No Barriers

In this episode get up close and personal as this Olympian shares her triumphs, challenges (physical & mental), blunders here and there, and where her life is headed now. Growing up in Vermont, Sarah Will was a natural on the slopes. She competed on the nationally-ranked ski team at Green Mountain College. Her skiing career took an unexpected turn in 1988, when a skiing accident left her paralyzed from the waist down. She did not give up. 4 years later she went to the 1992 Paralympic Winter Games winning gold medals in the downhill and super-G. 10 years after, and back to back appearances at every winter olympics she had racked up 12 golds and 1 silver. Will is one of the most decorated athletes in U.S. ski team history.

16-year-old Alex Knoll is a tech founder and international speaker with a passion for helping others. He has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, BBC, Irish Times, NBC Nightly News, Sky News & many more.Alex developed Ability App, a global crowd-sourced web app that helps people with cognitive, hearing, vision, and/or mobility disabilities and caregivers search for specific accessible and inclusive features at locations around the world. Ability App launched globally on May 1, 2020. Please visit the Ability App website for more information at TheAbilityApp.com.Most recently, Alex was awarded The Diana Award, given out by the charity of the same name with the support of The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex, and was created to honor Princess Diana’s work while inspiring others to action.Special thanks to Wells Fargo for their sponsorship of today’s podcast in a series featuring folks who are breaking barriers in the business and the workplace.Resources:Visit the Ability App Website: https://theabilityapp.com/Watch Alex on EllenHow Ability App Works

Faith Malton is a natural-born engineer.  She was born missing her right arm and thus, grew up problem-solving and adapting to her environment through innovation.  More importantly, she engineered her mental aptitude and psyche to be rooted in a growth mindset.  A student ambassador, she found herself inquisitive on how other cultures worked and how culture determines the perception of disability. Her curiosity led her to places like Antarctica, India, and Tanzania. Every trip was an awakening and revealed to her how the built environment shapes the way in which humans experience the world.  She now works at Walter P. Moore, an international civil engineering firm, doing site design. She believes design teams have a responsibility for their designs to be universally accessible, inspire the human spirit, and nurture a connection to the natural world.Malton also works to help others break through mental barriers and navigate the world with limb differences through her YouTube channel, One Arm Wonder.Resources:YouTube: One Arm WonderInstagram: @theonearmwonderrrTEDx Talk:  From Victim to Creator 

Amy Rusiecki is the owner of Beast Coast Trail Running and the Race Director for the Vermont 100 mile race, Seven Sisters Trail Race, Chesterfield Gorge Ultra Event, and Mount Tobey 50k, as well as a winning endurance athlete herself. Amy is a true barrier-breaker in the ultra community. She successfully petitioned for the Vermont 100 to be the first ultra race in the country to recognize AWDs (athletes with disabilities) in their own division and has taken the Vermont 100 partnership with Vermont Adaptive to new heights. Since becoming the race director seven years ago she has helped raise close to $1M for the adaptive sports organization. She has made bold moves to push past gender barriers, creating non-binary divisions in all of her events and she has led conversations nationwide about how to better manage gender equality within the race industry. Amy has been coaching for 18 years, working with High School and College running and XC ski teams, named ‘Coach of the Year’ three times. Amy herself fell in love with trail running and ultras. She has three times represented the USA at World Trail Championships, her best finish was at the 2013 World Trail Champs, where she was the top American and 15th female. Amy has raced up and down the East Coast and ultimately enjoys running regardless of distance, terrain, or location.Special thanks to the Winnebago Industries Foundation for their support of this podcast and their advocacy for accessibility in outdoor spaces.Resources:Vermont 100: https://vermont100.com/ Facebook, Instagram, TwitterBeast Coast Trail Running: https://www.facebook.com/beastcoasttrails/Vermont Adaptive: https://www.vermontadaptive.org/ 

Mark served in the United States Air Force for ten years, starting out as an aircraft mechanic. He loved his job but was looking for more challenges, so he switched to air traffic control for the remainder of his time in service. During a deployment in Kuwait, he sustained injuries resulting in his right leg needing to be amputated above the knee. He went into a deep depression and lost all hope and was very inactive. Eventually, he found outdoor therapy programs like No Barriers and regained purpose and meaning in his life. Now he is the Founder and Executive Director of Outdoor Salute to Veterans. There are 22 veterans that commit suicide every day and OSTV strives to reduce these numbers by taking disabled veterans on outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, rafting, rock climbing, and camping.   Mark has also been married to his wife for 34 years and has three wonderful and successful children and five beautiful grandchildren.Special thanks to CoBank for sponsoring today's episode in a series highlighting Veterans. Resources:Outdoor Salute to Veterans: https://outdoorsalutetoveterans.com/  

Comedian, Josh Blue, sat down with Erik and Jeff at our studio in Golden, CO to discuss his career as a comic who happens to have cerebral palsy. Following his groundbreaking win on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2006, Josh Blue has risen through the ranks to become a well-established headliner at venues throughout the world. His story has been featured on Fox, CBS, ABC, MSNBC,  and CNN.  He was the first comedian to perform stand-up on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was named Best Winning Reality Show Guest on Live with Regis and Kelly, and made standout appearances on Comics Unleashed. Recently, Josh crushed his set on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and was honored with a performance at the William H. Macy Gala at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada. He also just recorded his fifth-hour special at his home club, Comedy Works in Denver, CO. Josh does over 200 shows a year, continuing to spread laughter and break down stereotypes of people with disabilities. His stand-up routine is in a constant state of evolution and his off-the-cuff improvisational skills guarantee that no two shows are alike. Critics have said Josh is not a cerebral palsy comic; he’s a comic who happens to have cerebral palsy. However, his closest friends describe him as “a d-bag.Resources:Cast your vote for Josh on America’s Got Talent “AGT” app on your phone or head to NBC.com/AGTVote.Check out more on Josh's website: https://www.joshblue.com/ Follow Josh on FB and Instagram 

Colleen Rose is a military caregiver for her husband, John, an active duty Marine. While on his 2nd tour in Afghanistan, John was wounded by an IED blast sustaining vision loss and extensive injuries. Colleen acted as his caregiver, and then, in 2016, the roles were reversed when Colleen was diagnosed with breast cancer. Several years later, Colleen has helped her husband retain his active duty status, and Colleen is cancer-free and in remission, and they are proud parents to their baby, Declan. Colleen now serves as a Dole Caregiver Fellow, placing her in a great position to advocate and provide encouragement for all caregivers, sharing her experiences as a caregiver and care recipient.Thank you to our sponsor, Prudential, for sponsoring this episode and more featuring alchemists like Colleen.Resources:For Military and Veteran Caregiver resources as part of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation: https://hiddenheroes.org/Elizabeth Dole Foundation FB group: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethDoleFoundation/Watch more about Colleen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D546jZFsCVE

Sean Passmore served 22 1/2 years in the Army before retiring in 2014. Today, he leads the Military Talent Strategic Outsourcing (MTSS) team and oversees enterprise military and veteran initiatives at Wells Fargo, supporting the military community with housing affordability, financial wellness, small business support, and career transition assistance programs. The MTSS team is 100% dedicated to attracting, recruiting, coaching, and advocating for veterans seeking career opportunities at Wells Fargo.Wells Fargo is a longtime supporter and partner of No Barriers. We are grateful for their ongoing support and their sponsorship of this episode - the first in a series highlighting folks who are working to increase inclusion and representation in career mobility. Resources:Sign up for the No Barriers Summit 8/28-8/29 (both in-person and virtual options): https://www.nobarriers.live/  Make sure to check out Wells Fargo’s career panel on 8/29 at 1 PM Mountain.Wells Fargo Military Resource Page: https://www.wellsfargo.com/militaryWells Fargo Military Jobs: https://www.wellsfargojobs.com/militaryReach out directly to Wells Fargo Careers: militaryrecruiting@wellsfargo.comCheck out America’s Mentoring Network for the Military: https://www.veterati.com/Read:  What Color is Your Parachute?

Antoinette, an 11-year United States Army Veteran,  is an American Adult Cross-Cultural Kid (ACCK) and Third Culture Adult (TCA) with family ancestry in Nigeria, Ireland, China, and Jamaica. Antoinette is a former IT executive, a blogger at the New Normal Big Life blog, Producer of New Normal Big LifeTV for Culturs Global Multicultural TV, Contributing Writer at Paddling Magazine and Culturs, global, multicultural magazine. Antoinette is also a transformational public speaker and an advocate for people living with traumatic brain injury, health challenges, and those diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. She is also the Producer of WhitewaterTV, a Kokatat National Brand Ambassador, and co-founder— Diversify  Whitewater to name a few of her many accomplishments.Thank you to our sponsor, Prudential, for sponsoring this episode and more featuring alchemists like Antoinette.Resources:https://antoinettetoscano.com/about-me/https://www.instagram.com/antoinetteleetoscano/www.linkedin.com/in/antoinettetoscanohttps://xotv.me/channels/359-whitewatertvhttps://www.instagram.com/whitewatertv_xotvhttps://cultursmag.com/author/atoscano/https://twitter.com/AntoinettesPen

Sean Entin was a successful entrepreneur who suddenly had a stroke at 39 years old. After many surgeries, doctors told him he would never walk, talk, drive or be independent again. It has been 10 years since he had his stroke and he has not only regained his independence — in his recovery process —Sean became the StrokeHacker; learning how the brain works and what it takes to make it better. His mantra “I can, I shall, I will” helped him through the mostdifficult times in his life. That knowledge allowed him to teach thousands of people how to do the same. He is currently a survivor coach, podcast host, and founder of the StrokeHacker Community.Resources:Learn more: https://strokehacker.com/Watch Sean on ABC: https://abc7.com/curt-sandoval-mma-training-sean-entin/1101903/