Meet the NDIM Champion : PEDRO RAMOS

Pedro Ramos, experienced Director of Commerce/Retail/Performance, working throughout with a unique combination of Autism and ADHD (AuDHD)

I am the Director, RDM Strategy at Openmind (part of GroupM), where I've already contributed to numerous projects for clients and agency. In this role, I lead the e-commerce and retail strategy for Nestle across Zone Europe.

I am a skilled and experienced marketing professional with over 15 years of experience, passionate about changing mentalities and solving challenges with creative solutions. Throughout my career, I have worked with prestigious companies, including Microsoft, Unilever, Sainsbury's, HM Government, Specsavers, SAP, Philips, and Mercedes-Benz, where I gained experience in marketing research, marketing strategy, performance media, and team management. Throughout my career, I've also contributed to numerous pitch wins and awards won by the companies I've worked with.

I am also a dedicated teacher who enjoys sharing knowledge and expertise with my teams and with university students. I'm committed to inspiring and empowering my teams and students to become the best professionals they can be and excel in their careers, something I've gained more knowledge about after doing my Performance Coaching training.

My journey with neurodiversity gained a completely new meaning in 2022, when after years of struggle with what was thought to be anxiety and depression, a health professional in the NHS decided to go one step further and suggested me to do the tests to understand better my conditions.

As we know, getting the assessments through NHS is a very tedious and time-consuming process, so I decided to go private and also use the Portuguese (my home country) health system to support on this journey. After numerous tests, interviews with me, family members and even longtime friends,  I was diagnosed with a combined type of Autism and ADHD.

These last years have been a tremendous journey, understanding and learning how to deal with AuDHD, learning to unmask where possible and really understanding myself, has been one of the most challenging and rewarding times of my life.

Because I've experienced all of these feelings, I want to advocate for people who are passing through the same situation and support with my knowledge and experience.

In the workplace is not easy to disclose my neurodivergent status, not always is understood, so joining NDIM is for me a good step in the right direction, to educate the community and help further the media industry into understanding and supporting neurodiverse employees, like myself.

Pedro