This year I've been deep in creation mode, working on a new collection of fashion pieces that are challenging my skills in all sorts of exciting ways. After spending most of 2022 focused on product development for Punch Needle World, I was anxious to get back to my art, especially after some big revelations that pushed me to think about myself and my work in a new way.

I've always had big dreams, too many ideas to act on, and a to-do list a mile long that I can never seem to keep up with. I bite my fingernails, am always running late, talk a mile a minute when I’m excited about something and wave my hands while doing so like the Italian that I am. I'm obsessed with my work, have endless energy for the things I enjoy and very little for the things I don't. I always saw these as unique character traits, some that helped me on my path as an artist and entrepreneur, but many of these also hindered me in ways that felt nebulous and hard to explain.

Then last summer, I was diagnosed with ADHD.

To discover this in my mid-thirties was surprising and a little disorienting, and set me down a path of introspection, rethinking my early life and some of the stories I had been telling myself about certain experiences, and reframing how I view my successes and struggles.

Having ADHD was not something I had ever considered, and it took me some time to process the diagnosis and to understand what it meant to me, and what (if anything) I wanted to do with the knowledge. I wasn't ready to share more broadly than close friends and family in the beginning, but if you received my newsletters this past fall you might have picked up on some of the self-examination that I was doing and how it was shaping my approach to my life and schedule!

In the early days of my diagnosis, I did a deep dive into reading books and listening to podcasts to better understand what it meant and to hear the stories of others who had been living with ADHD, in particular, other women like me who were diagnosed later in life. Along with the relief I felt to understand this thing about myself that had always seemed just out of my grasp, I also felt a huge sense of connection and community with others who both struggle (and thrive!) in similar ways to me.

Tracy Otsuka's podcast ADHD for Smart Ass Women was instrumental to this process, and a few weeks ago I had the honor of being a guest on her podcast. If you're interested to hear more about my story, some of the quirks that I now know were either symptoms or coping mechanisms, and how it's impacted my life and approach to entrepreneurship since, give a listen to the episode below!

These days I am practicing patience, being kind to myself, and learning to work with the unique ways that I get things done instead of fighting against it. Creating projects that have more structure (and deadlines) is a big part of that, and I am excited to announce that I will be launching a new collection of punch needle fashion pieces that will be displayed in Los Angeles in late April! It's been a monumental effort, but I'm thrilled about the way things are shaping up so far.

I can't wait to share more in the coming weeks... after a much needed vacation. More to come!