Koala Uncovers: Identity
On Monday 27 October, we hosted our first Koala Uncovers session: an open conversation on identity, timed to land inside both ADHD Awareness Month and Black History Month. The theme was deliberately broad, the many faces of ADHD, because the way ADHD shows up at work is never separate from the rest of who you are.
Why we did this
Race, gender, culture and self-perception all change how safe disclosure feels and how support actually lands, and most ADHD content treats those as separate conversations. We wanted one room where they weren't. It's the same instinct behind our founder's own story: being Black, a woman and neurodivergent are not three separate things to manage. They compound.
The conversation
Valerie hosted alongside Desola Franklin, known online as Your HR Bestie, an HR consultant with eight years across tech who has built a following helping people advocate for themselves at work. Across just over an hour, the two of them worked through masking (not pretending, as one guest put it on the night, but a survival mechanism for a workplace not built for your brain), when and how to disclose, what HR is actually for under the Equality Act, and the exhausting cycle of overperforming, burning out, recovering and starting again.
Desola had plenty of these moments herself. The one that's stuck with us since: keep learning your rights, and treat self-advocacy as an act of empowerment that takes bravery and courage, not certainty.
What people said
“Loved the space. Topics like this are so necessary to talk about. Neurodivergent people exist in all facets of life and our experiences are so different from neurotypicals. It's nice to know there is a space and products just for us, and to help us manage our everyday lives. Well done, Valerie.” One guest, in the feedback survey afterwards.
64 people registered, and at its peak the call had around 34 people on it live, which is honestly the right size for a conversation this personal. We're aiming to make Koala Uncovers a monthly fixture, not a one-off, so if this is the kind of room you want to be in, keep an eye on our socials for the next one.
