ADHD Founders Connect has helped give a voice to its community made up of professions from photographers to doctors and sales coaches
20:11, 30 Mar 2026
Amanda Patterson and Becca Brighty (Image: Georgia Cuthbertson)
Two women with ADHD are using their unique talents to help give power to their community, challenging stereotypes on the disorder and business. In Wallsend Town Hall Chambers, I met up with Amanda Patterson, tattoo artist and co-founder of the North East Nipple Project, and Becca Brighty, founder of ADHD Impact, a business psychologist whose programme is specialised neurodiversity consultancy for businesses.
With her degree in business psychology, Becca knows the ins and outs on how to make a business successful but as a neurodivergent person, she found herself struggling until her diagnosis in May 2022. At that point, with the understanding of how her brain worked and her business knowledge, everything started to make sense and she wanted to share this newfound confidence and knowledge with others like her.
Becca created ADHD Impact and ADHD Founders Connect to create a safe space for entrepreneurs who are neurodivergent to embrace their potential and connect with others. She said: “Originally it was a networking event where I would teach people about ADHD but then after 18 months of doing that the feedback I was getting from people was this is life-changing.”
The group now meet once a month on a Tuesday and learn about a business topic such as networking, marketing or public speaking from either Becca herself or other experts, with Becca then providing an ADHD lens on how neurodivergent members can approach tasks that may initially seem difficult. She said: “One of the key things to being successful in business is having a good network. One of the things ADHD people find very difficult is going into a room with people that you don’t know and just having a conversation, usually small talk that you find really painful.”
ADHD Founders Connect has helped eliminate that problem for members like Amanda Patterson, who use the service. Finding the networking event on Eventbrite, she said: “I knew I had to start networking. So I knew I kind of had to put myself out there. I was at quite a crossroads within my business because I had just been diagnosed and had only just realised that potentially where I was wasn’t where I wanted to be.”
The stigma that ADHD will hold people back, is something that Becca is determined to erase. To do this she is sharing with members her knowledge on how neurodivergent brains work, so that members can work with their brains not fight them leading to success.
She said: “The purpose of all my work is to teach people this is how your brain works. If you have ADHD, you’ve pretty much had to develop a coping mechanism, so you have all these adults who are just living their lives relying on coping mechanisms the whole time, instead of relying on their brains because they don’t really know how to use them in a world that’s not designed for them.” Some of these obstacles include things such as executive function challenges, which can cause difficulties planning, focusing, remembering instructions and multitasking, and spiky profiles. This can mean that while a person may be very good at one thing like drawing they could be equally as bad at another like science.
For some not knowing or having a language for ADHD is part of the main issue. Sales coach, John Paul Addison, said: “I’d heard of ADHD but I didn’t really get how much it shaped how I operate day-to-day. I took a lot of stuff personally. I also found business harder than it needed to be because I kept trying to force myself into a way of working that didn’t fit. Becca helped me understand ADHD properly. Not as a label, as an explanation and once you’ve got that, you stop beating yourself up and you start making better choices.”
Throughout our times at school we are encouraged to work harder on areas we struggle in, which for neurodivergent people can be a real challenge and lead to a negative impact on confidence. Many often suffer from ingrained stigma from school being labelled as lazy and disorganised. Becca said: “ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, they have what’s called a spiky profile, which means that you’ll have strengths that might be plus 80, but you’ll also have weaknesses that are minus 80. But because you’re an adult you can just choose not to do that, especially if you’re an entrepreneur. Work toward your potential. Enjoy it.”
This advice was beneficial to Amanda, during her crossroads in her business. Amanda said: “Playing to those strengths can massively aid your business. If you don’t understand your strengths, then sometimes you’re working on things you’re not good at or you’re putting yourself down a lot which in hindsight is hindering you.”
She said: “I would never have done this had I not understood that I’m playing to my strengths, I would have been like they’re just drawings. It’s easy to say it’s your hobby, you can’t make money from a hobby.” But members like Amanda are proving this way of thinking is wrong and in turn is opening up our region to some incredible talent that may otherwise have been lost.
From photographers to doctors to sales coaches, the community that Becca has embraced and given voice to is as unique as its individuals and it is the community that makes those at ADHD Founders Connect so special. Member David Wood, a photographer, said: “My favourite things are community, the ability to share similar life or work experiences within a warm, understanding and supportive environment, and knowledge the ability to discuss new and diverse strategies and coping mechanisms that assist the way my brain works and that allows me to run my business and manage myself better personally and professionally.”
Amanda echoed that feeling of community being a major help for her. She said: “I just feel like being around business people with ADHD is just completely different, learning from each other as well.” Dr Richard Harkness is an ADHD Coach who has been with the group since its beginning and said about Becca and the group: “Her in person ADHD business group is a highlight of the month for me. She has managed to gather a lovely group of warm, kind like-minded ADHDers who genuinely care and want to support each other and see each other grow.”
One way ideas get shared in meetings is the hotseat, where a different member each month offers to discuss a problem or challenge they are facing. For 20 minutes members will ask questions and offer suggestions in a relaxed atmosphere allowing different business heads to come together and work out challenges.
The result of which is the person taking what suggestions work best for them and using them to overcome challenges and improve their services. But it’s not just members that benefit. Becca said: “I’ve seen it in action. It’s really something to witness because ADHD people have very creative brains. The results have been amazing, people doubling their pricing, changing their niche and defining their mission.”
The sessions are at Quorum Business Park and are held on the first Tuesday of every month. Membership offers monthly workshops to support their business, particularly those with neurodivergent traits as well as a warm and welcoming community.
Becca said: “This is a community for people to finally feel safe because a lot of the time I didn’t ever feel like I belonged in the working world. And then I became an entrepreneur and I said I don’t belong here. It is the first time I felt like I had a community where I belonged.” For others wanting to join ADHD Founders Connect they can try a taster session with the next meet up on April 7.
