The NeuroDivergent Rebel Report: My Pride Month Talk Got Canceled. Here's Why That's Bigger Than Just Me
The Oligarchy is Paying Me to Destroy Them (For Now). My Precarious Rebel Life.
June is Pride Month.
As a consultant working to humanize and make workplaces more inclusive for Queer and NeuroDivergent People, April to June (Autism Month, Mental Health Month, Pride Month) used to be my busiest time of year.
Welcome back to another Founding Member Post!
Twice each month I will put out an exclusive post like this one (often on a more intimate and personal topic, book sneak peeks, OR featuring some of the training materials I’m teaching) that will be brought to you by and for our Founding Members.
When I am scheduling this post, we have Forty Three Founding Members!
I won’t put them on the spot today, but you know who you are. I can’t thank you enough for your support (especially in this moment).
Back when Queer existence wasn't as taboo as it is now, the work I would push myself to do April-June used to be enough to carry me through the slower late summer and early fall (until conference season kicked in). Then, like clockwork, ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) would start to reach out, realizing they had budget left to spend by year's end (that they'd lose otherwise).
In my experience as a small business owner, there are good and bad months.
Late summer was slow, but September, October, and early November used to also be “good months” so things used to balance out.
My second rush of the year used to come at the end of August or early September, triggering me into a new phase.
After a slow summer, I would take off, racing to get as many clients done before the fall holidays start (because people don't want to pay educators and speakers to teach when most or many of their team members are on vacation), and to secure payments and contracts for those who wanted to spend in 2024 for work they needed to have done in 2025.
Then, suddenly, things would get quiet by mid-November until January or February (when the spring clients would start to trickle in again).
In those days, I would book busy season months in advance.
Busy seasons were rough, and I ran myself ragged trying to get through them, but it worked out because I could recover in the slow months that end-capped each burst of activity in the spring and fall.
This year, things have been very different. . .
This year, my spring rush landed me three consulting clients.
Ultimately, I landed one client in April, one in May, and one in June (not enough to get me through the slow months that usually lie ahead).
The April client was excellent. It was a non-U.S. company that asked me to talk NeuroDivergence and workplace Neuro-Inclusion (a topic I have covered frequently over the years).
The May client was also wonderful, and I created an all-new presentation for them that was (as far as I can tell and have been told) received well.
In June, I was excited about working with an organization to deliver a NeuroDivergent Queer Intersections program. The program (I was set to teach yesterday). However, last Thursday (after I did all the work preparing for this talk, shy of giving it), I was notified it didn't get "approved" in time (on their end), so they canceled my talk (instead of rescheduling). That's big business for you...
Pointing at a MUCH BIGGER Problem
For the first time since I've been an independent consultant full-time, I have zero confirmed consulting clients on my books… and I’m not the only one.
Other DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) consultants I know have shared similar stories, of dropped clients and empty schedules, shedding light on a much bigger, more sinister picture of Pride Month 2025.
It's scary to see, but I can't help but feel that David, the dogs, and I will be okay somehow.
We are surviving.
My Facebook page is still monetized (though that has been taken away from me many times, and the payments from Meta are NEVER guaranteed), and my reach is doing abnormally well (for now), so I'm taking advantage of that while it lasts.
I see it as having the oligarchy pay me to destroy them. While I find this incredibly amusing and satisfying, Meta will likely eventually shut down my monetization (and possibly my entire Facebook page). Both have happened to me before.
Since we're stationary in Texas, David is working, which significantly helps ease the stress and strain (since my revenue streams have become more volatile recently).
People frequently keep commenting on my posts, "Get out of Texas," but our resources (and support systems) are here.
If we were to leave Texas now, we would be going without sufficient survival resources (because David's job cannot be done from the road). However, if something were to change (and we had the means to materialize), we'd love to get out of here (and back on the road).
It's just not a reality... yet.
