Stronger Together with Megan Gaydosh and Tiffany Kerchner

On this month's myFace, myStory podcast episode, host Dina Zuckerberg brings you an inspiring conversation with Megan Gaydosh and Tiffany Kerchner. Both Megan and Tiffany have turned their personal experiences with facial differences into powerful advocacy work, promoting self-love, acceptance, and awareness. Together, they discuss the importance of visibility, advocacy, and support for those with facial differences and disabilities. Their stories highlight the strength found in community and the transformative power of embracing one's uniqueness. Tune in for an insightful and uplifting episode that celebrates resilience, courage, and the belief that we are truly stronger together.

- [Announcer] Welcome to "myFace, myStory: "Voices from the craniofacial community." With your host, Dina Zuckerberg.

- Hello, and welcome to "myFace, myStory: "Voices from the craniofacial community." Whether you're watching on YouTube or listening on Apple Podcasts, click subscribe now so that you'll never miss a future episode. And if you're a fan of "myFace, myStory," rate and review the program on Apple Podcasts so that we can get a message of inclusivity and empowerment to more people. I'm your host, Dina Zuckerberg, the Director of Family Programs at myFace. I was born with a cleft lip, a hearing loss, and no vision in my left eye. "myFace, myStory" is about people like us being seen and heard, about sharing stories within the craniofacial community and with others. This podcast episode is made possible through support from the Integra Foundation, committed to improving lives. Today, I will be joined by Megan Gaydosh and Tiffany Kerchner. Megan, a former special education teacher, is now a birth doer. She loves to sing and write song parodies to inspire self-love and acceptance. She was born missing the seventh cranial nerve on her left side. While having a facial difference once held her back for pursuing her dream of becoming a singer and actress, she now confidently affirms that anything is possible and that differences only make us more of who we are. Tiffany is a nurse by day and a facial difference advocate on social media. She uses her platform to educate and spread awareness for the social injustices that her facial difference community faces every day. She was born with a rare neurological disorder called Moebius syndrome, which causes the right side of her face to be completely paralyzed. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hanging out with her dog and cat, and tending to her houseplants. She believes it's time to break beauty standards and showcase more individual with physical differences, disabilities, and other medical complexities. Welcome, Megan and Tiffany. I really look forward to our conversation.

- Hi, so happy to be here.

- Yeah.

- Hi, thanks for having me.

- Yeah, so let's get started. Megan, can you share a bit of your personal journey of growing up with a facial difference?

- Yeah, like you said, born paralyzed on my left side, missing a facial nerve. And it was always something that I felt needed to be fixed or was always hoping for some surgery or something that would make me feel and look normal. And in my teens, I did have a two-part nerve graft surgery where I did get some more movement on my left side. But I found that even having surgeries that still was not going to look like most people, and that even having those surgeries brought more questions and comments about scars and how long is it gonna take to smile normally and just kind of added some extra layers of insecurity, actually. But I'm glad that I did it because I think I probably would have wondered what if, if not. But I think in realizing that my face is going to be different for my whole life, it felt kind of crushing in my teen years and then into my like adult years, making connections with my family and with other people with facial differences and finding that community and seeing them as so beautiful helped me be able to then see that in myself and just sort of completely reframed how I see my difference. Like now I feel like it's kind of like a superpower, like I can make a difference with my difference instead of feeling less than because of it.

- It is freeing, right? I mean, when you can just be out there and sharing who you are without needing to hide it or being uncomfortable with it. And I think it's definitely a journey. So Tiffany, I imagine you can relate some and can you share with us your personal journey?

- I feel like I should be talking about how traumatic my childhood was because there is the trauma of being hospitalized frequently. There is the trauma of the negative stigma against us and going out in public and then being bullied in school. But I was a pretty happy child despite everything. I think between the ages of two and 16, I had 13 surgeries. Despite all of that, I was still happy and I did still as happy as I was, I did have that sha