The ADHD Skills Lab

Carlos Gutierrez spent 25 years rising from sales representative to CEO of Kellogg, then served as U.S. Commerce Secretary. He did it all without knowing he had ADHD.
When he was diagnosed later in life, Carlos began looking back at his career differently. The disorganization, procrastination and impulsivity he had treated as personal flaws finally had a name. So did some of the traits that helped him succeed, including intense hyperfocus, intuition and an ability to connect with people.
In this conversation, Carlos and Skye unpack the role ADHD played at the highest levels of his career, from the projects he could not stop thinking about to the support that helped him perform at his best. They also talk honestly about the cost of that drive, particularly the work that followed him home and the family time he lost along the way.
It is a fascinating look at what ADHD can actually look like at the top, and what Carlos understands about himself now that he wishes he had known earlier.
What We Cover
Why Carlos saw his ADHD traits as personal flaws for decades
How hyperfocus became one of his biggest career advantages
Why the right support and structure changed how he performed
The impact his intense focus on work had on his family life
How ADHD shaped his intuition, empathy and leadership style
What changed when Carlos finally learned he had ADHD
About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

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Waking up exhausted after eight hours of sleep isn't just bad luck. In this Research Recap, Skye and Will break down a meta-analysis on hay fever and ADHD, including the finding that people with allergies are significantly more likely to also meet the criteria for ADHD. They talk through how swollen sinuses can disrupt sleep, how that can show up as brain fog and forgetfulness, and why the researchers still can't say which condition comes first. Want more of Will's work? Visit HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe on YouTube.
What We Cover:
The 1.83x risk finding from 18 studies covering 4.2 million people
Why poor sleep from allergies can look a lot like ADHD symptoms
The inflammation theory behind the connection
Why correlation isn't causation, and why the finding still matters
What researchers still don't know about the ADHD–allergy link
Want more of Will's work? Visit HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe on YouTube.
About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You hit a growth ceiling and your first instinct is to change what you're doing, not fix how you're doing it.
Matt Verlaque has coached founders past a million in revenue and sees the same pattern over and over: something works, the novelty wears off, growth stalls, and suddenly a new marketing channel, AI tool, or strategy looks like the answer.
Matt and Skye unpack the “pivot chaser” trap, how to tell when a strategy is genuinely broken versus when you've simply gotten bored of executing it. They also dig into AI mania, the dopamine hit of learning and building new things, and why constantly chasing the next skill can quietly keep you from scaling.
Because as Matt puts it: “Beginners don't scale companies.”
What We Cover
How to tell whether you have a strategy problem or an execution problem
Why ADHD founders abandon the thing that was actually driving their growth
Why skill acquisition feels productive even when it stalls your company
The difference between “can I build this?” and “should I build this?”
Why constantly chasing novelty keeps you a beginner
Connect With Matt Verlaque
https://mattverlaque.com/
Instagram: @mattverlaque
About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Tom Reber built successful businesses while privately believing he wasn't smart enough to fight for his own ideas. That belief followed him from childhood special ed into business ownership, where he went bankrupt once and later sold another business for far less than he believed it was worth.
Tom, founder of The Contractor Fight and a former Marine, explains where that belief came from, how it affected the decisions he made, and what changed when he finally stopped confusing not knowing something with being stupid.
What We Cover:
Why Tom stopped fighting for decisions he knew were right
How childhood special ed shaped his self-image for decades
The conversation with his mom that changed how he understood his past
The bankruptcy and business buyout he connects to that belief
How he learned to trust his own judgment again
Why he now sees his ADHD focus as an advantage
What "strong you, strong home, strong business" means in practice
Connect With Tom Reber
https://thecontractorfight.com/
https://www.instagram.com/fightwithtom/?hl=en
About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You spent real money on a system nobody uses.
Skye and Robert Waterson see this problem regularly working as fractional COOs with ADHD business owners. The owner gets excited about a new system, the team agrees to the change, and a few weeks later everyone quietly slips back into the old way of doing things.
The problem usually isn’t the software. It’s how the change was handled.
In this episode, Skye and Robert break down the six phases they use to move a team onto better systems without losing people halfway through. It starts with getting genuine buy-in before anything gets built, then prototyping the process, slowing down the rollout, and documenting it once it actually works.
What We Cover:
Why telling your team to “just use it” creates quiet noncompliance
Why previous failed software changes make teams reluctant to try again
Getting real buy-in before building the new system
Why a rough prototype can beat an expensive polished platform
How ADHD founders can move faster than their team can realistically follow
Knowing when to stop adding features and let the new process settle
Why documentation matters once the system is actually working
If you run a business with ADHD and keep finding yourself at the centre of the systems, decisions, and implementation, this one will probably feel familiar.
About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/