This week on Thick No More, Jay sits down with performance coach, speaker, and author Pamela Cass, whose story will resonate with anyone who has ever felt invisible, “not enough,” or misunderstood.

Diagnosed with dyslexia at age seven in 1977, Pamela spent her childhood being pulled out of class, whispered about, and shrinking herself to survive. At home, she hid in a hallway closet hoping someone would notice she was missing. No one did.

Today, she calls her dyslexia a quiet gift — the very thing that built her resilience, empathy, creativity, and purpose.

In this powerful conversation, we talk about:

• Growing up dyslexic when support didn’t exist

• Feeling invisible as a child and how that shapes adulthood

• The emotional weight of hiding dyslexia/ADHD in the workplace

• Burnout, and walking away from a VP role

• Why she wouldn’t change anything about her past

• How to discover your own “gift” through the things that put you in flow

• The grounding technique that changed Jay’s public speaking forever

• Her new book The Quiet Gift — and the mission behind it

If you’ve ever wished you could go back and “fix” your past… this episode will help you see that your story may be the exact message someone else needs.

🌐 Website: PamelaCass.com
📘 The Quiet Gift on Amazon: PamelaCass.com/thequietgift
📲 Instagram: @pam.cass70
💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pamelacass-realtor

Connect With Pamela Cass

🎙️ Thick No More – Episode 1: John O’Shea | NeuroSpicy, Resilience & Rediscovering Yourself

What happens when your life completely unravels your marriage ends, your job’s gone, your home’s gone and you realise you’ve been living with undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia for decades?

In this powerful first video episode of Thick No More, host Jay Giddens sits down with John O’Shea, founder of NeuroSpicy and author of the new book NeuroSpicy: The Raw and Honest Story of a Neurodivergent Mind.

John opens up about hitting rock bottom, finding strength through self-discipline, meditation, and fitness and how that journey led him to finally understand his neurodivergent brain. Together, Jay and John talk openly about:
💥 Growing up dyslexic and being called “thick” in school
💥 The moment everything fell apart and the fight to rebuild
💥 How a diagnosis at 56 changed everything
💥 Why ADHD isn’t a “deficit” it’s an overload of ideas
💥 Why our education system still fails neurodivergent kids
💥 Turning pain into purpose through NeuroSpicy
💥 What “Thick No More” really means

It’s raw, emotional, funny, and completely real two men talking openly about neurodiversity, failure, redemption, and the power of finally understanding who you are.

📘 Get John’s book: https://neurospicy.life
🎧 Follow John on Instagram: @neurospicy66
💬 Discount code: ABC25 for 15% off

🔔 Subscribe to Thick No More for honest conversations about dyslexia, ADHD, and the journey from feeling “broken” to realising you were never broken at all.

Autistic self-advocate and tech leader Shea Belsky (Tech Lead @ HubSpot; ex-CTO & co-founder at Mentra; host of Autistic Techie) joins Thick No More to flip old labels into real strengths. We go back to his early years and diagnosis, talk sensory needs and self-advocacy, and get practical about what leaders miss—and how simple changes create belonging and better work.

In this episode:

• “Born This Way” and owning identity

• Early diagnosis vs. today’s language and pop-culture stereotypes

• School, sensory triggers, and finding environments that work

• From Cornell to tech leadership: disclosure, boundaries, and growth

• The business case for inclusion (and the cost of getting it wrong)

• ERGs, remote/hybrid work, and universal design that helps everyone

• Advice for leaders (what to do Monday morning)

• Advice for “hiders” at work: asking for what you need, safely

If this resonated, share it with a friend—and remember: labels are just words. We’re here to change the narrative.

• Website: shaebelsky.com

• Email: hello@shaebelsky.com

• Podcast: Autistic Techie (available on all major platforms)

• LinkedIn: Shea Belsky (search by name)

Connect with Shea