The Different Ability® Podcast

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This interview with Nina is full of her amazing stories! She takes us through her life growing up and in her 20's realizes from Tiktok that she may have a Different Ability®! Then she went on to get an actual diagnosis to then a few months later accidently getting a shocking diagnosis! Nina is an incredible storyteller, this episode does not disapoint!

Nina's Bio:
Nina Clapperton is the founder of She Knows SEO, a digital marketing agency for content creators. She's found unique ways to accommodate for her mental and physical illnesses to grow her business to multi-six figures. Nina and her service dog, Theo, don't let anything hold them back - even a lease! They regularly travel, safely thanks to the help her provides her.

Connect with Nina:
Website
YouTube
Tiktok
Instagram
Twitter
Nina & Theo's YouTube

Blog Accessibility Checklist - freebie from Nina


Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!
• Flodesk! Want to stay connected to friends, family, customers and your community you're building? Flodesk is, in my humble opinion, the best email service out there! They don't penalize you for growing your list, like many other email providers out there do! you can get 50% off your first year when signing up with the code: KATEY1
  • https://kateyfortun.com/flodesk
  • Sign Up Here and get 50% off your first year!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

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Soodabeh's story is unlike any story we have had on the Different Ability® Podcast to date. I'm so grateful that she was willing to share her incredible story with us on today's episode!

Read more about Soodabeh HERE!


Connect with Soodabeh:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
TikTok

Buy Her books HERE!




Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!
• Flodesk! Want to stay connected to friends, family, customers and your community you're building? Flodesk is, in my humble opinion, the best email service out there! They don't penalize you for growing your list, like many other email providers out there do! you can get 50% off your first year when signing up with the code: KATEY1
  • https://kateyfortun.com/flodesk
  • Sign Up Here and get 50% off your first year!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

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This episode I'm interviewing my new friend all the way from South Africa! This is the first of many episodes with Nick, he has an incredible story and is doing so many amazing things in the disability world!

Nick's Bio:
A teacher by profession and passion which led him into public speaking, corporate training and disability advocacy. He is part of the PSASA (Professional Speakers’ Association of South Africa), runs two companies - Straight A Tutors and Smergos and launched his speaker brand – The Rebel Ninja.

He believes that challenging life experiences push you as a person; forcing you to either grow to meet the challenges or shy away into their shadows. His greatest strength, and what sets him apart from many others, is his physical disability as a result of a car accident when he was 6 months old. He is a very determined and positive person, perceiving the seemingly impossible as challenges to be overcome. Instead of his disability becoming a weakness it has become an empowering tool.

As an award-winning international speaker and coach, he has presented a variety of workshops and the like, to an array of audiences, including schools, universities and companies. Most relate to disability advocacy, awareness and inclusion; the power of the mind, Growth Mindset and overcoming challenges.

He’s the guy you call when you want to break down barriers and build bridges or maybe if you want to dance some salsa. I give you Nick Smit, The Rebel Ninja

Connect with Nick:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Email: [email protected]


Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!
• Flodesk! Want to stay connected to friends, family, customers and your community you're building? Flodesk is, in my humble opinion, the best email service out there! They don't penalize you for growing your list, like many other email providers out there do! you can get 50% off your first year when signing up with the code: KATEY1
  • https://kateyfortun.com/flodesk
  • Sign Up Here and get 50% off your first year!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

Send us Fan Mail

We go way back when she was a child, what she learned while playing softball and having her father as her coach, being an amazing teacher, to becoming a monther. After she had her first born child, 4 months in, she learned that her son was leagally blind. She shares her vulnerable, honest feelings finding that out. A few years later she had another son and he also was diagnoised legally blind and then not long after that she had a sighted daughter. She shares it all with us!

Kristin's Bio:
Kristin Smedley is the Mom of three children, two of which were born blind and are now thriving far beyond all grim expectations. Kristin is the Best Selling author of Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and the award winning children's book, What I Can Be Is Up To Me. A recognized expert in the blindness and rare disease communities, Kristin won the highly regarded Champion of Hope Award, was named an Ambassador for the National Organization of Rare Disorders, and is a 2022 inductee into the Conwell-Egan Catholic Wall of Fame. Kristin is a popular, in demand speaker who has been invited to share her message internationally.

As CEO of a global patient organization, she coordinated legislation (H.R. #625) that became the first in US history to be submitted in Braille. Kristin spoke at the FDA to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. Recently, the research her organization coordinated achieved a $1.25 Million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Her TEDx Talk, books and international summit change perceptions of blindness, and sparked a global movement, Thriving Blind Academy, that is solving the unemployment, literacy, and financial crisis in the blind the community.

Connect with Kristin:
Website: www.KristinSmedley.com
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter

Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!
• Flodesk! Want to stay connected to friends, family, customers and your community you're building? Flodesk is, in my humble opinion, the best email service out there! They don't penalize you for growing your list, like many other email providers out there do! you can get 50% off your first year when signing up with the code: KATEY1
  • https://kateyfortun.com/flodesk
  • Sign Up Here and get 50% off your first year!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

Send us Fan Mail

Neosho has fought so many battles in her life and she continues to win! This episode is full of stories trials Neosho went through and she fought her way through them. In this interview I kept coming back to the word warrior. I truly believe that word is perfect to sum up this episode. Neosho was also so fun to talk to, she's funny and she finds the humor in life.

Neosho's Bio:
Neosho C. Ponder, Ph.D. symbolizes perseverance, strength, and resilience. This left-handed, professional auntie is an educator, author, consultant, and woman of faith. In 2016, one year after graduating from Howard University with a Ph.D. in Communication, Culture, and Media Studies, her life took a sharp turn, when she discovered a lump in her left breast. By recounting the hardships of unexpected homelessness, chemo treatment, surgical complications, losing loved ones, and the day-to-day journey through cancer, Neosho explores how the intersection of her faith in God, resilience, and humor saved her in her first book, God’s Got Jokes.

Connect with Neosho:
Website
Instagram
LinkedIn
Purchase her book here!




Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!

• Flodesk! Want to stay connected to friends, family, customers and your community you're building? Flodesk is, in my humble opinion, the best email service out there! They don't penalize you for growing your list, like many other email providers out there do! you can get 50% off your first year when signing up with the code: KATEY1
  • https://kateyfortun.com/flodesk
  • Sign Up Here and get 50% off your first year!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

Send us Fan Mail

We talked with Anita on this episode about her being diagnosed with ADHD in her 50's, her incredibly full life of amazingness! She is doing SO many amazing things, like helping people with ADHD, couples with ADHD, teaching children with disabilities just to name a few! She is doing so much more than that, and I highly suggest not only listening to this episode, share it with anyone you know and connecting with Anita! She's my wonderful guest today from across the pond and you will love listening to her story!

Anita's Bio:
Semi-nomadic ADHD coach, consultant, and trainer, as well as eternal student, Anita works a lot with neurodivergent couples to help them understand each other. A phrase that often pops up in her reviews is ‘for the first time we seem to HEAR each other.’ As well as working 1:1 with couples, she runs a group coaching programme for the partners of ADHDers. When working with ADHD adults she realised that it is often not the ADHD that causes them problems, it is the trauma that builds up around the ADHD, which is why she is currently studying a somatic trauma informed coaching and leadership qualification. If you would like to hear her speak more, she gives talks for ADHD UK on a monthly basis.


Connect with Anita:
Email: [email protected]
Website
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn

Anita's new Partners of ADHDers Group Programme is now bookable! Just follow this link: https://www.scatterbraincoaching.co.uk/offers/Z7YGJAXU



Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is an incredible episode. My guest Alma, shares her story and takes us on her many trials in her life. She is an inspiration  for everything she has been through and continues to go through, but she doesn't give up! Listen in to her amazing story!

I also want to wish Alma's late son, Tysean, a heavenly happy birthday, April 17th. It was meant to be that April 17th landed on a Wednesday when I release new episodes. I'm sure he's watching over her achieve all of her goals and dreams!


Alma's Bio:
Alma Collins Thomas is an ordained Minister, Educator, Motivational Speaker, Playwright, and Author. She holds two B.S. degrees, one in Human Services with a concentration in Children and Families and a BS in Christian Studies. She is a Bible School Teacher. She co-authors several books, including Love, Marriage and Divorce. I am a Sisters with Purpose. She has two debut books, Dream Killers and From the Waiting Room to the Recovery Room. She is the single mother of two children, Sabria and Tysean, who left his earthly home to reign in his heavenly home in 2009.

She is a stroke survivor. She suffered a massive stroke two years ago, but she still empowers and inspires others from her hospital bed.


Connect with Alma:
Facebook
Instagram


Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

Send us Fan Mail

From one facebook post on a podcast guest group, stating I'm always looking for new guests... to my evenings for the next few months booked with amazing podcast guests!

And YOU get to hear it all. So, be sure to subscribe, go back and listen to other episodes and get ready for amazing guest and their stories on the Different Ability® Podcast!



Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

Send us Fan Mail

Ooo this week was a great week for me to hit record on this topic for this episode! Listen in, you don't want to miss me talking all about how I don't subscribe to working 24/7 or the hustle culture! 


Thank you to our partner this week:

• Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey 
  • http://kateyfortun.com/showit
  • Sign Up Here and get your first month free!

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/ 

Send us Fan Mail

How is "keeping the peace" going for you? Maybe you aren't a person that is always trying to keep the peace for others, but maybe you are! I dive into this topic today on the podcast because it's been on my mind a lot!

If you're always keeping the peace for others, how is YOUR peace?

Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!

Shop new products here!

Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/