Robbie Forde is a motivational speaker and a comedian who has no problem speaking up and out. What experiences have gotten him to this stage and what has he learned along the way? Robbie underwent many surgeries at age 13 to remove a brain tumour that had damaged the eyesight in both of his eyes. As a result of the brain tumour, he ended up losing his eyesight but he managed to hold on to a vision for his life. He has learned not to let what you can’t do get in the way of what you can do and encourages others to focus on disAbility rather than disability. Describing himself as “an ordinary bloke”, his message is truly motivational and inspiring. Today, Robert enjoys sharing his outlook and experiences with others through his motivational speaking sessions which he delivers to companies and schools across Ireland, inspiring people to live life to its full potential. He encourages people to stop wasting time on the negative and instead, to devote more time to improving on their own positives in life. Gandhi famously said, “My life is my message”. Robbie’s own life is a clear example of the message he shares with us today. He is also a stand-up comedian and uses humour to great effect in his motivational speaking. In this episode, Robbie and I chat about his work as a motivational speaker and comedian, his experience of school, labeling and especially the label of ‘disability’, the important topic of inclusion, life during lockdown and Robbie shares his message for young people. This episode will touch your heart and your mind, make you laugh and challenge how you see things. Robbie’s positive attitude is evident in the following quote from his website: “Instead of learning to live with blindness, I made the blindness learn to live with me”! True to his website’s name, Robbie certainly does view life through optimist’s eyes. You can find out more about Robbie on www.optimisteyes.com. or email him on [email protected] or call him on 0876705530