Using Your Own Superpower In Your Business

Ange Dove (00:01)

Okay, welcome to Your The Boss Podcast Show. And today I had with have with me Dr. Amanda Wilson. Now, she's a Gen X orthodontist and a digital pioneer who founded Straight Smile Solutions and leveraging her neurodivergent focus to create a massive 4,000 video educational repository. Now we're going to be talking today about

making a transition to starting a business and talking about the Gen X qualities that can get you there. So Dr. Amanda Wilson, welcome to the show.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (00:41)

Aloha from Hawaii, y'all. Hi. Thanks, Ange. So yeah, I'll introduce myself. I think you already did a great job, but I'm just this orthodontist who lives in Hawaii who happened to find out that she's autistic or neurodivergent in the last year. And it's really changed the whole focus of my business. And I'm excited to tell you more about that. I'm excited to tell you about more about pivoting from more traditional healthcare practices to you know, something a little different, the more digital, more flexible, digital nomad, and still keeping the income.

Ange Dove (00:43)

Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (01:10)

And I'm excited to tell y'all about being Gen X and how I think that really benefits what, you know, moving forward. So yeah, let's roll.

Ange Dove (01:19)

Love it, love it. Okay, so so let's start off with your journey then. So obviously you trained as an orthodontist and then you got into the business, but then things changed. How how did it change for you?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (01:31)

Yeah. Sure. So I mean, I know that your followers are all over the world. So I'm gonna be speaking only from my understanding, which is practicing dentistry in the United States. But in the United States, the way it works is that you have to get your licensure in one state, which is silly, right? Like so it's almost impossible to move from state to state without going through a whole new process that's like sometimes you have to go back and take a test on a live patient all over again, twenty, thirty, forty years later. And sometimes

Like if I wanted some states, if I wanted to move, I would have to go back and show that I'm a regular dentist all over again before I show I'm an orthodontist. I haven't done a root canal since 1998. And they want me to go back and do a root canal? Or they want me to go back and you know, do a crown pep on a live patient that I haven't done since 1999? That I think that is really dangerous. And I never felt comfortable with that, especially since I just do braces. So why do I have to prove

Again, that I can do a crown or a root canal, right? So it's a philosophy thing. Yeah, it's a philosophy thing for me. I mean, I think that my neurodivergence, but also my gen X female, like, this is BS. I ain't doing this. I if you're gonna tell me I can't do something, I'm gonna find a way to do it, make more money and do it better in less time. And that's what I'm here to tell you guys, the secret.

Ange Dove (02:31)

Right. 'Cause you're a specialist in what you do, right? Yeah, yeah.

Ange Dove (02:45)

Yeah. I love it. I love it. I love it. That's just me as well. It's the same thing. Tell me I can't, I'll find a way to do it.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (02:57)

Tell me I can't and I will. So and I'll do it better and make more money. So yeah, y'all can do it. I mean, that's the beauty right now. And I started this stuff before COVID. So once COVID hit, I was like, heck yeah, everyone's online anyways. Great. And then my business really took off. And then now everybody wants my business. So it's awesome.

Ange Dove (03:01)

Yeah.

Ange Dove (03:16)

Okay. So explain what your business is now. What do you do now?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (03:20)

Sure. Okay. So traditional orthodontist goes into an office. I don't know how it is in Singapore, but in the United States, I would call them factories. So they're like factories where there's eight chairs and just kids rolling in and out. Sometimes in a day you can see up to 90 to 100 patients. It is absolutely insane. It is exhausting, super exhausting. I mean it's fun and and when you have a lot of energy and when you're younger and you have like ADHD personality, it's like, woo, woo, let's go. But

Ange Dove (03:40.067)

Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (03:47)

As you get older and you start having your own kids and you have babies at home and you're not sleeping, you know, it is literally exhausting. And after 10 years of doing it, you know, at that rate, and I even had an hour and a half commute, and I had babies at home and I wasn't sleeping. And on top of that, not knowing I was neurodivergent too, it started taking a toll on my body and I started having a lot of medical issues that no one had answers for. and this was happening for a decade, you know, and and

I was getting so ill, I'm not saying like ill in a bed, but feeling terrible. And they would see inflammatory markers and stuff. I'm like, what? I don't know, you know? And then I just said, I can't do this anymore. Like this is killing me. but luckily, thank goodness for my husband, luckily about that time when I was burning out, and I it's the scariest part is in the United States we carry massive student loan debt for being a healthcare professional. So I would say on average now it's somewhere between maybe closer to a million US dollars is normal.

For student loan debt. And then you're doing that in addition at a crazy interest rate. So I mean my debt was 300,000 and that was 25, 28 years ago. So you can do the math. It's close to a million, right? So luckily my interest rate wasn't that bad, but now the interest rates are high. And these doctors are drowning. Like they can't do it, especially in our insurance thing. So I was just like, whoa what am I gonna do? Like, how am I gonna pay my bills, let alone provide for my family? Yes, my husband worked, but in many states where you live, you can't.

Ange Dove (04:54)

Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (05:15)

live on one income, especially if you both have student loans, you both have to work. So it was the most stressful thing. So my husband was like, hey, I want to move back to Hawaii, which is a state he was from at the time we were in California. And I was like, can't I can't work there. So he's like, that's all right, I got it. but when we got back, you know, it we knew we had a kid that had to go to private school and we were like, no, we can't do this on one income. You know, I gotta find a way, but I can't. So it was literally my I call it my Gen X.

slash crazy autistic neurodivergent brain just poop just came up with this like AI business plan overnight. This is the craziest thing. If you have a neurodivergent brain, you can plug in and it will do cool stuff like chat GPT when you ask it to. And it developed a business plan and within two weeks I was up and going and I didn't even cost me very much to launch it. and it started it was profitable within three months.

Ange Dove (06:09)

So so what exactly do you do?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (06:11)

yeah, I probably should answer the question. Well, I mean, I almost feel like the easiest way to explain it is just go to my website. Not that I'm trying to get everyone to go because you guys aren't dentists, but it it is a B2B website. Okay, let me explain this better. Hello, autism, or ADHD. so basically, okay, in the United States, if you are a general or primary care dentist, which is like your family dentist, right? Your children's dentist, you can do any type of dentistry, not unlike

A medical doctor can do any type of medicine. A family physician can deliver a baby. They can suture a skin wound, you know, same thing. A family dentist can do braces. They can do a root canal, just with you know, things like that. So what I knew was that with the internet, with and even with the new technology that's come out for aligners and Visaline, all the different stuff that's out there, 3D stuff.

The technology is so much easier and it's easier to understand. Before it was like really technical, you had to bend wires and stuff like that, which I hated. because I love this digital stuff. and so I said, hey, what if I can teach people how to do this themselves? Let me just give them the blueprint, support them, education. And then I found out there's like 250,000, if not more, primary care dentists in the United States alone. Everybody wants to learn about it. And I was one of the first courses that came out. So now everyone started signing up with me.

and asking me questions and then I just monetized it.

Ange Dove (07:35)

Okay, so you've basically created an education online education business. Yeah, with your four thousand videos again.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (07:40)

Yeah, yep, yep, yep, yep. And of course, you need a lot of terms of conditions. I mean, don't don't just do you better have insurance. There's a lot of I don't know what country you're from, but I was very cautious. So I mean, my whole workflow is complicated and safe. And I'm not saying I haven't been sued because I have, not that I did anything wrong, but it's mostly my big mouth, just mouthing off on stuff and people not liking it. But they never win. But you know, it's it's still a hassle because it costs me money, right? So you got to just be a little careful with what you say and do.

Ange Dove (08:08)

Okay, all right. So yeah, so let's okay, that that's you've thrown a curveball there. So people suing you. So So I think the US is very litigious. It's very litigious, right? So

Dr. Amanda Wilson (08:18)

Yeah, I mean y listen, I I'm I'm gonna be truthful. I mean I'm sorry, can you repeat that I'm talking to myself? Go ahead.

Ange Dove (08:25)

sorry. I thought it like in in the US it's very litigious. Like people don't think twice about like you know, suing people.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (08:29)

Yeah. Yeah. It's it it it wasn't people like a person. It was like companies who didn't like it that they thought I'd bad mouthed their product, but it wasn't. It was like a clinical review. I wouldn't use it for this. I'm not I like this product over this product, you know. And when I was small, nobody noticed, but now that I'm bigger, people notice. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It I guess it can hurt their bottom line, even though it's just an opinion. I did not know that that was a thing.

Ange Dove (08:43)

Yeah. Yeah. they all want a piece of the pie, right? Yeah.

Ange Dove (08:55)

Okay. All right. So then that makes you more careful nowadays what you say, I guess. Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (08:59)

I'm a little more careful with what I say. I mean, even if I have a s and it's so hard 'cause I have so many strong opinions and and I'm very like emotional when I talk. And so I just have to be really conscious about what bear I poke, you know.

Ange Dove (09:12)

okay. Okay. So so let's talk a little bit about like had you had you ever run a business before? Was this in your family or this was something completely new?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (09:26)

Yes! Okay, let's talk about that. So it's so funny because like I think I told you when we did our pre-interview that I've only had my autism diagnosis for less than a year. I had no idea. Now, turns out there's plenty of people in my family on both sides, hmm, but we didn't know. but everyone in my family is a small business owner.

Ange Dove (09:43)

Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (09:47)

On both sides. they all worked for other people. And yes, I did work for corporate and bigger firms. And you will find if you are neurodivergent, it just will not fit for you later. Like you will just get yourself fired or written up 500 times, even though you have done absolutely nothing wrong. You know, if you find this happening to you, you should go get an autism test. And you know what? It'll be the best thing to ever happen to you. I wish someone had just nudged me a long time ago and said, go do it.

Ange Dove (09:59)

Yeah.

Ange Dove (10:13)

Yeah, because I guess when you you go and get diagnosed, then at least you've got an explanation, right? And then you can work with it, right? Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (10:23)

Yeah. And I'm not gonna apologize for it. I mean, I'm I'm not like brutal about it, but if people don't like that I'm direct, like now I don't have to always be like so nice all the time. I'm really nice, you know, but I'm direct. Like I I don't not like my, you know, some people that come on your straight and say, You're fat. You know, I don't do that. But if I'm working with a client and they're they were asking me to like somebody's like, you know, there's some people that get their egos bruised and I'm just gonna be really blunt. Hey, I'm autistic. This is not, I'm not gonna

Pad your ego. If something you're doing is dumb, I'm gonna say that's dumb. And I just say that's dumb. Don't do that. And and I've had some people fire me and that's cool. And now I'm just really it's all over my website. And that's why I make this content and I'm very open about it because I don't want you to be offended. I want you to know I'm just gonna tell you the straight truth and I'm not doing it to be rude or mean. I'm just doing it because it cut to the chase. I'm just incapable of dancing around the bush.

Ange Dove (10:54)

Yeah.

Ange Dove (11:12)

Yeah. Okay. So so how did the how did the diagnosis come about? You say it's just in the last year. So how did this happen?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (11:19)

I mean, I think it was one of those. Well, I mean, there there is a very woo-woo story to it that's like a 20-minute hilarious story, but it's definitely on other podcasts. If you ever want to hear it, I'll tell it to you. But I think it was just mostly like clues. Like people started just being like, hmm, like dropping little hints and people who knew it. And I started picking up on the clues. And then for some reason it started showing up in my algorithm, you know, like, no, ultimately, I'll tell you what it was. Now I remember. Okay. Do you watch Survivor?

In you do. I think we might have talked about this. Yeah, okay. So because I think Survivor is really big in Oceania. I just cause they film it also in Fiji, which actually my daughter just came back from. Cool. I was like, get me Survivor stuff. and then they they also filmed have filmed it in Australia before, so it's huge. So I think it's very well known. There was, I think it was episode not episode season 48 in the United States. Up I don't know what episode it might have actually I I think I do remember it was in the 20s. But, anyways, it was the one where

Ange Dove (11:48)

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Ange Dove (11:55)

Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (12:17)

Eva, who is the hockey player, like had an autistic meltdown. You guys will remember if you watched it, because anyone that is neurodivergent who watched this, like so many people got diagnosed after what she did. And then she went out and talked about it. But she had a meltdown, and I was like, my gosh, I have had that exact meltdown a couple of times in my life. And one recently that it was very public. And I had zero memory of it. like it you'll black out when you have an autistic meltdown. And and it comes from stress or just being bullied or whatever. And

You'll learn to l read an aura of it, but it had happened to me enough times in my life, very subtly, but I was always very embarrassed. I didn't know what it was. I thought I had a panic attack, you know? but then I realized it's an autistic meltdown. And then once I figured out that that's what that was, I was like, I am never having one of those ever again. That it took such a toll on my body physically, mentally. I actually had some blood work done after it and they were like, Are you dying? Like this is really bad. Like this is wrecking your body. Every time one of these happened is taking years off your body. They basically said like it ages you like crazy inside out.

like your body's breaking down. And I said, that's it. Never having one of those again. I need to understand this process and I need to understand it on me. And it's gonna be different. What I tell you is gonna be different for me than someone else.

Ange Dove (13:23)

Right.

Mm, right. Okay. So so okay, so now that you know that you're autistic, what benefits has that brought to your life and your business?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (13:36)

it's the best thing ever. I mean, I and I think this is the hard part is that there's enough people who know me that see my the joy that has come out since I've been diagnosed. I my my I'm just lighter, happier, like more authentic. Just I'm it's just I feel happy. Like it, and it's funny because my whole life, there's been doctors who are trying to give me all kinds of SSRIs, and occasionally I'd try them and I was like, ugh, I always feel worse. And then it would be a heck.

getting off of them. And this has been cycling my whole life, my whole life. All of a sudden now the psychiatrist is like, you're autistic, get off that junk. And he got me off of it. and all of a sudden for a year I've been except for only if someone bullies me and I get another meltdown, then it takes me about a week to get better. But which is where I am right now I'm actually rehabbing. But because someone did something to me a few days ago. But in any case, you know,

Ange Dove (14:31)

Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (14:31)

What it is, you just gotta be prepared. This is this is just gonna be your new life. It's gonna be highs and lows. but for the most part, I can tell you that once you find once you stop, it's it's incredible. I actually made some content today all about answering this question. So I'm excited by the time I think your stuff is released, it should be up in my YouTube. So I hope everybody watches it. But I really talked about everything about like of like a 45-minute video about the whole thing. but basically, once you start unmasking and just

Ange Dove (14:47)

Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (14:57)

not focusing on trying to be normal. And it's funny, you didn't even realize you were just trying to be normal. You're just like whatever's, you know, just like my breast drops hanging out right here. Whatever. Actually it's not. It's a it's a it's a bikini because I'm gonna go the beach. but I'm at the beach. once you start unmasking, your brain has so it's almost like a power bank. I'm just looking to see if I had a demo, like a power bank, your brain like the power goes back up and you will feel lighter, happier, but all of a sudden your brain has so much more

Ange Dove (15:09)

It looks great anyway.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (15:26)

Power to do so much more and you will get so much more done, not only at home, but at work. You will just see, you will do like 10 extra workload in half the time. It's learning how to hyperfocus, how to focus your hyperfocus. And then you'll have so much more free time to do. So I lost, I don't know if I told you, but I lost almost 100 pounds in the last couple of years just going, just by being unmasked. It just took all the pressure off me because I wasn't masking, which was making me eat. It's the weirdest thing. I don't understand. The weight just came off.

And it's been stable. It's not it's not still losing. I don't have cancer. Some of you guys are like, Are you dying? I'm like, No, I'm normal.

Ange Dove (15:55)

It sounds like it

Ange Dove (16:02)

So it sounds like it's a superpower, actually. Yeah. It's a superpower. I think a lot of people would wish that they they were like that, 'cause if you could get that much work done and you can be like hyper focused. Yeah, that

Dr. Amanda Wilson (16:04)

I love it. Yes, super powered. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (16:15)

Y I've heard of some people who actually work three full time jobs at one time and don't tell the other people because they don't know, like cause they're all be online and then they're getting three X the salary. this stuff happens. I actually have like my job and I have like ten passive side hustles too. That if I want to do I can. Like I build AI, I do all this other stuff that brings in passive revenue. Like it's been great. I'm probably I shouldn't say how little I work.

Ange Dove (16:20)

Yeah.

Ange Dove (16:39)

No, tell me tell me how little you were. How interested.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (16:39)

So, but if I want to, I can. Well, let's put it this way. I'm at the hot beach today. No, no, no. I don't know. I don't want to say anything because people might come after me. So it's, it's, it's, I I think there are people who are jealous. It it does. There are people who are very jealous because they're stuck in an office all day and and it sucks. And I've been there. So, but I'm letting you know you if you have this, I I don't know that a neurotypical could do this as well. I think this is meant.

Ange Dove (16:50)

But it gives you the it gives you the freedom to it gives you the freedom to control your time.

Mm.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (17:08)

It is meant for us and I don't think a ha a normal person could handle it. No. Mm.

Ange Dove (17:13)

Okay. But I think I mean this is something I think especially since COVID, people are starting to realize that maybe a normal job is not really where they want to be. Right. So so what advice? yeah, they of course. Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (17:26)

No. Last I mean, there has to be people that do normal jobs. I'm sorry. But for me, honestly, also, it's the fluorescent lights. I cannot handle fluorescent lights. Mm-mm. Natural lighting only. That and just the I don't know what it is. Like it makes me physically ill. Like I can't even eat. If I go to a restaurant that has fluorescent lights, I can't eat my food. Mm mm. Not hungry. I lose my appetite.

Ange Dove (17:37)

Yeah. They flicker, right? Yeah.

Ange Dove (17:48)

Right.

Ange Dove (17:51)

All right. So I guess that being diagnosed made you realise that and before you you just didn't understand why. Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (17:56)

I did not know. I did not know why sometimes I'd feel sick in a restaurant, not able to eat. I just wanted to go home. I didn't feel good, but I'd be fine outside. That was always the thing. Like why? Or if I'm by myself outside, I feel great. I don't feel sick. Like I have the flu. But when I'm in this restaurant, I feel like I have the flu is the weirdest thing. And honestly, people thought I was faking it. They thought I was making it up. And I it's just part of the the mystery. Like you it really messes with your head, you know, after a while, especially if you're the only one that feels sick at the restaurant all the time.

Ange Dove (18:20)

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. And then they don't believe you, right? What's wrong with you? Right. okay. Now you can say. So And that that's it. You can control your environment as well. Now that you know that, you know, you're not you don't have to be in those situations.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (18:25)

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (18:29)

Yep. Yep.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (18:35)

And but you'll lose friends. I'm not lying, you'll lose friends. Like there's people who won't, they it's just too much for them, especially if you were normal for twenty, thirty years and now you're like, no, I don't want to go to that restaurant. It it is. I mean, in some ways it is a disability, you know, like, but I like if that friend doesn't want to be a little flexible where we go, you know, then but I mean to be honest, like there's earphones, there's sometimes I wear sunglasses in a restaurant. I don't care. They're slightly tinted, I don't care, you know, or we'll just eat fast.

Ange Dove (18:49)

Yeah.

Ange Dove (19:01)

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So so how did you just going back to your business, right? And you said there were people in your family that ran businesses. So you had those kind of mod everybody so you had those models, right?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (19:13)

Mm-hmm. Everybody.

Everybody. I'm not outing everybody because I don't think they've been diagnosed, but everybody or everybody's getting fired all the time. I'm seeing patterns on both sides, going back generations and multiple lineages. It was so fun. I was talking to my dad the other day, and he was just telling us all these stories. And I was prompting, you know, from his grandpa and this uncle and stuff like that, all these lore. And I would and then I started tuning in. I was like, well, wait, what? What did he do for a living? Well, what? He had a collection of what? And then it was funny because it was like

Dr. Amanda Wilson (19:46)

He had sweared it wasn't in his side. He would blamed it on the other side. And then we're like, dude, it's on your side too. And it's so pervasive. It's on all the sides. So I don't know what jingle jingle mish up of of neurodivergence I got, but I love mine. It's so fun.

Ange Dove (19:49)

Ha ha.

Ange Dove (19:59)

Yeah. Well this is this is the thing as well, is that like like you, people go through a l a lot of their life without being diagnosed and then they do get diagnosed. And it's my friend was she was a teacher and in in the UK and when she was being trained to be a teacher, they it was gosh, my brain's just blank now on the the name of the

Condition. It's not, it wasn't autism. It's when you have trouble reading. What's that one? Dyslexia. Yeah. Yeah, dyslexia, right. So she said they were they had to be trained to to recognize children with dyslexia and they had to go through this test. And then everyone that was in the training course had to get tested. 40% of them were diagnosed at that point. Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (20:33)

Dyslexia? Or dyspraxia or yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (20:54)

Shocker. actually I had that too as a kid. So Yeah.

Ange Dove (20:56)

And they say that's normal, that's that's the type that's the rate, right? And and people, right, this was 40. And and it's like people don't realize. And then I had a a girl that I I ran a copywriting agency for 20 years, and one of my staff, she was a brilliant writer, r wrote really well. So if you read her individual paragraphs, they were it was just so well written, right? But she couldn't string

Dr. Amanda Wilson (20:59)

we were told like 15 to 17, but maybe, yeah. Wow.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (21:11)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ange Dove (21:25)

a a an article together by herself, right? And apparently that is there's different forms of dyslexia. So usually it's the boys that get diagnosed when they're young because they can't do the physical stuff, right? And that's what comes out first. So the boys get the the girls tend to get diagnosed when they get into secondary school and they can't put an essay together.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (21:27)

Mm. I see.

Yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ange Dove (21:50)

Right. And that's the reason why. And but and then I was like when I learned about this, I'm like, she's dyslexic and we didn't know. Right. And so she would have gone through her whole life probably not knowing until some point. Right. And yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (21:50)

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (22:03)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I have that too. I was diagnosed as a kid, but it's not able it's not a reading thing. It's a weird one. It is a spelling version, but I flip I flip letters. Unless I memorize it, I'll flip it. But same thing with numbers, I'll flip them. So so I I used to add wrong and do all that. And they thought I was bad at this and bad at that, but actually it's just my brain flipping. but I still have the spelling thing. My spell spelling is terrible. If it wasn't for spell check, I'd be in big trouble.

Ange Dove (22:10)

Hmm.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Ange Dove (22:29)

Yeah, that's the same. My daughter was the same. she would be really because like in Singapore, in primary school, the main tests that they gave them were spelling tests, right? So she couldn't do a spelling test to save her life. And yeah, yeah. And that that really rotts your self confidence because you think you're right. And then yeah, yeah, that's that's what they get labeled. Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (22:30)

No well.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (22:41)

no. Mm mm. Mm mm. Mm mm. I I was bottom.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (22:51)

Mm. Cause you think you're dumb. 'Cause when you're little, that's that's how they measure your your intelligence is spelling. Yeah.

Ange Dove (22:58)

So the teachers here had to learn that. And like at the time when my daughter was at school, they they didn't have that knowledge here. So she had a terrible time. but thankfully now that's changed, right? So yeah. So when you you have these kind this and it's not diagnosed, what kind of what kind of issues did you go through?

the whole time. But now you look back and say

Dr. Amanda Wilson (23:27)

Are you talking about like, kid stuff? I mean, obviously the spelling was a big thing. I think my brain had trouble taking the information I'm learning in class and then learning it. Like I could listen to it and pick up on it, but I didn't know how to get it in there. So I found out that I have to do stuff with my hands or I have to write stuff or I have to flip stuff and I have to be moving at the same time. I I I when we did the pre-interview, I was telling you like.

Ange Dove (23:36)

Mm. Mm.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (23:52)

Unless I'm feeling really healthy, like I can't be on video because I can't look at myself and talk at the same time. Like just very, it's like walking and I'm I'm very klutzy. Like I will trip, I will run into everything. I cannot dance with you know what. Like you cannot teach me a dance. I am a klutz. But my kids are college level athletes. So and then you get the kids get the athletic from the mom. So I mean they have scholarships and they want to they might be going to the Olympics. I mean, like we're very athletic. I didn't know I was the plotsiest person. So just things like that.

Ange Dove (24:20)

Okay, okay. So what so what what other symptoms would there be that people like there might be someone watching this now that is starting to say

Dr. Amanda Wilson (24:30)

I mean, they say if you've met one person on the the spectrum, that's one person. Like that everyone is different. There's so many assortments. And like you might, it's so it's presumed potentially to be autosomal dominant, which means you get it. Like if your dad has it, you will have it in one form or another. We just don't know how it's gonna present. A lot of it depends on trauma. but if you get it from both sides, like we did, I think, and if it's double on each side, now you're getting four genes, you know, and it might all be different. So it's just

Ange Dove (24:47)

And

Dr. Amanda Wilson (25:00)

It's like one in a million. You don't know what you're gonna get. And it really depends on if you were medicated. I mean, there's only medication for forms of for like the ADHD form. There's no medication, but it's just to help with the I never ever had the part where you have executive dysfunction, which is probably a blessing because I was able to do all this. like I was like, let's go. So that's actually been my hyper focus. Like I can get a lot of stuff done and I can spin like 30 different plates at one time as long as I'm feeling good and I'm rested. So

Ange Dove (25:29)

Right.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (25:29)

I I'm thankful for that. that that's what was my superpower and I don't have that. But some people do. So I think if if you see someone who's scattered, confused, always losing stuff, forgetting stuff, bumping into stuff, think about that. If you feel awkward, if you feel like you don't always fit in, you don't understand the conversation. I mean, it's funny because you don't know that you don't understand it until you see it the other way around. You know, you'll be always feel awkward at parties. And I mean, if you're someone that just jumps right in and goes, that's fine, you know, that's cool.

Ange Dove (25:55)

Hmm. Well, as they say, it's a spectrum, right? So you you'd be on that spectrum somewhere and you'd have different different ways of being, I suppose is is the way to say it, right? So so anyway, so it's helped you, it's been a superpower, right? And it would help a lot of people. and yeah, I think so. And then you're spreading this message as well, right? That

Dr. Amanda Wilson (25:58)

Yes.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (26:05)

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (26:12)

I love it.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (26:19)

I am spre I I am doing what Survivor 48 did. I'm out here doing it some more. but I'm giving solutions and I'm putting a dental twist on it. educating everybody in dentistry, how it relates to orthodontics. There's so many connections. also the whole perimenopause female thing. If you are a female and all of a sudden you feel this and you didn't feel this 20 years ago, it's just perimenopause. You're all good. No worries.

Ange Dove (26:40)

Yeah. That's a good point. yeah. I mean there's there's there's so many things to deal with in life and you go through different stages and you know, you're just a a of a different stage. Yes. And and I think as w as well, like as you get older as well, it's a c I know for me it's just a case of life's too short.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (26:52)

Look at us, we look phenomenal. We're great. We're so pretty.

Ange Dove (27:05)

Right, to to deal with anybody's nonsense. So you do tend to be more direct anyway. And and just you you go after what you want. And you know, and I would just wholeheartedly wholeheartedly say to people, if you you're feeling that you wanna do this, if you wanna start a business, then just just go out and do it and just see see what what happens from there, right?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (27:17)

No time for nonsense. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (27:29)

Yeah, yeah.

Ange Dove (27:30)

That's that's where you would go. okay, so Amanda, where would we send people to so they can find out more about you? And they can watch your amazing videos and stuff, right?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (27:40)

Sure. I mean, watch my videos, learn about dentistry. There's a lot of stuff about neurodivergence and just random stuff in there. to be honest, my only clients that I make money from are dentists. So I think we said, like, I just want to be on here just to talk to your potential startup people that you can do this. And if you feel like you have this, it's probably even better. I actually think you'll be more successful because I have seen so many entrepreneurs want to do what I'm doing, and they can't do it.

Ange Dove (27:50)

Yeah.

Ange Dove (27:55)

Yeah. Yeah.

Ange Dove (28:05)

Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (28:06)

So I I'm like, I'm sorry, you have to have this crazy I d never give up drive. And I think part of that is the whole Gen X female thing. I mean, that was a rough era. It was a rough and it's now it's so funny. And the stuff, I mean, we were so inventive as kids just because we were on our own doing nonsense all the time. getting injured, getting hurt, just getting creative, building stuff, flying off stuff. and no one told us no. So we tried stuff.

Ange Dove (28:13)

Yeah. Yeah.

Ange Dove (28:25)

I mean yeah. It was that is exactly right. That is exactly right. And it's like we would we would be outside all day and parents didn't know where we were. Didn't care.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (28:34)

It's the best times.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (28:40)

I used to play in the UK during the summers do and they we got in so much trouble that not because you can do more nonsense in the UK and get away with it. I think because of you know, like the beverages. I I remember high schoolers in the UK were going nuts and I was over there with my cousins going, what the heck? We don't do this in the US. They are funny. I love my UK cousins. If they're watching me, hi.

Ange Dove (29:01)

So cool. So yeah, because I I just remember, you know, like like to when you think about today, and we're so connected and yet we're not at the same time, right? We have all these tools to connect ourselves, but we've probably never been so disconnected, actually. Right. but we we we'd be out all day because no one could find us. They wouldn't know where we were because there was

Dr. Amanda Wilson (29:17)

Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (29:23)

Find us?

Thank goodness there was no camera phones because I was up to so with my ADHD brain at that you know how much stupid stuff I did? Like I'm so lucky I'm not more injured than I am. I did the most stupid stuff ever. I never got arrested, but thank goodness I made it through that I think I'd be in jail now.

Ange Dove (29:43)

Yeah, there's no evidence.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (29:43)

So dumb. No evidence. Good luck finding all the nonsense that we did. Yeah. Never find it.

Ange Dove (29:49)

I love it, I love it. But also, yeah, the skills growing up as a Gen X is also like as you said, like just getting on and doing stuff. You nobody was there to to help or guide. You just make things up, right? Yeah. And then there weren't instant answers as well. Like if you had to get an answer to some thing.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (30:01)

YouTube to teach you how to do something?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (30:13)

Set of encyclopedias. Did you read encyclopedias? You did. That was like such a big gift when they and the guy came to the house and every day he'd bring like A, here's A. You know, because I don't think my parents bought the whole set at one time. I remember reading A and then reading B. I mean, I read every single, that's like the dork. I mean, they should say if you read an encyclopedia as a kid from cover to cover, you're probably neurodivergent and you're probably autistic.

Ange Dove (30:15)

Yeah, yeah.

Ange Dove (30:28)

Hmm.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (30:40)

Totally.

Ange Dove (30:44)

Encyclopedias for such a long time.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (30:45)

Someone brought that up. Actually I saw it on a young Sheldon episode and I like, I did that. Yeah.

Ange Dove (30:51)

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So but now it's just insane, it's getting worse actually. Well I don't know worse or better, I don't know how you'd describe it, but like you'd you'd go in the past you'd Google something, right? And you'd get an answer, but it would take you some time to go through the different, you know, things and find stuff. Now it just answers you straight away with AI, right?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (31:07)

Uh-huh. Now you've got I love AI. my gosh. I feel like my brain is even bigger than it was. Like ever since this, this is like perfect timing because everything I want to know, I'm like, I want to know it now. I want to know my answer. And then I get go down this rabbit hole and I learn about this whole new thing. And then I make a video and then I pivot and then I, you know, get sponsored. And it's so fun. Like, what? I'm an orthodontist. I don't know what I'm doing. It's weird.

Ange Dove (31:22)

Yeah. Yeah.

Ange Dove (31:30)

I love that. I love that. So you mentioned though you got you get sponsored. So so tell me about that. So that's another way of running the business, right?

Dr. Amanda Wilson (31:38)

I mean, sometimes you get people, I I get offers every day, like ridiculous. I mean, sometimes people just mail stuff to my house and like, make a video, it's funny about my product. And if it's interesting, I'll do it and I'll post it. It's gotta be something I actually want. Someone just sent me a whole bunch of like earplugs and I just made a video. It's gonna be up in a week. I mean, I was like, cool, I'll make videos about your earplugs. now if you send me a five-dollar piece of junk, I'm not it's gotta be something related to dentistry, neurodivergence something. And if you send me good stuff, I'll definitely do it. Like, so I'm not.

I'm not really taking money because I don't like to take money for sponsorships because I tell them, look, I'm gonna tell you my honest truth. And I've done this before. And then they're like, no, I'm not paying you. I don't like what you said. I'm like, well, you asked for my honest truth. So now I'm just like, I'm not signing anything that way. You can't sue me. If you don't like it, I'll just pull it down, you know? And I'll bug keep the product. Thanks. It's mine. I get a lot of free stuff. Yeah. But not enough to tax me on if Uncle Sam is watching. It's not over $600. So you can't tax me on the free stuff. It's like, I'm not that cool yet.

Ange Dove (32:17)

Yeah, exactly.

Ange Dove (32:22)

Yeah. I love it, love it.

Yeah.

Ange Dove (32:36)

And do you have a YouTube channel? You do. Yeah. Wonderful. Wonderful. Okay, Amanda, so thank you so much for coming on today. We'll put a link to your YouTube channel and your website anywhere where people are watching and listening to this. And it's just been a blast having you on today. You're so entertaining and just everything exciting. Yeah. Okay, thank you.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (32:38)

Yeah, it's straight smile solutions. Yeah, you can you can find it. It's you're gonna see my face everywhere. I've been having so much fun with it.

Dr. Amanda Wilson (32:59)

Thank you. I knew this one was gonna be fun. Yeah. Awesome.

Have a great day. Aloha.

Ange Dove (33:05)

Thank you.