February 28, 2023 • 31 mins
A few months ago, I joined Kevin McShan on his incredible and prolific podcast, Let’s Have This Conversation, and he’s returning the favor today to talk about how to thrive while living with a disability.
Kevin McShan is a graduate of St. Clair College’s Journalism, Print and New Media Program. Kevin has an extensive history of promoting employment equality for individuals with disabilities most recently, as the Job Developer and Enhanced Employer Support Facilitator with the YMCA of Windsor-Essex County. He also continues the effort of promoting inclusion for people with disabilities through his motivational speaking efforts.
Through Kevin’s experience in sports, journalism, podcasting, and advocating for those with disabilities, he brings an exciting blend of education, experience, and entertainment to the motivational speaking industry.
You'll learn all about:
- Kevin's story and how he brings seemingly unlimited energy to the world
- Advice for someone facing adversity to overcome any obstacle
- How business leaders and individuals can foster a culture of inclusion and diversity
- How to achieve equity and equality for individuals with disabilities in the workplace
- How to thrive while living with a disability
- How to stay physically active while living with a disability
- Why fitness is so important
- Unique nutritional considerations to complement fitness and lifestyle
- Kevin's advice for someone living with a disability on how to get started with fitness
- What he has learned from producing so many podcast episodes and talking with so many people
Episode resources:
- Kevin's website - kevinmcshan.com
- Find Kevin on Twitter - @McShan819
- Download the Lets Have This Conversation podcast
- Check out the Lets Have This Conversation YouTube channel
- Watch the episode on video here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Philip Pape (00:08):
Welcome to the Wits & Weights podcast, where we
discuss getting strong andhealthy with strength training
and sustainable nutrition. I'myour host, Philip pape, and in
each episode, we examinestrategies to help you achieve
physical self mastery through ahealthy skepticism of the
fitness industry, and acommitment to consistent
nutrition and training forsustainable results.
(00:30):
Welcome to another episode ofWits & Weights. I had the
pleasure of meeting Kevin MCShan as a guest on his his
powerful prolific podcast let'shave this conversation. And
unfortunate he's joining me onthe show to talk about how to
thrive while living with adisability. Kevin MC Shan is a
graduate of St. Clair College'sjournalism, print and new media
(00:51):
program. He has an extensivehistory of Promoting Employment
Equality for individuals withdisabilities, most recently as
the job developer and enhancedEmployer Support Facilitator
with the YMCA of Windsor EssexCounty. Kevin also continues the
effort of promoting inclusionfor people with disabilities
through his motivationalspeaking efforts. Through his
(01:13):
experience in sports,journalism, podcasting, and
advocating for those withdisabilities. Kevin brings an
exciting blend of educationexperience and entertainment to
the motivational speakingindustry. Kevin, thank you, man
so much for coming on the show.
Phil, I'm delighted to be withyou this afternoon. And I'm
excited to engage inconversation, my friend always
great to see you. And thank youfor a few minutes. Absolutely.
(01:36):
Likewise, man, I think this isgonna be a fun time and the
listeners really going to learna lot about a topic. We haven't
really dived into today, whatwe're going to blend discussion
of fitness with living withdisability and a little of
everything the conversationtakes us to. So you know, let's
just start off with you've gotthis seemingly unlimited energy,
at least the way I see it. Andyou're bringing all this
(02:01):
information and impact to theworld. When we recorded your the
episode for your podcast. Onthat day, you told me it was the
fifth recording for the day. Soimmediately, I was impressed by
your hustle your work ethic. Andmy question is, who is Kevin
mission? And how do you do it?
Kevin McShan (02:19):
First of all, I'm severely
overqualified to be on thispodcast. But
(03:22):
should have a platform to sharetheir story and espouse their
views. And my wanting to haveconversations is because I want
people to beconnected in terms of building
bridges of inclusion,acceptance, and diversity. So
(03:43):
I'm all about bringing peopletogether and having
conversations that move theneedle of progress forward.
Awesome. I don't think anybodycan really argue with that. And
I really appreciate yourpodcast. Sometimes you put out a
couple episodes in one day ormore. And it's amazing the
diversity of guests and topicsthat you cover.
Philip Pape (04:06):
Let's get in a little bit to the specific topic
today, which is really aboutovercoming obstacles, which I
think is something you'veobviously done. Like you said,
you take control of thesituation rather than letting it
control you. What's your advicewhen someone is faced with that
kind of adversity in their life,whether whether it's a
disability or really anyobstacle? Well, I'll show a
(04:27):
quick story. So So I have anidentical twin brother Keith and
I were both born with cerebralpalsy. We were also born three
months premature, my friends. SoI always overcome obstacles in
my life. And you know, peopleoften tell me that I'm an
inspiring person, and I simplytell them that I live my life.
(04:50):
But to answer your question moredirectly, I think overcoming
adversity lies in response towhatever the advice
Kevin McShan (05:00):
Our city is we're all going to experiences,
challenge and tribulations inlife. And no matter how big and
small, it all depends on thequality of the response and the
commitment to sort of reinventyourself with ossicles happen
(05:21):
because, you know, fly foam hashappened and strengthen their
online, but would be very, veryboring. So my advice to people
is use adversity as a chance togrow and overcome their fears in
life. And also expand again,that diversity of perspective.
Philip Pape (05:46):
Yeah, I love that reinventing yourself. Because, I
mean, everybody is faced withobstacles of some kind or
another, it's not, you know,obviously, I can't fully
appreciate what you've had to gothrough, but I and others, and
everybody on the planet has hadthings that they've faced, and
it's their personal story andtheir personal struggle they've
had to get over. So that idea ofwhat do you do to mold yourself
(06:07):
around the obstacle, because youcan't change the situation
around you, but you can changeyour situation is a really great
message. So one of your missionsis to promote the inclusion that
you were talking about forpeople with disabilities in the
employment side, you know, Iwant to get into that a little
bit before we then tie it moreinto the fitness. But how do
business leaders how doindividuals foster that culture
(06:30):
of inclusion and diversity toachieve that mission? Yeah, no,
Kevin McShan (06:33):
Phil, I Oh, I always said starts with engage,
engaging in a process offostering the commitment. What I
mean by that is, you don't haveto create the conditions in
order for something to happen.
And while you know, it's onething to put at the end of a job
description, we're committed tobeing an equal opportunity
(06:56):
employer or that we commit todiversity, if you don't actually
do it. So it starts with acommitment to the process of
engagement in terms ofdiversity, equity, and
inclusion. And I also think it'sa commitment to the realization
of sort of embracing the processof education, you know,
(07:23):
employers don't know what theydon't know, right. And so, in
order to embrace a new culture,you have to come with an open
mind to learn and growing andexperiencing new things. You
know, here in Canada, Phil Ivey,federal government tells us that
(07:43):
59% of folks with disabilitiesare unemployed compared to 80%
of their non disabledcounterparts. So it starts with
a commitment to the process ofinclusion and always be open to
the prospect of education,knowledge, and awareness.
(08:04):
Because, you know, I always saythat life is a constant game of
learning, and it never ends. Butone of the mottos that I live my
life by is the day you stoplearning, they die, no matter
how much money you make, or howmuch experience you have, he
could always learn something newfrom somebody else.
Philip Pape (08:28):
Absolutely. Yeah.
You don't know what you don'tknow. So it's almost like you
embrace the fact that there'sthis this ignorance that we all
have, and it's okay. And we needto learn and be aware and seek
out that knowledge. I think, youknow, avenues like your podcast,
and others are one way to do it.
But of course, going out andreaching these, these companies
and businesses, like you do iseven a more active, proactive
(08:51):
way to do that. Now, inclusionis one thing, but I think
equality is another maybethere's a nuanced difference
between the two, when we talkabout equality. So how do we
achieve equity and equality forindividuals with disabilities in
the workplace?
Kevin McShan (09:04):
You don't fill out with that. Talent is equally
distributed. Oh, come on, arethey but sometimes opportunity
isn't. So it starts again, witha commitment to the opportunity
of advancement. If you commit tofostering the opportunities,
then increase the equity. So itstarts with a commitment to that
(09:27):
opportunity, and embracing theconcept of advancement.
Philip Pape (09:32):
Okay, yeah, equal opportunity, which then leads to
quality. Very cool. So Kevin, Ido want to talk about fitness.
That's what this podcast isprimarily about. And I know it's
important to you just as it isto me and the viewers and
listeners of the show. So how doyou thrive while living with a
disability?
Kevin McShan (09:49):
You don't fill just before I jumped on this
podcast, but I went throughphysiotherapy this morning. So
just a little bit about theinner market. because of my
disability, you know, one of theside effects of my disability
feel is that my muscles contractfaster than most people. So if I
(10:11):
don't exercise and if I don'tuse them, I lose them faster I'm
because of the disability andgetting older. So walking,
swimming, stretching duringhamstring stretches is big for
me, I'm big into liftingweights. I love to swim, as I
said, and, you know, one of thetenants of my life is always
(10:36):
active field because I found outat nine years old, from the
doctor that did mine did my lastsurgery and all of the surgeries
for my disability that Iwouldn't be able to walk without
the assistance of a walker, andI wouldn't be able to get around
(10:57):
without a wheelchair. But beingphysically active, being
physically active is vitallyimportant to me, because it's a
chance for me to continue,continue to continue towards the
commitment and conversation ofprogress. So one of the tenants
(11:20):
that I live my life by is alwaysactive, I challenge myself to be
at least 10 minutes active eachday, whether that's one thing
lead, whether it's walking,whether it's. So one of the
tenants that I live, my life byagain, is always active. And I
challenge myself to get at least10 minutes a day of exercise,
Philip Pape (11:43):
that I wish everybody did that no matter who
they are getting whatever amountof activity every day, like you
said, is so important. So I wantto dig in a little more tell us
about what kind of movements youincorporate. I mean, is there
kind of a program you followfor, let's say, the lifting
weights, in terms of maintainingstrength, for example.
Kevin McShan (12:03):
Yeah, so I live between weights between 10 and
25 pounds on a regular basis,just so that I have some level
of consistency. I also have abig Walker, because movement,
for me is important. Moving myhamstrings is important, I love
(12:26):
to swim through because, youknow, when you swim, the GrabIt
is last and part of so part ofmy disability, I have a lot of
lactic acid, my hamstrings andthat just because of the
tightness of the hamstring, somany of those swelling, right
until the gravity of sort of theground is lifted and my muscles
(12:50):
are are freer. That makes sense.
So I'm a big swimmer, likelifting weights, as I said, and
walking is a regular part of myfitness record.
Philip Pape (13:02):
Now, this is an interesting question came to
mind for me, because you have a,you have a situation, the
situation you exist in becauseof your condition makes it that
much more critical and importantthat you do these things. But
are there other drivers youhave? Right? Because not
everybody is can be drivennecessarily by the same purpose
their entire life? And I'm justcurious, you know, is fitness
(13:23):
important to you for any otherreasons?
Kevin McShan (13:26):
Oh, well, Fitness is important to me feel because
I want to live. And, you know,Fitness is important to me.
Because, you know, it's anotherway to lead by the example of
your actions. And you know, youknow, I always tell people, I
don't do things that I will, Iwouldn't ask others to do things
(13:52):
that I'm not willing to do. SoFitness is important to me, and
only telling you by example, butalso to live a higher quality of
life because you know, you onlyhave a one chance to do this
grand experiment of life. And Iwant to maximize the moment, you
know, when I talk to businessesor people as a motivational
(14:17):
speaker, Phil, I always tellthem to maximize their own
higher potential, whatever thatmeans with that person is what
that means for that person. Andthe second thing I always say,
Phil, is that the only level ofexpectations that you have to
live on your own because if youdon't have a personal level of
(14:39):
expectations, it's hard tomeasure up or be inspired to
reach a second milestone thatsomebody else said for you. So
it's always important to setyour own level of expectations,
isn't it?
Philip Pape (14:55):
Absolutely. I love everything you're saying. It's
just great. I can see why you'rea motivational speaker. it
because Kevin, I mean, talkingabout having personal standards
and living up to those and thehigh quality of life. I mean,
these are, these are greatmessages for people out there.
Because there's plenty of peoplewho are just aren't active, and
they have the potential there,whether it's whether it's
(15:17):
strength, whether it's movement,and it's a, it's a relative
change. So what they're doingtoday, right, I mean, if you, if
you currently don't walk, wellmaybe walk for five minutes, if
you currently walk for 20minutes a day, maybe you could
do 30. So that's a greatmessage. Hey, this is Philip
Pape. And if you feel likeyou've put in effort to improve
your health and fitness, butaren't getting results, I invite
(15:37):
you to apply for a one on onecoaching to make real progress
and get the body you desire.
We'll work together to figureout what's missing so you can
look better, perform better andfeel better. Just go to wits &
weights.com/coaching, to learnabout my program and apply
today. Now back to the episode.
The align with the nutrition orthe fitness side is the
(15:57):
nutrition side. Are there uniquenutritional considerations you
have to complement your fitnesslifestyle?
Kevin McShan (16:03):
Well, first and foremost, Phil, I always say
when people ask me aboutnutrition, everything in
moderation, right? So and youknow, one of the one of the
things that I have to learn is,just because the apple pies in
the fridge doesn't always mean Ihave to eat it right now. But to
answer your question, in termsof fitness, I tried to eat a lot
(16:29):
of protein, and drink a lot ofMalcolm elcas Something that's
important to me, because ithelps to strengthen my bone
density. I drink a lot of milk,you know, apples and grapes, and
I'm a big fruit guidance interms of that. As I said, I did
(16:52):
a lot of protein, I had chickenpasta for once today. So I do a
lot of chicken and rice and allof that stuff. So I always tell
myself, if you know, if I wantto live in extra five minutes,
it's important to always knowwhat I'm putting in my body and
(17:13):
the results that come fromputting it in to the system,
right? Because once it goes in,it's hard to get it out. So it's
always important to know whatyou're putting in and, you know,
salary and carrots, somethingthat I enjoy eating as well, for
sure.
Philip Pape (17:32):
I can't disagree with anything there, man, you've
got all the deliciousingredients that we talk about
the protein fruits, vegetables,fiber, milk is great. Yeah, good
stuff, man. So if somebody islistening right now, and
they're, and specifically,they're in a situation where
they have a disability, and theydon't know how to get started in
(17:54):
improving their physical health,what would be your advice for
them?
Kevin McShan (17:57):
Well, first, I would say you're committed to
the commitment. You know, everydisability is different, you
know, I was fortunate enoughthat the level of disability
that I have, still allows me totalk, walk and, and move around.
(18:20):
So first of all, be committed tothe commitment that you're going
to make to your health. Becauseif you are not committed, it's
hard to have a sustainablefuture in your health journey.
So that's the first thing Iwould say. The second thing I
would say is go at your ownpace. Because each disability is
(18:47):
different. And everybody's levelof success is, is different. You
know, I always say painting aportrait of success is different
from all of us. And as I said,previously, set your own level
of expectations, because that'llkeep you accountable and keeping
(19:09):
you motivated and invested inyour own process.
Philip Pape (19:14):
So set your set your expectations, remain
committed and go at your ownpace. I think that last one or
the one about going at your ownpace is really important
message. Because people try totake on too much at once I think
or, you know, they they wantthat instant gratification of
getting the result. And they sayokay, well I have to go from you
know, I get 2000 steps a day. SoI'm gonna go to 12, right, or I
(19:36):
get five hours of sleep and I'mgonna go to eat. So is there. If
we dig into that just one morelevel? How does somebody do
that? In terms of, you know,going at their own pace? Are
there specific actions yourecommend or an approach?
Kevin McShan (19:51):
So the first thing I would say is hold yourself
accountable to a schedule like Imentioned. Before I challenge
myself to be at least 10 minutesactive the day, obviously, I
think you're wrong. Or if I'mwalking, for example, or, for
(20:15):
example, when I go swimming, Itry to go for between 45 minutes
to an hour. And you know whatone thing that people don't
know, Phil is may not know is ifyou exercise more regularly, it
helps with, at least for me, ithelps with sleep, overall
(20:35):
quality of life. So if you wantpieces of advice, know that
exercise helps you to elevatethe quality of every aspect of
your life, I would say thatwould be my overall arching
message is dependent on thequality of life that you want to
(20:58):
live will determine the amountof, or the level of commitment
that you're willing to put intosomething.
Philip Pape (21:06):
Yeah, that's awesome. So if you want a high
quality life, and you'relistening, as much as you can
invest in yourself, when itcomes to movement, exercise,
nutrition, you're gonna get outof it. And it's much bigger than
the short term goal, right? It'smuch bigger than the day to day
it's, it's it's committing to itand scheduling it in, like Kevin
(21:28):
mentioned, and focusing on whatit can do for you overall. So I
love that you've been gettingmore sleep because you exercise
everything's interrelated.
That's great. So, your, yourpodcast, let's have this
conversation. I think it'saround 600 episodes now. And the
topics. It is right, it's just,I don't know how many you put
out a year, but it's a lot. Thetopics are very wide ranging.
(21:50):
And the mission is to provide athought provoking experience,
which I think you succeed atregularly. So my question is,
what have you learned from theexperience of producing so many
episodes with so many people?
Kevin McShan (22:04):
is either a labor of love or insanity? No? Yeah.
Yeah. Thank you for thequestion. So the podcast is two
episodes, giant 600 episodes.
And, you know, I started thepodcast because I wanted to have
a vehicle or a platform thatbuilt bridges of inclusion. You
(22:30):
know, Phil, when I started thepodcast, I looked at society.
And I said, there are far toomany sort of vehicles that
Interpol us polls apart. So Iwanted to start the can start
the conversation or start thepodcast, because I wanted to
(22:50):
have a platform to move theneedle of progress forward. And
to answer your question morespecifically. So number one
lesson that I've learned hostingthe podcast now for almost two
and a half years, I started thatventure in May of 2020. And is
(23:10):
to really value the diversity ofperspectives. Because even the
viewpoints that I may disagreewith, that I allow the space to
be broadcast on my podcast, it'simportant to have people that
(23:33):
you agree with and have peoplethat you disagree with, because
it broadens your diversity ofperspective. So the answer to
the question is the number onelesson that I've learned is to
embrace the quality of diversityof perspective.
Philip Pape (23:52):
Yeah, and I think that's something a lot of us
have to work on, myselfincluded, when I just reflect on
what you just said, and bringguests on to my show, you know,
am I am I just looking forpeople who agree with what I
say? Or am I really trying tobring on those perspectives so
that we can have that deeperdialogue and allow people to
draw their own conclusions fromthat? So you know, giving me
(24:13):
something to think about aswell. I do like to ask this
question of all guests. And thatis one question. What one
question Did you wish I'd askedand what is your answer?
Kevin McShan (24:23):
That's a fabulous question. You know, for me, you
know, Phil, I'm all was aboutchallenging myself to be 1%
Better than I was the daybefore. And you know, why, to me
is a fragile gift. You know,we're, we're all here for a very
(24:48):
short amount of time, and nomatter how long we live, and for
me, life is about making themost impact for the most people
like Ken, because life is allabout impact. If you're not
working towards increasing theamount of personal and
(25:10):
professional impact on others,then you'll live a very selfish
and non fulfilling lives. Soit's important to me to continue
the conversation of progress,and to challenge myself to be 1%
Better than I was the daybefore. So, you know, one of the
(25:31):
questions that I always asked mypod testing yesterday, I think I
asked you this question, whenyou were on my show is, how do
you celebrate, celebrate thewins in life, because, you know,
celebrating the wins in life isimportant. Because, you know,
we're also on to the next thing,and this, it's ratification
(25:55):
society, but it's important tocelebrate wins in life. And I
tried to, to do that. Some daysbetter than others. But, you
know, celebrating wins in lifeis important. And also
celebrating the progress towardsprosperity that we've all made
is also important, isn't it?
Yeah, for sure.
Philip Pape (26:18):
Be right, because we can get cynical and negative.
And we we don't often reflect onthe great things that not only
are we achieving, but the impactwe're making on people. This
reminds me of another guest whocame on and talked about
gratitude. And he was sayingthat, you know, we often express
gratitude for for other thingswhen we do that, but don't often
express gratitude for ourselves.
And I think I can tie that tothe to what you were just
(26:40):
saying, How does somebody get upin the morning? Who's had, but
for lack of a better word, theyjust had a rough week? How do
they ask the question ofthemselves that triggers the
thought of that those wins?
Like, how do you ask yourself?
Did I have a win?
Kevin McShan (26:57):
You know, I'm reminded of a guest that I
interviewed. His name is TravisShelton, and Travis is a
financial coach. And he said,reading, reading my personal
story and watching videos on me,you know, he said, there was one
(27:18):
overriding theme that he admiredabout men, and he said, it was
the fact that I keep movingforward. You know, or one of the
mottos of my life is, you know,I'm not a huge fan of excuses,
(27:39):
because I think excuses aredetermined to progress and
artificial reasons not toprogress in life. So I think if
you're having a bad day orhaving a bad week, it's all
about keep moving forward andkeep, keep trying to strive for
(28:05):
whatever the definition ofprosperity, prosperity is that
you have for your life. So keepmoving forward, always look for
ways to maximize the moment ofpotential and didn't pack for
sure.
Philip Pape (28:22):
Keep moving forward, each day's a new day.
Whatever happened in the past isalmost irrelevant to today.
Right? I think another gueststhat I interviewed also use the
phrase, the futures a string oftoday's right. So I think that
really resonates with me, Kevin,I want to thank you for coming
on the show and give you theopportunity to let listeners
know where they can learn moreabout you and your work.
Kevin McShan (28:44):
Well, Phil, I think I said at the beginning of
this podcast that I wasoverqualified, I meant to say
that I'm,
Philip Pape (28:52):
I knew that I knew what you meant no worries.
Kevin McShan (28:57):
On the show, but I want to thank you for giving me
the space to engage inconversation today. It's most
appreciated. Great to see you.
And for anyone that wants tolearn more about me they can
find all of the informationabout my life and my journey at
Kevin mccann.com They can alsofind the podcast wherever you
(29:19):
get your podcast is for let'shave this conversation. The
show's YouTube channel is justlet let's have this
conversation. If you type thatin my name afterwards, all my
stuff comes out. So it was adelight to be with you. I want
to remind your audience toalways maximize the moment
(29:40):
because Phil you never knowwho's watching, right?
Philip Pape (29:46):
You never know maximize the moment no excuses
and each day is a new new day tomaximize your potential. So,
Kevin, you know, I'll definitelyadd the links to your your
website, Kevin mcshane.com. AndI want everybody here to
subscribe to the lesson. Have aconversation podcast. It was
really a joy talking to youagain, hearing this unique,
inspirational motivationalperspective and kind of opening
(30:09):
my eyes to your experience ofliving with a disability because
I really didn't know much aboutthat. And from the fitness and
nutrition side. Thanks again,man for taking the time to come
on the show I wish you the bestwith with everything.
Kevin McShan (30:19):
Well, Phil, it was always an honor to be with you
this afternoon. And I appreciatethe platform and space to share
a little bit about my personaljourney. So it was great to see
you and I hope I added value toyour audience. I want to wish
you the best of luck with theshow. I think you're doing
(30:40):
amazing work and I'm glad thatwe got a chance to be in each
other's that works. And I lookforward to my continued
friendship, my friend best ofluck with the podcast and all of
your other endeavors. And again,thanks for having me. It's most
appreciated.
Philip Pape (30:59):
Likewise, Kevin, very much a pleasure. Thanks for
listening to the show. Beforeyou go, I have a quick favor to
ask. If you enjoy the podcast,let me know by leaving a five
star review in Apple podcastsand telling others about the
show. Thanks again for joiningme Philip Pape in this episode
of Wits & Weights. I'll see younext time and stay strong.
Welcome to the Wits & Weights podcast, where we
discuss getting strong andhealthy with strength training
and sustainable nutrition. I'myour host, Philip pape, and in
each episode, we examinestrategies to help you achieve
physical self mastery through ahealthy skepticism of the
fitness industry, and acommitment to consistent
nutrition and training forsustainable results.
(00:30):
Welcome to another episode ofWits & Weights. I had the
pleasure of meeting Kevin MCShan as a guest on his his
powerful prolific podcast let'shave this conversation. And
unfortunate he's joining me onthe show to talk about how to
thrive while living with adisability. Kevin MC Shan is a
graduate of St. Clair College'sjournalism, print and new media
(00:51):
program. He has an extensivehistory of Promoting Employment
Equality for individuals withdisabilities, most recently as
the job developer and enhancedEmployer Support Facilitator
with the YMCA of Windsor EssexCounty. Kevin also continues the
effort of promoting inclusionfor people with disabilities
through his motivationalspeaking efforts. Through his
(01:13):
experience in sports,journalism, podcasting, and
advocating for those withdisabilities. Kevin brings an
exciting blend of educationexperience and entertainment to
the motivational speakingindustry. Kevin, thank you, man
so much for coming on the show.
Phil, I'm delighted to be withyou this afternoon. And I'm
excited to engage inconversation, my friend always
great to see you. And thank youfor a few minutes. Absolutely.
(01:36):
Likewise, man, I think this isgonna be a fun time and the
listeners really going to learna lot about a topic. We haven't
really dived into today, whatwe're going to blend discussion
of fitness with living withdisability and a little of
everything the conversationtakes us to. So you know, let's
just start off with you've gotthis seemingly unlimited energy,
at least the way I see it. Andyou're bringing all this
(02:01):
information and impact to theworld. When we recorded your the
episode for your podcast. Onthat day, you told me it was the
fifth recording for the day. Soimmediately, I was impressed by
your hustle your work ethic. Andmy question is, who is Kevin
mission? And how do you do it?
Kevin McShan (02:19):
First of all, I'm severely
overqualified to be on thispodcast. But
(03:22):
should have a platform to sharetheir story and espouse their
views. And my wanting to haveconversations is because I want
people to beconnected in terms of building
bridges of inclusion,acceptance, and diversity. So
(03:43):
I'm all about bringing peopletogether and having
conversations that move theneedle of progress forward.
Awesome. I don't think anybodycan really argue with that. And
I really appreciate yourpodcast. Sometimes you put out a
couple episodes in one day ormore. And it's amazing the
diversity of guests and topicsthat you cover.
Philip Pape (04:06):
Let's get in a little bit to the specific topic
today, which is really aboutovercoming obstacles, which I
think is something you'veobviously done. Like you said,
you take control of thesituation rather than letting it
control you. What's your advicewhen someone is faced with that
kind of adversity in their life,whether whether it's a
disability or really anyobstacle? Well, I'll show a
(04:27):
quick story. So So I have anidentical twin brother Keith and
I were both born with cerebralpalsy. We were also born three
months premature, my friends. SoI always overcome obstacles in
my life. And you know, peopleoften tell me that I'm an
inspiring person, and I simplytell them that I live my life.
(04:50):
But to answer your question moredirectly, I think overcoming
adversity lies in response towhatever the advice
Kevin McShan (05:00):
Our city is we're all going to experiences,
challenge and tribulations inlife. And no matter how big and
small, it all depends on thequality of the response and the
commitment to sort of reinventyourself with ossicles happen
(05:21):
because, you know, fly foam hashappened and strengthen their
online, but would be very, veryboring. So my advice to people
is use adversity as a chance togrow and overcome their fears in
life. And also expand again,that diversity of perspective.
Philip Pape (05:46):
Yeah, I love that reinventing yourself. Because, I
mean, everybody is faced withobstacles of some kind or
another, it's not, you know,obviously, I can't fully
appreciate what you've had to gothrough, but I and others, and
everybody on the planet has hadthings that they've faced, and
it's their personal story andtheir personal struggle they've
had to get over. So that idea ofwhat do you do to mold yourself
(06:07):
around the obstacle, because youcan't change the situation
around you, but you can changeyour situation is a really great
message. So one of your missionsis to promote the inclusion that
you were talking about forpeople with disabilities in the
employment side, you know, Iwant to get into that a little
bit before we then tie it moreinto the fitness. But how do
business leaders how doindividuals foster that culture
(06:30):
of inclusion and diversity toachieve that mission? Yeah, no,
Kevin McShan (06:33):
Phil, I Oh, I always said starts with engage,
engaging in a process offostering the commitment. What I
mean by that is, you don't haveto create the conditions in
order for something to happen.
And while you know, it's onething to put at the end of a job
description, we're committed tobeing an equal opportunity
(06:56):
employer or that we commit todiversity, if you don't actually
do it. So it starts with acommitment to the process of
engagement in terms ofdiversity, equity, and
inclusion. And I also think it'sa commitment to the realization
of sort of embracing the processof education, you know,
(07:23):
employers don't know what theydon't know, right. And so, in
order to embrace a new culture,you have to come with an open
mind to learn and growing andexperiencing new things. You
know, here in Canada, Phil Ivey,federal government tells us that
(07:43):
59% of folks with disabilitiesare unemployed compared to 80%
of their non disabledcounterparts. So it starts with
a commitment to the process ofinclusion and always be open to
the prospect of education,knowledge, and awareness.
(08:04):
Because, you know, I always saythat life is a constant game of
learning, and it never ends. Butone of the mottos that I live my
life by is the day you stoplearning, they die, no matter
how much money you make, or howmuch experience you have, he
could always learn something newfrom somebody else.
Philip Pape (08:28):
Absolutely. Yeah.
You don't know what you don'tknow. So it's almost like you
embrace the fact that there'sthis this ignorance that we all
have, and it's okay. And we needto learn and be aware and seek
out that knowledge. I think, youknow, avenues like your podcast,
and others are one way to do it.
But of course, going out andreaching these, these companies
and businesses, like you do iseven a more active, proactive
(08:51):
way to do that. Now, inclusionis one thing, but I think
equality is another maybethere's a nuanced difference
between the two, when we talkabout equality. So how do we
achieve equity and equality forindividuals with disabilities in
the workplace?
Kevin McShan (09:04):
You don't fill out with that. Talent is equally
distributed. Oh, come on, arethey but sometimes opportunity
isn't. So it starts again, witha commitment to the opportunity
of advancement. If you commit tofostering the opportunities,
then increase the equity. So itstarts with a commitment to that
(09:27):
opportunity, and embracing theconcept of advancement.
Philip Pape (09:32):
Okay, yeah, equal opportunity, which then leads to
quality. Very cool. So Kevin, Ido want to talk about fitness.
That's what this podcast isprimarily about. And I know it's
important to you just as it isto me and the viewers and
listeners of the show. So how doyou thrive while living with a
disability?
Kevin McShan (09:49):
You don't fill just before I jumped on this
podcast, but I went throughphysiotherapy this morning. So
just a little bit about theinner market. because of my
disability, you know, one of theside effects of my disability
feel is that my muscles contractfaster than most people. So if I
(10:11):
don't exercise and if I don'tuse them, I lose them faster I'm
because of the disability andgetting older. So walking,
swimming, stretching duringhamstring stretches is big for
me, I'm big into liftingweights. I love to swim, as I
said, and, you know, one of thetenants of my life is always
(10:36):
active field because I found outat nine years old, from the
doctor that did mine did my lastsurgery and all of the surgeries
for my disability that Iwouldn't be able to walk without
the assistance of a walker, andI wouldn't be able to get around
(10:57):
without a wheelchair. But beingphysically active, being
physically active is vitallyimportant to me, because it's a
chance for me to continue,continue to continue towards the
commitment and conversation ofprogress. So one of the tenants
(11:20):
that I live my life by is alwaysactive, I challenge myself to be
at least 10 minutes active eachday, whether that's one thing
lead, whether it's walking,whether it's. So one of the
tenants that I live, my life byagain, is always active. And I
challenge myself to get at least10 minutes a day of exercise,
Philip Pape (11:43):
that I wish everybody did that no matter who
they are getting whatever amountof activity every day, like you
said, is so important. So I wantto dig in a little more tell us
about what kind of movements youincorporate. I mean, is there
kind of a program you followfor, let's say, the lifting
weights, in terms of maintainingstrength, for example.
Kevin McShan (12:03):
Yeah, so I live between weights between 10 and
25 pounds on a regular basis,just so that I have some level
of consistency. I also have abig Walker, because movement,
for me is important. Moving myhamstrings is important, I love
(12:26):
to swim through because, youknow, when you swim, the GrabIt
is last and part of so part ofmy disability, I have a lot of
lactic acid, my hamstrings andthat just because of the
tightness of the hamstring, somany of those swelling, right
until the gravity of sort of theground is lifted and my muscles
(12:50):
are are freer. That makes sense.
So I'm a big swimmer, likelifting weights, as I said, and
walking is a regular part of myfitness record.
Philip Pape (13:02):
Now, this is an interesting question came to
mind for me, because you have a,you have a situation, the
situation you exist in becauseof your condition makes it that
much more critical and importantthat you do these things. But
are there other drivers youhave? Right? Because not
everybody is can be drivennecessarily by the same purpose
their entire life? And I'm justcurious, you know, is fitness
(13:23):
important to you for any otherreasons?
Kevin McShan (13:26):
Oh, well, Fitness is important to me feel because
I want to live. And, you know,Fitness is important to me.
Because, you know, it's anotherway to lead by the example of
your actions. And you know, youknow, I always tell people, I
don't do things that I will, Iwouldn't ask others to do things
(13:52):
that I'm not willing to do. SoFitness is important to me, and
only telling you by example, butalso to live a higher quality of
life because you know, you onlyhave a one chance to do this
grand experiment of life. And Iwant to maximize the moment, you
know, when I talk to businessesor people as a motivational
(14:17):
speaker, Phil, I always tellthem to maximize their own
higher potential, whatever thatmeans with that person is what
that means for that person. Andthe second thing I always say,
Phil, is that the only level ofexpectations that you have to
live on your own because if youdon't have a personal level of
(14:39):
expectations, it's hard tomeasure up or be inspired to
reach a second milestone thatsomebody else said for you. So
it's always important to setyour own level of expectations,
isn't it?
Philip Pape (14:55):
Absolutely. I love everything you're saying. It's
just great. I can see why you'rea motivational speaker. it
because Kevin, I mean, talkingabout having personal standards
and living up to those and thehigh quality of life. I mean,
these are, these are greatmessages for people out there.
Because there's plenty of peoplewho are just aren't active, and
they have the potential there,whether it's whether it's
(15:17):
strength, whether it's movement,and it's a, it's a relative
change. So what they're doingtoday, right, I mean, if you, if
you currently don't walk, wellmaybe walk for five minutes, if
you currently walk for 20minutes a day, maybe you could
do 30. So that's a greatmessage. Hey, this is Philip
Pape. And if you feel likeyou've put in effort to improve
your health and fitness, butaren't getting results, I invite
(15:37):
you to apply for a one on onecoaching to make real progress
and get the body you desire.
We'll work together to figureout what's missing so you can
look better, perform better andfeel better. Just go to wits &
weights.com/coaching, to learnabout my program and apply
today. Now back to the episode.
The align with the nutrition orthe fitness side is the
(15:57):
nutrition side. Are there uniquenutritional considerations you
have to complement your fitnesslifestyle?
Kevin McShan (16:03):
Well, first and foremost, Phil, I always say
when people ask me aboutnutrition, everything in
moderation, right? So and youknow, one of the one of the
things that I have to learn is,just because the apple pies in
the fridge doesn't always mean Ihave to eat it right now. But to
answer your question, in termsof fitness, I tried to eat a lot
(16:29):
of protein, and drink a lot ofMalcolm elcas Something that's
important to me, because ithelps to strengthen my bone
density. I drink a lot of milk,you know, apples and grapes, and
I'm a big fruit guidance interms of that. As I said, I did
(16:52):
a lot of protein, I had chickenpasta for once today. So I do a
lot of chicken and rice and allof that stuff. So I always tell
myself, if you know, if I wantto live in extra five minutes,
it's important to always knowwhat I'm putting in my body and
(17:13):
the results that come fromputting it in to the system,
right? Because once it goes in,it's hard to get it out. So it's
always important to know whatyou're putting in and, you know,
salary and carrots, somethingthat I enjoy eating as well, for
sure.
Philip Pape (17:32):
I can't disagree with anything there, man, you've
got all the deliciousingredients that we talk about
the protein fruits, vegetables,fiber, milk is great. Yeah, good
stuff, man. So if somebody islistening right now, and
they're, and specifically,they're in a situation where
they have a disability, and theydon't know how to get started in
(17:54):
improving their physical health,what would be your advice for
them?
Kevin McShan (17:57):
Well, first, I would say you're committed to
the commitment. You know, everydisability is different, you
know, I was fortunate enoughthat the level of disability
that I have, still allows me totalk, walk and, and move around.
(18:20):
So first of all, be committed tothe commitment that you're going
to make to your health. Becauseif you are not committed, it's
hard to have a sustainablefuture in your health journey.
So that's the first thing Iwould say. The second thing I
would say is go at your ownpace. Because each disability is
(18:47):
different. And everybody's levelof success is, is different. You
know, I always say painting aportrait of success is different
from all of us. And as I said,previously, set your own level
of expectations, because that'llkeep you accountable and keeping
(19:09):
you motivated and invested inyour own process.
Philip Pape (19:14):
So set your set your expectations, remain
committed and go at your ownpace. I think that last one or
the one about going at your ownpace is really important
message. Because people try totake on too much at once I think
or, you know, they they wantthat instant gratification of
getting the result. And they sayokay, well I have to go from you
know, I get 2000 steps a day. SoI'm gonna go to 12, right, or I
(19:36):
get five hours of sleep and I'mgonna go to eat. So is there. If
we dig into that just one morelevel? How does somebody do
that? In terms of, you know,going at their own pace? Are
there specific actions yourecommend or an approach?
Kevin McShan (19:51):
So the first thing I would say is hold yourself
accountable to a schedule like Imentioned. Before I challenge
myself to be at least 10 minutesactive the day, obviously, I
think you're wrong. Or if I'mwalking, for example, or, for
(20:15):
example, when I go swimming, Itry to go for between 45 minutes
to an hour. And you know whatone thing that people don't
know, Phil is may not know is ifyou exercise more regularly, it
helps with, at least for me, ithelps with sleep, overall
(20:35):
quality of life. So if you wantpieces of advice, know that
exercise helps you to elevatethe quality of every aspect of
your life, I would say thatwould be my overall arching
message is dependent on thequality of life that you want to
(20:58):
live will determine the amountof, or the level of commitment
that you're willing to put intosomething.
Philip Pape (21:06):
Yeah, that's awesome. So if you want a high
quality life, and you'relistening, as much as you can
invest in yourself, when itcomes to movement, exercise,
nutrition, you're gonna get outof it. And it's much bigger than
the short term goal, right? It'smuch bigger than the day to day
it's, it's it's committing to itand scheduling it in, like Kevin
(21:28):
mentioned, and focusing on whatit can do for you overall. So I
love that you've been gettingmore sleep because you exercise
everything's interrelated.
That's great. So, your, yourpodcast, let's have this
conversation. I think it'saround 600 episodes now. And the
topics. It is right, it's just,I don't know how many you put
out a year, but it's a lot. Thetopics are very wide ranging.
(21:50):
And the mission is to provide athought provoking experience,
which I think you succeed atregularly. So my question is,
what have you learned from theexperience of producing so many
episodes with so many people?
Kevin McShan (22:04):
is either a labor of love or insanity? No? Yeah.
Yeah. Thank you for thequestion. So the podcast is two
episodes, giant 600 episodes.
And, you know, I started thepodcast because I wanted to have
a vehicle or a platform thatbuilt bridges of inclusion. You
(22:30):
know, Phil, when I started thepodcast, I looked at society.
And I said, there are far toomany sort of vehicles that
Interpol us polls apart. So Iwanted to start the can start
the conversation or start thepodcast, because I wanted to
(22:50):
have a platform to move theneedle of progress forward. And
to answer your question morespecifically. So number one
lesson that I've learned hostingthe podcast now for almost two
and a half years, I started thatventure in May of 2020. And is
(23:10):
to really value the diversity ofperspectives. Because even the
viewpoints that I may disagreewith, that I allow the space to
be broadcast on my podcast, it'simportant to have people that
(23:33):
you agree with and have peoplethat you disagree with, because
it broadens your diversity ofperspective. So the answer to
the question is the number onelesson that I've learned is to
embrace the quality of diversityof perspective.
Philip Pape (23:52):
Yeah, and I think that's something a lot of us
have to work on, myselfincluded, when I just reflect on
what you just said, and bringguests on to my show, you know,
am I am I just looking forpeople who agree with what I
say? Or am I really trying tobring on those perspectives so
that we can have that deeperdialogue and allow people to
draw their own conclusions fromthat? So you know, giving me
(24:13):
something to think about aswell. I do like to ask this
question of all guests. And thatis one question. What one
question Did you wish I'd askedand what is your answer?
Kevin McShan (24:23):
That's a fabulous question. You know, for me, you
know, Phil, I'm all was aboutchallenging myself to be 1%
Better than I was the daybefore. And you know, why, to me
is a fragile gift. You know,we're, we're all here for a very
(24:48):
short amount of time, and nomatter how long we live, and for
me, life is about making themost impact for the most people
like Ken, because life is allabout impact. If you're not
working towards increasing theamount of personal and
(25:10):
professional impact on others,then you'll live a very selfish
and non fulfilling lives. Soit's important to me to continue
the conversation of progress,and to challenge myself to be 1%
Better than I was the daybefore. So, you know, one of the
(25:31):
questions that I always asked mypod testing yesterday, I think I
asked you this question, whenyou were on my show is, how do
you celebrate, celebrate thewins in life, because, you know,
celebrating the wins in life isimportant. Because, you know,
we're also on to the next thing,and this, it's ratification
(25:55):
society, but it's important tocelebrate wins in life. And I
tried to, to do that. Some daysbetter than others. But, you
know, celebrating wins in lifeis important. And also
celebrating the progress towardsprosperity that we've all made
is also important, isn't it?
Yeah, for sure.
Philip Pape (26:18):
Be right, because we can get cynical and negative.
And we we don't often reflect onthe great things that not only
are we achieving, but the impactwe're making on people. This
reminds me of another guest whocame on and talked about
gratitude. And he was sayingthat, you know, we often express
gratitude for for other thingswhen we do that, but don't often
express gratitude for ourselves.
And I think I can tie that tothe to what you were just
(26:40):
saying, How does somebody get upin the morning? Who's had, but
for lack of a better word, theyjust had a rough week? How do
they ask the question ofthemselves that triggers the
thought of that those wins?
Like, how do you ask yourself?
Did I have a win?
Kevin McShan (26:57):
You know, I'm reminded of a guest that I
interviewed. His name is TravisShelton, and Travis is a
financial coach. And he said,reading, reading my personal
story and watching videos on me,you know, he said, there was one
(27:18):
overriding theme that he admiredabout men, and he said, it was
the fact that I keep movingforward. You know, or one of the
mottos of my life is, you know,I'm not a huge fan of excuses,
(27:39):
because I think excuses aredetermined to progress and
artificial reasons not toprogress in life. So I think if
you're having a bad day orhaving a bad week, it's all
about keep moving forward andkeep, keep trying to strive for
(28:05):
whatever the definition ofprosperity, prosperity is that
you have for your life. So keepmoving forward, always look for
ways to maximize the moment ofpotential and didn't pack for
sure.
Philip Pape (28:22):
Keep moving forward, each day's a new day.
Whatever happened in the past isalmost irrelevant to today.
Right? I think another gueststhat I interviewed also use the
phrase, the futures a string oftoday's right. So I think that
really resonates with me, Kevin,I want to thank you for coming
on the show and give you theopportunity to let listeners
know where they can learn moreabout you and your work.
Kevin McShan (28:44):
Well, Phil, I think I said at the beginning of
this podcast that I wasoverqualified, I meant to say
that I'm,
Philip Pape (28:52):
I knew that I knew what you meant no worries.
Kevin McShan (28:57):
On the show, but I want to thank you for giving me
the space to engage inconversation today. It's most
appreciated. Great to see you.
And for anyone that wants tolearn more about me they can
find all of the informationabout my life and my journey at
Kevin mccann.com They can alsofind the podcast wherever you
(29:19):
get your podcast is for let'shave this conversation. The
show's YouTube channel is justlet let's have this
conversation. If you type thatin my name afterwards, all my
stuff comes out. So it was adelight to be with you. I want
to remind your audience toalways maximize the moment
(29:40):
because Phil you never knowwho's watching, right?
Philip Pape (29:46):
You never know maximize the moment no excuses
and each day is a new new day tomaximize your potential. So,
Kevin, you know, I'll definitelyadd the links to your your
website, Kevin mcshane.com. AndI want everybody here to
subscribe to the lesson. Have aconversation podcast. It was
really a joy talking to youagain, hearing this unique,
inspirational motivationalperspective and kind of opening
(30:09):
my eyes to your experience ofliving with a disability because
I really didn't know much aboutthat. And from the fitness and
nutrition side. Thanks again,man for taking the time to come
on the show I wish you the bestwith with everything.
Kevin McShan (30:19):
Well, Phil, it was always an honor to be with you
this afternoon. And I appreciatethe platform and space to share
a little bit about my personaljourney. So it was great to see
you and I hope I added value toyour audience. I want to wish
you the best of luck with theshow. I think you're doing
(30:40):
amazing work and I'm glad thatwe got a chance to be in each
other's that works. And I lookforward to my continued
friendship, my friend best ofluck with the podcast and all of
your other endeavors. And again,thanks for having me. It's most
appreciated.
Philip Pape (30:59):
Likewise, Kevin, very much a pleasure. Thanks for
listening to the show. Beforeyou go, I have a quick favor to
ask. If you enjoy the podcast,let me know by leaving a five
star review in Apple podcastsand telling others about the
show. Thanks again for joiningme Philip Pape in this episode
of Wits & Weights. I'll see younext time and stay strong.
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