1st Annual Global Neurodivergent Leaders Summit 2025 Pre-Conference Podcast

Listen in here:https://www.youtube.com/live/s98wSybqlH8?si=9trQmPReID0NQFbd

1st Annual Global Neurodivergent Leaders Summit 2025 Pre-Conference Podcast Transcript Below:

Dan Dominguez:
Hello my good friend Gigi, welcome. How are you?

Dr. Gigi Sabbat:
Fantastic. How are you Dan?

Dan Dominguez:
Man, I'm so excited. We got such a great crew assembled for this NeuroDivergent Global Leaders Summit that you have so expertly helped me put together. It is going to be so good. I've been looking at, you know, as we're—as we started organizing this, Gigi, we got—we got some people who started sending us their topics, and as I start seeing the topics that we have coming up from our speakers for this summit on July 10th, I can't help but be so excited.

And I'm so glad to have you to be a part of it because—you know—I, what I did, what we did is we grabbed a bunch of neurodivergent people and said, “Hey guys, let's put a program together.” But then I said, you know what, there is not a single one of us that's got the organizational skills necessary to put something like this together. So I reached out to you and you didn't hesitate one moment because you are all about helping give a voice to people that need a voice. And I think neurodivergent leaders need a voice.

One of our guests is Paul McCarthy, who unfortunately will not be here. He's written an entire book about what happens when we don't appreciate neurodivergency and different types of leadership. So I'm so glad to have you here, Dr. Gigi. I'm gonna let you say a few words, and then we're gonna bring on some of our guests that are with us today—some of our speakers that are gonna be at the event on July 9th.  

So Dr. Gigi, how about a few words from you?

Dr. Gigi Sabbat:
Absolutely. I'm really looking forward to the first annual Global Neurodivergent Leaders Summit. This is an event you do not want to miss. We highly recommend that you reserve your seat. As complex as this subject may be, we are tackling the subject. We need to have this conversation. It's not just about raising awareness. It's also about educating others about this subject. And my topic will be: You can lead. Yes, you. Regardless if you are neurodivergent, you can lead.

Dan Dominguez:
Yes, and you know, that's the—that's—that's—I think a big topic, right? And again, Paul will be better at it, and Paul Daniels—I hope he makes it. I know we haven't heard from him just yet, but he—he talks about the very fact that you're a neurodivergent is something that makes you special, not something that makes you not capable of doing things.

So I love the topic of your talk, You Can Lead. I'm gonna go around the room because we've got a few people here with us. So I'm gonna introduce Manny Pineiro first. He is my good friend—you know, this is such a great connection we made. Manny is also a golf enthusiast, Dr. Gigi, and this is—what a great guy he is.

I literally forgot—and that's so neurodivergent, ADHD of me—I literally forgot that I had a scheduled appointment with him. I thought it was a half hour later than it was. So, the day comes, and I am on the golf course—because I like to go walk nine holes in the morning—and I'm on the golf course, and I look at my phone and it says, Manny Pineiro has joined your meeting. And I said, What?

So I pulled over, I sat on a park bench, turned on my phone, and I got on the phone with him. And so that’s how it—that was our initial meeting. And we had so much in common. He's a fellow veteran, he’s a different thinker, and his theme is Make Time Count.

And I want to—I want to thank you, Manny, because that day you made that half-hour count. I didn’t even care that I was having a great round and went on the next hole and made a mess of it, because I got to connect with you, my friend. And you're—as Gigi—I’m gonna borrow one of Gigi’s phrases—you’re a beautiful soul. You're a great human being. And you're a leader.

So—welcome, Manny. I'm just so glad to have you here.

Manny Piñeiro:
Thank you, brother man. Thank you for that introduction and the love, man. It just filtered right through the screen and I'm grabbing all of it. Yeah, man,  I'm excited to be part of this. You know, you can imagine how many folks, you know, are staring in that world of ambiguity, not realizing that they, can I fit in? Can I, am I supposed to be here? So getting this invitation to just quantify the lead different focus that you have, man, it makes such a difference. I had an opportunity to chime in on Dr. Gigi. She was interviewing Dr. Jamil. So I caught one of her podcasts and my question to the guest was, How does he make time count? And I gotta tell you, since that day, we are now connected—because, you know, that’s how it works, right?

You know, you find this purpose-driven opportunity, and folks who actually do not want to normalize the things that they do—they want to actually be an extension, because they want to add. This is about, you know, How do we add to society? How do we contribute to humanity? And so it was just a great focus.

So again, I just want to tell you thank you. Thank you for the invitation. I’m excited about July 9th and getting together with the rest of these neurodivergent leaders out there and just kind of focus on making sure that we don’t forget that, you know, being a neurodivergent isn’t an obstacle.

Dan Dominguez: That’s right.

Manny Piñeiro:  Actually, I would like to say it’s probably a blueprint in solving problems that you just don’t see.

Dan Dominguez:
Oh man. That is a great segue. And we’re not going to give it all away here, but we want you—if you’re listening, if you’re watching, and you’re interested in attending the summit—the reason we’re having this launch call is we want you to meet people like Manny. 

We want you to meet Dr. Gigi. We want you to meet our next guest—because she’s a PhD. She studies this stuff. I actually read an article—I was studying the subject...I read an article and I said, OK, it's Dr. Holly White. I looked her up, and she's hard to find on social media. But I was able to find her, and then I connected with her, put her on the podcast, and she actually was part of the genesis—along with Paul McCarthy—for putting this summit together, and then getting Dr. Gigi involved and having you here.

So I'm going to bring her on stage and introduce Dr. Holly White. Let's see. We'll put her here. Manny, you and I will step off to the side. Dr. Holly White, how are you?

Holly White: Hi. I'm fabulous. Can you hear me OK?

Dan Dominguez: We can hear you just great.

Holly White:
OK. Excellent. I'm a Mac person, I guess, now, and so I'm on my phone. Mac doesn't play nice with StreamYard right now. So in any case, I will get this figured out.

I'm very happy to be part of this group that just keeps growing and changing in real time. It's amazing. I love following this, and thank you, Dan, for pulling us all together. And neurodivergent people have a way of, well, diverging into their own spaces. And you have a way of bringing people together without putting them into boxes. And it's amazing.

I mean, I think this is a fabulous opportunity to—I hate to say celebrate differences—but really, I guess that's what it is, is creating a space for people who don't have a space and making it maybe not just OK, but learning to leverage what's actually an edge. But it is rarely appreciated as such, even by the people who have the edge, because it doesn't always feel like an edge.

And so I think maybe with this unique constellation of people, we're going to get a whole lot of different angles of this that’s going to be such that someone—everyone—will find at least something of value in this.

Dan Dominguez:
Absolutely. Absolutely, yeah. You know, I've got to give you a lot of credit because, like I said, reading your article and learning about the positive aspects of being neurodivergent—of how it makes us more creative, how we solve problems differently, how it helps us see the world in a way that most others will not—really inspired me.

As a matter of fact, I was at Dr. Gigi's Global Warrior Summit, and I talked about the fact that you don't have to be like everybody else in order to succeed. As a matter of fact, it’s actually an advantage that you not be like everybody else.

Is that opening video? I've loved that video since it first came out. You know, here's to the crazy ones. Here's to the ones who think they can change the world—because they're actually the ones that actually will do it.

So you’re one of those for me. And tell us a little bit—you know, as I said, I don't want to give away our talks, because we want people to tune in for that and get the full power of it—but one of the things you talk about, your title is Radical is Relative: Trusting Your Instinct Before the World Catches Up. So I would love for you...

Just give us a glimpse—what are we going to hear about when we talk about Radical is Relative?

Holly White:
Well, let’s see. For people who perhaps aren’t neurodivergent, that might not be intuitive, but I would say that for many people who think differently—when you talk about people who want to change the world and everything—people who think differently already engage with the world differently. And it’s not even a question of wanting to embrace that. That’s just the way it is. You can either embrace it or just not do anything. It’s not really a question of doing things a very different way from how you’re wired, because it just isn’t going to work.

And so when I say there’s a creative edge—essentially, the idea at the very core of what makes anything creative is its novelty and its edginess. And by definition, it’s new, so it’s untested, and it can be threatening and scary and uncertain and ambiguous.

And for all of those reasons, I think sometimes people who are very comfortable in that zone—like a lot of people who think differently, who perhaps have ADHD or any number of other things that would put them into kind of a thinking-differently group—well, those ways of thinking very differently come very naturally. And so a lot of times when I’m with other people who think differently and I say something that would otherwise seem wild and crazy, it’s not perceived that way.

So a person who has just a very widely distributed network of ideas in their head and has a tendency to, I guess, come up with wild, crazy ideas all the time doesn’t really see them as all that wild and crazy—until they bring them to the attention of people who think maybe more linearly, who look at them like they’re nuts and are like, That’s crazy. We don’t do things like that here. And it’s like, Oh, I guess… okay, it didn’t seem that crazy to me.

So you can think of it in terms of something that is new and edgy and game-changing as being radical if the world’s not ready for it. But when I say it’s relative, it’s not just relative to the time period where it’s introduced—it’s relative to the person, right?

I mean, to some extent, it’s got to be the time period too—like what’s radical now, radical then—how everything from technology to all these changes, things that are very different. But I just mean, even at the very basic level, when you are a person who can think, Well, I can see how this thing might be related to that thing over there… I mean, any number of ideas that you might have, that you think, These things are—they seem like a no-brainer. Surely someone’s done them before, right? Let me just take a quick look. Why hasn’t anyone done this? Wait, how is this even a new thing?

So I think sometimes people who are neurodivergent will have a tendency to underestimate how radical their ideas may seem to other people. And there tends to be this resistance from people because—you know, and again, I’ll save a lot of this for the talk—

Dan Dominguez: Yes, please do!

But man, you’ve got all of us—look, all of us are like, Come on, tell us more, right? But this is so good because you’ve studied this. 

Holly White:
And I’m probably preaching to the choir. For those of you who think differently, you’re just like, Yeah, I know, right? Of course the idea’s not so wildly crazy.

But the thing is too, the reality is, a lot of times—I think we’ve talked about this—it will come up in other speakers’ talks, I know. But even this idea of bringing in change in ideas and meeting resistance, or perhaps being promoted up in the ranks of leadership because of your success—because you do the thing you do really well and it gets you somewhere—but then all of a sudden you find yourself in a place where maybe you have a different audience or a different set of, you know, constraining influences, or all of a sudden you’re expected to play by a different set of rules—and rules have never really been your thing.

And there’s just a lot of different things that can sometimes even maybe undermine our confidence as people who do bring in radical ideas. So I really want to focus on some of the factors that are relevant both to the expression of these new radical ideas, if you will, and then also to the people who are receiving these ideas—and then to help us trust our guts, trust our instincts.

Just as a quick teaser, I’ll say that there is a reason—with respect to the brain’s wiring—why certain ideas will come out of certain types of heads. And they come out in a very different way. They don’t follow a normal pattern.

So if you ask someone with a radical idea where it came from and where it’s going next, they may not be able to articulate it. It seems like it came out of thin air. And there’ll be more about that.

But for that reason, they may feel unable to defend the idea—or unprepared to. It’s sort of like, Ah, I can’t explain that.And all of a sudden, that seems to undermine its credibility. And if you’re not a confident person, or you’re so used to being told you’re wrong, you’re different, you’re crazy—well, it’s really easy to just lose confidence.

And so the whole trust your instinct, trust the process is where I want to go with this, and really try to disentangle some of these things so that while we celebrate our ability to be new and edgy and game-changing, we can create a place that’s a little more receptive to those wild, crazy ideas—and understand all the different elements that contribute to that resistance on both sides.

Dan Dominguez:
You just said something so important—and it’s really important. And I know—I can see Raymond Kemp’s ready to jump in there. I can see Kathy is ready to jump in. I want to make sure we give everybody an opportunity to get on.

But here’s one of the things you said, is we have—you know, what I have found with neurodivergent leaders—with people in my world with the why of challenging the status quo—they’re either really, really successful if they can embrace their differences and be open to the fact that they’re going to be different, and they’re put in an environment where they’re appreciated for their differences. They’re going to shine. They’re going to be fantastic.

Holly: Absolutely.

Dan Dominguez:
If you put them in a separate environment, in another environment where they’re not allowed to be themselves—where they’re told, Oh, that’s a dumb idea, that’s crazy, that will never work—guess what? You see those people recoil into a shell.

So they’re either wildly, wildly successful, or they’re sitting in their shell because they’ve been told that they’re too crazy, they’re too out of the box. So I can’t wait to hear your talk, Dr. Holly.

Let me bring in Kathy, because Kathy is going to talk to us during the actual summit about conflict. So—Kathy, you're an expert on this topic. How does being neurodivergent—how have you seen being neurodivergent cause people to create conflict, and then how do we resolve? I'm sure there's a different way we deal with neurodivergency and conflict than most other people. Tell us a little bit—first of all, welcome, thank you for accepting the invitation, we're so glad to have you.

Kathy Simmons:
I'm so excited, thanks for the opportunity. I've already learned so much from everyone on this call, I cannot wait to see their full presentations, so I'm really honored to be a part of it.  

As I was listening to everybody else, I was thinking, OK, where—where do I fit in here with respect to leadership? And what I found is—I'm just going to say it to everyone, whether you're a leader or not—it's time to have the difficult conversations.

And I think a lot of us shy away from that. I think we were conditioned when we were younger that conflict is negative and icky and something that we should be avoiding at all costs. And I think that that has suppressed us in sharing our thoughts and feelings and ideas for fear of being seen as crazy or having no idea what we're talking about.

So I kind of want to change the status quo of "conflict is negative" and kind of flip the script a little bit and say—it couldn't be farther from the truth, right? It's a real catalyst for growth.

So I'm going to talk about how it's so important, I think, that self-awareness piece—before you can even have these difficult conversations, what led to making them difficult? Why are you viewing them as difficult? Identify what triggers you and how you react and respond in that situation.

Dan Dominguez:
And those things—and those are all our filters, right? Everything we do—I've got Manny in here, I've got Raymond in here—do I have any other veterans in here? We talk about—when we talk about veterans, we talk about PTSD. We talk about, you know, my good friend and former Navy SEAL, Chris Smith, talks about  residue. 

And I think that’s—whether you’re a veteran or whether you’re just somebody that has gone through any type of traumatic experience—everything that ever happens to us leaves some residue. And what we mean by that is, those are the remnants, right? And you either deal with them or you don’t, but they’re gonna impact how you think and how you filter things.

And I love what you said about conflict. I think we’ve all been in situations where we avoid conflict, avoid conflict, and we don’t want to say something that rocks the boat. But man, when you finally do say that—and have that conflict, and have that conversation, that important conversation that needs to happen—I’ll guarantee nine times out of ten, the outcome of having that tough conversation is way better than what you imagined it was going to be, right?

And so we have to have the courage to have that tough conversation—with that direct report, with that boss, with that peer, or with that client. Sometimes it’s that client that we have to have a tough conversation with. So, Kathy, I can’t wait to hear more of your talk. I’m so excited that you’re a part of this. By the way, she is a Better Way–Challenge–Contribute. So for those of you keeping track of the YOS’s in this group, you’re gonna see Challenge a lot, you’re gonna see Better Way, and you’re also gonna see a lot of Contribute.

Let me bring in my good friend Raymond Kemp. Raymond? Welcome. Thank you so much for being here. You are one of my pillars of leadership. I look to you as someone who just has been a leader—and a high-level leader—for so long that your opinion matters to me, and I know it matters to a lot of people.

And when I saw the talk topic for Raymond Kemp, I knew you were going to go there because you’re a Navy guy. But you titled it, Navigating with a Different Compass: Leading with ADHD in a Neurotypical World. First of all—great title. And thank you for being here.

Raymond Kemp:
It is absolutely my pleasure, and so happy to stand next to Kathy, who is also a Better Way -Challenge - Contribute, as I am. And she was talking about conflict—I was like, It’s my life. 

In the Navy, our left, right, lateral limits are so tightly woven that if you could just imagine a young 17-year-old joining the Navy process and these very, very tight rules and regulations in place—it was very, very challenging.

So when most people are looking at that North Star and setting their celestial navigation to the top of that, my compass was all over the place.

One evening, I walked out on the deck of a guided missile destroyer—which is the workhorse of the Navy, about 510, 515 feet worth of GIDSUM—and I walked out onto the flight deck where the helos land. And I looked up, and the helicopter light was just moving all over the place. And I was like, What in the world is that pilot doing?

And then I was like, Well, I can’t hear it. And then the night watch—the person who stands the watch back there to make sure everything is safe and sound—I said, Hey, what’s going on? How are things going out here? Without mentioning how crazy this helicopter behavior was.

And he goes, Everything is well. The moon is bright, right? And I was like, OK... that’s the moon.

It made me think—because the ship was bouncing around, I thought it was the light. Anyhow, that day made me realize—Man, that’s how I feel sometimes when it comes down to focusing on various different duties and responsibilities and things that I’m responsible for. And I realized—my compass is just different than other people.

So I look forward to sharing, you know, different ways and techniques that I was able to, you know, see that compass moving around while everybody else was fixed on the magnetic north or the North Star.

Dan Dominguez:
Yeah, that is great—and I can see the—you know, you guys can't see it, but I can see everybody, and I can see everybody just chuckling because I think we've all had those kinds of experiences where we experience something differently than everyone else does.

I can see everybody that’s on here, right? Let’s get everybody on here. Let’s see, are we missing one? Oh yeah—no, Holly’s there. Raymond’s there. Let’s see. We got Dr. Gigi. We got Kathy. We got Manny. And Dan. I think that’s everybody, right? Is anybody not—do I not see anybody on the screen? I think everybody’s there.

Guys, thank you so much for being a part of this. This is so great. As I was reading—as I said when we started—and I was reading the introductions, and I was reading your careers and your achievements and the things that you’ve done, it’s so great to have you be here and share your expertise with our folks in the audience.

We’re looking to have hundreds of people in the audience on July 9th. So I’m going to ask: What would you say—and I’m going to go around—the way I see it, I see Raymond and then Dr. Gigi, and then I see Kathy, and then Manny, and then Dr. Holly. So I’m going to go around the room and I’m going to ask you to say: What’s one way you want to encourage somebody that’s listening or seeing the recording of this launch event to encourage them to come? What are they going to get?

What are you getting? I can already see a couple of you have mentioned the value you’ve gotten just from meeting the folks that are on this panel.

But Raymond, we’ll start with you, since you were the last to go and the first to give us a—what would you say to somebody that’s thinking about coming to the event?

Raymond Kemp:
The first thing I’d say is it is so exciting to hear other people—particularly for those of us who have the neurodivergence of ADHD—just to hear different techniques and tools and ways to stay focused so that you can accomplish your mission and to impact hearts and minds in a way that is comfortable for you.

Many of us see our neurodivergence as a superpower. I’m one of those people. And what I know is that I can see patterns in chaos. And once I was able to understand that, I was able to lead differently.

So it’s a pleasure to be here, and I certainly hope to get the same and more from these talks.

Dan Dominguez:
That’s fantastic. All right. Going down the row—Dr. Gigi, my outstanding co-host. Dr. Gigi, what would you say to somebody that’s listening right now or watching the tape?

I called it tape—gosh, am I dating myself? Watching the clip—I don't even know what we call this—but watching the recording and saying, hey, you know what, I'm thinking about going and listening because these people are so amazing. But what's—from your side—I mean, you host these kinds of summits all the time. What's your take on that question?

Dr. Gigi Hamilton:
Absolutely. So I have a quote, and it's: "Growth is truly the beauty of life."

And so essentially, when you continue to learn, you continue to grow. And so always be willing to learn.

I believe in you. Get in the room. Make sure to reserve your seat. We have amazing speakers from all over the world will be joining us. Lots of value, beautiful souls.

And also, grateful for our sponsors and for those of you who will be attending. Thanks so much.

Dan Dominguez:
I could see us going for five, six hours, especially if we let Dr. Holly grab the microphone. She's got so much to offer, she's brilliant, and let's get her next. Let's hear from Dr. Holly. ADHD, creativity—I love this.

Dr. Holly, you're in academia, but you're also in consulting. You've done this at a high level for a long time. What are your thoughts in terms of someone who is a leader, leading a team, and is facing some of the challenges that we all face as leaders?

I see Nikki just put a cheer in for you, Raymond. I can tell you my team knows very well about how I chase shiny objects and how hard it is to get Dan focused sometimes, but then when he gets focused, what he can accomplish.

Tell us a little bit about—what would you say, Dr. Holly, if someone's thinking about coming and joining us?

Holly White:
I'd say that you'll find a gem that you didn't know was in there. I can't imagine a bigger idea space than what you're putting together.

If you think about one ADD brain, how much is going on there? You have somehow reined in a whole bunch of us, lassoed us in, sent out reminders, and we're going to make sure we're all in the same space at the same time. I don't even know what's going to come out of it. I don't think any of us do, so I wouldn't want to miss it.

Dan Dominguez:
Oh my gosh, that is great. You know what? You know exactly how to appeal to yourself, which is appealing to our fellow ADHD brains out there, right?

Right. I keep saying ADHD, but that's because that's in your title, but it's any kind of neurodivergence.

I had a person on the podcast recently talk about autism. He says, we're all on the spectrum. We're just at different levels, right? We're all on the spectrum.

Some of us are very functional. Some of us are low functioning, but at the end of the day, we're all functioning, and we all have gifts and talents that we bring to the table.

I was looking through the YOSs of the group here. I was writing them out, and every single person that you see on the screen right now has the how of Challenge.

I know Nikki is really smiling right now because she says, look, I know your why is important, right? But your how is how you do everything, and that's probably what people see the most of.

Dr. Holly is Make Sense, Challenge, Contribute. She's me backwards. I'm Contribute, Challenge, Make Sense.

I knew we were going to hit it off when I saw her results come through before we met. I cannot wait to meet this person, and you have been such a great beacon of information and encouragement.

Every time I pick up the phone and call Dr. Holly, she answers and we have a great conversation.

Thank you so much for sharing your perspective.

Holly White: Absolutely. Thank you.

Dan Dominguez: All right, Manny, I'm going to put you on the spot. That high and tight haircut still?

Manny Piñeiro:  I actually washed it and curled it.

Dan Dominguez: It looks good. I can tell you went to the hairdresser.

Manny Piñeiro: 

First, Dan—I got to tell you, this is just to echo Dr. Holly. You know, bringing a group like this together, it's important, right? We need to create these types of psychological spaces, you know, zones for others to bring unconventional minds forward.

Sometimes you think you're the only one in the box. And unfortunately, when you find the one person, you go, oh, my God, he gets it. And then it's not that he gets it—it's that you're both on the same page of trying to figure it out. Right?

But I truly believe that if I can share a note for folks to want to be part of this—especially with what I do—we need to learn how to explore different… your different strengths and all our differences.

And just make them—make people realize that if you feel different, use that as a strategic advantage. Because that—that’s important.

You know, in my world of kind of pushing that message about time, you know, I want to explore redefining productivity, but on your terms, not someone else's. Because that's what makes you who you are. Right?

And I truly believe, you know, you don't need to speak like them. You just need to be like you. You know what I mean?

Dan Dominguez: Yeah. Oh, man. That resonates.

You know, if you've been watching my videos lately, I always end: “The world doesn't need more noise. It needs more you.”

There's a lot of noise out there. But what we need is more of you, because God made you the way He made you for a reason. And you're here for a purpose.

And we just got to figure that out so you can make that difference for someone somewhere—or for many someones in many wheres.

And Manny, I'm so glad you're here.

Hey, I'm going to have to give you a hard time because we're going to do a little bit—we're going to do a little bit of admin work while we're here.

You see what's on the screen. Nikki says, “I need the name of his talk” 

[chuckles]

I apologize. I sent it in. I don’t know what happened.

But it is actually going to be called: Wired Differently: Leadership and the Power of Intentional Time.

Oh yes—Wired Differently: Leadership and the Power of Intentional Time.

You know, I’m going to keep you on the screen because you brought something up that's really important to me. One of the ways that I lead different—and the reason my podcast is called The Lead Different Podcast is...

Dan Dominguez:
If y’all stay tuned, check out my post on Father’s Day. I want to talk about the fact—because, and I’m not going to give it all away—but, you know, when I was in the military—and all respect to Raymond and to anybody who served 20, 30 years—but I remember I had a young daughter, and I kept going to these general retirements and colonel retirements, and I would hear, “Man, I want to thank my family, because I know I missed a lot of football games. I know I missed a lot of recitals. I know I missed a lot of swim meets. I know, honey, I missed a lot of anniversaries.”

And it just hit me, and I said, you know what? I don’t want to give that speech.

And so I made that decision. And, you know, I was rocking and rolling. I was really badass in the military. Everybody said, “You're going to get promoted early,” all that good stuff.

And I said, you know what? I don’t want that to be the end of my story. So I’m going to get out. I’m going to go be a civilian.

Well, guess what? When you’re a high performer, you’re a high performer—whether you're in the military or in the civilian world.

Next thing I know, 20 years later, you know, I’m in a high-stress, high-responsibility corporate job. I’m flying all over the world. And my wife and I had had another baby, and now she was seven years old.

And guess what? Again, I’m not seeing her a whole lot, right?

And so I remember looking up at that time and looking up at the people that were in the spaces above me—so the next promotion—and every single person I saw was on that second or third marriage. Or their kids didn’t like them, right? They had terrible relationships with their kids.

So they were using that very narrow focus to just really be as successful as they could be professionally. But they were leaving behind the important things that I think are important, right?

So I’m saying for me—family is important. You can be laser-focused on being the best CEO you can be. But what if you’re leaving aside the opportunity to be the best dad you can be?

And I know, Manny, you’ve got a great relationship with your kids. I’ve actually interacted with one of them.

Manny Piñeiro:  Oh yeah.

Dan Dominguez:
You know, there has to be balance.

And I love that we have some ladies on the panel, because guess—here’s the thing: It’s not just women that need to be home for their kids. Dads need to be home for their kids.

And what I found when I was at a high level—you just stop making excuses.

And we’ve got to teach everybody to stop making excuses. You don’t have to say, “Hey, sorry guys, I have to go to my kid’s baseball game.” You’re the boss.

You just say, “Hey guys, we’re cutting out early. I’m going to go to my kid’s baseball game. I’ll put in the extra hours tonight.”

So the way that I think that you can lead different—that is important—is we’ve got to redefine winning. Because all those things are important.

And you’re absolutely right—you cannot get to Kobe Bryant-level basketball without a singular focus.

But even he, on the day he died, was in a helicopter with his daughter after having attended church services and on the way to a basketball practice.

Man, even the highest performers in the world can find a way to make time for that.

So that—you might hear. I get it. Hey, I’m fishing a little bit. Take a look.

Follow me on LinkedIn. Follow everybody—Manny, Dr. Gigi. I know Dr. Holly is not so active on LinkedIn, but you’ve got to just follow her.

All the rest of us are. Follow us, and Raymond, and make sure—these people put out outstanding content every single day.

And you are just going to be so—you’re going to be richer for the experience if you join us on July 9th.

Dr. Gigi, any thoughts from you as we're kind of wrapping up here? I want to make sure we give you an opportunity to say some closing thoughts. As my co-host and the organizer, I want to make sure I give you some time.

Dr. Gigi Hamilton:
Absolutely. Thanks so much, Dan.

And it was so amazing hearing from each and every one of our speakers here today. Thank you.

And we look forward to seeing each and every one of you listening in today at the first annual Global Neurodivergent Leaders Summit.

Again, this is an event you do not want to miss. And make sure to bring a notebook and a pen. Lots of value will be provided.

I have been taking notes today as well on this call. Lots of value.

Again, we look forward to seeing you there. God bless you and be safe.

Dan Dominguez:
Thank you, everyone. I’m putting the graphic up on the screen.

Make sure you register today. There’s going to be a link—if you’re watching on LinkedIn, there’s a link in the comments.

We’ll make sure and put it out there. Let us know what you thought of our launch call. Let us know what you think of our speakers.

I could not be more happy to be affiliated with all of you.

So I’m going to bring you all back on the screen.

And we’re going to all say—you know, I finish every podcast—when I do the podcast, I say, “Hey, why don’t we end the show on that note?”

So we’re going to try to do it all together: Why don’t we end this live stream on that note? Why not?

Guys, thank you for being on. Everybody who’s watching, we look forward to seeing you on July 9th.

Don’t forget to register. And reach out to us if you have any questions. I know my team is really excited—reach out to Nikki, reach out to Brenda.

I know Dr. Gigi has a great support team behind her. And any one of us—if you have any questions—reach out.

We’re here for you. We’re here to help you understand that being neurodivergent is not a disability—it’s a gift.

And let’s make sure we understand that for the gift that it is, and that we bring this perspective to more of the world so that we don’t end up being fired leaders—we end up being outstanding leaders of people.

Thank you, guys. Have a great rest of your day, and I will see you guys soon. Take care.

Dr. Gigi Hamilton:
Thank you. Good to meet everyone.

Group:
Bye, everybody.
Bye, everyone.