Tiffany Yu’s career journey has been a jungle gym of bold, agile leaps. From Wall Street to becoming a disability advocate, founder of Diversability, entrepreneur, grantmaker, and author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto, she continues to use her voice to create change. Most recently, she’s taken on para climbing, adding yet another adventure to her story.

At nine years old, Tiffany survived a tragic car accident that took her father’s life and left her with a permanently paralyzed arm and multiple broken bones in one of her legs. She used a wheelchair for four months and was years later diagnosed with PTSD as an adult.

In this episode of the Step Out of Line Podcast, titled “Dear Nine-Year-Old Tiffany,” we explore mental health, disability advocacy, the author journey, and the lived disability experience.

The cultural landscape around disability often overlooks beauty, fashion, and art; they’re seen as “extras,” not essentials. But for many of us in the disability community, those creative pillars are just as vital to identity and self-expression. Xian Horn's nonprofit, Give Beauty Wings, recognizes this truth. Their work reminds the world that inclusion in art and design matters, that everyone deserves to feel seen in beauty.

Too often, society assumes disabled people should simply be content with what they have, no matter how limited the options, even something as basic as shoes. Expanding access to beauty and fashion isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s a movement toward greater equality, one that ripples far beyond what we wear.

When you have a visible physical disability, you face two options: spend your energy hiding your differences, or accept who you are—and if people stare, let them. This was the beginning of Angela Yoder Stepping Out of Line and into the life she wanted. As a photographer, she captures people in the moment by interpreting their unspoken thoughts and feelings through the lens of her camera. Yet for years, she didn’t admit what she was asking from others: to be transparent and live their own unique truth. She soon recognized that it was time for her to be open about her life, her medical challenges, and all that is in between so that others like herself would not feel so isolated and alone.

Dana Arschin is a 3X Emmy Award-winning journalist, mother of two, granddaughter of an Auschwitz survivor, and a dedicated Holocaust storyteller. Her life’s work is centered around one mission: ensuring the stories of survivors are never forgotten. Her dream was to ‘make it’ as a journalist in New York, and that journey began at News 12 in Brooklyn. She later joined Fox 5 NY, where she launched a powerful series featuring interviews with Holocaust survivors. The rest, as they say, is history.

But when we say “never again”, what do those truly mean? As history continues to repeat itself, it’s fair to ask whether telling these stories really makes a difference for the next generation. The simple answer is yes. These testimonies—whether from the Holocaust or other genocides—are sometimes all we have left, and as such, it is our collective responsibility to keep their memories alive. And still, it is often times more complicated than that.

How many times must someone be tested to prove they can handle anything? Ramy Gafni, author, comedian, makeup artist, and CEO of Ramy Cosmetics/Ramy Beauty Therapy has been tested—again and again (3 times because why not?!). From beating cancer to managing type 2 diabetes and surviving a near-fatal moped accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury, his resilience, perseverance, and dark sense of humor have carried him through it all.

Despite these challenges, Ramy built a successful career while maintaining an infectious positivity (which he more than likely inherited from his mother). His sharp wit and humor led him to perform in comedy clubs across New York City prior to the pandemic. Though currently on hiatus, he hopes to return to the stage again.

Seamlessly integrating her passion for adaptive fashion design with her career as a costume designer/wardrobe stylist in the entertainment industry, Lynn Brannelly decided to maximize her superpower for the greater good. Presented with an opportunity to work with models of all abilities at Runway of Dreams with Alexander Andronescu (her now business partner in their adaptive adventure, Sewn Adaptive) at New York Fashion Week. Lynn came to the realization that she had at last found her passion. As soon as she entered and embraced the disability community, she naturally fell into the adaptive design world and began to make considerable headway into filling the gap existing between fashion and its accessibility through design. 

Undiagnosed with Dyslexia up until the age of 35, Lynn was often ashamed and very much aware of her limitations. As with any protagonist of a story, Lyn’s weaknesses soon became her strengths as she realized that her disability and the way that she was able to uniquely envision design and its adaptability was easily her biggest attribute and superpower.

Turning the Paige and revisiting one of our alum podcast guests, Hayley Paige, on what’s been happening in her life since we first connected. Soon after we posted her original podcast back in 2020, Hayley fought with everything she had, emotionally, intellectually, and monetarily to win her case and along that arduous journey. She discovered she had more backbone, resilience, and fortitude to Step Out of those Lines. Hayley never stopped designing for her own self, nor did she lose herself in the chaos that ensued during the next four years. She came out on the other side of this court case a winner, stronger than before, and it is because of the army of supporters, family, friends, and her legal team that she surrounds herself with.

Hayley’s advocacy for young women in business stems from her negative experiences and led her to testify in Congress in 2024 (Note: in a hot pink Elle Woods-inspired suit) on behalf of creatives fighting to maintain ownership of their ideas and intellectual property. Today, she is a speaker, panelist, entrepreneur, foundation CEO, wedding dresses/shoes/bags designer, and so much more (she also likes to say that she has the best taste in music).

Being an entrepreneur and director of a casting agency for people with disabilities (visible and invisible) seemed to be a natural fit for Elle Jones Hartman. When her daughter, an aspiring film director became legally blind at the age of 22 as a result of a brain tumor, Elle’s HR/PR background was put to the test. It was then that Elle stepped out of line and opened up the Elle Jones Casting Company, working alongside her daughter, Zoë. 

When you are the subject of a social experiment, your perception of what is considered ‘fair play’ in the quintessential female/male gender roles changes…

Emily Hay was one of the families observed in 2020 & 2021, as she partook in the Fair Play documentary. Produced by Hello Sunshine and based on author Eve Rodsky’s book (who we interviewed in 2023), Fair Play, not only did this experience alter Emily’s familial relationships but the rewards infiltrated into her professional life. 

Part of the human experience, particularly for people with disabilities, is to gradually shift mindsets and create a normalcy for disability inclusion. Let’s face it, when you have a physical disability and are in a wheelchair, you’re bound to run into problems left and right. Joci Scott, actor, singer, Rollettes dancer, and disability advocate strives to be the change by showing the world what people with disabilities can do. She flourishes in a community that she, herself, has helped create, consisting of people who are trying to navigate the world that we live in while representing the disabled population.