The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur

Living and working with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), along with comorbid conditions like Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), means navigating a world that isn’t built for bendy bodies. In this episode, Patrick Casale reflects on his journey from college athlete to entrepreneur with mobility aids, and the realization of how much internalized ableism he's had to unpack—and how critical it is to reshape our understanding of disability in business and life.
A key theme that emerged is the interconnectedness of neurodivergence, chronic illness, and entrepreneurship. Patrick shares not just the physical challenges, but also the societal barriers and systemic gaps in care that affect so many—often leaving individuals to educate their own providers, advocate for their needs, and fight daily just to function, let alone thrive.
3 key takeaways:
Invisible disabilities are real: Many of us lean, brace, or move in ways that are misunderstood as unprofessional or disengaged. In reality, these are survival strategies for managing fatigue, pain, and proprioceptive challenges.
Internalized ableism needs deconstruction: Embracing mobility aids and supports can be emotionally difficult, but reframing them as tools for empowerment—not weakness—makes room for resilience and self-compassion.
Interconnected care is essential: Traditional healthcare silos rarely see the full picture. We need holistic support that bridges neurodivergence, chronic illness, and business realities.

To anyone navigating these parallel roads: you’re not alone, and honoring your body’s needs is not just valid—it’s essential.
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🎙️Listen to more episodes of the Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Podcast
🎙️Spotify: https://ndpod.org/Spotify
🎙️Apple: https://ndpod.org/Apple-Podcast
🎙️ YouTube: https://ndpod.org/YouTube
🧠 Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Freebie Vault: https://ndpod.org/Freebie-Vault
✈️ Learn about Retreats
🗨️ Join the free Empowered Escape FB Community
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Thanks to Our Sponsors: The Receptionist for iPad!
✨ The Receptionist for iPad
Thanks to The Receptionist for iPad for sponsoring this episode.
The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.
Free Gifts for Our Listeners
✨ Free Podcasting Workbook
Get a practical podcasting workbook for therapists considering starting a podcast, created by Patrick Casale, host of the podcasts All Things Private Practice and Divergent Conversations.
You'll get a practical structure for therapists who want to start a podcast but don’t want to rush, perform, or build something they can’t sustain.
Grab your free copy of the Podcasting Workbook: https://ndpod.org/Free-Podcasting-Workbook
✨ Move Beyond Private Practice As A Neurodivergent Entrepreneur
Move Beyond Private Practice As A Neurodivergent Entrepreneur is a FREE 5-part mini-course designed for therapists who want sustainable financial independence beyond one-on-one work.
Access your free mini-course here: https://ndpod.org/Neurodivergent-Entrepreneur
Mentioned in this episode:
The Receptionist for iPad
 The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to https://thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.

In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Alexandra (Alex) Wildeson, online content creator and host of the "Calling in Sick" podcast, about the realities of living with invisible and chronic health conditions, from gaslighting in the medical system to redefining success outside of capitalism's narrow achievement lens.
Here are 3 key takeaways:
Community is Essential: Connecting with others who understand your experience is a game-changer in battling loneliness and advocating for yourself.
Redefine Success and Identity: Chronic illness often forces a personal reckoning with what truly matters. Prioritizing health, authenticity, and relationships can bring unexpected fulfillment, even after loss or drastic change.
Be Your Own Advocate: The healthcare system isn’t built for complexity, and preparing for appointments with goals, resources, and support can make a critical difference in outcomes.

More about Alex:
Alexandra (Alex) Wildeson is a content creator and host of Calling in Sick, a podcast on the Just Media Network that centers honest, nuanced conversations around chronic illness, women’s health, and modern wellness.
Drawing from her lived experience navigating multiple autoimmune and chronic conditions — including Polyarteritis Nodosa (PAN) Vasculitis, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease/Lupus, Endometriosis, Small Fiber Neuropathy, and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome — Alex blends storytelling, education, and lifestyle content to build community, challenge misconceptions, and expand how we define health, identity, and productivity.
Before pivoting into media and advocacy, Alex built her career in finance and capital allocation, working across investment banking, private equity, and venture capital, including roles at large institutional platforms. She continues this work today as a Venture Partner at HotStart, an early-stage venture fund focused on celebrity-founded brands.
Following a major spinal injury in 2023, Alex shifted her focus toward advocacy, content creation, and podcasting. Through Calling in Sick and her broader lifestyle platform, she explores what it means to build a meaningful, sustainable life while living with chronic illness — blending lived experience, practical tools, and healing modalities. She is also currently preparing to launch a digital platform aimed at expanding access to education, tools, and community for chronically ill individuals.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandrawildeson & https://www.instagram.com/callinginsickpod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallingInSickPodcast

–––––––––––––––––––––
🎙️Listen to more episodes of the Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Podcast
🎙️Spotify: https://ndpod.org/Spotify
🎙️Apple: https://ndpod.org/Apple-Podcast
🎙️ YouTube: https://ndpod.org/YouTube
🧠 Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Freebie Vault: https://ndpod.org/Freebie-Vault
✈️ Learn about Retreats
🗨️ Join the free Empowered Escape FB Community
–––––––––––––––––––––
Thanks to Our Sponsors: The Receptionist for iPad!
✨ The Receptionist for iPad
Thanks to The Receptionist for iPad for sponsoring this episode.
The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.
Free Gifts for Our Listeners
✨ Free Podcasting Workbook
Get a practical podcasting workbook for therapists considering starting a podcast, created by Patrick Casale, host of the podcasts All Things Private Practice and Divergent Conversations.
You'll get a practical structure for therapists who want to start a podcast but don’t want to rush, perform, or build something they can’t sustain.
Grab your free copy of the Podcasting Workbook: https://ndpod.org/Free-Podcasting-Workbook
✨ Move Beyond Private Practice As A Neurodivergent Entrepreneur
Move Beyond Private Practice As A Neurodivergent Entrepreneur is a FREE 5-part mini-course designed for therapists who want sustainable financial independence beyond one-on-one work.
Access your free mini-course here: https://ndpod.org/Neurodivergent-Entrepreneur
Mentioned in this episode:
The Receptionist for iPad
 The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to https://thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.

In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Dr. Emma Offord, a UK-based clinical psychologist and founder of Divergent Life, about the landscape of autism and ADHD assessment, both in the U.K. and U.S., and the urgent need to move past deficit-based models to truly affirming, accessible care.
3 Key Takeaways:
Systemic barriers to diagnosis are everywhere: Whether it’s a years-long wait for a free assessment in the U.K. or gatekeeping and prohibitive insurance premiums in the U.S., neurodivergent individuals face enormous hurdles in accessing meaningful support. The current system often invalidates lived experience and leaves people without essential accommodations.
Language matters—and can harm: The use of terms like “trend” or “epidemic” to describe rising awareness of autism and ADHD is not just inaccurate; it’s deeply invalidating. This deficit-driven, medicalized language reinforces stigma and undermines the legitimacy of neurodivergent identities, contributing to trauma and exclusion.
Lived experience is a key form of expertise: Social media and community voices are finally creating space for marginalized, diverse neurodivergent experiences—well beyond the narrow medical model. Supporting individuals to find agency and safety, inside or outside the system, makes a lasting difference.

We need voices, courage, and systemic change to build a world where neurodivergence is understood and embraced.
More about Emma:
Dr. Emma Offord is a U.K.-based clinical psychologist, speaker, and founder of Divergent Life, a neuroaffirming psychology practice working across the U.K. She specialises in autism and ADHD assessments, therapy, and consultation for late-identified adults, children, and families, with a particular focus on high-masking profiles, burnout, and systems-based trauma.
Emma’s work moves beyond deficit-based and medicalised models, supporting people to understand their nervous systems, histories, and strengths in context. Her approach integrates neurodivergence-affirming practice, developmental trauma frameworks, and deep respect for lived experience, including her own late-identified neurodivergence and parenting while neurodivergent.
She is the host of This Voice Is Mine: The Unquiet Podcast, where she explores identity, voice, safety, and what it means to build lives and practices that genuinely fit. Emma also delivers training and mentorship for psychologists and therapists seeking to build ethical, sustainable, neuroaffirming private practices.
You can find her on Instagram at @divergentlives, and learn more about her work, group programmes at www.divergentlife.co.uk
Instagram Accounts: @divergentlives and @thiesvoiceisminepodcast
Website: www.divergentlife.co.uk

–––––––––––––––––––––
🎙️Listen to more episodes of the Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Podcast
🎙️Spotify: https://ndpod.org/Spotify
🎙️Apple: https://ndpod.org/Apple-Podcast
🎙️ YouTube: https://ndpod.org/YouTube
🧠 Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Freebie Vault: https://ndpod.org/Freebie-Vault
✈️ Learn about Retreats
🗨️ Join the free Empowered Escape FB Community
–––––––––––––––––––––
Thanks to Our Sponsors: The Receptionist for iPad!
✨ The Receptionist for iPad
Thanks to The Receptionist for iPad for sponsoring this episode.
The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.
Free Gifts for Our Listeners
✨ Free Podcasting Workbook
Get a practical podcasting workbook for therapists considering starting a podcast, created by Patrick Casale, host of the podcasts All Things Private Practice and Divergent Conversations.
You'll get a practical structure for therapists who want to start a podcast but don’t want to rush, perform, or build something they can’t sustain.
Grab your free copy of the Podcasting Workbook: https://ndpod.org/Free-Podcasting-Workbook
✨ Move Beyond Private Practice As A Neurodivergent Entrepreneur
Move Beyond Private Practice As A Neurodivergent Entrepreneur is a FREE 5-part mini-course designed for therapists who want sustainable financial independence beyond one-on-one work.
Access your free mini-course here: https://ndpod.org/Neurodivergent-Entrepreneur
Mentioned in this episode:
The Receptionist for iPad
 The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to https://thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.

Navigating business ownership as a neurodivergent entrepreneur can be both challenging and empowering, offering independence and autonomy in work life while also requiring constant self-assessment of needs and capacity. In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Natalia Rivera, a trauma-informed therapist specializing in high-masking Autistic adults, about how late-in-life neurodivergence discovery impacts entrepreneurship and the importance of honoring authentic capacity.
Here are 3 key takeaways:
Capacity isn't fixed: Burnout plays a role in how our energy and cognitive capacity change over time, and it's critical to continually assess and honor those limits as we grow professionally.
Rest is a critical business strategy: Building in downtime, taking restorative breaks, and pausing to reflect are essential, not only for wellbeing but also to create and produce meaningful work sustainably.
Embrace adaptation and outsourcing: Entrepreneurship allows for adaptability. This can look like slowing down, delegating tasks, and shifting business models to align with evolving needs and spiky neurodivergent profiles.

More about Natalia:
Natalia Rivera is a neurodivergent, trauma-informed therapist and clinical psychology intern who specializes in working with high-masking autistic adults. She is EMDR-trained and passionate about helping clients unlearn survival-based identities and reconnect with their authentic selves.
Her doctoral research explores the identity development of high-masking autistic women, and her background as a former English educator informs her love of storytelling, depth, and meaning-making in the therapeutic process. Natalia believes healing is holistic—integrating mind, body, and spirit—and that faith can be a powerful component of psychological growth. She enjoys nature, literature, and time with the people and animals she loves.
Instagram: https://instagram.com/awakentherapysf
Website: https://awakentherapy.org

–––––––––––––––––––––
🎙️Listen to more episodes of the Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Podcast
🎙️Spotify: https://ndpod.org/Spotify
🎙️Apple: https://ndpod.org/Apple-Podcast
🎙️ YouTube: https://ndpod.org/YouTube
🧠 Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Freebie Vault: https://ndpod.org/Freebie-Vault
✈️ Learn about Retreats
🗨️ Join the free Empowered Escape FB Community
–––––––––––––––––––––
Thanks to Our Sponsors: The Receptionist for iPad!
✨ The Receptionist for iPad
Thanks to The Receptionist for iPad for sponsoring this episode.
The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.
Free Gifts for Our Listeners
✨ Free Podcasting Workbook
Get a practical podcasting workbook for therapists considering starting a podcast, created by Patrick Casale, host of the podcasts All Things Private Practice and Divergent Conversations.
You'll get a practical structure for therapists who want to start a podcast but don’t want to rush, perform, or build something they can’t sustain.
Grab your free copy of the Podcasting Workbook: https://ndpod.org/Free-Podcasting-Workbook
✨ Move Beyond Private Practice As A Neurodivergent Entrepreneur
Move Beyond Private Practice As A Neurodivergent Entrepreneur is a FREE 5-part mini-course designed for therapists who want sustainable financial independence beyond one-on-one work.
Access your free mini-course here: https://ndpod.org/Neurodivergent-Entrepreneur
Mentioned in this episode:
The Receptionist for iPad
 The Receptionist for iPad is a HIPAA-ready digital check-in system that eliminates the need to walk back and forth from your office to the waiting room to see if your next appointment has arrived. Clients or patients can check in for their appointments, and you'll be immediately notified by text, email, or your preferred channel. Break free from interruptions and make the most of your time, because it is valuable. Start a free 14-day trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to https://thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link to get your first month free if you decide to sign up.

I've been sitting with this for a while, and honestly? It's been unfolding naturally, in real time, for longer than I've cared to admit.
If you've been listening to All Things Private Practice over the past year or two, you may have noticed something shifting. The conversations were changing. I wasn't just talking to therapists about starting group practices or building caseloads anymore — I was sitting across from neurodivergent entrepreneurs, late-diagnosed creatives, people building businesses that looked nothing like the traditional path. And in those conversations, I have felt the most alive.
So, I'm making it official.
All Things Private Practice Podcast is becoming The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Podcast.
This isn't a pivot away from what the show has always stood for — it's a full step into what it's been slowly becoming. I'm not leaving behind the mental health professionals and private practice owners who've been here since the beginning. You're still very much part of this. But I'm widening the path.
Neurodivergent entrepreneurs in tech, the arts, education, finance, trades, creative fields — if you're building something on a brain that doesn't fit the standard mold, this show is for you now too.
Same raw, unfiltered conversations. Same refusal to make it prettier than it is. Just a bigger table. Think the table in Game of Thrones, or the map of Middle Earth. With different worlds, ideas, and very different points of view.
A few things to know:
• New name, same feed — no need to resubscribe
• Episodes will now drop on Wednesdays (previously Saturdays) on all major platforms and YouTube
• The first episode under the new name drops Wednesday — and it sets the tone for exactly where we're headed
I've built this show with 1.5 million downloads worth of trust, and I don't take that lightly. This rebrand is about honoring that trust by being more honest about what this work has always really been about.
Building something real. On your own terms. Unmasked and Unfiltered.
Doubt Yourself. Do It Anyway.