The ADHD Race Car: How the Patey Twins Turned Distraction into a Million-Dollar Empire
In the high-performance world of business, we often prioritize “linear focus”—the ability to stay on one track for forty years. But for the Patey twins, Mark and Mike, the secret to success was the exact opposite. Diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia in an era that viewed those labels as limitations, they didn’t just overcome their “distractions”; they weaponized them.
Today, the brothers are self-made millionaires, world-record-holding pilots, and serial entrepreneurs who have built companies across healthcare, retail, and electric vehicles. Their journey offers a masterclass in how to manage a brain that is essentially “a powerful race car with bicycle brakes.”
The “Solution-First” Mindset
At the age of 15, the twins were faced with a classic “mechanical failure”: they wanted a Honda ATC three-wheeler, but they lacked the $800 to buy it. Their father, a man who believed there was a solution to every problem, encouraged them to look for an opportunity.
They didn’t just ask for an allowance; they observed a need. Seeing their sister’s wedding prep, they learned how to build a deck—and then went door-to-door selling that service. When the work flowed in, they didn’t stop at building decks; they iterated. By adding “hot tub installation” to their deck plans, they increased their profit margins. It was their first lesson in product innovation: If you solve a problem, the revenue will follow.
Harnessing the “Distraction Engine”
Mark Patey is blunt about the source of his success: “Every invention I’ve ever had was a distraction.” For the ADHD brain, the “box” that society builds for “normal” thinking doesn’t just feel restrictive—it feels invisible.
The Patey parents provided the crucial environment for this growth. Instead of shaming their sons for losing homework or getting distracted, they treated their minds as a gift. They encouraged the twins to rummage through local junkyards, bringing home discarded lawnmowers and electronics, only to take them apart and improve them. They were given the freedom to fail, which is the single most important component in the development of any high-performance “being.”
Learning Without the Fear of Stupidity
One of the most persistent hurdles for the ADHD mind is the social stigma of not knowing the “standard” vocabulary. When Mark was running his healthcare records company, he frequently encountered industry terms he didn’t understand. Instead of faking expertise, he would ask customers to spell out the words.
While some clients judged him for not knowing, the “next guy” always respected the honesty. A year later, Mark was a keynote speaker at the very conferences he once struggled to understand. He succeeded because he possessed the ultimate entrepreneur’s mindset: he wasn’t afraid to look stupid if it meant he could learn something new.
The Double-Edged Sword
Mark is quick to warn that the ADHD brain is a high-risk tool. He views people with ADHD as “outliers” who land on opposite ends of the bell curve: some find massive success, while others end up in systemic collapse. Because the brain seeks constant stimulation, the susceptibility to addiction is high—a reality Mark knows personally, having once lost two weeks of his life to a video game binge.
He eventually realized he had a problem and quit gaming entirely. It is a perfect example of the “bicycle brakes” analogy; the brain can go 200 mph, but the operator must be hyper-vigilant about when to engage the safety protocols.
The BeingsMag Verdict: High-Performance Living
The Patey twins are more than just business success stories; they are a blueprint for the modern human. They’ve proven that you don’t need to “fix” a divergent mind to make it thrive—you just need to provide it with the right environment, the freedom to innovate, and the discipline to manage the throttle.
Whether they are breaking transcontinental speed records in flight formation or building ice rinks in their backyards, Mark and Mike Patey show us that when you stop trying to “find the box,” you’re finally free to build something truly extraordinary.
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