Ian Ruder is a writer, Editor in Chief, and people connector. He prides himself on bringing a well-rounded, people-first approach to his work. As the Editor of New Mobility, Ian ensures the voice of people with mobility-related disabilities is authentically represented in all their content. A wheelchair user, Ian is a passionate advocate for his community and derives great pleasure from meeting and working with his fellow wheelchair users. With over 13 years working for United Spinal Association, Ian has cultivated an extensive network of influencers, advocates, and outstanding, knowledgeable wheelchair users.Before his time with United Spinal, he worked as a freelance reporter in the Pacific Northwest, covering everything from rib eating to motor racing to local ballot initiatives. He has extensive experience writing on long forms and blogs. Ian has also worked as a copy editor and designer.Below is the link to New Mobility Magazine. If you join United Spinal Association you can get a free subscription to New Mobility.https://newmobility.com/ Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

Dr. Mitchell Tepper, author of Regain that Feeling: Secrets to Sexual Self-Discovery, brings a lifetime of first-hand experience with chronic conditions and disability to his work as a Sexuality Researcher, Educator, Counselor, Coach and self-proclaimed Prophet of Pleasure.  He has a PhD in Human Sexuality Education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s in Public Health from Yale. Dr. Tepper worked on ground-breaking research on orgasm in women with spinal cord injuries with world-renowned orgasm researchers Drs. Beverly Whipple and Barry Komisaruk. Over the last 15 years, Dr. Tepper has turned his attention to helping wounded veterans and their partners navigate intimate relationships. His new documentary, Love After War: Saving Love, Saving Lives, tells the stories of intimate partners who have won the battle for love. Website: Drmitchelltepper.comDocumentary: http://Loveafterwar.orgNew Day Films: https://www.newday.com/films/love-after-war-saving-love-saving-lives (educational/community licensing) Book: https://www.amazon.com/Regain-That-Feeling-Self-Discovery-Relationships/dp/1505444993/ Social Media:https://www.facebook.com/doctortepperhttps://www.facebook.com/LoveAfterWarhttps://twitter.com/DoctorThttps://www.instagram.com/drmtepper/ Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

Episode 41: I interview Michele Lee who currently works for Cruise, the first self-driving car service. Cruise prides themselves on being a company that puts safety, sustainability, and inclusivity first!  Cruise currently transports hundreds of passengers in the San Francisco area and will be expanding to Phoenix Arizona and  Austin Texas soon. Michele Lee is a Senior Public Affairs Manager focused on Accessibility at Cruise, a self driving car service. In this role she cultivates relationships with key advocates, community organizations, and experts representing the full diversity of the disability community to build a more accessible AV service. Michele is quadriplegic and has used a power wheelchair for almost twenty years after a spinal cord injury from a motor vehicle accident. Combining a professional background in corporate and nonprofit organizations with a long passion for disability rights advocacy she is working towards an equitable accessible transportation future.                                     Cruise website: https://getcruise.com/Cruise Accessibility: https://getcruise.com/support/accessibility/Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

Chelsie Nitschke is 30, flirty, and thriving in Nashville Tennessee. At 18 years old with dreams of being a soldier in the United States Army. In 2011, on her way to basic training on day her car stopped working while on the interstate and while sitting in the undrivable car Chelsie was struck by another car. The car accident caused Chelsie to sustain a C4/C5 spinal cord injury, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down. Without a career path in mind Chelsie started college at Tennessee State University. She graduated with degrees in Sociology and English in 2020, with thoughts of going to grad school. However, she acquired her first job since her injury, tutoring and teaching chess, at an elementary school in Nashville, just this year. She is discovering new passions and goals for teaching to add to her list of “loves”. This includes pop punk concerts, reading books and fashion.Chelsie found out about the Fashion is 4 Every Body Fashion Show, lead by Alicia Searcy in Nashville and started volunteering for the nonprofit organization years ago. This year Chelsie was asked to be a model and she loved the experience. Chelsie’s love of color and an edgy sense of fashion shined as she rolled down the fashion is 4 Every Body this year.Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

Mark Raymond has a deep-rooted history of serving the community. Building on the legacy of his grandfather, A.P. Tureaud, Mark has played a vital role in advancing various equity-centered efforts across the Greater New Orleans area and beyond. From renaming historic streets and landmarks in New Orleans to creating a more accessible and robust rehabilitative health infrastructure in the Gulf South, Mark’s aptitude for cultivating relationships and driving coordinated, healing-centered change has been vital to the advancement of those most disadvantaged. This is the link to the Split Second Foundation, https://www.splitsecondfoundation.org/ Mark’s commitment to fighting for justice and equity started as a child but was intensified following a shallow diving accident in 2016, in which he damaged the vertebrae by the base of his neck and lost the ability to walk. For Mark, this life-changing experience illuminated the reality of disparities in access, and there were very few community resources to turn to for help. His new disability and lack of support ultimately pushed him to advocate for millions of others by transforming the split-second that led to his injury into a life filled with awareness, hope, and action.He founded Split Second Foundation to make people aware of a growing population of individuals impacted by disability, advocate for their rights, fund cutting-edge research, and provide clear-cut steps to immediately improve their quality of life.To date, Mark’s impact on inclusive health and human services, as well as justice-driven policy work, has been substantial. Mark was able to open Split Second Fitness, which is the first inclusive gym in Louisiana, with an intentional focus on people living with paralysis, amputation, or other neurological conditions that impact mobility.He also serves on several federal, state, and local boards and commissions to represent and advocate for people living with disabilities. Notably, Mayor LaToya Cantrell appointed him to the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) New Orleans Board of Commissioners, where he holds the positions of Vice-Chair and Chairman of the Finance Committee overseeing the planning, implementation, and execution of the agency’s $109 million budget.Recently, RTA introduced the first two Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant streetcars on the historical St. Charles streetcar line.Mark’s work within the community and through SSF has earned him numerous awards including:*Gambit’s “40 Under 40”*New Orleans Magazine’s “Ones to Watch”*Millennial Change Makers Award*Xavier University’s “40 Under 40”Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

Ali Ingersoll has been living with paralysis from the chest down since 2010. In addition to maintaining her blog about life with paralysis Quirky Quad Diaries, Ali is a diversity and inclusion specialist and consultant and a perpetual advocate for the paralysis community. She was Ms. Wheelchair North Carolina 2022 and recently won Ms. Wheelchair America 2023. Ms. Wheelchair America is not a beauty pageant, but a competition based on a female wheelchair users history of disability advocacy and her ability to articulate her platform. Ali recently came up with the idea to have her friend Billy simulate life as a quadriplegic for an evening out on the town. Although Billy could ever fully know the difficulties a quadriplegic, she had him fit for a power wheelchair and they had an interesting experience!Billy Warden is a writer, TV and events producer, band leader and co-founder of the marketing firm GBW Strategies.  His clients have included Facebook, Dole Food and Uber. As an executive producer with E! Entertainment Networks, Billy worked closely with Joan Rivers and the team that popularized the celebrity fashion reviews. Billy’s journalism has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, FastCompany.com, and Our State Magazine among others. His long-running indy glam rock band, The Floating Children, continues to record and perform. Hear about Ali and Billy's adventure and read the article Billy wrote about their adventure! Ali Ingersoll profile in Walter: https://waltermagazine.com/current-issue/new-heights-disability-advocate-ali-ingersoll/Ali Ingersoll & Billy Warden "Night on Wheels": https://waltermagazine.com/noted/a-night-on-wheels/Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

Mike has provided Complex Rehabilitation Technology Equipment (CRT) and assisted clinicians and case manager in achieving great outcomes for their clients for 30 years.  Mike was among the first group of mobility professionals to sit for the RESNA ATP credentialing exam in 1997 earning his ATP (Assistive Technology Professional) credential.  Mike has been a registrant of NRRTS (National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers) and maintained his CRTS (Certified Rehabilitation Technology Supplier) certification since 1994.  Mike has served as President of NRRTS’s and remains active within the organization as current Review Chair for Region C.  Mike was awarded the Simon Margolis Fellow Award for having made long standing and significant contributions to NRRTS and the CRT profession.  Mike has served on the RESNA Professional Standards Board as Chair and served on the complaint’s resolution committee.  Mike has been an active member of the Kansas City Chapter of CMSA for over 25 years.  Mike has assisted case managers and consumers in obtaining custom wheelchairs and seating systems and maintains a strong passion to ensure all goals are met and best outcomes are achieved.Mike has presented nationally to equipment providers, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Case Managers on Complex Rehabilitation Technology.Mike continues to be a strong advocate for Complex Rehabilitation Technology education and for a client centered approach to providing Complex Rehabilitation Technology equipment to consumers.  Mike is currently the Vice President of National Accounts for Numotion and can be reached at [email protected] Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

My name is Alicia Searcy, and I am the Spashionista. I live in Nashville, Tennessee, and was born with Cerebral Palsy. I’m wheelchair or walker dependent because CP affects my balance and ability to perform tasks that require fine motor skills such as typing and fastening small buttons. Growing up my mother, who was a model in her youth, was very critical of my body shape and weight. Because of this I struggled between bouts of anorexia and weight gain for most of my life. For many years I simply gave up on myself and my appearance. As a result, and because of my disability many people treated me as if I couldn’t think for myself. They would speak to the people around me but not directly to me. My desire to change the way people perceived me led me to pay attention to how I was presenting myself in public. I basically gave myself a makeover and it made a world of difference in my interactions with others. It gave me the confidence to self-advocate and a passion for using fashion as a means of self-expression.In 2012, I googled “disabled fashion blogger” and there weren’t any listed. So I started Spashionista (short for spastic fashionista), one of the first fashion blogs by a person with a disability on the internet, to address the need for disabled representation within the fashion industry.I’m also the co-founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit organization Fashion is for Every Body. Our mission is to challenge stereotypes and change lives using the transformative power of fashion. We use fashion as a language to promote body-positivity and self-esteem while seeking inclusion for adults of all ages, sizes and physical abilities within the fashion industry. To learn more about me and my upcoming fashion show, listen to this podcast!Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

As the Chief Program and Policy Officer for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Regina Blye oversees operations of the National Paralysis Resource Center by developing and delivering programs that provide the critical services and resources that help people build healthy, independent lives.Regina sustained a C6-C7 spinal cord injury at the age of 10. She brings over two decades of disability policy and advocacy experience, making the move to Reeve to work more directly with people living with spinal cord injury and paralysis.Prior to starting with Reeve, she led the Independent Living Services program at the Administration for Community Living (ACL), monitoring compliance with the Rehabilitation Act and overseeing 155 federal grantees. Before that, as executive director of the Texas State Independent Living Council, she expanded independent living initiatives across the state. Her work has affected thousands of individuals and families living with disabilities and was recognized by President Barack Obama with a 2011 appointment to the United States Access Board, serving as Vice-Chair.Regina earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications Studies at West Texas A&M University and a Master of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen

April Ballentine survived the unthinkable: a domestic violence attack that left her with paralysis. In 2013, April was attacked by her partner. "I was hunted down," she explained. The individual shot her multiple times. April was rapidly transported to the University of Kentucky's trauma unit. "Police officers and the K9 unit guarded my door in the ICU," April recalled. April has spent the last nine years navigating life with paralysis. Today, a new opportunity with the same hospital that saved her life gives her renewed hope for a bright, healthier future. April currently works for the Lexington Sheriffs Department helps others who have experienced domestic abuse.April is a member of the Numotion Customer Advisory Board. The Customer Advisory Board is a forum of diverse individuals who share direct customer insights with Numotion regarding experiences and perspectives, as well as provide ideas and guidance resulting in lasting positive change at Numotion and the CRT industry. The University of Kentucky has allowed April to try a ReWalk exoskeleton, a cutting-edge robotic device that will enable people with paralysis to stand and walk again. "The University of Kentucky medical team saved my life," explained April. "Now, nine years later, they are bringing the technology here that will allow me to walk again." April has been training with a personal trainer and has improved her upper body and core strength. Walking with the Rewalk system has also improved April’s overall health and mental well-being.To bring this life-changing possibility within reach, her community has started a medically verified fundraising campaign with the nonprofit Help Hope Live. If you want to learn more go to https://helphopelive.org/campaign/20338/ Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and all funds raised will be managed by the nonprofit to cover verified medical and related expenses. Help Hope Live verifies the medical and financial needs of every patient.Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree! https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you! Karen