Why Remote Work Suits My ADHD Brain [Video]

By Understood

Alonna Nicole Williams calls herself an “Energizer Bunny” with ADHD. She says she’s been bouncing off the walls since she was a little girl, all the way into the modern workplace. Mini breaks, flexible scheduling, and work accommodations have helped her create a work life that matches her ADHD needs. But it hasn’t been easy.

In this episode, Alonna opens up about crying at work and being anxious about rigid in-person offices. She explains why working remotely in cyber fraud insurance fits how her brain works. And she shares her thoughts on how to survive Zoom calls with ADHD — as well as the changing views of mental health in the Black community. Listen in for tips on how to create the best ADHD environment for you.

To find a transcript for this episode and more resources, visit the episode page at Understood. https://www.understood.org/podcast/ho…

We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at [email protected].

Understood is a nonprofit and social impact organization dedicated to shaping a world where the 1 in 5 people who learn and think differently can thrive. Learn more about “How’d You Get THAT Job?!” and all our podcasts at u.org/podcasts. Copyright © 2022 Understood for All, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)

0:00
doing a zoom training for someone with
0:02
adhd is
0:04
so difficult i couldn’t keep up i could
0:07
see everybody in their camera doing
0:08
different things you know i see old girl
0:10
with this cute star wars poster in the
0:12
back and i’m missing what my boss is
0:14
saying it was overwhelming
0:16
so i ended up like crying i was so like
0:20
in tears because i felt stupid like i’m
0:23
not i’m i’m not getting it
0:30
the understood podcast network this is
0:32
how did you get that job a podcast that
0:34
explores the unique and often unexpected
0:37
career paths of people with learning and
0:39
thinking differences
0:40
my name is eleni matheal and i’m a user
0:42
researcher here at understood
0:44
that means i spend a lot of time
0:45
thinking about how we find jobs we love
0:47
that reflect how we learn and who we are
0:50
i’ll be your host
0:51
[Music]
0:55
these days getting hacked and scammed
0:57
online seems to be a risk all of us run
1:00
whether we’re on social media or on
1:02
email today’s guest alana williams works
1:05
in los angeles in an industry that deals
1:07
with those threats cyber insurance what
1:10
we’re going to talk about with alana
1:11
today is not only her job but the
1:13
environment that she works in and how
1:15
that can be just as important welcome to
1:17
the show alana
1:19
thank you for having me so your mum
1:21
thinks that the hd part of adhd stands
1:24
for high definition and i wondered
1:28
what does she mean by that and how does
1:30
that apply to you and your life
1:32
well she thinks that hd
1:35
applies to me specifically my energy is
1:38
like go go go go all the time like
1:40
entertainment a lot of my friends call
1:42
me energizer bunny uh and so
1:45
that’s what my friends call me
1:48
twins
1:51
that’s really funny how does that show
1:53
up for you like in what ways is that
1:56
also related to your adhd do you think i
1:59
think it’s pretty spot on i think if
2:01
there was going to be one person that
2:02
could ever characterize you spot on it
2:04
would always be your mom right
2:06
she’s known me from the womb
2:09
and she says even in the womb i was
2:12
constant non-stop like move move move
2:14
move so much so that when she was
2:16
pregnant with my brother
2:18
she thought there was something wrong
2:19
with him because he didn’t move so she
2:20
says from the time i was born even in
2:22
the womb it’s been high definition i’ve
2:24
been on 10 since day one and that is me
2:29
that’s me i would say my friends
2:31
classify me that everyone that i know
2:34
say my friends say they wish they had
2:35
adhd this energy like the energy that
2:38
comes with it because i don’t need to
2:39
drink coffee or red bull or any of it
2:41
i’m just ready to go at all times
2:43
that’s amazing i think the name is more
2:46
warranted for you than it is for me
2:51
i’ll take that i’ll take that badge of
2:53
honor
2:54
well i love the way that you talk about
2:56
that because already you’re talking
2:58
about it in a really positive light
3:01
you know it gives you this energy and a
3:03
lot of people actually really envious of
3:05
it it sounds like
3:07
so
3:08
luna i know you work in cyber insurance
3:11
yes mia what is that
3:14
okay yes let’s break it down we will
3:16
cover a business most likely a bank
3:20
a university any type of website where
3:23
they’re going to collect personal
3:25
information from somebody so like the
3:26
website sheen or another clothing the
3:29
gap or anything like that we’re also
3:30
going to ensure stores like target
3:32
because we swipe our card at target
3:34
right so that’s personal information
3:36
we’re going to ensure places like google
3:38
because of course they’re
3:40
you know right huge cyber they’ve got
3:42
everybody’s information we’re going to
3:44
ensure the government or whatever and so
3:46
that’s what we do and we insure them
3:48
from hacks
3:50
and what that means is for instance we
3:53
were actually on the target hack that
3:54
happened a few years ago where a million
3:56
people’s identities were exposed
3:59
we paid out on that claim and with that
4:02
claim that means that we’re going to
4:03
target had to shut down right their
4:05
entire services so we’re going to pay
4:07
them for the money that they lost for
4:09
the day we’re going to pay out to the
4:12
individual that lost money because a
4:14
hacker you know whatever they do they
4:16
can go and take your whole savings right
4:17
that would be devastating so we ensure
4:19
that as well especially in the age that
4:21
we were in with covid
4:23
the amount of hacks went up
4:25
astronomically like we saw a 300
4:27
increase
4:28
you never think you’ll be exposed yeah
4:30
and after covid the world saw how
4:33
exposed we were because everyone was at
4:35
home the hackers had nothing to do was
4:37
there they were living their best life
4:38
right because everybody was online
4:40
shopping um so primarily it’s definitely
4:44
from being hacked there is one more
4:46
thing that we do cover ransom like
4:47
ransomware because people will hold your
4:50
go into hack your account right you can
4:53
get it back for a certain amount of
4:54
money so that also is a part of it too
4:57
and you mentioned a lot of organizations
5:00
what about individuals like do i need
5:02
cyber insurance is that something i
5:04
should be worried about
5:06
yes you absolutely should be but we do
5:08
commercial insurance cyber insurance so
5:11
you would need like a smaller one but
5:13
that is a thing especially if you’re
5:15
highly exposed someone like beyonce
5:17
would definitely want to be protected
5:19
from a cyber hack
5:20
well i wish i was beyonce
5:23
don’t we all
5:24
i tell myself i am every day
5:28
beyonce energizer buddy so we talked
5:30
about what cyber insurance is but what
5:32
do you do specifically in that space
5:35
i am an underwriting assistant
5:39
so a target would go to a broker the
5:41
broker would come to us saying this
5:42
person needs coverage so my underwriter
5:44
is a person that’s going to determine
5:46
how much
5:48
premium is going to be based on the type
5:49
of risk that it is
5:51
so once my underwriter determines that
5:53
he or she pushes it down down to me and
5:56
then i will quote it
5:58
if the insured if target likes the price
6:01
that we get them i also work in big
6:03
middle market so i don’t see anything
6:05
under 35 million
6:07
in premium
6:08
there is a smaller market too but i only
6:09
do the higher one
6:11
they’ll give it to me if target likes
6:13
the price premium that we’re offering
6:14
them and the limits and the coverage
6:16
that they’re giving they’ll come back
6:17
and they’ll be like they want to bind it
6:18
and i’m sure everyone knows where the
6:19
binder is because we’ve all got car
6:21
insurance you know the little thing that
6:23
we keep in our car i’m going to send
6:24
them that and then if there’s
6:25
subjectivity something that they may
6:27
need to fill out an application
6:29
my underwriter want more information on
6:31
how the company has implemented their
6:33
own security protect themselves from a
6:35
hack that’s all going to determine the
6:37
premium and what type of endorsements
6:39
are on their policy and so once all that
6:41
done then i’ll send out the policy
6:43
and that’s primarily what i do i do
6:45
quoting and binding it’s pretty much 98
6:48
of my job
6:50
and do you like it
6:52
i
6:54
like it for
6:57
for what it brings to me in terms of my
6:59
life it is probably the most flexible
7:02
job i could ever imagine i just i
7:04
honestly think of it as a absolute
7:06
blessing from jesus himself because
7:09
there are not a lot of people that can
7:10
work from their bed
7:12
every single day with flexible hours so
7:15
my job they don’t have
7:17
set hours or set times that you have to
7:20
work just as long as you hit 37.5 of in
7:22
the week so i often take two to four
7:26
hour breaks in between then start
7:28
working again i just got back from
7:30
atlanta because i was at um my cousin’s
7:32
bachelorette party and i was able to
7:34
work from atlanta i didn’t have to take
7:35
any time off they also it’s a really fun
7:38
company i mean they brought comedians in
7:40
they did a zoom with us so i that’s what
7:41
i like about it it’s
7:43
a very flexible
7:45
job yeah i think it’s really refreshing
7:48
to hear that you know sometimes
7:50
it’s not necessarily about the work
7:52
itself but
7:54
perhaps like the environment or other
7:56
factors that make it work
7:58
yeah exactly work police balance
8:01
actually one thing that we talk about a
8:02
lot at understood is
8:05
this idea of environments being either
8:08
enabling or disabling so people can
8:10
often feel more or less disabled
8:13
depending on how accommodating the
8:15
environment is or not
8:17
and i think it’s really interesting that
8:18
you talked about flexibility and like
8:20
taking really long breaks
8:23
i would love to hear you know more about
8:25
how
8:27
that might relate to your adhd or not
8:30
i started working in atlanta at an
8:33
insurance company and it was a more
8:35
rigid strict schedule you had to come in
8:37
every single day seven to three
8:40
you had a 30-minute break you had two
8:42
15-minute breaks and you had to sit at
8:44
your seat that was not conducive to
8:47
my adhd i cannot sit for longer than two
8:51
to three hours like my mind’s going
8:53
crazy and then you i start zoning in on
8:55
other things and i always have to listen
8:57
to music when i’m working otherwise i’ll
8:59
get distracted
9:00
instantly and so i would have to force
9:03
myself to take bricks because it wasn’t
9:04
ingrained in that particular work
9:07
culture
9:08
versus now that i’m in california at
9:11
this particular company where you can go
9:13
into office or work from home
9:15
it’s a lot more accommodating to someone
9:17
that has adhd because i can work for an
9:20
hour take a 10 minute break get up from
9:22
my bed go walk around
9:25
do something else snack on something
9:26
then come back to work i don’t feel the
9:29
pressure that i felt at my previous
9:31
company
9:32
and that helps they have a huge mental
9:35
health program where i work and so that
9:38
helps too they make sure you don’t feel
9:40
disabled at this job like no matter what
9:43
your disability is
9:45
they are super accommodating and it
9:47
works for me and also with it being a
9:49
fun environment when i do go into the
9:50
office in la oh my god they have
9:53
like you can play golf we have like an
9:54
espresso machine and then being in
9:56
downtown l.a i can go out and go out and
9:59
walk and breathe and give my mind the
10:02
break that it needs clearly
10:05
yeah
10:06
yeah i love to hear that enthusiasm was
10:08
that an intentional shift like talking
10:10
about the job in atlanta compared to the
10:12
job in california were you aware that
10:14
the previous job was
10:17
negatively impacting you in that way and
10:19
did you make an intentional transition
10:21
to something different or was this
10:23
something you discovered afterwards like
10:25
upon reflecting or comparing the two
10:28
a lot of jobs are definitely not
10:31
accommodating to adhd when i first moved
10:35
to california i got this job at this
10:36
brokerage which i hated i was only there
10:38
for six weeks it was dreadful super
10:40
boring but i kept having to get up like
10:43
i would go on my walks or whatever and
10:44
everybody sat down the entire time they
10:46
didn’t even take their breaks at this
10:48
job so one of the girls that sat next to
10:50
me she was like i just want you to know
10:53
that
10:53
as much as you get up they’re taking
10:55
note like they can tell that you’re
10:57
always getting up from your seat that
10:58
you’re always going on break
11:01
i was shook
11:03
i couldn’t believe it because number one
11:04
it’s legal to take a break right like
11:07
what and there was it was not an
11:09
accommodating job to to adhd
11:12
versus now where i already mentioned how
11:14
i’m able to get up and do what i want so
11:17
it was a complete shock to me
11:19
how accommodating they were we do talk
11:22
about this a lot in my research this
11:24
idea of
11:26
kind of being aware of what environments
11:28
work for you and don’t work for you and
11:30
you know acknowledging that not every
11:32
environment works for every person so
11:34
you mentioned that you find it difficult
11:36
to sit in one place and you know i think
11:39
being really super
11:41
self-aware of that is i guess do you
11:43
have any advice for
11:45
other people with adhd
11:47
in terms of thinking about
11:49
what kind of environments to look out
11:51
for or you know what might be
11:54
like helpful or accommodating for them
11:58
in a workplace environment
12:00
a lot of us are extroverted people so
12:02
being in that type of environment where
12:04
we’re able to talk with people connect
12:06
with people
12:07
typically is key for us even when i
12:11
worked as a server that was
12:13
ideal for me because i was talking to
12:15
multiple people all day long seeing
12:17
different people
12:18
and every time i hit a table it was
12:20
something different and i think that is
12:22
important for someone like me it sounds
12:25
like you found a workplace that as you
12:28
said you know is really accommodating
12:31
like are there any challenges that come
12:34
up at work or other ways that you know
12:36
adhd might impact you in in your life
12:40
so we have training right for for work
12:43
because everything’s on digital now
12:45
doing a zoom training for someone with
12:48
adhd is
12:50
so difficult because number one i’m
12:51
doing it at my home and i literally live
12:53
in a two-bedroom zoo with six people and
12:55
a dog so there’s always something going
12:58
on
12:58
that’s the price of living in l.a
13:03
so we were doing this they wanted us to
13:05
take on rating as um that’s something
13:08
that the underwriter normally does
13:09
remember i was talking about how the
13:11
underwriter will give the broker the
13:12
premium that they want to based on the
13:14
risk they wanted to bring that task on
13:16
down to us uas
13:19
so when i say ua i mean
13:22
underwriting assistant which is my job
13:25
and the training for that with there’s
13:27
like 20 uas on our team
13:30
was so complex i couldn’t keep up i mean
13:33
for one i feel like my man is just
13:34
running through it and
13:36
and i’m i’m on the older side i’m 36
13:38
right and a lot of my team is young
13:40
um so they’re just out of college and
13:42
fresh and they can get things and i’m
13:44
not getting that at this age number one
13:47
number two you’re talking too fast
13:48
number three everybody’s i could see
13:50
everybody in their camera doing
13:51
different things you know i see old girl
13:53
with this cute star wars poster in the
13:55
back and i’m missing what my boss is
13:57
saying about how to rate it was
13:59
overwhelming so i ended up like crying
14:03
like like i was so like in tears because
14:06
i felt stupid like i’m not i’m i’m not
14:10
getting it so um my boss knew like just
14:14
oh my god i speak volumes of her she
14:16
could just fill it so she i aimed me on
14:19
the side and she was like are you how
14:21
are you doing with this and i was like
14:22
i’m
14:23
i’m not i’m not i’m not getting this at
14:25
all i can’t keep up and she’s like don’t
14:27
worry about it we you and i will do a
14:29
private like a private
14:32
training
14:33
and that’s what we did and i was able to
14:35
get it and so now and now
14:37
because she knows i can’t do training
14:39
that way
14:40
whenever she teaches something to the
14:41
group i just have my own separate
14:43
session with her so that i can get on
14:45
the same page yeah
14:47
that’s such a beautiful demonstration of
14:50
a workplace accommodation that i think a
14:52
lot of people
14:53
might never even think of asking for so
14:56
i love that you shared that and also
14:59
how amazingly like empathetic and like
15:01
responsive of your boss to she’s
15:04
amazing yeah like what all bosses should
15:07
aspire to right yes they do they should
15:11
yeah what are some other ways that
15:13
you’re able to get through your work day
15:16
and like cope with some of the adhd
15:17
challenges
15:18
in addition to taking a break taking
15:21
mini breaks i am on medication i was a
15:24
handful to my parents until i got to
15:27
college they didn’t know what to do with
15:28
me
15:29
and that’s when i got diagnosed that i
15:31
had adhd because being an 80s baby that
15:34
was
15:35
not a thing okay you were just a problem
15:37
child
15:38
getting on the medication getting on
15:40
adderall changed everything for me
15:42
it was the first time that i had ever i
15:45
didn’t know that you were able to sit in
15:48
class and and and pay attention to the
15:50
teacher by itself
15:51
up until that point that was never a
15:53
thing in my life i didn’t know that i
15:55
could have the ability to
15:57
write a 10 page paper seriously before
15:59
it would take me two weeks to write a
16:00
paper
16:02
because i just could never sit that long
16:04
in the library and doing the research i
16:05
was busting out these papers in two days
16:07
that was a new thing
16:08
and so
16:09
i still am on medication to this day
16:11
because that’s um
16:13
it’s how i get by i think it’s worth
16:15
noting like understood we’re not
16:17
necessarily for or against medication
16:19
we’re just super supportive of whatever
16:21
works for you so i’m glad that you found
16:24
something that works for you
16:25
and it sounds like
16:27
you didn’t
16:28
get a diagnosis until college you said
16:31
that was the first time that you were on
16:33
medication it’s hard and it’s kind of
16:35
interesting because
16:37
you’re saying you know your mom had made
16:39
a lot of these observations um about you
16:41
from a really young age so why do you
16:44
think it took so long to
16:46
you know get that diagnosis and that
16:48
acknowledgement of what might be going
16:50
on
16:52
i would say probably a couple of reasons
16:54
i grew up in the 90s and the 2000s
16:57
it was still adhd was still very much
17:00
undercover at that time and then two
17:03
mental health especially in the black
17:05
community is something that is not
17:07
talked about um so rather than
17:11
seeing if maybe there was a reason why i
17:13
was all over the place as a kid
17:15
it was just easier for them just to
17:19
let me do my own crazy things
17:22
and uh deal with the teacher whenever
17:24
the teacher came in with some new
17:25
disciplinary thing some new plan where i
17:27
had to sit in the front and whatever um
17:30
so i would say that would be the two
17:32
reasons
17:33
would be the delay in my diagnosis
17:35
yeah
17:36
and do you think that’s shifting at all
17:39
definitely
17:41
yeah like what what changes have you
17:43
observed like in your own community
17:47
just the fact that we’re talking about
17:49
it
17:50
i mean just the open conversation is
17:53
something that was so taboo just 10
17:55
years ago and i think that’s the good
17:56
thing about living now is that you just
17:58
can be who you are you know whether it’s
18:00
adhd or
18:02
i don’t know just be you right
18:04
yeah
18:05
you know i think that
18:07
i had imagined you know insurance to be
18:10
not very interesting and even the way
18:13
that you’re describing it you’ve added
18:15
this layer of excitement and made it
18:17
sound really interesting and a lot of
18:19
your stories are very visceral i i think
18:22
you’re
18:23
you sound like and you know incredibly
18:26
smart and interesting person so
18:30
i hope that you see that going
18:32
just keep going off the staff
18:37
well thank you seriously thank you
18:40
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andrew lee and is produced by gretchen
19:44
miestra and justin d wright who also
19:46
wrote our theme song laura key is our
19:48
editorial director at understood scott
19:51
cashier is our creative director seth
19:53
melnick and brianna berry are our
19:55
production directors thanks again for
19:57
listening
19:58
[Music]
20:19
you

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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