Jen Benford

09/15/2026

October 13, I'm opening The Rewriters Room in Skool.

Here's what it is: a room for creators, feelers, and rebuilders who are building something of their own — a brand, a business, or both — and would rather do it alongside other people than alone at a kitchen table at 11pm.

We meet twice a month on Tuesdays, for ninety minutes. You bring whatever you're stuck on and we work it out loud together.

First three things we're tackling: branding your Substack, social media, and digital networking. In the new year, nervous system regulation and some guests who know things better than I do.

The name means something specific to me. The Rewriters Room is about rewriting the story you believe about yourself — what you're actually capable of — and then watching that turn up in practical places. A bio. A price you finally say out loud.

Two house rules: don't take yourself too seriously, because I fully intend to have fun in there. And zero tolerance for bullying.

Cameras are optional, and every session is recorded — coming for the replay counts.

$25 a month or $250 for the year, and that's the lowest it will ever be. You join by becoming a paid subscriber to The Divergent Talent Alchemist. Link below.

Come take the pen back for your life. 💜 Link in the comments.

09/14/2026

Okay, friends. I can finally tell you what I’ve been building. 💜

The Rewriters Room opens October 13.

And this one feels especially close to me because I didn’t want to build another community where everyone feels like they have to show up already knowing the answer.

I wanted a room for the unfinished parts.

For the big idea you haven’t quite figured out yet.
For the thing you keep thinking about making.
For the career or business you’re rebuilding.
For the version of yourself you’re still getting to know.

It’s a biweekly space for creators, feelers, and rebuilders — writers, artists, educators, founders, and anyone reimagining what comes next.

The pilot investment is $25/month or $250/year.

And because this really is a pilot, you’ll be part of the first chapter, with a voice in how the room evolves.

The first 10 new paid subscribers also get a 60-minute 1:1 coaching call with me, because I’d love the chance to actually know some of the people who help shape this from the beginning.

There are special thank-yous for current paid subscribers, past course/cohort members, and people who have collaborated with me, too.

I’m excited. A little nervous. Very ready.

Take the pen back. Link in the comments with more information and to sign up on Substack, The Divergent Talent Alchemist.

09/05/2026

Small update if you haven't heard: The Divergent Talent Alchemist is now a podcast.

It's live on Spotify right now, and Apple Podcasts is next — just working through their review process.

One thing worth knowing going in: these are Live sessions converted into episodes, so they're not structured like a traditional produced podcast. It's real conversation, not a script. If that's your kind of listening, a few good places to start:

"Systems That Gaslight, and Systems That Don't,"
"The Professional ADHD Idea Generator,"
"When Did You Realize You're Not Your Thoughts?"

Podcast linked in the comments!

09/04/2026

07/31/2026

There are systems that gaslight, and systems that don't.

Chris Stephens came on The Divergent Talent Alchemist to talk about workplace gaslighting — what it can look like, and why the person who notices the problem so often becomes the problem.

"It doesn't have to be malicious. It just has to be persistent, and resistant to the words you're saying."

We're not telling anyone to quit tomorrow. The question is smaller and harder than that.

Check out the full discussion below!

07/27/2026

A regulated nervous system is the highest form of currency there is.

I spent years thinking if I could just get calm enough, grounded enough, disciplined enough with my breathing — I could make almost any room work. And I couldn't understand why it kept failing.

I learned that you cannot regulate your way out of an environment that is biologically incompatible with your wiring. Regulation is a moment — the breath, the weighted blanket, the walk. Safety is the whole thing — the people, the pace, whether you're allowed to say no. You can be perfectly regulated in an unsafe room, and your body will still be right to sound the alarm.

If your shoulders climb toward your ears around a certain person, if Sunday nights fill you with dread before the week has even started — that's not an overreaction to fix. That's data.

Finding 2 of 8 in my research on neurodivergent burnout and giftedness is live. If you see yourself in this, I'd love for you to read it and tell me.

Link in the comments. 🐦‍🔥

07/20/2026

"You're so capable."
For most of my life I heard that as the highest compliment there was. It took a collapse — an actual ambulance, electrodes on my chest — to understand it had been functioning like a life sentence.
Because if you're the one who can hold the most, you're the one who keeps getting handed more. Nobody worries about you. You're the safe pair of hands. And somewhere underneath all that holding is a question you never get quiet enough to ask: if I put this down, who am I?
I spent the last 18 months chasing that question — through 30-some essays, 20-some honest conversations, and six years of my own healing. Eight findings came out the other side. I'm publishing them one a week, and Part 1 is live now.
It starts with the one nobody names: the body keeps the receipts. Burnout isn't always about being tired. Sometimes it's your body saying no more in the only language it has left — the tight chest, the years you can't remember, the "I'm fine" that isn't.
If you felt any of that land in your chest before your mind caught up, this series is for you.
Link to Part 1 in the comments. 🐦‍🔥

07/08/2026

"Someone should just pay us to generate ideas." 💡
When Natalie Hewitt (Rooted N Chaos on Substack) said her ADHD dream job is professional ideas generator, I felt that in my bones — and quoted her in one of my articles. Now we're going live together!
Her ADHD Dream Job: Professional Ideas Generator
🗓 Friday, July 10 at 11am ET
📍 Live on Substack (free to watch — link below!)
We're talking about:
✨ The ADHD idea fountain — and the follow-through struggle that is NOT a character flaw
✨ Real, actual jobs that pay people to generate ideas
✨ Working with your cycle instead of against it
✨ Why you were never "scattered" — you were built for range
If your brain produces forty ideas before breakfast and the world keeps telling you to pick ONE... come hang out with us. 🔥

Starting Jul 10 at 11:00 AM EDT

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.