It’s been a long time since I shared what I do and who I am.. so hey!
I’m Jess Rad,
As the founder of @thewomen_hood and creator of NeuroCurious I get outspoken about the unspoken.
I help organisations and communities close their gender gaps, increase allyship and celebrate neurodiversity.
I deliver programmes, workshops and talks in businesses to help shift mindsets and cultures through powerful reframes and micro changes.
NeuroCurious seeks to normalise, diversify and celebrate neurodiversity and invites everyone to join. Whether through our on demand content, events or workplace programmes and talks. Values aligned businesses can sponsor or partner with us too.
I offer consultancy to companies navigating internal change, understanding their female and ND teams and new gender as neurodiversity networks.
I speak up and out as a proud parent carer navigating the send systems and as ambassador for @amazesussex happy to share my story with media and press to amplify hidden realities for many.
I also mentor social entrepreneurs. Host and MC events, conferences, book launches.
Lastly, I do have time as a solo mama and parent carer to two extraordinary kids. I love to
Today is a difficult day for women and minoritised genders.
We need to give space to the rage, grief and fear.
To return to the small things that make us feel good.
That we feel grateful for.
And then I invite you to not lose hope 🤍
Coincidentally I had planned to share this snippet of my speech at @ndawards today and it feels more pertinent than ever to remind you of your power.
Yes, politics and policies are in dire straits.
But your voice still matters.
You still get to make decisions that either help close the gender gaps and support women, or not.
If you are female / trans / non-binary, this may look like:
👉🏽asking for a pay rise / charging more
👉🏽delegating the childcare / domestic chores
👉🏽speaking your truth in a relationship
👉🏽choosing to pause and rest
👉🏽prioritising your needs
If you an ally or curious about how to be:
👉🏽asking questions about another’s lived experience
👉🏽researching perimenopause / periods to understand
👉🏽speaking up and out against misogyny
👉🏽offering to lighten the mental load of your partner / mum
👉🏽ask the women in your life how they’re feeling about Trump winning today and then really listening to
What else would add here?
Share in the comments or save for later if you want to return to this. Or maybe share it with someone who could become an ally.
Let’s not forget the power of the collective.
🤍
“You gave so much to us. It makes a difference. Thank you.”
That message landed in my DMs after my talk for Women in Banking and Finance this week.
And then came this one.
“I was crying at least 5 times. What touched me most was your mission, that you do it not only for yourself, but especially for your child, to make this world better for her.”
This is why I do this work.
It was the highest engagement WIBF have ever had at a PEP Talk. And I felt every single bit of it.
Talking about neurodiversity through an intersectional lens, and the gender gaps in identification, diagnosis, and lived experience, is one of my favourite things to do.
To make it feel accessible. To refuse the shame. To help people feel heard before we go somewhere bigger together.
Because the strengths are real. The leadership qualities are real. They are just hiding in plain sight.
The DMs after sessions like this one always remind me how needed this conversation is.
Deeply, urgently needed.
Indeed I believe demand will only increase as more of us understand our neurotypes.
Thank you to everyone who showed up and reached out. I feel so privileged to do this work and your feedback means the world to me 🙏🏼
If you are an HR Director, L&D or inclusion lead who wants to bring this conversation into your organisation, my Uncovering and Celebrating Autism and ADHD in Females session is available as a standalone or as part of a wider NeuroCurious programme.
If you’re keen to learn more about neurodiversity in a safe and positive space - join us at the next NeuroaCurious 18th June. In person tickets are limited. Tag someone who needs this below 👇
Link in bio or DM me.
💜
Everyone thinks you’re having the best time.
“You’re smashing it” they say.
Admiration. Excitement. Is that envy I sense?
I try hard to show up with the all things.
Yes the good and the proud.
But also the real and the hard.
Without over sharing.
No one needs more traumas or triggers.
The news does that job well enough.
Yet behind closed doors the life of a solo parent carer is harder than you’ll ever know.
Unless you live it too.
The maybe you do know.
We’ve become expert maskers I’ve realised.
A skill honed in childhood.
That serves me so well even today.
Putting the mask on for my kids. For the friends who don’t get it. For the people you don’t feel safe to share with. For the neighbours. For when you’re out and about. You have to hold it in.
It’s a very heavy load to carry.
That invisible backpack of advocacy and worry.
I feel it physically. Emotionally. Mentally. Spiritually.
It takes its toll.
On such a sensitive soul.
But on we go.
A little rest and then on we go 💜
Written a minute ago, off the cuff after being inspired by @welcometoheidi and @briannapastor ’s vulnerability
It’s never all as it seems x
Final attempt at training complete.
I have not done this properly at all people!!
Seriously if I look this red after 5k wear your sunglasses for when I attempt double on Sunday 😎
BUT I’m doing it for one reason only - to raise money for @amazesussex
And as I ran today this is who came to mind…
Tagging some amazing people in this space @differingminds@blacksenmamas_uk@futurepowergang
There are too many parent carers to mention - you know who you are 💜💜
I need to raise another £150 before Sunday to get to my goal - please consider grabbing your coffee from home and instead sponsoring me - lots of people will be so grateful when they try to access Amaze support - it really is life changing 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Drop a 💜 if any of the video resonates x
I’m on the cover of Sussex Business Times for international women’s day alongside some incredible women! ✨
But this is not a story about me.
The inimitable @sam_thomas_dh who I only met last year thanks @materialiseint saying I MUST meet him, has become the most incredible ally and sponsor and supporter of my work.
And he’s the reason why I’m on here and have double page spread all about my work @thewomen_hood and NeuroCurious.
And indeed that I was there at all given my son refused school that morning (see previous post!).
I actually deliver allyship workshops and programmes for businesses now. Teaching people about the power of supporting people who might be facing more barriers than others. And here I am being I’m receipt of just that.
It makes a difference gang.
So regardless of your gender - if you are in a position of influence, power or privilege- think about whose life you could improve by speaking about them in rooms they’re not even in.
And maybe getting them on a front cover and framing it so they never forget their steps of progress on this wild and wonderful journey 🥹💜
Feeling grateful x
I need your help!
I’m running the Brighton 10k next week for @amazesussex and I’d be so grateful if you could sponsor me 💜🙏🏼
As a proud solo parent carer of two extraordinary kids and Amaze’s first ambassador fundraising for them is a role I take seriously. (The next NeuroCurious will hopefully be 18th June to support them too).
I know only too well how isolating, exhausting and confusing advocating for your kids needs through the broken education and healthcare systems is, having done it for 13 years now. Not to mention the wider impact on parents, families, the primary carers, our work, and even the economy (listen up Starmer!).
The vital work Amaze does, the huge output from a tiny dedicated team, is nothing short of life changing for so many.
Your few pounds will help a family through the maze of systems and help bring some harmony and balance from the stress and dysregulation.
Contrary perhaps to your perception of me, I still don’t really identify as a runner so doing 10k is far from easy for me!
I would be so grateful for any donation and help spreading the word 🙏🏼
And if you’re local - please come and give me and my tomato puffed out face a cheer 😄🫶🏻
Probably the most important talks I’ll do this Neurodiversity Celebration Week.
Two assemblies at a local Junior School.
I got to reach all the kids and share what neurodiversity is, how you might experience it within yourself or others, and learning about our sensory profiles - much like the last NeuroCurious event @platf9rm in November.
By the end, kids were identifying whether they had a sensitivity or seeking behaviour for different senses including proprioception, vestibular and interoception.
I event introduced the concept of a mind ramp and equity vs equality. Which to my delight they were already aware of ✨🙌🏼
The sensory experience is such a vital part of the ND daily experience. It’s the key to regulation and designing your life around your needs, and advocating for them too.
At the end I got asked “what inspired you to do this work” by a year 5 boy. Firstly, wow, what a question! Secondly, I shared that I have an ND daughter and I found out my own neurotype at the age of 41 which was too 41 years too late. So I feel passionately about helping educate others and society about this. In particular I want people to think differently about autism. Because contrary to some of the latest conversations, it’s not just 5 year old boys and yes masking does exist.
I even got a hug at the end. So this little girl must have felt very seen ❤️🙏🏼
If you missed NeuroCurious last year we recorded them so you can catch up - check out thewomenhood.com. They’re just £10 each.
Is your local school talking about this? Do you think they should be? The future is in our kids ❤️
Here’s to all the mama’s on the margins.
You’re never alone.
May today for you a moment to pause and reflect on your brilliance.
And happy Mother’s Day to my mama (see end slide) @karenburton8038 who set up @ovariancancersupportgroup out of her ow experience. I’m in awe of you every day.
❤️
Who needs to feel seen on this day that you can tag below, every journey matters 👇
#mothersday
Don’t judge a woman by her Instagram posts.
I was honoured to be invited to be part of the International Women’s Day front cover this year.
Only 12 months ago I saw that cover featuring some remarkable women including @materialiseint and @pippacitygirl and thought – wow 🙌🏼
To be asked to join them a year later? Mind blowing!
That could be the end of this post.
But let’s peek behind the scenes.
Because we all have the outside truth – and our own unspoken story.
Mine? I’d had a poorly son for over a week. He was finally well enough for school, but his anxiety wasn’t.
I’m a solo mama with no family nearby and a very limited support network for my kids.
I didn’t want to miss this opportunity, so I explained the situation to @sam_thomas_dh – who very kindly welcomed my son along on the day. (All the women of course accepted him and actually barely noticed 😄❤️)
This is why I work for myself. Flexibility isn’t a nice to have. It’s essential.
And I know I’m not alone in this.
So many parents – especially mothers in heteronormative relationships – are quietly holding so much alongside everything the world sees.
The school calls between meetings.
The painstaking advocacy.
The research to understand your kids needs.
The intensity of getting the basics done.
The courses to alter your parenting.
Juggling different therapies and expert interventions.
The mental load that literally never stops.
This is the invisible juggle.
And it deserves to be named, not hidden.
So we can normalise it and build societies and workplaces that accommodate the reality of women’s lives.
I’m proud that I now have a workshop that explores exactly this - to help shine a light on all the Unpaid carers in our workplaces. DM me if you’d like to know more ❤️
If this resonates, share it with someone who needs to feel less alone today.
Have you done the juggle today? Tell me I’m not the only one 🫶🏻
The realities of women’s lives today remain complex, misunderstood and often unspoken.
As my work with businesses through @thewomen_hood expands more and more into male allyship, I’m choosing today to shine a light on the stories of women’s realities.
To try and close the gap of the unknown unknowns.
And to help those that feel like they’re drowning, completely alone, at times hopeless - know that you’re not the only one.
Some of these stories are mine.
Some are yours.
Many don’t feature here.
Change has to start with awareness.
So tell me which resonate or those we’re missing.
To all the men - don’t scroll on; take a moment to read please. This is not an us v them. It’s the pathway to gender unity.
Life is so short. Let’s find ways to come together ❤️
Happy International Women’s Day.
Jess x
