A new VA rule change has veterans questioning how disability is measured — especially when “functioning while medicated” becomes part of the equation.

But this conversation is bigger than the VA.

As a veteran living with PTSD and chronic migraines, I understand what it means to manage invisible disabilities while still showing up to work, leading, and producing. Therapy can surface what was suppressed. Medication can stabilize symptoms. But functioning is not the same as being healed.

And our workforce systems were not designed with that reality in mind.

In Georgia, people with disabilities face lower employment rates, lower wages, and fewer long-term advancement opportunities. Veterans with invisible disabilities sit at the intersection of all of it.

This episode explores how disability policy, veteran transition, and labor systems are connected — and why building a workforce that works for everyone requires leadership that understands both policy and lived experience.