Son of two elite athletes, as a division one athlete at high school and a two-time state champion in his junior year, being a track runner was more than something Jarryd Wallace loved to do; it was part of his identity. He had the potential to become a professional athlete.
But destiny had something different in mind for him. He had a chronic exertional compartment syndrome, which required surgery to solve. The surgery went wrong; he had complications. After 10 reconstructive surgeries and more than a year and a half of suffering from chronic pain, 17-year-old Jarryd had to face the decision to get his leg amputated.
Joining us today is the three-time Paralympian, Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, and Co-Founder and CEO of Rival, Jarryd Wallace. We had a fantastic conversation about resilience, identity, the life of a Paralympic athlete, and marketing. Jarryd shared his journey from having a promising future as a professional athlete to looking at amputation as hope for a painless life and becoming an elite Paralympic athlete. We also talked about the barriers to access prosthetic equipment, the importance of authenticity, the complicated world of sponsorship for athletes, and much more.
Resources:
Visit Jarryd's website: https://www.jarrydwallace.com/
Connect with Jarryd on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarryd-wallace-3a70b586/
or follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wallace_jarryd/
Taxed on first 80% of the revenue