ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka Podcast By Tracy Otsuka cover art

ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

By: Tracy Otsuka
Listen for free

LIMITED TIME OFFER | $0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Terms apply.

Want to fall in love with your ADHD brain and make it work for you? Learn more about my patented program, Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy here : programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

*

I have NEVER met an ADHD woman who wasn’t truly brilliant at something! This podcast, with nearly 7 million downloads, is for smart, high-ability ADD/ADHD (diagnosed or suspecting) women who see their symptoms as more positive than negative. If you want to fall in love with your ADHD brain and discover where your brilliance lies, this podcast is for you!
*
*

ADHD for Smart Ass Women is globally ranked in the top one-tenth of one percent of all podcasts in the world on any subject. It’s streamed in more than 160 countries and is downloaded by more than 150,000 listeners every month. My book of the same name, published by HarperCollins/William Morrow, was recently honored by Amazon Editors as a Top 20 Best Nonfiction Book of 2024.
*
*

I’m Tracy Otsuka, your host. I’m a lawyer, not a doctor, a lifelong learner, and a certified ADHD coach. I’m on a mission to change the conversation around ADHD because I believe it’s time to focus on the strengths that come with our unique brains. When I was diagnosed eight months after my son, my entire life finally made sense, yet all I read and heard about ADHD focused on what I should struggle with. What I discovered, though, was that my ADHD was responsible for some of my greatest strengths.
*
*

Another thing we constantly hear is all the success stories about ADHD men, but no one talks about the women. This podcast is here to change that. ADHD women are my people, and I’m here to acknowledge, support, and cheer them on. My experience as an adult living with ADHD, along with my expertise, is regularly sought out by top-tier media, including Bloomberg, Forbes, CBS Mornings, ABC News Live, Inc., Prevention Magazine, Verywell Mind, ADDitude magazine, and The Goal Digger Podcast, etc.
*
*
adhdforsmartwomen.com

*
*
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and does not constitute medical or professional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of anything you have seen or heard from Tracy Otsuka, her guests or this podcast.

© 2026 ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living Neurodiversity
Episodes
  • EP. 394: The Chainsaw Sculptor Who Turned Her ADHD "Too Much" Into a Superpower

    EP. 394: The Chainsaw Sculptor Who Turned Her ADHD "Too Much" Into a Superpower
    Jul 22 2026

    Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start here: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up
    _____

    Some brains cannot sit still long enough to be careful. Ella Fielding found a machine that runs on exactly that.

    Ella has a BA in Fine Art Sculpture, a Masters in Fine Art, and a chainsaw operator's license, and she uses all three to turn whole trees into monumental sculpture. But she left school at 14 because it was too traumatic to stay. She was quick with her hands and slow to get anything out of her head onto paper, and for most of her life nobody named why. She was 38, running her own art business and drowning in the admin, when a work coach kept mentioning ADHD and she kept insisting she was just dyslexic. Turns out it was both.

    Now she carves outside in full gear, running a machine most people won't touch and making it behave like a scalpel. Not despite the ADHD. Because of it. A chainsaw does not let you drift or second-guess or wait for the perfect plan. It demands you be right here, right now, which is the one place her brain has always worked best.

    In this episode, Tracy and Ella get into the school years that nearly broke her, the "poof" moment where a thought vanishes the second she reaches for a pen, why immediate and physical beats slow and planned for a brain like hers, and how she reads her own overwhelm as a signal instead of a character flaw.

    If you have ever been told you were too much, this one might reframe the whole thing.

    Resources:
    Website: https://ellafielding.com
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ella.fielding.sculptor
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellafieldingsculptor
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ella-fielding-sculptor

    Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message

    Explore more from me:
    🧘 SHIFT: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift
    📚 Free resources: https://tracyotsuka.com/learn
    📖 Get the book, ADHD for Smart Ass Women: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book
    🧠 Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok
    🌐 Visit my website: https://tracyotsuka.com/

    ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem.

    That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up

    Connect with me:
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracyotsuka
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heytracyotsuka
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyotsuka/

    Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book

    Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com
    Show more Show less
    50 mins
  • EP. 393: AuDHD, Decision Fatigue, and Rebuilding a Life That Actually Works with Dr. Shannan Palma

    EP. 393: AuDHD, Decision Fatigue, and Rebuilding a Life That Actually Works with Dr. Shannan Palma
    Jul 15 2026

    Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start here: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up
    _____

    She was good at the job. She just kept bombing the people.

    Dr. Shannan Palma has a PhD from Emory, founded a master's program, and taught as a college professor. Then, in midlife, she found out she was autistic. ADHD turned up right behind it.

    For decades she had followed the rules exactly as they were written and could not work out why that kept failing her. She was direct when directness was not wanted. She said no when everyone else said yes and did nothing. She ran full speed until she collapsed, then ramped back up and did it again. The diagnosis did not just explain the pattern. It ended it.

    Today she identifies as AuDHD, co-founded the autistic-led nonprofit Independence Through Interdependence, and serves as CEO of ITI Lab, where her team built Decide, an app for decision fatigue.

    In this episode, Tracy and Shannan get into why decision fatigue is not a willpower problem, what happens when the autism wants routine and the ADHD wants novelty, the assessment that went badly wrong, and what it takes to rebuild after burnout on your own terms instead of someone else's.

    If your brain has ever turned a small decision into a full-body shutdown, this one will help you understand why. And more importantly, what actually helps.


    Resources
    Website: https://weareiti.org
    Website: https://itilab.io
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannanpalma


    ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem.

    Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message

    Explore more from me:
    🧘 SHIFT: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift
    📚 Free resources: https://tracyotsuka.com/learn
    📖 Get the book, ADHD for Smart Ass Women: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book
    🧠 Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok
    🌐 Visit my website: https://tracyotsuka.com/

    ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem.

    That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up

    Connect with me:
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracyotsuka
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heytracyotsuka
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyotsuka/

    Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book

    Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 33 mins
  • EP. 392: When You Finally Stop Fawning with Laura Pasley

    EP. 392: When You Finally Stop Fawning with Laura Pasley
    Jul 8 2026

    Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up
    _____

    Laura Pasley is a child and youth worker in Ontario, Canada, who has spent more than a decade in intensive mental health and dual-diagnosis treatment programs for children and adolescents. She is the person who runs toward the crisis when everyone else is running away from it.

    After postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, complex trauma, and her sixth concussion, Laura started questioning whether ADHD had been part of her story all along. At 32, she finally received the diagnosis that helped her see herself differently. Not as someone who had fooled everyone. Not as someone who was not smart. As someone whose brain had been working hard to keep her alive.

    In this episode, Tracy and Laura talk about ADHD, trauma, fawning, concussions, crisis work, motherhood, shame, and what changes when a woman finally stops explaining every struggle through what happened to her. Laura also shares why she is now returning to school, writing a memoir, and learning to embrace being a daydreamer.

    If you have ever wondered whether it is ADHD, trauma, anxiety, or all of the above, this conversation offers a gentler question: what if understanding your brain is not about proving what is wrong with you, but finally seeing what has always been true?


    Resources
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arttaropy
    Threads: https://www.threads.com/@arttaropy

    Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message

    Explore more from me:
    🧘 SHIFT: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift
    📚 Free resources: https://tracyotsuka.com/learn
    📖 Get the book, ADHD for Smart Ass Women: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book
    🧠 Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok
    🌐 Visit my website: https://tracyotsuka.com/

    ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem.

    That’s why most strategies don’t stick. They were not designed for how your brain actually works. If you’re ready to stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits, start here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/sign-up

    Connect with me:
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracyotsuka
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heytracyotsuka
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyotsuka/

    Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/adhd-book

    Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com
    Show more Show less
    56 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
This podcast was excellent. I have only listened to a few episodes in the series because I just found it, but so far, the ones I've listened to have been great! I was so happy to hear the interview with Kailin. I feel like my medication isn't working (or helping) the way it should be, but I've only been diagnosed and on meds for 2 years. It took SO long to try this dose to start and give it a few weeks, step up a tiny bit higher and try that for a while, step a bit higher again - over and over and over, I'm afraid to try something different because it is such a difficult process! She also made me question my diagnosis. I've been on various antidepressants for about 20 years now, which started in college. I have such similar traits to Kailin, I'm wondering if there isn't something more to my Neuro divergence. I knew that ADHDers have super powers and are amazing at some specific things, but I had never heard anything about ADHD in high achieving women. First I opened up Kailinjohnson.com so I didn't have to worry about remembering the url. Next up, a Google search for ADHD in high achieving women. Thank you!

So great! Highly recommend. There is hope!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is so helpful. I love a lot of this episodes. the one about learned helplessness was very helpful. thank you so much. it is entertaining, informative and engaging.

Getting to know myself.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I just found this podcast and have been listening non stop. For the longest time I felt like I was the only woman with ADHD. To hear others talking about their journey, so often it’s like I’m hearing myself. I don’t personally know any other woman struggling with ADHD. It gives me hope things can and will change for me, hearing others have been able to get control of their ADHD and thrive.

Thank you for doing these podcasts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Can I tell you from a young age, going into the mall or specifically Wal-Mart I would get tired, foggy, spacey and couldn't think straight. Restaurants that are busy I can't focus. I was always told it was depression/anxiety. I do have anxiety... but so many years I was trying to find out why I felt this way. I got diagnosed 2 years ago and I still fight it. (Why can't I do this like normal people) But it's also relieving to have an explanation. I still naturally want to keep searching and I need to accept this is MY normal! love the podcast :)

FINALLY!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One, two, three, four, Five, six, Everything, Everything, Everything, Everything, Everything, Everything, Everything, Everything, Everything

Understanding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews