Blog
What Does Real Support Look Like
TL;DR:You find one person willing to be your hands. After brain surgery left me foggy, I couldn't get through the SAT alone. Holly Camorata sat with me on weekends, reading each question aloud as many times as I needed, and filling in the bubbles with a #2 pencil. I...
Does rehab feel hopeless when you start?
TL;DR: Often, yes, and the feeling lies. I rolled into the Shepherd Center at six in the evening, stared at the sunset, and thought I'd be in a wheelchair forever. I was fifteen and completely sure of it.I was also completely wrong, and the next morning the work began...
Should you let people see what you carry?
TL;DR: Yes, when you choose the moment. At the ATI Super Conference in 2018, Richard Menneg who hired me to speak asked me to carry my heavy backpack on stage. I thought it was just my bag. He was showing a whole room what I'd hauled around for years, long before I...
How do you learn to run again after a stroke?
TL;DR: You start on a treadmill with a harness holding most of your weight, and a therapist who decides today is the day. I had a stroke at fifteen and forgot how to run. When I was strong enough my physical therapist said we'd try anyway. I told her I didn't remember...
Does a limp always mean what you think it means?
TL;DR: Not even close. I once watched a police officer drag his foot across a sidewalk and felt an instant kinship, so I stopped him to say his limp gave me courage. He turned to me with the kindest eyes and explained he'd just stepped in dog poop and was trying to...
Why did a client ask me to carry my backpack on stage?
TL;DR Because he saw something I hadn't. On March 22, 2018, Richard Menneg booked me as the youngest speaker ever to keynote the ATI Super Conference. He asked me to bring my heavy backpack on stage. I thought it was just my bag. But he was showing the room what I...
Is it worth emailing a stranger who doesn’t know you?
TL;DR: Yes, and the odds are better than they feel. On August 8, 2019, I found the most senior person at Burton I could and emailed them cold. Five days later, on August 13, a real reply came back. Asking cost me almost nothing. Asking for help has always been hard...
Should a leader show up for the thing they doubted?
TL;DR: Yes, and the way this CEO did it stuck with me. On May 10, 2018, I spoke at Atrius Health's nursing conference in Boston. The event planner wanted me. The CEO wasn't sure I was the right fit. She booked me anyway, and he sat in the back for every single minute....
What happens when you fall in front of everyone?
TL;DR: You get up, and it turns out to be the best thing that could have happened. On August 3, 2024, in Aurora, Colorado, I walked on stage to receive my CSP in front of 2,000 speakers. I cleared the three stairs I'd been dreading. Then I took one step forward and...
How do you start over when your body won’t move?
TL;DR:You decide to fight, and you let the people around you carry the belief until you can. At fifteen, paralyzed after a stroke, I arrived at the Shepherd Center at six in the evening and stared at a sunset thinking I'd never get better. I was completely wrong, and...
What do you do when everyone around you is winning and you’re not?
TL;DR You look at what you're actually selling. In college I tried to be a speaker and failed for years. No bookings, no agency, no idea. The fix wasn't hustling harder. It was learning that the job was never about me. I was leading with my story instead of what the...
Why did my nurses protect the one thing I was scared to lose?
TL;DR Because they listened. Before my second brain surgery at fifteen, my doctors asked what scared me most. Losing my hair, I said. Months later I woke up from surgery and it was still there. I found out years afterward that my nurses had remembered, and made sure...
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