ways inattentive ADHD shows up in girls who are praised for being “good” while struggling to focus, initiate, and finish without a deadline. Natalie explains how perimenopause can unmask symptoms, why rejection-sensitive dysphoria hits so hard, and how unmasking can feel messy before it feels free. The conversation moves from grief and validation to practical emotional regulation, kinder self-talk, and relationship language that lowers the stakes when tensions spike.

Then we go bigger: smashing boxes in education and work that were never designed for nonlinear thinkers. We explore interest-based motivation, hyperfocus, and the value of autonomy, plus the ADHD–autism overlap that can either balance or battle inside one person. Natalie’s support group for neurodivergent women defies stereotypes with its surprising calm—proof that being fully understood is a nervous-system balm. Finally, we turn to intuition. After years of outsourcing decisions to rules and experts, rebuilding self-trust becomes the anchor. Pair the brain’s brilliance with the heart’s whisper and you get alignment—strengths like empathy, creativity, and pattern recognition working on your terms.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “too much” or “not enough,” this is your invitation to step out of the box and into a life that fits. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the moment that resonated most—we’d love to hear your story.

Connect with Natalie on Instagram Here @intuitive.adhd and links to @step.outofthe.shadows

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