Stop Trying Harder - guest Karyn Whitaker

Jenn wilson

“Being kind to ourselves. Being honest about what we need.”— Karyn Whitaker

Jenn Wilson is joined by guest Karyn Whitaker. Karyn Whitaker is a neurodivergent coach, disability advocate, and founder of Try Harder Is BS, where she helps people with ADHD, autism, chronic fatigue and other invisible disabilities build easier, more sustainable lives that work with their nervous systems.

In this deeply resonant episode, Karyn joins Jenn to talk about the lifelong impact of being told to “try harder” while navigating undiagnosed neurodivergence, chronic fatigue, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She shares how years of masking, burnout cycles, people-pleasing, and internalised expectations shaped her career path — and how receiving her diagnoses finally gave language to her lived experience.

Karyn explains why traditional responses to burnout miss the mark, what nervous system regulation really means, and how embracing ease has changed every part of her life. She also speaks powerfully about inclusion, access, invisible disability advocacy, and challenging systems that rely on neurodivergent people pushing themselves beyond capacity.

LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/karyn-whitaker-24482135

Karyn is the Founder of “Try Harder is BS.” She helps people whose brains work differently (and those who support them) learn strategies to calm the chaos in their heads so they can move from overwhelm to action without going via burnout.

She is also an ex‑nurse, ex‑social worker, and soon‑to‑be ex‑project manager. A recovering serial burnout, she lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, AuDHD, and dyslexia — alongside a lifelong feeling that she didn’t quite fit in. Now she is owning her uniqueness, and life is better than it has ever been.

Trying harder isn’t the solution — compassion is.

Karyn invites us to stop forcing ourselves into burnout and start listening to our bodies, strengths, and nervous systems. True change — personally and socially — comes not from pushing through, but from working differently, choosing ease, and creating environments where everyone can participate without needing to mask or suffer.

Further Resources: links to offers from Irregular that are relevant to the episode

Irregular Everything

The Irregular Membership

Map My Month Method

• The emotional impact of masking and decades of “try harder” messaging
• Living with ADHD, dyslexia, autism, chronic fatigue, and Ehlers-Danlos
• Why burnout recovery shouldn’t mean returning to the thing that broke you
• Fight/flight/freeze/fawn explained simply (and why many of us live there)
• How to stimulate the vagus nerve and support nervous system regulation
• The myth of “jack of all trades, master of none” — and the real full quote
• CliftonStrengths and why neurodivergent people thrive when playing to strengths
• Inclusion vs. real inclusion: accessibility before someone even reaches the door
• Advocating inside organisations and redesigning “reasonable adjustments”
• Building a business designed around ease, capacity, and neurodivergent needs

Season 2 Episode 19

Rebellious Peace - guest Lianne Terry

Jenn wilson

"Just because we think it doesn't mean it's true."— Lianne Terry

Jenn Wilson is joined by guest Lianne Terry

Lianne Terry (she/her/they) is a counsellor and psychotherapist working predominantly with the queer community, focusing on helping people build inner peace, self-acceptance, and healthier self-talk patterns.

In this episode, Lianne explores what it means to cultivate inner peace, especially when navigating the complexities of identity, queerness, societal expectations, and long-held internalised beliefs. She discusses unpicking inherited narratives, rebuilding self-worth, and why labels can be both liberating and limiting. She also shares the inspiration behind her LGBTQIA+ wellbeing magazine.

https://www.lianneterrycounselling.co.uk/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/embrace_your_best_queer_life/

Lianne is an empowering Psychotherapist who helps clients to find authentic happiness and consider self-discovery. Having been on her own journey to happiness and self-empowerment, Lianne is familiar with the challenges stemming from past wounds and from day-to day life.

She works with clients, either face-to-face or online, to discover their joy, find peace, heal their emotional wounds and forge ahead to lead happy and sucessful lives.

As a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, she specialises in supporting queer individuals with relationships, family dynamics and healing childhood wounds, she also publishes a quarterly LGBTQIA+ wellbeing magazine.

Peace isn't quiet—it's authenticity. The path to it involves unlearning what isn’t ours, recognising our own voice, and valuing ourselves enough to rest, rebel, and rebuild.

Further Resources: links to offers from Irregular that are relevant to the episode

Irregular Everything

The Irregular Membership

Map My Month Method

Understanding inner peace vs. happiness as a goal.

Why peace can feel harder for queer people in unsafe cultures.

Recognising whose voice you're hearing when you self-criticise.

CBT-inspired techniques for challenging negative thoughts.

The emotional impact of labels—helpful lenses vs restrictive boxes.

Lianne’s LGBTQIA+ wellbeing magazine and amplifying community voices.

Subscribe now for After Hours Bonus Content- click here

Or join The Irregular Membership and get Jenn’s support to start your own personal rebellion.

Season 2 Episode 17

Never Mind the Mess - guest Maddy Alexander-Grout

Jenn wilson

“Other people’s opinions of me are none of my business.”— Maddy Alexander-Grout

Jenn Wilson is joined by guest Maddy Alexander-Grout.

Maddy Alexander‑Grout is an ADHD specialist, neurodivergent business and visibility coach, best‑selling author, and outspoken advocate for disability rights—supporting neurodivergent people to understand their brains, manage their money, build sustainable businesses, and step into full authenticity.

In this heartfelt and often humorous conversation, Jenn is joined by Maddy Alexander‑Grout to explore the realities of living as a neurodivergent adult and building a life that actually works for your brain. Maddy shares candidly about her experiences with childhood bullying, late ADHD and autism diagnosis at 37, navigating grief, and the pressures of visibility online. She opens up about money dysregulation, business failures, resilience, and rebuilding from scratch—multiple times. Throughout the episode, Maddy demonstrates what it means to live unmasked, to create boundaries, and to choose self‑compassion after years of feeling “broken.”

All her freebies and info can be found here

https://stan.store/maddyalexandergrout

Maddy Alexander-Grout is an author, speaker, and visibility strategist, and the founder of The Maddyverse, a platform and community that helps people build businesses, manage money, and grow their visibility in a way that works for their brains, values, and lives.

She is the author of Mad About Money, and her work focuses on helping people—particularly those with ADHD and hidden struggles—get visible, grow audiences, and make money by building businesses around who they really are rather than who they think they should be.

Maddy is known for her honest, energetic and unconventional approach to business and money, and she speaks regularly about visibility, entrepreneurship, neurodiversity, and building a business your own way.

At its core, this episode is about reclaiming agency through self‑understanding. Maddy shows that when you finally know how your brain works, you can stop fighting yourself and start building systems, boundaries, and businesses that honour who you are. Her vulnerability, humour, and honesty remind us that healing is messy, growth is nonlinear, and that being the change we want to see starts with choosing ourselves first.

Further Resources: links to offers from Irregular that are relevant to the episode

Irregular Everything

The Irregular Membership

Map My Month Method

• Late diagnosis of ADHD and autism
• Growing up neurodivergent and misunderstood
• Childhood and workplace bullying
• Money dysregulation, dopamine spending & paying off debt
• Business failures, rebuilding, and resilience
• Boundary‑setting as a neurodivergent entrepreneur
• Trauma response, emotional regulation & medication
• Living unmasked and with authenticity online
• Creating The Maddiverse community
• Managing visibility and expectations on social media

Season 2 Episode 15