Lucy Hobbs
Specialisms: ADHD, Autism, Neurodiversity at work, Creativity and Neurodiversity, Accessibility (design and communications), ND Leadership
Lucy Hobbs is a neurodivergent (Autistic and ADHD) ex-advertising creative and highly experienced at neurodiversity advocacy and public speaking.
Lucy founded The Future is ND in 2018 to address the lack of awareness and inclusion of neurodivergent people in the advertising industry, where she has worked as a creative for 30 years.
Lucy discovered her ADHD in 2007 after hitting rock bottom, self-medicating with alcohol and drugs since age 14, broken relationships, unemployment, cycles of burnout, and making the same mistakes over and over again.
She could generate award-winning ideas in her creative work but struggled with the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities that others found easy. Later, in 2021, she found out she was also autistic. ADHD didn’t have all the answers.
Getting diagnosed was an empowering experience for Lucy. It gave her reasons for her erratic behaviour and differences, and access to information and support which helped her understand how her brain worked, and how to live a more authentic and healthy life.
However, for almost 10 years Lucy didn’t disclose her neurodivergence at work for fear of stigma. Being freelance her reputation was everything, and advertising is an unforgiving industry. So she tried to mask it, which caused more anxiety and was detrimental to her well-being.
Then in March 2018, Lucy had a change of heart after speaking openly about her neurodivergence at an industry conference.
This was a pivotal moment for Lucy. She knew she had to continue the conversation and help change the narrative to keep speaking up and encourage others to do so too - to collectively raise awareness, in a safe space, and overcome prejudice and fear of discrimination as a community.
All her work; including hosting events for the ND community, neurodiversity at work consultancy, keynotes, workshops, and creative direction, is led with a clear mission to educate and inform organisations and society on how to embrace and empower a more neurodiverse workforce and world.
Clients include Axa Healthcare, Universal Music, Giphy US, Havas, Publicis, Ogilvy, National Grid, Coca-Cola, Sky, Pension Bee, and many more…
