In Conversation with ... Jo Casey

Making Design Circular with Katie Treggiden

**This episode was originally an Instagram Live, so at the point of going live on the podcast, the rest challenge we talk about has already happened – however, the Making Design Circular Conference is happening on Thursday 05 September 2024 – find out more get your ticket for that HERE >>> **

In this episode, Katie talks to Jo Casey. Jo Casey is an Autistic and ADHD speaker and business coach who helps fellow quirky-brained entrepreneurs align their business strategies with their unique mental wiring. With over 20 years of coaching experience and 15 years of successfully wrangling her own neurodivergent business, Jo has mastered the art of turning cognitive curveballs into powerful business assets.

Their innovative approach enables established entrepreneurs to work smarter, often achieving twice the results in half the time - without having to start from scratch or pretend to be neurotypical. At a time when neurodiversity is finally getting its moment in the spotlight, Jo's work is redefining success in the business world, proving that neurodivergent traits can be entrepreneurial superpowers in disguise.

Jo's expertise has sparked meaningful conversations about neurodiversity in business, challenging traditional norms and paving the way for a more inclusive (and interesting!) approach to entrepreneurship. They’ve been featured in the Huffington Post, Kind Over Matter, and Tiny Buddha, among others.

When not kicking the business world up the butt, Jo can be found curating the perfect playlist for her latest textile crafting session or passionately explaining to puzzled friends why Jesus Christ Superstar is, without a doubt, the greatest musical ever written.

During this Katie & Jo discuss:

• The difference between physical tiredness and sensory overload
• How to spot the signs of sensory overload
• How to prevent sensory overload and take care of yourself when it happens
• How neurodivergent folk sometimes need sensory rest, but sometimes sensory stimulation
• Why physical and sensory rest is so important for purpose-driven founders of making based businesses making imperfect progress towards genuine sustainability

You can connect with Jo here:

Website: https://www.jocasey.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jocaseyb/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoCaseyB/

…and Jo has an amazing energy mapping tool, which will help with some of the stuff we discussed, which you can access here: https://www.jocasey.com/nd-energy-kit/

Here are some highlights:

Depletion versus Nourishing

“One of the concepts we talk about is the things that deplete you and things that nourish you – and I really like that concept because I could be doing something that is really calm, but I’m finding it really quite depleting, or I could be doing something that is really energetic, but you’re finding it really nourishing. I really like this idea of what is depleting and what is nourishing.”

How to know when you’re experiencing sensory overload

“Treat yourself like a glorious experiment... tune into to what’s going on in your body.”

On rest as disruption

“These are my needs – and it’s perfectly fine, in fact it’s admirable, to meet my needs. Exploitative capitalism teaches us to exploit resources to the point of depletion and we are our own primary resource.”

Being the change we want to see

“There is something about being the change that we want to see in the world – and having emotionally grounded, rested, healthy people, we ‘re much more likely to be able to inspire that in others… one of the things we know from neuroscience is that when we’re running on adrenaline and cortisol, the creative activity in our brain is really limited… so our ability to solve problems drops down and if there was a time when we needed people to come up with solutions to really complex, thorny problems, it’s now.”

Books, Podcasts & Articles we mentioned:

Emergent Strategy by Adriene Marie Brown

Maintenance Phase podcast with Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes

Laziness Does Not Exist by Dr Devon Price

How To Discover Your Environmental Superpower – Making Design Circular short course

Making Design Circular Conference – 2024

LEARN HOW TO TALK ABOUT YOUR ECO-EFFORTS WITH CONFIDENCE so you can connect with values-aligned clients and customers without the fear of getting called out.

10 am–5 PM BST Thursday 05 September 2024

A 1-day virtual conference for purpose-driven founders making imperfect progress towards genuine environmental sustainability.

Broken: Mending and repair in a throwaway world

Katie’s sixth book celebrates 25 artists, curators, menders and re-makers who have rejected the allure of the fast, disposable and easy in favour of the patina of use, the stories of age and the longevity of care and repair. Accompanying these profiles, six in-depth essays explore the societal, cultural and environmental roles of mending in a throwaway world.

Cultivating Hope, 3 part mini course: Are you ready to cultivate hope in the face of the climate crisis? Sign up to Katie’s three-part free mini course that will help you move through feelings of helplessness, reconnect with nature and take aligned action.

Making Design Circular membership: An international membership community and online learning platform for environmentally conscious designers, makers artists and craftspeople – join us!

Spread the Word:

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And find me on the Interwebs: @katietreggiden (Twitter, TikTok), & @katietreggiden3908 (YouTube) & @katietreggiden.1 (Instagram) – and if you’re a designer, maker, artist or craftsperson, join me on IG @making_design_circular_

About Katie:
Katie Treggiden is the founder and director of Making Design Circular – an international membership community and online learning platform for environmentally conscious designers, makers artists and craftspeople. She is also an author, journalist and podcaster championing a hopeful approach to environmentalism. With more than 20 years' experience in the creative industries, she regularly contributes to publications such as The Guardian, The Observer, Crafts Magazine and Dezeen. She is currently exploring the question ‘Can craft save the world?’ through her sixth book, Broken: Mending & Repair in a Throwaway World (Ludion, 2023), this very podcast.

Get full access to Brackish at brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe