As grocery bills climb, gas prices rise, and budgets tighten, caregivers are feeling the pressure in real and immediate ways.

In this mid-month reflection from The Shining Beautiful Series, Katherine shares a deeply personal story that reaches back through generations—from a rustic mountain cabin in Colorado to the pioneers who endured hardship on the plains, cutting lumber, and in coal mines.

At a time when families are navigating increasing costs and uncertain systems, this episode explores a powerful truth: while systems may shift, it is community, resilience, and the strength we inherit that continue to sustain us.

From stories of survival and sacrifice to the everyday realities of caregiving today, this episode offers both grounding and perspective.

Because even in the squeeze of rising costs and shrinking resources, something steady remains.

What happens when we begin the employment journey not with a system—but with the people who know someone best?

In this episode of The Shining Beautiful Series, Katherine and Mikelle welcome Peter Smith, a long-time leader in the customized employment movement in Australia, for a thoughtful conversation about his emerging work on the Family Discovery Model.

Discovery has long been a cornerstone of Customized Employment, helping people with disabilities identify their strengths, interests, and ideal conditions for work. But Peter's recent work asks an important question: What role do families play in that process—and what happens when we intentionally bring their knowledge, history, and insights into Discovery?

Drawing from research, practice, and decades of experience, Peter explores how families often hold the richest understanding of a person's talents, rhythms, and possibilities. Yet too often that wisdom sits quietly on the sidelines of formal employment services.

Together we discuss:

• How Customized Employment and Discovery open doors to meaningful work

• Why families are an untapped resource in employment planning

• The ideas behind the emerging Family Discovery Model

• How practitioners and families can work together more intentionally

• What this means for people with disabilities seeking real jobs, real belonging, and real contribution

This conversation is not about learning a new "program." Instead, it's about sharing ideas across communities, reflecting on what we've learned through experience, and continuing to build pathways to employment that honor the full story of a person's life.

For families, employment professionals, and advocates, this episode offers both insight and encouragement: the journey toward meaningful work is strongest when the voices closest to the person are invited into the conversation.

Sometimes the most powerful discovery begins right at the kitchen table.

Here is a link to Peter's work on Family Discovery.

In this mid-month reflection, Katherine shares a deeply personal experience from a friend's celebration of life — a gathering that revealed what real community looks like when it has been intentionally nurtured over decades.

Drawing from the work of Peter Block and his book Community: The Structure of Belonging, this episode explores how belonging is built through invitation, small gatherings, shared ownership, and love.

This was not just a memorial. It was a living ecosystem.

Women from college days. Women from work life. Neighbors. Mothers. Children who will now grow up together because their mothers loved well.

Katherine reflects on creative community — how women weave connection through crisis, how leadership often looks like hospitality, and how the spirit of one woman continues through the people she gathered.

She also reflects on how this friend was one of Mikelle's first roommates, and how over time she has found herself a kind of surrogate mom to many of the young women who orbit Mikelle's life — women who are now carrying the torch of thoughtful, inclusive leadership into the next generation.

Community is not a program. It is an act of creation. And creativity may be our most powerful form of resistance in uncertain times.

In this special Valentine's Day episode of The Shining Beautiful Series, Katherine, Mikelle, and Maryann gather for a heartfelt conversation about what they truly love and appreciate — in their lives, in each other, and in the communities they're building together.

This isn't a sugary sweet Valentine's episode. It's honest. It's grounded. It's real.

Together, they reflect on:

• The friendships that have lasted decades

• The caregivers, colleagues, and quiet leaders who show up every day

• The small rituals — coffee time, creative work, shared laughter — that sustain them

• And yes… the subtle undercurrent of anxiety many of us are carrying in uncertain times

In a year marked by policy shifts, funding questions, and a rapidly changing landscape for families and people with disabilities, love can feel both powerful and fragile. This conversation explores how gratitude and worry can coexist — and how choosing appreciation, even now, is an act of courage.

Mikelle shares what she loves about her work and friendships. Maryann reflects on mentorship, inclusion, and the next generation of leadership. Katherine offers perspective from decades of advocacy — reminding us that even in seasons of change, we are more resilient than we think.

This episode is a reminder that love is not naïve. It is strategic. It is sustaining. It is how communities survive.

💛 As you listen, we invite you to ask yourself: What do you love right now? Who do you appreciate but haven't told? What steady presence in your life deserves your gratitude?

Still, we love. And that matters.

In this solo episode of Shining Beautiful, Katherine reflects on the legacy of nurse, mentor and caregiver Alex Pretti--and the profound, often unseen impact caregivers have on our lives, families, workplaces and communities.

Through personal insight and gentle storytelling, Katherine explores the quiet leadership of caregiving: the small acts of kindness, presence, and compassion that shape human connection and create lasting change. From hosptial rooms to grocery store liens, this episode is a reminder that caregive is not only what we do--it is who we are.

A thoughtful pause, an invitation to lead with humanity, and a tribute to those whose lives continue to ripple forward through the people they touch.

There's a particular kind of laughter that shows up when people have lived through enough systems change to know two things at once: that the work matters deeply—and that taking ourselves too seriously won't get us very far.

That spirit framed our recent conversation with Cary Griffin, a longtime leader and truth-teller in the field of customized employment. We came together to talk about what's shifting at the federal level, what those changes mean on the ground, and how individuals with disabilities and families can continue shaping meaningful employment journeys in an increasingly uncertain environment.

The headlines can feel heavy. Policy priorities change. Funding structures wobble. Programs are renamed, restructured, or reduced. Families and self-advocates are often left translating vague language into very real, very personal decisions.

And yet—this conversation wasn't rooted in fear.

It was rooted in perspective.

Cary reminded us that customized employment was never about fitting people into tidy systems. It has always been about creativity, alignment, relationships, and listening deeply—to individuals, to businesses, and to communities. Those fundamentals don't disappear when administrations change. In many ways, they become even more important.

We talked about what it looks like to:

• Stay grounded when policy signals are confusing or discouraging

• Reframe employment as an evolving and meaningful journey rather than a fixed outcome

• Help individuals and families focus on strengths, contributions, and relationships instead of program limitations

• Keep joy, humor, and humanity at the center of serious work

There was laughter—real, unfiltered laughter—because sometimes humor is how we tell the truth gently enough to hear it ourselves.

As a new year begins, Katherine reflects on the mixed emotions many of us are carrying—hope, fatigue, uncertainty, and cautious optimism.

In this episode, she shares her honest thoughts about the changes ahead, including concerns about funding, policy shifts, and the stability of long-term supports for people with disabilities. Drawing on decades of lived experience as a parent, advocate, and community builder, Katherine reminds listeners that we are not entering this year unprepared.

She explores how the skills developed over years—storytelling, resourcefulness, advocacy, and translation—equip individuals, families, and communities to navigate change without losing sight of what matters most: meaningful lives, inclusive communities, and shared responsibility.

This episode is an invitation to begin the year grounded, nimble, and connected—trusting what we've already learned, and moving forward together.

In this festive and heart-warming episode of The Shining Beautiful Series Podcast, Mikelle leads us into the spirit of the season as she celebrates Secret Santa with the Shining Beautiful team and hosts a joyful holiday brunch with longtime friends — including Ian, the former barista who helped inspire the very concept of Shining Beautiful by ensuring she was fully included as part of the Starbucks community over 20 years ago.

We're joined by team member Torie, who shares her perspective on finding belonging in a new role and discovering how inclusion is lived — not just talked about. Together, we explore what makes friendships endure, how everyday acts of kindness shape a lifetime of connection, and the power of showing up for one another over time.

Filled with laughter, gratitude, and reminders that the smallest gestures can become the biggest gifts, this episode is a celebration of what truly matters during the holidays: the friendships that stay, the communities we build, and the love that continues to grow.

Happy holidays from all of us at Shining Beautiful — may your season shine bright with kindness and connection.

In this heartfelt episode of The Shining Beautiful Series Podcast, Mikelle sits down with her longtime friend and fellow podcaster, Win Charles, for a candid conversation about aging, disability, and navigating life's next significant transitions.

Win—who also has cerebral palsy—is preparing for an upcoming hip replacement surgery. While it's a routine procedure for many, it becomes a very different experience when disability shapes your daily life, communication, and recovery. Together, Mikelle, Win, and Katherine explore how the medical system responds to "typical" surgeries in not-so-typical bodies, and what it means to advocate for yourself at every step.

The trio opens up about the realities of getting older with a disability—from shifting physical needs to rethinking living arrangements, strengthening support teams, and building communities that adapt with you. Their conversation is honest, hopeful, and full of lived wisdom.

This episode is a reminder that aging isn't something to fear—it's another chapter to write with courage, creativity, and connection. Whether you're a family caregiver, a person with a disability, or simply someone navigating change, you'll find insight, humor, and heart in this powerful exchange between two remarkable women who have spent a lifetime redefining independence.

This month — as we honour National Family Caregivers Month — we turn our attention to the 63 million Americans who provide unpaid care for loved ones with disabilities or chronic health needs. That staggering number is nearly one in every four adults. (AARP) Here in Colorado, roughly 600,000 family caregivers contribute 560 million hours of unpaid care annually — a value of about $11.2 billion. (AARP States)

On this episode of The Shining Beautiful Series Podcast, host Katherine sits down with Cary Griffin to explore how caregivers are at the heart of employment and inclusion systems — yet often overlooked in policy, funding and workforce narratives. We'll dig into:

• How the caregiving role intersects with paid employment, training and economic security

• What budget-pressures in Colorado, including recent cuts to critical programs like the Family Provider rates within the DD waiver and the Community Connector services, mean for caregivers and the people they support

• Survey findings from Our Back Office research: how caregivers are juggling employment, support teams, aging, and systems change

• Actionable ideas for families, providers and employment professionals to re-frame caregivers as part of the solution—not just recipients of support

Whether you are a caregiver, a support professional, an employer, or someone who wants to understand the invisible backbone of community inclusion models better — this conversation is for you.

Join us and discover how supporting caregivers isn't a side conversation — it's central to sustaining employment, inclusion and dignity for people with disabilities and their families.

Additonal Data Resources:

1. Administration for Community Living. (n.d.). 2022 National strategy to support family caregivers. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://acl.gov/CaregiverStrategy

2. Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services. (n.d.). Colorado aging and adult services. https://aging.colorado.gov/

3. National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities. (n.d.). Bridging aging and disability networks. https://nacdd.org/bridging-aging-disability/#1709588308515-08fd8ab9-5944