Welcome to episode #61 We’re thrilled to be joined by Katriona Lee today.
Kat is the Co-Founder of Kaya, Australia's first strategy-as-a-service platform built for entrepreneurs. Kat forged a successful career in corporate as a neurodivergent professional, leaning heavily into fitness and habit stacking as key tools for emotional regulation.
Welcome to the show Kat!
Questions
- Can you tell us about your experience with neurodiversity?
- When did you realize that you weren’t neurotypical?
- What challenges did you face?
- What is it like now?
- What neuro-exceptional strengths are you leaning into now?
Early Signs and Challenges:
- Early childhood observations by parents indicated unusual developmental patterns, such as speaking and swimming before walking. This hinted at a different learning and communication style.
- During the teenage years, emotional regulation and social comprehension were significant struggles, leading to disproportionate reactions to routine disruptions or misunderstandings in communication.
- Professional life highlighted these challenges, particularly in understanding and managing social interactions and conversations.
Diagnosis and Personal Struggles:
- Following difficulties in emotional control and understanding social cues, a diagnosis was made, including depression and being on the autism spectrum (previously referred to as Asperger's).
- The diagnosis brought mixed feelings about intelligence and self-worth, leading to extensive personal research and a reluctance to share this information with social circles for fear of judgment and loss of opportunities.
Current Situation and Embracing Neurodiversity:
- Transitioning from a corporate environment to running a personal business has allowed greater freedom to be authentic and redefine leadership and business practices.
- Recognizes and values neurodiverse strengths such as exceptional memory and pattern recognition, which enhance capabilities in strategy consulting and anticipating risks.
- Uses unique cognitive abilities to develop innovative solutions and technologies, addressing pain points effectively.
2. What "work" projects are you concentrating on?
Kat Developed a one-stop "anti-consulting" platform to provide integrated, accessible business solutions for underserved entrepreneurs, fostering growth and authenticity without traditional
barriers.
Kat addresses the challenges of managing diverse business functions like IT, marketing, and sales through two main strategies:
- Partnerships: She partners with experts who respect her unique approach, enabling effective collaboration.
- Technology and Automation: Kat automates repetitive tasks to enhance efficiency and minimize errors, supporting her business's growth.
3. How about the rest of the time? What do you enjoy doing in your off time?
- Kat enjoys outdoor sports like hiking, running, and tennis.
- She takes regular breaks in nature to manage hyper-focus and safeguard her health.
- Social and leisure activities, such as discussing movies with friends, help balance her life.
4. What do you do to optimize productivity during your working hours? What is some unhelpful productivity advice that doesn’t work for you?
- Productivity Through Fitness: Kat uses her cardio sessions to brainstorm solutions to business challenges, assigning specific tasks to intervals in her running sets.
- Idea Generation During Exercise: She finds physical activity away from the computer leads to actionable business ideas by the end of her gym sessions.
- Reflective Processing: Kat reflects on conversations and business issues during non-work times, which aids in deeper processing and future planning.
5. COMMERCIAL BREAK
6. How do you manage communication with neurotypical folk?
- Positive Self-Talk: Utilizes self-encouragement to tackle natural negative thoughts.
- Preparation and Visualization: Plan mental exercises to visualize interactions, assessing likely conversations and challenging personalities.
- Daily Mental Rehearsals: Incorporates daily mental walkthroughs of her schedule to anticipate professional interactions and enhance communication skills.
- Empathetic Connections: Builds relationships with neurodivergent partners and team members, leveraging shared understanding.
- Communicating Needs: Proactively informs colleagues of her needs during remote conversations to manage expectations and maintain focus.
- Requesting Breaks: Transparently requests short breaks during conversations to manage energy and focus, which is well-received by colleagues.
7. What does your morning routine look like and how has it evolved over time?
- Consistent Wake-Up: Uses alarms set at 15-minute increments to ensure she doesn't oversleep, providing a safety net for starting the day right.
- Hydration and Supplements: Begins with a big drink of water and takes daily supplements.
- Mandatory Exercise: Engages in a structured workout (minimum 40 minutes) which includes a warm-up, high-intensity or weight training, and cool-down. Requires coffee before exercising.
- Cold Water Exposure: Incorporates cold showers to boost focus and energize for the day ahead.
- Routine Importance: Follows a strict routine daily to maintain structure and focus; disruptions lead to agitation throughout the day.
8. How is your sleep? How do you switch off at night?
- Chronic Sleep Issues: Historically poor sleeper since childhood, with extreme sleep deprivation during teenage years (1-2 hours per night).
- Current Sleep Patterns: Experiences 3-4 hours of sleep on good days and less on bad days.
- Coping Mechanisms: Has tried various methods to improve sleep, including medications, magnesium soaks, yoga, and guided meditation.
- Structured Night Routine: Recently emphasized a more structured evening routine, including:
- · Breaking the day with consistent activities.
- · Turning off lights in a specific sequence.
- · Arrange pillows in the same way each night to create comfort through routine.
- Improvement Efforts: Although still struggling, there has been slight improvement, managing to get about 3-4 hours of sleep regularly in the last three months. Continues to refine the process for better results.
9. Where can people connect with you or find your work?
Primary Platform: LinkedIn is the best way to connect.
10. Do you have any final words or asks for our audience?
- Key Message: Embrace and be unafraid of your true self, regardless of differences or neurodivergence.
- Personal Reflection: She has overcome insecurities and learned that authenticity resonates positively with others.
- Encouragement: Acknowledges the value and strength in requiring accommodations, and emphasizes the importance of self-acceptance and celebration of one’s unique challenges.
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Episode 61