Hi, I'm Kristen Carder
and I have ADHD...
I’m a multi-certified coach, top podcast host, and longtime educator who supports adults with ADHD in building self-trust, emotional resilience, and practical skills for daily life.
FOCUSED
My extensive experience working with ADHDers began in 2012, and I now lead a global community of adults with ADHD in my coaching program.
The most important thing you need to know about me is that I am not an accountability coach. I’m not going to check in on you. I won’t nag you about your to-do list. I won’t follow up to see if you’ve done the thing you said you were going to do.
That sh*t doesn’t work long-term anyway.
As a life coach with multiple certifications, I practice causal coaching. Causal coaching goes deep and gets to the root of the problem which empowers you to find your own solutions to solve issues from the inside out.
This makes “being held accountable” obsolete and gives you the power to overcome your difficulties with strategies and tools that work in real time.
experience
I bring over a decade of ADHD expertise
I teach my clients evidence-based techniques for self-acceptance, overcoming procrastination, prioritizing and planning, emotional regulation, and the most crucial skill EVER when it comes to thriving with ADHD: mindset management.
As an internationally recognized coach for adults with ADHD, I have spent the last four years growing and nurturing a coaching program, FOCUSED, in which I have taught, loved, and served thousands of ADHDers with an approach that you won’t find anywhere else.
If you want to coach with me, be ready to hear the truth.
My clients often tell me that they feel like I am reading their mind and that I’m the first person to truly “get” them.
Clients express shock at the transformations they make through coaching with me because no other approach has ever prompted lasting change for them…until now.
The shifts made within the FOCUSED coaching program are no less than miraculous.
professional
ADHD isn't a trend or a buzzword to me. It's my life's work.
I’ve spent the last 15 years reading books, attending lectures, researching, studying, and learning face-to-face from the leading experts in the ADHD industry.
Many of these students had ADHD and this is where I began to research and learn about ADHD in an effort to help our clientele.
I implemented focus strategies, executive functioning techniques, and coaching tools to help students manage their ADHD and learn to thrive with it.
In 2020 I transitioned to full-time podcaster and coach for adults with ADHD.
Since then I have had the privilege of speaking with and learning from some of the most prominent names in the ADHD industry.
- Dr. Russell Barkley (Taking Charge of Adult ADHD)
- Sari Solden (Women with ADHD)
- Dr. Russell Ramsay (Rethinking Adult ADHD)
- Dr. Patricia Quinn (100 Questions and Answers about ADHD in Women and Girls)
- Dr. Ari Tuckman (More Attention, Less Deficit and ADHD After Dark)
- Dr. Ned Hallowell (Driven to Distraction, Delivered from Distraction, and ADHD 2.0)
- Dr. Tamara Rosier (Your Brain’s Not Broken)
In recent years I have turned my attention to becoming trauma-informed and have studied the work of Bessel van der Kolk, Gabor Mate, and Peter Levine, among others. I have obtained a trauma-informed coaching certification and attended premier conferences and lectures on trauma such as the Masters Series at Oxford University.
Being a trauma-informed coach is crucial to my work with ADHD adults because many ADHDers have experienced repeated trauma…even simply the trauma of living with ADHD in a neurotypical world.
Many people with ADHD have been mistreated throughout their lives and need to be held in a very safe space in order to have the freedom to make true transformation. My efforts in deepening my understanding of trauma-informed care have made an incredible impact on my clients’ ability to get results.
My Story
I have transformed my own life in a way that is nearly unrecognizable.
Growing up, I was the fun girl in school who pretended not to care about dull things like grades and responsibilities…but deep down I truly did care.
I couldn’t figure out why my friends could keep planners and do their homework and I couldn’t. My grades ranged between D’s and A’s and I often heard that if I only applied myself, I could be really successful.
In college, I nearly drowned in a double major that I didn’t really enjoy. I suffered from binge eating, depression, anxiety, and the inability to follow through on pretty much everything.
Then I was diagnosed with ADHD.
I eagerly went on medication, and for the first time, my grades hung on the fridge. It was my own fridge in my college apartment and I put them there myself, but still it was the proudest moment of my life to that point.
Everything made so much more sense. I felt validated. I was able to get so much more done than I ever had before.
I thought I was cured…dang, was I wrong.
I spent the next 10 years floundering. I was medicated, but I didn’t have the support I needed to succeed. I didn’t know anything about ADHD or how it impacted every area of my life.
I got married and spent a year trying to make myself write thank-you notes…I never did finish them.
I started an in-home music studio but spent most of my time watching daytime TV and avoiding any real work.
I looked forward to being a mom my whole life, but when the time came, the season of pregnancy, nursing, and raising toddlers was the hardest period of my life.
I was unmedicated and unsupported. I didn’t have any scaffolding in place for myself.
I felt like such a failure. I was frustrated and full of shame. I didn’t know at the time that ADHDers need and deserve a lot of help, and so I tried to do everything myself.
Finally. FINALLY. I reached my rock bottom when I noticed that I was day-drinking because I couldn’t handle my life. My kids were loud, the house was a disaster, I couldn’t make myself work consistently in my business, I was overwhelmed, and I was often reaching for alcohol to soothe the spin cycle that was my ADHD brain…at 2pm…on a Tuesday. Not cool.
Something had to change. I realized I hadn’t been medicated for ADHD since I got pregnant with my first son. That was nearly 10 years prior.
I went back on ADHD medication and started looking for resources. I researched ADHD extensively and learned that most of the obnoxious things that I hated about myself like being late, interrupting people, being disorganized, being emotionally explosive, etc, were actually symptoms of ADHD.
By this time I had started a tutoring business and was working with many ADHD students, so everything I learned I was able to apply to my work with them.
turning point
My ENTIRE life changed when I joined a group coaching program. For 2 years I devoured coaching materials. I took classes. I completed workbooks. I listened to replays of group coaching calls and saw myself in every single human being coached even though most of them were neurotypical.
Even with medication and everything I had learned about ADHD, nothing made such an immediate impact as coaching.
This group coaching program is what helped me to have the courage to start the I Have ADHD Podcast. It allowed me to learn to process overwhelm and frustration so that I wasn’t screaming at my kids anymore, it helped me to develop more self-awareness and improve my relationship with my husband. And it helped me to grow my tutoring company to a multiple 6-figure business.
I was far less triggered, far more productive, and much MUCH more fulfilled. All from a $297/month coaching program.
This is why I’m very serious about sharing the benefits of getting support within a group coaching setting, especially if you’re an adult with ADHD.
During this time, I went looking for a podcast to help me with my ADHD. I wanted something fun and concise that combined coaching tools and ADHD strategies. After a year or two of being frustrated that such a podcast didn’t exist, I decided that I needed to be the one to fill this void.
The I Have ADHD podcast resonated deeply with ADHDers who were looking for mindset tools beyond the typical tips and tricks to manage symptoms.
A year later, I made the decision to sell my tutoring company and I went into coaching full-time. It turned out that the demand for my coaching services greatly exceeded my capacity to fulfill the requests (not a terrible problem to have!).
This is when I created my group, FOCUSED. I wanted to help as many people as possible and make coaching more accessible to those who couldn’t afford 1:1 fees (often thousands of dollars).
I modeled FOCUSED after the coaching program I got so much out of, and tailored it to the impulsive, distracted, inconsistent ADHD brain.
Since starting FOCUSED, I’ve coached, served, and loved thousands of adults with ADHD.
It has been the greatest honor of my life to walk ADHDers through the process of self-acceptance, establishing a life that is compatible with their ADHD brain, discovering within themselves the ability to accomplish their goals.
This might sound like the end of the story, but it’s not.
I am just getting started. And my guess is, so are you.
Spotlight Moments & Success Stories
“Years of support and radical self‑acceptance—Kristen gives tools that help me cope, grow, and feel less alone every single episode.”
Kristen breaks down why ADHD shows up differently for women on HBR’s “Women at Work” podcast, offering fresh, science‑backed perspective—and plenty of hope.
Legendary ADHD expert Dr. Ned Hallowell calls Kristen’s approach “refreshingly practical” in their Distraction episode, shining a spotlight on her signature coaching style.
“FOCUSED is a game changer! I feel 10x more capable of getting where I want to because I’ve got this group and all the amazing courses and calls (even though I’ve never attended one live)”
“Every call is better for my brain than the last. I’m so excited and grateful for these tools—NEW CHAPTER STARTS NOW.”
From packed conference halls to virtual summits, Kristen’s high‑energy talks help ADHDers ditch shame and level‑up their self‑trust—one actionable takeaway at a time.
“In just three months I understand my brain, manage my ADHD, and hit personal + professional goals I never thought possible—this community is SO supportive.”
Kristen was invited to SpaceX’s headquarters to talk all things ADHD—sharing brain‑based strategies with rocket engineers and proving that neurodivergent minds fuel big missions.
“I frikkin LOVE this community! Legitimate change is happening in my house because I finally feel connected instead of the odd one out.”
“I feel heard. After a year of listening I joined FOCUSED—Kristen is the real deal; don’t hesitate to become your best self with her support!”
Selected by Verywell Mind as one of the “10 Best Podcasts to Listen to If You Have ADHD,” thanks to its mix of science‑backed advice and real‑life validation (July 2024).
Join thousands of adults who have learned to work with their brains—not against them.
ADHD Tips That Actually Make Sense
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