Day 1 of the event.
We woke up, grabbed breakfast with our partnerships guy (shoutout to Chris for being there with us!), and headed over to the expo hall to set up our booth. This was our first event experience, and the anxiety leading up to it was a lot more intense than we expected. At that point, everything we had been working on for the past few months – and really the past two years – was about to be put in front of people. We got registered, found our booth, and started setting everything up. After rearranging the table more times than I’d like to admit, we finally got it to a place where it felt right. And then we were ready!
…Two hours early.
Which sounds great in theory, but in reality, it just meant I had a full two hours to stand there and let my brain spiral.
I was so nervous y’all. The anxiety started creeping in fast, and once it started, it didn’t really stop. What if people don’t come up to the booth? What if nobody likes our idea? What if people really don’t like the app and say it’s a stupid idea? What if no one actually shows up to the event and we put in all this effort for nothing? Etc. etc.
It was just a constant loop of “what ifs” and every single one of them felt so real in the moment.
Eventually, I got some food in me, and once registration officially opened, something shifted. People started walking in, and then more people, and then suddenly there wasn’t time to think anymore. There was only time to talk. The flow picked up quickly, and before I knew it, we were in it – actually talking to people, explaining NeuroLocker, answering questions, and trying to keep up with the pace of it all.
And then people got it. Like, really got it.
Within a few sentences, most people understood exactly what we were talking about. We didn’t have to over-explain or justify why this tool needed to exist. They either experienced similar challenges themselves or knew someone who did, and that made the conversations feel different. Easier, in a way. More natural. There was this immediate sense of shared understanding that we don’t always get when talking to neurotypical audiences.
But this doesn’t mean it wasn’t still difficult to talk to people in the first place.
Talking to hundreds of people about something you’ve poured two years of your life into is a completely different level. There’s a vulnerability that comes with that, especially when you know not everyone is going to respond positively. You have to be ready for feedback, both good and bad, and figure out how to take it in without letting it completely derail you.
But it also wasn’t as bad as I had built it up to be in my head. Which, if I’m being honest, is kind of a theme for my anxiety.
We talked to so many people that first day. It felt like there was almost always someone at our booth asking questions, picking up flyers, or just wanting to learn more. Being able to watch people’s reactions in real time – to see when something clicked for them – was one of the most rewarding parts of the entire experience. It made all the late nights and stress leading up to the event feel worth it.
By the time the expo wrapped for the day, we were exhausted. The adrenaline had been carrying us, and once it started to wear off, it hit hard. There was an opening ceremony that night, but we ended up skipping it. We were tired, overstimulated, and honestly just needed a minute to decompress. So we went back, grabbed dinner at a pizzeria near our hotel, and talked through everything that had happened.
Day 1 was a lot. But it was also validating in a way we weren’t fully expecting.
Day 2 of the event felt different from the start.
We woke up a little more rested, but there was still this underlying tension. The structure of the day was different too – this time, we had sessions mixed in before and after the expo, which gave the day a completely different rhythm. Getting to hear from people who have made such an impact in the neurodivergent community gave me a renewed sense of purpose. It wasn’t just about what we were building anymore – it was about how it fit into something bigger, something that already had people advocating, educating, and creating change in ways that actually matter.
The first main stage session was given by Emma McAdam, the creator of the Therapy in a Nutshell YouTube channel. She talked about ADHD in a way that just clicked – describing it as having a Ferrari brain with bicycle brakes, and how that impacts emotional regulation and masking. Sitting there, hearing the science behind things we’ve experienced in real life, made it feel more real and more valid at the same time. And as someone who’s interested in psychology, I found it really engaging and loved learning more about the science side of it.
Next was Ky Westcott (aka thevibewithky) and his message hit in a completely different way. He talked about working with your brain instead of against it, and how important it is to be honest about your experiences – not just the positive parts, but the hard parts too. That idea stuck with me, especially considering NeuroLocker was built on lived experience and how those experiences have shaped how we have built the company. It reinforces the idea and the process behind what we have built and how it was built, and that means more to me than anything.
After the main session, I chose the breakout session led by Apryl Schlueter, who is an author and advocate who focuses on productivity for neurodivergent brains. Her entire session was centered around the idea that there is no single “right” way to be productive. She talked about the accomplishment loop and how productivity should be built around your own patterns, not someone else’s system. She said it looks different for everybody and is based on what your needs are. It was a really interesting session and gave me a new perspective on goal setting and how I can target it specifically towards what I need without feeling bad that it doesn’t look like someone else’s goals and accomplishments.
Then, we moved back to the expo. And with the expo comes more anxiety.
Yes, day 1 of the expo was super successful, but it was going to be different today. Day 2 was open to a broader audience, which meant a mix of neurodivergent and neurotypical people.
Neurodivergent people have an easier time understanding where we are coming from and relating to our struggles. Neurotypical people don’t always immediately understand what we’re talking about the same way neurodivergent people might, and so they don’t always relate to the challenges in the same way, which means it’s easier for them to disengage. And that’s not a bad thing – it’s just different (ironic right?). But knowing that going in made me nervous all over again.
The pace of the expo was also slower than day 1. And weirdly, that made it harder. On day 1, everything was happening so fast that I didn’t have time to think. On day 2, there were gaps between conversations, and those gaps gave me time to sit in my own head. And when your brain is already running through “what if” scenarios, having space like that can make it louder.
So my anxiety is up, but the flow of people is slower. Not a good mix for an introvert, but those gaps also gave me something else – space to reflect.
I had some time to chill between people coming up to the booth and started noticing patterns in what people were asking, what they were drawn to, and what actually mattered to them. Some of the features we thought would be the biggest selling points weren’t always the first things people asked about. And some of the things we didn’t emphasize as much were the ones that made people more interested.
We were still talking to a lot of people – over 200 people came through the expo overall – and by the halfway point, I could feel it catching up to me. The energy, the conversations, the constant need to be “on” – it’s exhausting, especially as an introvert. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I realized something that probably should have been obvious.
I had never been the person behind the booth before.
In high school and college, I helped run events, but I was never the one standing there representing something, explaining it, and trying to get people to care about it. That’s a completely different kind of pressure, especially when you are representing the company you have spent two years putting your everything into.
After the expo, we had another main stage session.
Main stage session 2 started with Jessica McCabe, the creator of How to ADHD, speaking about how ADHD traits can actually become strengths in the right environment. She shared tools and strategies for supporting creativity, and it reframed how I was thinking about some of the challenges we talk about all the time. Instead of something that needs to be “fixed,” it can actually be something that adds value (if you know how to work with it).
Then, Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman stepped on stage. He did a magic trick on the entire room all at once, and it was so cool! It made me think about creativity in a different way – not just as something you have, but as something that can be built on and grown if given the space.
By the end of day 2, I was exhausted again, but in a different way than day 1. It wasn’t just adrenaline wearing off – it was everything we had taken in from both the sessions and the conversations. The learning, the feedback, the validation, the questions – it all stayed with me.
And even though the anxiety was still there, it didn’t feel as big anymore.
Part 3 coming soon!
Sophea
English