The Executive Function Podcast for Student Success | Untapped Learning

A very Untapped reunion, indeed! 🎓

A few years ago, Connor Splaine was barely keeping his head above water at Virginia Tech. Now he's graduated, working full-time, and studying for his CPA exams.

So naturally, we had to get the band back together.

For this bonus episode, Untapped coach Nathan Weinberg catches up with his former student (and now good friend!) Connor to talk about everything that's changed since they first met. We're talking ADHD, failed finals, figuring out routines, learning to advocate for yourself, and why sometimes the best plan is the one you...

Managing ADHD involves more than keeping track of tasks. Overwhelm, frustration, and harsh self-talk can make getting started and following through even harder.

In this episode of Executive Function for All, developmental pediatrician and author Dr. Mark Bertin joins Brandon Slade to explore how mindfulness can support emotional regulation, self-compassion, and the everyday work of managing ADHD.

They discuss the emotional side of procrastination, responding to the inner critic, and noticing positive moments that can get overshadowed by difficult ones. Dr. Bertin also shares practical ways to build a mindfulness habit through small steps, scheduling...

As education becomes more “frictionless”, students are often less challenged, leaving them to struggle when challenges arrive in education, especially at the college level. This discomfort, though, is a learning experience that helps stimulate cognitive flexibility.

In this podcast, Natalie Wilcox, Neuroimmunology PhD student at the University of Toronto, and Brandon Slade, Founder of Untapped Learning, discuss the strength that comes with cognitive flexibility, including stronger self-reflection and the ability to navigate high-stress situations with ease. Learn how you can use cognitive flexibility in your own work to stay ahead and adapt to any situation that comes your...

As education becomes more “frictionless”, students are often less challenged, leaving them to struggle when challenges arrive in education, especially at the college level. This discomfort, though, is a learning experience that helps stimulate cognitive flexibility.

In this podcast, Natalie Wilcox, Neuroimmunology PhD student at the University of Toronto, and Brandon Slade, Founder of Untapped Learning, discuss the strength that comes with cognitive flexibility, including stronger self-reflection and the ability to navigate high-stress situations with ease. Learn how you can use cognitive flexibility in your own work to stay ahead and adapt to any situation that comes your...

Why do some highly successful students begin struggling as soon as they reach college?

David Rabiner, Ph.D., a recently retired Duke University professor, psychologist, and former director of Duke’s Academic Advising Center, joins Brandon Slade to explain why academic success in high school does not always translate into college readiness.

They discuss what happens when students lose the structure and accountability built into high school, why high achievers may resist seeking academic support, and how ADHD can affect time management, task initiation, motivation, and long-term planning. David also shares how parents can gradually pu...

Why can a bright, capable child manage well for years and then suddenly struggle in middle school, high school, or college?

Executive function challenges rarely appear out of nowhere. As academic demands increase and outside structure decreases, weaknesses in planning, organization, task initiation, time management, working memory, and emotional regulation can become much more visible.

In this episode of Executive Function for All, Brandon Slade speaks with Dr. David Baker, a board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist and founder of Baker Neuropsychology and Learning Center. Dr. Baker explains why school transitions can reveal executive function challenges that were...

Starting college is a journey like no other; however, it’s often difficult to figure out what that “first step” is going to be, especially for some kids with executive function challenges. Through self-awareness, active learning, prioritization, and organizing a schedule, students can overcome these challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

In this podcast, Jack DuFauchard, an incoming student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, goes into greater detail about the struggles upon entering college, and how saying yes to too many things can lead to a procrastination trap. Together, we go into greater detail about the id...

When discussing homework, why does it suddenly become a fight between students and parents? When discussing a child’s success, it can be anxiety-inducing for both the child and the parent. For parents, it’s much more difficult to identify/resonate with their children when there isn't any proof to back up a child’s progress, while for children, it's difficult when parents get too involved. It creates a cycle of fear, shame, and anxiety through a family's relationship.

In today’s podcast, Dr. Gabe Casher, Founder of Panorama Psychology, dives deeper into the relationship between a child wi...

In the earliest stages of school, a lot of changes happen, especially towards a student’s learning, their development, and even their relationship with their family.

In this engaging work, Cindy Goldrich, founder of PTS Coaching and ADHD/Executive Function Parent Coach, provides a deeper insight into how students and parents can communicate what needs to be done, without sacrificing effective communication.

At Untapped Learning, we align heavily with helping students and figuring out methods that help them learn and prioritize their daily tasks while being able to fully understand what results they want to ac...

Advocating for students is already difficult for many parents, even more so when the student in question has ADHD, Dyslexia, or executive functioning struggles. However, there are processes to help not only advocate, but to keep a good relationship between parents and the students. In this podcast, Jessica Diamond, a professional Special Education Advocate, demonstrates an emphasis on the importance of advocacy. In the podcast, we explain how to properly advocate for your student at school using tools such as 504 plans, while also ensuring not to sacrifice that personal communication with your student.

At Untapped Learning, we...

Advocating for students is already difficult for many parents, even more so when the student in question has ADHD, Dyslexia, or executive functioning struggles. However, there are processes to help not only advocate, but to keep a good relationship between parents and the students.

In this podcast, Jessica Diamond, a professional Special Education Advocate, demonstrates an emphasis on the importance of advocacy. In the podcast, we explain to properly advocate for your student at school using tools such as 504 plans, while also ensuring not to sacrifice that personal communication with your student.

At Untapped Learning...

ADHD, executive function challenges, procrastination, missing assignments, and academic overwhelm can make school frustrating for both students and parents. In this conversation, Nathan sits down with Untapped Learning Homework Center Coordinator and executive function coach Devin Saunders to break down how our Homework Center helps neurodivergent students build accountability, organization, emotional regulation, and long-term academic confidence through mentorship and executive function coaching rather than traditional tutoring alone.

Nathan and Devin discuss why intelligent students often struggle academically, how relationship-based coaching helps students stay engaged, what a Homework Center session actually looks like, how AI can be used...

In this episode, we sat down with Katie Anderson, a former Duke soccer player and college advisor who specializes in helping student athletes and families navigate both college admissions and athletic recruiting.

Katie breaks down what parents need to understand before the process becomes stressful: why talent alone is not enough, how students can stay organized when communicating with coaches, what role parents should play without taking over, and why the right college fit matters more than chasing the biggest name.

We also discuss how ADHD can impact recruiting, when and why disclosure may matter...

Jen Zobel Bieber is a certified ADHD coach at the Hallowell Center who specializes in helping high-achieving adults with ADHD better understand their brains, reduce shame, and build systems that actually work. Jen graduated as valedictorian from Columbia University, received her coaching certification from NYU, and has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The Financial Times, and The Today Show for her work helping individuals navigate ADHD, executive function challenges, and performance anxiety.

In this episode, Brandon and Jen explore:

• Why high achievers with ADHD often struggle with imposter syndrome

• How hype...

In this episode, we’re joined by Dave Herz, Founder of Wonder and a leader in young adult transition support with over 25 years of experience working with teens, young adults, and their families.

Dave has been a pioneer in aftercare and wraparound support, founding one of the first non-residential programs for young adults returning home from treatment. His work has helped shape best practices in supporting families through some of the most challenging transitions.

In this conversation, Dave shares how to help young adults rebuild confidence after setbacks, why relationships must come before strategy, and ho...

Ryan Palm, Executive Director of the Brad McGarry Center for Neurodiversity at Mercyhurst University, joins the podcast to break down what really happens to students when they transition from high school to college.

Drawing from his work supporting neurodiverse students, Ryan explains why executive function challenges become more visible in college and why planning, organization, and follow-through often break down when structure disappears.

This conversation highlights the gap between intelligence and execution, how colleges are adapting to support neurodiverse learners better, and what students and families need to understand before making the transition.

...

Dr. Jennifer Paz Ryan is a licensed clinical psychologist and co-founder of Elevated Insights Assessment, specializing in complex learning profiles and co-occurring conditions across the lifespan.

In this episode, we dive into what happens when challenges like ADHD, anxiety, autism, and learning disabilities show up together and how often they mask one another. Dr. Paz Ryan breaks down why many students are misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or only partially supported, and how comprehensive, culturally responsive evaluations can completely change the trajectory for both students and families.

We also explore what “co-occurring conditions” actually mean, why getting the full...

Laura Barr is a high-level college consultant and the Founder and CEO of Emerging Consulting, where she helps students and families navigate the college process with clarity, strategy, and purpose.

With a background in student-centered coaching, Laura brings a unique perspective to college planning. Her work is grounded in a simple yet powerful mission: to help raise and launch good humans through the power of education.

In this episode, Laura breaks down how the college application process is about much more than getting accepted. It is one of the first real-world opportunities students have to...

If it feels like every conversation with your child turns into a battle, you’re not alone.

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Katie Blakeley, an executive function and parent coach who works closely with neurodiverse students and families, to unpack a pattern many parents find themselves stuck in but don’t know how to name.

You try to help. They resist. You step in more. They shut down or push back even harder.

Katie explains why this cycle happens, how it connects to emotional regulation and executive function, and why the inst...

The transition from high school to college is one of the most significant and often underestimated shifts in a student’s life. While many students leave home academically prepared, far fewer are equipped with the executive function skills required to manage their time, advocate for themselves, and navigate the independence that college demands.

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Hannah Bookbinder, academic coach and founder of AcademicAlly, to break down the five pillars of a successful transition to college. With over 25 years of experience working with students, Hannah shares a practical and deeply human framework for he...

ADHD isn’t a deficit… it's a different nervous system.

In this conversation, board-certified psychiatrist Dr. William Dodson shares decades of clinical insight on ADHD, Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD), medication optimization, and what he calls the “interest-based nervous system.

We discuss:

• Why importance doesn’t motivate the ADHD brain

• The 5 things that reliably create engagement

• How untreated ADHD damages self-esteem• Why medication alone is never enough

• The power of having one adult who “gets it”

At Untapped Learning, this aligns deeply with our belief that executive function is...

What if executive function skills weren’t taught through worksheets, but through adventure?

In this episode, we sit down with Rhina Guzman, executive function coach at Untapped Learning and creator of our Dungeons & Dragons Executive Function Program.

Rhina explains how a tabletop role-playing game becomes a powerful tool for building organization, emotional regulation, task initiation, planning, and social problem-solving. Students manage character sheets, navigate uncertainty, regulate emotions under pressure, collaborate in group decisions, and initiate problem-solving—all in a fully screen-free, high-engagement environment.

This is executive function development through experience, not lectures.

If...

If your teen says “I have anxiety” before every test, presentation, or big moment… this episode will change how you understand what’s actually happening.

Licensed clinical social worker Nick Thompson joins us to unpack the truth about anxiety, performance pressure, and why students shut down under stress. With over 15 years of experience working with adolescents and families in schools, private practice, residential treatment settings, and early intervention programs, Nick specializes in helping teens navigate anxiety, identity, and academic overwhelm without shame.

In this conversation, we break down the difference between anxiety and worry, why the brai...

Few things are more frustrating than feeling like your brain just won’t hold onto information.

You try to follow directions.

You lose track halfway through.

You ask a question that was just answered.

And eventually, you start wondering if something is wrong with you.

In this episode of Executive Function for All, Brandon sits down with Andrew Watson — former high school teacher, Harvard M.Ed. in Mind, Brain, and Education, and author of Learning Begins — to unpack the science of working memory.

Here’s the hard truth:<...

Parenting teenagers often feels like walking a tightrope. You want to support them, but not smother them. You want to help, but not fix everything for them.

In this episode of Executive Function for All, we’re joined by Shawna Warner, a parent coach and clinical social worker who specializes in teenage resilience, identity development, and family dynamics.

We talk about what happens when a teen’s identity gets shaken by setbacks, how parents can tell when to step in versus step back, and why resilience is built through curiosity, not control. Shawna also shares prac...

In this episode of EF for All, we’re joined by Ali Schroer, LCSW—a psychotherapist, former classroom teacher, and nationally recognized expert on anxiety and executive functioning. As the founder of Schroer Counseling and Consulting, Ali brings a rare combination of clinical expertise and real-world experience supporting children, teens, families, and high-achieving adults.

Ali’s background includes training at Children’s Hospital Colorado and The Kempe Center, where she helped develop programs for youth anxiety. She now runs a thriving private practice, teaches at the University of Denver, and consults with major organizations like Faegre Drinker on menta...

Social struggles are often the most painful part of executive function challenges, and the least understood.

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Lana Gollyhorn, a psychotherapist with nearly two decades of experience working directly with children, adolescents, and families. Lana brings a rare lens into what kids are actually experiencing beneath the surface when social situations fall apart.

She explains how executive function challenges affect things like listening, remembering plans, regulating emotions, and reading social cues, and how those gaps can quickly turn into hurt feelings, perceived rejection, or intense after-school meltdowns. Parents will...

In this episode of Executive Function for All, Brandon Slade talks with Licensed Professional Counselor Howard Baumgarten about the emotional side of executive function that often gets overlooked, especially for adults and men with ADHD.

Howard explains how suppression, anxiety, and past experiences show up as procrastination, distraction, and burnout. Instead of pushing harder, real change comes from slowing down, building self-compassion, and learning how to respond rather than react. When the nervous system calms, thinking gets easier, and follow-through becomes possible.

This episode is for adults who feel stuck, parents supporting overwhelmed students, and...

What if improving student mental health didn’t require more time, more programs, or more pressure?

In this episode of Executive Function for All, Brandon Slade sits down with Tessa Zimmerman, founder of Upstream Education, TEDx speaker, and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, to explore how short, intentional practices can reduce student stress and strengthen executive function.

Tessa shares how her own experience with severe anxiety shaped her work, why mental health tools belong in every classroom, and how just five minutes a day can help students build self-regulation, focus, and emotional awareness.

From calm be...

Jodi Sleeper-Triplett, MCC, SCAC, BCC, joins us for a powerful conversation about how ADHD and executive function coaching have transformed over the past three decades. As the founder of JST Coaching & Training and the creator of the first ICF-accredited student coach training focused on coaching students with ADHD, executive function, and learning challenges, Jodi brings deep expertise and a compassionate approach to helping students thrive.

In this episode, we explore how coaching students with ADHD and executive function challenges requires empathy, collaboration, and a shift in mindset for both adults and kids. Jodi shares what she’s le...

What if the college application process didn’t have to feel like a crisis?

In this episode, Brandon talks with Nita June, Founder of June College Counseling — an independent educational consultant who brings joy, intention, and humanity back into college admissions. With a background in theater and film, Nita helps students with ADHD and other learning differences find their voice, manage overwhelm, and approach the application process as a rite of passage, not a test of worth.

They discuss practical strategies for breaking writer’s block, balancing structure and creativity, and helping students advocate for themse...

In this episode, we sit down with Isaac Green, former University of Washington Track & Field All-Pac-12 runner and current Untapped Executive Function Coach. Isaac opens up about his own academic struggles, like failing statistics (twice), and the skills that helped him bounce back.

Together, Brandon and Isaac explore practical strategies for:

✅ Time management and planning routines

✅ Building study systems that actually work

✅ Developing self-advocacy with teachers and professors

✅ Learning from failure and building resilience

✅ Balancing athletics, academics, and personal growth

Want to learn more about how Untapp...

In this episode, Brandon Slade, Founder of Untapped Learning, sits down with Jill Michaud, Head of School at Hillside School & Center for Dyslexia in Boulder, Colorado. Together they unpack what dyslexia is (and isn’t), the connection between phonological processing and reading, and how early intervention can completely change a student’s confidence and self-esteem.

Jill explains Hillside’s structured, evidence-based approach to literacy and how small class sizes, expert instruction, and relational teaching rebuild both skills and belief in learning. The conversation also explores how dyslexia and executive function challenges often overlap, highlighting strategies that strengthen workin...

Why is it that student-athletes can show incredible discipline in sports, but struggle to stay organized or focused in school?

In this episode, Brandon talks with John Gassner, ADHD coach and academic strategist with Order Out of Chaos. A former Division I swimmer and ESPN sports marketing exec, John brings both personal experience and professional insight into the unique challenges student-athletes face with executive function.

Together, they unpack why time and energy management—not just motivation—are the key skills for balance. From sleep and nutrition to planning and self-advocacy, John shares proven strategies to help...

When kids struggle with executive function, procrastination and anxiety often collide—creating a frustrating loop that impacts the whole family. In this episode, Brandon Slade sits down with Danielle Svingos, Associate Director of the Berkeley Clinic, longtime clinician, and parent of neurodiverse young adults, to explore the deep connection between executive function challenges, anxiety, and avoidance behaviors.

Danielle introduces her “green brain, yellow brain, red brain” framework, showing parents how to recognize escalation early and use co-regulation to reset. She shares how creating a self-regulation menu of personalized calming strategies empowers kids to take ownership of their emotio...

What does it take to go from struggling to read in elementary school to earning an MBA? In this inspiring episode, Brandon Slade sits down with Gabe Corradino, a former student athlete who grew up with dyslexia and executive function challenges.

Gabe shares his journey of resilience—from reading at a first-grade level in fifth grade to finding success in both athletics and academics. He talks candidly about what it was like to play hockey and other sports while struggling with comprehension, how harsh coaching environments affected his confidence, and why empathy and clear expectations are essential fo...

Parenting an anxious or resistant child can feel like walking a tightrope between supporting them and fighting daily battles over homework, phones, and responsibilities. In this episode, Brandon Slade sits down with Bryna Cunningham, clinical social worker, school counselor, and private practice therapist, to talk about the connection between executive function deficits and anxiety—and what parents can do to help.

Bryna shares practical strategies for creating a “soft landing” after school, recognizing overstimulation, and approaching resistance with curiosity rather than control. She explains why defensiveness often masks anxiety, how body doubling and modeling can reduce stress, and wh...

Why is the transition to adulthood so hard for young people today? In this episode, Brandon Slade sits down with Roxanne Turner, Founder and CEO of RBT Coaching, Certified ADHD Professional, and Board Certified Coach, to unpack the realities of “adulting” and how families can better support independence.

Roxanne shares why developmental lags make launching more complex for students with ADHD, and how misunderstandings about executive function often fuel conflict at home. From laundry battles and messy rooms to money management and self-care routines, she offers practical strategies for teaching real-world skills without creating learned helplessness.

Th...

What does it really take to help students grow through struggle instead of being defeated by it? In this episode, Brandon sits down with Aaron Ragon, a leader with decades of experience in counseling, mental health, and student support. Aaron is a Partner of Student Support Services for Cherry Creek School District, oversees 192 counselors in Douglas County, and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver.

Aaron shares his powerful framework—the Zen Warrior mindset—and explains why resilience isn’t just about bouncing back, but about adapting with authenticity. He discusses the role of parent...

Therapist Bridget Weigel joins the podcast to explore the emotional roots of executive function, especially in families where both parents and kids face similar challenges. Through a trauma-informed, somatic lens, Bridget shares how slowing down, building routines, and regulating emotions can disrupt the cycle of guilt and reactive parenting. She explains why mindfulness doesn’t have to mean meditation, how movement fosters curiosity and connection, and why healing our nervous systems is the most powerful gift we can offer our kids. From ADHD to anxiety to overwhelm, this episode is a masterclass in breaking generational patterns and modeling calm, co...