We were lucky to catch up with Kendra Koch recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kendra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

When I was first starting my serial startup career as an intern, my boss repeatedly gave me projects above my skillset. I made a lot of mistakes.

Once, I missed a printing error on a packaging proof and we printed 40,000 incorrect labels. It was a very expensive mistake, but we were a big enough company that it wasn’t catastrophic. My boss said, “better to make those mistakes with the company’s money than your own.” He somehow knew I would eventually choose entrepreneurship even before I did and he taught me how to manage risk and failure. Now, as a 4x founder, I see failure as one of the key building blocks to success, and stretch myself to take calculated risks that I know can bounce back from.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Divergently is a social support network and resource for late-diagnosed neurodivergent women.

I started this business after my own late ADHD diagnosis. Even though I had a degree in psychology, worked in early childhood education with neurodivergent kids, and worked at the forefront of health innovation in Silicon Valley, I had missed my own diagnosis—so had the dozens of health providers, educators and therapists I looked to for support in childhood through adulthood.

I started researching ADHD to learn more on why I didn’t get an accurate diagnosis until I was in my 30s. I learned that only 1 in 3 girls with a neurodevelopmental disorder get diagnosed in childhood, many of those girls never get a diagnosis.

Women deserve better!

To help, I decided to create a space that gives women the tools they need to navigate life with ADHD, autism and other forms of neurodiversity along with a welcoming, understanding community for those who don’t feel like they can safely disclose their disability at home, work or with their friends.

In time, I hope Divergently will make life less prickly for the millions of neurodivergent women who struggled far too long without the help and understanding they deserve. And I’d love to redefine how we talk about neurodiversity to remove stigma and systemic barriers to support.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I came up with the seeds of my idea nearly 10 years ago, before I even had my own diagnosis. I wanted to help highly sensitive women combat the stress of modern life. When I started building out that concept, I kept getting overwhelmed by the needs of the community and I quit. Then, I worked on a couple other startups, did intensive therapy, and really focused on bettering myself. After a long period of time focused on healing, I felt like I was ready to tackle the project again. I launched an MVP that did ok, but didn’t have the traction I needed. So I spent another 4 months learning from customers, interviewing experts and going really deep into the space. That work led to Divergently, and we’re growing faster than I ever dreamed.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

My tendency is to teach myself how to do everything, then do it myself. But, trying to be in control of every aspect of your business will slow you down and stunt your company’s growth.

So, this time in my business I am handing responsibility over to incredible people who know better than me. I love my team, have full trust in them, and learn from them every single day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joindivergently.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joindivergently
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itskendrakoch/