The Name is Bonde, Meghan Bonde

How to Live Large as Multiple Neurodivergent, Entrepreneur, and TedX Talk

When the chaos and “too muchness” of daily living, job performance, and relationship building feel overwhelming, many adults search online and in books for clues about what’s right and what’s wrong about them. Rarely do we hear from people stepping into the community of Gifted Professionals and Communicators that they started their quest with a therapist or even confided in a trusted friend.

Until we are more certain whether the world is totally off or we experience all senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell) and social situations in exceptional ways, we tend to “stuff it” and try to fit in. Because Paula Prober has been blogging every week for the past 10 years and wrote three books, starting with Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Adults and Youth, she shows up most often when we talk about the importance of discovering more about how to live and show up in the world.

Paula Prober plus Kazimierz Dabrowski’s research about intensities and positive disintegration was the point where Meghan Bonde, M.A. CCC-SLP, EdS found her life-defining point of no return. She went from the obscurity of public education and took the large leap forward into entrepreneurship and monetization of her own experience and insights around systems and routines that start with how your brain is wired.

Everything changed when Meghan figured out, on her own, she is multiple neurodivergent including a “superhearer” (central auditory processing disorder), an AuDHDer, a “rainforest mind” (gifted), and a highly sensitive person (HSP).

When Paula Prober writes about decades of experience with gifted adults, she emphasizes this: “Before talking with others about your giftedness, you first ought to acknowledge for yourself that you are intellectually more advanced, more complex, than the average human. That you think more, feel more, and know more. You have high levels of sensitivity and empathy. This does not mean you are extremely capable of all things, all the time. But, it is likely you love learning and are curious about most things and are quite capable, often, if you are interested.”

Meghan Bonde started her business The Intensity Hub and Team Neurodivergent in 2022 when she realized she was spending great energy fighting for the needs of students identified as gifted, twice-exceptional, or multiple neurodivergent—not including herself in her advocacy. Talk to any great teacher in public education and they all say how much they love their students. Meghan knew she had to make a difference in a new way as an entrepreneur, where she had unlimited opportunities to prioritize her own needs while creating a model for her kids as well.

Most professionals start in traditional situations, working for someone else, trading off days of their one precious life for money, and conforming to The Matrix of rules and systems created by someone else for all to follow without questions. The gifted brain starts kicking in harder and seeking an escape route when they do all they are asked to do, learn lots of new skills, get certifications, compromise their health with more hours for work, and find that that is not getting to the life they want and the true nature of who they are. Those are the kinds of adults we see in our community and the ones who complete the GPC form to make themselves known.

Meghan Bonde

Meghan completed the form and decided to show up in other, new ways. Her TedX talk in October 2023 is at this link: Gifted Adults: Work the Way You’re Wired to Increase Impact.

Meghan addresses the topic that has grown rapidly since we started our community, which is what happens after childhood. Who is paying attention to millions of professionals, and communicators, with gifted brains between the ages of 18 and death? Most of the research and conversation is around school children and parents of school children with almost nothing dealing with millions like us. Deborah Ruf, Ph.D. has invested her life of research and teaching into the lifespan issue. Her substack is Gifted Through the Lifespan and we are eagerly watching for her newest book this fall, Losing Our Minds: Too Many Gifted People Left Behind.

Gifted awareness

Q: Is this true for you? Because you are a deep thinker, highly intuitive, creative, analytical, and curious, you bring a particularly complex dimension to professional relationships.

Meghan: I have found navigating professional relationships to be complex.  I analyze the systems within an organization, come up with creative solutions, and have a deep need to work together with others to move toward a more equitable environment.  I struggle with meetings when I am not clear about the objective and vision and want to have deep conversations to define the problems that we are trying to address and dig deep into the root cause of why the problems exist to use our time, energy, and resources in a way that has the most impact.  For a long time, I thought everyone approached work in the same way as I did and felt very confused when people didn’t.  I thought deeply about how to communicate effectively, when to be patient, when to speak up, and how to show empathy and appreciate each person’s perspective and differences while honoring my ideas.

Professionalism focus

Q: Did you become a professional on purpose or did your career path open a door into the profession you identify with today?

Meghan: I became an educator and entrepreneur when I started a day camp in my unfinished basement with my best friend who lived across the street.  My family was full of educators and I loved to play school, so we would plan activities for the kids in the neighborhood to give the parents a break on the weekend and charge 50 cents per child per hour.

When I graduated from college with a degree in psychology, but didn’t want to become a psychologist, I decided to become a speech-language pathologist and work in the schools.  Because I am a systems thinker and love leadership, I quickly shifted to leadership roles in special education, and later social-emotional learning and gifted education as a coach.  I have come full circle as an entrepreneur and coach other gifted, twice-exceptional, and neurodivergent entrepreneurs to grow their skills as speakers and leverage their speaking opportunities to grow their businesses.  I love to use my background in universal design for learning to provide personalized learning that invites deep critical thinking and then supports adults with their executive functioning to implement their ideas.

Communication focus

Q: Which of your communication skills do you seem to work on constantly, always learning, always evolving?

Meghan: Sharing my story about discovering my “rainforest mind” on the Tedx stage was a big step for me to face my fear that I might upset some people and know that it is ok for me to have new ideas in the future and still share my present truth. I am continuously learning to lean into healthy conflict and speak my truth even if other people might disagree with me.  As someone who is deeply curious, I worry that I am missing some information or haven’t considered a viewpoint.  I need to remind myself that it is ok to say something that feels true to me and change my mind later or disagree with someone.  I am also so empathetic that I want to protect the feelings of others, but I know that healthy conflict can bring people closer and is so powerful to facilitate change so I am learning to integrate empathy with conflict.

Words to Live and Laugh By

The power of quotes and rhetoric is part of the gifted person’s thinking.  Here are the quote Meghan shares often.

“When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change” ― Thich Nhat Hanh

We feature professionals who are initiating meaningful conversations with other gifted minds and storytellers–and who they serve. They connect regularly through this blog, our newsletter, and their emails to nurture and support the network that enriches them. See if their words and actions work for you or engage with them directly by sending a comment and sharing your insights.

If you are curious about how sensitive, creative, intense, multipotential, professional, ethical, expressive, and clear you are about your intentions, wants, and needs, go here to check your GPC Score.