September 10, 2025 • 51 mins
This week on Life Beyond The Mic, Shawna and LaLa get brutally honest about sleepless nights, school beginning, and the heaviness of today’s world. LaLa breaks down in tears while talking about the heartbreaking stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, and in a shocking twist, the girls learn live while recording that activist Charlie Kirk had been shot. (This episode was recorded before news broke of his passing. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife, children, family, and friends. 💔)
Shawna opens up about her own health scare—what should have been a routine trip to the cancer center for iron infusions turned into a nightmare when she was overdosed on iron, leading to a severe reaction. The girls use this moment to stress the life-saving importance of advocating for yourself in the medical system.The episode also features a powerful interview with Chelsie Hill, CEO of The Rollettes and a trailblazing disability influencer, who shares her inspiring journey and message of empowerment for the disability community.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Shawna & LaLa without some laughter. On a lighter note, LaLa spills the details on her new Cannoli Cart business, which is already taking off! From private parties to a surprising request for a Jewish baby bris, the girls dissolve into laughter as Shawna hilariously explains what a bris is… and the two can’t stop joking about how cannolis kind of look like… well… you know.
This episode is raw, emotional, funny, and real—covering everything from grief and resilience to entrepreneurship, disability advocacy, women’s health, mental health, and the power of laughter.
Shawna opens up about her own health scare—what should have been a routine trip to the cancer center for iron infusions turned into a nightmare when she was overdosed on iron, leading to a severe reaction. The girls use this moment to stress the life-saving importance of advocating for yourself in the medical system.The episode also features a powerful interview with Chelsie Hill, CEO of The Rollettes and a trailblazing disability influencer, who shares her inspiring journey and message of empowerment for the disability community.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Shawna & LaLa without some laughter. On a lighter note, LaLa spills the details on her new Cannoli Cart business, which is already taking off! From private parties to a surprising request for a Jewish baby bris, the girls dissolve into laughter as Shawna hilariously explains what a bris is… and the two can’t stop joking about how cannolis kind of look like… well… you know.
This episode is raw, emotional, funny, and real—covering everything from grief and resilience to entrepreneurship, disability advocacy, women’s health, mental health, and the power of laughter.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
From the heart of the city, where the beat meets
the rhythm of your day.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's Shawna m.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
What's up. You're listening to Shauna and Lalla. Check us
out at Shauna and Lala dot com on all social
media platforms at Shauna and La La. You could follow
me on Instagram at the Real Shawna May and.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Check me out at Bella Underscore Lalla one two five.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
School is back in session. I cannot believe it.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I know, I hate it every year. I say it
every year. I hate when my son goes to school
because then he's not home. And besides that, it's just
like I think, heaving to get up early. He's in
middle school now, so it's six o'clock. I have to
get up, get him going, and then he you know,
he's out the door by seven. But still it's like, oh,
(00:55):
I just want to sleep in if I could.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Well, we were talking earlier that you know, both of
us and not just both of us, a lot of us,
a lot of people that we both know have been
having trouble sleeping. And I've always had trouble sleeping, but
this has been like insane. Yeah, it's almost like every
hour I'm up tossing, turning. You know, I'm up from
(01:20):
two to four then you know, six o'clock and it's
so annoying.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I don't know. My sister said, oh, it's the moon.
There's a lunary clips or something like that. So I'm
all right, it needs to hurry itself up and get
you know, do what has to do, and let's go
because I need my sleep. Yeah it's I don't.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Know, but you're affected by it all the time.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, every month, every full moon, that whole week and
like a few days after I don't sleep and I'm like, oh,
it must be the full moon. I look at my calendar. Yeah,
it is a full moon. So it affects me certain people.
They say the moon affects certain people. It doesn't also
for women. A lot of women who get their mental
during the moon, and I do too, so it's kind
(02:02):
of my mental cycle syncs up with the full moon.
I'm like a witch or something. Now. I don't know,
but yeah, hopefully the moon figures her crap out and
I can get some sleep soon.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well, it has never affected me that I noticed up
until like last week.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, but that's what my sister said. It was a
lunar eclipse, so something was stronger. I guess something more
crazy this time.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Well, everything is just has been crazy here, not just
in the environment, in the weather, by.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
The world, in the world.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
It has just been insane.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Like I just, I don't know, very draining. I feel
like lately the world, the environment, that just even the
moon is just draining me, draining my emotional state, my
mental state.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It's like, oh my god, yes, I I'm just that's
how I feel. It was very drained. I always feel drained,
as you know. I went for iron infusions to give
me more energy, and that did not work out very well.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
As always, yeah, as.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Usual, something always goes wrong. I was so excited, you know,
the first two times that I had the iron infusions,
I did not have a reaction. I was so excited.
And the third time we go in and they give
me the infusion and my feet swell up and they're
burning and tingling and I can't feel my feet and
(03:35):
they overdosed me.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, it's insane, Like the medical world is just we
always say this, The lack of common sense in the
medical world is just shocking. It doesn't shock me anymore,
but it is shocking when you come to think like
these people go to school for how long? And yeah,
they're so smart and they can't think of the simplest
(03:58):
little things that are common.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
See, come on, Yeah, they did blood work on week
two and supposed to do it on week four. Week two,
they did the blood work, the machine didn't read it. Okay, fine,
I said, I will come back. They said, no, we'll
wait till your next appointment. I go in for my
third infusion. They do the blood work and you know,
I don't know. I don't think anything of it, and
(04:21):
they just they'd give me the infusion. And what they
should have said was, hey, let's wait for your blood work.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So what Shauna was saying is week two and four
they have to do her blood work to check her
ferretin levels, yes, to see her iron levels. Okay, like, hey,
did the first infusion work or the second one, Let's
check your levels to see where you're at if you're
better now. They didn't do that because there was a
problem with that blood result. So they're like, oh, we'll
do your blood before your third infusion. And you know,
(04:49):
Seana is not supposed to know this stuff, but they
should have been like, let's because we didn't check it
week two. Let's check it before we give her this
third infusion.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Exactly, and they did not. So I ended up calling
them and saying, you know, this is what's going on
with me. They asked me if I'm having trouble breathing,
if my throat was closing, blah blah blah, and I said, no,
but my feet are swallowing up. But I can't move
my ankles.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
And your leg's hurt. Right.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
My legs were in so much pain, excruciating pain from
the swelling and just from being overloaded with iron, and
my toes couldn't bend. I couldn't feel my toes. I
guess that is due to them being well swollen. So
I go to urgent Care, and urgent Care was arguing
(05:35):
with me that it's not the infusion, it's a blood clot.
But what they did not tell me was that the
iron infusions, if you have too much iron, that can
cause a blood clot. They did not say it that way.
They kept saying the it's not the iron infusion, it's
a blood clot. It's a blood clot. Go to the ear,
(05:56):
go to the ar. And I'm not going.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
To the er.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I'm here. I know it's not a blood clot. I
know it's the infusion. It literally happened ten fifteen minutes.
We pulled in the driveway and I got out of
the car and I'm like, my feet are burning, Like yeah,
it was almost like I was stepping on a uh patio,
A hot patio, A hot patio. Yeah, in the summer,
(06:19):
with no shoes on. That's what it felt like.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
She's the crazy thing is she She's called the infusion
center first and said, hey, I'm having a reaction. I
just left there.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Oh yes, and they said. The lady said to me,
it wasn't my nurse that I spoke to, but she
was on she knows me, and she said, hold on,
let me look at the list of side effects and
see if those side effects are on the list. So
she looks at it and she says, well, those side
effects aren't on the list, so go to urgent care
(06:51):
or go to the.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Er, and so basically telling her it's not from the
infusion exactly when we know it is from the infusion.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Right. So after I go to urgent care, I go home.
They gave me an oral steroid in urgent care and
they had me stay there for like another half hour
and the lady comes in and she's like, how's your legs?
I was like getting bigger. She's like, oh no, this
should not be happening. So she said, by the time
(07:19):
that she came in, the swelling should have gone down
at least a little bit. It did not. She said
to me, well, I called the hematologist on call and
he said that it's not related to the infusion. And
I said, it is related to the infusion. It happened
fifteen minutes after the infusion. M hm, So I go.
(07:41):
She says, listen, Okay, go home, she said, but promise
me if it gets worse, you'll go to the er.
I said, of course I will. So the next day
I go back to urgent Care and what do you know,
my level was a two sixty seven the day of
that I got that infusion, which is high. So the
following day I went back to Lurgerent Care and it
(08:01):
was to seventy eight I think, or to seventy seven,
which is even higher. So my doctor called me and
you know, he apologized and he's like, oh, I got
you in a pickle. And he's a great guy. But
you know, I said, they really should have chucked my
levels beforehand, and you know I would have even come back, yeah,
(08:26):
you know, a different day.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And that's where the lack of common sense comes into
play exactly.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
And then I went to the infusion center to tell
them what happened, and the nurse there pretty much gas
lit me and was telling me that it couldn't have
been been.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Nope, not it, it's not nope, sorry, sorry, highly unusual.
It wouldn't be the iron infusion. I was there, guys,
I Shanna could tell you. I was livid. I had paperwork,
I printed up case reports and she's left out this
part a quick Google search. When Shauna texted me the
first time it happened, Hey, I just got back from
my infusion. Feet are swollen this. I just did a
quick Google search.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yes, I did too.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
And that's a common side effect of iron infusions. A
common side effect. It wasn't rare, it's common. And these
nurses look at a sheet instead of let me it's
not on the sheet, but let me google that.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Yeah, they didn't do that.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
It's like, no, one wants to just go the extra mile.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
No, because doctor Google. They don't believe in doctor Google.
But doctor Google's right exactly. So it's it's just crazy.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It just boggles my mind. It's crazy to me, you know.
And all I kept thinking to myself is we are
in the cancer center. What are they doing to the
other patients that actually have cancer and are getting chemo
radiation and all that. Are they overdosing them too? Because
it's not their job to look at the blood test results,
(09:48):
because that's what they told me, That's what that girl said.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
It's not our job too.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
The doctor prescribes the infusion, we give the infusion. They
want blood work, week two, week four, We draw it.
It's not our job to look at it. It's the
patient's job to look at it. And if they if
they have questions, they need to contact the doctor. And
I said, well, who would have known?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
They took your blood two seconds before your infusion, so
the right thing would have been, you know, sorry, your
blood work didn't work last week when we did this,
So why don't we take the blood now? Are you
okay with coming back later before we give you the
iron infusion so your doctor can see your blood results?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Exactly? Well, in fairness, I would have seen them first,
I think, and then I would have because they come
to my phone.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Oh oh oh blood result. Yeah, I didn't know what
he meant, like seeing the nurse fer stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Oh yeah, No, the blood test results go to your
my chart and I could see them pretty much before the.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Doctor, so you would have known.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
So I would have seen like, hey, there it's high
let me call the doctor and make sure that he
still wants me to get this infusion. Yeah, he would
have said, like he told me on the phone, you
didn't you didn't need a third one, and you definitely
don't need a fourth one, so cancel your appointment.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yep. Yeah, it's it's really in this we always talk about.
This is advocating for yourself. Now we know, and now
you know, showing us spreading the message, like before you
get infusions for any kind of supplement or whatever, check
your blood work. Make sure because you can get overdosed.
You could, like she said, you can get it a
blood clot. It could be really serious. So yeah, and
(11:21):
these doctors and nurses need to do their job more.
And these nurses can't just say if they're working in
a cancer and fusion center, that's a big deal and
they should double check. And I told the lady that,
and she didn't agree with the nurse and she didn't
want to agree that this was from the iron in fusion.
So doctors gaslight you. They don't want to do simple
searches online and just advocate for yourself. You know, that's
(11:44):
that's the best thing that you can do.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
I know, I really hope that that urgent care doctor
that me and you both saw, because you were actually
at the urgent care the same time. I was. Yeah,
I hope that he did call the hospital and say
something to them. Yeah, he said he was going to.
He said this shouldn't have happened. He couldn't believe that
(12:07):
we came in with case studies.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, He's like, I've never had a patient bring in
case studies. I'm like, well, I that's what I do.
That's what I do because I've done this before, and
you guys don't know something, so I gotta teach you.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And you know, he was very thankful, and he actually
from those case studies and the research that me and
Lalla bought him, he actually did do extra blood work
and he did run me run tests for different things,
and all the blood work pretty much came back normal. Yes,
I mean it was a little off because my iron
(12:42):
levels were so high, but in retrospect everything was normal,
thank god.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
I meet with the hematologist this week, and that's the
other thing. I couldn't get into see the hematologist or
a hematologist until this week.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
So it's just it's crazy to me. The medical just
absolutely just broken.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I know, we need a lot of updating on it.
You know, it's not the worst in the world, but
it's definitely you know, we gotta count our blessings where
we can, but it can use a lot of work.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Yes, And the judicial system is even broken now that
Judge Frank Carprio.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Oh I know he died.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Oh my god, it's so so sad.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Oh it's been it's been one heartbreak after another. I
feel like this month. I'm honestly, I was crying all yesterday,
just so emotional over the stabbing. I'm sure everyone's seen it,
heard about it of Arena and I. When I first
saw it, of course, came in the news, I'm like, oh,
another crime. I was upset. Then last night I saw
(13:50):
the whole footage and guys, it wasn't the stabbing wasn't
traumatizing to me. It was upsetting, of course, disgusting, evil.
But what was what traumatized me and what really messed
me up was the people that just sat there and
watched her die. And that broke my heart and I'm
(14:12):
gonna start crying again. I was sobbing for hours at
my house last night because I was you see the video,
this poor girl she stabbed. They see that she stabbed.
I'm not expecting them to stop the man from stabbing
because you know, my husband's a cop. He tells me
that people are more afraid of a criminal with a
knife versus a gun. Knives are very dangerous. Yeah, Mike
(14:33):
said that, like that that's their worst case scenarios when
someone has a knife, because they can get to you
in a few seconds and do a lot of damage.
You know, I don't know why, that's what he tells me. So,
And you can't really with a gun. You could wrestle
it away when you're close to them, but a knife,
it's hard. You're gonna hurt yourself trying to get that
the knife away from them. So I didn't expect anyone
(14:53):
to jump in and like made the guy stop stabbing
her because it all happened in a few seconds. But
what I did expect was some common human decency, a
human heart to go run over to her and say
are you okay? And put some pressure on that wound
and comfort her and say you're gonna be okay or
I'm sorry, are you you know, give her some love,
give her some some sort.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Of comfort, or call nine one one.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And the girl was looking at them in shock and
like like help me, you know, with her eyes and scared,
and they stared at her and they looked away, and
the one guy ran away, and she just she died
by herself. And the last thing this poor girl knew
was evil. And that breaks my heart that she all
(15:38):
she knew was fear and evil, and not that those
people could have saved her life because she was bleeding
so bad, but just the human touched the human comfort
like you you know me, Shauna. Shauna has been with me.
We've talked about this multiple times. I jump into every
situation she does when I shouldn't. She does, so I
(15:58):
scare Shaona. I don't care how small I am. I
don't care that I'm a woman. I will jump into
any situation to try to save someone or help someone.
And and that's why I think it really hurts me
or disgusts me that they they couldn't even do as
simple are you okay, honey, are you're gonna be fine?
Everything's you know, something to comfort her. They couldn't do that.
(16:18):
You couldn't even do words. You couldn't give her words
of comfort.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
The girl that was sitting across from her was just
sitting on her phone.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Right. She looked over, she saw what happened. She looked
at her. They made eye contact, and she looked out
the window like eh, and the girl falls over and
is dying on the floor. And the girl still looks
and doesn't get up.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Oh, I didn't see that part.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
It was just it was horrible. It was it traumatized
me more so. Like I said, the stabbing was horrible,
but it was traumatizing watching her die alone when there
was people around her that could have comforted or tried
to put pressure on that wound and no one did.
And it really, it like made me so disappointed in
humanity and it's broken my heart completely. I just I
(16:59):
just keep thinking about those last moments for her, of
just being alone when she didn't have to be. It
speaks volumes. I always bring this up about humans. Now,
Is that we've lost this connection. We've lost some sort
of connection where every I was watching a lot of
Instagram reels where people are saying they witnessed someone get
hit by a car and no one did anything. They
(17:21):
all pulled out their phones to record it, and all
their brain is thinking, Oh, I can't wait to post
this online or I can't wait to send this to
this one. How did we get to this point? What
happened to humanity? And like, I don't understand when that
one time that the guy was about to kill himself
and jump off the bridge and I saw him. I remember,
(17:42):
I told you, so many people just walked past him,
drove past him, no one did anything. I had to
tell my husband pull the car over, that guy's gonna jump,
and my husband wouldn't let me go over to him
because God forbid. So I had to watch my husband
go there and talk him down. So but I'm like,
how many people passed him? How many people didn't give
(18:03):
a crap? How did we get to this point that
we're not looking out for each other, that we're not
helping each other, And it really it's like, I'm so
fearful for my babies in the future. Are we losing
Are we losing compassion? Are we losing that connection with
other human beings? Like it's the phones are not helping that.
That's all people's brains want is Oh, I gotta film this.
(18:24):
I don't want to help. I don't want to get involved.
I'm just gonna film it and go viral. That's what
I feel like it is, especially this younger generation. So
it's like, how do we get that back? How do
we go backwards and bring back humanity, compassion, decency, helping
each other out? I don't know. And they say in
these moments to look for the good, but it's like
it's so hard right now. And you just said we
(18:47):
just got breaking news.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah. Charlie Kirk, who is a activist. He goes to
different colleges and speaks. He was at Utah University and
he just got shot.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
I thought it was gonna be a college student. It
was not. It looks to me to be like an
older man. Yeah, and they did get him. They handcuffed him.
He is now with the police.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Just one thing after another. It's horrible. He has babies.
No matter your political views, guys, no matter our political beliefs,
we cannot be doing this to each other. You love
him or hate him. He has babies at home, he
has a family. There's no need for this violence. I
don't know. I gotta look for the good. I gotta try.
(19:32):
It's just very hard lately, it really is.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Our prayers are with Charlie and all his family.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
His poor wife. I can't even imagine right now, his
poor wife and his kids. Oh God, we need to stop.
We need to come together. And I don't know if
that's possible. I really don't, but I'm praying every day
to God that it is possible. I gotta light in
the mood right now, Seana, because I'm I'm gonna be
in tears again. It's like I need, we need some
(19:59):
funny and some positivity.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Right Well, I have nothing funny that happened to me.
I mean besides my feet swallowing up like balloons. But
did you have anything funny that happened to you?
Speaker 4 (20:11):
I mean, obviously you do, I always do.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
But I want to share this funny story. I mean,
you probably remember showing. It just happened yesterday, So I
if you don't know, I have a Connoli catering business,
and I go to I have a mobile canoli bar
with all the top things. It's really really cool. So
I book a lot of parties, a lot of events.
And our friend from Texas text me and said, hey,
(20:35):
I have a client who's having a big party near you,
about a half hour away from you. Before I offer
your canoli car up to him, you know, is this
something that you'd be interested in? Do you even have
the time because it's tomorrow, you only have you know,
a day's notice. So I said, all right, just send me.
Let me see. She sends me the invitation to the
party and I'm like what, I'm reading it and shawn
(20:56):
I was with Shawna. She's like, what is it. I'm like,
I don't know. I don't even know what the word is.
And I read the invitation to her. It was in Yeah,
a lot of it was Yiddish and it said, with
gratitude to Hashem, you are warmly invited to a brisk mill,
and it was the other part was cut off. And
(21:17):
I said, what's a brice mill? For something for our
dear son? And Seana's like, starts she starts laughing. She's like,
you don't know what that is? I said, no, what
is it? She's like that's when they do the circumcision
of the child. And I'm like what, And I start
laughing because that even made it funnier that she wanted
me to serve Canoles at this baby circumcision. Like you
(21:41):
think about it. You know, Canoli the shape of Connoli
and people always joke about that all the time. So
I started dying. So I messaged this friend back and
I'm like, hey, do you know what that is? And
she's like, no, what is it? So we call her
and we tell her and she starts dying laughing. She's like, oh,
oh my god, I am so glad. I you know,
(22:02):
I reached out first before offering it up to him,
and this is crazy, and you know, we're laughing and
I'm like, yeah, you wanted me to serve Canoli at
a circumcision, you see how Like so she was dying,
but yeah, she's like, I thought it was a baby shower.
It was like a baby shower, So I thought it
was really funny, and you know, it did lift my spirits.
(22:24):
Yesterday I was dying.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
We're still laughing about it to that. Yeah, we're in
a group text and just cracking up. Yeah, congratulations to
that family. That had congratulations, new little bundle of joy.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And you know we can add some more positivity to
the show. We talked to the most amazing and gorgeous
let me say gorgeous girl.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
I love her.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yeah, she she her name is Chelsea Hill, so sweet,
she's a mama, and we had an amazing interview with her.
So that should lift our spirits.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
On the show. Today we have CEO and influencer Chelsea Hill,
and I have followed her for years. I followed her.
I don't even know how I found you. I think
I was just maybe searching the Abilities Expo probably or
you know, disabled like entertainer or disabled influencer or something.
(23:19):
And because we are trying to get into that space,
and I just love your content and love what you do,
and I just had to have you on the show.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Oh, thank you so much. I'm excited to chat with
you guys.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Yes, so I know you were in a horrible, horrible
car accident at seventeen, But how did that change your life?
Obviously that was life changing.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, you know my entire life. I grew up knowing
I wanted to be a dancer. I didn't really know
what that meant, but I was like I want to
be touring and beyond music videos. Like I would wake
up every morning and before school I would watch just
like so many music videos on like mtvv one, like
all the time. That's what I just grew up watching.
And I was like, I want to be in music videos.
(24:05):
So I knew I wanted to be a dancer, but
I didn't know what that like meant or like how
that would transpire into like a career. I knew I
wanted to move to Los Angeles, but being classified as
disabled at the age of seventeen, I was like, what
does that mean? I didn't know anybody with really a disability.
I didn't know anybody with the spinal cord injury. So honestly,
(24:25):
it flipped my entire world upside down, same with my
family and my friends. And I felt like in the beginning,
you know, relearning how to just like sit in my
body was just you know, it was everything was different. Everything.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Yeah, I can't even imagine. I mean, I was born
with CP and I had to learn how to do
things differently.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah. One of my first friends when I got injured,
her name is Kayla, and she is incredible. She reached
out to me because she lived in the town next
to me and she had strip with palsy, and she
would just be like, let's go get dinner, let's go
get lunch, let's go and I was like okay, like yeah,
and we were just talking about things about just being disabled,
(25:10):
and you know, she was disabled her whole life. So
like being able to know somebody that early on into
my injury was really really helpful.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah. I have found that, you know, people kind of
enter your life and then they leave you. You know,
you don't fit what their life is going to be,
but that's fine.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, I think, you know, with a lot of my
friends in high school and stuff like I think, just
naturally in high school your friends go off and they
go to college. I thought I was going to go
off and go, you know, to college like my friends
and move out of my town. And that just wasn't
in the cards for me. I guess you could say. Yeah,
And so you know, my friends, we all still stay
in touch. But I love being able to watch them
(25:49):
go off and do their own thing. But I kind
of felt like, okay, well what about me, Like, now
what do I do? I'm you know, paralyzed, still in
my hometown. And then I was like, well, I'm going
to move to Los Angele. So I was on a
reality show, but that that brought me to to kind
of like, you know, see what the next step would be.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
And what reality show were you on?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
I was on a show called push Girls on the
Sundance Channel.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I know that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
So what are the roletts and what inspired you to
create that movement? It's a huge women's movement. We love it.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Thank you. You know. I honestly just wanted friends. Honestly,
in the very beginning, I just wanted to meet other
people that were like me. And because of Push Girls,
I kind of had this like platform on social media
that I could. I reached out to some girls and
I was like, Hey, do you want to come, you know,
hang out in my hometown. Do you want to maybe
dance and can get dinner, We'll have some sleepovers. And
(26:51):
six of them said yes, We'll all six of them.
I reached out. She said yes, and so they came
to my hometown in twenty twelve and we did dance classes,
we went to dinner, we will rolled around Target. We
had to sleepover some house. They were literally sleeping on
the floor of my house, Like I don't know, we
honestly didn't know what we were doing back then, and
it was just really nice to be able to like
be in my hometown and show also my hometown like
(27:13):
I'm not the only person that has a spinal cord
injury that's young, you know, I'm not the only person
that like made a mistake and became paralyzed. Like that
was really like my driving force is I wanted friends,
and I also wanted to show my community that, like
I wasn't the only person that was like young disabled
and wanted to like move on with their lives. At
the time, so because my accent in my hometown was
so big, nobody knew of anybody really with the disability,
(27:37):
and so for me, I started because I wanted something.
And then now it's I don't know, every year it's
different because every year we have like different girls that
come in, and it's been really cool to see girls
come and be part of Rolettes and then be like,
oh wait, I want to go back to college, or
I really love photography, or I want to go get married.
Like it's really really cool to kind of see this
(27:57):
like evolution and Rolettes is kind of just grown with me,
you know, like when I was I don't know, twenty
one when I first started it, maybe twenty one, I
hear it, maybe something like that. Two and to where
I am now thirty three and I'm married with a kid.
You know, it's it's really cool to just see how
it's just blossomed and grown. I can't wait to see
what the future holds.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Did you ever imagine you'd be working with Lady Gaga?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
No? Never. It's crazy because actually one of the first
songs that I danced to when I was paralyzed was
a Lady Gaga song, and it was crazy to see that,
like me performing for my first time in my wheelchair
was to a Lady Gaga song. It was like in
the mix. And to now be like, oh my god,
(28:44):
I was in one of her like fan music videos.
It's just a really cool, full circle moment, and it
makes me want to like go back and hug that
like little seventeen year old Chelsea that was like in
the hospital and be like it's gonna be okay. So
that's just really cool. So definitely full circle.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's a dream come true.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
I know.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Thanks, So you're not only the CEO of Rolettes. But
you're a disabled mom a performer, and how do you
juggle I'm a mom, so how do you juggle both
motherhood and running a business and traveling? Like, how do
you do that?
Speaker 2 (29:15):
I will be honest, there's times I don't. There is
times I cannot handle it. Sometimes I'm like, wow, I
really bid off more than I can chew, for sure.
But I will say that it takes a village, and
I'm really trying to figure out a way to show
how it takes a village because I don't want everyone
(29:36):
seeing like, oh, she's doing it all because I don't
like I have an incredible team behind me. I have
an incredible like the rolettes are amazing. Connor who runs
the social media, is amazing. Brias our COEO. You know,
we brought on a board, so like, I am really
trying to show that, like Rolette's experience is not it's
not just me anymore. It is so many more people
behind the scenes. So I will say it takes a village,
(30:00):
and I feel like I really built up for this
moment to be able to be like, Okay, I can
kind of take a step back, and Rolettes are self
sufficient rolettes experience is self sufficient, and I can just
like some days just be mom and not be like, Okay,
I have the CEO hat on, then I have a
friend hat on, and then I'm mom, and then I'm wife,
and then I'm oh, yeah, I'm disabled too. So I
have all of that stuff on top of it. Like
(30:21):
it's it is a lot, but it takes a village,
it really really does. And I can't say that I
do it all on my own because I don't.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Oh that's good, you need the sport. Everybody needs a
support and I wish that everyone could have support, and
they're not us moms. We have a lot on our
plates and a lot that no one even sees what
do they call it, the yeah, invisible like checklists, and
I had constantly going.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
On rush absolutely and it's crazy that, like, you know,
I never grew up around like kids younger than me, right,
Like I was the baby of the family, so like
all my cousins were like all older than me, and
I was always like the baby. My mom is the
baby of you know, her sisters, and I was the
baby of all my cousins. So growing up like I
was never around kids, so I didn't really understand like, oh,
(31:06):
moms have a lot, Like I always knew they did, right,
But then being a mom, holy moly, Like you're not
only thinking about like all of your stuff for the checklist,
and you're like packing the lunches and then you're getting
them ready and then bathtime, you know, nighttime routine war.
It's honestly, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot
of fun. But I will say, like when I feel
(31:27):
like I have too much on my plate, it's that's
when I'm like, whoa, Okay, I have to figure out
like how to get things off my plate now, you.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Know, Yes, yeah it's hard. I mean I don't have kids,
but I see what goes through.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, it's a lot, but yeah, and then adding on
the disability factor of it, you know, like scheduling yourself
or like making sure you're resting, getting off your butt,
making sure you're going to the bathroom, like making sure
you have all your catheter is, making like it's you know, yeah,
it's a lot. And yeah, being pregnant also with the disability.
I being pregnant, I loved it. I was living my
(32:03):
best life. The first three months, I was incredibly sick,
but I was little my best life. But it definitely
I feel like being pregnant made me realize like how
truly truly strong like I was, you know, like I
was like it was all also probably all the hormones.
I was like, I could take on the world, you know,
And now I'm like, oh my god, that was a lot.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
It is a lot. It is, especially when you have
an illness or disability. It's it's a whole different ballpark.
And then you're met with doctors probably I don't know
if you went through that where they're like, I've never
dealt with this before. Let's figure this out and let
you know.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yeah, I my, it's interesting, Like and I wish I
could just talk to a board of doctors and be like,
can we figure out how to make streamlining disability and
pregnancy better because I feel like for the nine months,
I was like so diligent about making sure that my
anstaesiologist knew like I have spine, I have a spine injury,
(33:00):
I have rods in my back. I made sure everyone
knew what was going on, and literally they were like, oh, yeah,
it'll be fine. I went in to give birth and
they were like, we can't give you an epideral, and
I was like, excuse me, what what you knew I
was coming in for the last nine months and you
all of a sudden can't do it. So I just
wish like if they knew that ahead of time, that
(33:22):
they would have been like, hey, these are the other
steps we're going to make. And I could have been
ready for it because I labored for sixteen hours with
no pain meds. Because so I was like, all right, fine,
I'm gonna be awake from my daughter's birth. And I
fought and fought and fought and then ended up not
working out. But yeah, I just wish I could like
be more involved in that, I know, educational process of it,
(33:44):
you know.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Yeah, maybe that's the next step for you, you know, right, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Maybe maybe baby number two.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
I think we have to educate these doctors, you know.
I have found that that is my mission is to
educate these doctors. I think they know it all and
say like, not everyone is the same. Yeah, everyone is different,
and we know our bodies.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yeah exactly, And sometimes they have to actually listen to
us because I think sometimes we also know what's going
on in our bodies and we're not all the same. Right,
like every spinal cord injury is not the same. Every
person with cerebral palsy isn't the same. Like it's very interesting,
but yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Yeah exactly. I mean they I remember I just was
supposed to get an MRI don and they wouldn't do
it because my arms don't extend and I had rods
in my spine and they went through the whole thing
and the cardiologist was like, are you kidding me.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
I'm like, yeah, they wouldn't do it.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
They wouldn't do it, and she's like crazy. It's also
too I went to get an MRI on my shoulder
because I tore my shoulder. I have a tear in
both my shoulders actually, but in my left shoulder. It
was last year, and they like put me through the
ring or trying to figure out if I could go
get an MRID. I was like, you guys, I could
get an MRI and they're like, well, you can't go
(35:03):
to this facility because like you have to walk to
the MRI table. I said no, I don't like what.
So I literally fought them and fought them and I
almost like filed something. So I was like, you guys,
this is discrimination, Like I can transfer from my chair
to the MRI machine, like you guys don't have to
lift me. It was it was like just when people
don't when they're not educated, and then they just assume,
(35:25):
they just like shut it down. So yeah, I think
the more we can advocate and the more we can
talk about things, the better.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I think that they find they cover their buck by
just shutting you down. I don't know, it's scary. It's
scary for the person going through it. Like you probably
not scared, but you know, like what the heck's going on? Yeah,
when I was pregnant with my astome, my guy I know,
was like, you can't give birth, don't You can't give
birth naturally, we can't do a C section. I said, well,
(35:52):
then how's the baby coming out? I don't know. I
don't know how it's going to come out. You have
scar tissue. And I was scared. And I think that
if a doctor doesn't know, they shouldn't just say that
to you. They should go research it first so you
don't freak like I'm like, oh, this baby's fucking me.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Like, yeah, like baby's coming out either way, I wear
another it's coming out.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Yeah, But yes, we have to figure out a way
to get doctors to understand this and advocate for ourselves.
And it's a lot of extra work.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Yeah, So how do you handle doubts of discouragement, especially
as a CEO and a leader that every woman looks
up to. I mean, you have a huge fan base.
Our disability community follows you. My personal friends in wheelchairs,
(36:42):
they follow you. My one friend, I was like so
excited that I was interviewing you. I was talking to
her about it, and she's like, oh, I want to
take her class, like her experience. She's like, but she's like,
I'm just so nervous. She's like I just talked myself
out of it. You have to not do that, Like
you can't do that.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Yeah. So I will say one thing, I there's sometimes
a part of me that's like I don't give a
I don't care, you know, like where I'm like I'm
gonna do whatever I want. I'm gonna do whatever I want.
But then there's another side of me that's like I'm
terrified that I'm gonna make the wrong move or I'm
gonna like do something wrong. And I think like both
(37:21):
personalities can like exist where you can be like bals
the wall, like, let's go I don't care, Like, let's
build an entire role, let's experience and then figure it
out when we get there. And then the other side
of me is like, well, I don't want to mess
up and I don't want you know. So I think,
like I do doubt myself a lot, but also I
don't if that makes sense, Like I think sometimes I'm
(37:44):
like I have this like imposter syndrome that like we
would talk about in Bounless Babe Society that like I
think it's normal to feel like this imposter syndrome to
be like is this really me? Because I mean on
social media, people are like, oh my gosh, like and
then for me, I'm like, listen, I'm just like you guys,
Like I just have been doing social media for ten years,
(38:06):
so like, you know, I'm not new to this world
of like social media. But like I think when people
get to know me and they see me, they realize
that I'm just like their other friends, you know. Yeah,
but yeah, I think, like, yes, I doubt myself a lot,
but also I think what pushes me with Rolette's experience
is a few things, Like I started it because I
(38:29):
wanted that I grew up in the competitive dance world,
and when I became paralyzed, I was like, wait, there's
no platform for people with disabilities to like compete, and
there's no platform for like a community of people like
all girls just to get together and hang out like what.
So I was just like, all right, I want to
I want to start it. So my dad really plays
a big role in that, where he was like, well,
(38:50):
let's just do it. Like he never would be like well,
I don't know how. He'd just be like all right,
let's do it, like okay, And I think, yeah, like
we'll figure out as we go. And I think, like
how that mentality early on into my diagnosis was like
a blessing because I never saw no as an answer.
I never saw a door that I couldn't unlock. You know,
(39:10):
I may not have been able to have the key,
but I could find it and I could unlock it
kind of thing. So I think with everyone that it's
nervous to go to Rolette's experience, I think it's one
of those things that you kind of just got to
give it a try and just say fuck it and
go yeah, because you know, you never know who you're
gonna meet every single year. Rolette experience is so different
from the last. Like you may have a great time
(39:32):
one year and the next year might be like, all right,
this was okay, or you might then the next year
might be like that was the best experience ever. So
it just depends on the year, depends on who's going,
and depends on how you go into the weekend mentally
as well.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
So if somebody wanted to sign up, is it is
it in one place? So like my friend would fly
out to California.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Yeah, So usually what it is is we have it
at the Sheraton right by Lax. So we always have
it at Lax now blest my gosh, five years because
it's right by a central you know, airport. So then
you fly into Lax, there's an accessible shuttle that picks
you up, takes you the Sheraton, and then you just
stay there the whole time. So we picked the Sheraton
because it's actually the only hotel in California that has
(40:16):
forty four accessible rooms. Every other place has like max
twenty one rooms that are accessible. When you have two
hundred and fifty minimum people in wheelchairs coming in from
all over the world, doesn't really work. So we actually
have like multiple hotels that we do room blocks with,
but you stay there the whole time, and it's usually
like a Thursday to Sunday. This year was Wednesday was
(40:38):
our Boundless Talent Showcase, and then Rolltz Experience started Thursday.
Next year, twenty twenty six, we are switching it up
a little bit more, so we'll probably be announcing that
in like November this year.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
But awesome, Yeah, And do you go? Do you personally
go every year?
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Well, every single year. I haven't missed one year.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
Oh my gods, amazing.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
And even for twenty twenty we went fully virtual. We
literally produced an entire show like top not Show in
twenty twenty. It was legit. It was so cool. Now
every year I go, JJ goes, my husband goes. This year,
I actually got reminded that like I am not what's
the word, like, I'm not a superwoman. Saturday morning, my
(41:22):
uti hit me like a ton of bricks and I
was so incredibly sick. Saturday morning, I was like prolonging.
I was like drinking water, drinking cambrid juice, taking my Alura,
like taking all the stuff ones and then Saturday my
body shut down. Seven months of planning roles experience like
and he was like, remember you're disabled, you need to chill.
(41:44):
And so I was sick from like all night Saturday
morning till like three o'clock in the afternoon, and I just.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
Oh, my gosh.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Yeah, you can't plan for everything, right, It's horrible. It's horrible.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Yeah, And I was like crying in my hotel room.
I have vlogged. I have a second vlog coming out
next week, but I was like crying in my hotel
room because I just felt like I was letting everyone down,
you know, like it was my first year. I was
gonna be able to teach the kids class and do
a music video with them, and I just felt so bad.
But I'm not superwoman. I can think, but I'm not.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
Yeah, well we know that.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Yeah, you have to take care of yourself and it
does suck. Your body's gonna tell you slow down. You know,
I'm in charge exactly.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
So if you could go back and talk to your
younger self before your accident, what would you tell her now,
knowing what you've built and achieved being disabled and being
an adult.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Now, I would honestly tell her that I would just
say it, hold on tight. Because this is gonna be
a wild ride and everything that you've ever wanted is
going to be the same but different, and you're gonna
be able to go and do everything you want. It's
just gonna look a little different. And I don't think
(43:03):
I would tell her everything that would happen, but I
would just be like, trust me, you'll be okay, you know,
Like I think so many people look at us and
they're like, oh my gosh, they can't walk, and it's like,
that's the least of my worries at this point. Yeah, ladder,
the bow, the like bone density. I'm like, we got
other things we have to deal with, like other things
you have to worry about later in life. Like the
walking is I can achieve. I can achieve everything I
(43:26):
want and not walk Like that's fine. It's the it's
the actual, like what happens to our body that I'm like, Okay,
I need your body, you know.
Speaker 4 (43:35):
So, yes, I suffer from IBS.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Yeah, so I feel your girl. Yeah rough, it's rough,
and a lot of people don't realize like walking at
the least of a lot of our worries, especially when
you've like been your whole life disabled, like you're like
I have other things that I wish could like be
easier than just walking, you know.
Speaker 3 (43:53):
So yeah, I have trouble walking far distances, so I
have like a little transport chair, and I find you
probably have found that some of these transport chairs are
not built for us, Like there's not a small chair
for me. So I'm in this like ginormous thing and
(44:15):
it's just it's a mess. I mean, I'll probably see
you at the Abilities Expo and yeah, you're gonna be like.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
Wow, but it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
That yeah, I don't have And they actually when I
was at the Abilities Expo, they said there's not a
market for small chairs for adults. I said, I'm not
the only four foot thirty six year old, Yeah, with
a disability, trust me, there's a market.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
There is, Yeah, And I think people don't they just
look at it. It's such like a wide scope where
it's like if some if one person needs it, there's
way more people that need it. They just don't know
how to like advocate for their self, or they're not
like out there quote unquote enough, or you know, there's
there is if you need it, there's a lot of
other people that need it. And that's why I think
I've learned about just like what I do is with
(45:00):
Rollot's experience. I'm like, if I needed it, then I
literally put out on social media. We went from thirty
two people to one hundred and fifteen in one year.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Like wow.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
And that's when I was like the wow, more people
need it, you know. So I think that's with every industry.
I think that's like in the medical field, in dance, whatever.
But like, if you need it, someone else needs it,
you know, see it being done. If you want to
create it, create it because there'll be a lot of
people that need it, you know.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Yeah, except I'm not handy in the well in the
architecture space.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
To somebody and I do some research.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
You never know, yeah, you never know. What advice would
you give to young women with disabilities like us who
want to turn their passion into a career or a
business and be successful.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
That's a great question. What would I say? I would say,
find other like minded people that are interested in the
same thing as you. If you can't find them, reach
out on social media and that doesn't work, then just
start it and get the word out there. Because I
feel like with me along my journey of last like
fifteen years of just pushing something that I was passionate about.
(46:12):
What I found is when you're passionate about something, it's
going to attract other people that are also passionate, or
that not only are passionate about what you're passionate about,
but they're passionate about you and they believe in you.
And I think if when people believe in you as
a person, then like you can take over the world.
Like I didn't know. I knew what I wanted with
Rollot's experience, but I didn't know how to get there.
(46:33):
So I was like, all right, I'm just going to
do it myself and show everyone what I want to do,
and that's what I've been doing. But I think what
I would tell someone is find someone that's like you,
that is interested in the same things, and if you
can't do that, then find people that are passionate about
you and that want to support you, and then it'll
all fall into place.
Speaker 3 (46:51):
I think, Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
We need to take that advice.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
Yes, yeah, if you can make people that's true, like
they fall in love with you, they'll fall in love
with anything you do and they will support you. Yeah,
sometimes more than your close people that are close to you,
you know.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
Exactly, yes, yes, And I think too, like, you know,
really what I've done the last few years is really
just take a deep dive and like what do I
want Rolette experience to be? What do I want it
to look like? What do I want these women to
come in the doors? And what I want them to feel?
And I want them to feel community, sisterhood and connection
like whatever that means to them and whatever scale. And
(47:29):
I think like making sure that when you have an
idea like branding yourself and getting like your color is
getting your logo, and just like being consistent, people rely
on consistency. So I think there's a lot that you know,
there's a lot that comes to it, but I think
over time, once you're doing I think people will be like,
oh I get it. I want to help you.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
Know, yeah?
Speaker 3 (47:51):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (47:52):
Is there anything else you would like us to mention?
Speaker 2 (47:55):
So we have our Boundless Talent Showcase, which is actually
our fourth year of doing doing it. So we created
it Connor and I and Joe Connor and I on
the team. We both were competitive dancers before we were injured,
and so being paralyzed, we're like, why isn't there like
a competitive platform for the arts, Like, yes, there's Miss
(48:15):
Wheelchair California, Miss Wheelchair USA, but there's not like a
platform where everyone with disabilitis can come to and like
compete for like a title or compete for a trophy.
And I think for me growing up in that world,
I was like it it really like made me who
I am of being able to like strive for something
that was bigger than you know me. It was a
(48:36):
big trophy. So when Connor and I were like, all right,
let's do it, we started it. It's called Balance Talent
Showcase and it happens every year and this year was
our fourth year, and we have people that come and
compete on our stage and it's about we have dance performers,
we have solos, duos, trios, group numbers, we have singers, monologues.
(48:58):
We had an aerial us that came. She had a disability,
So yeah, it was it's been really really cool and
it's all ages, all gender, all disabilities, and everyone just
comes to showcase their their own talent, whatever that talent is.
It can be literally anything except for fire dancing of course,
but it's it's really really cool. So if someone doesn't
(49:20):
want to go to rolets Experience or or they can't,
they can always come and showcase their talent on the
stage and they can win a trophy and we have
grand prize, you know, we have cash prizes and yeah,
a lot of things. It's really cool. This year we
have so cool like over fifty so a contestant that
signed up and compete.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
So yeah, wow, really, so how do our listeners if
they want to sign up? How can they do that?
Speaker 2 (49:45):
So you just go to Rolettesexperience dot com and all
the roletts Experience information is there, and then all of
our Boundless Talent Showcase information is there as well.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
Awesome. Thank you so much Chelsea for coming on the
show today. We really enjoyed high and we can't wait
to meet you at the next Abilities Expo, thank you,
or whenever we're in LA.
Speaker 4 (50:08):
Yes, that would be so cool.
Speaker 3 (50:09):
We're always traveling and.
Speaker 1 (50:11):
If you're in New York, you'll hit us up. We'll
love to meet.
Speaker 4 (50:13):
Will be some lunch, really, we will be Yep, when
are you going to be in New York?
Speaker 2 (50:19):
The dates are not finalized yet, but we will be
in New York in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
Oh awesome. Yeah, we'll have to link up if if
you have any free time. If you don't, that's fine.
Speaker 2 (50:28):
Well no, absolutely, I will be letting you guys know
when we're coming to the East coast first.
Speaker 3 (50:35):
Definitely let us know because we'd love to meet up
with you and our listeners.
Speaker 1 (50:41):
Where can they follow her Chelsea Hill on all platforms.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Chelsea Hill on literally everything? Yeah, SEP, Twitter or X
or whatever it's called. I don't know. I don't have that.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
Yeah, I don't either.
Speaker 3 (50:53):
We don't either. We have enough with Instagram and.
Speaker 1 (50:57):
Facebook, you too, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (51:01):
You know we need our own social media person. We
really do. And it's too much, too much to handle.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
It is it is. Thank you guys so much for
having me. It's great to be able to chat with
you guys.
Speaker 3 (51:12):
And that's the show for this week. Thank you so
much for tuning in. Check out our website Shaunaandlala dot com.
Check out our social media pages. Everything is at Shauna
and Laala. Be sure to follow me on Instagram at
the real Shawna May and check.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
Me out at Bella Underscore La La one two five.
Speaker 3 (51:32):
We will see you next week.
From the heart of the city, where the beat meets
the rhythm of your day.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's Shawna m.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
What's up. You're listening to Shauna and Lalla. Check us
out at Shauna and Lala dot com on all social
media platforms at Shauna and La La. You could follow
me on Instagram at the Real Shawna May and.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Check me out at Bella Underscore Lalla one two five.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
School is back in session. I cannot believe it.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I know, I hate it every year. I say it
every year. I hate when my son goes to school
because then he's not home. And besides that, it's just
like I think, heaving to get up early. He's in
middle school now, so it's six o'clock. I have to
get up, get him going, and then he you know,
he's out the door by seven. But still it's like, oh,
(00:55):
I just want to sleep in if I could.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Well, we were talking earlier that you know, both of
us and not just both of us, a lot of us,
a lot of people that we both know have been
having trouble sleeping. And I've always had trouble sleeping, but
this has been like insane. Yeah, it's almost like every
hour I'm up tossing, turning. You know, I'm up from
(01:20):
two to four then you know, six o'clock and it's
so annoying.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I don't know. My sister said, oh, it's the moon.
There's a lunary clips or something like that. So I'm
all right, it needs to hurry itself up and get
you know, do what has to do, and let's go
because I need my sleep. Yeah it's I don't.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Know, but you're affected by it all the time.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, every month, every full moon, that whole week and
like a few days after I don't sleep and I'm like, oh,
it must be the full moon. I look at my calendar. Yeah,
it is a full moon. So it affects me certain people.
They say the moon affects certain people. It doesn't also
for women. A lot of women who get their mental
during the moon, and I do too, so it's kind
(02:02):
of my mental cycle syncs up with the full moon.
I'm like a witch or something. Now. I don't know,
but yeah, hopefully the moon figures her crap out and
I can get some sleep soon.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well, it has never affected me that I noticed up
until like last week.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, but that's what my sister said. It was a
lunar eclipse, so something was stronger. I guess something more
crazy this time.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Well, everything is just has been crazy here, not just
in the environment, in the weather, by.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
The world, in the world.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
It has just been insane.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Like I just, I don't know, very draining. I feel
like lately the world, the environment, that just even the
moon is just draining me, draining my emotional state, my
mental state.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It's like, oh my god, yes, I I'm just that's
how I feel. It was very drained. I always feel drained,
as you know. I went for iron infusions to give
me more energy, and that did not work out very well.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
As always, yeah, as.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Usual, something always goes wrong. I was so excited, you know,
the first two times that I had the iron infusions,
I did not have a reaction. I was so excited.
And the third time we go in and they give
me the infusion and my feet swell up and they're
burning and tingling and I can't feel my feet and
(03:35):
they overdosed me.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, it's insane, Like the medical world is just we
always say this, The lack of common sense in the
medical world is just shocking. It doesn't shock me anymore,
but it is shocking when you come to think like
these people go to school for how long? And yeah,
they're so smart and they can't think of the simplest
(03:58):
little things that are common.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
See, come on, Yeah, they did blood work on week
two and supposed to do it on week four. Week two,
they did the blood work, the machine didn't read it. Okay, fine,
I said, I will come back. They said, no, we'll
wait till your next appointment. I go in for my
third infusion. They do the blood work and you know,
I don't know. I don't think anything of it, and
(04:21):
they just they'd give me the infusion. And what they
should have said was, hey, let's wait for your blood work.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So what Shauna was saying is week two and four
they have to do her blood work to check her
ferretin levels, yes, to see her iron levels. Okay, like, hey,
did the first infusion work or the second one, Let's
check your levels to see where you're at if you're
better now. They didn't do that because there was a
problem with that blood result. So they're like, oh, we'll
do your blood before your third infusion. And you know,
(04:49):
Seana is not supposed to know this stuff, but they
should have been like, let's because we didn't check it
week two. Let's check it before we give her this
third infusion.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Exactly, and they did not. So I ended up calling
them and saying, you know, this is what's going on
with me. They asked me if I'm having trouble breathing,
if my throat was closing, blah blah blah, and I said, no,
but my feet are swallowing up. But I can't move
my ankles.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
And your leg's hurt. Right.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
My legs were in so much pain, excruciating pain from
the swelling and just from being overloaded with iron, and
my toes couldn't bend. I couldn't feel my toes. I
guess that is due to them being well swollen. So
I go to urgent Care, and urgent Care was arguing
(05:35):
with me that it's not the infusion, it's a blood clot.
But what they did not tell me was that the
iron infusions, if you have too much iron, that can
cause a blood clot. They did not say it that way.
They kept saying the it's not the iron infusion, it's
a blood clot. It's a blood clot. Go to the ear,
(05:56):
go to the ar. And I'm not going.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
To the er.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I'm here. I know it's not a blood clot. I
know it's the infusion. It literally happened ten fifteen minutes.
We pulled in the driveway and I got out of
the car and I'm like, my feet are burning, Like yeah,
it was almost like I was stepping on a uh patio,
A hot patio, A hot patio. Yeah, in the summer,
(06:19):
with no shoes on. That's what it felt like.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
She's the crazy thing is she She's called the infusion
center first and said, hey, I'm having a reaction. I
just left there.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Oh yes, and they said. The lady said to me,
it wasn't my nurse that I spoke to, but she
was on she knows me, and she said, hold on,
let me look at the list of side effects and
see if those side effects are on the list. So
she looks at it and she says, well, those side
effects aren't on the list, so go to urgent care
(06:51):
or go to the.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Er, and so basically telling her it's not from the
infusion exactly when we know it is from the infusion.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Right. So after I go to urgent care, I go home.
They gave me an oral steroid in urgent care and
they had me stay there for like another half hour
and the lady comes in and she's like, how's your legs?
I was like getting bigger. She's like, oh no, this
should not be happening. So she said, by the time
(07:19):
that she came in, the swelling should have gone down
at least a little bit. It did not. She said
to me, well, I called the hematologist on call and
he said that it's not related to the infusion. And
I said, it is related to the infusion. It happened
fifteen minutes after the infusion. M hm, So I go.
(07:41):
She says, listen, Okay, go home, she said, but promise
me if it gets worse, you'll go to the er.
I said, of course I will. So the next day
I go back to urgent Care and what do you know,
my level was a two sixty seven the day of
that I got that infusion, which is high. So the
following day I went back to Lurgerent Care and it
(08:01):
was to seventy eight I think, or to seventy seven,
which is even higher. So my doctor called me and
you know, he apologized and he's like, oh, I got
you in a pickle. And he's a great guy. But
you know, I said, they really should have chucked my
levels beforehand, and you know I would have even come back, yeah,
(08:26):
you know, a different day.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And that's where the lack of common sense comes into
play exactly.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
And then I went to the infusion center to tell
them what happened, and the nurse there pretty much gas
lit me and was telling me that it couldn't have
been been.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Nope, not it, it's not nope, sorry, sorry, highly unusual.
It wouldn't be the iron infusion. I was there, guys,
I Shanna could tell you. I was livid. I had paperwork,
I printed up case reports and she's left out this
part a quick Google search. When Shauna texted me the
first time it happened, Hey, I just got back from
my infusion. Feet are swollen this. I just did a
quick Google search.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yes, I did too.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
And that's a common side effect of iron infusions. A
common side effect. It wasn't rare, it's common. And these
nurses look at a sheet instead of let me it's
not on the sheet, but let me google that.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Yeah, they didn't do that.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
It's like, no, one wants to just go the extra mile.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
No, because doctor Google. They don't believe in doctor Google.
But doctor Google's right exactly. So it's it's just crazy.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It just boggles my mind. It's crazy to me, you know.
And all I kept thinking to myself is we are
in the cancer center. What are they doing to the
other patients that actually have cancer and are getting chemo
radiation and all that. Are they overdosing them too? Because
it's not their job to look at the blood test results,
(09:48):
because that's what they told me, That's what that girl said.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
It's not our job too.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
The doctor prescribes the infusion, we give the infusion. They
want blood work, week two, week four, We draw it.
It's not our job to look at it. It's the
patient's job to look at it. And if they if
they have questions, they need to contact the doctor. And
I said, well, who would have known?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
They took your blood two seconds before your infusion, so
the right thing would have been, you know, sorry, your
blood work didn't work last week when we did this,
So why don't we take the blood now? Are you
okay with coming back later before we give you the
iron infusion so your doctor can see your blood results?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Exactly? Well, in fairness, I would have seen them first,
I think, and then I would have because they come
to my phone.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Oh oh oh blood result. Yeah, I didn't know what
he meant, like seeing the nurse fer stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Oh yeah, No, the blood test results go to your
my chart and I could see them pretty much before the.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Doctor, so you would have known.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
So I would have seen like, hey, there it's high
let me call the doctor and make sure that he
still wants me to get this infusion. Yeah, he would
have said, like he told me on the phone, you
didn't you didn't need a third one, and you definitely
don't need a fourth one, so cancel your appointment.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yep. Yeah, it's it's really in this we always talk about.
This is advocating for yourself. Now we know, and now
you know, showing us spreading the message, like before you
get infusions for any kind of supplement or whatever, check
your blood work. Make sure because you can get overdosed.
You could, like she said, you can get it a
blood clot. It could be really serious. So yeah, and
(11:21):
these doctors and nurses need to do their job more.
And these nurses can't just say if they're working in
a cancer and fusion center, that's a big deal and
they should double check. And I told the lady that,
and she didn't agree with the nurse and she didn't
want to agree that this was from the iron in fusion.
So doctors gaslight you. They don't want to do simple
searches online and just advocate for yourself. You know, that's
(11:44):
that's the best thing that you can do.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
I know, I really hope that that urgent care doctor
that me and you both saw, because you were actually
at the urgent care the same time. I was. Yeah,
I hope that he did call the hospital and say
something to them. Yeah, he said he was going to.
He said this shouldn't have happened. He couldn't believe that
(12:07):
we came in with case studies.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, He's like, I've never had a patient bring in
case studies. I'm like, well, I that's what I do.
That's what I do because I've done this before, and
you guys don't know something, so I gotta teach you.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And you know, he was very thankful, and he actually
from those case studies and the research that me and
Lalla bought him, he actually did do extra blood work
and he did run me run tests for different things,
and all the blood work pretty much came back normal. Yes,
I mean it was a little off because my iron
(12:42):
levels were so high, but in retrospect everything was normal,
thank god.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
I meet with the hematologist this week, and that's the
other thing. I couldn't get into see the hematologist or
a hematologist until this week.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
So it's just it's crazy to me. The medical just
absolutely just broken.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I know, we need a lot of updating on it.
You know, it's not the worst in the world, but
it's definitely you know, we gotta count our blessings where
we can, but it can use a lot of work.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Yes, And the judicial system is even broken now that
Judge Frank Carprio.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Oh I know he died.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Oh my god, it's so so sad.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Oh it's been it's been one heartbreak after another. I
feel like this month. I'm honestly, I was crying all yesterday,
just so emotional over the stabbing. I'm sure everyone's seen it,
heard about it of Arena and I. When I first
saw it, of course, came in the news, I'm like, oh,
another crime. I was upset. Then last night I saw
(13:50):
the whole footage and guys, it wasn't the stabbing wasn't
traumatizing to me. It was upsetting, of course, disgusting, evil.
But what was what traumatized me and what really messed
me up was the people that just sat there and
watched her die. And that broke my heart and I'm
(14:12):
gonna start crying again. I was sobbing for hours at
my house last night because I was you see the video,
this poor girl she stabbed. They see that she stabbed.
I'm not expecting them to stop the man from stabbing
because you know, my husband's a cop. He tells me
that people are more afraid of a criminal with a
knife versus a gun. Knives are very dangerous. Yeah, Mike
(14:33):
said that, like that that's their worst case scenarios when
someone has a knife, because they can get to you
in a few seconds and do a lot of damage.
You know, I don't know why, that's what he tells me. So,
And you can't really with a gun. You could wrestle
it away when you're close to them, but a knife,
it's hard. You're gonna hurt yourself trying to get that
the knife away from them. So I didn't expect anyone
(14:53):
to jump in and like made the guy stop stabbing
her because it all happened in a few seconds. But
what I did expect was some common human decency, a
human heart to go run over to her and say
are you okay? And put some pressure on that wound
and comfort her and say you're gonna be okay or
I'm sorry, are you you know, give her some love,
give her some some sort.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Of comfort, or call nine one one.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And the girl was looking at them in shock and
like like help me, you know, with her eyes and scared,
and they stared at her and they looked away, and
the one guy ran away, and she just she died
by herself. And the last thing this poor girl knew
was evil. And that breaks my heart that she all
(15:38):
she knew was fear and evil, and not that those
people could have saved her life because she was bleeding
so bad, but just the human touched the human comfort
like you you know me, Shauna. Shauna has been with me.
We've talked about this multiple times. I jump into every
situation she does when I shouldn't. She does, so I
(15:58):
scare Shaona. I don't care how small I am. I
don't care that I'm a woman. I will jump into
any situation to try to save someone or help someone.
And and that's why I think it really hurts me
or disgusts me that they they couldn't even do as
simple are you okay, honey, are you're gonna be fine?
Everything's you know, something to comfort her. They couldn't do that.
(16:18):
You couldn't even do words. You couldn't give her words
of comfort.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
The girl that was sitting across from her was just
sitting on her phone.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Right. She looked over, she saw what happened. She looked
at her. They made eye contact, and she looked out
the window like eh, and the girl falls over and
is dying on the floor. And the girl still looks
and doesn't get up.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Oh, I didn't see that part.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
It was just it was horrible. It was it traumatized
me more so. Like I said, the stabbing was horrible,
but it was traumatizing watching her die alone when there
was people around her that could have comforted or tried
to put pressure on that wound and no one did.
And it really, it like made me so disappointed in
humanity and it's broken my heart completely. I just I
(16:59):
just keep thinking about those last moments for her, of
just being alone when she didn't have to be. It
speaks volumes. I always bring this up about humans. Now,
Is that we've lost this connection. We've lost some sort
of connection where every I was watching a lot of
Instagram reels where people are saying they witnessed someone get
hit by a car and no one did anything. They
(17:21):
all pulled out their phones to record it, and all
their brain is thinking, Oh, I can't wait to post
this online or I can't wait to send this to
this one. How did we get to this point? What
happened to humanity? And like, I don't understand when that
one time that the guy was about to kill himself
and jump off the bridge and I saw him. I remember,
(17:42):
I told you, so many people just walked past him,
drove past him, no one did anything. I had to
tell my husband pull the car over, that guy's gonna jump,
and my husband wouldn't let me go over to him
because God forbid. So I had to watch my husband
go there and talk him down. So but I'm like,
how many people passed him? How many people didn't give
(18:03):
a crap? How did we get to this point that
we're not looking out for each other, that we're not
helping each other, And it really it's like, I'm so
fearful for my babies in the future. Are we losing
Are we losing compassion? Are we losing that connection with
other human beings? Like it's the phones are not helping that.
That's all people's brains want is Oh, I gotta film this.
(18:24):
I don't want to help. I don't want to get involved.
I'm just gonna film it and go viral. That's what
I feel like it is, especially this younger generation. So
it's like, how do we get that back? How do
we go backwards and bring back humanity, compassion, decency, helping
each other out? I don't know. And they say in
these moments to look for the good, but it's like
it's so hard right now. And you just said we
(18:47):
just got breaking news.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah. Charlie Kirk, who is a activist. He goes to
different colleges and speaks. He was at Utah University and
he just got shot.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
I thought it was gonna be a college student. It
was not. It looks to me to be like an
older man. Yeah, and they did get him. They handcuffed him.
He is now with the police.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Just one thing after another. It's horrible. He has babies.
No matter your political views, guys, no matter our political beliefs,
we cannot be doing this to each other. You love
him or hate him. He has babies at home, he
has a family. There's no need for this violence. I
don't know. I gotta look for the good. I gotta try.
(19:32):
It's just very hard lately, it really is.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Our prayers are with Charlie and all his family.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
His poor wife. I can't even imagine right now, his
poor wife and his kids. Oh God, we need to stop.
We need to come together. And I don't know if
that's possible. I really don't, but I'm praying every day
to God that it is possible. I gotta light in
the mood right now, Seana, because I'm I'm gonna be
in tears again. It's like I need, we need some
(19:59):
funny and some positivity.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Right Well, I have nothing funny that happened to me.
I mean besides my feet swallowing up like balloons. But
did you have anything funny that happened to you?
Speaker 4 (20:11):
I mean, obviously you do, I always do.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
But I want to share this funny story. I mean,
you probably remember showing. It just happened yesterday, So I
if you don't know, I have a Connoli catering business,
and I go to I have a mobile canoli bar
with all the top things. It's really really cool. So
I book a lot of parties, a lot of events.
And our friend from Texas text me and said, hey,
(20:35):
I have a client who's having a big party near you,
about a half hour away from you. Before I offer
your canoli car up to him, you know, is this
something that you'd be interested in? Do you even have
the time because it's tomorrow, you only have you know,
a day's notice. So I said, all right, just send me.
Let me see. She sends me the invitation to the
party and I'm like what, I'm reading it and shawn
(20:56):
I was with Shawna. She's like, what is it. I'm like,
I don't know. I don't even know what the word is.
And I read the invitation to her. It was in Yeah,
a lot of it was Yiddish and it said, with
gratitude to Hashem, you are warmly invited to a brisk mill,
and it was the other part was cut off. And
(21:17):
I said, what's a brice mill? For something for our
dear son? And Seana's like, starts she starts laughing. She's like,
you don't know what that is? I said, no, what
is it? She's like that's when they do the circumcision
of the child. And I'm like what, And I start
laughing because that even made it funnier that she wanted
me to serve Canoles at this baby circumcision. Like you
(21:41):
think about it. You know, Canoli the shape of Connoli
and people always joke about that all the time. So
I started dying. So I messaged this friend back and
I'm like, hey, do you know what that is? And
she's like, no, what is it? So we call her
and we tell her and she starts dying laughing. She's like, oh,
oh my god, I am so glad. I you know,
(22:02):
I reached out first before offering it up to him,
and this is crazy, and you know, we're laughing and
I'm like, yeah, you wanted me to serve Canoli at
a circumcision, you see how Like so she was dying,
but yeah, she's like, I thought it was a baby shower.
It was like a baby shower, So I thought it
was really funny, and you know, it did lift my spirits.
(22:24):
Yesterday I was dying.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
We're still laughing about it to that. Yeah, we're in
a group text and just cracking up. Yeah, congratulations to
that family. That had congratulations, new little bundle of joy.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And you know we can add some more positivity to
the show. We talked to the most amazing and gorgeous
let me say gorgeous girl.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
I love her.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yeah, she she her name is Chelsea Hill, so sweet,
she's a mama, and we had an amazing interview with her.
So that should lift our spirits.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
On the show. Today we have CEO and influencer Chelsea Hill,
and I have followed her for years. I followed her.
I don't even know how I found you. I think
I was just maybe searching the Abilities Expo probably or
you know, disabled like entertainer or disabled influencer or something.
(23:19):
And because we are trying to get into that space,
and I just love your content and love what you do,
and I just had to have you on the show.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Oh, thank you so much. I'm excited to chat with
you guys.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Yes, so I know you were in a horrible, horrible
car accident at seventeen, But how did that change your life?
Obviously that was life changing.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, you know my entire life. I grew up knowing
I wanted to be a dancer. I didn't really know
what that meant, but I was like I want to
be touring and beyond music videos. Like I would wake
up every morning and before school I would watch just
like so many music videos on like mtvv one, like
all the time. That's what I just grew up watching.
And I was like, I want to be in music videos.
(24:05):
So I knew I wanted to be a dancer, but
I didn't know what that like meant or like how
that would transpire into like a career. I knew I
wanted to move to Los Angeles, but being classified as
disabled at the age of seventeen, I was like, what
does that mean? I didn't know anybody with really a disability.
I didn't know anybody with the spinal cord injury. So honestly,
(24:25):
it flipped my entire world upside down, same with my
family and my friends. And I felt like in the beginning,
you know, relearning how to just like sit in my
body was just you know, it was everything was different. Everything.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Yeah, I can't even imagine. I mean, I was born
with CP and I had to learn how to do
things differently.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah. One of my first friends when I got injured,
her name is Kayla, and she is incredible. She reached
out to me because she lived in the town next
to me and she had strip with palsy, and she
would just be like, let's go get dinner, let's go
get lunch, let's go and I was like okay, like yeah,
and we were just talking about things about just being disabled,
(25:10):
and you know, she was disabled her whole life. So
like being able to know somebody that early on into
my injury was really really helpful.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah. I have found that, you know, people kind of
enter your life and then they leave you. You know,
you don't fit what their life is going to be,
but that's fine.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, I think, you know, with a lot of my
friends in high school and stuff like I think, just
naturally in high school your friends go off and they
go to college. I thought I was going to go
off and go, you know, to college like my friends
and move out of my town. And that just wasn't
in the cards for me. I guess you could say. Yeah,
And so you know, my friends, we all still stay
in touch. But I love being able to watch them
(25:49):
go off and do their own thing. But I kind
of felt like, okay, well what about me, Like, now
what do I do? I'm you know, paralyzed, still in
my hometown. And then I was like, well, I'm going
to move to Los Angele. So I was on a
reality show, but that that brought me to to kind
of like, you know, see what the next step would be.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
And what reality show were you on?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
I was on a show called push Girls on the
Sundance Channel.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I know that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
So what are the roletts and what inspired you to
create that movement? It's a huge women's movement. We love it.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Thank you. You know. I honestly just wanted friends. Honestly,
in the very beginning, I just wanted to meet other
people that were like me. And because of Push Girls,
I kind of had this like platform on social media
that I could. I reached out to some girls and
I was like, Hey, do you want to come, you know,
hang out in my hometown. Do you want to maybe
dance and can get dinner, We'll have some sleepovers. And
(26:51):
six of them said yes, We'll all six of them.
I reached out. She said yes, and so they came
to my hometown in twenty twelve and we did dance classes,
we went to dinner, we will rolled around Target. We
had to sleepover some house. They were literally sleeping on
the floor of my house, Like I don't know, we
honestly didn't know what we were doing back then, and
it was just really nice to be able to like
be in my hometown and show also my hometown like
(27:13):
I'm not the only person that has a spinal cord
injury that's young, you know, I'm not the only person
that like made a mistake and became paralyzed. Like that
was really like my driving force is I wanted friends,
and I also wanted to show my community that, like
I wasn't the only person that was like young disabled
and wanted to like move on with their lives. At
the time, so because my accent in my hometown was
so big, nobody knew of anybody really with the disability,
(27:37):
and so for me, I started because I wanted something.
And then now it's I don't know, every year it's
different because every year we have like different girls that
come in, and it's been really cool to see girls
come and be part of Rolettes and then be like,
oh wait, I want to go back to college, or
I really love photography, or I want to go get married.
Like it's really really cool to kind of see this
(27:57):
like evolution and Rolettes is kind of just grown with me,
you know, like when I was I don't know, twenty
one when I first started it, maybe twenty one, I
hear it, maybe something like that. Two and to where
I am now thirty three and I'm married with a kid.
You know, it's it's really cool to just see how
it's just blossomed and grown. I can't wait to see
what the future holds.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Did you ever imagine you'd be working with Lady Gaga?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
No? Never. It's crazy because actually one of the first
songs that I danced to when I was paralyzed was
a Lady Gaga song, and it was crazy to see that,
like me performing for my first time in my wheelchair
was to a Lady Gaga song. It was like in
the mix. And to now be like, oh my god,
(28:44):
I was in one of her like fan music videos.
It's just a really cool, full circle moment, and it
makes me want to like go back and hug that
like little seventeen year old Chelsea that was like in
the hospital and be like it's gonna be okay. So
that's just really cool. So definitely full circle.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's a dream come true.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
I know.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Thanks, So you're not only the CEO of Rolettes. But
you're a disabled mom a performer, and how do you
juggle I'm a mom, so how do you juggle both
motherhood and running a business and traveling? Like, how do
you do that?
Speaker 2 (29:15):
I will be honest, there's times I don't. There is
times I cannot handle it. Sometimes I'm like, wow, I
really bid off more than I can chew, for sure.
But I will say that it takes a village, and
I'm really trying to figure out a way to show
how it takes a village because I don't want everyone
(29:36):
seeing like, oh, she's doing it all because I don't
like I have an incredible team behind me. I have
an incredible like the rolettes are amazing. Connor who runs
the social media, is amazing. Brias our COEO. You know,
we brought on a board, so like, I am really
trying to show that, like Rolette's experience is not it's
not just me anymore. It is so many more people
behind the scenes. So I will say it takes a village,
(30:00):
and I feel like I really built up for this
moment to be able to be like, Okay, I can
kind of take a step back, and Rolettes are self
sufficient rolettes experience is self sufficient, and I can just
like some days just be mom and not be like, Okay,
I have the CEO hat on, then I have a
friend hat on, and then I'm mom, and then I'm wife,
and then I'm oh, yeah, I'm disabled too. So I
have all of that stuff on top of it. Like
(30:21):
it's it is a lot, but it takes a village,
it really really does. And I can't say that I
do it all on my own because I don't.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Oh that's good, you need the sport. Everybody needs a
support and I wish that everyone could have support, and
they're not us moms. We have a lot on our
plates and a lot that no one even sees what
do they call it, the yeah, invisible like checklists, and
I had constantly going.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
On rush absolutely and it's crazy that, like, you know,
I never grew up around like kids younger than me, right,
Like I was the baby of the family, so like
all my cousins were like all older than me, and
I was always like the baby. My mom is the
baby of you know, her sisters, and I was the
baby of all my cousins. So growing up like I
was never around kids, so I didn't really understand like, oh,
(31:06):
moms have a lot, Like I always knew they did, right,
But then being a mom, holy moly, Like you're not
only thinking about like all of your stuff for the checklist,
and you're like packing the lunches and then you're getting
them ready and then bathtime, you know, nighttime routine war.
It's honestly, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot
of fun. But I will say, like when I feel
(31:27):
like I have too much on my plate, it's that's
when I'm like, whoa, Okay, I have to figure out
like how to get things off my plate now, you.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Know, Yes, yeah it's hard. I mean I don't have kids,
but I see what goes through.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, it's a lot, but yeah, and then adding on
the disability factor of it, you know, like scheduling yourself
or like making sure you're resting, getting off your butt,
making sure you're going to the bathroom, like making sure
you have all your catheter is, making like it's you know, yeah,
it's a lot. And yeah, being pregnant also with the disability.
I being pregnant, I loved it. I was living my
(32:03):
best life. The first three months, I was incredibly sick,
but I was little my best life. But it definitely
I feel like being pregnant made me realize like how
truly truly strong like I was, you know, like I
was like it was all also probably all the hormones.
I was like, I could take on the world, you know,
And now I'm like, oh my god, that was a lot.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
It is a lot. It is, especially when you have
an illness or disability. It's it's a whole different ballpark.
And then you're met with doctors probably I don't know
if you went through that where they're like, I've never
dealt with this before. Let's figure this out and let
you know.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yeah, I my, it's interesting, Like and I wish I
could just talk to a board of doctors and be like,
can we figure out how to make streamlining disability and
pregnancy better because I feel like for the nine months,
I was like so diligent about making sure that my
anstaesiologist knew like I have spine, I have a spine injury,
(33:00):
I have rods in my back. I made sure everyone
knew what was going on, and literally they were like, oh, yeah,
it'll be fine. I went in to give birth and
they were like, we can't give you an epideral, and
I was like, excuse me, what what you knew I
was coming in for the last nine months and you
all of a sudden can't do it. So I just
wish like if they knew that ahead of time, that
(33:22):
they would have been like, hey, these are the other
steps we're going to make. And I could have been
ready for it because I labored for sixteen hours with
no pain meds. Because so I was like, all right, fine,
I'm gonna be awake from my daughter's birth. And I
fought and fought and fought and then ended up not
working out. But yeah, I just wish I could like
be more involved in that, I know, educational process of it,
(33:44):
you know.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Yeah, maybe that's the next step for you, you know, right, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Maybe maybe baby number two.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
I think we have to educate these doctors, you know.
I have found that that is my mission is to
educate these doctors. I think they know it all and
say like, not everyone is the same. Yeah, everyone is different,
and we know our bodies.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yeah exactly, And sometimes they have to actually listen to
us because I think sometimes we also know what's going
on in our bodies and we're not all the same. Right,
like every spinal cord injury is not the same. Every
person with cerebral palsy isn't the same. Like it's very interesting,
but yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Yeah exactly. I mean they I remember I just was
supposed to get an MRI don and they wouldn't do
it because my arms don't extend and I had rods
in my spine and they went through the whole thing
and the cardiologist was like, are you kidding me.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
I'm like, yeah, they wouldn't do it.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
They wouldn't do it, and she's like crazy. It's also
too I went to get an MRI on my shoulder
because I tore my shoulder. I have a tear in
both my shoulders actually, but in my left shoulder. It
was last year, and they like put me through the
ring or trying to figure out if I could go
get an MRID. I was like, you guys, I could
get an MRI and they're like, well, you can't go
(35:03):
to this facility because like you have to walk to
the MRI table. I said no, I don't like what.
So I literally fought them and fought them and I
almost like filed something. So I was like, you guys,
this is discrimination, Like I can transfer from my chair
to the MRI machine, like you guys don't have to
lift me. It was it was like just when people
don't when they're not educated, and then they just assume,
(35:25):
they just like shut it down. So yeah, I think
the more we can advocate and the more we can
talk about things, the better.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I think that they find they cover their buck by
just shutting you down. I don't know, it's scary. It's
scary for the person going through it. Like you probably
not scared, but you know, like what the heck's going on? Yeah,
when I was pregnant with my astome, my guy I know,
was like, you can't give birth, don't You can't give
birth naturally, we can't do a C section. I said, well,
(35:52):
then how's the baby coming out? I don't know. I
don't know how it's going to come out. You have
scar tissue. And I was scared. And I think that
if a doctor doesn't know, they shouldn't just say that
to you. They should go research it first so you
don't freak like I'm like, oh, this baby's fucking me.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Like, yeah, like baby's coming out either way, I wear
another it's coming out.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Yeah, But yes, we have to figure out a way
to get doctors to understand this and advocate for ourselves.
And it's a lot of extra work.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Yeah, So how do you handle doubts of discouragement, especially
as a CEO and a leader that every woman looks
up to. I mean, you have a huge fan base.
Our disability community follows you. My personal friends in wheelchairs,
(36:42):
they follow you. My one friend, I was like so
excited that I was interviewing you. I was talking to
her about it, and she's like, oh, I want to
take her class, like her experience. She's like, but she's like,
I'm just so nervous. She's like I just talked myself
out of it. You have to not do that, Like
you can't do that.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Yeah. So I will say one thing, I there's sometimes
a part of me that's like I don't give a
I don't care, you know, like where I'm like I'm
gonna do whatever I want. I'm gonna do whatever I want.
But then there's another side of me that's like I'm
terrified that I'm gonna make the wrong move or I'm
gonna like do something wrong. And I think like both
(37:21):
personalities can like exist where you can be like bals
the wall, like, let's go I don't care, Like, let's
build an entire role, let's experience and then figure it
out when we get there. And then the other side
of me is like, well, I don't want to mess
up and I don't want you know. So I think,
like I do doubt myself a lot, but also I
don't if that makes sense, Like I think sometimes I'm
(37:44):
like I have this like imposter syndrome that like we
would talk about in Bounless Babe Society that like I
think it's normal to feel like this imposter syndrome to
be like is this really me? Because I mean on
social media, people are like, oh my gosh, like and
then for me, I'm like, listen, I'm just like you guys,
Like I just have been doing social media for ten years,
(38:06):
so like, you know, I'm not new to this world
of like social media. But like I think when people
get to know me and they see me, they realize
that I'm just like their other friends, you know. Yeah,
but yeah, I think, like, yes, I doubt myself a lot,
but also I think what pushes me with Rolette's experience
is a few things, Like I started it because I
(38:29):
wanted that I grew up in the competitive dance world,
and when I became paralyzed, I was like, wait, there's
no platform for people with disabilities to like compete, and
there's no platform for like a community of people like
all girls just to get together and hang out like what.
So I was just like, all right, I want to
I want to start it. So my dad really plays
a big role in that, where he was like, well,
(38:50):
let's just do it. Like he never would be like well,
I don't know how. He'd just be like all right,
let's do it, like okay, And I think, yeah, like
we'll figure out as we go. And I think, like
how that mentality early on into my diagnosis was like
a blessing because I never saw no as an answer.
I never saw a door that I couldn't unlock. You know,
(39:10):
I may not have been able to have the key,
but I could find it and I could unlock it
kind of thing. So I think with everyone that it's
nervous to go to Rolette's experience, I think it's one
of those things that you kind of just got to
give it a try and just say fuck it and
go yeah, because you know, you never know who you're
gonna meet every single year. Rolette experience is so different
from the last. Like you may have a great time
(39:32):
one year and the next year might be like, all right,
this was okay, or you might then the next year
might be like that was the best experience ever. So
it just depends on the year, depends on who's going,
and depends on how you go into the weekend mentally
as well.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
So if somebody wanted to sign up, is it is
it in one place? So like my friend would fly
out to California.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Yeah, So usually what it is is we have it
at the Sheraton right by Lax. So we always have
it at Lax now blest my gosh, five years because
it's right by a central you know, airport. So then
you fly into Lax, there's an accessible shuttle that picks
you up, takes you the Sheraton, and then you just
stay there the whole time. So we picked the Sheraton
because it's actually the only hotel in California that has
(40:16):
forty four accessible rooms. Every other place has like max
twenty one rooms that are accessible. When you have two
hundred and fifty minimum people in wheelchairs coming in from
all over the world, doesn't really work. So we actually
have like multiple hotels that we do room blocks with,
but you stay there the whole time, and it's usually
like a Thursday to Sunday. This year was Wednesday was
(40:38):
our Boundless Talent Showcase, and then Rolltz Experience started Thursday.
Next year, twenty twenty six, we are switching it up
a little bit more, so we'll probably be announcing that
in like November this year.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
But awesome, Yeah, And do you go? Do you personally
go every year?
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Well, every single year. I haven't missed one year.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
Oh my gods, amazing.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
And even for twenty twenty we went fully virtual. We
literally produced an entire show like top not Show in
twenty twenty. It was legit. It was so cool. Now
every year I go, JJ goes, my husband goes. This year,
I actually got reminded that like I am not what's
the word, like, I'm not a superwoman. Saturday morning, my
(41:22):
uti hit me like a ton of bricks and I
was so incredibly sick. Saturday morning, I was like prolonging.
I was like drinking water, drinking cambrid juice, taking my Alura,
like taking all the stuff ones and then Saturday my
body shut down. Seven months of planning roles experience like
and he was like, remember you're disabled, you need to chill.
(41:44):
And so I was sick from like all night Saturday
morning till like three o'clock in the afternoon, and I just.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
Oh, my gosh.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Yeah, you can't plan for everything, right, It's horrible. It's horrible.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Yeah, And I was like crying in my hotel room.
I have vlogged. I have a second vlog coming out
next week, but I was like crying in my hotel
room because I just felt like I was letting everyone down,
you know, like it was my first year. I was
gonna be able to teach the kids class and do
a music video with them, and I just felt so bad.
But I'm not superwoman. I can think, but I'm not.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
Yeah, well we know that.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Yeah, you have to take care of yourself and it
does suck. Your body's gonna tell you slow down. You know,
I'm in charge exactly.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
So if you could go back and talk to your
younger self before your accident, what would you tell her now,
knowing what you've built and achieved being disabled and being
an adult.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Now, I would honestly tell her that I would just
say it, hold on tight. Because this is gonna be
a wild ride and everything that you've ever wanted is
going to be the same but different, and you're gonna
be able to go and do everything you want. It's
just gonna look a little different. And I don't think
(43:03):
I would tell her everything that would happen, but I
would just be like, trust me, you'll be okay, you know,
Like I think so many people look at us and
they're like, oh my gosh, they can't walk, and it's like,
that's the least of my worries at this point. Yeah, ladder,
the bow, the like bone density. I'm like, we got
other things we have to deal with, like other things
you have to worry about later in life. Like the
walking is I can achieve. I can achieve everything I
(43:26):
want and not walk Like that's fine. It's the it's
the actual, like what happens to our body that I'm like, Okay,
I need your body, you know.
Speaker 4 (43:35):
So, yes, I suffer from IBS.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Yeah, so I feel your girl. Yeah rough, it's rough,
and a lot of people don't realize like walking at
the least of a lot of our worries, especially when
you've like been your whole life disabled, like you're like
I have other things that I wish could like be
easier than just walking, you know.
Speaker 3 (43:53):
So yeah, I have trouble walking far distances, so I
have like a little transport chair, and I find you
probably have found that some of these transport chairs are
not built for us, Like there's not a small chair
for me. So I'm in this like ginormous thing and
(44:15):
it's just it's a mess. I mean, I'll probably see
you at the Abilities Expo and yeah, you're gonna be like.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
Wow, but it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
That yeah, I don't have And they actually when I
was at the Abilities Expo, they said there's not a
market for small chairs for adults. I said, I'm not
the only four foot thirty six year old, Yeah, with
a disability, trust me, there's a market.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
There is, Yeah, And I think people don't they just
look at it. It's such like a wide scope where
it's like if some if one person needs it, there's
way more people that need it. They just don't know
how to like advocate for their self, or they're not
like out there quote unquote enough, or you know, there's
there is if you need it, there's a lot of
other people that need it. And that's why I think
I've learned about just like what I do is with
(45:00):
Rollot's experience. I'm like, if I needed it, then I
literally put out on social media. We went from thirty
two people to one hundred and fifteen in one year.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Like wow.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
And that's when I was like the wow, more people
need it, you know. So I think that's with every industry.
I think that's like in the medical field, in dance, whatever.
But like, if you need it, someone else needs it,
you know, see it being done. If you want to
create it, create it because there'll be a lot of
people that need it, you know.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Yeah, except I'm not handy in the well in the
architecture space.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
To somebody and I do some research.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
You never know, yeah, you never know. What advice would
you give to young women with disabilities like us who
want to turn their passion into a career or a
business and be successful.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
That's a great question. What would I say? I would say,
find other like minded people that are interested in the
same thing as you. If you can't find them, reach
out on social media and that doesn't work, then just
start it and get the word out there. Because I
feel like with me along my journey of last like
fifteen years of just pushing something that I was passionate about.
(46:12):
What I found is when you're passionate about something, it's
going to attract other people that are also passionate, or
that not only are passionate about what you're passionate about,
but they're passionate about you and they believe in you.
And I think if when people believe in you as
a person, then like you can take over the world.
Like I didn't know. I knew what I wanted with
Rollot's experience, but I didn't know how to get there.
(46:33):
So I was like, all right, I'm just going to
do it myself and show everyone what I want to do,
and that's what I've been doing. But I think what
I would tell someone is find someone that's like you,
that is interested in the same things, and if you
can't do that, then find people that are passionate about
you and that want to support you, and then it'll
all fall into place.
Speaker 3 (46:51):
I think, Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
We need to take that advice.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
Yes, yeah, if you can make people that's true, like
they fall in love with you, they'll fall in love
with anything you do and they will support you. Yeah,
sometimes more than your close people that are close to you,
you know.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
Exactly, yes, yes, And I think too, like, you know,
really what I've done the last few years is really
just take a deep dive and like what do I
want Rolette experience to be? What do I want it
to look like? What do I want these women to
come in the doors? And what I want them to feel?
And I want them to feel community, sisterhood and connection
like whatever that means to them and whatever scale. And
(47:29):
I think like making sure that when you have an
idea like branding yourself and getting like your color is
getting your logo, and just like being consistent, people rely
on consistency. So I think there's a lot that you know,
there's a lot that comes to it, but I think
over time, once you're doing I think people will be like,
oh I get it. I want to help you.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
Know, yeah?
Speaker 3 (47:51):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (47:52):
Is there anything else you would like us to mention?
Speaker 2 (47:55):
So we have our Boundless Talent Showcase, which is actually
our fourth year of doing doing it. So we created
it Connor and I and Joe Connor and I on
the team. We both were competitive dancers before we were injured,
and so being paralyzed, we're like, why isn't there like
a competitive platform for the arts, Like, yes, there's Miss
(48:15):
Wheelchair California, Miss Wheelchair USA, but there's not like a
platform where everyone with disabilitis can come to and like
compete for like a title or compete for a trophy.
And I think for me growing up in that world,
I was like it it really like made me who
I am of being able to like strive for something
that was bigger than you know me. It was a
(48:36):
big trophy. So when Connor and I were like, all right,
let's do it, we started it. It's called Balance Talent
Showcase and it happens every year and this year was
our fourth year, and we have people that come and
compete on our stage and it's about we have dance performers,
we have solos, duos, trios, group numbers, we have singers, monologues.
(48:58):
We had an aerial us that came. She had a disability,
So yeah, it was it's been really really cool and
it's all ages, all gender, all disabilities, and everyone just
comes to showcase their their own talent, whatever that talent is.
It can be literally anything except for fire dancing of course,
but it's it's really really cool. So if someone doesn't
(49:20):
want to go to rolets Experience or or they can't,
they can always come and showcase their talent on the
stage and they can win a trophy and we have
grand prize, you know, we have cash prizes and yeah,
a lot of things. It's really cool. This year we
have so cool like over fifty so a contestant that
signed up and compete.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
So yeah, wow, really, so how do our listeners if
they want to sign up? How can they do that?
Speaker 2 (49:45):
So you just go to Rolettesexperience dot com and all
the roletts Experience information is there, and then all of
our Boundless Talent Showcase information is there as well.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
Awesome. Thank you so much Chelsea for coming on the
show today. We really enjoyed high and we can't wait
to meet you at the next Abilities Expo, thank you,
or whenever we're in LA.
Speaker 4 (50:08):
Yes, that would be so cool.
Speaker 3 (50:09):
We're always traveling and.
Speaker 1 (50:11):
If you're in New York, you'll hit us up. We'll
love to meet.
Speaker 4 (50:13):
Will be some lunch, really, we will be Yep, when
are you going to be in New York?
Speaker 2 (50:19):
The dates are not finalized yet, but we will be
in New York in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
Oh awesome. Yeah, we'll have to link up if if
you have any free time. If you don't, that's fine.
Speaker 2 (50:28):
Well no, absolutely, I will be letting you guys know
when we're coming to the East coast first.
Speaker 3 (50:35):
Definitely let us know because we'd love to meet up
with you and our listeners.
Speaker 1 (50:41):
Where can they follow her Chelsea Hill on all platforms.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Chelsea Hill on literally everything? Yeah, SEP, Twitter or X
or whatever it's called. I don't know. I don't have that.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
Yeah, I don't either.
Speaker 3 (50:53):
We don't either. We have enough with Instagram and.
Speaker 1 (50:57):
Facebook, you too, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (51:01):
You know we need our own social media person. We
really do. And it's too much, too much to handle.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
It is it is. Thank you guys so much for
having me. It's great to be able to chat with
you guys.
Speaker 3 (51:12):
And that's the show for this week. Thank you so
much for tuning in. Check out our website Shaunaandlala dot com.
Check out our social media pages. Everything is at Shauna
and Laala. Be sure to follow me on Instagram at
the real Shawna May and check.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
Me out at Bella Underscore La La one two five.
Speaker 3 (51:32):
We will see you next week.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com