Am I you?
Late diagnosed, sparky-brained and finally understanding why business has often felt so hard.
I'm Angela, and I work at the intersection of ADHD, self-leadership & business strategy
I was diagnosed with ADHD at 53. In the months after the diagnosis, so much of my life, and my business, finally made sense.
I began to understand how business as usual advice and expectations had kept me stuck in what I call “perpetual potential”, and I saw how much I had tried to force myself into ways of working that were never intended for a sparky wired brain like mine.
After I dealt with the surprise, relief, sadness, and anger, and moved into acceptance, I began to rewire my business, making adjustments to fit who I actually am, not who I thought I should be.
That’s where I am today - but the story of how I got there actually starts ten years before my diagnosis, with a moment in a car at an airport that I still think about today.
In 2012, I was standing at Sydney airport waiting to pick up my husband from his first offshore sailing race. He’d embarked on a whole new business direction 12 months earlier, purchasing a Marine business, and these were now part of his world.
When he jumped into the car, his eyes were shining, his face lit with utter joy. He'd just had one of those pinnacle experiences - the kind that reminds you what it feels like to be fully alive.
As I drove home listening to him describe the moonlit ocean and the island appearing on the horizon, something twisted in me. An increasingly uncomfortable question surfaced again: When was the last time I felt that way about my work?
When he turned and innocently asked me how my week was, I slammed my hands on the steering wheel and burst out, “I don't think I can do this anymore!”
What had happened?
I’d built a thriving marketing agency that started with freelance projects from my dining room table and grew to buying an office and assembling a brilliant small team serving clients across three states. On paper, I was successful. I was hitting milestones, growing the business, and doing good work.
But it was such hard work. And I couldn't shake the feeling that I was a bit of a square peg in a round hole. As though I was smoothing out my quirky edges to show up how I was supposed to as “a good business owner and leader”. Offering the services that “made sense” (and dollars, to be honest - there’s a lot of expenses in the agency model) instead of the ones I really wanted to.
For years, I kept my doubts to myself, powering through with sheer determination and through what I now know to be masking. In reality? I knew I wanted something different.
The First Turning Point.
That question that surfaced in the car - about when I'd last felt truly alive in my work - wouldn't leave me alone. Over the following weeks, I began to see what I'd been avoiding: I had built the business that made sense given my background and capabilities, but it was held together by grim determination, not delight.
The agency leveraged my skills and experience, but it no longer felt fulfilling. The responsibility of staff, the structure, the way we worked - it didn’t fit me anymore. It didn’t excite me. It drained me.
But I couldn’t yet see how I could change that.
I was stuck in what I now call "Perpetual Potential," and it was taking a huge physical and mental toll on me.
Finally, after dealing with my fear of being seen as a failure, this realisation became the catalyst for my next chapter.
I made the decision to transition to consulting and mentoring business owners directly, without staff of my own. It was a MUCH better fit for my style, my strengths, my values, and my zone of genius.
This experience - recognising when something successful is no longer right, and having the courage to evolve - became the foundation of the work I now do with clients. Because I've lived it, I understand that sometimes the business that got you here isn't the business that will take you where you want to go.
That transition in 2012 was a valuable business pivot, because I brought all of that experience with me and then built upon it, opening my most fulfilling and impactful business chapter to date.
Since then I've worked with hundreds of businesswomen — consultants, speakers, coaches, creatives, and founders — helping them clarify their next chapters, redesign their business models, and build the inner authority to back themselves fully.
Along the way I developed several proprietary frameworks that now guide my work with clients - the first of which was the Next Chapter Model of Change, unveiled in my book; Your Next Chapter: Ditch Your Doubt, Own Your Worth, and Build the Business You Really Want.
It first helped me understand my own experience, and has since guided hundreds of women to listen to their desires, make a decision, and build businesses that leverage who they actually are.
The Next Chapter Model of Change
Keeping My Skills Sharp
Alongside my work with women in business, I’ve also co-run SailTime Australia, a member based sailing model, with my husband for the past 16 years, and have been the strategic marketing consultant for an Accounting Association, with 13 firms across Australia and New Zealand, since 2011.
I’ve added Diplomas in Marketing and Positive Psychology, Strengths Profiling, Facilitation, Neuroscience, ACT, and ADHD Informed Coaching, complimented with honestly, god knows how many, books, podcasts and short courses!
I never seemed to be able to pause my busy mind. For years I called myself sparky-brained, and then I found out why…
The Second Turning Point: 2022
At 53, ten years after my business reset, I received an ADHD diagnosis soon after my then teenage daughter had hers.
And what struck me wasn’t just the personal recognition, it was the realisation that I’d already been building my business around this experience without knowing it. The tools I’d developed, the clients I’d attracted, the way I naturally worked - all of it made sense through this new lens. I’d been designing for sparky-brained women, because I was one!
The 101 ideas? My supercharged, divergent thinking brain at work.
The self-doubt? Years of trying to fit into systems that weren't built for how I think and work
The constant pivoting? My gift for seeing endless possibilities, waiting to be harnessed.
It was a revelation.
Since then, I've spent time understanding my differently wired brain and rewiring both life and work to fit me, not the other way around.
This shift has changed so much.
Embracing self-leadership allowed me to stop chasing external validation and gradually anchor myself in inner authority. I’ve rebuilt my self-worth, learned to trust my decisions, and reshaped my business to leverage and amplify my natural strengths.
What a difference. What a relief.
This second turning point didn't just explain my past - it deepened my commitment to helping my fellow sparky-brained ADHD women build businesses that fit THEM, leveraging who they actually are rather than who they think they should be.
Patricia Falcetta
Founder of Social Living Solutions
"I believe every female business owner who is neurodivergent needs you! You're the first coach I've ever felt real synergy with because you're a kindred spirit.
I've invested so much in the past and have never moved or progressed as far as I have with you. You're worth every cent!"
How I can help
Most business coaches don't truly understand ADHD. Most ADHD coaches haven't built businesses beyond their own practice.
I sit at the intersection of both.
Together we'll untangle your thinking, rebuild your self-leadership from the inside out, and redesign your business around how you're actually wired, leveraging your natural strengths and aligning with your values and ways of working.
No more masking. No more believing you’re not good enough. And no more contorting yourself to fit a business model that was never built for your brain.
I know what changes when you finally stop.
Sarah Denholm
Public Speaking Coach
”I hired Angela to get an expert outside perspective on my business and help me to refine and streamline my offerings. She’s given me so much more than that! It’s been such a relief to have someone “in my corner” to bounce ideas off and to offer clear suggestions for improvement. Angela embodies what she promises, is truly generous with her time and resources, and does it all with warmth and energy".
Born in New Zealand, I married my "Ex-Brit", Graham, in 1995. We have two adult children - Cameron and Charlotte - and split our time between Sydney, Canberra (where our son lives), and various golf courses from the Blue Mountains to the Central Coast.
I've been alcohol-free since 2006, a decision that profoundly shaped my understanding of self-worth, resilience, and the courage it takes to face change and maintain momentum.
When I'm not working with clients, you'll find me reading, colouring in whilst listening to fantasy novels, hosting dinners with interesting people, or planning our next travel adventure.
A little more about me…
You Know You're Capable of More.
And if you need to, you can borrow my belief in you until you have it for yourself.
Because after two decades of supporting businesswomen, many of them sparky-brained, I know when you combine strategic clarity with inner authority, you don't just elevate your impact - you finally align what you do with who you are.
And may I just say, growth doesn’t always mean BIGGER - it can mean deeper. The women I work with are not usually looking to build business empires. Rather, they want to be well paid for impactful, meaningful work.
If that resonates with you, I’d love to join your support team too.