Beyond Better with Stacy Ennis

124. Travelling as a wheelchair user and disability advocacy, with Heather C Markham


Listen Later

When you hear the word “equity,” most of us will think of gender, race, and ethnicity. But oftentimes, disabilities are left out of the conversation—and that needs to change.

That’s why I’m thrilled to welcome this week’s podcast guest, Heather Markham, a woman on a mission to show businesses how to make their space warm, welcoming, and accessible to the more than 1 billion persons with a disability. With her background in electronic warfare and assistive technologies, she has honed her engineering skills and an eye for otherwise unseen details. Heather has fifteen years of experience as a power wheelchair user, and she taught me so much in this episode! In it, we discuss:

  • Heather’s life-changing diagnosis of progressive muscular dystrophy at age 34
  • How she leaned into a life of adventure and focuses on what she can control
  • How she’s created a community around her and how listeners can build their own community
  • Challenges she faces while traveling as a power wheelchair user
  • How businesses can become more accessible, both in physical locations and online
  • Why she wrote her memoir and what her writing process was like
  • Heather is an inspiring woman who embodies her personal belief: the one thing she can absolutely control every single day is how she chooses to react to things. She expresses herself creatively through her memoir Rough Waters: From Surviving to Thriving with a Progressive Muscular Dystrophy and fine art photography.

    This is an important, inspiring, and practical episode—don’t miss it!

    Learn more about Heather:

    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Rough Waters: From Surviving to Thriving with a Progressive Muscular Dystrophy
    • Show notes:

      • This Little Miggy Instagram
      • Disability Reframed Instagram
      • Follow me on:

        • Instagram @stacyennis
        • Facebook @stacyenniscreative
        • LinkedIn
        • Youtube @stacyennisauthor
        • To submit a question, email [email protected] or visit www.stacyennis.com/contact and fill out the form on the page.


          ...more
          View all episodesView all episodes
          Download on the App Store

          Beyond Better with Stacy EnnisBy Stacy Ennis

          • 4.9
          • 4.9
          • 4.9
          • 4.9
          • 4.9

          4.9

          34 ratings


          More shows like Beyond Better with Stacy Ennis

          View all
          This American Life by This American Life

          This American Life

          90,844 Listeners

          The Daily by The New York Times

          The Daily

          111,521 Listeners

          Root Cause Radio by Root Cause Radio

          Root Cause Radio

          398 Listeners

          Up First from NPR by NPR

          Up First from NPR

          56,149 Listeners

          The Root Cause Medicine Podcast by Rupa Health

          The Root Cause Medicine Podcast

          555 Listeners

          Shifting Paradigms in Medicine by Bold Brave TV

          Shifting Paradigms in Medicine

          0 Listeners