The AuDHD Boss: Neurodiversity at Work with Brett Whitmarsh

Processing a layoff is different when you're autistic or have ADHD. Brett Whitmarsh, host of The AuDHD Boss, shares what he learned in the ten months after his own layoff from a twelve-year corporate role, and what actually helped him grieve, rest, and figure out what came next.
In this episode, Brett covers:
Why a layoff isn't a reflection of your performance, even when it feels personal
How to let yourself grieve a job loss without rushing past it
Why taking time before making major decisions matters, especially with a severance package
How to turn your job history into a list of transferable skills
Why applying through AI-driven hiring platforms alone often isn't enough, and how to use personal connections instead
Where to find real support without paying for resources that should be free

Brett also references the exercise from his Drains & Sparks: An AuDHD Workplace Workbook, and shares the personal decision-making mistake he made in the weeks right after his own layoff.

Isabel Fields, ESG Manager at Hearst, helped build the company's first Neurodiversity at Hearst hiring program from the ground up. In six months, Hearst had a fully running program. Years later, it's still growing, and it's shaped how the company trains, hires, and retains Autistic and ADHD talent at every level.
We talk about how the program came together, why executive buy-in came easier than expected, and the distinction Isabel draws between accommodations and adjustments, the small, low-cost changes a manager can make without a formal process. We also get into personal brand for neurodivergent employees and managers, practical ways to manage ADHD and Autistic burnout, and how to work through rejection sensitivity with a manager or trusted colleague.
Isabel Fields is an ESG Manager at Hearst with expertise in sustainability strategy, ESG reporting, and inclusive workplace initiatives. She serves on Understood's Women's Council and is a Women inPower fellow at the 92NY. Prior to Hearst, she was part of Oracle's Social Impact team and has held roles at Nike, the United Nations Foundation, and Iron Mountain.
Mentioned in this episode: my Drains & Sparks AuDHD Workplace Workbook.
If you or your organization want to work on neuroinclusion, train your managers, or explore individual coaching, reach out using the contact info in the show notes.

Self-employed with ADHD or autism? For a lot of people, it's not a lifestyle choice, it's the only option left when a corporate job stops working.
Brett talks with Liora, founder of Colorful Futures, a neurodivergent, queer-run HR and career consulting business. Liora spent years as a recruiter before starting the business, and this conversation gets into what actually triggers the leap into self-employment, how a late ADHD or autism diagnosis can be part of that decision, and what that choice looks like once you get past the LinkedIn version of it: the guilt, the uneven pace, and the fact that the whole business model doesn't have to be figured out before starting.
Liora and their colleague Caitlin Fisher are hosting the Entrepreneurial Horizon Workshop on Thursday, July 16 at 6:30 PM Eastern. It's a 90-minute session for anyone with an idea they haven't figured out how to build yet. $18 to attend, replay included.

Register here: https://colorfulfutures.thrivecart.com/entrepreneurial-horizon/
More on Colorful Futures: https://colorfulfutures.us/about
This conversation is also available as a video on the AuDHD Boss YouTube channel.
Interested in working together? Brett offers coaching for neurodivergent professionals and consulting for organizations working to become more neuro-inclusive, including speaking to employee resource groups. Reach out: Brett@AuDHDboss.com or at AuDHDboss.com

Have you ever gotten the feedback that you're unlikeable at work? For a lot of neurodivergent professionals, that label arrives while you're already burning significant cognitive energy just to show up and function.
In this episode, Dr. Bowen Marshall and Brett dig into why masking reads as coldness, where the term masking actually comes from historically, and what warm cues are and how they work in practice at work.
The conversation covers the frontal lobe vs. temporal parietal junction difference in how autistic and non-autistic brains process social interaction, what happens when masking and a novel cognitive task compete for the same processor, and the 20/60/20 framework for understanding workplace perception. Brett shares the good morning story, a real workplace example that shows how a single missed warm cue can shape how a colleague is perceived for years.
But the episode goes further than workplace tactics. Bowen recently published "Yes, Even Masking Is Caused by Racism" on Substack, and that work runs through a significant part of this conversation, from the eugenics movement and the history of ABA therapy to professional dress codes as compliance culture. Brett and Bowen also talk openly about the overlap between queer identity and neurodivergence and why for many people those two things have never been separate.
Topics covered in this episode:
Why the mask drops when cognitive load increases
The frontal lobe vs. temporal parietal junction difference in social processing
Spiky cognitive profiles and building teams around them
The warmth and competence framework and the 20/60/20 breakdown
Micro moments of liking and primacy and recency effects at work
The history of ABA therapy and its connection to white supremacy culture
Queer masking as survival and the overlap between queer and neurodivergent identity
Why masking past a certain point disconnects you from your own power
Dr. Bowen Marshall, PhD is a licensed psychotherapist, author, and career coach specializing in ADHD, Autism, and neurodivergent career development. As part of his work, he helps neurodivergents navigate the complexity of career demands helping ADHDers, AuDHDers and Autistics find and create systems, workflows, and leadership styles that help them succeed and thrive at work and life.
Read Bowen's article: Yes, Even Masking Is Caused by Racism

Follow Dr. Bowen Marshall:

Find all Brett and Bowen's conversations on the AuDHD Boss YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9QX1pbJKEk&list=PLRBohTCbOqwA

I was more nervous to tell people at work I was autistic than I was coming out bisexual. That's not a punchline. It tells you something about how similar these two journeys actually are.
In this episode Brett shares how coming out as bisexual in his 30s and getting a late AuDHD diagnosis a few years later followed the same emotional architecture — recontextualizing your entire life, grieving the person you thought you were, and slowly learning to stop masking.
What made both take so long? Alexithymia and delayed processing made it hard to understand his own feelings. Growing up in a high control religion made those feelings feel dangerous. And high masking kept both identities hidden — even from himself.
If you came out late, got diagnosed late, or both I'd love to hear your story.
Topics covered: neuroqueer identity, high masking, Alexithymia, coming out in your 30s, late AuDHD diagnosis, workplace safety, the grief of late discovery, and why unmasking and coming out feel like the same thing.
Find Brett's Drains & Sparks workbook and coaching at payhip.com/audhdboss.
In this episode:
Why high masking kept Brett in the closet — and later kept his AuDHD diagnosis hidden too
How Alexithymia and delayed processing made it hard to understand his own feelings
Why workplace safety was the trigger that finally let him unmask
The grief that comes with both late coming out and late diagnosis — and where they differ
Why "people who aren't don't spend all that time wondering if they are" applies to both sexuality and neurotype
Resources mentioned:
Drains & Sparks Workbook: payhip.com/audhdboss