Episode 67: Neurodivergent Entrepreneurs (#3): Balancing ADHD and Entrepreneurship [featuring Gabrielle Juliano-Villani]
Aug 15, 2024
Show Notes
ADHD entrepreneurs can face unique challenges while balancing creativity, passion, and ideas with organization, implementation, and struggles with executive functioning.
In this episode, Patrick Casale and Dr. Megan Anna Neff, two AuDHD mental health professionals, talk with Gabrielle Juliano-Villani, owner of GJV Consulting and Training and an ADHD entrepreneur, about ADHD's impact on entrepreneurship, offering practical strategies and personal insights.
Top 3 reasons to listen to the entire episode:
- Hear real-life stories about managing the emotions of rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) and burnout, with practical tips for emotional regulation and recovery.
- Learn practical strategies for improving executive functioning with tools such as the ADHD buddy system, AI assistance, and effective delegation.
- Discover ways to evaluate and pursue diverse revenue streams while maintaining focus and aligning with her core values.
As you reflect on this episode, consider entrepreneurial strategies that you can apply to balance creativity with organization in your own ventures. Whether it's through better delegation or emotional health reflection, intentional steps can lead you to success.
More about Gabrielle:
Gabrielle Juliano-Villani is a licensed clinical social worker, consultant, coach, entrepreneur, and educator based in Sarasota, FL. She has been in the mental health field for over a decade specializing in stress, chronic health conditions, and trauma.
After realizing her own burnout in 2021, she sold her thriving group practice and made it her mission to educate others on the impact stress has on our everyday lives. Gabrielle pulls from her experience as an EMDR and Polyvagal Informed therapist to utilize mind/body approaches to help others implement everyday strategies to manage stress and live their best lives.
Gabrielle is an international speaker, retreat leader, and has been featured in Authority Magazine, The Daily Om, Bustle, and the Everyday Woman TV Network. When she's not working, Gabrielle is teaching Zumba, surfing, or reading a psychological thriller at the beach.
- Website: gabriellejulianovillani.com
- Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Retreat in Belize: allthingspractice.com/belize-neurodivergent-2025
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Resilient Mind Counseling is a neurodivergent-affirming therapy and medication management practice operated in North Carolina. We specialize in supporting neurodivergent individuals, especially Autistic ADHDers, the LGBTQ community, and the BIPOC community. For mental health therapy, we accept Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare, MedCost, Aetna, and self-pay. For medication management, we accept Blue Cross Blue Shield and self-pay. We can see clients all throughout North Carolina. If you are looking for medication management services, you need to be within a 60-mile driving distance to the office in case you need to come in. All of our clinicians identify as either Autistic, ADHD, or Autistic-ADHD, or have some form of neurodivergence or are neurodivergent-affirming. We strive to create a neuro-inclusive healthcare community. You can text or call our main line to get started at 828-515-1246 or visit our website at resilientmindcounseling.com. We look forward to helping you along your healing journey.
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Transcript
PATRICK CASALE: Hey, everyone. You are listening to the Divergent Conversations podcast. We are two neurodivergent mental health professionals in a neurotypical world. I'm Patrick Casale.
MEGAN NEFF: And I'm Dr. Neff.
PATRICK CASALE: And during these episodes, we do talk about sensitive subjects, mental health, and there are some conversations that can certainly feel a bit overwhelming. So, we do just want to use that disclosure and disclaimer before jumping in. And thanks for listening.
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Divergent Conversations. We have a really awesome guest on today, a good friend of mine, Gabrielle Juliano-Villani. She is an LCSW and she owns a business called JGV Consulting. She has so many different streams of revenue.
Because Gabrielle is ADHD, we are going to talk about neurodivergence entrepreneurialship, and being an ADHD business owner, how to keep the one million ideas going, channeling, and harnessing that creativity, and how to actually take action on it.
Thank you for being here. I know you are super nervous. And I want to name that so you can get over it.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Okay, thank you.
PATRICK CASALE: If I didn't do your bio justice add whatever you want to it, yeah.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: I mean, yeah, you covered a lot of it. I am an LCSW. I'm no longer a practicing therapist. I [INDISCERNIBLE 00:03:09] my license. I used to own a group practice. And we mostly served the Medicare and Medicaid population. And I got really burned out on one-on-one therapy, so sold that in 2021. And now I, as you mentioned, do a lot of things, which we will get into. But the overarching theme is, like, consulting and training type of stuff.
PATRICK CASALE: Forgot to add, like, international speaker, you're speaking at a bunch of my events coming up in '24 and '25. Tell us a little bit about some of the things that you do because we want to highlight, like we've done a lot of autistic neurodivergent entrepreneurial series, but we didn't do really anything ADHD specific.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: So, I kind of started just organically with training and consulting. And actually, I should back up because what I really started with is I have always been a hustler. And so, I have always had, like, multiple jobs. When I was in college I also bartended, and I worked for a catering company, and I did, like, data entry for a friend. Like, I always had, like, a lot of things happening, which should have been a red flag.
But either way, how it kind of started in this portion of my life is it did happen organically just because I had a group practice that served Medicare and Medicaid. And so, people were always like, "Oh, how do you bill insurance? How did you market to that population? How did you grow a group practice?"
So, that kind of started as people just reaching out to me. And then, other companies reaching out to me, saying, like, "Will you train for us on how to work with older adults and chronic illness?"
So, that kind of started happening that way. And then, I just found that I really enjoyed it. I was like, "This is really fun. I get paid more. I only have to do, like, an hour of work instead of, like, seeing, you know, five clients to make that same amount of money." So, I started building that. And as that grew, and after I sold my practice, and my mindset really shifted I was like, "Well, I could do a whole lot of other shit with this besides just that, why don't I start making an Etsy store and selling all these templates that I give to people? Why don't I start doing retreats because I talk about burnout and polyvagal theory, and that goes really nicely with that. And why don't I start doing speaking?" And so, all of these other things just started coming to me one by one.
MEGAN NEFF: I love that. Like, part of what I hear is, like, the filling of this space. My spouse will often say this to me of like, because we talk a lot about, like, my tendency to overcommit. And he's always like, "Well, here's the thing is, like, even if you take that project off you're going to just fill the space."
And so, I hear that with how you have filled the space. But it sounds like you filled the space with a lot of things that are really creative, and expansive, and life-giving for you.
You mentioned burnout retreat. I'm curious, did you experience burnout as part of your entrepreneur journey? Is that partly why you're interested in the topic?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yes, so I definitely experienced it, I think, multiple times, but I didn't really understand or lean into it until the part in 2021 where I sold my practice. And it's actually to me, like, very synchronicity that I met Patrick at a conference that we both went to in Maui.
And like it just feels like it's kind of come full circle because when I was on that trip, that was when I got the call to… somebody was interested in buying my practice. And, like, I don't know, I just think about our relationship, and how it's like changed over the past couple of years, and how close we've gotten recently as, like, so many things have changed.
But yes, to answer your question, I think the burnout that I felt when I sold my practice was so like, it was worse than burnout, and it was worse than depression. It was, like, so ingrained in me, and I didn't notice it until it was too late that I'm, like, finally, just getting on the other side of that now. And that was in 2021 and obviously, now, it's 2024.
And, okay, so I guess, like, the thing about that I had always heard about burnout was, even though I'm a social worker and we're in the mental health field, was like, "Oh, just self-care. And like, you know, get a massage. And don't see so many clients. And like, here's some lavender oil to put on your desk, and like, that will help everything."
PATRICK CASALE: You've got no idea how much lavender oil is all over this Airbnb.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: I was thinking about you when I just said that. And those are really nice things. But I needed to know the how, and the why, and the deeper. And nobody had really ever gotten there with me.
And so, once I started figuring that out, which, of course, this conversation has changed so much over the past couple of years, but that's what really saying to me I was like, "I need to understand myself a little bit better. I need to understand my nervous system better. I need to do things differently." And I know that even more now that I've been diagnosed with ADHD, that there are things that I personally need to do to work smarter, and better, and hopefully, not over-commit myself, which is something I also struggle with.
And so, that's kind of where the retreats came in because I was like, "That's a perfect place to teach people all of these things. And I love to travel and to share travel with people too."
PATRICK CASALE: You mentioned being diagnosed ADHD, that was later in life, I assume. So, when did that happen, and what was the build-up for that?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: That happened in 2022 and like a lot of therapists I had no training in ADHD. I didn't really know anything about it. So, to me, I just was like, "That's something that happens to other people. That's not a me thing, and I can support them, you know, from here. But like, that's not something that I really do a lot about."
And I think, I hate to say this, but like, TikTok totally helped a little bit because I started seeing videos from legit creators. And I was like, "Oh, I do that but I thought that was something that everybody did." I didn't know that there was, like, a unique neurodivergent experience.
And the two things that really pushed me were, one, I was doing a training for a friend, actually, and her very large Facebook community. And she kept asking me for this slide deck. And I was like, "Slide deck? It's not done yet." I was like, "I'll have it to you. Like, before the training starts I'll have it to you, but it's not done."
And she was like, "Wow, your procrastination is very ADHD of you." And I was like, "Oh, do ADHD people procrastinate?" I had no idea. Absolutely no idea that that was like a symptom of it. And that was the first tip-off.
And then, second, my really good friend Andrea, she was also a therapist who also has ADHD, the closer we got and the things that I would share with her, like, when I was struggling with things, or procrastinating, or a lot of, like, the shame and impostor syndrome stuff that was coming up for me, she was like, "You need to get tested because you are one of us. I'm just telling you as a friend, you're one of us."
So, those two things kind of pushed me. So, then I did. And I got diagnosed, yeah, in like September of 2022. So, really, not that long ago.
PATRICK CASALE: I'm doing this thing where I'm looking at Megan to see if she's going to unmute or if I'm unmuting. The beauty of, like, these three-way conversations that we have sometimes.
Yeah, so post 2022 you get diagnosed, you're like, "I'm ADHD." How does that impact you? How does that impact your business? How does that impact the lens and the perspective that you now view like, "I'm an entrepreneur, I have to juggle a lot." It sounds like, you know, the procrastination piece was a tip-off.
And Meg, I just want to diverge, actually, the TikTok comment got me because Megan and I have talked about that endlessly on here of like, "Y'all stop diagnosing yourself watching one 30-second TikTok, right?
But what you did is what we kind of suggest, is like that starts to, like, interest you, to open the door a little bit, and then pursue more information, and then pursue something else. So, just want to name that.
But, so since that time, as someone who said, like, "I'm a hustler, I'm an entrepreneur, I do a lot of things." But the executive functioning doesn't always support doing a lot of things, how do you manage that in order to have multiple streams of revenue, and income, and projects, and all of this stuff going on behind the scenes.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: It has been a lot of mindset shifts, partially. I also think just I, you know, know my body a lot, so by the time I start feeling stressed it's been happening for a while or overwhelmed. And so, I try to be very intentional, just about slowing down and noticing like, what is coming up for me right now. I re… what's the word? Like, the shoulds. I say should a lot, and I try not to. So, I had gotten really good every time I think or I say I should, "I should be doing this, I should be doing that" I really try and focus in and be like, "Should I? Or is that actually something that maybe is information I need to slow down. I need a break. I am tired, actually, so maybe I shouldn't send this one last email because I'm tired and I like, can barely form a sentence right now. So, maybe what I actually should be doing is sitting on the couch watching Bravo and disposing off my phone for a little bit to get my energy back up."
So, I'm very good or I've gotten better, I should say, about paying attention to the shoulds. I think, you know, talking about TikTok is Casey Davis really helped me with that too, about like, making accommodations for yourself. And you know, she talks about doing things like putting the vegetables in the door of the fridge so that you see them. Like, there is no law that the vegetables have to go in the crisper. Like, yeah, maybe they last longer there. But like, do what works for you. So, I do a lot of that.
I say no more often now, I delegate a ton. I have an online business manager. I have a couple of VAs. And I am also very lucky and privileged that I have a spouse who's very supportive and who gently redirects me sometimes when I get distracted and says, "Maybe you should finish doing this before you go over there and start doing that other thing."
And, yeah, he's very supportive. And he can tell when I'm overwhelmed before I can. He can hear it in my voice. So, he'll say a lot of things like, what do you need from me right now? How can I help you?
You know, for retreats, I'm not very, like, organized. So, I'm just like, "Whatever happens, happens. Like, let's just go with the flow." And Mike is like, "No, you need a schedule, an itinerary." And he's really good at that. So, that's, like, part of our system, is when we were just in Belize, we sat down with our coffee, and he did a whole timeline for me because I could not. My brain, I was like, "This is so overwhelming and like, too much. I'm totally shutting down." And so, he is able to pick that up. So, I'm very privileged and lucky in that respect, too."
MEGAN NEFF: I think it was, probably, a year ago in an episode we talked about, but I talked about that too, how like I feel like I should start listing that when I'm thinking about, like, my privilege experiences and identities is like having a spouse with incredible executive functioning who can see that kind of a voice of like, "Okay, let's slow down. Let's look at this. Let's, like, look at it sequentially, and step by step, and break it down." Like, that is so helpful. And it took me a while to realize, like, how much I'm able to be successful in my business, partly because I have that stabilizing force in my partner. So, that's interesting you brought that up as well.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yeah. And even in, like my online business manager is really good like that as well. And I find now that when I get things that really overwhelm me, I'm like, "I could also just send it to her and she can help break it down for me." Especially, with new tasks. Like, I just started a new project, working with somebody. And they put me into their full little system, which is called Basecamp. And I was like, "Oh, my God." Because there were like 20 things. I was like, "Can't do that. I don't know like, where do I click? What do I do?" So, she helped me with that too because I really struggle with new stuff.
MEGAN NEFF: So, that's so interesting. So, everyone that works for me is autistic ADHD or ADHD. And it's been really interesting because I also have folks who are so good at organizing and structure. Like, organization is my number one, like, executive functioning struggle. And I'm like, "How can my brain not do this, but your brain can?"
And one thing, one feedback that I've gotten is like, "Well, it's easier to organize someone else's brain than my brain." And I actually see that a lot among ADHDers. And I'm so curious, like, what are we tapping into when we're organizing someone else's chaos that it's easier than organizing our own. But yeah [CROSSTALK 00:17:05]-
PATRICK CASALE: I can.
MEGAN NEFF: …too.
PATRICK CASALE: I relate to that so much. Like, when I'm coaching and I take someone else's ideas, and I break them apart, and organize them, and structure them, and put tips, and strategies, and action steps, and make their idea feel less overwhelming or complicated to them, I can't do that for myself. I actually asked for that today with you, Gabrielle, when you sent me that reel that you want to do where I was like, "Please break this down step by step for me." Because if I see it all in one big message I'm like, "That's never going to happen I can't do that." And I immediately start to shut down from that.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Same.
MEGAN NEFF: Yeah. I think, for me, it's because, like, I know I don't have to do the follow through, so, like, I can break it down and be like, "Okay, you should do this, this, this, and this." Because it's like, I'm not doing the follow through. I can sequentially see it. But, yeah, it is really interesting.
PATRICK CASALE: That's so true. Gabrielle is-
MEGAN NEFF: So, we just all need, like, ADHD buddies, and then to do, like, body double and coaching flips where it's like, "Okay, we're going to organize my brain, then we'll organize your brain." Like, that's what all ADHDers should do.
PATRICK CASALE: I love a business model, an idea. I think that you should pursue that. Gabrielle, make that another stream of income with Megan, having some sort of ADHD buddy system where you could just filter through the directory and be like, "I need this person today for this task." This would be really helpful for me.
MEGAN NEFF: Oh my gosh, that would be amazing as a network. Wait, don't give us more business ideas.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: We can add that somewhere.
PATRICK CASALE: Things are naturally going to come out today. And today's episode was like, "What's one more thing that we can add to our lists of things that we have to do?"
Gabrielle, for a lot of ADHDers, Megan and I did a series on this, on RSD and rejection sensitive dysphoria. Do you experience that as an entrepreneur? And how do you experience that?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Oh, God, that's another thing that I wish I could have figured out a long time ago because I was, "Nobody's going to be surprised about this." Like, definitely one of those kids where people were like, "Gabrielle's very sensitive, and she cries at everything."
And I was. If somebody looked at me the wrong way when I was a child, I would, like, totally shut down and start crying. I could not handle any criticism at all. And it's kind of gotten a little bit better, but I do still experience that.
I remember, actually, last year, I spoke at a conference in Costa Rica. And I, of course, had to read all of the feedback. And every single, okay, 54 to 55 people gave me a five out of five, said amazing things. And then, one person gave me zero out of five. And she said, "Gabriel doesn't know what she's talking about. I have interns that are more professional than she is and know more than she does. And she's really cute. And I'd love to be friends with her. But she has no idea what she's saying."
And it was like a gut punch. And I cried about that. I still feel like I might cry talking about it because it really did wound me. And I think what I've learned about RSD is that it happens, and it comes up, and yes, I am very sensitive. It's part of who I am. And it is like a wound.
And instead of now, I do still spiral, but the spirals are a little shorter because I know where it's coming from. I understand the parts of me that feel wounded when I hear those things and why. The why is really important and the why is really what helps me, like, move through that.
And I know that a lot of times, like, actually, this just happened recently, too. I sent it to you, Patrick, these consulting clients of mine were not happy, and I definitely cried about that. And I didn't cry as much as I normally would because I was like, "This is just what I need to do. This hurt me, and it's okay that it hurt me. I'm not going to respond to this email right now because I cannot do it from a place of compassion. And I need to cry. I need to move through it. I need to feel a little bit bad about myself, and then I know once I get through that, I'm back to, Mike, my baseline of like, okay, I can think rationally now and know that it's not really about me."
MEGAN NEFF: I just love how you talk about walking through the emotions. I think that is so important. And so, both ADHDers and autistic people, we're more prone toward emotional avoidance, which is when we get into negative coping. And so, I really love how you just walk through like this is what it looks like to feel the thing, to feel the hurt, to walk myself through it until it's able to kind of be released from my body.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yeah, because that's so true. I have been an avoider for like my entire life. I would just suppress.
MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, me too.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: And I hate now that, like, I have really done some deep work on this the past, like, two years, really, and it's still uncomfortable. I'm like, I don't want to cry. I feel like a loser when I'm crying, I don't want to do that. That's like, weak. It's so much easier to just push this to the side. And so, I have really done a lot of shifts on how I talk to myself about that too, that, like, no, this is normal and you need to feel it because if you don't feel it, all the bad shit that happened before is just going to keep happening, and that's not you anymore.
MEGAN NEFF: And I would guess that that's been a big part of your burnout recovery is, like, shifting because, yeah, emotional avoidance is like, it stays in the system and it continues to be a strain on our nervous system. So, has that for you, like, changing your relationship to emotions from avoidance to acceptance moving through, has that been a part of your burnout recovery?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yes, absolutely. And I have a really amazing therapist who does more somatic work. And we've done some EMDR, but I will say the things that have really helped me with that is parts work and relating to my parts, and like, going on a little journey with them, paying attention to them. And that's probably been the most helpful thing.
And, of course, like nervous system regulation and just knowing, like, I just said, like, yeah, when I'm in that state, and I'm like, also, hurt but angry that somebody sent me that email I know this part is like not really my prefrontal cortex, for people who are listening, she's not around, so we need to wait until she's back online before I respond to emails.
MEGAN NEFF: I love that as a I've had something similar, like, "Okay, I need my prefrontal cortex for this. We're going to take a beat."
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yep.
PATRICK CASALE: I want to bring something else up that's coming up for me, just from knowing you as like yesterday we were talking about you guys coming to Asheville for the first time. And you immediately were like, "Please send all requests to my husband who handles and organizes all of our travel plans and ensures that all of them take place and actually happen."
So, that's another accommodation of, like, recognizing that's an area that you struggle with, but you are, again, privileged enough to have a partner who can handle some of that lifting. And I think that's super important to have that awareness, and recognize those things, and be able to delegate, and offset, and like offload tasks that really impact our executive functioning.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yep because he makes the spreadsheets, he's very organized. I also struggle with organization, clearly. And I mean, you know, I'm speaking at Patrick's summit in Italy, and we're staying for like, two and a half weeks after for vacation, and we're traveling around a lot. And that is a lot. And, yeah, he's got a spreadsheet going. He's got a checklist. He prints everything out and he puts it into a folder.
I mean, I have to, like, triple check things if I'm booking my own travel because I'll do it [INDISCERNIBLE 00:29:02] day or I'll forget something that I can't miss. And I yeah, like, it's hard for me. And he also knows that he needs to work backwards with time, so he has to figure out what time we're going to be there, and then he has to tell me what time I actually need to be ready by, and then he'll also usually add on an extra 30-minute buffer, just in case.
PATRICK CASALE: Sounds like I need Mike in my life. I mean, I'm very organized, but like someone to arrange all of that for me would be magical.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: It's amazing.
MEGAN NEFF: Well, I think that's like, I mean, I think that for ADHDers who own businesses, who are able to do it successfully, I think at some point being able to delegate out those tasks that are the most exhausting, and they might, like, appear like small tasks to other people, but being really strategic and delegating out those tasks that are just so hard for executive functioning. I feel like if we're thinking about ADHD entrepreneurship and burnout resistance, I feel like that's probably the number one thing that we need to do to be able to be sustainable in our work.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: And I think that is so hugely important and also difficult, because I hear, like, sometimes with people, and even for myself, there's like shame in that. Like, "Oh, I should be able to just do it myself." And like, "I am a business owner, so I should be doing all of the things."
And that was definitely something I had to undo because, especially, small things that should be easy, like, for my group practice, we don't need to get into all the details, but basically, there was a time, because of COVID I had to scan and also send clients a lot of stuff. And scanning, don't know why, I just have a block with that. If I have to scan something, it's going to take me, like, six months. Like, I don't know why. I think it's just because it's like a tedious office task and I don't want to do it, and there's multiple steps.
So, I remember, like, my staff would be like, "Did you scan and upload this and send it to this client? I asked you to do that, like, three weeks ago." And I was like, "No, I did not do that yet." So, that's just, you know, something small that I knew it's like, I just need to delegate that and have somebody else do it because I clearly can't handle it.
MEGAN NEFF: I appreciate how you brought up the shame piece, yeah, for sure, especially because there is a lot of those shoulds of like, this task should be easy. And sometimes it's says easy, but like, really, like, multiple steps, mundane tasks that are the hardest for us to do.
I also struggle with delegating because my mind feels so messy that it feels easier to just do it than to, like, figure out how to, like, take that little piece of my ecosystem. and be like, "Hey, can you run with this?" So, that's been the other issue I run into with delegation is just my mind is a very, very messy ecosystem.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: So is mine. And my business manager is really good at that because I would just like, kind of word vomit and be like, "This is something that stresses me out." And she would be like, "Oh, okay. So, what I hear is like, we need to change that and do this, this, and this. Or put in a process in place for this and automate this." And I'm like, "I never thought of it that way. I'm so glad that your brain works differently than mine."
MEGAN NEFF: And I just want to make a quick, like, because there's probably a lot of ADHDers who are not in a position where they're able to, like, delegate out. Like, I really think AI when used ethically can be such a powerful accommodation for neurodivergent brains. Like Goblin Tools, putting it into ChatGPT, and be like, "Here's my project. Help me break it down." Like, now with AI, there's so many tools, especially, with the breaking down. But Goblin Tools, I think, is probably one of the best AI resources around that so that if someone is a solopreneur and they're starting out, that's another way to get that feedback system of like, "Okay, here's what I need to do. Help me structure this, help me break it down."
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Absolutely and like, Goblin Tools is great. I use Claude, which is kind of like a ChatGPT thing. And-
PATRICK CASALE: Wait, is that what you were talking about before when you messaged me?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yes.
PATRICK CASALE: I thought it was a person. I was like, [CROSSTALK 00:33:23]-
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: [INDISCERNIBLE 00:33:24]-
PATRICK CASALE: …Claude.
MEGAN NEFF: Is Claude your new assistant?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: He's my Bill, he's my right-hand man after Mike, of course.
MEGAN NEFF: Mike and Claude, you've got your people.
PATRICK CASALE: I can't keep track because you have so many people involved in all of your things. You're like, "Oh, I have this person. Oh, this person does this thing." I thought Claude was a person, it's an AI tool?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Claude is an AI tool. And he, I don't know, I guess maybe he doesn't have a gender, but I'm calling him he does… It's like ChatGPT, but he doesn't have access to the internet, which is interesting. So, some things he can't do, but what I really like about Claude is that he's a little more human-sounding. And so, when I have him write things for me, I've had him write proposals, and contracts, and stuff for me, it's more professional. And it's not like ChatGPT where it's always like, you know, "Unlock the mystery to blah, blah, blah." Like, ChatGPT always does that.
MEGAN NEFF: ChatGPT, what would be the name for ChatGPT because ChatGPT is like a really boisterous, excitable Sally. I feel like ChatGPT is Sally.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yeah, I would agree with that. That sounds perfect.
PATRICK CASALE: I have to give ChatGPT like prompts. Like, I do not want business bro energy in this email. And like, please refine this, please remove this, please stop saying, like, "Let's crush today's adventures." Like, I don't want any of that.
MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, ChatGPT is really receptive to feedback, which that's a good, like, when you're looking for an employee, you want someone who's receptive to feedback, and Sally is very receptive to feedback.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: That's true. And sometimes I'm not so nice. I'm like, "This sucks, rewrite it."
PATRICK CASALE: So, we've definitely created the understanding that if you're a solopreneur finances are tight, AI is a great way to go. There's lots of tools, there's lots of strategies, there's lots of ways to support yourself.
Looking at time, so we stay on track because we have 10 minutes, and I want to know about your million ideas that you actually have put into place that are generating revenue. So, rapid-fire, whatever comes up for you that you've created, I don't want to deep dive it. What you got?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Etsy, writing, online courses, consulting, coaching, speaking, training, brand partnerships, affiliate marketing, content creation. I think that's the main ones.
PATRICK CASALE: You didn't even list retreats.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Oh, yeah, retreats.
MEGAN NEFF: That's a lot. That's a lot of-
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Sound healing. That's another thing that I do that brings me money.
PATRICK CASALE: Zumba.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Zumba. That's really more of like, I mean, it does pay, but it's like a joyful thing, but it counts. It is money.
PATRICK CASALE: How many ideas do you have that have not been put into the world that have felt like really good ideas at the time that no longer exist.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Oh God, so many. So many are that, like, I tried and I failed or just didn't have the bandwidth. And you know, my really good friend who also is like, kind of my business coach, who her whole family is ADHD except for her. And she's like, I am the chief executive functioning officer in my family. And that's also what she helps me with too sometimes. And she's like, "I know that this is part of, like, your brilliance, but you also need to focus. If you don't focus, nothing is going to grow."
So, she helps keep me on track now if I do have new ideas, but I used to have a Google Doc. Now I just have a Trello thing, like a Trello board. And anytime I have an idea I, like, just dump it in there, and then I go back to it sometimes. And I'm like, "Is this something I can do right now? Is it related to what I'm already doing? Does it bring me joy?" And then, I take it from there.
And I also think about my time because my time is very valuable to me, and I'm not going to do something that takes me hours and hours and hours of work, like where I have to be back to back or with somebody for multiple hours, if I could use that time to work on something else that is more, nothing is passive, but you know what I mean.
MEGAN NEFF: Yep, yep. I like your Trello idea. I mean, so a lot of ADHDers we struggle with impulsive shopping. So, you know, the trick of, like, put it in the cart, come back to it 24 hours, do you still want it?
Like, I love that idea of doing that but with business ideas. Like, put it in the cart, the Trello board, or whatever system you use, and then come back to it. It's like, does it still excite you? Do you still have energy for it? Are you, like, going to pull it into your active list?
I've got, like, a pull list, so it's everything I want to do, and then I have two, sometimes three projects I'm focusing on at a given time, like, typically, in a month frame. And then, it's like, okay, do I want to pull you up? Do I still have interest for you? Or are you going to just stay on my pull list forever? But yeah, it's like a shopping cart for ADHD business people.
PATRICK CASALE: So, great ideas. My wife is ADHD, and does the shopping cart idea very often, where she puts something in an Amazon cart, for example, to come back to 24 hours later. Here's the problem, I need everything to be gone. I can't tell you how many times I have gone in to buy something for myself, saw her cart item, and just hit Buy All because I need it to be gone. What I should do is hit the button that says Save for Later. I can't do it. I just have to hit it and get it over with.
So, lessons learned in that [INDISCERNIBLE 00:39:35] she's always like, "Did you buy this thing that I didn't really want?" And I'm like, "Yeah, can you send it back?"
MEGAN NEFF: [INDISCERNIBLE 00:39:42] two separate accounts.
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Yeah.
PATRICK CASALE: Okay.
MEGAN NEFF: To your accommodation.
PATRICK CASALE: Gabrielle, thanks for coming on and sharing all this information and just a little bit of insight into who you are, what it's like to be an ADHD entrepreneur, some of the accommodations that you've put in place and the lessons you've learned along the way.
With that being said, what do you have going on that you want to share with our audience and with whoever's listening that we're also going to link in the show notes?
GABRIELE JULIANO-VILLANI: Well, the thing that I'm most excited about is our little retreat in January. And so, Patrick and I are hosting a neurodivergent-focused retreat in Belize. And it's going to be amazing. We have lots of fun things planned, so I'm very excited about that.
And then, other than that, you know, if people need coaching, or consulting, or even sound healing, or intuitive readings, or help with Medicare, I'm very easy to find, gabriellejulianovillani.com.
PATRICK CASALE: Perfect and all that information will be in the show notes, as well as the links and information to contact Gabrielle directly. If you do want to come on the retreat to Belize, there's still spots available. Make sure to reach out to me or check out the website allthingspractice.com.
Megan, do you have anything before we close it out?
MEGAN NEFF: I hate to do that. If I add anything, I just make it awkward.
PATRICK CASALE: That's the whole point, then people enjoy the awkwardness. Also, I'm like-
MEGAN NEFF: You just do it to, like, tease me at this point.
PATRICK CASALE: No, I'm like, I'm promoting something. Do you have anything you want to share with the world? I don't know.
MEGAN NEFF: Nah.
PATRICK CASALE: Nah. Okay. Thanks for listening to Divergent Conversations. New episodes are out on Fridays on all major podcast platforms and YouTube. We'll see you next week.
