Neurodiverse is a term for people with neurological differences, abilities and strengths. Neurodiverse people experience, interact with, and interpret the world in unique ways, and for Lisa Nicole Rosado, founder and CEO of We Are Women Owned, it’s her superpower. Diagnosed at age 32, she felt both relieved that she could start living her life entirely unmasked, but also weary of outsider’s perceptions. “I felt like people would think I was incapable of being a successful entrepreneur,” she said.

Likening herself to a bird who craves freedom, flexibility and adventure, Rosado launched We Are Women Owned (WAWO), a platform to discover, shop & support women-owned small businesses after starting her own product-based business and realizing there was a lack of a community of women entrepreneurs in the space. Existing communities did exist, but Rosado was discouraged to find that they required crazy qualifications, revenue streams and added fees — just to be a part of.

We interviewed Rosado about what it means to be neurodiverse, how it helps her run her business, and how supporting others lead her to support herself.

How did WAWO come to be?

The business started as an online women’s boutique that went along with the blog I was running at the time — Style Theory Collective. I started doing pop-ups and I brought other women owned product-based businesses along with me. I started to think about what was in a name. Not that many women were really owning, celebrating, or making it known that they were a woman owned business. And so there was something really powerful to me about the name, We Are Woman Owned. It meant so many things.

Can you talk to your neurodiversity — and how that helps you run your business?

Two years ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD — at the age of 32. Although I’ve lived my entire life with it, after officially being diagnosed, it took me a little while to view my own personal ADHD symptoms as positive qualities. With time, I began to recognize that these traits were actually some of my superpowers.

For instance, my impulsivity. When I get excited about an idea (like starting my business) or project, I may be more likely to jump on the opportunity than most neurotypical people. With time, and the awareness I have surrounding how I experience impulsivity, I’ve really worked at creating space to flesh out these ideas and weigh the pros and cons of them to help me take calculated risks within my business.

Another symptom many women with ADHD are known to experience is being very sensitive and I am absolutely a very emotional, sensitive person. It’s what’s allowed me to connect with our community and our clients on a more humanistic level. I care so deeply and do think it’s likely contributed to being the compassionate person that I am.

When I first found out, I thought I would be stigmatized — I had been masking my entire life up until then, and I wasn’t great at pretending. But I was scared I wouldn’t be taken seriously.

What made you open up about being neurodiverse?

I had a successful business, yet I was the one making myself feel less than and incapable. I was aware of the challenges that I was facing, and I’ve learned in the last year to give myself more grace and to have as much compassion for myself as I do for others — and so I do talk about it.

I started to receive countless messages from women stating, “This is me.” I’d get on the phone with them and have deep, honest conversations about our shared experiences, aspirations, and fears. I started to realize that we’re all working towards something great and helping each other — there’s nothing that I love more.

You run your own business. How do you stay motivated?

I’m passionate about our mission, our community and who we’re serving. To me, it’s a bit of an addiction — I frequently get dopamine hits doing the work that I do because I genuinely love who we serve.

Since suddenly losing my mother a few months ago, my priorities have shifted toward finding ways to ensure that I’m truly running my business and that my business isn’t running me. That means I have more time to focus on nurturing my relationships with friends and family members and continue to nurture myself and my interests outside of my business.

This has been a great motivator for me to find ways to simplify our systems and processes while still providing the utmost value we can for our clients and community.

Do you think certain qualities push people towards entrepreneurialism?

I think there’s a whole spectrum of people — some thrive better working for others, some for themselves, and some are somewhere in the middle. The world and our businesses need people all over the spectrum to continue to survive & thrive.

I feel like I’m the type that is best suited working for myself and I also love partnering and collaborating with others through the work that I do. In my personal experience, I did find the thought of working for someone else’s dream challenging and really felt as though what I needed and desired was more flexibility & freedom in my day-to-day life. It’s also important to me that I am immersed in work that I am genuinely passionate about or else I can find myself easily depleted and unhappy.

At the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, not having the structure I once had and someone to report to every workday when working for someone else eventually sent me spiraling.

Learning how to hold myself accountable or finding someone to help hold me accountable has been critical in making sure that even the least “sexy” tasks are getting done so we can continue to move the business forward.

What tips do you have for other women entrepreneurs?

For me it comes down to two main components. I need tools that work for me — my brain loves it and I need ease, dependability, and collaboration. Adobe Acrobat Fill and Sign checks all of those boxes — it’s my absolute favorite tool. We send agreements and contracts multiple times a week, sometimes daily because we accept new members into the We Are Women Small Business Directory on a rolling basis.

It’s really helpful to have that tool to make it seamless for the person on the receiving end to sign it. I also like the ability to edit agreements and contracts — indecisiveness happens, and it really does make everything easier.

I also need support and accountability. Having a person or a team in place to work alongside me to build WAWO and navigate the day-to-day operations is crucial. As more of a creative, visionary thinker, something I’ve recognized I can struggle with is implementing those small steps that bring us to achieving the greater goal. Having a team in place that really understands my heart, my vision, and how I work has been such an asset to me and to where WAWO is today.