12. Channeling Your Inner Beyonce - How Maysoon Zayid Made Her Own Lemonade

"I very quickly realized that people that looked like me were not on TV. I didn't see disabled people who were visibly disabled. And if I did see a disabled person, they were white and were men." -Maysoon Zayid

On this failed it! episode, host Erin Diehl has an impressive and comedic conversation with actress, comedian, writer, and disability advocate, Maysoon Zayid. You might’ve seen her on Don’t Mess with the Zohan or her #1 TED talk in 2014. If you want some laughs, listen to this episode on how Maysoon doesn’t let her the fact she has cerebral palsy stop her from achieving her lifelong dreams.

Links from show discussions:

• Pat Mitchell
• Maysoon’s Ted Talk
• WFH (Workshop From Home) Membership
• Maysoon’s Book: Find Another Dream

Maysoon Zayid is an actress, comedian, writer, and disability advocate. She is a graduate of and a Guest Comedian in Residence at Arizona State University. Maysoon is the co-founder/co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and The Muslim Funny Fest. She was a full-time On Air Contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann and a columnist for The Daily Beast. She has most recently appeared on Oprah Winfrey Networks In Deep Shift, 60 Minutes, and CNN. Maysoon had the number one TED Talk of 2014 and was named 1 of 100 Women of 2015 by BBC. As a professional comedian, Maysoon has performed in top New York clubs and has toured extensively at home and abroad. She was a headliner on the Arabs Gone Wild Comedy Tour and The Muslims Are Coming Tour. Maysoon appeared alongside Adam Sandler in You Don’t Mess with the the Zohan and limped in New York Fashion Week. She is a recurring character on General Hospital and the author & narrator of Find Another Dream. You can find her through her website, Twitter, and/or Instagram.

Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the failed it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.

This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.

When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running by the lake and patio dinners with her husband and son, and their eight pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.

You can follow the failed it! Podcast on Instagram and facebook, and you can follow Erin here on Instagram. We can’t wait to connect with you online!