From Plaster Masks to True Voice: Neurodivergence, Burnout, and Finding Your Worth with Nikki (Dominique) Favreau

I thought helping others heal meant I was healed—until this conversation showed me what it costs to keep a mask on.

In this episode of the Neurodivergent Connection, I sit down with Nikki (Dominique) Favreau—former psychiatry and addiction nurse turned entrepreneur—who shares how a single moment in art therapy cracked a plaster mask and gave her voice back. We talk about the quiet ways burnout sneaks in, the difference between performing survival and living truth, and how worthiness ties to dignity, not productivity.

You’ll hear how Nikki shifted from caregiving to building a software company with a remote team in the Philippines, why she calls herself a “perfectionist in remission,” and the surprising way she spots emotional intelligence when hiring. We also unpack ADHD through a family lens, the relief (and fear) of being seen, and the first gentle question she invites you to ask if you feel stuck behind your own mask.

What did that mask protect—and what did it cost? How did one professor become both a catalyst and a mirror? And what simple, everyday practices help you return to your core essence? I reveal what changed for me too.

About the Guest

Nikki (Dominique) Favreau is a former mental health and rehab nurse with a master’s in mental health who now co-runs a software company. She supports entrepreneurs with hiring, training, and delegation, grounded in compassion, emotional intelligence, and lived neurodivergent experience.

Key Timestamps

• 0:02 – Welcome and why this story matters now

• 1:10 – From psych nurse to entrepreneur: the unexpected pivot

• 5:18 – Self-compassion in addiction work (and what came back to teach her)

• 11:49 – ADHD, validation, and seeing patterns differently

• 19:02 – Hyperfocus, structure, and burnout’s slow creep

• 21:40 – Delegation, identity, and the “perfectionist in remission”

• 23:40 – The plaster mask: what it hid and why it hurt to remove

• 39:40 – Error management: why she asks her team to “make mistakes”

• 64:21 – Burnout vs. soul loss: what she couldn’t see from the inside

• 67:10 – The first gentle question if you feel stuck behind a mask

If this episode resonates, share it with a parent, educator, or anyone exploring Autism, ADHD, or burnout. Subscribe for more conversations that center neurodivergent voices and real-life strategies.

#Neurodivergent #ADHD #ArtTherapy #Perfectionism #Burnout

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