___
Introduction to the Play Big Queen Podcast...
Welcome to the Play Big Queen podcast.
This is for the woman ready to lead with power, move with confidence, and own your Play Big self.
For my newly minted or late blooming, neurospicy visionary babes who are waking up to your power and unmasking your brilliance.
For the sovereign leader building success on your own terms.
I am your host, Kate Bailey.
I am the Play Big Queen.
My name is my title and a command for all women, Play Big Queen.
I invite you to claim this title for yourself and coronate your Play Big Self too, so it can serve you.
This is a space for bold embodiment, radical reclamation, unapologetic leadership, and a business that works with your wiring, not against it.
Your voice is meant to be bold and heard and your brilliance is here to be claimed.
You are already powerful.
I am in service of everyone fucking tired of the people pleasing grind.
We go deep, we get real, and we play big.
It's a new era for women on the Play Big path.
Long may we reign.
___
Hello and welcome back to the Play Big Queen podcast.
This episode is deeply informed, scientifically grounded, compassionate, accessible, and designed to be a resource that informs and wakes up women to the inner workings of and relationship between ADHD, hormones, fertility, and the truth about perimenopause. While sharing...
very important information in the context of my own journey with all of these things. this episode is so worth listening until the end and it is meant to be shared. So share it with a woman who might need it. And it's important to mention that while my lived experience is through the lens of a cis hetero woman, it's important that you know that when I say women in this episode,
I also mean every person experiencing hormonal shifts, including trans women and non-binary folks on estrogen therapy. You deserve to be seen, supported, and cared for through these transitions too. Hormones shape our emotional and physical worlds, and everyone deserves access to informed and gender-affirming care. Inclusion is so very important to me in my core values, and you cannot have women's empowerment unless you include all women.
So if you identify as a woman, you are included here and your lived experience is part of our collective fabric of womanhood. So with that, let's get into today's episode. It's November and last week I did a very timely episode on being neurodivergent while voting and on disability rights. I felt like that episode needed to get out right at that time. It was like,
a message for the moment and I wanted to release it while people were heading to the polls. But the truth is, during that entire episode, my inner world was in deep turmoil. I was exhausted. I was still processing some major things about health and life and I was navigating chronic pain and a lot of grief and misinformation around my body.
I was deep in hyper-focused research mode trying to figure out what was happening with my health. I had so many assignments and tests that were hanging over my head for school. I did not want to record last week's episode, but I also didn't want how I was feeling to dictate how I show up. I kept telling myself, show up anyway, do the thing anyway, trust that what I have to share is important.
And while it's vital to honor your body, it's also about evaluating the trade-offs. Whether you're living with a chronic illness, a temporary disability, an invisible disability, a long-term condition, deciding how much you let it take from you and the work that you're meant to do in this world is a part of that journey. And so I decided that I wasn't going to let what I was going through.
come in the way of the episode that I wanted to create last week and so I recorded. But behind that episode, my body was breaking down in quiet, in invisible ways. And for years, I had been struggling with episodes of brain fog. I felt really disconnected from my body, which is a part of why embodiment work has become such a cornerstone in my life's work. My energy was tanking.
I couldn't sleep because I constantly felt this wired but tired buzz that kept me from dropping into restoration mode. My nails had stopped growing over the years. My weight started creeping up no matter what I did. And the fatigue that I was experiencing was just relentless. And like, I started getting waves of depression.
rolling in with so much overwhelm for how much I just couldn't keep up with all of a sudden. And then things started to get worse after I got a major virus in August. It was like I got this virus and it triggered a massive hormonal shift that led to a reactivation of perioral dermatitis. So I got a big rash on my face again. And then there was this amplification.
of every symptom that I had been low level grappling with for years, my body started screaming at me to not work out, which for me is huge because movement and often like intense workouts is how I regulate. It's how I process emotions. It's how I manage ADHD. It's how I burn off my anxiety and kind of like reset my nervous system so I can think clearly.
But every time I tried to move, I would get injured. I would pull a muscle. I would easily get a big bruise or I would like tweak something that would make me walk funny. And then I would need weeks to recover. Like I immediately started feeling so fragile and my body just kept saying no. And honestly, that no felt so devastating because exercise has always been my access point to my sanity.
Eventually, I went through a barrage of tests. I'm still waiting on my MTHFR results. And yes, we lovingly call it the motherfucker test because that gene influences how the body processes folate and B vitamins, which in turn affects methylation, detoxification and neurotransmitter production. But to be clear,
MTHFR testing isn't routinely recommended by like the CDC or most medical associations because most variants don't cause clinical problems when your diet or supplements provide enough folate. But I think like still genetic testing can be very
deeply insightful. And even if a result doesn't change your treatment directly, it can give you context for how your body might be processing nutrients, hormones, or medications differently than other people. just having the results of that genetic test can help you ask better questions about your health. For me, it's not necessarily about self-diagnosing. It's more about self-knowledge and connecting dots between genetics, mental health, and biochemistry that doctors will sometimes overlook.
If an MTHFR variant is present and clinically significant, a doctor can recommend bioavailable methylated forms of folate and B vitamins that support smoother neurotransmitter and hormonal functions. But I also took a rheumatoid factor test because autoimmune diseases run in my family and that test came back negative, but the doctor reminded me
when they deliver the results that with autoimmune conditions, you can test negative for years and then one day test positive with levels that are like off the charts. So we're gonna keep monitoring that. But then we started testing hormones and that's when I finally got data that started to make some sort of sense. So my estrogen and progesterone levels plummeted. They were low.
And looking back, there were so many signs of perimenopause, even in my late 30s, but people don't test in your 30s for these things. They just think you're a woman complaining, right? Like if you're white, people think you're being a complaining Karen. And if you're any shade of black or brown, they ignore your medical needs entirely or think that you are drug seeking. And my body had been whispering for years before it started screaming. But like so many women,
I was taught to ignore the pain, to think that I was being too much, to ignore my cyclical timing and just push through. Because we live in a world that constantly reinforces and rewards linear productivity. Our world is built around the male 24 hour hormone cycle where testosterone peaks in the morning hours and then it starts to decline throughout the day. That male hormonal rhythm
fits very neatly into a nine to five typical occupational structure. It fits into hustle culture. It fits into the idea that success is about consistency and constant output. But women's bodies do not operate like that. Women, we move on a 28 day rhythm, cycling through phases of creation and release and rest and renewal. Some weeks,
We are magnetic and we're charged and other weeks we are meant to slow down, reflect and restore. Yet we have been told to perform as if our biology does not even exist, to parent, to produce and perform on a schedule that was never designed for us. So of course we burn out. Of course our bodies start revolting.
and we start getting all sorts of illnesses that we can't even name. The problem isn't that our hormones fail us, it's that society never learned to honor them. And in that disconnect, women lost access to the wisdom we once had about listening to our bodies. And I want you to have this information that I'm gonna give to you next because the self blame and shame spiral that happens
when we don't know what's going on with our body as women is absolutely brutal. I am not a doctor, so cross check anything that I share with you, with your physician. And while I'm giving this disclaimer, let this also be a reminder that you always get to stay in your sovereignty. Never just take anything I say or anything that anyone says at face value. Your body is your own.
and you have every right to question, research, and make choices that feel aligned with you. But here is what I have learned on my journey and what I believe should be common knowledge for women. So you can start to identify what's really happening in your body during this long transition called perimenopause and later into late menopausal transition.
So just in case you don't know what this is all about, let's all start on the same page. Perimenopause is the long natural transition leading up to menopause when hormone levels begin to fluctuate and cycles become irregular. Menopause itself is the point when you've gone 12 consecutive months without a period and late menopausal transitions is the final stretch
before that happens. It is a cyclical process, not one sudden event, and every woman's body moves through it in its own rhythm with no set timeline because our hormonal patterns are as unique as our fingerprints. But here is what it feels like when that landscape starts shifting, whether you're experiencing small shifts or tectonic movements.
When estrogen drops, it can feel like someone dimmed the lights inside your body. It can feel like no one's home. Brain fog, forgetfulness, low motivation, and a fatigue that sleep does not touch. You might feel detached, disassociated, flat, or depressed. Your skin dries out, your joints can ache, your hair might thin.
Your face might change or even look different at times. Sex might hurt or feel less appealing. You might not have any sex drive and weight starts to shift into your midsection. Focus, memory and confidence can start to waver and you can start to wonder what is wrong with me. Estrogen
supports dopamine and serotonin, the neurotransmitters behind motivation, mood and clarity. So when estrogen drops, everything dulls. For neurodivergent women, that hormonal shift can make ADHD symptoms feel so much louder, harder to manage and more resistant to medication. If you find yourself pounding caffeine just to function, if your Adderall suddenly stops working,
If your thoughts are scattered and your focus evaporates no matter how disciplined you try to be, that might be your estrogen tapering off. Now bioidentical estradiol can be prescribed, which will modulate dopamine and other neurotransmitters that affect motivation, working memory, and reward processing, which explains why ADHD meds can be less effective when estrogen falls. Because essentially, when estrogen drops,
Dopamine drops and for an ADHD brain that runs on dopamine that shift feels like someone pulled the plug on your power source. It is awful. That is what I've been working with for the past few months. But low progesterone on the other hand feels like your nervous system lost its breaks. Like you might lie awake with a racing mind or wake up at 3 a.m. buzzing with anxious energy.
Irritability and mood swings can come fast and furious. Maybe you find yourself having arguments that are justified, but you notice your reactivity is like turned up in really disproportionate ways. Your body can feel bloated or tender before your period or your cycles shorten with heavier bleeding or spotting. And low progesterone doesn't just affect your mood or sleep, it's also one of the most overlooked causes for early term miscarriage.
Progesterone literally means progestation and its job is to prepare and stabilize the uterine lining so a fertilized egg can implant and grow. When progesterone levels are too low, the lining can start to shed before the embryo fully anchors, leading to what's often labeled as a chemical pregnancy or early loss.
Progesterone supports implantation, but the evidence for blanket progesterone use is actually kind of mixed. But what's frustrating is that this isn't routinely tested, even for women like me with a history of miscarriage. Many of us are just told it happens when in reality, a very simple blood test and supplemental progesterone support in early pregnancy could make a massive difference.
deserve to know this, to be told that their body may not be failing them, it just might be missing the hormonal support it needs to hold and grow life. And because progesterone activates the calming neurotransmitter GABA, low levels of progesterone might make you feel wired, but exhausted, jumpy, restless, and easily overwhelmed. Now, this is what I've been dealing with when...
both estrogen and progesterone hormones are low, it is like driving a car with no gas and no brakes at the same time. You are just completely drained and overstimulated, wondering where your old self went and what it would feel like to be steady again. And that's exactly what's been happening to me since like August in a major way. And on a more subtle,
note for like the past 10 years, the fatigue, the brain fog, the muscle pain, anxiety, the fragility in my joints and my skin, the weight gain, the heavy bleeding every two weeks. It all started to make sense when I got tested. When progesterone got low, it was kind of like I had the short or absent luteal phase that can occur during late transitions.
Every night I felt like I was trying to sleep through PMS symptoms at like level 100. Like I would try to go to bed and then as I'm trying to fall asleep, I would experience irritability, anxiety, restlessness. I would even get heart palpitations. And my body had entered into a late menopausal transition, this phase where I have my last bunch of eggs and I just felt like a zombie. I was so out of it.
Like I got hit by the hormonal Mack truck and I was like barely hanging on in school trying to keep up while my body like quietly started to rewrite its entire hormonal code. And while it was doing that, I had no access to any of my mental health management tools. Everything I used to do like exercise and eating right and just like the things that I did on a very basic level to take care of myself. just
found myself unable to do them anymore. And my ADHD medication, normally what keeps me grounded and functional had stopped working. And this is something that every woman with ADHD should know. Estrogen and dopamine are deeply connected. Everybody thinks that estrogen is just tied to your reproductive system. It's not. It doesn't just affect reproduction. It affects your brain. It boosts dopamine.
the neurotransmitter responsible for motivation, focus, reward, and emotional regulation. And when estrogen drops, dopamine activity drops. For those of us with ADHD whose brains already struggle to regulate dopamine, this shift can literally make any stable ground feel like it's falling out from under you. Perimenopause most often lasts four to seven years for most people, and for some people,
This major hormonal transition phase can last up to 10 or even 14 years. Everyone's transition rate is different with different phases of different levels of intensity. And these phases often include like wild hormonal swings, especially fluctuating estrogen, which can intensify ADHD symptoms or bring them to the surface for the first time. Many women who were undiagnosed
with their ADHD discover that they have ADHD in midlife because of perimenopause. Others whose systems were stable for years find that their old coping strategies just suddenly stop working. And the medical system hasn't caught up to this relationship yet, Research on women's health, especially neurodivergent women's health, is decades behind. Too many women in perimenopause are told that they're just depressed or anxious.
Too many are prescribed antidepressants without a single hormone test. And yes, maybe you need antidepressants as support in perimenopause, but you know, there's nothing wrong with antidepressants, but if the root cause is hormonal, then you're just treating a symptom instead of the source. Depression can be a signal of imbalance, not the whole story in some cases, right? Like depression can be the symptom.
not necessarily the diagnosis. And estrogen is vital for almost every single system in your body, your muscles, your joints, your bones, your brain, mood, skin, heart, and sex drive. And when it declines, every one of those systems feel it. And if you're like me, or a lot of other neurodivergent people or highly sensitive people who are attuned to what is happening in your body,
Even if you feel, you know, disassociated, even if you feel out of your body, you have like the knowing that something is off You can start to feel like you're unraveling from every direction. For neurodivergent women, perimenopause can feel kind of like a second puberty happening, but in reverse, right? Emotional regulation gets harder, memory slips, executive function starts to tank.
You miss deadlines, you lose your words, you cry easily. You don't know why you feel so fucking overwhelmed because progesterone is low too, right? You can't focus longer than five minutes. That is not a personal failure. It is biochemistry. And hormone replacement at this stage can completely determine the quality of life you lead in your 40s and beyond when your estrogen and progesterone start to drop.
You're not just dealing with mood swings or hot flashes. Again, these hormones affect your brain, bones, heart, skin, sleep, metabolism, and cognition. And some studies are now showing that carefully prescribed hormone replacement therapy can improve memory, mood stability, bone density, sexual health, and cardiovascular function. It can even help protect against
the accelerated aging and autoimmune conditions that amplify when estrogen declines too quickly. And now we have this emerging research that is finding that women who actually start HRT in early perimenopause or within 10 years of their final menstrual cycle may actually decrease or delay.
the onset of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of cognitive decline because of the possible protective association with when menopausal hormone therapy is initiated near menopause. Specifically, there has been some evidence that when menopausal hormone therapy is started near menopause, there may be benefits, whereas initiation years later,
around after age 65 was more linked to increased dementia risks in trials of older women. So it's important when you talk about the benefits of hormone replacement therapy and using estrogen as it relates to Alzheimer's that timing plays a key factor of when you start the therapy. Because estrogen supports the brain's glucose metabolism and blood flow. So when levels drop,
The brain literally runs less efficiently. And the goal of hormone therapy isn't to fight our nature, it's to support the body long enough through a natural transition so you can stay clear, stay strong and mentally sharp for decades to come instead of just throwing psych or mood meds at women.
You know, information like this is why we live longer nowadays. And women already live longer than men with all these inflammation, autoimmune and mood challenges that we face. Imagine if we had proper care for our hormone health early on. And yet, because women's bodies have been so understudied and our pain so easily dismissed, I mean, we dismiss it ourselves, this entire experience gets minimized.
Many doctors will not test hormones unless you insist. And fewer doctors even understand the intersection between ADHD hormones and fertility. Even my own doctor, while super compassionate, prescribed continuous hormone therapy right away. She saw my symptoms, she took them seriously, which was great, and wanted to give me relief.
She asked about fertility because I've had two miscarriages. I told her I wasn't sure exactly what my plan was for fertility. knew I didn't want to do IVF, but I wanted to keep the possibility of conception open if there was still a chance. Like my stance is simple. I want to give myself a shot at becoming a biological parent without prematurely closing that door. And
You know, my husband and I were a blood mismatch. He's O positive. I'm B negative, which means I need the rogam shot. If I miscarry and our blood mixes, my immune system could literally be trained to attack a fetus with mismatched blood. I also have a bicornate uterus, which means my uterus is shaped like a heart or as my OBGYN called it, a two car garage.
Basically, the shape of it means that 50 % of pregnancies don't implant properly because there's just not enough room. So the fetus is basically like, I'm going to evict myself because I need more square footage in order to live and grow. So I know the chances are low, maybe 1 to 10 % each cycle where I actually ovulate at age 44 that I could get pregnant. But I still wanted to leave room for that small chance.
I'm not willing to drop 30 to $50,000 on fertility treatments when there are so many children who need homes and adoption, but I also didn't want a prescription to close that door for me. If I took continuous hormone therapy where estrogen and progesterone are taken every day without a break, that approach would likely suppress any remaining ovulation, and my OB-GYN didn't mention that part.
I had to dig obsessively through research and piece it together myself to make sure I understood what was happening in the care I was receiving with hormone therapy. And what I learned is that if you take estrogen from the first day after your period begins until ovulation and then add progesterone for the second half of the cycle and stop both hormones when your next period starts,
then you're essentially following a cyclical hormonal pattern. And this can provide hormonal support without fully suppressing ovulation. The same hormone therapy that's prescribed continuously, which can quiet the body's natural reproductive system, can also be used cyclically to mimic it. And I want to be clear for anyone listening, hormone replacement therapy isn't approved as contraception.
So you can still get pregnant. Continuous hormone therapy can reduce the likelihood of ovulation, but it does not guarantee infertility. So if you're like in perimenopause and you get prescribed continuous hormone therapy and you think that this is going to be great because you don't want to get pregnant anyways, no, like pregnancy is still possible. ⁓ Do not think that you cannot get pregnant if you're on continuous hormonal therapy.
But for me, choosing the cyclical route is a little bit more involved, right? I have to track ovulation. I have to time my dosages carefully. I have to stay aware of my body's cues. But for me, it feels worth it to allow myself to support my hormones while keeping the door open to whatever fertility I might still have left.
You know, getting diagnosed with ADHD later in life makes me feel like I am just getting started. Like I finally know myself. I understand my rhythms, my energy, my limits and my power. And now I'm learning how my hormones play a role in all of it. How they intersect with ADHD, fertility and perimenopause. Having a doctor hand me a prescription.
that could close another chapter of possibility felt like someone slamming the book shut before I even finished reading it. And there is a massive amount of grief in being a so-called late bloomer. It feels like we're already on a different timeline. It's not worse, but the way the world works can make you feel like you're behind. But, you know, there's
Also so much empowerment in realizing that you're finally equipped to truly write the story on your own terms. Knowledge is power, especially in a world that tells women that they're done in their 40s when in reality, we are just getting started. And so here's what I want women to know. You have to advocate for yourself. You have to notice yourself.
and advocate for yourself, maybe even at times when you are the most tired and have the least capacity to do so, but do it anyways. Track your symptoms, your focus, your sleep, your cycle, your mood, your energy, your medication effectiveness, write it all down. You are collecting data on your own body and that data is so powerful. Go to your provider and say, my ADHD meds aren't working the same.
My cycle is irregular, I'm exhausted, foggy, emotional, and it feels hormonal. That one sentence can change the entire trajectory of your care and what might be possible for you. Ask for a full hormone panel, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, cortisol, inflammation markers, the full picture.
asked to get a MTHFR variant genetic test. I mean, it's not a routine test, but it can be very helpful to give you insights. And a lot of people with ADHD have MTHFR variant. And if your doctor won't test them, find someone who will. And look, I know especially in this healthcare industry, you might be listening to this and be like, hey, I don't have health insurance. And I hear you, healthcare is expensive AF.
It should be right, but for some reason in this country, only a privileged few have it. But if you've ever scrounged up a bunch of money for something that you needed, that you wanted a coaching program, a dress, a purse, whatever, like find that type of motivation to bring together the budget, the funding for these type of tasks, because I'm telling you, it'll be so worth it. I definitely don't underestimate how hard it might be if that is your situation.
But taking care of yourself and finding a way to take care of your hormones during this time can give you so much access to much greater function and mental health at a time where you probably really need it. And if your ADHD meds used to work, but now they don't, that's something you can bring up with your prescribing doctor, right?
Estrogen fluctuations, they change how stimulants and non-stimulant ADHD medication are metabolized and how dopamine pathways ultimately fire off. You might need an adjusted dose, you might need a new medication or additional hormonal support like estrogen therapy like I'm starting, right? Women's health has been deprioritized for decades.
And as neurodivergent women, are dismissed even more because our symptoms get mislabeled as emotional instability or personality defects. And then if you add race, class, disability, or gender diversity and the barriers just multiply tenfold. And our black, brown, queer, and disabled women are far more likely to be gaslit or undertreated.
We are told that we are dramatic or imagining things while our entire biochemistry and brain chemistry is literally transforming. And that can feel so painful and so lonely and so isolating and add insult to injury at a time when we really need to be cared for. And overcoming this really starts with information and community, knowing what to ask for.
Refusing to be silenced. Building networks of women who understand. Sharing resources, the language of navigating this and experiences. This isn't about self diagnosing or doing everything alone. It's about reclaiming agency in a system built to take our autonomy and then profit from us becoming cut off from and ignorant about our bodies. We start by listening to.
and validating your body and your concerns, even if no one else will. If your brain fog, fatigue, or ADHD symptoms suddenly worsen, don't just assume that you're failing or that there's something wrong with you. Ask what's changing in your hormones. Learn, get to know, and notice your individual hormonal cycle. It's one of the most important things that you can do as a woman.
even if you have an atypical cycle as a woman. Bring research and notes to your appointments. And if your provider dismisses you, that is still data. It tells you that you fucking need a new provider. Remember, it can be collaborative, but people you pay work for you. You deserve care that respects your lived experience. And this phase,
isn't the end of your brilliance, it is a transition into your next level of brilliance. Your brain and your body during this time are completely recalibrating. Once you understand the chemistry behind it, you can work with your body instead of fighting it. You can rebuild energy, can stabilize your mood and regain focus by addressing what is actually happening beneath the surface. And it could potentially be
your most powerful phase in life ever. For me, learning how estrogen and dopamine were connected, especially with ADHD, was super liberating. It gave me a lot of relief and everything just started to make sense. And most of all, I think it really let me stop blaming myself for being so tired and forgetful or disorganized or temporarily.
unable to do the things that I once was able to do with like no effort. I learned that my body was not betraying me, it was asking for help. This is why hormone health matters for mental health. It's why every woman with ADHD or who identifies as neurodivergent should have her hormones checked. It's why self-advocacy, education and compassionate care really matter.
When we understand our own biochemistry, we stop pathologizing our humanity. We stop apologizing for needing help. You deserve to feel like yourself again. You deserve a doctor who listens. You deserve energy, clarity, libido, and joy. Perimenopause doesn't have to be a slow fade into invisibility. It can be the reclamation of your visibility.
This is the season where you rewrite your story, where you learn what your body needs now, not what it used to need. You lead from wisdom instead of willpower, and you realize that the same intensity that once fueled your ambition can now fuel your healing process. Exhaustion is not weakness.
It is your body communicating and you have every right, even in this fucked up healthcare system, to demand care that honors your brain, your hormones, and your lived experience. If you're on the receiving end of this podcast and you're listening and you've been wondering why are you suddenly scattered,
tired, moody, unmotivated, or why things feel so extra hard lately and nothing seems to help, it might not be your level of self-discipline. It might not even be your ADHD. It might be your hormones. Because you are not crazy, you are not lazy, and you just might be in the middle of the great transition. When we normalize and naturalize this conversation,
we start to build a culture where women are no longer dismissed, but deeply understood. And that is where I am at this month, learning my brain again, learning my body again, giving myself the permission to slow down, heal, track, and rebuild. Because you cannot improve what you do not measure.
And because this next era of my life and business isn't about pushing harder. It's about understanding and aligning deeper. And I'll be honest, this is a lot to go through all alone. Even if you're partnered up, if they haven't been through it, if they don't have women's hormones, they really just don't get it. No matter how much they love you, they can be conscious, right? But they don't have that shared lived experience.
And in full transparency, this is part of why I built Walk and Talk Wednesdays, a new community where we move, breathe and process together the things that we're going through in real life in real time. It is gentle accountability for women like us who might be navigating hormonal changes, ADHD, midlife, leadership and family and work dynamics on top of the constant inner call that we have to rise.
This walk and talk community is now where I'm finding the most support, the space to communicate how I communicate, the most laughter and hope and reminders that there is nothing wrong with me, that I am simply recalibrating. So if this episode spoke to you, I want to invite you to come join us. Walk and talk with us. I'll put the link.
to join the Walk and Talk Wednesday membership in the show notes of this episode. Sign up, come to a live call or post in the private online community portal. Bring your questions, your stories, your messy middle, and let us witness you and love up on you exactly where you are.
You don't have to do this part of your evolution in the messy dark chrysalis in isolation. Like we've all heard the story about the caterpillar becoming the butterfly in the transformation and how it's messy and dark and lonely in the chrysalis and the in-between, but it doesn't actually have to be that way. You can do this with other women who can see you and hold you and really understand what this phase in life is all about.
Again, I am Kate Bailey and this is the Play Big Queen podcast.
Share this episode with a woman in your life who might be struggling or might be navigating ADHD, whether diagnosed or undiagnosed, someone who identifies as neurodivergent because the conversation at the intersection of neurodiversity and women's hormonal health really matters. And this is how we share and spread the wisdom of our bodies that we once lost.
I hope I'll see you in the walk and talk community until next week. Keep playing big queen.
____________
Outro 1
That's it for today, Queen.
Take what lit you up, leave what didn't.
You know what serves.
If you want to stay in this Play Big Queen orbit, get the rituals, resources, and real talk that fuels your Play Big self, go to xxxkatebailey.com, scroll to the bottom, and join this community.
This is where bold women gather. Neurodivergent visionaries, disability warriors, sacred disruptors.
If this episode spoke to you, leave a review on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.
Leave comments, give me all the stars, share it.
That's how we create change that ripples, and how this podcast gets out to more people who need it.
If you're ready to work together to make your play big self not just a vision, but a reality that you embody, then head to xxxkatebailey.com, go to the work with Kate section, and join in on a program
that feels right for you.
Or tag me on socials and tell me a moment that truly served you from this episode.
Until next time, remember to honor your own timing, value your own unique way.
And most of all, when you come face to face with your boldest desires, trust your brilliance and Play Big Queen.
____
Outro 2
Hey, queen, are you still here?
Good.
That means you're not just curious.
You are being called and want more.
I am here for the ones who want more than party trick mindset hacks.
The ones who need nervous system rooted, neurodiverse affirming space held by someone who is trauma trained, so they can rise on their terms.
My work is designed to center folks navigating ADHD, autism, disability, trauma, or mental health challenges and their brilliance all at once.
You do not need to be someone who identifies as neurodivergent or someone who has a disability to benefit from this work.
If you're feeling called, you belong here.
I believe in and support queer and trans rights, Black Lives Matter, sex worker rights, Palestinian, Ukrainian, and global self-liberation, religious autonomy, and dismantling abusive systems.
If that's too much for you, then babe, this isn't your podcast and you know where the unfollow is.
But if that lights a fire within you and you are inspired to learn more, then my Play Big Queen, you are home.
You can also head over to xxxkatebailey.com/about to learn more about me, my company,
qualifications, methodology, values, worldviews, philosophies, and my mission.
My mission is to activate 10,000 women with invisible disabilities to lead, create, speak up, and claim the spaces that they were told to shrink inside.
Because their leadership, your leadership, will change the world.
If you know that's you, declare it.
Put your energetic line in the sand and tell me.
Email me at [email protected] and tell me why this work is so important for you and we can explore opportunities to work together and make your Play Big dreams a reality.
