You can know your work helps people and still feel weird promoting yourself. The pressure to stay visible, market yourself online, and constantly talk about what you do can quickly start to feel performative, especially for leaders who care deeply about authenticity. In this episode, Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with Heather Adams to talk about why so many thoughtful leaders struggle with visibility, and how to grow your influence without losing yourself in the process. After decades of helping authors, founders, and entrepreneurs build their platforms, Heather has seen how easy it is for people to believe they need to become louder or more polished in order to succeed. They explore the difference between visibility and performance—and how showing up honestly can become an act of service instead of self-promotion.

• The difference between visibility vs. performance
• Why you don’t need to become louder to grow your influence
• The pressure to market yourself online without losing yourself
• Why trying to copy other leaders often backfires
• How to “baby step” into visibility in a way that feels authentic

Join Heather's upcoming Substack Strategy Workshop: Clarify Your Message, Map Your Content & Create Your Launch Plan. Learn more here - https://choicemediacommunications.com/substack-strategy Mentioned In This Episode

Choice Media:  choicemediacommunications.com Instagram: instagram.com/heatherdixonadams

What if the problem isn’t discipline — but understanding how your brain actually works?

In this conversation, Dr. JJ Peterson sits down with licensed therapist and co-host of the Something Shiny ADHD Podcast, Isabelle Richards, to explore how ADHD, neurodivergence, and what Isabelle calls being “neuro-spicy” can shape the way people lead, make decisions, manage pressure, and move through the world.

Together, they unpack the difference between self-discipline and self-awareness — and why many leaders spend years trying to force themselves into systems that don’t actually fit how they think or function.

This conversation reframes accommodations not as weakness, but as self-understanding in action.

• Why some people thrive under pressure but struggle with everyday decisions
• How ADHD and executive functioning differences can affect leadership and work
• The role shame plays in productivity, motivation, and self-worth
• What “meta-awareness” means and why it matters
• How leaders can create more psychologically safe environments
• Why understanding your needs can be more powerful than pushing harder

For leaders navigating pressure, burnout, or the feeling that simple things shouldn’t feel this hard, this conversation offers language, clarity, and a more compassionate way forward.

Download the ADHD Focus & Flow Finder to better understand the accommodations that support how you work best: https://www.somethingshinypodcast.com/finder

Explore more conversations from the Something Shiny ADHD Podcast: https://www.somethingshinypodcast.com

If this resonates, share it with someone who may be trying to succeed while quietly fighting the way they naturally work.

Most experiences don’t stay with you.

You go to a conference, an event, a workshop, and within a few days, most of it is gone. Not because it wasn’t good, but nothing made it stick.

Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with Matt Ford, experiential marketing expert behind activations for Adidas, Cartoon Network, and HGTV, to talk about the part most leaders overlook: what actually makes an experience stick.

They get into why small details often carry more weight than big production budgets, how core memories form, and why most experiences lose their impact right when people walk out the door.

• What experiential marketing looks like beyond big brand activations
• Why certain moments stick—and most don't
• What makes an experience feel worth it
• How to extend the connection instead of starting over every time
• Experience design without a big budget

If you’re leading client work, hosting events, or building something where people show up in person, this is the part that determines whether they come back.

Collab Experiential: https://www.collabexperiential.com