Embrace It with Lainie & Estela - Smashing Disability Stigmas

After living with severely debilitating psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis for over 30 years, Nitika Chopra found that no matter how hard she tried, she always felt completely isolated and alone. For a long time, she assumed that it must have been because something was inherently broken or wrong with her. After getting the courage to open up about her health, she realized that every time she met someone who had a chronic illness, th...

“How do we honor the inevitable grief that comes with disability and establish healthy boundaries with those closest to us?

Rachelle Friedman, aka “The Brainy Social Worker,” is a disabled therapist who understands that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to healing. With an educational background in neuroscience and social work, Rachelle knows that anyone can change how they feel by becoming aware of the data and triggers that we...

“How do we take shame around our disabilities and begin to turn it into pride & purpose?

At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father. For the next decade, Tiffany navigated the many challenges of adolescence, grief, and shame around her disability. 

Today, Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning entirely disabled-run and led social ent...

"Everyone deserves a chance to go on a vacation and make memories with their family!"

After 20 years of frustration, with very limited vacation options, Lorraine Woodward's family of four, three of whom have mobility issues due to muscular dystrophy, took it upon themselves to create their own accessible property. In 2014, Lorraine’s "A Place of No Worries" was realized. Their fully accessible property was n...

How do we support the next generation of disability leaders with inclusive career opportunities? What innate skills do people with disabilities bring to the workforce, and why should businesses include disability in their diversity conversations? Join us for this refreshing episode with Alyce Brewer & Shannon Mayer of DisabilityIN NextGen as we share their exciting work and personal journeys to disability advocacy!

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On a mission to leave the world a little better than how she found it, Mindy strives to help create a world where inclusion is the norm, where people see possibilities instead of limitations, and where no challenge is too big to overcome.

Mindy is no stranger to “Doing Hard Things” and shares a few of her many examples of how she was able to turn “Nos” into “Yes’” throughout her life in this episode. Whether it was adopting a child ...

At only 3 years old, Taylor was diagnosed with a rare vaginal cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma. Doctors didn't expect her to survive. After chemotherapy, radiation, and several surgeries, Taylor was cancer-free but left with two permanent ostomy bags — colostomy and urostomy, which aid her bladder and bowel functions — for the rest of her life.

Growing up with ostomy bags in Baltimore, Maryland, Jearlean Taylor wasn't sure s...

Imagine falling from a three-story window during your second week of college and transforming overnight from an athletic teen to a full-time wheelchair user. What sounds like a nightmare to many was Billy Price’s real and sudden introduction into the disability community. Join us for this mind-blowing episode and interview with aeronautical engineer turned inclusive shoe designer Billy Price, as he recalls how a casual conversation...

What’s it like to slowly lose your eyesight and adapt to the world around you? How do the roles and characters we grow up watching on TV play into society's harmful stigmas around disability? Lance Johnson shares this and much more as we discuss his journey with Retinitis Pigmentosa and life as a video editor, podcaster, and content creator in Brooklyn, New York.

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Alycia Anderson is a TEDx motivational speaker, corporate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility consultant, advocate, and the founder & CEO of The Alycia Anderson Company, LLC. With a Master’s Degree in Adapted Physical Activity. Alycia’s authenticity and charisma draw others to learn how to disable ableism across a wide spectrum of areas.

In this rich and fun episode, this competitive tennis player, cyclist, identica...

Kathy Reagan Young, who lives with MS, is leading the disability and chronically ill community into “chronicpreneurship” by turning their lived experiences into income. In September of 2021, she launched Patients Getting Paid, a membership community offering support and training to people in finding and creating flexible, remote work that not only accommodates their health, but generates revenue as well. 

In this sassy episode, we e...

All too often the conversation around disability is focused on the things it takes away—the experiences and activities it excludes us from. In this one-on-one episode, Lainie & Estela break down their top 10 gifts of disability and how each has impacted their life for the better. Join us for this insightful and uplifting conversation aimed to amplify appreciation for your own personal disability journey and gifts!

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Navigating teenage years can be difficult, especially when you are suddenly diagnosed with a weird-sounding debilitating disease like Charcot-Marie-Tooth. As a 13-year-old Pakistani kid living in the UK, Zac was forced to confront daunting medical predictions, social pressures, harmful stigmas, and his own internal battles. Join us as we hear how Zac pulled himself out of multiple periods of depression and denial and learned to emb...

Raised alongside her able-bodied twin and 4 other siblings, Dr. Gabrielle Ficchi shares her powerful story from growing up as a child with Cerebral Palsy to becoming a proud disabled therapist. In this special Mother’s Day episode, Dr. Ficchi shares her deep expertise on how certain parenting styles can help empower children with disabilities.

Get out your notepads as we explore what it looks like to raise happy, independent and ful...

Dayniah is a Jamaican immigrant, mother, educator, writer, and activist living with SMA.  

As a tenured English teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience in New York City public schools, Dayniah uses an electric wheelchair and has been unable to use a restroom at her middle school building in the Bronx for the past 14 years due to the New York City Department of Education (DOE)’s failure to provide a facility that meets her ...

As an Iraq war veteran, Purple Heart recipient, TEDx speaker, writer, and teacher Casey Jourdan is passionate about helping others shift from surviving to thriving. 

Casey was a gunner in an Army convoy traveling Baghdad's "suicide ally" when a roadside explosive device rocked her world. The explosion changed her identity forever, transforming her from being an entrepreneurial, athletic, college coed with a ...

At 34 years old, Katina found herself hitting rock bottom after a 17 year battle with anorexia & bulimia. After reaching out for help and enrolling in Overeaters Anonymous, she began learning how to eat healthily and reversing years of physical and emotional damage.  Today, Katina is a certified nutritionist & Reiki practitioner helping hundreds of people love their guts and heal themselves with food. Join us for this eye-o...

We all want to feel safe and seen at our jobs, but how do we build inclusive cultures that reflect the full spectrum of humanity? Arthur Woods & Susanna Tharakan deliver an insightful and practical roadmap in their groundbreaking new book, Hiring for Diversity. Join us as we dive deeper into the current challenges facing the disability community and the steps needed to create impactful change for all types of employees and orga...

What can houseplants teach us about processing trauma & disability? Apparently, a whole lot! Tovah Fine is an artist and disability advocate living with Charcot-Marie-Tooth and a knack for turning empty spaces into fern-tastic havens for healing. Join us as we turn over a new leaf and reexamine mobility aids, progression, therapy, and shame.

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