Are you an artist, designer, writer, musician or student with ADHD?
Do you find yourself overwhelmed by constantly spinning plates? Or feeling paralysed because you don't know where to start with a project? Does your Rejection Sensitivity make it next to impossible to ask for help?
In 2019 my son went to university. Once there, the demands of managing everyday life, socialising with loads of new people and trying to study independently meant he became overwhelmed. He has now been diagnosed with ADHD, and although I do now have a formal diagnosis, he and I are certain I have it too. One of the results is that I threw myself into a hyperfocus of learning everything I could about ADHD and neurodivergence.
This meant that after decades of work in live performance, theatre and music and twenty years lecturing at university, I recognised patterns from my own life, and in some colleagues and students, past and present. I realised that studying at university and working on creative projects are particularly attractive to people with ADHD because they aare full of novelty. And difficult because both tend to ask you to solve complex problems without a roadmap.
So I trained as a coach who specialises in empowering people with ADHD to understand and use their unique strengths to overcome the everyday ADHD challenges that trip you up. I qualified as a CPD certified coach using the renowned ADHD Works Executive Functioning Framework and have undertaken coaching and training with Positive Intelligence. From this training, I provide personalised coaching to help you become more self-aware, and able to learn the skills needed to thrive in personal, academic and professional setting and weekly group sessions to keep you productive, motivated and accountable.
How many times have you started a productivity hack promoted on TikTok only to find that you can't make it work for you? ADHD is a developmental difference that means your brain works differently, particularly in areas of executive functioning. Traditional coaching often does not work for people with ADHD because it is based on a framework that is not designed for ADHD brains.
Executive functioning refers to the mental skills of planning, focusing our attention, remembering instructions - or where we put our keys, problem-solving, and controlling our emotions. These skills are crucial for achieving goals, managing time, starting and finishing projects and organising things, people and ideas. For individuals with ADHD, executive functioning can be a significant area of difficulty, but with the right support and strategies, these challenges we can learn how to manage them.
Having trained with ADHD Works, and Positive Intelligence, I have synthesised learning about how ADHD affects executive functioning and how small but regular mental shifts can interrupt doom spirals, overwhelm and outbursts, and help you boost the dopamine you need to get things done. I focus on key areas which are known to be difficult for people with ADHD.
I believe in a personalised, empathetic and positive approach. I work closely with you to understand your unique needs and goals as you navigate the complicated worlds of university, self-employment and leading creative teams or projects. Through one-on-one sessions, I provide tailored strategies and support to help you build executive functioning skills that will help you achieve your goals.
I have spent many years working in university-level arts and creative industry degree programmes teaching and supervising students from their first year through to PhD, as well as working with artists as they create new work, and managing academics for over 30 years using leadership coaching approaches.
Now, having learned about the specific executive functioning differences facing people with ADHD, I realised that standard coaching-approaches to teaching and supervision didn't work well for neurodiverse students or academics. Studying at university or undertaking academic research means finding the motivation to read dense texts, write essays, receive critical feedback and rewrite papers you thought you had done with. It means identifying research questions and then committing to just one. It means being able to plan complex projects without an established framework. And it means estimating how long a task with take and setting deadlines.
All of that might sound impossible, BUT I have found specialist coaching techniques to be hugely helpful for accountability when I'm working on writing projects, problem-solving when I'm faced with defining a research project, motivation when studying for my coaching qualification, and emotional regulation when working in teams. I have also used these techniques to help students start and complete projects, defined their research questions, work out what their data means and write their dissertation on time with great outcomes. As a creative and academic myself I have become a true convert to the power of coaching that understands my neurospicy brain.
Another reason for my interest in ADHD is the link between ADHD and creativity. Evidence shows that people with ADHD score highly on divergent thinking but do not always achieve the outcomes expected.
People with ADHD have an interest-based motivation system. This means they can hyper-focus on activities they enjoy, while being unable to start less interesting tasks. Impulsivity means people with ADHD are more likely than others to take the risks necessary to think differently and experiment with new ideas. Research supports the theory that people with ADHD are highly original and often entrepreneurial, but not always able to follow the their ideas to completion as the clarified and developer steps require convergent thinking.
As a result, creatives with ADHD may struggle with solving the ‘what’s the next step’ problem leading to procrastination and finding it difficult to complete a project.
If this is you, I have a coaching package designed to help creatives with ADHD hack their own motivation and develop skills and approaches to help with future creative work.
Are you ready to unlock your potential and achieve your goals? Book in now for a free 20 minute introductory call and learn more about ADHD-informed coaching with me.
Are you coaching curious, but cautious about commiting to a full course? Or do you have something specific you need help getting to the bottom of? Try my offer of a one-hour one-off coaching session for just £40! Using my knowledge of executive functioning and the power of developing regular positive habits, this non-judgemental session will help you to unpack the issue that is getting in your way and identify your next steps towards your goal.
My coaching is totally non-judgemental and as one client told me "I was 100% task achieved this week!"
Are you anxious about hiring or managing a neurodiverse team member? Are you struggling to get your manager to consistently apply reasonable adjustments? Do you want to know more about how to support neurodiverse colleagues to apply for Access to Work?
I offer facilitated participatory training that will guide you to developing systems and processes that don't just help your ND team members thrive and contribute for a day or a week, but which stick because you co-created them to work in your organisation.
We love to help you identify, think about, understand and create solutions to wicked problems.
Our expertise includes
We love to help you identify, think about, understand and create solutions to wicked problems.
Our expertise includes
We are researchers and consultants with international expertise in policy research and evaluation, course development and delivery and business management within the creative, cultural and community sectors.
Consultancy
We have expertise is social and culturally focused resilient and sustainable entrepreneurship. We can help you with rethi
We are researchers and consultants with international expertise in policy research and evaluation, course development and delivery and business management within the creative, cultural and community sectors.
Consultancy
We have expertise is social and culturally focused resilient and sustainable entrepreneurship. We can help you with rethink your business models and strategies, positioning you to maximise your opportunities.
Research and evaluation
We believe the best leadership is reflexive and open to change. Our approaches to research and evaluation are participatory and aim to facilitate deep learning in order to design better solutions and approaches.
Teaching and facilitation
We are skilled and experienced higher education teachers and community facilitators. We use participatory techniques to help devise students or communities think deeply about topics. source and analyse information and identify critical issues.
We have expertise in curriculum development and assessment for undergraduate and masters level and short courses for entrepreneurs in creative industry management, cultural policy and creative research methods.
Jennie has worked internationally in the higher education sector teaching and researching creative industries and festival entrepreneurship, leadership, and cultural policy. Her research interests focus on arts and festivals as influential institutions within urban cultural policy and on questions of cultural inclusion. She has published
Jennie has worked internationally in the higher education sector teaching and researching creative industries and festival entrepreneurship, leadership, and cultural policy. Her research interests focus on arts and festivals as influential institutions within urban cultural policy and on questions of cultural inclusion. She has published on festivalisation, cultural ecosystems, creative leadership, digital media's role in connecting diasporic communities, data for decision-making and the business of festival management.
She is a research fellow at the Creative Research and Innovation Centre (CRAIC) at Loughborough University London where she has worked on two projects:
Jennie has an Executive MBA and a PhD in cultural political economy. She has extensive experience as a senior manager and consultant within the UK cultural sectors and in voluntary sector development. She has worked as a consultant and expert advisor with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Arts Council England, the British Council (India), Youth Music and East Midlands Cultural Consortium, amongst others advising on cultural policy, creative economy and widening participation. She is a guest lecturer at the Universities of Glasgow and Sheffield.
She was a member of the senior management team at the Phoenix Arts Centre in Leicester where she had responsibility for marketing and customer services and oversaw the transformation of communications at the start of the digital era.
Krista Blair has over 20 years’ experience working in capacity building, project development and management, and
research and evaluation. As researcher, she has worked with UK charities and international NGOs to develop and
test new initiatives in academic and consultancy settings.
She has extensive expertise as a charity consultant and mana
Krista Blair has over 20 years’ experience working in capacity building, project development and management, and
research and evaluation. As researcher, she has worked with UK charities and international NGOs to develop and
test new initiatives in academic and consultancy settings.
She has extensive expertise as a charity consultant and manager, using research and
evidence to support policy, advocacy and service development.
Her consultancy work has included partnerships development and programme design related to tackling social isolation
and worklessness; supporting early years charities in organisational development and income generation;
capacity building for organisations working with people with complex needs; developing
evaluation frameworks for capacity-building organisations; and providing organisational support to Women’s Aid organisations.
Prior to moving to the U.K, she worked in print journalism and for the House of Commons in Canada, and provided
research and evaluation support to an NGO in Africa.
Dr Emily Bradfield is an independent consultant and researcher who supports people to reimagine evaluation and manage projects creatively. She uses colour, words and images in her Creative Capture® commissions (Emily’s unique style of visual note-taking), which include: University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership; Angl
Dr Emily Bradfield is an independent consultant and researcher who supports people to reimagine evaluation and manage projects creatively. She uses colour, words and images in her Creative Capture® commissions (Emily’s unique style of visual note-taking), which include: University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership; Anglia Ruskin University; and University College London. Emily also works part-time as Charity Director for Arts and Minds, a small Cambridge-based arts and mental health charity.
Emily's expertise includes community engagement; research and evaluation; and cultural leadership. She is passionate about bridging the gap between research and practice, advocating arts for social change and weaving creativity throughout research, evaluation and practice. Her cross-disciplinary approach embraces qualitative, participatory and creative methods, with a particular interest in the fields of arts and health; social gerontology; and creative ageing. She has experience in experienced in community engagement, strategic leadership and events management and is an experienced HE teacher.
Emily holds a PhD in Creative Ageing (University of Derby) and an MSc in Cultural Events Management (De Montfort University). Emily founded the British Society of Gerontology’s Creative Ageing Special Interest Group in 2019, and is a member of the Arts Health Early Career Research Network. She has published on the policy challenges of creativity, on creative ageing and the Dia del los Muertos festival.
Dr Caitlin McDonald is an is an award-winning researcher, a strategist with 10+ years’ experience across the private and public sectors researching and advising on sociotechnical impacts, and an artist whose work exploring the personal through the digital has been featured in several international art exhibitions.
Her current research foc
Dr Caitlin McDonald is an is an award-winning researcher, a strategist with 10+ years’ experience across the private and public sectors researching and advising on sociotechnical impacts, and an artist whose work exploring the personal through the digital has been featured in several international art exhibitions.
Her current research focuses on the power of the creative industries to act as an innovation catalyst across the whole of the economy, and on the role of arts and culture as key indicators of a thriving society.
Dr Sara Lara Marquez-Gallardo is a Lecturer in Fashion Management at the University of Manchester, UK She leads and teaches modules on digital fashion, sustainability and the circular economy with a focus on global value chains an.
Alongside her academic work, she has developed research projects exploring digital change across music, p
Dr Sara Lara Marquez-Gallardo is a Lecturer in Fashion Management at the University of Manchester, UK She leads and teaches modules on digital fashion, sustainability and the circular economy with a focus on global value chains an.
Alongside her academic work, she has developed research projects exploring digital change across music, publishing, contemporary art and fashion. Her current research projects are concentrated on sustainability in the creative industries and circular economy, particularly in relation to fast fashion value chains and the possibilities of virtual reality to tackle waste in the production processes. For example, by examining how Web 3 can help improve sustainability in the global value chain of fashion brands. Sara also delivers modules on fashion, sustainability and the circular economy with a focus on global value chains.
As an expert in managing innovation in the creative industries, Sara has been commissioned to execute numerous multi-market studies for clients such as Google and Danone.
Jordan, J, Dasgupta, R.K. and Hitchen, G. (2023) Mapping innovation in India’s creative industries: an ecosystem framework. Cultural Trends. https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2023.2217416
Jordan, J and Lahiri, I. (2023) Digital Leisure as Sites of Diasporic Solidarity in B. Sharp, R. Finkel & K. Dashper (eds) Leisure in the Pandemic: Re-imagining Interaction and Activity during Crisis, Routledge
Baker, V. and Jordan, J., 2022. Finding the sweet spot: critiquing a cultural ecosystems approach to civic cultural strategy making. Journal of Cultural Economy, https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2022.2041464
Jordan, J., 2021. Cultural closure and social mobility: a critical examination of festival governance structures as exclusive social spaces. Annals of Leisure Research, pp.1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2021.1927768
Jordan, J. and Chan, H.M., 2021. More than a “Chinese Century”: the case of International Film Festival & Awards Macao. Event Management
https://doi.org/10.3727/152599521X16288665119567
Jordan, J. and Jindal, R., 2020. Problematising Philanthropy in the UK Cultural Sector. In R. Granger (ed) Value Construction in the Creative Economy (pp. 67-84). Palgrave Macmillan.
Jordan, J. (2016) Focusing on Finnish Festivals in Silvanto, S. (ed) Festivals in Finland, Helsinki: Kulttuuripoliittisen tutkimuksen edistämissäätiö, pp. 212-217
Jordan, J. (2016) Festivalisation of Contemporary Life in Newbold, C. and Jordan, J. (eds) Focus on World Festivals, Oxford: Goodfellow Publishers pp.6-18
Jordan, J. (2015) Festival Leadership in Newbold et al. (eds) Focus on Festivals, Oxford: Goodfellow.
Gray, C. and Jordan, J. (2011) Managing adversity in the British art support system, Cultural Policy Update (1), Amsterdam: The Boekman Foundation
A Good Practice Guide and Future Priorities report resulting from our evaluation of the Work.Live.Leicestershire (WiLL) Building Better Opportunities employability project
Reframing Innovation Data in the Creative Industries follows up on Detecting Dark Matter Data, research undertaking for for Creative Informatics and CRAIC Loughbough that asked what data is collected about the creatve industries and how it is used for decison support. In the second paper we ask how we could think differently about innovation to enable the dark matter data to be collected
The Creative Industries in India Mapping Study for UKRI India/AHRC was a situational analysis of the innovation and growth within India's creative and cultural sector value chains that found huge potential for collaboration between the UK and India in CreaTech, sustainable textiles and more.
Evaluation of the DCMS / Local Government Association Cultural Pathfinder programme
Evaluation of the impact of the partnerships developed by British Art Show 6 in Nottingham
Action research for Youth Music into the feasibility of creating a regional MusicLeader CPD network in the East Midlands
Research into the feasibility of a Cultural Observatory for the East Midlands (in partnership with cultural sector thinktank Comedia) and development of a marketing and communications strategy for the business plan
Evaluation of Defra’s £7m Infrastructure Investment Programme for the Third Sector and, subsequently, the development of a rural partnership development toolkit, Progression through Partnerships: a diagnostic toolkit.
Data analysis for Arts Council England funded research: Festivals and the Creative Region
Evaluation of the social impact of the Corby / Kettering Youth Music Action Zone.
My more than twenty years experience as a university lecturer and participatory facilitator, has left me with a deep love for working with students and teams who want to explore a topic in more depth. I am open to offers for