For Some ADHD Adults, It’s Fuel For Entrepreneurial Success

When Sharon Vinderine was a kid in elementary school, she had what she describes as a “a complete inability to focus on anything for more than about 30 seconds.”

“I was constantly getting distracted. I was constantly talking in class because I was bored with the content,” said Vinderine, 45, a Toronto mom of two. Her report cards were average — “certainly not where my parents would have wanted them to be.”

But back then kids weren’t diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that it was established as a diagnosis with its current definition (though the term ADD, for attention deficit disorder, was used a little earlier).

Although it was just two years ago that she was formally diagnosed, Vinderine says she’s certain ADHD is part of what has allowed her to successfully launch three companies, including her latest, Parent Tested Parent Approved (PTPA), now more than 10 years old.

Vinderine is part of a growing group who are speaking out about how learning to leverage the good aspects of the condition, has propelled them to entrepreneurial success. (In recent years famously successful people including Sir Richard Branson, Michael Phelps, Will Smith and Jamie Oliver have all spoken out about having the chronic condition once thought to affect only children.)

So how does the condition usually associated with inattention actually help some people succeed?

“I work really well under pressure,” says Vinderine. “The more pressure you put on me the more driven I am to get it done and get it done exceptionally well.”

The traits that made it hard for her to focus on repetitive school work may be exactly what inspires and drives people like Vinderine in business. “I think it’s allowed me to get where I am today,” she says. “Because I don’t have a lot of patience and focus, I’m constantly generating new ideas … I’m constantly challenging my business and my team to accomplish more.”