In this episode, we hear a fascinating story from Perry Knoppert, who tells us about his life journey, and how it eventually led him to start the Octopus Movement. We learn how our guest was always the rebel, the misfit, and the weirdo who did things differently, and how he left the Netherlands to live in China and how that impacted him and his family.
Perry discusses how he found out about the concept of multipotentiality, which he could relate to, how he embraces the fact that he is a non-linear thinker after struggling with being different his whole life, and how he uses his ADHD and dyslexia to his advantage, and how it has enabled him to learn quickly and come up with creative solutions. Perry started to interview people from all over the world with multiple passions and how he discovered his own neurodiversity, and how it made him the way he is today. This resulted in Perry Founding the Octopus Movement; a global network of non-linear thinkers who are working to create a better understanding of their unique perspectives. Through art projects, teaching, and the launch of an app, the Movement is working to help people with neurodiversity leverage their strengths and reach their potential.
Perry Knoppert has brought himself to this magical, amazing place through tons of hard work, to really bring attention to the neurodivergent community, to the possibilities, and to create a sense of belonging for people who maybe don't feel like they belong anywhere.
I really respect Perry and his work, and I've asked him to come on to Someone Gets Me today for a reason, and that is to talk about it; to talk about being neurodivergent and ways to have it work in your favor rather than seeing it as a disability or a hindrance.
A little more about Perry:
"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes ... the ones who see things differently…"
Right now, Perry is in the midst of creating and curating a large platform for neurodiverse individuals, offering them a way to shine brightly in this world that seemingly has just one light fitting available thereby leaving their lamps in the shade.
Instead of seeing his ADHD energy, dyslexic preference for visual and verbal learning, and multi-task switching brain as a disability or disorder, they became his assets for seeing and doing things differently.
He reinvented himself as a non-linear thinker and created The Octopus Movement to make a difference for other multi-passionate people to use their diverse knowledge and outside-of-the-box thinking for the better.
"They change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." (Steve Jobs, 1997)
