World Entrepreneurs' Day is perfect moment to celebrate business founders with ADHD: Jodie Hill
For many people with ADHD, traditional workplaces are not only unaccommodating - they are actively disabling. I know this because I lived it.
I was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) later in life and spent years struggling to “fit in” to structures that were never designed with people like me in mind.
Now, as an entrepreneur and founder of Thrive Law, I’ve built a business that embraces difference - not as a challenge to manage, but as a competitive advantage.
Today is World Entrepreneurs’ Day, which is an annual global celebration of the everyday contributions of entrepreneurs worldwide.
According to organisers, the day seeks to raise public awareness of the skills involved in entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership while highlighting the vital role entrepreneurs play in driving economic growth through generating employment and assisting societal progress in different countries around the world.
It is also the perfect moment to spotlight a powerful trend: a growing number of people with ADHD are turning to entrepreneurship not as a dream, but as a necessity.
Studies show that up to 60 per cent of entrepreneurs have traits associated with ADHD.
Those with a diagnosis are five times more likely to start their own business.
Why? Because running your own business means you can finally design an environment that works with your brain, not against it.
ADHD brings creativity, risk-taking, hyperfocus, and out-of-the-box thinking - qualities that can fuel innovation and transformation in the right circumstances.
But these same traits, when unsupported in rigid workplaces, are often misunderstood as performance issues.
And here’s the truth that many employers overlook: if you don’t make your workplace inclusive for neurodivergent minds, you might just lose your best talent.
That person who struggles under your outdated policies may go on to become your direct competitor - and build a business that thrives because it embraces what you dismissed.
Last year, I worked with Lift Adventures to launch the ADHD Founder Blueprint, a resource for neurodivergent entrepreneurs who want to build successful, inclusive ventures.
It includes guidance on building supportive teams, managing energy and time in ADHD-friendly ways, and creating cultures of empathy and psychological safety.
The future of leadership is not about conformity.
It’s about authenticity, vulnerability, and designing businesses that include - and celebrate - difference.
So, here’s the challenge I’ll leave you with:
As a founder, leader, or employer - are you building a workplace where all kinds of minds can thrive?
Or are you unwittingly pushing your future competitors out the door?
Because the truth is, if we don’t create neuroinclusive environments, others will.
And they’ll lead the future of work without us.
Jodie Hill is founder and managing partners of Thrive Law