Fashioning a Life with ADHD
Magdalene Chan is the co-founder and art director of Her Velvet Vase, a fashion e-commerce label she launched with her sister in 2007, the same year she was diagnosed with ADHD. A Parsons-trained designer, she has since built a career blending creativity and leadership with advocacy. Magdalene speaks openly about harnessing ADHD traits, the power of therapy, and the importance of community in finding peace and purpose.
Quotes
“Medication regulated my focus, but it was therapy and community that transformed my peace of mind.”
“Leadership with ADHD feels like “trying to find steady footing in a ball pit inside a bouncy castle – hilariously fun and chaotic, but inevitably some things escape.”
A Wild Start
Nobody would guess it now, but I was a bit of a wild one. By age 15, I had already collected a whole history of bad behaviours. From constantly breaking the school uniform code, to flooding my bathroom in an earnest attempt to simulate a diving excursion as a toddler, to shattering my ankle during a fight.
When my mother heard about a friend’s ADHD diagnosis in 2007, things suddenly clicked. I was diagnosed with moderate–severe combination-type ADHD that same year.
Reactions to my Diagnosis
Putting a name to my personality was joyful, overwhelming and validating. Would I finally find out why I had always felt different? Were there ways forward besides the constant demand to “try harder”?
But my hopes were quickly stamped out. Sharing my diagnosis with teachers led to confusion, disbelief or outright rejection. At my elite school, my vice-principal once hissed, “It’s not ADHD. You’re just disturbed.” Another teacher accused my psychiatrist of making things up for money.
As an impressionable teenager, I absorbed all that shame and stopped treatment. But through it all, my parents stood firmly by me. My dad once said, “If you’re going to break rules, do it better.” Their unwavering support gave me purpose. I wanted them to know their hopes weren’t misplaced.
I got through school with A’s and B’s, made peace with my teachers, and even co-founded Her Velvet Vase, a fashion e-commerce brand with my sister. But my impulses and mood swings blazed on like firestorms. When I was happy, I was euphoric. When I was sad, I fell into deep, hellish misery. I masked it all, clumsily trying to blend in.
A New York Breakthrough
My turning point came when I moved to New York for college at Parsons. Leaving behind the company I had built filled me with dread. I cried to my boyfriend Marco, “I feel like I’m regressing. I’m missing out on building something I really care about.”
He replied gently, “There must be something you really care about here too. Use that to keep going.”
Though I didn’t see it through an ADHD lens then, that moment reshaped how I looked at purpose and motivation. I began to lean into the very traits people had labelled “crazy” – my hyperfocus, ability to perform under pressure, and creative leaps.
Learning to Harness ADHD
In New York, I also met people who spoke openly and poetically about their ADHD. Their stories left me with an indelible message: ADHD isn’t a flaw; it can be harnessed.
I resumed treatment, this time combining stimulant medication with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). I devoured resources, moderated Clubhouse rooms, and connected with ADHD brains worldwide. Medication regulated my focus, but it was therapy and community that transformed my peace of mind.
With the help of my psychologist, I learned to widen my window of tolerance for distress, to name emotions precisely, and to advocate for myself while cultivating compassion for others.
Everyday ADHD
Day to day, my ADHD makes me a fiery co-worker. I’ve been told I’m hard to keep up with and impatient but also energising and motivating. Leadership with ADHD feels like “trying to find steady footing in a ball pit inside a bouncy castle – hilariously fun and chaotic, but inevitably some things escape.”
I’ve also learned not to tie my worth to vague goals like “good leadership” or “authenticity.” Instead, I break them into smaller, tangible steps: listen, reframe, find common ground. Those tiny ingredients put me on the way to establishing meaningful value.
Finding My Voice
Having spent much of my journey in solitude, I know how much difference a strong community makes. After all, we’re not just ADHD brains – we exist within families, schools, workplaces and societies.
In Singapore, where rocking the boat is rare, I want to keep speaking up. ADHD is a conversation that always needs more voices, even if it’s a slightly over chatty and lippy one like mine.
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