Paris Hilton, ADHD, and a Full-Circle Moment I Never Expected 💗

On Friday, October 9, I was sitting at a Miami soccer game with my family, watching Messi and Suárez score four goals. My family was together, we were watching some of the best soccer players in the world, and yet, my mind was somewhere else.

I couldn't stop thinking about why I hadn't been invited to Paris Hilton's ADHD Creator Summit.

For weeks, I had been checking my Instagram DMs, hoping to see an invitation from Paris or her team. I knew friends and colleagues who had been invited, and while I was genuinely happy for them, I couldn't help but wonder, Why wasn't I invited?

And then came that familiar thought:

"I'm not good enough."

Here I was, surrounded by people I love, experiencing something incredible, and my ADHD brain was stuck on the one thing I felt I was missing.

Sound familiar?

For many people with ADHD, perceived rejection can trigger an intense emotional response. When emotional regulation is already challenging, our brains can quickly turn an uncertain situation into a story about our worth.

And even after years of working with individuals with ADHD, training coaches, and developing strategies to help people navigate these experiences, I'm certainly not immune.

The difference is that I've learned how to recognize what's happening and interrupt the pattern.

So, after spending some time spiraling, I decided to practice what I preach.

I pulled out one of the tools I teach my clients and future ADHD coaches:

the Dread Loop Escape Plan, part of my 3C Activation® process.

I walked myself through it:

1. Identify the condition: I wasn't invited to an ADHD creator summit that other people in my field were attending.

2. Identify the negative thought: I'm not good enough.

3. Identify the story I was creating: They don't like me. I'm not important enough to be included.

Then I challenged that story.

What else could be true?

I reminded myself that many of the people attending were connected to Understood.org, an organization I don't directly collaborate with. I also realized something interesting about my own identity.

For years, I've resisted calling myself a "creator."

I see myself as an ADHD coach, educator, coach trainer, business owner, and advocate. Of course I create content, but I've never felt that the word "creator" fully represented the work I do.

Maybe that was why I wasn't invited.

And maybe that was okay.

The goal of this exercise isn't to force ourselves into positive thinking. It's to recognize when we're treating an assumption as a fact and create a more balanced explanation that we can actually believe.

Within about five minutes, I felt more grounded. I was still disappointed, but I wasn't making the situation mean something about my worth anymore.

Then came halftime.

Pink smoke and lights filled the stadium as the halftime performance began. I picked up my phone and started scrolling Instagram.

Paris Hilton's story appeared at the top of my feed.

I clicked on it, and somehow, it brought me directly to my DMs with Paris.

And there it was.

An invitation.

From the previous Tuesday.

Paris Hilton had invited me to her ADHD Creator Summit, complete with an RSVP link.

THE ENTIRE TIME.

The very thing I had been checking for, thinking about, and convincing myself I wasn't worthy of had been sitting in my inbox for days.

I couldn't believe it.

I immediately told my husband, and then, in true ADHD fashion, the hyperfocus kicked in.

Flights booked. Hotel booked. Messages sent to friends who were attending. Plans made.

I was going to Paris Hilton's house!

But what struck me most was the emotional roller coaster I had just experienced.

Within minutes, I had gone from feeling rejected and questioning my worth to feeling excited, included, and chosen.

And the only thing that had actually changed was the information I had.

The story I had created about myself was never a fact.

This is something I talk about constantly in my coaching and coach training. Our emotions are real, but the interpretations driving them aren't always accurate. Learning to separate the condition from the thought and the story can change how we respond.

And that realization stayed with me.

Fast-forward to Thursday.

At 42 years old, I found myself standing at Paris Hilton's home, surrounded by more than 200 people who share something deeply personal with me: ADHD.

And for me, this was a full-circle moment in more ways than one.

In college and throughout my 20s, I idolized Paris Hilton.

When I lived in New York City, I thought I was so cool if I spotted her at Butter on a Monday night. I had her book. I followed her life. She represented the world I thought was exciting and glamorous.

Back then, I admired Paris for her fame.

At 42, I admire her for her advocacy.

For being willing to share her own experiences with ADHD. For speaking about the challenges she faced growing up. For using her platform to advocate for children and adults who have spent years feeling misunderstood.

And for bringing together hundreds of ADHD advocates, entrepreneurs, professionals, and creators from around the world to have conversations that matter.

I can't fully explain what it felt like to be there.

People were crying. People were hugging. People who had only known each other through social media were finally meeting in person.

And I felt something I don't always feel in large groups.

I felt like I belonged.

I felt seen.

I felt connected.

I felt less alone.

And as cliché as it may sound, for one of the first times in my life, I felt "normal."

Whatever normal even means.

There was something powerful about being in a room where people understood the way your brain works without needing an explanation.

We heard from Understood.org, Weill Cornell Medicine, Paris Hilton, Antoine Rubin of PAW Patrol, and Stacey Bendet, founder of Alice + Olivia.

We discussed ADHD research, the experiences of women with ADHD, the challenges of going undiagnosed or untreated, and the strengths that can come with understanding how our brains work.

As someone who has spent nearly two decades working with individuals with ADHD and executive function challenges, first in special education and now through coaching and training future ADHD coaches, I know how much representation matters.

I also know that ADHD doesn't disappear because someone becomes successful.

Seeing CEOs, physicians, entrepreneurs, and public figures openly discuss their ADHD reminded me why I do this work.

Success and ADHD can coexist. So can success and emotional regulation challenges, self-doubt, procrastination, and years of feeling misunderstood.

Our challenges don't erase our capabilities, and our accomplishments don't erase our challenges.

And perhaps one of my favorite parts was finally meeting people I've been connected with online for nearly eight years.

People whose work I've followed, supported, and learned from. People who have been part of my professional world for years, even though we'd never been in the same room.

Let's face it, who else but Paris Hilton could bring ADHD entrepreneurs and advocates from halfway around the world together at her house?

But beyond the beautiful setting, the speeches, and the excitement, I walked away thinking about that Friday night at the soccer game.

How quickly I had created a story about myself.

How easily I had believed it.

And how much emotional energy I had spent reacting to something that wasn't even true.

Having ADHD doesn't mean we can always stop those thoughts from showing up. But we can learn to recognize them, question them, and choose what we do next.

That's why I believe so strongly in teaching people to understand what's happening beneath their behaviors and emotional responses before jumping straight into another strategy.

And clearly, even after years of teaching this work, I still get opportunities to practice it myself.

Thank you, Paris, for your kindness, your authenticity, and your willingness to use your voice for the ADHD community.

Thank you to everyone I met who was so warm, open, and real.

And thank you for reminding me that sometimes the people we admire from afar can become people we admire for entirely different reasons as we grow older.

I'm looking forward to seeing where these connections lead and hopefully coming together again in the years ahead.

For now, in honor of ADHD Awareness Month, I want to recognize every person who has ever felt left out, misunderstood, or like they weren't enough.

Please remember that the story your brain is telling you isn't always the truth.

Sometimes, the invitation has been sitting in your inbox all along. 💗

Enjoy some of my favourite pictures from a day I'll never forget!

The Dread Loop Escape Plan I walked myself through that day at the soccer game is one small piece of the 3C Activation® process, the same framework I use with my clients and teach inside my ADHD and Executive Function Coach Certification.

If any part of this landed for you, if you have ever wanted to help other people catch those stories before they believe them, this might be your moment. My next coach certification cohort starts October 27, and it is the full method for coaching adults with ADHD through executive function, emotional regulation, and the neuroscience underneath it all. It carries 38 ICF and 25.5 PAAC credits toward your own accreditation.

Enroll before October 23 to save $1,500.

Join the October 27 cohort

Be Easy On Yourself,

Coach Brooke