Jen Benford

06/07/2026

The next brand you build should sound like you, not like the people who told you to wait your turn.

The Divergent Brand Cohort is 12 weeks for early founders building the brand they actually are. Identity first, visual second. Ten spots, Two scholarships, and a room full of creators, feelers, and rebuilders right alongside you.

*Cohort One starts July 14, 2026
*Scholarship applications close this Friday, June 12, 2026
*Standard applications close Friday, June 19, 2026

More details including FAQ and application can be found below on my company website linked below.

http://benfordtalentalchemy.com

06/01/2026

If you've ever been the one who could hold the most — so people just kept handing you more, until your body finally said enough — you'll see yourself in this one.

I sat down with Emmaly Perks, gifted educator and consultant, to talk about gifted and twice-exceptional adults, and building work that fits how you actually think instead of contorting yourself to fit the job. This is the conversation many of us needed years ago.

Gifted and neurodivergent adults often break themselves to fit jobs built for other brains. Gifted educator Emmaly Perks on designing work around how you actually think.

05/30/2026

I've been quiet about this here, so let me introduce you to something I've built.
For most of my career, I heard some version of the same line: you're talented, but you're a lot. Too many interests. Too intense to fit neatly under one job title.
I spent years trying to shrink into roles that were never built for the way my brain works. I'm done doing that — and I made something for the people who are done too.
It's called the Divergent Brand Cohort.
Here's who I keep picturing in the room:
The one who's building something that's actually theirs but can't shrink it into a tidy one-liner — because they were never a one-liner kind of person.
The one who's brilliant, and a little tired of translating themselves for rooms that were never built for them.
If that's you, I think you already feel it.

This is a 3-month cohort for founders and creatives building a brand that actually sounds like them.
It's small on purpose. 10 spots — because being actually seen needs a small room.

2 scholarship spots available. Scholarship applications close June 12. The rest close June 19.

Check out the link in the comments to apply. 💜

A 12-week personal branding cohort for founders, creators, and aspiring entrepreneurs. Identity work first, AI and visual second. Cohort One open. Live with Jen Benford on the Divergent Talent Alchemist.

05/22/2026

Beyond Bright: Helping Gifted Adults Find Work That Fits 🦋

I'm going LIVE with Emmaly Perks, M.Ed. 🧠 — a leader in gifted education, gifted human development, and the neuroscience of giftedness. For 15+ years she's worked across research labs, K-12 classrooms, universities, non-profits, and corporate settings to support bright, high-potential, and differently wired humans.
She's the founder of Beyond Gifted Services, where she helps gifted and 2e adults find their best fit — from school through career and beyond.
We're going to be having an organic conversation on giftedness and how it shows up in adulthood. We'll get into why so many gifted and 2e adults burn out in roles that look great on paper, and how to recognize work that actually fits your wiring instead of work you can just survive. Emmaly will bring the research — her work is grounded in it — and we'll dig into what parents of gifted kids need to know about the long game, because gifted childhood doesn't end at 18. It just changes shape. 💛
If you're gifted, raising someone who is, or have been quietly wondering whether you might be — don't miss this one.

📅 Tuesday, May 27 · 12:00 PM ET · Live on Substack

Starting May 27 at 12:00 PM EDT

05/19/2026

Kevin Davis and I are going to be getting really vulnerable tomorrow talking about our lived experiences and the shame and guilt that go along with a label casted so early on in life. I would not want to miss this one.

Especially if you are into music therapy, self care books, or the work of Adam Grant and Brene Brown.

Starting May 20 at 10:00 AM EDT

05/19/2026

Tomorrow 5/20 at 10am ET I am sitting down with Kevin Davis for a conversation that I know so many of you are going to feel deeply. 💜
Kevin has 28+ years in employee benefits and strategic planning, is a sought-after speaker, and one of the most passionate advocates for the neurodivergent community out there. But what makes this conversation special is how personal it gets.
We are talking masking, unmasking, people pleasing, the fawn response, music therapy, and what it really means to be twice exceptional in a world that was not built for the way our brains work.
If this is your story — or someone you love's story — come join us. This is exactly the kind of conversation that makes you feel a little less alone. 🎧💜

Starting May 20 at 10:00 AM EDT

05/18/2026

Tomorrow on DTA we're talking about something that doesn't get enough honest airtime — addiction, alcohol, and the extraordinary freedom waiting on the other side. 💜
Josh Woll is over 5 years alcohol-free and bringing his whole story. He's a 20+ year video production and photography veteran who has worked on major Prime Video productions — someone who knows what it means to show up fully and create from a place of clarity rather than chaos.
He found his way there not by escaping the hard feelings, but by building the resilience to actually feel them. That shift — from numbing to feeling, from surviving to building — is what this conversation is all about.
Whether this is personal to you or someone you love, come join us. This one is worth showing up for. 🔥

Starting May 19 at 12:30 PM EDT

05/18/2026

New interview is up on The Divergent Talent Alchemist, and this one is a good one.
I talked with Jason Ives — fractional CTO and one of the clearest thinkers I know on AI and software development — about what's really changing for founders right now. If you've been sitting on an idea because you think you need more money, more time, or more technical know-how than you have, read this.
The math has changed. Jason explains how. And if you want to talk to him directly about building your thing, he's at jasonives.com.

https://open.substack.com/pub/benfordtalentalchemy/p/how-ai-is-changing-the-game-for-web?r=5637sm&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

05/17/2026

This week's live with Alex Katsulis was one of those conversations that lingers.

Alex spent years climbing toward a career as a patent attorney, until a full-life burnout made it impossible to keep climbing. He left law in February and is now training as a life coach and writing the Substack do selfish well.
The reframe at the heart of his work: you are not your thoughts. Your brain sends information; you decide what to do with it. That sounds simple until you really sit with it.

One line he shared had the whole chat at a loss for words:
"A refusal to be selfish means you are selfishly depriving people of the truest form of yourself."
Read the full piece, and watch for the replay.

Former patent attorney Alex Katsulis on burnout, the brain, and the distinction that changes everything: you are not your thoughts.