The ExcelAbility Podcast: Success Factors From Today's Most Influential Leaders With Disabilities

The ExcelAbility Podcast: Success Factors From Today's Most Influential Leaders With Disabilities

By The Excelability Podcast: Discover The Success Factors That Enabled These People With Disabilities To Become Super SuccessfulEducation
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The ExcelAbility Podcast: Success Factors From Today's Most Influential Leaders With Disabilities episodes

  • ExcelAbility: Conversation with Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Microsoft’s Chief Accessibility Officer who happens to have deafness
    Podcast summary

    In this episode we speak withJenny Lay Flurrie, Chief Accessibility Officer at Microsoft. Jenny experienced increasing deafness as a child but never let it prevent her from pursuing her dreams.

    Join to hear Jenny’s attitudes, techniques, and practices that enabled her to achieve incredible success.
    Click here for a transcript of this episode.

    Key lessons

    Jenny will show us that

    • Not hesitating to self advocate to get what you need,
    • not seeing yourself as different
    • Embracing all of life as developing problem solving and innovation skills
    • Identifying your own board of directors to serve as mentors
    • have led to her tremendous success.

      Connect

      Send us your comments, feedback, or tell us about your own story of success. We’d love to hear from you.

      Follow us on Twitter @TeamXLAbility
      Like Team Excelability on Facebook
      Visit Team ExcelAbility on the web for more resources

      Share this episode
      39 min
    • ExcelAbility: Conversation with Jim Gibbons, CEO of Good Will Industries International, who happens to be blind
      Podcast summary

      In this episode we speak with CEO Jim Gibbons. Jim has served in an executive role at several prominent organizations including Good Will and National Industries for the Blind Jim was the first student who was blind to graduate from the Harvard Business School. Join us to hear Jim’s attitudes, techniques, and practices that enabled him to achieve incredible success.

      Click here for a transcript of this episode.

      Key lessons

      Jim will show us that

      • Leveraging technology to gain access to the world around him,
      • Continuously exhibiting tenacity and sticktoitiveness, and
      • Building influence with others by learning to trust them
      • have led to his tremendous success.

        Connect

        Send us your comments, feedback, or tell us about your own story of success. We’d love to hear from you.

        Follow us on Twitter @TeamXLAbility
        Like Team Excelability on Facebook
        Visit Team ExcelAbility on the web for more resources

        Share this episode
        37 min
      • ExcelAbility: Conversation with Steve Walker, entrepreneur who happens to have dyslexia
        Podcast summary

        In this episode we speak with businessman Steve Walker. In Steve’s early years, he struggled with reading and writing and nearly failed out of school. After discovering how his unique approach to problems gave him an edge in manufacturing, Steve started several wildly successful companies. Join us to hear Steve’s attitudes, techniques, and practices that enabled him to achieve incredible success.

        Click here for a transcript of this episode.

        Key lessons

        Steve will show us that

        • Finding work arounds in your disability to teach us about finding creative solutions for all areas of our lives,
        • Not dwelling on the negatives but focusing on the positive, and
        • Always looking for the unique advantage that you bring to the table
        • have led to his tremendous success.

          Connect

          Send us your comments, feedback, or tell us about your own story of success. We’d love to hear from you.

          Follow us on Twitter @TeamXLAbility
          Like Team Excelability on Facebook
          Visit Team ExcelAbility on the web for more resources

          Share this episode
          47 min
        • ExcelAbility: Conversation with Peter Denman, UX Designer who happens to have Dyslexia and quadriplegia
          Podcast summary

          In this episode we speak with user experience designer Peter Denman. As a young man, Peter suffered a spinal chord injury which resulted in his quadriplegia. Peter has learned to leverage that experience, as well as his dyslexia, to work on the most incredible design projects. Peter assisted in the development of the computer interface used by the late Stephen Hawking. Join us to hear Peter’s attitudes, techniques, and practices that enabled him to achieve incredible success.

          Click here for a transcript of this episode.

          Key lessons

          Peter will show us that

          • never giving up and pressing forward for the opportunity that will come,
          • finding creative solutions to overcome challenges, and
          • always saying yes, even if you are not sure you can do the thing you’ve been asked to do
          • have led to his tremendous success.

            Connect

            Send us your comments, feedback, or tell us about your own story of success. We’d love to hear from you.

            Follow us on Twitter @TeamXLAbility
            Like Team Excelability on Facebook
            Visit Team ExcelAbility on the web for more resources

            Share this episode
            51 min
          • ExcelAbility Podcast: Conversation With Dan Berlin, Rodelle Food Company founder and epoch adventurist who happens to be blind

            In this episode we speak with Dan Berlin, founder and owner of the RodelleFood Company. Rodelle produces fine baking products and spices, including vanilla bean and extracts. Rodelle’s vanilla products can be found in many of your local grocery stores in the U.S. Dan also regularly tackles epoch adventures such as hiking the Inca Trail in one day, running rim to rim to rim in the Grand Canyon, and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in the dark to raise awareness and funds for various international causes. Tune in to hear about how Dan turned the hard lessons of vision loss to make him a better business man, adventurist, and person.

            Click here for a transcript of this episode.

            Key lessons

            Dan will show us that

            • Using his daily experiences as a person with a disability to make him a effective risk taker,
            • Using the challenges of disability to catalyze his true strengths, and
            • Working harder and smarter,
            • have led to his tremendous success.

              Connect

              Send us your comments, feedback, or tell us about your own story of success. We’d love to hear from you.

              Follow us on Twitter @TeamXLAbility
              Like Team Excelability on Facebook
              Visit Team ExcelAbility on the web for more resources

              Share this episode
              43 min
            • ExcelAbility Podcast: Conversation With Sander Flaum, Marketing CEO And Best Selling Author Who Happens To Have A Stutter

              In this episode we speak with marketing executive Sander Flaum. Sander has run a number of pharmaceutical marketing firms, including bringing the firm of RSCG Becker to number two in the world and starting his own consultancy, Flaum Navigators. At one point in Sander’s career, he failed to receive a promotion to run Lederley Labs (now part of Pfiser) because members of the board thought that Sander’s stutter was a form of mental illness. Sander set out to be more successful than any of them. Join us to hear Sander’s attitudes, techniques, and practices that enabled him to achieve incredible success.

              Click here for a transcript of this episode.

              Key lessons

              Sander will show us that

              • Hard work and demonstrating that you are better than the competition,
              • Engaging quality mentors,
              • Discussing your disability as a way to take the pressure off, and
              • When discussing your disability, talking about how it has taught you to work harder and smarter than the next guy
              • have led to his tremendous success.

                Connect

                Send us your comments, feedback, or tell us about your own story of success. We’d love to hear from you.

                Follow us on Twitter @TeamXLAbility
                Like Team Excelability on Facebook
                Visit Team ExcelAbility on the web for more resources

                Share this episode
                37 min
              • ExcelAbility Podcast: Conversation With Blind Film Composer Steve Letnes

                In this episode we speak with film composer Steve Letnes. Pioneer and trail blazer, Steve is the only visually impaired film composer in the industry. Steve has scored dozens of films, including one from Sony Pictures called

                Santa’s Bootcamp. Tune in to hear about Steve’s journey through the seemingly impenetrable film industry as a blind composer and his journey to great success.
                Click here for a transcript of this episode.

                Key lessons

                Steve will show us that

                • Not being afraid to ask for help when needed,
                • Not shying away from doing the hardest thing first because then you know you can do anything, and
                • Always saying yes to all the opportunities that come your way even if you’re not quite sure that you can do it
                • have led to his tremendous success.

                  Here is a link toSteve’s Page .

                  Connect

                  Send us your comments, feedback, or tell us about your own story of success. We’d love to hear from you.

                  Follow us on Twitter @TeamXLAbility
                  Like Team Excelability on Facebook
                  Visit Team ExcelAbility on the web for more resources

                  Share this episode
                  1 hr 1 min
                • ExcelAbility Podcast: Conversation With Vint Cerf, Hearing Impaired, Father Of The Internet.

                  In this episode we speak with Vint Cerf, the father of the internet. Tune in to find out how Vint’s hearing impairment drove him to a career in computers and directed him to create the internet.

                  Click here for a transcript of this episode.

                  Key lessons

                  Vint will show us that

                  • Feeling comfortable with his disability,
                  • Asking for help when needed,
                  • Relying on technology to clear away obstacles, and,
                  • Leveraging his disability to drive his career direction
                  • have led to his tremendous success.

                    Connect

                    Send us your comments, feedback, or tell us about your own story of success. We’d love to hear from you.

                    Follow us on Twitter @TeamXLAbility

                    Like Team Excelability on Facebook
                    Visit Team ExcelAbility on the web for more resources

                    Share this episode
                    39 min

                  About The ExcelAbility Podcast: Success Factors From Today's Most Influential Leaders With Disabilities

                  From the publisher's feed

                  Tune in to learn the success factors that enabled today's most influential leaders with disabilities to achieve incredible success. Warning, awe and amazement inside.