Industry Professionals Create Order out of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Editor’s note: I, Abby, also have ADHD. Read more about my experience with the disorder on page 4.
About one in every 16 American adults has attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adults in the auto glass industry are no exception.
Though the name ADHD touches on two key traits—an inability to focus and a need for constant motion—it omits some of the issues people with ADHD frequently struggle with the most. Multiple medical studies on ADHD list racing thoughts, time blindness and executive dysfunction as characteristics of the condition. All of these symptoms can hinder working adults.
Auto glass industry professionals with ADHD can find success despite their disorder.
Heather Grubb
Owner — Stop-A-Crack Windshield Repair & Replacement
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — 2024 AGTO Competitor
Even as a kid, Heather Grubb knew she was different. Though at the time she and her parents didn’t know she had ADHD, Grubb exhibited all the classic childhood symptoms. She couldn’t sit still, she frequently got in trouble for talking in class and her energy and personality made her the center of attention.
“I was the one in the middle of every photo,” she says. “I was constantly doing something.”
Grubb got good grades at school, but she struggled to focus. “Sometimes they made me sit by the teacher’s desk because I was always the class clown.”
After high school, Grubb had her first child and got a job as a paralegal.
That career, she says, was “chaotically organized.”
“I wasn’t like a normal person with a clean desk, and I had to keep a list to make sure I remembered everything I needed to do,” Grubb says.
At home, she found herself going from room to room and jumping from one task to another, leaving behind chores she’d already started.
“Nothing was ever getting done,” she says. “I would always get super frustrated with myself. It was exhausting. I couldn’t stand it, but I never did anything about it. I just dealt with myself.”
Grubb began working with her father at Stop-A-Crack in 2019, and he signed the business over to her in 2023. Grubb spent about eight months weighing the decision before she gave up her paralegal job.
“I don’t like change,” she says. “You can’t control what’s going to happen, and things changing quickly throws my whole world out of place.”
Like many people with ADHD, she needed extra time to emotionally process the change. Once she’d made her decision, it was time to make the transition. She began her auto-glass career as the shop manager, so she had to learn to balance taking phone calls, scheduling appointments and coordinating payments. She made that work and eventually decided to get into replacement, too.
“You can’t give a quote, talk to a customer, or educate them on what they need if you don’t know how to do the work,” she says.
That transition into replacement was much smoother than the move from paralegal to the auto-glass industry, she says, because the mechanical work came a lot more naturally to her. She found she loved the work, but the chaos in her brain didn’t stop.
“I was all over the place. Everything except the lobby was a mess,” she says. “I’d set something down in the shop and ask, ‘Where the heck did I put that?’ I couldn’t stay organized.”
It wasn’t until she decided to compete at Auto Glass Week™ in 2024 that Grubb decided to do something about her struggles. She prepped by working with a mentor.
“I did everything wrong in that practice run. Everything. I was just a mess,” she says.
Frustrated by her failure, she went to her doctor.
“I told [the doctor], ‘If I weren’t going to this competition, I probably never would have come here and said we need to do something about it, but I cannot do this competition without some help,’” Grubb says.
The doctor gave her a prescription for her ADHD, and things began to change as it took effect.
“Now that I can quiet my brain down and think and focus, I can do things so well,” Grubb says.
Today, Grubb’s grateful for her assistant’s help in keeping her and the shop organized. Grubb hopes to compete at AGW again. She wants to conquer the areas where she lost points, which put her just out of medal contention in 2024.
Thanks to her treatment, Grubb approaches her everyday job and future competitions with more confidence. She encourages others with ADHD not to put off getting help.
“People’s lives would be so much easier if they just asked for help,” she says.
Macenzie Curbow
Like many people, Macenzie Curbow starts his day with a cup of coffee. For Curbow, though, the beverage does a little more than wake him up in the morning. He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was six years old and finds that coffee helps him cope with some of his symptoms.
He describes himself as an “obnoxious child,” and didn’t develop helpful coping techniques until adulthood.
“I was one of those kids who bounced off the walls,” he says.
Now, he has a whole morning routine designed to help regulate his day.
“What I’ve found over the years is, if I can calm my brain, my day starts much better,” Curbow says. “So I read a lot, which is not common for people with ADHD.”
Even though it’s counterintuitive, Curbow says he’s very “sensory driven.” Making himself sit still every morning with a physical book and a warm cup of coffee helps meet that need.
The coffee serves its own purpose. Curbow says he doesn’t take ADHD medication because he dislikes how it’s affected him in the past. The caffeine in a cup of coffee provides enough of a stimulant to help him focus.
Curbow entered the auto-glass industry after a near-death accident at a previous job. He worked at a scrapyard, and a fuse panel exploded in his face. He had to be air-lifted to the hospital. After suffering from third-degree burns and scorched lungs, he had to change careers.
“So I ended up in the auto glass industry,” Curbow says.
His new career has helped him learn to spend his energy and attention strategically.
“It can be a double-edged sword,” Curbow says. “With ADHD, I can either set myself up to control the chaos of the industry, or the chaos of the industry will control me.”
He takes control of his day by creating a schedule. That sets his baseline, no matter what interruptions arise.
On days when Curbow simply can’t get himself to focus, he embraces it.
“I just let it happen,” he says. “I can still perform my job duties, just not to the same level as when I’m at a high point. I just wallow in it for a bit.”
Once the “wallowing” has run its course over a few hours or sometimes a day, Curbow says he comes back on the other side able to make up for anything he missed.
For Curbow, ADHD isn’t a disability. Instead, embracing his differences is a key to success.
“Don’t try to be normal. Try to be exceptional,” he says.
Michael Waites
“My parents always knew something was different about me,” Michael Waites says. “But growing up in a very rural area, it wasn’t easily spotted. I was just that kid that liked to run around and climb trees.”
Waites got in trouble as a child, but didn’t fully realize there was something different about how his brain worked until he hit high school.
“I wasn’t good at following directions or listening to someone when they told me what to do,” he says.
He began seeking treatment when he started working. He quickly found himself frustrated with the options available.
“Everybody’s telling me there’s something wrong with me, and I need to fix it,” he says. “They’d give me medication and say, ‘Let’s try this and see what happens in eight weeks once it starts kicking in.’”
As a single dad, he drew inspiration from his daughter to find ways of coping. Since most ADHD medications are stimulants, Waites found that he was having a hard time gearing back down again so he could relax and spend time with her. So he worked with his doctor to stop taking them.
At first Waites faced concern from his loved ones about his decision, but that quickly faded.
“It was one of the best things to ever happen to me,” he says. “…It went from people asking me if I’ve taken my meds that day to them saying, ‘Hey man, you’ve been in a really good mood lately. I’m liking this new you.’”
To set himself up for success, Waites has to be very strategic.
“I do things differently, so I have to accommodate for that at the beginning of my day and in my weekly planning,” he says.
Using wireless earbuds helps keep him from getting distracted by his phone and allows him to answer calls while working. “I’m staying on task, my hands are busy, and I’ve always got background music, so those thoughts running through my head are a little bit quieter,” Waites says.
He packs everything he might need for the day. Things like lotion, snacks, more comfortable clothes and lip balm are essentials to avoid distracting discomforts.
“Anything to keep me regulated while I’m out there on the job so I don’t become uncomfortable to the point where just the slightest things can turn it into a bad day,” he says.
Like many other people with ADHD, Waites can be overstimulated by social interactions. He’s learned his limits and sets his boundaries accordingly.
“Auto Glass Week™ was the only thing I’ve applied myself to outside my circle,” he says. “Even doing that, I couldn’t handle people for more than 15 minutes before I had to leave conversations and decompress somewhere and come back.”
Waites budgets time to decompress into his work day.
“If I’m rushed on one job, I’m going to feel rushed on the next one,” he says.
If he’s still feeling frazzled at the end of one job, he’ll give himself a few extra minutes to sit in his van before going to the next one.
Waites wishes ADHD was better understood.
“Attention deficit disorder is a horrible name for it when it really is just a lack of executive function,” Waites says. “So many people who have ADHD know what the problem is, but they just don’t have the willpower, motivation or tools to fix it.”
More Bumps in the Road
ADHD often coincides with other conditions. These are called comorbid conditions or simply comorbidities, and they present their own set of challenges.
COMMON COMORBIDITIES WITH ADHD:
• Anxiety and depressive disorders
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Learning disorders/disabilities such as dyslexia, dyscalculia or Auditory Processing Disorder
• Tic disorders, like Tourette’s
This information comes from a 2019 paper called “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and comorbidity: A review of literature” published in the World Journal of Clinical Cases.
Working with ADHD
People with ADHD can be valuable in the workplace thanks to their unique mindset. But for those with ADHD to thrive, it helps if their coworkers or employers have their back.
According to the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA), employers should start by figuring out what an employee with ADHD struggles with the most, which is different for everyone.
For employees who constantly complete work late due to time blindness, ADDA suggests customizing deadlines. If their symptoms are more manageable during a particular time of day or week, ADDA says employers can help by assigning a precise time during that window to do a specific task. For auto-glass technicians, a non-traditional work schedule that lines up with their most productive time could also help.
Employers should try to play to the strengths of those with ADHD, ADDA says, even more so than with other employees. Identify the areas where they excel and, when possible, customize ADHD employees’ duties to play into their strengths.
Famously Successful
Outside the auto-glass industry, there are dozens of famous individuals with ADHD who have achieved greatness. These are just a few:
• Business owners Bill Gates, Walt Disney and Paris Hilton
• Olympians Michael Phelps and Simone Biles
• Singers Justin Timberlake and Adam Levine
This information comes from a WebMD article, “Celebrities With ADD/ADHD,” and an ADHD Centre article, “Successful People With ADHD Superpowers.”
Abby Bowman is the editor of AGRR magazine. Email her at abowman@glass.com and connect with her on LinkedIn.
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