May 23, 2024 • 50 mins
In this episode, Tania Kolar interviews the remarkable and Unstoppable Tracy Schmitt. You will learn how to stop making excuses and discover the secret to becoming unstoppable. “Unstoppable Tracy” is a decorated athlete who has climbed the Himalayan mountains, captained a 110-foot-tall ship, won a paraskiing bronze medal, worked as a corporate consultant, earned an MBA, and was born a four-way amputee. She is also a #1 international speaker.
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(00:00):
The views expressed in the following programare those of the participants and do not
necessarily reflect the views of Saga ninesixty am or its management. Well,
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hello, and welcome to the MindsetMentor. I'm Tanya Kohler, helping you
to live your best life. Superexcited about today's show. Okay, you
have got to tune in if youwant to be inspired, if you want
to be unstoppable, we are goingto show you that in this hour.
My special guest is the one andonly unstoppable Tracy Schmidt, who is the
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most remarkable human being I think I'veeven ever encountered. If you think that
you cannot achieve your dreams, andif you have put them on hold because
you make excuses, well this isthe show that you're gonna learn to throw
your excuses out the window. IfTracy can do it, you can do
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it because you are unstoppable. Solet's just jump right into the conversation and
welcome Tracy Schmidt, the unstoppable Tracy, who is Okay, you gotta listen
to this. I mean, ifI had an hour just to do the
intro, I think it wouldn't belong enough to talk about all of the
wonderful things that Tracy has accomplished inher life. She has climbed the Himalayan
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mountains. She has uh, youknow, one Pari skiing bronze. Hello,
a decorated athlete. She has captainedone hundred and ten foot tall ship.
And she's a corporate consultant. She'san MBA. She is super smart,
she is super funny, and I'mtelling you she is so inspiring that
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you look at life and you say, wow, well then what what can
I not do? Right? Like? And so it turns I can't do
it? Believe system into I can. She has also been super instrumental in
helping major corporations, like I'm talkinglike major corporations in Canada, including Uber,
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you know, bust through limitations andbreakthroughs. And she's going to help
you to bust through your biggest breakthrough. All right, So let's say hello,
Tracy. It is an absolute honorto have you here in the show.
I have wanted to do this interviewwith interview with you for a while
now. I'm so glad that wehave finally connected and for you to share
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your story now, Thank you,Tanya. It is magnificent to be on
your show your incredible mindset. ShowI'm pleasure to be with your listeners.
You know, this is so excitingbecause you know, Tracy, your story
is remarkable in so many ways,so everything that you've accomplished. But one
thing that I haven't mentioned to thelisteners and the viewers yet is the fact
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that you know you are also afour time amputee. And that is just
so huge when you look at everythingthat you've accomplished for people who have,
you know, full capacity. Youknow, we all can step in our
own way. So I'd love totalk about for you what is the huge
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driving force to you actually being unstoppable? Like, how did you get to
the point where you believed that youwere unstoppable? Because life is a belief
system, right, and our resultsare based on our beliefs, So where
did your beliefs come from? No? Even even today before our interview,
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I went to Tim Morton's and Iyou know, I'm four way amputee,
yes, but I'm driving a twentytwenty four car. I'm a professional international
speaker, so I'm hoping that I'meloquent enough when I say extra large steep
te and I drive to the secondwindow and I reached out with my hands,
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of course, and I don't havehands. I'm missing my arm and
I'm missing my right hand. Forthose that are just listening to us and
the Tim Hortons person, she lookedat me and instead of having me my
cup, her face just went intoshock. And then when she finally expressed
herself, she was sort of like, oh no, and you know,
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you know, I'm a as yousaid, like, I'm the only four
way amputee who has ever climbed theHimalayas, still male or female. And
World Cup Sailor, I sailed againsttwenty seven able bodied men and three women
and everybody had their arms in theirlegs and no apparent disability. World Cup
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Sailing right and me and then thesetwo words with this Tim Horton's lady this
morning just like that, Oh no, oh like I got I got a
lump in my throat, and Iam this powerhouse crushing you know, Uber,
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busting Uber into Canada. And italso took this morning on my way
to being in this phenomenal interview withyou, and your audience was oh no.
And then you're saying, you know, what does it take? Where
did it all come from? Andand So yes, I was shifted in
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that moment. I was hurt.But where does it come from? Immediately
in my head I was thinking ofmy biggest no which was at five years
old, and how my mom empoweredme in that moment. So where does
it come from? I had aunstoppable mom. Beautiful. I love that.
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So, you know I wanted totalk about, you know, what
that experience was when you or fiveand share that story. But you know,
I love that you shared that becauseyou know, in life, we
all experience the ups and downs.Right, it's going to happen. But
I think it's so important that whenwe are, you know, shifted in
that moment, when someone's taking it, taking us out of our greatness,
you know momentarily, I think it'simportant to recognize it is momentarily. It's
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not forever, and we can alwaysget past our challenges. We can get
past our self doubts, we canget past the judgments of others and the
criticism of others if we recognize thegreatness, if we recognize our unstoppable ability.
And so your mother, when youwere five, you know, demonstrated
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what unstoppable really is. So whatdid that look like? So first,
year school, super excited. We'reface to face with the principal and it's
the seventies. And he took onelook at me and he said, I'm
sorry, Tracy can't go, andhe meant me without my hands and my
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legs. And you know, Isee you shaking your head for people that
don't see you, Tanya, AndI bet you some of the listeners are
like, oh, I want totalk to that man, right, So
you would be if my mom waslike mama bear right, Oh my gosh.
And so. But my mom shewasn't. She had the kindest eyes
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and she just she looked at thatprinciple and she said kindly, how come?
And you know, I think itwas luck because if she had said,
like most of us would, why, he would have been triggered because
why is a trigger word, right, And she just lovingly said how come?
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And so because he wasn't defensive,he explained, you know, no
hands, she can't tear her shoelaces, no legs, she probably needs the
bathroom by herself and needs some help. And there's only one teacher, thirty
kids. There's no educational assistance.Children with disabilities go to segregated schools in
the seventies, and so my momshe says, oh, thirty kids.
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I understand. But then she counteroffers and she says, can we please
just try Tracy for one week andI'll look for another school more suited for
Tracy. And so he agrees oneweek, and my mom shakes his hand,
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she smiles. She walks around tothe side of the school and she
collapsed to her niece. And I'mfive years old. I'm like, well,
is my mom okay? She's fallenon her knee. She's wearing like
a seventies mini dress, and I'mthinking that her bare knees. Excuse me,
I've spoke in ten times the lastten days, all over North America,
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so I have one of those overusedvoices today with you. That's okay,
that's what happens when you're a numberone international thinker. You can't help
yourselve. The demand says yeah,So I'm worried about her bare knees,
and then she grabs me lovingly,but she does that parental grip, you
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know, the ten fingers on thisarm and the ten fingers on this forum.
She's holding me with ten fingers onmy forearms and she's looking at me,
super intense in my eyes, andshe says, Tracy, it's really
important that you and everybody's included.Nobody left behind. I'm five years old.
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I have no idea why my momis so intense, and I break
free of her super grip because Idon't realize if I'm not outside for recess,
I won't get to stay. Andwhen I break free to go play,
I bump into the principle. Andthe principle had seen my mom on
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her knees and he'd heard her saynobody left behind. And so, of
course, sort of like the Christmasstory, his heart grew three sizes that
day. Oh my gosh, hedoesn't want me to leave. Wow.
And there is a part too,but we can we can pause for a
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moment if you like. No.That is so incredible because oftentimes people in
life hear the word no. It'sjust not possible, right, like it's
not gonna happen. But I thinkthat it's important to go beyond the words
and find that heart. Right becausepeople don't understand something. You know,
they're more, they're more, youknow, apt to say no because they
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just don't under have an understanding iseasier sometimes to say no than to look
at something and say, well,how can we make this happen? How
can we make what seems impossible inthis moment possible? And there's there's a
whole trickle effect based on decisions madeand that moment in time, there's no
doubt that that would have changed thetrajectory of your life, being surrounded in
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an environment where you're you know,allowed to be just like everybody else because
you are just like everybody else.We are no different. There is no
difference to anybody on this planet.We are one. And I think that
you know, the issues live whenwe don't recognize that. Right. And
then so getting into you know,part two of the story, share a
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little bit more of what happened nextwell, and even to build on what
you've said, you know, Momsaid how come mm? And she didn't
reply I can tie my shoelaces,right, She just replied, you know,
if it doesn't work out, canwe please just try? Yes?
So her listening was he was Shedidn't answer his questions. She listened to
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what he was saying and deeply hewas saying he was worried about being stuck
with me. Yeah, And shealso she approached the conversation in kindness and
how come? So she kept youknow, impossible unless what, and she
kept the conversation open in her wayof approaching. And so because the principal
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heard what my mom said, youfast forward to Reese's time, and he
ran outside to find me, becauseif I'm outside, I could stay and
I wasn't, and his heart wasdevastated. And when the fifteen minute Reese's
bell went off, he came insideto find me, and he asked my
teacher what happened? And he said, you know, couldn't Tracey tie her
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shoelaces? And the teacher says,Tracy was the first one to tie her
shoelaces. And he's like what,And he said, well, what happened?
And she said, oh, herlittle friend couldn't tie her shoelaces.
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And of course, what did mymom say? Nobody left behind? But
it turns out none of the thirtykids could tie their shoelaces. So by
the time I tied thirty shoelaces,the racist bell went off. And so
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it was then that I learned thatno, when the principal said no,
he just didn't know know, Andthat's what I made it mean. And
so with the Tim Hortons lady andmy mom and my mind when the lady
said, oh no, I heardmy mom. He just doesn't know,
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right, he just didn't know,and neither did she, And so I
said, I can do it likecautious. She scarily hands me the Tim
Morton's cub and I say thank you, and I drive off. And then
she's left amazed that I can holda cup. And she doesn't even know
that I climb the Himalayas, orthat I'm a double black diamond skier or
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you know, one hundred dives masterscuba diver one hundred feet deep. You
know, she did I fly airplanes? That I jump out of airplanes?
Yeah, she doesn't know any ofthis, right, I can hold a
cup and she's yeah, yeah,that's basic, right. Yeah, that's
so interesting, you know, becauseso many people do you know, put
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limitations on us, right, andyou know, and they don't have an
understanding. They just don't know.And that's why it's important to get to
know to understand people. You know, we're all different, we're all so
unique, and you know, allmeant to be exactly where we're meant to
be. And it's important to me, your authentic self, and I love
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your your your your journey has beenbeyond incredible. If you, you know,
did one of those things in lifeoff of your very long list of
accomplishments, then it would be prettyextraordinary. But you truly are a woman
who embraces your identity uh and andand moves forward, thriving in everything that
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you do. You have left audiencesstanding on their feet, you know,
applauding, you know, as loudas possible, because you stir something in
them that makes them feel like theyare limitless. And you know, one
of the biggest beliefs on this planetis the belief that we're unworthy and that
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we're not enough. And that momentof feeling limitless is that sweet spot,
that that state of flow where everythingin life is possible. So I'd love
to hear a little bit about whenyou, you know, inspire your audiences.
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You know, let's talk a littlebit about how you do that,
how you can touch every single personin that room and leave them feeling so
empowered, motivated and inspired from yourstory. You know, last night I
was very excited that Bridgerton is backon Netflix. I love Bridgerton, Yes,
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I love Bridgeton and you got towatch right. Netflix is broke Flix
if you're absorbed in too much.Yeah, but it's certainly one of my
guilty pleasures is Bridgerton that I allowedmyself and I had done like this big
ten day streak and traveling, andso I was like in I'm like,
okay, I deserve this moment ofthe new Bridgerton. Yes, and Penelope
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is coming at it where you saidher and call in her love interests.
She gets so nervous around other peoplethat he's talking about you know when I
was five, we interacted and youwere comfortable. It's because you don't feel
enough in your conversations with her pursuiters. And I'm sensitive that a break is
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coming up and double checking where that'sat. Okay, So what we can
do is, yeah, how aboutwe take a break. We'll take a
break and we'll come back and continue. I mean, listen, I could
talk to you all day long.Yes, I'll be hour. So this
is fantastic, But let's take abreak and we're gonna hear more from Unstoppable
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Tracy and how you can have yourbiggest breakthroughs and how you can be limit
less stay tuned when week back afterthis on Saga ninety sixty No Radio,
no problem. Stream is live onSaga nine sixty Am dot C. Well,
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welcome back to the mindset mentor hereon Saga nine sixty we are having
an unstoppable mourning with the incredible TracySchmidt. She is truly unstoppable. Unstoppable.
Tracy has been inspiring the masses withher incredible accomplishments scaling the Himalayan mountains.
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Uh, that's a pretty difficult feat. Oh my gosh. I'd love
to get into the mindset of thatas well. That takes a little process.
He's also a decorated athlete. Sheis an MBA A, she is
an international UH speaker. She isa best selling author, and I'd love
to talk about her book as well. You know, it's called Unstoppable You
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exceed uncertainty, embrace possibilities, andearn independence. So just before we took
a break, Tracy, we were, you know, delving into your your
story and how from the age offive, you know, your experience was
with other people integrating into society sothat no one was left behind. You
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were in kindergarten with the help ofyour mom, you know to be in
this particular school, How did otherpeople react to you and how did that
continue in your life? The reactionof others that led you to be in
rooms and stages with powerhouse CEOs andtop executives and leading corporations, world corporations.
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For you to have the confidence andthe courage to guide them, and
how help them to find the breakthroughsand get rid of the breakdowns? How
did that journey transpire? You're makingme think of when Air Canada was going
through It was right after bankruptcy andthe federal government had encouraged a merger with
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Canadian Airlines, and weeks before thetwo airlines were competing, and there was
like picket signs saying better dead thanred right, And now they are working
together synergistically. You were saying abouthow we get to be collaborative? But
they come from such opposing spaces.And I stepped out of an elevator and
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there were eleven men in like powerhousesuits and one woman who was also in
a powerhouse suit, and these twelvefolks, And when I stepped off the
elevator, the first thing I heardwas somebody say, oh great, going
to be a total waste of time. And of course my first mistake was
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making it mean that that was aboutme, right. It immediately got inside
my head yep. And so youknow, transport in time with where I
heard the exact same sentence. AndI was on a lawn with my legs
off, with a blanket, andthere were children playing on a neighboring lawn
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and you know, I grew upin affordable housing and there was gravel driveways
on really steep pitch lawn, notthe best of property. And and I
didn't sit back. I was waitingcome come play over here, because with
my legs off, I couldn't walkacross the gravel driveway. Yeah, and
I just need to care ify becauseI'm not sure if I even mentioned this
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part when we came back from acommercial break, that Tracy is a four
way amputee. So when you're sayingyour legs off, I just want to
provide that contact contact. I missthat, oh, people to realize,
yeah, if you're just joining usnow, yes, And I'm missing my
hands, missing my legs, Andso I was like waving. I have
one arm that's a little longer thanmy missing left arm, and I was
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waving it to come play over here, and I could hear one of the
kids shout, ignore her, don'ttalk to her, she's weird. And
of course, as a little girl, I started to cry. And my
mom opened the door just to checkon me on the front lawn, and
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she finds me crying, and she'slike, what's wrong? And I said,
I just want to play with thosekids, and they started to say
mean things to me, and mymom she looked at me and she said,
how's that working for you? Andshut the door. Whoa. And
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so that's how I really as ayoung child, like whoa, right?
And I thought, oh, mymom is so mean. But of course
you know from the kindergarten story thatshe's the kindest soul on the planet.
And so I realized after a bitof time, like I could cry,
I get to feel the feelings thatwas meaning what they said. But I
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could cry and do nothing about it. Or I could cry and then I
could do something about it. Andso I looked around and at the bottom
of my slanted front lawn there wasa skateboard, and so without my legs
on, I just I rolled downthe hill. And I like to say
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I borrowed the skateboard. Okay,right, And so remember I don't have
legs, so I sat on theskateboard because I'm missing both of my legs
above my knees, and I'm missingmy left arm, but I do have
one longer arm. Missing my hand, but I have one longer arm.
So I took the one longer armand I propelled myself on the skateboard over
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to their lawn and I rolled uptheir front lawn and then I'm face to
face with them all and their eyesare huge as saucers. And so I
didn't know what to make that mean, and I was making it mean that,
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you know, I defied the bullyby showing up on the lawn.
It could have been that their eyeswere like, holy cow, we've never
seen a girl with no arms andno legs roll up our front lawn before.
Right. There could have been amultiple of reasons, but I made
it mean because I defied the bully. And I looked over at the bully,
and you know when there's a caraccident in movies and it goes in
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slow motion through one, it alsogoes through so motion, so I can
see the bully's mouth opening, whoaw, And I realized in that moment,
if he gets to say what he'sabout to say, like I'm going to
be going back down that hill,and that I hadn't really thought it through,
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right, I jumped in and Iheaded over there, and I didn't
think, and I'm like, Idon't know what to say. So I
took a deep breath, and youcould see, even sitting here with you,
I'm already taller on the screen.Yes, right, And so I
made myself as tall as I couldbe sitting on that lawn, and I
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was petrified, scared out of mymind, and I said the only thing
I could think of with my youngself, and I just like, hello,
I'm Tracy. Can I play?And I didn't get off that easy,
but I did catch the bully offguard, and so then the bully
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he regroups and he's like the newkids always it. And I didn't know
how am I going to chase themwith tag or how am I gonna play
hide and seek when they've all gottheir arms in their legs and I'm sitting
here with gravel driveways around me andno legs. But even though I didn't
know how, I knew there wasno space for any excuses, because if
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I made one, it'd be like, sorry, that's what we're playing,
right, So I just said okay, and none of those kids ran off
that line. They all just stayedon the grass, which meant that I
could run on my stumps, onmy knees on the grass, and I
could roll around on the grass.So time work back into the elevator.
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I step off the elevator and Ihear this is going to be a waste
of time. I took a deepbreath, I smiled even though I was
petrified, and I made eye contactwith all twelve of them, and I
said, hello, I'm Tracy.Shall we get started? And there was
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a many mergers of different functional areashappening, and our focus that day I
was the facilitator for merging the employeeassistance program. And one airline had it
external and one airline had it internal, and of course both of them wanted
to keep it the way it was, and so my role was to facilitate
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these twelve union reps from two differentairlines into creating one new merged employee assistance
program. And that must have avery heated debate, yes, because they
were union reps, right, theywere busy striking for seniority between airlines,
and we were the first group tocome to a loving solution. Oh and
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so yeah, you get to puton a brave face and say hello,
wow, oh my gosh, youtake a deep breath, yea. When
things show up like that, thatsort of you know, take you out
of your your you know, youryour greatness, power and just to you
know, regroup. I love that. It's incredible because in all of those
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situations you showed such courage, youknow, and even despite the fact that
we're feeling like, you know,uh, neglected, left out, you
know, hurt, that you canmove forward and you can make a change
and to help people to understand.And so your mom started by asking the
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question can we try, you know, and how come? And how come?
And you asked the question in theelevator, you know, shall we
get started, you know, inthat group environment. And I love that
because those questions, when you askan empowering question, when you ask the
right question, you are going toget the right response, right. So
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I think that's really important. Andalways being courageous and stepping out of that
comfort zone because it's not easy.That is not easy when your heart is
crushed by someone's words in that moment, and that we are taken back to
our triggers. We all have triggers, right, It's those things that take
us back in time where we feellike at our lowest and our most vulnerable,
(29:30):
and to be able to rise upabout that, to stand tall,
to take that deep breath, Ohmy gosh. I applaud you, you
know so greatly for the work thatyou're doing, the inspiration that you bring
to humanity to help us to understandthat, you know what, there is
no limits. The limits are thelimits that we put on ourselves based on
usually other people's thinking and other people'sbelief systems. So in your life,
(29:57):
apart from your mom, I wouldsay, who would be some of the
role models that you looked up tothat helped you to be your best self?
You talked about like the Himalayas andthe mindset that that must have taken.
And I remember the first day Iever climbed it was with Outward Bound
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and I was a co facilitator withthe group, but not on the activities,
but on the process of admitting peopleinto the group and the media and
all of those other pieces of theadministration and this woman, Kathy Smart.
I had met her when I wasabout eight years old and she was eighteen,
and she found out that there wasno sailing for people with disabilities,
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and she marched into Hugh mc melonMedical Center, which at the time was
called Ontario Crippled Children's Center way backwhen, right that was the times,
and she wanted names, and becauseof privacy, they couldn't give her children
with disabilities that she wanted to inviteinto a sailing club. But I was
(31:03):
in the waiting room and so Iwas like, I'll sale, I'll say.
So she invited me into her sailingAble bodied Sailing World of Sorts.
And so that was eight and eighteen. Now fast forward now I'm eighteen and
she's twenty eight, and we're doingthis out. We're bound, and we've
partnered with out. We're bound,and we're about to climb the cliff.
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And I've got the Himalayas on andI've got my ballet line and I go
to get started to climb, andI haven't even could one minute of effort
in. All I did was gotowards the rock face and get my finger
on a rock edge. I haveone finger on the one long arm and
my little stump arm like on theother edge, and I just lift my
(31:48):
stump knee to get started, andlike everybody behind me went oh, right,
and they all came in at me. They're like, here, let
me help you. And they allcame in and said, oh, I
can push, or I can pullthe line, or we can we can
climb together. And I hadn't evenmade one step or stride. And this
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Kathy's smart that had been with mefrom eight years old and now she's twenty
eight and nine eighteen. She's shewas like she you either love her or
you get put back by her becauseshe's a powerhouse herself. She was a
powerhouse role model for me growing up. And she's like, stop, get
away, let her go away.Give her a chance. She gets to
(32:37):
figure this out. You know whoknows her best but her Just breathe then
give her a moment, right,And it was beautiful and it was you
know. And when I was eightand falling out of the boat because I
sail with my legs off, Iknow how to swim. I wearing a
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life jacket, She's like, she'sokay, she loves to swim, Like
I get to figure out how toclimb back into the boat when it was
scaring everybody else. And so andthat's what I think COVID is also done
right. It's we thought we hadhelicopter parenting before. Now we're really getting
the micro management in managers and we'regetting the really protective parents. And it's
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because we get to figure out howto swim when we're drowning, We get
to figure out how to climb.When we're faced with impossible, we get
to see that it's impossible unless whatBut we get to figure that out.
Yes, and you know we're goingto help you figure it out when we
(33:44):
come back after this break. Staynice for more of Unstoppable Tracy. Tracy
is a remarkable woman who has accomplishedso many great feats that you know,
I could take an hour just discussingall of her accolades. Climbing the Himalayas,
uh you know, parasailing, uhyou know, decorated athlete, like
(34:04):
one of bronze medal, unbelievable.She is a best selling author, she
is uh international best selling speaker.Uh she or not selling speaker, but
you know world spell Yeah exactly.And you know, there's there's so many
great things and so you got tostay tuned because we're gonna help you to
(34:24):
become unstoppable in your life. We'llbe back after this stream us live at
SAGA nine sixty am dot C.A welcome back to the mindset mentor I'm
(34:59):
telling you go helping you live yourbest life, you know, and I
always talk about how it seems alittle bit challenging, right, a little
bit daunting to live your best lifewhen you feel like you cannot reach out
and grab your dreams, you cannothave the things that you want or go
for your desires because maybe you havea belief system that doesn't allow you to
(35:21):
dream big or has prevented you from, you know, pursuing those dreams.
Well, today on the show TheUnstoppable, Tracy Schmidt is my special guest
and I am beyond honored to haveyou on the show Unstoppable, Tracy,
Uh, because's your story. Imean, I don't know that I have
(35:43):
ever met anyone who has accomplished thethings that you have accomplished and then has
been so inspiring and motivating to others, including huge, massive corporations including you
know, Uber and Air Canada.I mean, the list is endless of
your accomplishments. Uh. You knowyou're super intelligent nba Uh, super funny
(36:05):
and the most kind person and positiveperson I think that you know I've encountered.
Uh. And the first time wemet, Tracy, it was at
an event Amplify your Voice, andyou were one of the judges there,
you know, helping to others thriveright and coaching them, and I was
like, oh, my gosh,you are super positive. Your energy is
(36:25):
amazing and to look at your lifeand then also knowing, by the way,
everyone, if I haven't mentioned orif you didn't hear me, mention,
Tracy is a four way amputee.And your mantra, Tracy, I
love this. I had to liketake a pause when I when I read
this, So your mantra, ifI can do it, you can do
(36:49):
it. What's your excuse? Iwas like, oh, Like I literally
had like chills go through my bodybecause it's so true. We all make
excuses in life, and you arethe epitome of what unstoppable really is and
what you know a powerful powerhouse rolemodel is. So thank you so much
(37:09):
for sharing your story. So let'sdelve into a little bit more of how
you know, how did that becomepossible for you. You know, how
do you do it when life feelsso daunting. There's a lot of the
listeners right now are i'm sure,feeling stuck or have felt stuck and they
don't have the impetus to move forward. They don't know how to do it.
(37:31):
What can you say to them?No, we we all kind of
struggle it embracing the possibility. Allembrace the possibility of being the first woman
with the disability to the north pole, but embrace the possibility of finding the
love of my life. Maybe thenI have some you know, who's going
(37:52):
to love the girl without arms orlegs? Right? Like we all have
something some area. And when oneof the times I really when I embraced
the possibility, like I knew Icould sail, and I failed the first
summer. Yeah, and I keptclimbing back in the boat. And it
turns out balancing was an advanced studyskill, and so I got my bronze
(38:16):
four and then I got my threetwo one. So you know, sometimes
we feel like we're drowning and we'rejust doing our advanced study backwards. Another
time I embraced possibility without a doubtwas skiing I knew I was going to
ski, and and lots of no's, No we can't support her, No,
(38:38):
she didn't join our program, right. It was just all of these
how comes and can we just triesconversations? And I got in the door
and we tried a sitting ski,but you use outriggers crutches that you put
skis on at the end. AndI didn't know how, but I knew
I was going to ski. Andsome of our listeners don't know how,
(39:00):
Wow, they're going to be selfemployed, how they're going to be a
number one speaker, how they're goingto be the best mom on the planet,
how they're gonna crush the male dominatedworld that they might be in right
now right and or for the mento get the promotions that they're looking for
to find the love of their life. And so we didn't know how I
(39:21):
would ski, and the sid skiI ended up wiping out in the trees
with the outriggers because I don't havehands. So then we tried my long
legs, my artificial legs, mypinocchio legs, and my knees end above
me. I don't actually have knees, I just have some partial thighs.
And so because my knees are artificial, we'd get on the hill and my
(39:45):
knees would just collapse and I wipedout some more. But I knew I
was going to ski for whatever.I had no doubt wiping out with the
sid ski, wiping out with thelong legs, and we went inside.
My ski instructor was with me,my coach, and you know, anybody
that coaches is having a coach likeTanya having a mindset person. Coaches have
(40:08):
coaches, and there's no surprise thatTanya and I are connected in this world,
you know, because she's powerful.But so me and my ski coach
was sitting next to me at lunchtime, and he had his ski boots
off, and I have my legsoff for sitting in this at ski and
(40:29):
I looked over at his feet andI kind of inappropriately was thinking, holy
cow, he's got big feet,right, And then I got this light
bulb, he's got big feet.My thighs, my stumps could fit in
(40:50):
men's ski boots. Wow. Sothat's what we did. We put my
thighs in men's ski boots. AndI wiped out some more because boots are
angled, right, And I wasknees to skiz, and you have knees
that you do a duck squat,you crunch, So we put my thighs
in men's ski boots backwards. Ohso I ended up being in that duck
(41:17):
squat position because I'm knees to skizeand no toes, so it didn't matter
which way the boot's faced. Andso you get to embrace the possibility even
if you don't know how, youbelieve you can do it. Yeah,
you're not right, Tracy. Youshow up. You just show up and
you'll find your backwards boots solutions.You'll find what works for you. Oh
(41:42):
that is deep. I love that, you know, because we will wipe
out in life. We're going towipe out. We have the wipeouts.
But you got to keep on gettingup and looking for solutions. Because every
perceived problem, right, it's reallyperceive. A perception you know, has
a solution. The solution there ifwe are willing to look for it,
if we're willing to find it.And sometimes challenging, you got to delve
(42:05):
a little deeper, right, Sometimesyou get a reraialing dig to find that.
But how you do the reward isjust remarkable. So I'd love to
talk about, you know, whatdid it feel like for you when you,
you know, embrace those challenges,but ultimately you got to the pinnacle,
you got to the reward. Whatwas that like the you know,
(42:28):
the biggest the biggest elation besides youknow, family, right, I love
my niece and nephew and holding mynit niece for the very first time.
But like the biggest like win,was when I went to pursue my Paralympic
dream. And you know who yousurround yourself with. I surround myself with
you, and I surround myself withgold Olympians. And there was only one
(42:52):
in North America at the time,and it was Magnus Digital And he's a
lot like Shrek. I was Fionaof the story, but I'm not.
I'm more like Fio. I'm morelike Donkey. Right. And so for
three months, for eighty nine days, like Donkey, I was sleeping in
(43:15):
my car, hiding in his boatyard, and at five thirty in the morning
every morning for eighty nine days,I would wake up in his parking in
his boatyard parking lot, and Iwould wash and wax boats for him at
five thirty in the morning, likekarate kid. Oh my gosh. For
(43:36):
three months sleeping in my car,washing boats, eating cheerios, and Magnus
wanted nothing to do with me.And finally the last morning. Every morning
i'd talk in the car and I'dbe like, today's today, Magnus is
gonna take me on, and Iwouldn't get out of the car till I
believed it. And like this eightyninth day, it was like twenty times
(43:57):
I said it, and I justdidn't believe it. So I flipped it
and I said, today's the dayI'm going to be the best version of
me. Oh oh that's the best, Yes, exactly, not depending man
others. Yes, boy, ifthat's the day, right. I helped
somebody get the boat out, andI supported somebody that was about to crash
(44:20):
their boat, and I supported somebodywith some knots, and Magnus saw me
do all of these sailing competency skillsand he's lumbered on down. He's like,
Tracy, you can sail. Youknow. Three months I'd be trying
to convince him, and Magnus gotme into like the twelve months before Rio
(44:45):
twenty sixteen Olympic Paralympic trials, Iwas in one hundred and thirty five races
with able bodied people. I sailedagainst twenty seven able bodied men, three
women, and they all had theirarms in their legs. And I was
in that World Cup regatta. Evenif I came thirty out of thirty,
(45:06):
I would have been thirtieth in theworld male female, black white. Let's
to get there or is itsordinary?Yeah? And so but that day when
he's like Tracy, you can steal, it was like ooh, I just
like I got goose bumps. Icouldn't think of anything else, you know,
(45:27):
it was I was so elated andthat confidence boost was what got me
to trials in Melbourne, Australia withWorld Cup sailors. You know. Incredible.
It's that moment of being seen.Yeah, And it didn't happen in
a phone call, right. YouOften you're going to be faced with your
(45:49):
shreks, with the underestimators, andthey just don't know, they just don't
know, and you get to figureit out. You get to help them
see one way or another impossible andless what exactly you know? And it's
interesting, you know, you talkedabout that, you know, the backwards
you know, and sometimes you startwith the advanced. You know, life
(46:14):
can sometimes feel hard, and it'snot that you know you can't achieve something,
it's maybe you're just the first person. You're the first to do it,
right. That is incredible when you'rethe first and then you lead the
pathway, and that pathway to getthere can be very skewed and can be
uh you know, uh filled withthe myriad of obstacles. But it's understanding
(46:37):
that you know what is the endgoal. You have to know what your
end goal is. And you know, as we've talked about, you don't
you don't need to know the how, the how you're going to get there,
know what it is that you want, right, we have the passion
of why you want to have thatand then it shows up. But you
first need to show up for yourselfand you need to take action. So
(46:59):
I love that you and everything thatyou have done have truly been unstoppable,
taking action, no matter what peoplethink, no matter what people say.
You just said, listen, I'mgoing to be first. There's so many
firsts for you, Tracy. Soyeah, well done, thank you.
Well, we have just a littlebit of time left, so I would
(47:19):
love if you can tell us alittle bit about your book and how we
can get your book. What Irealized is is I don't want it.
I don't want to be inspiring.I want people to be inspired to take
action. Right, It's about UnstoppableYou. So the kindergarten stories in there,
the Magnus sailing story is in there, the lifeline of climbing in the
(47:44):
Himalayas story. You know we're notalone. Kathy was my lifeline. Who's
your lifeline? The stories are inUnstoppable You, And instead of being a
biography, it's actually an Unstoppable Youworkbook. At the end of every chapter,
as you like, what's working foryou, what's not working for you?
(48:04):
Okay, what's a roadblock right now? And reflecting on what's working,
what's not working, what are youcommitting right? And that's one chapter And
every chapter has different questions and differentexercises after the story, and they mirror.
There are questions, they're open questions, but they come from you know.
I'm Stephen Covey Seven Habits of HighlyEffective People. I'm certified, and
(48:30):
Ken Blanchard does situational leadership and I'mcertified right, I'm an Advanced Certified facilitator
with achieve global with stress management anddeveloping others. So these all my stories
are rooted in leadership development and selfdevelopment, and you can if you're a
(48:51):
coach, you can repurpose these questionswith your students or if yourself looking to
crush an obstacle, it gives youchance to self reflect. So it's it's
very powerful unstoppable you, and it'sit's a free download. You can order
the hard copy if you like,to write out your answers and be very
(49:13):
happy to personalize it to you.But everyone gets to be unstoppable and have
a free download. You visit Unstoppabletracydot com and at the moment the website
says you get a chapter, butI'll let your listeners in on a secret.
You get the whole book right now, Oh, on the whole book.
(49:34):
I don't send a chapter. Andthat's the unstoppable part, right you
get the pleasant surprise. Thank youso much Tracy for spending time today.
I am beyond honored, and youknow I cannot wait to see what you
have coming up next. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank
you. So that is a wrapfor today's The mindset mentor Antonia Cohler helping
(49:58):
you to live your best live,no radio, no problem. Stream us
live on SAGA nine sixty am dotC a m.
The views expressed in the following programare those of the participants and do not
necessarily reflect the views of Saga ninesixty am or its management. Well,
(00:21):
hello, and welcome to the MindsetMentor. I'm Tanya Kohler, helping you
to live your best life. Superexcited about today's show. Okay, you
have got to tune in if youwant to be inspired, if you want
to be unstoppable, we are goingto show you that in this hour.
My special guest is the one andonly unstoppable Tracy Schmidt, who is the
(00:46):
most remarkable human being I think I'veeven ever encountered. If you think that
you cannot achieve your dreams, andif you have put them on hold because
you make excuses, well this isthe show that you're gonna learn to throw
your excuses out the window. IfTracy can do it, you can do
(01:07):
it because you are unstoppable. Solet's just jump right into the conversation and
welcome Tracy Schmidt, the unstoppable Tracy, who is Okay, you gotta listen
to this. I mean, ifI had an hour just to do the
intro, I think it wouldn't belong enough to talk about all of the
wonderful things that Tracy has accomplished inher life. She has climbed the Himalayan
(01:30):
mountains. She has uh, youknow, one Pari skiing bronze. Hello,
a decorated athlete. She has captainedone hundred and ten foot tall ship.
And she's a corporate consultant. She'san MBA. She is super smart,
she is super funny, and I'mtelling you she is so inspiring that
(01:52):
you look at life and you say, wow, well then what what can
I not do? Right? Like? And so it turns I can't do
it? Believe system into I can. She has also been super instrumental in
helping major corporations, like I'm talkinglike major corporations in Canada, including Uber,
(02:13):
you know, bust through limitations andbreakthroughs. And she's going to help
you to bust through your biggest breakthrough. All right, So let's say hello,
Tracy. It is an absolute honorto have you here in the show.
I have wanted to do this interviewwith interview with you for a while
now. I'm so glad that wehave finally connected and for you to share
(02:35):
your story now, Thank you,Tanya. It is magnificent to be on
your show your incredible mindset. ShowI'm pleasure to be with your listeners.
You know, this is so excitingbecause you know, Tracy, your story
is remarkable in so many ways,so everything that you've accomplished. But one
thing that I haven't mentioned to thelisteners and the viewers yet is the fact
(02:58):
that you know you are also afour time amputee. And that is just
so huge when you look at everythingthat you've accomplished for people who have,
you know, full capacity. Youknow, we all can step in our
own way. So I'd love totalk about for you what is the huge
(03:22):
driving force to you actually being unstoppable? Like, how did you get to
the point where you believed that youwere unstoppable? Because life is a belief
system, right, and our resultsare based on our beliefs, So where
did your beliefs come from? No? Even even today before our interview,
(03:43):
I went to Tim Morton's and Iyou know, I'm four way amputee,
yes, but I'm driving a twentytwenty four car. I'm a professional international
speaker, so I'm hoping that I'meloquent enough when I say extra large steep
te and I drive to the secondwindow and I reached out with my hands,
(04:03):
of course, and I don't havehands. I'm missing my arm and
I'm missing my right hand. Forthose that are just listening to us and
the Tim Hortons person, she lookedat me and instead of having me my
cup, her face just went intoshock. And then when she finally expressed
herself, she was sort of like, oh no, and you know,
(04:27):
you know, I'm a as yousaid, like, I'm the only four
way amputee who has ever climbed theHimalayas, still male or female. And
World Cup Sailor, I sailed againsttwenty seven able bodied men and three women
and everybody had their arms in theirlegs and no apparent disability. World Cup
(04:49):
Sailing right and me and then thesetwo words with this Tim Horton's lady this
morning just like that, Oh no, oh like I got I got a
lump in my throat, and Iam this powerhouse crushing you know, Uber,
(05:10):
busting Uber into Canada. And italso took this morning on my way
to being in this phenomenal interview withyou, and your audience was oh no.
And then you're saying, you know, what does it take? Where
did it all come from? Andand So yes, I was shifted in
(05:31):
that moment. I was hurt.But where does it come from? Immediately
in my head I was thinking ofmy biggest no which was at five years
old, and how my mom empoweredme in that moment. So where does
it come from? I had aunstoppable mom. Beautiful. I love that.
(05:56):
So, you know I wanted totalk about, you know, what
that experience was when you or fiveand share that story. But you know,
I love that you shared that becauseyou know, in life, we
all experience the ups and downs.Right, it's going to happen. But
I think it's so important that whenwe are, you know, shifted in
that moment, when someone's taking it, taking us out of our greatness,
you know momentarily, I think it'simportant to recognize it is momentarily. It's
(06:20):
not forever, and we can alwaysget past our challenges. We can get
past our self doubts, we canget past the judgments of others and the
criticism of others if we recognize thegreatness, if we recognize our unstoppable ability.
And so your mother, when youwere five, you know, demonstrated
(06:43):
what unstoppable really is. So whatdid that look like? So first,
year school, super excited. We'reface to face with the principal and it's
the seventies. And he took onelook at me and he said, I'm
sorry, Tracy can't go, andhe meant me without my hands and my
(07:04):
legs. And you know, Isee you shaking your head for people that
don't see you, Tanya, AndI bet you some of the listeners are
like, oh, I want totalk to that man, right, So
you would be if my mom waslike mama bear right, Oh my gosh.
And so. But my mom shewasn't. She had the kindest eyes
(07:30):
and she just she looked at thatprinciple and she said kindly, how come?
And you know, I think itwas luck because if she had said,
like most of us would, why, he would have been triggered because
why is a trigger word, right, And she just lovingly said how come?
(07:53):
And so because he wasn't defensive,he explained, you know, no
hands, she can't tear her shoelaces, no legs, she probably needs the
bathroom by herself and needs some help. And there's only one teacher, thirty
kids. There's no educational assistance.Children with disabilities go to segregated schools in
the seventies, and so my momshe says, oh, thirty kids.
(08:16):
I understand. But then she counteroffers and she says, can we please
just try Tracy for one week andI'll look for another school more suited for
Tracy. And so he agrees oneweek, and my mom shakes his hand,
(08:39):
she smiles. She walks around tothe side of the school and she
collapsed to her niece. And I'mfive years old. I'm like, well,
is my mom okay? She's fallenon her knee. She's wearing like
a seventies mini dress, and I'mthinking that her bare knees. Excuse me,
I've spoke in ten times the lastten days, all over North America,
(09:03):
so I have one of those overusedvoices today with you. That's okay,
that's what happens when you're a numberone international thinker. You can't help
yourselve. The demand says yeah,So I'm worried about her bare knees,
and then she grabs me lovingly,but she does that parental grip, you
(09:24):
know, the ten fingers on thisarm and the ten fingers on this forum.
She's holding me with ten fingers onmy forearms and she's looking at me,
super intense in my eyes, andshe says, Tracy, it's really
important that you and everybody's included.Nobody left behind. I'm five years old.
(09:52):
I have no idea why my momis so intense, and I break
free of her super grip because Idon't realize if I'm not outside for recess,
I won't get to stay. Andwhen I break free to go play,
I bump into the principle. Andthe principle had seen my mom on
(10:13):
her knees and he'd heard her saynobody left behind. And so, of
course, sort of like the Christmasstory, his heart grew three sizes that
day. Oh my gosh, hedoesn't want me to leave. Wow.
And there is a part too,but we can we can pause for a
(10:35):
moment if you like. No.That is so incredible because oftentimes people in
life hear the word no. It'sjust not possible, right, like it's
not gonna happen. But I thinkthat it's important to go beyond the words
and find that heart. Right becausepeople don't understand something. You know,
they're more, they're more, youknow, apt to say no because they
(10:58):
just don't under have an understanding iseasier sometimes to say no than to look
at something and say, well,how can we make this happen? How
can we make what seems impossible inthis moment possible? And there's there's a
whole trickle effect based on decisions madeand that moment in time, there's no
doubt that that would have changed thetrajectory of your life, being surrounded in
(11:24):
an environment where you're you know,allowed to be just like everybody else because
you are just like everybody else.We are no different. There is no
difference to anybody on this planet.We are one. And I think that
you know, the issues live whenwe don't recognize that. Right. And
then so getting into you know,part two of the story, share a
(11:45):
little bit more of what happened nextwell, and even to build on what
you've said, you know, Momsaid how come mm? And she didn't
reply I can tie my shoelaces,right, She just replied, you know,
if it doesn't work out, canwe please just try? Yes?
So her listening was he was Shedidn't answer his questions. She listened to
(12:09):
what he was saying and deeply hewas saying he was worried about being stuck
with me. Yeah, And shealso she approached the conversation in kindness and
how come? So she kept youknow, impossible unless what, and she
kept the conversation open in her wayof approaching. And so because the principal
(12:31):
heard what my mom said, youfast forward to Reese's time, and he
ran outside to find me, becauseif I'm outside, I could stay and
I wasn't, and his heart wasdevastated. And when the fifteen minute Reese's
bell went off, he came insideto find me, and he asked my
teacher what happened? And he said, you know, couldn't Tracey tie her
(12:54):
shoelaces? And the teacher says,Tracy was the first one to tie her
shoelaces. And he's like what,And he said, well, what happened?
And she said, oh, herlittle friend couldn't tie her shoelaces.
(13:16):
And of course, what did mymom say? Nobody left behind? But
it turns out none of the thirtykids could tie their shoelaces. So by
the time I tied thirty shoelaces,the racist bell went off. And so
(13:39):
it was then that I learned thatno, when the principal said no,
he just didn't know know, Andthat's what I made it mean. And
so with the Tim Hortons lady andmy mom and my mind when the lady
said, oh no, I heardmy mom. He just doesn't know,
(14:01):
right, he just didn't know,and neither did she, And so I
said, I can do it likecautious. She scarily hands me the Tim
Morton's cub and I say thank you, and I drive off. And then
she's left amazed that I can holda cup. And she doesn't even know
that I climb the Himalayas, orthat I'm a double black diamond skier or
(14:24):
you know, one hundred dives masterscuba diver one hundred feet deep. You
know, she did I fly airplanes? That I jump out of airplanes?
Yeah, she doesn't know any ofthis, right, I can hold a
cup and she's yeah, yeah,that's basic, right. Yeah, that's
so interesting, you know, becauseso many people do you know, put
(14:45):
limitations on us, right, andyou know, and they don't have an
understanding. They just don't know.And that's why it's important to get to
know to understand people. You know, we're all different, we're all so
unique, and you know, allmeant to be exactly where we're meant to
be. And it's important to me, your authentic self, and I love
(15:05):
your your your your journey has beenbeyond incredible. If you, you know,
did one of those things in lifeoff of your very long list of
accomplishments, then it would be prettyextraordinary. But you truly are a woman
who embraces your identity uh and andand moves forward, thriving in everything that
(15:31):
you do. You have left audiencesstanding on their feet, you know,
applauding, you know, as loudas possible, because you stir something in
them that makes them feel like theyare limitless. And you know, one
of the biggest beliefs on this planetis the belief that we're unworthy and that
(15:54):
we're not enough. And that momentof feeling limitless is that sweet spot,
that that state of flow where everythingin life is possible. So I'd love
to hear a little bit about whenyou, you know, inspire your audiences.
(16:15):
You know, let's talk a littlebit about how you do that,
how you can touch every single personin that room and leave them feeling so
empowered, motivated and inspired from yourstory. You know, last night I
was very excited that Bridgerton is backon Netflix. I love Bridgerton, Yes,
(16:40):
I love Bridgeton and you got towatch right. Netflix is broke Flix
if you're absorbed in too much.Yeah, but it's certainly one of my
guilty pleasures is Bridgerton that I allowedmyself and I had done like this big
ten day streak and traveling, andso I was like in I'm like,
okay, I deserve this moment ofthe new Bridgerton. Yes, and Penelope
(17:03):
is coming at it where you saidher and call in her love interests.
She gets so nervous around other peoplethat he's talking about you know when I
was five, we interacted and youwere comfortable. It's because you don't feel
enough in your conversations with her pursuiters. And I'm sensitive that a break is
(17:26):
coming up and double checking where that'sat. Okay, So what we can
do is, yeah, how aboutwe take a break. We'll take a
break and we'll come back and continue. I mean, listen, I could
talk to you all day long.Yes, I'll be hour. So this
is fantastic, But let's take abreak and we're gonna hear more from Unstoppable
(17:47):
Tracy and how you can have yourbiggest breakthroughs and how you can be limit
less stay tuned when week back afterthis on Saga ninety sixty No Radio,
no problem. Stream is live onSaga nine sixty Am dot C. Well,
(18:26):
welcome back to the mindset mentor hereon Saga nine sixty we are having
an unstoppable mourning with the incredible TracySchmidt. She is truly unstoppable. Unstoppable.
Tracy has been inspiring the masses withher incredible accomplishments scaling the Himalayan mountains.
(18:48):
Uh, that's a pretty difficult feat. Oh my gosh. I'd love
to get into the mindset of thatas well. That takes a little process.
He's also a decorated athlete. Sheis an MBA A, she is
an international UH speaker. She isa best selling author, and I'd love
to talk about her book as well. You know, it's called Unstoppable You
(19:10):
exceed uncertainty, embrace possibilities, andearn independence. So just before we took
a break, Tracy, we were, you know, delving into your your
story and how from the age offive, you know, your experience was
with other people integrating into society sothat no one was left behind. You
(19:33):
were in kindergarten with the help ofyour mom, you know to be in
this particular school, How did otherpeople react to you and how did that
continue in your life? The reactionof others that led you to be in
rooms and stages with powerhouse CEOs andtop executives and leading corporations, world corporations.
(19:56):
For you to have the confidence andthe courage to guide them, and
how help them to find the breakthroughsand get rid of the breakdowns? How
did that journey transpire? You're makingme think of when Air Canada was going
through It was right after bankruptcy andthe federal government had encouraged a merger with
(20:18):
Canadian Airlines, and weeks before thetwo airlines were competing, and there was
like picket signs saying better dead thanred right, And now they are working
together synergistically. You were saying abouthow we get to be collaborative? But
they come from such opposing spaces.And I stepped out of an elevator and
(20:41):
there were eleven men in like powerhousesuits and one woman who was also in
a powerhouse suit, and these twelvefolks, And when I stepped off the
elevator, the first thing I heardwas somebody say, oh great, going
to be a total waste of time. And of course my first mistake was
(21:08):
making it mean that that was aboutme, right. It immediately got inside
my head yep. And so youknow, transport in time with where I
heard the exact same sentence. AndI was on a lawn with my legs
off, with a blanket, andthere were children playing on a neighboring lawn
(21:33):
and you know, I grew upin affordable housing and there was gravel driveways
on really steep pitch lawn, notthe best of property. And and I
didn't sit back. I was waitingcome come play over here, because with
my legs off, I couldn't walkacross the gravel driveway. Yeah, and
I just need to care ify becauseI'm not sure if I even mentioned this
(21:56):
part when we came back from acommercial break, that Tracy is a four
way amputee. So when you're sayingyour legs off, I just want to
provide that contact contact. I missthat, oh, people to realize,
yeah, if you're just joining usnow, yes, And I'm missing my
hands, missing my legs, Andso I was like waving. I have
one arm that's a little longer thanmy missing left arm, and I was
(22:19):
waving it to come play over here, and I could hear one of the
kids shout, ignore her, don'ttalk to her, she's weird. And
of course, as a little girl, I started to cry. And my
mom opened the door just to checkon me on the front lawn, and
(22:41):
she finds me crying, and she'slike, what's wrong? And I said,
I just want to play with thosekids, and they started to say
mean things to me, and mymom she looked at me and she said,
how's that working for you? Andshut the door. Whoa. And
(23:03):
so that's how I really as ayoung child, like whoa, right?
And I thought, oh, mymom is so mean. But of course
you know from the kindergarten story thatshe's the kindest soul on the planet.
And so I realized after a bitof time, like I could cry,
I get to feel the feelings thatwas meaning what they said. But I
(23:23):
could cry and do nothing about it. Or I could cry and then I
could do something about it. Andso I looked around and at the bottom
of my slanted front lawn there wasa skateboard, and so without my legs
on, I just I rolled downthe hill. And I like to say
(23:48):
I borrowed the skateboard. Okay,right, And so remember I don't have
legs, so I sat on theskateboard because I'm missing both of my legs
above my knees, and I'm missingmy left arm, but I do have
one longer arm. Missing my hand, but I have one longer arm.
So I took the one longer armand I propelled myself on the skateboard over
(24:11):
to their lawn and I rolled uptheir front lawn and then I'm face to
face with them all and their eyesare huge as saucers. And so I
didn't know what to make that mean, and I was making it mean that,
(24:34):
you know, I defied the bullyby showing up on the lawn.
It could have been that their eyeswere like, holy cow, we've never
seen a girl with no arms andno legs roll up our front lawn before.
Right. There could have been amultiple of reasons, but I made
it mean because I defied the bully. And I looked over at the bully,
and you know when there's a caraccident in movies and it goes in
(24:56):
slow motion through one, it alsogoes through so motion, so I can
see the bully's mouth opening, whoaw, And I realized in that moment,
if he gets to say what he'sabout to say, like I'm going to
be going back down that hill,and that I hadn't really thought it through,
(25:19):
right, I jumped in and Iheaded over there, and I didn't
think, and I'm like, Idon't know what to say. So I
took a deep breath, and youcould see, even sitting here with you,
I'm already taller on the screen.Yes, right, And so I
made myself as tall as I couldbe sitting on that lawn, and I
(25:40):
was petrified, scared out of mymind, and I said the only thing
I could think of with my youngself, and I just like, hello,
I'm Tracy. Can I play?And I didn't get off that easy,
but I did catch the bully offguard, and so then the bully
(26:03):
he regroups and he's like the newkids always it. And I didn't know
how am I going to chase themwith tag or how am I gonna play
hide and seek when they've all gottheir arms in their legs and I'm sitting
here with gravel driveways around me andno legs. But even though I didn't
know how, I knew there wasno space for any excuses, because if
(26:27):
I made one, it'd be like, sorry, that's what we're playing,
right, So I just said okay, and none of those kids ran off
that line. They all just stayedon the grass, which meant that I
could run on my stumps, onmy knees on the grass, and I
could roll around on the grass.So time work back into the elevator.
(26:51):
I step off the elevator and Ihear this is going to be a waste
of time. I took a deepbreath, I smiled even though I was
petrified, and I made eye contactwith all twelve of them, and I
said, hello, I'm Tracy.Shall we get started? And there was
(27:15):
a many mergers of different functional areashappening, and our focus that day I
was the facilitator for merging the employeeassistance program. And one airline had it
external and one airline had it internal, and of course both of them wanted
to keep it the way it was, and so my role was to facilitate
(27:36):
these twelve union reps from two differentairlines into creating one new merged employee assistance
program. And that must have avery heated debate, yes, because they
were union reps, right, theywere busy striking for seniority between airlines,
and we were the first group tocome to a loving solution. Oh and
(28:02):
so yeah, you get to puton a brave face and say hello,
wow, oh my gosh, youtake a deep breath, yea. When
things show up like that, thatsort of you know, take you out
of your your you know, youryour greatness, power and just to you
know, regroup. I love that. It's incredible because in all of those
(28:23):
situations you showed such courage, youknow, and even despite the fact that
we're feeling like, you know,uh, neglected, left out, you
know, hurt, that you canmove forward and you can make a change
and to help people to understand.And so your mom started by asking the
(28:44):
question can we try, you know, and how come? And how come?
And you asked the question in theelevator, you know, shall we
get started, you know, inthat group environment. And I love that
because those questions, when you askan empowering question, when you ask the
right question, you are going toget the right response, right. So
(29:07):
I think that's really important. Andalways being courageous and stepping out of that
comfort zone because it's not easy.That is not easy when your heart is
crushed by someone's words in that moment, and that we are taken back to
our triggers. We all have triggers, right, It's those things that take
us back in time where we feellike at our lowest and our most vulnerable,
(29:30):
and to be able to rise upabout that, to stand tall,
to take that deep breath, Ohmy gosh. I applaud you, you
know so greatly for the work thatyou're doing, the inspiration that you bring
to humanity to help us to understandthat, you know what, there is
no limits. The limits are thelimits that we put on ourselves based on
usually other people's thinking and other people'sbelief systems. So in your life,
(29:57):
apart from your mom, I wouldsay, who would be some of the
role models that you looked up tothat helped you to be your best self?
You talked about like the Himalayas andthe mindset that that must have taken.
And I remember the first day Iever climbed it was with Outward Bound
(30:18):
and I was a co facilitator withthe group, but not on the activities,
but on the process of admitting peopleinto the group and the media and
all of those other pieces of theadministration and this woman, Kathy Smart.
I had met her when I wasabout eight years old and she was eighteen,
and she found out that there wasno sailing for people with disabilities,
(30:42):
and she marched into Hugh mc melonMedical Center, which at the time was
called Ontario Crippled Children's Center way backwhen, right that was the times,
and she wanted names, and becauseof privacy, they couldn't give her children
with disabilities that she wanted to inviteinto a sailing club. But I was
(31:03):
in the waiting room and so Iwas like, I'll sale, I'll say.
So she invited me into her sailingAble bodied Sailing World of Sorts.
And so that was eight and eighteen. Now fast forward now I'm eighteen and
she's twenty eight, and we're doingthis out. We're bound, and we've
partnered with out. We're bound,and we're about to climb the cliff.
(31:26):
And I've got the Himalayas on andI've got my ballet line and I go
to get started to climb, andI haven't even could one minute of effort
in. All I did was gotowards the rock face and get my finger
on a rock edge. I haveone finger on the one long arm and
my little stump arm like on theother edge, and I just lift my
(31:48):
stump knee to get started, andlike everybody behind me went oh, right,
and they all came in at me. They're like, here, let
me help you. And they allcame in and said, oh, I
can push, or I can pullthe line, or we can we can
climb together. And I hadn't evenmade one step or stride. And this
(32:13):
Kathy's smart that had been with mefrom eight years old and now she's twenty
eight and nine eighteen. She's shewas like she you either love her or
you get put back by her becauseshe's a powerhouse herself. She was a
powerhouse role model for me growing up. And she's like, stop, get
away, let her go away.Give her a chance. She gets to
(32:37):
figure this out. You know whoknows her best but her Just breathe then
give her a moment, right,And it was beautiful and it was you
know. And when I was eightand falling out of the boat because I
sail with my legs off, Iknow how to swim. I wearing a
(32:57):
life jacket, She's like, she'sokay, she loves to swim, Like
I get to figure out how toclimb back into the boat when it was
scaring everybody else. And so andthat's what I think COVID is also done
right. It's we thought we hadhelicopter parenting before. Now we're really getting
the micro management in managers and we'regetting the really protective parents. And it's
(33:23):
because we get to figure out howto swim when we're drowning, We get
to figure out how to climb.When we're faced with impossible, we get
to see that it's impossible unless whatBut we get to figure that out.
Yes, and you know we're goingto help you figure it out when we
(33:44):
come back after this break. Staynice for more of Unstoppable Tracy. Tracy
is a remarkable woman who has accomplishedso many great feats that you know,
I could take an hour just discussingall of her accolades. Climbing the Himalayas,
uh you know, parasailing, uhyou know, decorated athlete, like
(34:04):
one of bronze medal, unbelievable.She is a best selling author, she
is uh international best selling speaker.Uh she or not selling speaker, but
you know world spell Yeah exactly.And you know, there's there's so many
great things and so you got tostay tuned because we're gonna help you to
(34:24):
become unstoppable in your life. We'llbe back after this stream us live at
SAGA nine sixty am dot C.A welcome back to the mindset mentor I'm
(34:59):
telling you go helping you live yourbest life, you know, and I
always talk about how it seems alittle bit challenging, right, a little
bit daunting to live your best lifewhen you feel like you cannot reach out
and grab your dreams, you cannothave the things that you want or go
for your desires because maybe you havea belief system that doesn't allow you to
(35:21):
dream big or has prevented you from, you know, pursuing those dreams.
Well, today on the show TheUnstoppable, Tracy Schmidt is my special guest
and I am beyond honored to haveyou on the show Unstoppable, Tracy,
Uh, because's your story. Imean, I don't know that I have
(35:43):
ever met anyone who has accomplished thethings that you have accomplished and then has
been so inspiring and motivating to others, including huge, massive corporations including you
know, Uber and Air Canada.I mean, the list is endless of
your accomplishments. Uh. You knowyou're super intelligent nba Uh, super funny
(36:05):
and the most kind person and positiveperson I think that you know I've encountered.
Uh. And the first time wemet, Tracy, it was at
an event Amplify your Voice, andyou were one of the judges there,
you know, helping to others thriveright and coaching them, and I was
like, oh, my gosh,you are super positive. Your energy is
(36:25):
amazing and to look at your lifeand then also knowing, by the way,
everyone, if I haven't mentioned orif you didn't hear me, mention,
Tracy is a four way amputee.And your mantra, Tracy, I
love this. I had to liketake a pause when I when I read
this, So your mantra, ifI can do it, you can do
(36:49):
it. What's your excuse? Iwas like, oh, Like I literally
had like chills go through my bodybecause it's so true. We all make
excuses in life, and you arethe epitome of what unstoppable really is and
what you know a powerful powerhouse rolemodel is. So thank you so much
(37:09):
for sharing your story. So let'sdelve into a little bit more of how
you know, how did that becomepossible for you. You know, how
do you do it when life feelsso daunting. There's a lot of the
listeners right now are i'm sure,feeling stuck or have felt stuck and they
don't have the impetus to move forward. They don't know how to do it.
(37:31):
What can you say to them?No, we we all kind of
struggle it embracing the possibility. Allembrace the possibility of being the first woman
with the disability to the north pole, but embrace the possibility of finding the
love of my life. Maybe thenI have some you know, who's going
(37:52):
to love the girl without arms orlegs? Right? Like we all have
something some area. And when oneof the times I really when I embraced
the possibility, like I knew Icould sail, and I failed the first
summer. Yeah, and I keptclimbing back in the boat. And it
turns out balancing was an advanced studyskill, and so I got my bronze
(38:16):
four and then I got my threetwo one. So you know, sometimes
we feel like we're drowning and we'rejust doing our advanced study backwards. Another
time I embraced possibility without a doubtwas skiing I knew I was going to
ski, and and lots of no's, No we can't support her, No,
(38:38):
she didn't join our program, right. It was just all of these
how comes and can we just triesconversations? And I got in the door
and we tried a sitting ski,but you use outriggers crutches that you put
skis on at the end. AndI didn't know how, but I knew
I was going to ski. Andsome of our listeners don't know how,
(39:00):
Wow, they're going to be selfemployed, how they're going to be a
number one speaker, how they're goingto be the best mom on the planet,
how they're gonna crush the male dominatedworld that they might be in right
now right and or for the mento get the promotions that they're looking for
to find the love of their life. And so we didn't know how I
(39:21):
would ski, and the sid skiI ended up wiping out in the trees
with the outriggers because I don't havehands. So then we tried my long
legs, my artificial legs, mypinocchio legs, and my knees end above
me. I don't actually have knees, I just have some partial thighs.
And so because my knees are artificial, we'd get on the hill and my
(39:45):
knees would just collapse and I wipedout some more. But I knew I
was going to ski for whatever.I had no doubt wiping out with the
sid ski, wiping out with thelong legs, and we went inside.
My ski instructor was with me,my coach, and you know, anybody
that coaches is having a coach likeTanya having a mindset person. Coaches have
(40:08):
coaches, and there's no surprise thatTanya and I are connected in this world,
you know, because she's powerful.But so me and my ski coach
was sitting next to me at lunchtime, and he had his ski boots
off, and I have my legsoff for sitting in this at ski and
(40:29):
I looked over at his feet andI kind of inappropriately was thinking, holy
cow, he's got big feet,right, And then I got this light
bulb, he's got big feet.My thighs, my stumps could fit in
(40:50):
men's ski boots. Wow. Sothat's what we did. We put my
thighs in men's ski boots. AndI wiped out some more because boots are
angled, right, And I wasknees to skiz, and you have knees
that you do a duck squat,you crunch, So we put my thighs
in men's ski boots backwards. Ohso I ended up being in that duck
(41:17):
squat position because I'm knees to skizeand no toes, so it didn't matter
which way the boot's faced. Andso you get to embrace the possibility even
if you don't know how, youbelieve you can do it. Yeah,
you're not right, Tracy. Youshow up. You just show up and
you'll find your backwards boots solutions.You'll find what works for you. Oh
(41:42):
that is deep. I love that, you know, because we will wipe
out in life. We're going towipe out. We have the wipeouts.
But you got to keep on gettingup and looking for solutions. Because every
perceived problem, right, it's reallyperceive. A perception you know, has
a solution. The solution there ifwe are willing to look for it,
if we're willing to find it.And sometimes challenging, you got to delve
(42:05):
a little deeper, right, Sometimesyou get a reraialing dig to find that.
But how you do the reward isjust remarkable. So I'd love to
talk about, you know, whatdid it feel like for you when you,
you know, embrace those challenges,but ultimately you got to the pinnacle,
you got to the reward. Whatwas that like the you know,
(42:28):
the biggest the biggest elation besides youknow, family, right, I love
my niece and nephew and holding mynit niece for the very first time.
But like the biggest like win,was when I went to pursue my Paralympic
dream. And you know who yousurround yourself with. I surround myself with
you, and I surround myself withgold Olympians. And there was only one
(42:52):
in North America at the time,and it was Magnus Digital And he's a
lot like Shrek. I was Fionaof the story, but I'm not.
I'm more like Fio. I'm morelike Donkey. Right. And so for
three months, for eighty nine days, like Donkey, I was sleeping in
(43:15):
my car, hiding in his boatyard, and at five thirty in the morning
every morning for eighty nine days,I would wake up in his parking in
his boatyard parking lot, and Iwould wash and wax boats for him at
five thirty in the morning, likekarate kid. Oh my gosh. For
(43:36):
three months sleeping in my car,washing boats, eating cheerios, and Magnus
wanted nothing to do with me.And finally the last morning. Every morning
i'd talk in the car and I'dbe like, today's today, Magnus is
gonna take me on, and Iwouldn't get out of the car till I
believed it. And like this eightyninth day, it was like twenty times
(43:57):
I said it, and I justdidn't believe it. So I flipped it
and I said, today's the dayI'm going to be the best version of
me. Oh oh that's the best, Yes, exactly, not depending man
others. Yes, boy, ifthat's the day, right. I helped
somebody get the boat out, andI supported somebody that was about to crash
(44:20):
their boat, and I supported somebodywith some knots, and Magnus saw me
do all of these sailing competency skillsand he's lumbered on down. He's like,
Tracy, you can sail. Youknow. Three months I'd be trying
to convince him, and Magnus gotme into like the twelve months before Rio
(44:45):
twenty sixteen Olympic Paralympic trials, Iwas in one hundred and thirty five races
with able bodied people. I sailedagainst twenty seven able bodied men, three
women, and they all had theirarms in their legs. And I was
in that World Cup regatta. Evenif I came thirty out of thirty,
(45:06):
I would have been thirtieth in theworld male female, black white. Let's
to get there or is itsordinary?Yeah? And so but that day when
he's like Tracy, you can steal, it was like ooh, I just
like I got goose bumps. Icouldn't think of anything else, you know,
(45:27):
it was I was so elated andthat confidence boost was what got me
to trials in Melbourne, Australia withWorld Cup sailors. You know. Incredible.
It's that moment of being seen.Yeah, And it didn't happen in
a phone call, right. YouOften you're going to be faced with your
(45:49):
shreks, with the underestimators, andthey just don't know, they just don't
know, and you get to figureit out. You get to help them
see one way or another impossible andless what exactly you know? And it's
interesting, you know, you talkedabout that, you know, the backwards
you know, and sometimes you startwith the advanced. You know, life
(46:14):
can sometimes feel hard, and it'snot that you know you can't achieve something,
it's maybe you're just the first person. You're the first to do it,
right. That is incredible when you'rethe first and then you lead the
pathway, and that pathway to getthere can be very skewed and can be
uh you know, uh filled withthe myriad of obstacles. But it's understanding
(46:37):
that you know what is the endgoal. You have to know what your
end goal is. And you know, as we've talked about, you don't
you don't need to know the how, the how you're going to get there,
know what it is that you want, right, we have the passion
of why you want to have thatand then it shows up. But you
first need to show up for yourselfand you need to take action. So
(46:59):
I love that you and everything thatyou have done have truly been unstoppable,
taking action, no matter what peoplethink, no matter what people say.
You just said, listen, I'mgoing to be first. There's so many
firsts for you, Tracy. Soyeah, well done, thank you.
Well, we have just a littlebit of time left, so I would
(47:19):
love if you can tell us alittle bit about your book and how we
can get your book. What Irealized is is I don't want it.
I don't want to be inspiring.I want people to be inspired to take
action. Right, It's about UnstoppableYou. So the kindergarten stories in there,
the Magnus sailing story is in there, the lifeline of climbing in the
(47:44):
Himalayas story. You know we're notalone. Kathy was my lifeline. Who's
your lifeline? The stories are inUnstoppable You, And instead of being a
biography, it's actually an Unstoppable Youworkbook. At the end of every chapter,
as you like, what's working foryou, what's not working for you?
(48:04):
Okay, what's a roadblock right now? And reflecting on what's working,
what's not working, what are youcommitting right? And that's one chapter And
every chapter has different questions and differentexercises after the story, and they mirror.
There are questions, they're open questions, but they come from you know.
I'm Stephen Covey Seven Habits of HighlyEffective People. I'm certified, and
(48:30):
Ken Blanchard does situational leadership and I'mcertified right, I'm an Advanced Certified facilitator
with achieve global with stress management anddeveloping others. So these all my stories
are rooted in leadership development and selfdevelopment, and you can if you're a
(48:51):
coach, you can repurpose these questionswith your students or if yourself looking to
crush an obstacle, it gives youchance to self reflect. So it's it's
very powerful unstoppable you, and it'sit's a free download. You can order
the hard copy if you like,to write out your answers and be very
(49:13):
happy to personalize it to you.But everyone gets to be unstoppable and have
a free download. You visit Unstoppabletracydot com and at the moment the website
says you get a chapter, butI'll let your listeners in on a secret.
You get the whole book right now, Oh, on the whole book.
(49:34):
I don't send a chapter. Andthat's the unstoppable part, right you
get the pleasant surprise. Thank youso much Tracy for spending time today.
I am beyond honored, and youknow I cannot wait to see what you
have coming up next. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank
you. So that is a wrapfor today's The mindset mentor Antonia Cohler helping
(49:58):
you to live your best live,no radio, no problem. Stream us
live on SAGA nine sixty am dotC a m.
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