Embrace It with Lainie & Estela - Smashing Disability Stigmas

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All too often the conversation around disability is focused on the things it takes away—the experiences and activities it excludes us from. In this one-on-one episode, Lainie & Estela break down their top 10 gifts of disability and how each has impacted their life for the better. Join us for this insightful and uplifting conversation aimed to amplify appreciation for your own personal disability journey and gifts!

• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blog posts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis

Please leave us a review and help others find us! 

Hosted by Lainie Ishbia and Estela Lugo.

Embrace It is produced by Launchpad 516 Studios.

For sponsorships and media inquiries, drop an email to: [email protected]

Subscribe to Embrace it with Lainie and Estela on Apple Podcasts and get notified of new episodes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/embrace-it-with-lainie-estela-smashing-disability-stigmas/id1468364898

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Navigating teenage years can be difficult, especially when you are suddenly diagnosed with a weird-sounding debilitating disease like Charcot-Marie-Tooth. As a 13-year-old Pakistani kid living in the UK, Zac was forced to confront daunting medical predictions, social pressures, harmful stigmas, and his own internal battles. Join us as we hear how Zac pulled himself out of multiple periods of depression and denial and learned to embrace his new life of fitness, connection, and purpose.

Get out your notepads as we explore what it looks like to raise happy, independent and fulfilled disabled adults!

• Follow Zac on Instagram. 
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blog posts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis

Please leave us a review and help others find us! 

Hosted by Lainie Ishbia and Estela Lugo.

Embrace It is produced by Launchpad 516 Studios.

For sponsorships and media inquiries, drop an email to: [email protected]

Subscribe to Embrace it with Lainie and Estela on Apple Podcasts and get notified of new episodes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/embrace-it-with-lainie-estela-smashing-disability-stigmas/id1468364898

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Raised alongside her able-bodied twin and 4 other siblings, Dr. Gabrielle Ficchi shares her powerful story from growing up as a child with Cerebral Palsy to becoming a proud disabled therapist. In this special Mother’s Day episode, Dr. Ficchi shares her deep expertise on how certain parenting styles can help empower children with disabilities.

Get out your notepads as we explore what it looks like to raise happy, independent and fulfilled disabled adults!

• Follow Dr. Ficchi on Instagram. 
• Connect with Dr. Ficchi on her website. 
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blog posts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis

Please leave us a review and help others find us! 

Hosted by Lainie Ishbia and Estela Lugo.

Embrace It is produced by Launchpad 516 Studios.

For sponsorships and media inquiries, drop an email to: [email protected]

Subscribe to Embrace it with Lainie and Estela on Apple Podcasts and get notified of new episodes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/embrace-it-with-lainie-estela-smashing-disability-stigmas/id1468364898

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Dayniah is a Jamaican immigrant, mother, educator, writer, and activist living with SMA.  

As a tenured English teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience in New York City public schools, Dayniah uses an electric wheelchair and has been unable to use a restroom at her middle school building in the Bronx for the past 14 years due to the New York City Department of Education (DOE)’s failure to provide a facility that meets her access needs.

30 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, fewer than 25% of DOE schools are fully accessible due to the widespread presence of architectural barriers. 

Join us for this eye-opening episode as we uncover some of the deep systemic barriers still facing the disability community and how we can work to ensure true change and inclusion.

• Follow Dayniah on Instagram. 
• Connect with Dayniah on her website. 
• Visit Friendly Shoes - Use code "EmbraceItFriendly" for 10% off
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blog posts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis
• Please leave us a review and help others find us! 

Hosted by Lainie Ishbia and Estela Lugo.

Embrace It is produced by Launchpad 516 Studios.

For sponsorships and media inquiries, drop an email to: [email protected]

Subscribe to Embrace it with Lainie and Estela on Apple Podcasts and get notified of new episodes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/embrace-it-with-lainie-estela-smashing-disability-stigmas/id1468364898

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

As an Iraq war veteran, Purple Heart recipient, TEDx speaker, writer, and teacher Casey Jourdan is passionate about helping others shift from surviving to thriving. 

Casey was a gunner in an Army convoy traveling Baghdad's "suicide ally" when a roadside explosive device rocked her world. The explosion changed her identity forever, transforming her from being an entrepreneurial, athletic, college coed with a nearly photographic memory into a disabled Iraq war veteran flunking out of college and afraid to leave her room. She lost jobs, family, and self-worth but 9 years later, she has fought her way back to a healed place with a new and constantly evolving perspective on self-recovery and societal engagement.  Join us for this empowering episode as we redefine what it means to truly be resilient. 

• Follow Casey on Instagram. 
• Connect with Casey on her website. 
• Watch Casey's TEDx Talk
• Read Casey's Trend-Able post Setting Boundaries
• Visit Friendly Shoes - Use code "EmbraceItFriendly" for 10% off
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blogposts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis
• Please leave us a review and help others find us! 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

At 34 years old, Katina found herself hitting rock bottom after a 17 year battle with anorexia & bulimia. After reaching out for help and enrolling in Overeaters Anonymous, she began learning how to eat healthily and reversing years of physical and emotional damage.  Today, Katina is a certified nutritionist & Reiki practitioner helping hundreds of people love their guts and heal themselves with food. Join us for this eye-opening conversation jam-packed with practical tips and steps for eating our way to wellness & happiness!

• Connect with Katina on Instagram. 
• Connect with Katina on her website. 
• Visit Friendly Shoes - Use code "EmbraceItFriendly" for 10% off
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blogposts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis
• Please leave us a review and help others find us! 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

We all want to feel safe and seen at our jobs, but how do we build inclusive cultures that reflect the full spectrum of humanity? Arthur Woods & Susanna Tharakan deliver an insightful and practical roadmap in their groundbreaking new book, Hiring for Diversity. Join us as we dive deeper into the current challenges facing the disability community and the steps needed to create impactful change for all types of employees and organizations. 

• Buy 'Hiring for Diversity' on Amazon
• Connect with Arthur & Susanna on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Mathison
• Visit Friendly Shoes - Use code "EmbraceItFriendly" for 10% off
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blogposts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis
• Leave us a review and help others find us! 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

What can houseplants teach us about processing trauma & disability? Apparently, a whole lot! Tovah Fine is an artist and disability advocate living with Charcot-Marie-Tooth and a knack for turning empty spaces into fern-tastic havens for healing. Join us as we turn over a new leaf and reexamine mobility aids, progression, therapy, and shame.

• Follow Tovah on IG
• Visit Friendly Shoes - Use code "EmbraceItFriendly" for 10% off
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blogposts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis
• Leave us a review and help others find us! 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

"Height is just a number, not a limit." These are the words Jillian Curwin lives by as she navigates the world as a little person with dwarfism. Diagnosed with Achondroplasia at birth, Jillian shares her empowering journey growing up in a world not built to her size and how her advocacy work is breaking barriers on the fashion editorial pages of Vogue Italia & Harpers Bazaar. Join us as we ask some BIG questions and share a few brow-raising stories in this fun and eye-opening episode!

• Follow Jillian on IG
• Visit Jillian's Blog 
• Listen to Jillian's Podcast
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blogposts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

As a lifelong advocate, Hope Hoffman has been writing bills towards inclusion since high school and has gone head-to-head with discriminatory employers. In this candid episode, Hope shares her personal journey growing up with Spina Bifida and the recent amputation of her foot. Don't miss this insightful discussion as we break down the root causes and impact of ableism and dive deeper into the history of the word "handicapped".

• Follow Hope on IG
• Looking for more great tips, hacks, and blogposts? Visit: Trend-Able.com
• Find more on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and patient resources on: HNF-cure.org
• Follow us on IG! @embraceit_podcast | @trend.able | @cmtwegotthis

Support the show