Savvy Food Safety, Inc.

11/02/2026

I’ve always been the person who could figure it out.

Give me a problem, and I’ll find a solution.

Give me a deadline, and I’ll meet it.

Give me a crisis, and I’ll probably be the calmest person in the room.

But ask me to make a simple phone call to reschedule a doctor’s appointment? I might put that off for three weeks. 😂

I can manage multiple businesses, speak in front of hundreds of people, and make decisions involving millions of dollars without hesitation.

Yet I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time rewriting a two-sentence email.

🧠 I can remember things people said to me when I was as young as THREE years old. Yes, three! I realize that’s extremely rare.

I think in pictures.

I can probably tell you what you were wearing, who else was in the room, and where everyone was standing during a crisis 40 years ago.

But I can walk into another room and completely forget why I went there.

I can work for 12 hours without realizing I haven’t eaten, yet struggle to start something that should take 15 minutes.

Make that make sense! 😂

For decades, I thought these were just personality quirks.

Some were tremendous strengths. Others were frustrating, and frankly, I couldn’t understand why certain things were so difficult when I could accomplish things that seemed considerably more complicated.

Then came my late AuDHD diagnosis.

Suddenly, a lot of things started making sense.

Here’s why I’m sharing this.

Competence in one area doesn’t automatically translate to competence in every area.

We make assumptions about people based on what we see them accomplish.

As leaders, we need to be careful about those assumptions.

The employee who can solve your biggest operational problem might genuinely struggle with a seemingly simple administrative task.

That doesn’t make them lazy, difficult, or less capable.

And no, I’m not suggesting we lower our expectations or standards.

Sometimes a different approach is all that’s needed.

Different doesn’t mean less capable.

💬 Now I’m curious: What’s something incredibly complicated that comes naturally to you, yet a seemingly simple task feels almost impossible?

And for those of you in leadership, have you ever mistaken someone’s difficulty with a particular task for a lack of ability?

👇 Let’s talk about it in the comments. I suspect more of us experience this than we realize.

♻️ If this resonates, share it. Someone in your network may need the reminder that struggling with one task doesn’t diminish everything else they’re capable of accomplishing.

10/31/2026

Someone told me the neurodivergence conversation doesn’t belong in food safety.

Well, I’m going to tell you exactly why it does. And I brought receipts. 😉

📊 21% of manufacturing project professionals surveyed in the UK identified as neurodivergent.

📊 19% of those neurodivergent professionals hadn’t disclosed it to their employers.

📊 19.9% of U.S. food preparation and serving workers reported a disability, according to a CDC analysis. (All disabilities, not just neurodivergence.)

📊 95.6% of U.S. food service workers are in jobs requiring on-the-job training.

Now, let’s talk about that.

We spend enormous amounts of time and money training employees on food safety, sanitation, allergen management, GMPs, and regulatory compliance.

We talk endlessly about human factors, employee behavior, accountability, food safety culture and workplace culture.

But apparently, how the human brain processes information isn’t part of the human factors conversation? 🤔

Make that make sense.

As a former health inspector, restaurant operator, trainer, and late-diagnosed AuDHD professional, I see this from both sides.

Nobody is suggesting we lower food safety standards. Let me repeat that for the people in the back.

NOBODY.

I’m suggesting we recognize that people don’t all learn, communicate, or process information the same way.

An employee who doesn’t understand an instruction isn’t necessarily being difficult, careless, or noncompliant.

Maybe the instruction wasn’t clear. Maybe the training method wasn’t effective. Maybe they need a demonstration instead of another PowerPoint.

And speaking louder probably isn’t going to help. 😉

From restaurant kitchens to food manufacturing facilities, the consequences of misunderstood instructions can be significant.

Cross-contamination. Allergen cross-contact. Improper sanitation. Missed critical control points.

These are food safety issues.

Different doesn’t mean less capable.

If we’re serious about improving food safety culture, shouldn’t we understand the people responsible for making it happen?

We can’t separate human factors from food safety and then pretend neurodiversity is irrelevant.

Leadership shapes culture. Culture drives behavior.

And understanding people is part of leadership.

💬 I’m curious. Why are we still having to explain this?

Sources: CDC (2023), Association for Project Management (2024), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025).

10/31/2026

SOME OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL WOMEN YOU KNOW MAY BE STRUGGLING IN WAYS YOU’LL NEVER SEE.

Let’s talk about high-achieving neurodivergent women.

The entrepreneurs. The executives. The business owners. The women who seem to have it all together.

They’re accomplished, driven, independent, and often the people everyone else depends on.

What you don’t see is what it may take to maintain that level of success.

The overthinking. The perfectionism. The mental exhaustion. The constant pressure to do more, achieve more, and never let anyone see you struggle.

For some neurodivergent women, success becomes part of the mask.

And here’s something I’ve learned through my own late AuDHD diagnosis.

Being highly successful doesn’t mean you’re not struggling. It may mean you’ve become exceptionally good at hiding it.

For years, I built businesses, wrote books and articles, traveled, spoke at conferences, and worked hours that would exhaust most people.

I thought that’s just how I was wired.

Turns out, I was right. Just not in the way I imagined. 🤷‍♀️🤣

Looking back, I recognize patterns I never understood before.

The intense hyperfocus that allowed me to accomplish extraordinary amounts of work.

The difficulty shutting my brain off.

The exhaustion that followed periods of incredible productivity.

And the expectation I placed on myself to keep going, regardless of the cost.

Here’s what I want other women, particularly those in leadership, to understand.

Your accomplishments don’t invalidate your challenges. And your challenges don’t diminish your accomplishments.

We need to stop assuming that successful women couldn’t possibly have ADHD, autism, or both.

We also need to recognize that not every high-achieving neurodivergent woman experiences these things the same way.

Sometimes the women who appear to be managing everything are the ones who have spent a lifetime learning how to compensate.

I don’t regret what I’ve accomplished. I’m incredibly proud of it.

But I’m learning that I don’t have to exhaust myself to prove what I’m capable of.

And perhaps that’s one of the most valuable lessons of being diagnosed later in life.

Success shouldn’t require sacrificing yourself to sustain it.

10/29/2026

WHAT HAPPENED TO WOMEN WHO WERE CONSIDERED “DIFFICULT” BEFORE WE UNDERSTOOD ADHD AND AUTISM? 🤔

It’s a question worth thinking about.

Historically, women who didn’t conform to society’s expectations could face horrific consequences.

👉 Institutionalization, sometimes at the request of their husbands or families.

👉 Diagnoses of “hysteria” and treatments that included extreme medical interventions.

👉 Lobotomies and forced sterilization.

👉 Being silenced, dismissed, or labeled mentally unstable simply because they didn’t behave as expected.

And let’s not forget the centuries when women who challenged social norms could be accused of witchcraft.

I’m certainly not suggesting these women were all neurodivergent. We have no way of knowing that.

But I do wonder how many women were punished for differences we might better understand today.

For decades, ADHD was largely recognized through behaviors commonly associated with young boys. Meanwhile, generations of women were overlooked.

They were expected to be agreeable, organized, nurturing, selfless, attractive, successful, and capable of managing everything without complaint.

And when they struggled?

They were often told to try harder.

I received my AuDHD diagnosis later in life, after decades of building businesses, leading teams, and achieving professional success.

My diagnosis didn’t suddenly change who I was. It helped me understand who I’d been all along.

And I wonder how many other women have spent their lives masking, overcompensating, and exhausting themselves trying to meet expectations that were never designed with them in mind.

Here’s what concerns me as a leader.

We may have moved beyond many of those historical practices, but have we moved beyond the attitudes?

We still label women difficult, intimidating, emotional, too direct, too outspoken, or too much.

We still mistake different communication styles for attitude and different ways of thinking for incompetence.

And we still expect women to prove their capabilities while questioning the very characteristics that may contribute to their success.

I’m not suggesting every difficult behavior is neurodivergence or that a diagnosis eliminates accountability.

But I am suggesting we need to become more thoughtful about the assumptions we make.

Different doesn’t mean less capable.

Perhaps the question isn’t why so many women are being diagnosed later in life.

Perhaps it’s why we failed to recognize them for so long.

💗 And as leaders, what are we doing to ensure we don’t continue making those same mistakes?

10/29/2026

REDACTED. Perhaps the word of the year in food safety. 🤦‍♀️

Another outbreak investigation. Another report. Another round of information withheld from the public.

According to Food Safety News, the FDA has released a heavily redacted summary of its investigation into a Cyclospora outbreak this summer.

Meanwhile, the E. coli outbreak associated with Trader Joe’s chicken wraps has ended, with 50 illnesses reported.

Here’s my question:

How are we supposed to learn from outbreaks when critical information remains hidden?

I’ve spent decades working in food safety, from regulatory inspections to corporate operations and consulting.

One thing I’ve learned is that transparency and accountability are essential to prevention.

We talk endlessly about food safety culture, root cause analysis, continuous improvement, and learning from failures.

But how do we accomplish any of that when information is withheld?

I’m certainly not suggesting that every detail of an investigation should be made public. There are legitimate reasons to protect certain information.

However, protecting confidential information and withholding information necessary to prevent future illnesses are two very different things.

An investigation shouldn’t simply end when the outbreak ends. The lessons should begin.

If we genuinely want to prevent the next outbreak, we need to understand what happened, why it happened, and what needs to change.

Otherwise, we’re documenting history without learning from it.

And frankly, consumers deserve better.

Transparency isn’t the enemy of food safety. It’s an essential component of food safety culture.

What are your thoughts?

🔗 https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/10/fda-report-says-outbreak-linked-to-trader-joes-chicken-wraps-has-ended-a-new-outbreak-is-under-investigation/

10/29/2026

IT’S OKAY TO BE BOTH. 💗💚

Somewhere along the way, we started treating certain qualities as though they couldn’t coexist.

You can be a strong leader AND a team player.

You can be kind AND direct.

You can be ambitious AND humble.

You can be an expert in your field AND recognize how much you still have to learn.

None of these things are mutually exclusive.

I’ve spent decades in leadership, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the best leaders aren’t one-dimensional.

You can hold people accountable while showing compassion.

You can be confident in your decisions while remaining open to being wrong.

You can demand excellence without demanding perfection.

You can celebrate your accomplishments while acknowledging the people who helped you achieve them.

And perhaps most importantly, you can be incredibly successful and still have moments when you’re struggling to hold it all together.

That’s not weakness. That’s being human.

I think we spend far too much time trying to fit ourselves and others into neatly defined categories.

People are complicated. Leadership is complicated. Life is complicated.

And that’s okay.

The goal isn’t to choose between two qualities. It’s to recognize the value in having both.

💬 What’s something you’ve learned about yourself that challenged the way others perceived you?

10/28/2026

Securing What Feeds Us: Why Every Food Cyberattack Is a Food Safety Incident | Episode 190

When hackers took over refrigeration systems in grocery stores across France, the cybersecurity world focused on how they got in. Almost nobody asked the bigger question: what happened to the food? Kristin King says that blind spot is exactly what puts our food supply at risk.

Recorded live at the Food Safety Consortium, Francine Shaw, CP-FS, FMP and Matt Regusci sit down with Kristin King, operational technology security expert, host of Bites and Bytes, and author of Securing What Feeds Us, to talk about where cybersecurity and food safety collide, and about what it is really like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry.

Spoiler alert: In the food industry, a cyberattack is a food safety incident until someone proves it isn’t.

LISTEN NOW 👉🏻 https://dont-eat-poop.transistor.fm/episodes/food-cybersecurity-is-food-safety

Securing What Feeds Us: Why Every Food Cyberattack Is a Food Safety Incident | Episode 190 When hackers took over refrigeration systems in grocery stores across France, the cybersecurity world foc...

10/27/2026

WHAT IF THAT "DIFFICULT" EMPLOYEE ISN'T DIFFICULT AT ALL? 🤔

We've all worked with someone who's been labeled difficult.

😞 They ask too many questions. Need things explained differently. Struggle when plans change. Or simply don't respond the way we expect.

And before you know it, they're labeled.

Difficult. Disengaged. Too sensitive. Not a team player.

But what if WE'RE the ones getting it wrong?

I've been having some fascinating conversations about neurodiversity lately, particularly in the food safety industry. And they've made me think about something we don't discuss nearly enough.

The things people deal with that nobody else can see.

Autism. ADHD. PTSD.

And yes, I know they're not the same thing! 😊 Autism and ADHD are neurodevelopmental conditions, while PTSD is trauma-related. An important distinction.

But all three can affect how someone experiences the workplace.

Someone with ADHD might struggle with constantly changing priorities but be an exceptional problem solver.
An autistic employee might ask a dozen questions because they need clarity, not because they're challenging authority.
Someone living with PTSD might respond differently to stressful situations.

And sometimes? Someone is just having a lousy day! 😂

We don't know what we don't know. Yet we're awfully quick to judge.

I've spent decades working with organizations on food safety culture and human behavior. And I keep coming back to one question.

Do we spend enough time understanding WHY people do what they do?

That employee questioning a procedure? Maybe they've spotted something everyone else missed.

The one struggling with training? Maybe it's not their ability to learn. Maybe it's how we're teaching.

The person who never speaks up? Have we given them a reason to feel comfortable doing so?

My own late AuDHD diagnosis has certainly changed how I look at these situations. Including some of the assumptions I've made myself!

You can't separate food safety culture from workplace culture. And you can't separate either one from human behavior.

I'm not suggesting we ignore accountability or excuse poor performance.

I'm suggesting we get a little more curious before we get judgmental.

Because when people feel dismissed or misunderstood, we risk losing more than good employees. We lose their ideas, their observations, and potentially the information that could prevent a serious mistake.

Different doesn't mean difficult.

And sometimes what we call a people problem is actually a leadership problem.

💬 Have you ever misjudged someone at work, only to discover there was much more to their story?

10/18/2026

CURIOUS, NOT CONTRARY. 🤔

We’ve all encountered someone who questions EVERYTHING.

Why are we doing it this way? Is there a better approach? Does this actually make sense?

And let’s face it, sometimes it’s frustrating! 😂

But there’s a big difference between challenging someone’s authority and challenging their thinking.

I’ve always made it a point to hire people who aren’t afraid to ask questions or disagree with me.

Because I don’t need a room full of people who agree with everything I say!

I want different perspectives. People who challenge my assumptions, recognize things I might have missed, and aren’t afraid to tell me when they think I’m wrong.

And sometimes they ARE right. Imagine that! 😂

Think about an employee questioning a procedure that’s been in place for years.

One leader responds, “That’s how we’ve always done it.”

Another says, “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Same situation. Two very different leadership approaches.

I’ve spent decades working in food safety, where questioning assumptions and recognizing risks can prevent some pretty serious consequences.

Yet we still have workplaces where curiosity gets mistaken for being difficult.

We say we want critical thinkers, but are we prepared to listen when they challenge us?

Of course, accountability matters. Established safety procedures must be followed, even while we consider ways to improve them.

But curiosity isn’t insubordination.

And disagreement isn’t disrespect.

A team that agrees with everything you say isn’t necessarily a sign of great leadership. Sometimes it’s a sign that people have learned to keep quiet.

Leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about being smart enough to listen to the people around you.

Curious doesn’t mean contrary. Sometimes it means someone is paying attention.

💬 Have you ever had someone challenge your thinking and ultimately help you make a better decision?

10/14/2026

Nobody tells you that working a high-level job with ADHD can feel like running a marathon every single day—in a suit, with a smile.

Ever get to the end of the day knowing you worked ALL DAY, but the one thing you really needed to finish is still sitting there?

The calls, emails, meetings, and “Do you have a minute?” requests filled the day. Everyone got a piece of your attention, and that important task got whatever was left.

Many years ago, a business coach recommended that I block out two hours every day for uninterrupted work.

No meetings. No phone calls. No emails. Everything goes on Do Not Disturb.

Two hours to focus on the important tasks that are awfully easy to push aside when everyone needs something.

With ADHD, an interruption can do more than take a few minutes. It can pull me completely out of what I’m doing—and getting back into it takes effort.

And let’s be honest, my brain provides enough interruptions of its own. 🙃

We talk a lot about leaders making themselves available. We also need to talk about protecting their time to think.

You can care about your team and still block off two hours. You can be a capable leader and need a system that supports how your brain works.

Different doesn’t mean less capable.

What actually works for you? A tool, a boundary, a routine? Share it in the comments. Someone else may need that idea.