Hester Grainger

AUTISM & ADHD - LIVE SESSION TODAY 🔵Are you a team manager? Are any of your team members autistic? Are you unsure if neurodivergence is present but you’ve noticed one or two employees struggling? 1️⃣ What does the combined diagnosis look like jn everyday life? 2️⃣ How can you help autistic (diagnosed or undiagnosed) colleagues to feel comfortable working in an office environment? 3️⃣ Does the word ‘accommodations’ scare you? Are you unsure of how to start a conversation about neurodivergence? 🔵 When people are diagnosed with Autism, ADHD is also usually present. This can be overwhelming for the diagnosed individual, their fellow team members, and their immediate line manager. 🔵 Join me and host of ‘Outsmart ADHD’ podcast, Jamie Cutino, at 5.00pm UK Time today to have a frank conversation about the opportunities as well as the challenges. 📅 Today - Thursday 27th June ⏰ 5.00pm UK Time 🌴 Zoom (Zoom!! Not the bahamas…sadly) This session will be on Zoom so if you’d like to join, register via the link in the comments. Like Kurt Cobain sang, “Come as your are. No judgements here. Just questions, ideas, and knowledge. #neurodivergenceatwork #audhdawareness #adhdatwork

14

3 Comments

LET'S DISCUSS NEURODIVERGENCE - SIMPLYIC PANEL 21 MAY 🔵 My specialism in creating cultural acceptance for neurodivergence focuses on Autism and ADHD. Neurodivergence as a term covers a wide range of conditions and identifications from movement and coordination disorders like Dyspraxia to those causing challenges with using numbers like Dyscalculia. 🔵 Dyslexia is one of the most widely known conditions coming under the recently coined neurodivergence umbrella. Those classified as being Dyslexic read letters and words in a muddled and disordered way. 🔵 Autism is still the identification that puzzles most people. Because it's a spectrum condition the difference in presentation from one Autistic person to the next varies greatly. It is not uncommon for one Autistic person to be so unrecognisable in relation to the typical behaviours associated with it e.g. 1️⃣ No eye contact 2️⃣ Stimming (e.g. finger flapping 3️⃣ Dislike of certain noises (not just loud noises) 🔵 At the same time another Autistic person may well display all of the above and additional behaviours associated with sensory needs. 🔵 Some medical professionals still categorise these very different presentations as Aspergers Syndrome vs Autism. The former being associated with 'high functioning Autism' vs those who have high needs ranging from challenges with social interactions to being pre-verbal. 🔵 It's taken me nearly 4 years to get to a stage where I can begin to piece together what's happened since my children were diagnosed and connect it with what happened in the years preceding this. I'm still learning. Join me, John Clegg Chart.PR MCIPR Kimberley-Marie Sklinar (CIIC), and Sascha Evans at the SimplyIC conference on the 21st of May for our panel on neurodivergence. Let's talk... #neurodivergenceatwork #adhdatwork #autismacceptance

26

17 Comments

It’s #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek. The LinkedIn community’s annual reminder of the profound impact that our work environments have on our wellbeing. Most of you will know I run. It brings me joy. It brings me calm. It’s a reminder of what we can achieve. I love it. So, you’ll understand that when I looked at my Strava fitness trends at the back end of last year, I was horrified. OK, so I know the Strava graph is…flawed. But the decline was alarming because it wasn’t just about lapses in exercise routines, it was a reflection of workplace stress and its consequences. It was a visual representation of the toll a job that wasn’t aligned with my values took on me. Fast forward six months and – thanks to some incredible friends, colleagues, mentors, and clients – the graph is once again reflecting real-world personal and professional happiness, and I’m working with leaders across the industry to create spaces where employees feel supported, valued, and empowered. This means more than offering mental health resources, it’s about actively fostering a culture of openness, empathy and understanding. It’s about recognising that the wellbeing of colleagues directly impacts their performance and creativity. It’s knowing that a supportive work environment isn’t just a moral imperative; it’s a strategic advantage. As we navigate the complexities of our industry, let’s not forget the human element. Let’s advocate for positive change and fostering environments where everyone can thrive 💫

62

17 Comments

 I was reading something this week about Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”, how for the first time a book was written for children intended purely to entertain, rather than the books until then which had been purely to inform and educate children. It set me thinking, even as adults – why do we read fiction books, listen to them or even watch them as films? I know for me, I have always loved spy books, Ian Fleming, John Le Carre. Not for the dashing hero, but for the idea of information gathering and assessment. I would love to be part of a cloak & dagger operation, providing I was a safe distance from danger. There was the lovely play and film about someone who wanted to advance their position in life through reading “Educating Rita”. Sometimes escapist, sometimes fantasy, sometimes influenced by historical events. As good and interesting as they are, they bring me out in cold sweats remembering History Exam questions. Write an essay on life as a Civil War soldier, pick either Roundhead or Cavalier. So here is my question as we head into the weekend, and you can relax. There are no wrong answers, no reason to query anyone else’s choice. It is a quasi-marketing question. I mean, how else can people know what to stock or sell? What genre of fiction books do you like reading, which authors, what attracts you to them? #freelancecopywriting #contentwriting #fictionbooks #favouriteauthors #fictiongenres I am Peter Anderson - Write Right , a freelance copywriter. I write content from LinkedIn posts to Though Leadership articles. Content, which is crafted to be interesting, informative, engaging, even persuasive, dare I say! If this is something you are interested in for your company or organisation, let’s have a connect, have a chat, and who knows maybe collaborate

2

3 Comments

The other day I wrote about organisation. I'm a nonfiction book coach, right? I help people dig deep to find what their book is about, why they want to write it, why them per sé, and then articulate the journey they want to bring their reader along. You can't do that all 'willy nilly'. Your brain might operate in a 'willy nilly' way (yay for your uniquely responsive synapses!) but if you don't spend time reflecting on your concept, you might produce a book with gaps in it and that people don't find interesting or compelling enough to pick up, let alone read from cover to cover. And so - managing my clients, making sure they are staying accountable, and ensuring that they have everything they need and that we have meetings with the attendant zoom links on time, conversations about their ideas, file protocols are what I do ... but that's not what I'm mean when I talk about organisation. Rather: do you act in accordance with some larger complete vision of yourself/your book goal/your tools/your capacity to learn? If there are incongruences, there is dissonance. And while confusion and noise are great signalers, that's all they are. You cannot create coherent work from a place of disorientation. What do you learn from confusion? That it is time to explore. Find out where you are. Find a way through/over/out/around in case you are lost. And if you are lost or confused, that is okay! Once on the other side, make/do the thing you identified that you wanted, and do just that. Not to please your parents/school teachers, to prove you have made it, to fill a gap of not-enoughness you haven't admitted to yourself, to 'show them'. When there is an ample chasm between you and other people, you will not feel a sense of honest purpose. You will feel a resistance. But you can't avoid the messy middle. We all know this. Intuitively, from experience. Please don't give up, friend. (Unless your nervous system happens to have been jiggled a bit and your response is going to be 'I cannot continue on today'. Because even with my best intentions I am a human just like you and can't possibly know where you are in your first-person lived experience). I'm nutting through my own book and it's unwieldy, wriggling between my hamfists and trying to escape! Gah! But today I believe in it, and I will stay true to it and keep my compass tracked on it. My being feels like it can do it. Last week and the weeks before? Not so much. I was not writing because I was acting on ideas about being a great teacher/parent/admin-extraordinnaire/domestic engineer. When I am congruent with my self image that I am a writer ... that's when I write and it comes forth and doesn't feel like a forced assignment set by a strict teacher for a voiceless school girl. And yet it happens when it happens. And when it happens and you feel you need someone to come along with you on your adventure, you can invite me and I'd be honoured to grab my rucksack (or papier-mâché fish) and join you!

9

2 Comments

I just had to share this incredible feedback from one of my clients sitting in my inbox this morning. As a copywriter specialising in helping charities craft compelling messages that inspire action, it means the world to me when my work hits the mark. So when I received this email from staff at one of the UK's largest charities about a messaging recommendations report I put together for their copywriting project, I couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear! The report was based on a survey designed to understand donors' motivations, frustrations, and hesitations about the product, so that we can write copy that truly resonates with their audience. It's moments like these that remind me why I love what I do. Knowing that my words have the power to engage, motivate and drive real change is the biggest reward. If you're part of a charity looking to breathe new life into your messaging and connect with your audience on a deeper level, let's chat! I'd love to help you uncover valuable insights and find the right words to make your mission shine. #CharityCopywriting #DigitalFundraising #FundraisingCopywriter #CharityComms #AudienceResearch #DonorInsights #MessagingMatters #MakingADifference [Text in image says: “Wow – the research and process is fantastic. I absolutely love the feedback quotes picked out from the surveys. I absolutely love the topline messaging. All 3 of them really pick up on those key things that will motivate people. They feel modern, and with [NAME OF PRODUCT] usually it can come across as quite dull = so yes – love it.”]

33

8 Comments

It’s #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek this week and, I’ll be honest, grief has been doing a number on me of late. Turns out losing one of the people that held you together the most can take a long time to process. Who knew?! Writing, for myself and for clients, has offered me a lot of solace but there have also been lots of tears and blank stares and moments where I’m 99.9% sure I’m the worst writer in the world and should hide away forever. (I’m thankful for the moments in-between where I’m pleasantly reassured that I am, in fact, really good at what I do.) 🌸🌿 Mental illness can make writing for your business that much harder. Being vulnerable and showing up feels almost impossible when you’re fathoming your way through the fog. Being an open-hearted, resilient creature with a spicy brain makes me the intuitive, heart-led writer I am… And I’ve realised it’s what makes me best placed to guide clients as they navigate their own creative mindset muddlings and seek to express themselves with words. I’m able to unearth their unique magic because I see it clear as day, whether they’re able to or not… And that’s everything to me. Here’s to showing up as our delightfully messy and magic selves, and always knowing that our words and wisdom are enough. #BloomWithBee 🌸 #Copywriter #ContentWriter

22

15 Comments

So Pride Month is here once again... are you planning any comms around it? If so, you need to read this. Naturally Pride is something that is very close to my heart as a big old gay man. Pride is also something I'm incredibly vocal on... but that hasn't always been the case. In various roles throughout my career I've been tokenised as the resident gay person, to then have my words edited and morphed into something that feels "safer" (and yes, that is pretty much a direct quote). I've had to mind my words in rooms full of straight folks, conscious of being "too gay" or making things difficult for others. I've worked with companies where we've had meeting upon meeting to discuss doing something for Pride that "feels genuine" (hint, if you don't genuinely support it then it will never be genuine). So, what is my one piece of advice on comms around something like Pride? It really is VERY simple: If you don't wholeheartedly support the LGBTQ+ community all year round and if you don't shout just as loudly to support them behind close doors, then keep schdum. Rainbow washing and virtue signalling are more transparent than ever. At best you will be ignored and at worst you will be held to account (and rightly so, soz). First and foremost, focus on doing what's right in your business - whether that be Pride or something else entirely. If you speak your message with honesty and integrity then your audience will know, and if you're doing it just to make some noise... Well, just don't do that okay?!

37

7 Comments

I'm regularly asked for D&I content or training sessions, which I am more than happy to provide, but sometimes I think we need more D&C training - Decency and Compassion. Too many places talk the D&I talk but are far from inclusive when it comes to their day-to-day activities. Instead of trying to tick a box just ask yourself what the decent thing to do is. If you were treated this way, would it be OK? If a friend or relative were on the receiving end of your behaviours, would you be OK with that? Could you honestly look yourself in the mirror and know that you did a decent and compassionate thing? And if that fails, ask yourself what Batman would do. It may not be a traditional approach to D&I, but it would be a huge leap forward for many organisations. #Diversity #Inclusivity #Compassion

14

1 Comment

A book on copywriting made me cry I was reading 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner's 'Very Good Copy' Luna came and curled up next to me on the sofa Turning the page I hit the chapter on 'Emotional Writing' A chapter where Paul Harvey's '10 Commandments for a Responsible Pet Owner' are cited as a great example I reproduce them here: 1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful. 2. Give me time to understand what you want of me. 3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being. 4. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainments. But I have only you. 5. Talk to me. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me. 6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it. 7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand, and yet I choose not to bite you. 8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long or my heart might be getting old or weak. 9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too will grow old. 10. On the difficult journey, on the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can’t bear to watch. Don’t make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there. Because I love you so. If you have a cat or dog it should be clear why it got me Luna (and Oscar) had extra treats that night

84

27 Comments

My 'Content Coaching Course' offer ends tomorrow and I have been asked a few times this week just to clarify a few things. So here goes; Is the coaching group or one-to-one? It's one-to-one coaching, bespoke to you. What is the November offer? You would normally have two one-hour sessions a month for three months for £600. The offer is two one-hour sessions a month for SIX months for £600. Is the course online? Yes, over Zoom. Is it just for posting content on LinkedIn? I specialise in LinkedIn content, but the coaching is far more than just content creation. It's about using your online network to broaden your brand message. Brand YOU! Identifying the right people to connect with and how to interact with them once they are in your network. It's also about delivering the right message in networking meetings. Both face-to-face and online. Will the course bring me more business? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. I can give you the skills to make people aware of you, be interested in you and your brand, interact with you, refer to you and how you clinch a sale is down to you. Can I extend beyond the six months? Slow down! You haven't booked on the course yet. But yes, there are always opportunities to extend the coaching. Will the course still be available after this week? Absolutely! However, after this week, it will go back to three months for £600. It's a great offer, however, £600 is a lot of money right now. Can I pay in instalments? Yes, something can be arranged when we speak. Will I have a graduation ceremony? Don't be silly!! Can I book my place now and start in the new year? Absolutely you can. Please be aware that I will finish for the Christmas break on Friday the 20th of December and be back in the business on Monday the 13th of January. I hope this has answered your questions. If you have any more then do get in touch.

8

3 Comments

A new report by Mental Health UK paints a grim picture: burnout is on the rise, with 91% of workers reporting “extreme stress” in 2024. But for freelancers and contractors, there’s a potential silver lining: autonomy and a community of freelancers to turn to. Here we help you spot the signs of burnout and what to do about it.

2

Calling all those in Senior HR positions. Supporting Global Sisters, a charity that assists female founded micro-businesses, I’m helping neurodiversity advocate and coach Kim Hutchinson - Neurodiversity and Inclusion establish her business, What Unites, and deliver on her mission: What Unites enables organisations to understand, support and unlock the incredible value of the neurodiverse talent that sits amongst their teams. Kim's programmes help autistic, ADHD, and dyslexic individuals (and other neurodivergences) to unmask and tap into their brilliance to excel in both life and work. 1 in 5 people are likely to be neurodivergent so it's a huge opportunity for businesses to unlock. Kim is undertaking valuable research and we'd love your help. Initially, all we are looking for is to connect and spend 1 hr with anyone who holds a senior role in HR within a medium to large organisation and who has some involvement/influence in managing D&I programmes. I’d be grateful if you could talk to Kim or help introduce her to the most appropriate person so that she can share her plans, ask some questions and see how Kim’s work can benefit their organisation and their employees. Please contact Kim or let me know if you can help and I'll put you in touch. Is there anyone who you know in HR who could help? Thanks in advance. Fergus 

18

7 Comments

DEI means ensuring everyone has equal opportunities to thrive, no matter their background. I’ve just been re-reading an article in Waitrose Weekend from September that I’d torn out and kept because the initiatives it was reporting on were brilliant. The article was titled ‘Cooking up opportunities’ and it detailed some of the fantastic businesses and charities that are offering a fresh start to current and ex-prisoners through the food industry. From restaurants in prisons run by The Clink Charity that are open to the public and serve food cooked and served by current prisoners, to a cheesemaker local to me (NETTLEBED CREAMERY LIMITED) that partners with a nearby prison to offer paid work to ex-offenders, to a bakery (The Dusty Knuckle) that runs a youth programme that trains 70 young people who have been identified as sharing a dissatisfaction with their life (with referrals coming from prison rehabilitation programmes amongst other areas) - all aim to give a chance and a purpose to those that society might otherwise ignore. With overcrowding in prisons rising and a number of prisoners now being released early in an attempt to ease the crisis, there will be many trying to find job opportunities and failing because of their criminal record. It may feel like a risk for businesses to employ ex-offenders but most genuinely want to work hard and reset their lives. And with schemes like the one run by HMP Huntercombe, which partners with local businesses to vet recent inmates for them, it makes it easier for organisations to offer work to ex-offenders with greater peace of mind. I'm not sure if there are other schemes like this in the UK - I hope so - but there are a number of rehabilitation through work programmes that operate both in prisons and out of it for those who have left. It can be a hard pill to swallow but a truly inclusive workplace doesn't just include those with the protected characteristics it deems acceptable. #DEIForEveryone #EveryoneDeservesASecondChance #RehabilitationThroughWork

3

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐌. 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃…. ‘Autism is no cakewalk for the child's parents or carers either, and raising an autistic son or daughter is no job for the fainthearted - in fact, faintheartedness is doomed by the first niggling doubt that there's Something Not Quite Right about your sixteen-month old. On Diagnosis Day, a child psychologist hands down the verdict with a worn-smooth truism about your [child] still being the same little [person] that they were before this life-redefining news was confirmed. Then you run the gauntlet of other people's reactions. ‘It's just so sad'; 'What, so he's going to be like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man?'; 'I hope you're not going to take this so-called "diagnosis" lying down!'; and my favourite 'Yes, well. I told my GP where to stick his MMR jabs.' 'Where to turn to next? Books. (You'll have started already, because the first reaction of friends and family desperate to help is to send clippings, web links and literature, however tangential to your won situation.' ‘The reason I jump’ by Naoki Higashida 🔵 Not for the faint of heart. This is one of the best quotes I've come across to explain the kind of experiences you have as the parent of a neurodivergent child. 🔵 The well-meaning but foolish comments. The plethora of material shoved down your throat. The wonderful nuggets of support and insight received from people who really know their stuff but are just too overwhelmed with work to help you for more than a few days or weeks. Join me, Carly Murray, and some lovely comms folks for a lunchtime chinwag about Autism, intersectionality and creating a neuroinclusive culture. 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: TODAY! 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄: 12.00pm UK Time 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄: LinkedIn 'Lonely Comms Club' group where you can find a link to join via Teams Looking forward to it..... #neuroinclusion #autismatwork #adhdatwork

14

10 Comments

I locked myself out of the house A week in my life (day job + side hustle) Mon- (work from home)   School drop off with partner  Work out in the garden  Start work - The Difference comms handbook  Meetings  Career strategy 1:1 call for Cute Fruit Ltd client Career pivot Q+A online with clients and guest  Write  Chill then bed    Tuesday -Work from home    Walk with partner to station  Go home - breakfast  Comms handbook Meetings - influencing and campaign planning Locked self out of house  Took meeting on park bench  Kids let me in when back from school  Write and schedule LinkedIn post    Wednesday - go to office in London Breakfast at work (porridge and fruit) Understand our programs so I can plan future  messaging Meetings with coalition partner/funder Leave at 1630 to be home in time. Write on train. Take kids to Brazilian jujitsu    Thursday (in LDN) Observe a delivery/training session Listen and talk to participants Listen and talk to youth advisory board  Map out some future marketing messages  Catch up with CEO Ghostwriting See if friend is around for in person catch-up  Train Home  Chill  Enjoy new bourbon candle from the kids    Friday (home- day off. Cute Fruit day)    Writing club 0700-0800 Career strategy 1-2-1s with clients 0800-1000 Write some “no” templates for clients  Record “schedule post” video instructions for client  Breakfast  Coaching session with my business coach  Partner time  Nap Talk to an org about running a training session   Dinner  Write first draft of this  Chill   Saturday  Family time and chill    Sunday  Solo country walk for a few hours  Cooked breakfast in local cafe  Reflection time and plan for the week Home Update materials for Career Pivot Pro week 9 Emails to clients  Draft this to you  Stop      This was a real week in March. Inspired by a post I saw from Shoaib Ahmed - founder of yellow hippo marketing agency. Ps. If you are interested in creating your own oppptinities but not sure how to start- I wrote my ultimate DIY career pivot blueprint just for you. Link in comments 👇🏾 ———————- Create opportunities. Embrace freedom. Hi I’m Iesha I’m a comms professional with a side hustle I help you build your career like an entrepreneur. We use systems and frameworks for repeatable results (I’m a geek). Engineer → Assistant headteacher →Head of Comms + Business owner ———————-

16

12 Comments

It’s out now! A very honest discussion about perimenopause - and we’ve already had some amazing feedback: “Oh my goodness what an awesome episode - resonated on so many levels!” I have been REALLY struggling with perimenopause symptoms, it seems to be a gift that keeps giving. I hope that the more we talk about it and the more we share our stories, the more likely it is that we’ll collectively find a way through… You can find it in all the usual places or follow one of the thinks in the chat. We hope it helps! #menopause #wellbeing #podcast

15

3 Comments

Well this was a joy! I chatted to the wonderful Steve Folland on the Being Freelance podcast. We talked about: • struggling with undiagnosed ADHD in school and university, • how I run my life as a neurodivergent business owner, • how freelancers can share what we do, using platforms like LinkedIn and Substack to demystify what you do and show our expertise - especially if it's a bit weird or super niche. • how to win clients through social media, • balancing doing heaps of content marketing versus actually doing your freelance job, • pricing your work when it's deeply purpose-driven (and you wish you could do it all pro bono or low bono but you very much also need to eat), and more! And perhaps you'd like to find out what a monkey wearing black velvet trousers was doing on a 30-hour train journey in Russia, and what that has to do with me needing 5 rabies shots? If so, you're in luck. This is the podcast for you. It also features shout-outs to some brilliant human beings, including: • Ellie Perkins of Write & Sunny who (if you don't follow her already) is an incredible writer, a content genius and created a visual identity for my brand that I love love love, • my wonderful business coach Catherine Stagg-Macey, • photographer Sarah Tulej. She's a "portrait photographer for camera-shy changemakers." I'm known for inching away from the camera in group pictures or trying to take selfies with 1/8 of my face in them. Sarah manages to make me feel completely at ease, and create pictures that are so authentic, personality-filled and just all-round excellent. • my former boss Penny Wilson aka the ultimate power user of the out of office auto-reply. Thank you so much for having me on the show, Steve! https://lnkd.in/eTcMeUFW #BeingFreelance #FreelanceLife #ADHDLife #ADHDBusinessOwner #ADHDTips #Freelancer #Freelancing

19

8 Comments