Today on the show I’m talking with a Show Up Real client who has tripled her revenue and doubled her following inside of Show Up Real. Brenda Miranda isn’t just an ADHD coach and therapist, she’s a late-diagnosed ADHD woman who truly gets it. As a first-generation Latina, she knows firsthand the struggle of balancing cultural expectations, big ambitions, and a brain that doesn’t always cooperate.

After years of frustration, unfinished projects, and burnout, her own ADHD diagnosis changed everything. With over 13 years in mental health, Brenda has made it her mission to help late-diagnosed ADHD women break free from self-doubt, overwhelm, and the constant battle of trying to “do things the right way.”

Her approach goes beyond just productivity hacks, she blends mindset shifts, emotional support, and ADHD-friendly strategies that actually work. Brenda helps her clients work with their brains, not against them, so they can finally follow through, stay focused, and turn their ideas into action—without burnout.

Whether you’re a professional trying to thrive in your career or an entrepreneur looking to grow your business, Brenda is committed to helping you harness your strengths, focus your energy, and finally make things happen.

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Doors are OPEN to Show Up Real, right now. If you want to start having FUN with your content while creating community AND converting your content into new business — join Show Up Real: https://catdelcarmen.com/show-up-real

Have a question? DM me on instagram or email me! 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/catdelcarmen
Email: catalina@catdelcarmen.com

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Learn more about Show Up Real, my Content Marketing Group Program.

Want to work with Cat 1:1? Apply here.

Follow @catdelcarmen and @showuprealpodcast on Instagram.

Learn more at catdelcarmen.com.

Summary Transcript:

My name is Catalina del Carmen, and I’m a wife, mother of two, daughter of immigrants, and rule-breaking business coach for women of color, coaches, creatives, and service professionals. I spent years trying to figure out the online business game—creating fashion blogs, YouTube channels, Instagram pages, email lists, all of the things—with little or nothing to show for it.

Now I run a growing multiple six-figure coaching business, keeping things radically simple so I can spend more time with my babies than my business. Inside my programs, Show Up Real and Show Up and Lead Mastermind, I teach my clients how to build an online community using authentic, revenue-generating content that doesn’t require them to be everywhere. Whether it’s your first four figures in business or six figures in my mastermind, less is more when you are committed to growing your impact and revenue at the same time.

In this show, I tell the whole mother f***ing truth about what it takes to build and scale an online business. I don’t gatekeep. I don’t tell you half the truth. I keep it real, and I will challenge you to do the same. Welcome to Show Up Real Podcast.

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What is up, y’all? Welcome back to Show Up Real Podcast! I’m so excited to be here. Y’all, doors are closing to Show Up Real this Friday, February 21. So if you want in, if you have any questions, if you’re like, “I need a little bit more information,” DM me on Instagram @CatDelCarmen or email me at catalina@catdelcarmen.com. Tell me, “I’m interested, but I have questions.” If you do that, I’m happy to set up time with you. Also, we can audio DM on Instagram as well. So let me know—doors close tomorrow! Let’s get your content going. Let’s get you actually making the moves you want in your content, okay?

All right, let’s talk about today’s episode. Y’all, I am so excited. I have been wanting to have a conversation with this guest and client from Show Up Real for so long. Today, I am talking with one of my clients inside of Show Up Real. She has tripled her revenue since she has been a part of Show Up Real, and she’s doubled her audience as well, okay? Today, I’m talking to Brenda Miranda.

And I’m so excited! Brenda isn’t just an ADHD coach and therapist—she’s a late-diagnosed ADHD woman who truly gets it. She’s also a first-generation Latina. She knows firsthand the struggle of balancing cultural expectations, big ambitions, and a brain that doesn’t always cooperate. After years of frustration, unfinished projects, and burnout, her own ADHD diagnosis changed everything for her. With over 13 years of experience in mental health, Brenda has made it her mission to help late-diagnosed women with ADHD break free from self-doubt, overwhelm, and the constant battle of trying to do things “the right way.” Y’all, does this not just sound so, so good?

I’m so pumped to have her on the podcast. I’ve been wanting to just pick her brain and get her perspective on ADHD and everything. But also, I wanted to ask her questions around how she created these results for herself inside Show Up Real, right? Like, what has she done to get out of her own way? Because when she first got into Show Up Real, it was a challenge for her to just show up in regular content and be her whole self in it. And now, this woman is literally going live every single week. She’s hosting a webinar next month. She’s just like, “Sorry, guys, I’m creating content. This is what I got to say today. Let’s move the f*** on.” Like, this woman has done so much. I’m so excited to have her on the show.

If you have ADHD, you absolutely have to listen to this. Or if you think you have ADHD or struggle with ADHD symptoms, listen to this episode. You’re going to take so much away. And you’re also going to hear from her about how she’s been able to get out of her own way and take action in her business. I’m so excited for this episode. You’re going to learn so much. She’s such a huge advocate for Show Up Real too, so make sure you hit her up if you have any questions.

For now, if you want to learn more about her after this episode, I’ll leave her information in the show notes. She also has a webinar coming up, so if you want to actually learn about how you can get stuff done with ADHD, make sure to sign up for that. All right, let’s get started with this episode. I’m so pumped. Welcome to Show Up Real Podcast, Brenda. I am so excited to talk to you!

Not just about you inside of Show Up Real and how much I just love coaching you, but I want to dig into your brain. You know I love your niche. You know I have ADHD. And I really want people to hear from you because I have a lot of questions about ADHD that I want my audience to hear. So I’m very excited to talk to you.

Welcome to the show! How are you doing?

“Thank you so much for having me, Cat. I love you as well. I love being coached by you. I love being in your community. So thank you so much for having me on your podcast. It’s definitely an honor, and I can’t wait to share with you and everyone else my thoughts and what has helped me in the program and in my business since I’ve been working with you.”

I’m so excited! Okay, let’s get started. I want to ask you—let’s actually start with Show Up Real stuff. Where did you find me? How did you find me? Do you remember?

“On Instagram! I want to say just through mutual follows. I know I followed Dielle, and then it was Liz, and then you came up somewhere in that realm.”

Cool. Okay. So really quickly, I already gave an intro at the start of the podcast, so I won’t go deep into that. But I wanted to start with—why did you join Show Up Real? Because you joined when it first opened, right? When it was like this brand-new program. Why did you join at that time?

“Well, because I knew that what I needed help with was my content. I wasn’t showing up consistently. I was wishy-washy. I started my business—I’m going on my fifth year now—and I just was not consistent in my business. I wasn’t always showing up. I was meeting people in person but just not taking my business very seriously. And the year that I found you, I was like, ‘Okay, this gets to be it. 2024 gets to be the year that I show up more consistently and meet some of my goals.'”

What were your habits or relationship with content at that time?

There was a lot of fear around visibility, a lot of fear of being judged and getting it wrong. Definitely, perfectionism would come up, and I didn’t really know what to post.

Yeah. So how often were you posting? Where were you posting? What did it look like?

Yeah. I was posting on Facebook and Instagram at the time. I remember you recommended that I focus on one platform, so I chose Instagram. I went over the numbers and the data—because that’s fun—and I realized my issue was with my feed. I was showing up in my stories a lot more, but let’s be real, stories disappear in 24 hours. That was my comfort zone.

I really wanted to post more consistently on my feed. So I went from posting 43 feed posts the year before I found you to posting 201 the following year.

Oh my gosh! You were showing up and teaching. I’m curious—because I talk about this a lot—beyond the business side of it, how have you grown as a leader through creating more content? Because really, it’s not just about the content. It’s about being the person who is willing to teach and share. From a leadership perspective, how has content helped you grow? Because if you think about it like reps in the gym, going 43 times versus 200-plus times, you’re a different person. You have different habits.

That’s a great question. I’ve grown so much in my personal life, and I’ve done that intentionally. I made a promise to myself—I didn’t want to have this growing business, hit my revenue goals, and not feel good about myself. I wanted to take care of my health, maintain healthy habits, and continue pouring into my marriage, friendships, and relationships—the things that are most important to me.

So even though my growth has felt slow at times, it’s been very intentional. I’ve learned to trust myself more. It’s been incredibly healing because, as we all know, entrepreneurship is like a personal development fast track. It forces you to confront your stuff.

I love the support you gave me because I remember going on Slack, asking, “Is this normal? I keep crying every time I post!” There was a lot of holding space for myself emotionally, working through those feelings, and regulating my emotions while still taking action.

Yeah.

I was very intentional about that. That’s how I grew as a leader—not allowing my emotions to take me out of the game, but instead, being with them, honoring them, and healing through whatever was coming up. For me, a lot of that was visibility trauma and proving to myself that I could do hard things.

So my goal was to follow through, show up, and use the Slack community for accountability. I committed to posting a certain number of times, participating in the challenges—the Grinch challenge, for example—and I told myself, “This year is the year that I don’t fall through the cracks. I am on the front lines.”

Yeah, yeah. What are your goals this year? I didn’t tell you I was going to ask you this, but what do you want to happen in your business this year?

Definitely a revenue goal. Last year, I made an average of $15,000 to $16,000 per month. My therapy side of the business is up and running, but from the coaching side, I want to be between $50,000 and $75,000.

I love that. You can 1,000% do that. I am so confident in you. You know I sing your praises all the time.

Thank you!

And I really believe in what you do. The missing piece for me, as someone who has been in the coaching industry for a while, is that I see the gap in the market that is Brenda. Like, I see it so clearly.

Nobody is doing this work from your perspective. Nobody is bringing what you bring, especially for Latinas. You relate to things in a way that others simply can’t because of how we grew up. And I follow a lot of people who talk about ADHD, and I still don’t see anything quite like what you do.

That means a lot!

Okay, let’s talk about the three things—whether it’s a strategy in the program, a piece of coaching, or a specific feature—that have been the most impactful for you.

Definitely, the curriculum. I went through it, and I know you’ve added and updated it over time.

The community was huge for me. Going on Slack, letting people know, “Hey, this is what I’m working on,” or “I’m stuck,” and just getting support. The challenges, too—like when I’d think, “I don’t know how I’m going to post this many times,” just having people there who were also doing the work was so inspiring.

Your coaching. You’re very involved, and I appreciate that. The way you run the program—you’re hands-on, and I get direct coaching from you. I look forward to it every time, whether it’s being coached by you or learning from how you coach others.

And the frameworks. Having a framework to follow when I’m unsure of what to post has been so helpful.

Yes! And I want to say—you went from 43 posts to over 200. I actually looked at your following the last time you were on the podcast, and the growth has been incredible.

I also went from posting zero reels to 50 reels. I go live every week, and it’s been over six months now.

Wow.

And not just online—I started attending in-person events, too. I went from zero events to five. That was huge for me because I’m an introvert. Plus, I tripled my revenue and almost doubled my audience. Even though I still have a small audience, I remind myself that I’ve doubled, tripled, or even 5x’d what I did before.

Yes, and I relate to that. Even for me, it’s like, “I’m never going to hit 10K followers,” but then I step back and look at all the things I’ve built. Growth is growth.

Exactly.

What was the question I just asked you? There goes my train of thought.

Oh! Let me answer it. I wanted to share what the program helped me create.

Yes, go ahead.

So my grandmother—she was like a mom to me—passed away in August 2023. She was my hero. She was a widow, she brought eight children to the U.S. on her own, and she built an incredible life.

Wow. Eight children? That’s amazing.

She was an incredible woman. And when she passed, I reconnected with what truly mattered to me. I started valuing my time differently. That was in August, and by October, I was in Show Up Real. I set a goal: I would give myself one year to leave my 9-to-5 and go full-time in entrepreneurship.

That had been my dream for 13 years.

Wow.

Yeah. I planned for it. I got serious. And with my ADHD, I now have so many tools to work with my brain in a way that makes me feel confident and capable. I also hired an ADHD coach and told them, “This is my goal. This is what I want.” And that’s where it all started.

Amazing. You’re amazing.

Thank you!

Okay, let’s talk about ADHD. Let’s talk about late-diagnosed women like me. Since I have you here, I need to pick your brain. How have you been able to navigate ADHD?

For yourself and how you’ve helped your clients do it too, right? In therapy and coaching. So let’s get started with a little background. Why did you choose ADHD as your niche—or if you didn’t exactly choose it, how did ADHD become your niche? And I’m sure that will tie into your personal story with ADHD, but tell us a little bit about that. What’s the story behind ADHD for you?

Right. I want to start by saying that I started working with neurodivergent brains and communities well before I even knew I was one of them. My first career was actually as a behavioral interventionist, working with children with autism.

I started doing that right after graduating from college. It was one of those things where I was just looking for a job, and that one was available to me. But I ended up really enjoying it and was actually really good at it, so I stayed in that field for seven years.

After college or during college?

This was after my bachelor’s degree. I worked full-time in schools and homes, helping parents support their children with autism. Now, looking back, I think about systems, and of course, that’s what I’ve been doing all along—helping tailor systems, routines, and habits to create positive change. I modeled that for kids and helped support their parents as well.

I did that for seven years, and then I realized I wanted to help people with their mental health. That’s when I made the transition into therapy. But even before that, I had always been around my neurodivergent community without realizing I was part of it. Things just have a way of working out like that.

I diagnosed and treated children for years. My first part of my career was solely focused on kids and teens. I really enjoyed working with kids with ADHD, but I’ll be honest—I wasn’t as educated about ADHD in adults as I am now. I worked in that space for about eight years, and then five years ago, I shifted to working with adults. That’s when I started learning more about adult ADHD diagnoses.

I had always been curious, though. I remember thinking, Wait, you can take medication and be focused? That would be really nice!

Right!

It was like, Wow, what would that be like? But I never identified the symptoms in myself. Even as a professional. And I know this is common—I’m not the only one. I was diagnosing and treating ADHD in children and adults, but I didn’t see it in myself.

Wow.

It was because I still had this stereotypical image of ADHD in my head—like, “Oh, but I’m not hyperactive.” I always considered myself inattentive, more of a daydreamer. People used to call me a turtle growing up because I moved at my own pace. But I never thought of myself as having ADHD.

It wasn’t until I got married and moved in with my husband that things started to click.

Oh yeah?

Yeah. I always say everyone in my family has ADHD, but my husband definitely does not.

Everyone at home had ADHD?

Yes! laughs I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But really, I feel like that’s how I grew up.

I get that.

I was talking to my mom about ADHD the last time I saw her. I’m actually seeing her again this weekend. But I remember telling her about ADHD, and she literally said, I don’t believe in ADHD.

Oh my god.

And I was like, Okay, Mommy. And she was like, You know, God… and I was like, No, no, no, no, no! I went off on her! I was like, God wants us to go to therapy, Mommy. God wants the best for us. It’s not God’s job to be handling this for us—we get to have a relationship with God and get help in the real world.

That’s so relatable.

Yeah. And then I turned it around on her and said, Maybe you have ADHD. You should check that out. And she was like, I saw a therapist once in 1989.

Oh my god.

I was like, Mom! We need to circle back on that. Anyway, continue—you got married, moved in with your husband…

Right. And he would very kindly point out certain things, like, Babe, this isn’t normal. And I would get so defensive. It would trigger my rejection sensitivity dysphoria, and I’d just get livid.

Yeah.

But my real wake-up call happened at my sister’s wedding. I call it my Cinderella moment.

Oh, I need to hear this.

So my sister calls me before the wedding and says, Make sure you bring everything—your ID, your dress—because I know you’re the person who will forget something. And I was like, I got it. Don’t worry about it.

Fast forward—we’re at the hotel, getting ready as bridesmaids. It’s about an hour before we leave for the church, and I realize…

I don’t have a shoe.

Oh my god.

One shoe. I forgot one shoe.

That is so ADHD.

So ADHD. Luckily, I had planned ahead—we had an Airbnb 15 minutes away, so it wasn’t too bad. But of course, I had to call my husband, who was already at the church hanging out with the guys. He picked up and just said, No. Not again.

Oh no!

It was hot, it was stressful, and I wanted to cry. I felt so embarrassed. And suddenly, every childhood memory of me forgetting things flashed before my eyes.

Yeah.

And I just thought, Why does this keep happening? Even when I try so hard to prevent it?

Yeah.

That was the moment I knew something had to change. I started researching, and the more I read, the more I realized—this is ADHD. Not just in my nephews, not just in my clients, but in me.

So I booked an appointment with a psychiatrist to get a formal diagnosis. I always tell people—self-diagnosis is a good first step, but getting a professional medical diagnosis is important.

Yeah.

I also tried ADHD medication for the first time. And I cried.

Oh wow.

Yeah.

In a good way?

In a good way. I couldn’t believe how different it felt.

Yeah. I relate to that so much. When I got diagnosed last year, I had been avoiding it for years. And then I hit a point where I was like, Dude, what the fuck is your problem? You need to do something about this.

Yeah.

And I think the thing that kept me from getting diagnosed for so long was that I didn’t want to be on meds. I had a huge resistance to it. But I finally reached the point where I was like, I can’t keep living like this. If meds can help me, I need to at least try.

And they changed my life. My relationships improved, I started taking care of my health, I started doing the dishes consistently—just all these tiny little things that for a neurotypical person are normal but for someone with ADHD feel huge.

Yes!

Okay, before we wrap up, I want to ask you one last thing. For folks with ADHD, what are the key systems or strategies they need to know about themselves to be productive in the way they want to be?

I love this question! First, ADHD is a dopamine issue, not a motivation issue. People with ADHD have difficulty regulating dopamine, which is responsible for motivation, focus, and task initiation.

So when you’re struggling to start something, your dopamine is likely low. That’s where dopamine hacks come in—things like listening to music, movement, rewards, or breaking tasks down into tiny steps.

On the flip side, when we have too much dopamine, we go into hyperfocus mode. It feels amazing, but if we don’t regulate it, we crash. The key is balance—learning to activate dopamine when we need it and stop before we burn out.

Wow. That’s so good.

This has been amazing. Where can people find you if they want to learn more?

Instagram! My handle is @XOBrendaMiranda. Send me a DM, let’s connect!

Amazing. Thank you so much for being here. This was such a great conversation.