My blurred opinion

Renewed hope

This episode is with Darryl Rodgers, about him and his son chase story. His son suffered from a mild case of ADHD, but his real issue was substance abuse. After getting kicked out of school, his parents had to figure out what to do with him next, and the first thing they thought of was an intervention. It seemed like the more they tried, the more they enabled him and pushed him in the opposite direction.  I don't want to give away too much of the story, but there is a period in his story that gets really dark, but through all the darkness, Darryl find what he's most passionate about, and becomes a peer support for parents with kids who have addiction issues. 
His website https://www.thefamilyrecoverycoach.com
His Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drodgers61/

Post traumatic growth

Danielle's journey starts with a traumatic brain injury, and we go into how it affected her, and the uphill climb to get back to where she was before the injury. She is another example of a person who took their pain and turned it into something beautiful. She started a company eight years ago, and now it's international, and she's helping people with their pain, whether physical or mental. She has helped many people with her business, and I believe she will continue this for as long as she is on this earth
Her website https://brainbodyself.com
Her Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_daniellematthews_/
 

Persistency is the key

From the moment of birth, Michael Kutcher has overcome challenges and conquered obstacles that most people never even catch a glimpse of. Born as an unexpected twin of Ashton Kutcher, Michael met his first of many challenges at delivery. Entering the world notably smaller than his twin at less than five pounds, Michael was hardly responsive and struggled to take his first breath.  By age three, Michael was battling significant developmental delays, caused by irreversible neurological pathologies. He was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy before he entered Kindergarten. Michael was diagnosed with heart failure at age 13 and was once again faced with an unthinkable challenge of survival. After being given a life expectancy of just three to four weeks, Michael again defeated the odds and successfully received a lifesaving heart transplant.  It was this second close brush with death that opened Michael’s eyes to the fragility of life and inspired him to take control of the future he once thought he wouldn’t have. Michael’s message is one of inspiration, hope and appreciation. Having overcome unthinkable challenges against extraordinary odds, Michael is living proof that perseverance and unwavering positivity can surmount even the most seemingly impossible of obstacles
His website https://www.michaelkutcher.com
https://www.facebook.com/mkutch/
 
 

The DeArments

This episode is about a family who is very tight and supportive of each other. Denise is the mother, Brandon is the father, and Jordan and Joe are the sons. I work with both Joe and Brandon, both great people, and stand-up guys. This episode occurred when I was on the treadmill at the gym with Joe, and he brought up his parent's participation and relationship with the Special Olympics. Jordan who is the older brother is very talented, artistic, and a very sweet guy. He was diagnosed with autism when he was three years old, and a lot of this episode is based around his upbringing, and how the family came together to provide a great life for Jordan, and for him to live out as much normalcy as possible. In the episode you get to see how supportive and loving his mother and father is, and their dedication to getting him into the Special Olympics, protecting him from any issues that would arise whether it's his schooling, medical issues, or anything else. 

One strong mother

For over a decade, Nicole worked on the communications side of the human rights world. She fought for the child bride of Uganda, the persecuted religious minority of Iran, the abortion survivor of France, and beyond. But, it wasn't until the birth of her second daughter that Nicole's mission to fight for those suffering would be given flesh and bone.Her little daughter was born in distress, resulting in the diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, and she's spent every breath since shouting the value of all human life, from womb to tomb. Nicole is such an insightful, strong woman, I was captivated by her stories, especially her journeys on giving birth to her two children. I love people who get knocked down, and keep getting up, I know Nicole knew what was coming with her second child as far as how painful the birth could be, but she did it anyway because she wanted to bring another beautiful child into the world. 
Her website https://www.dignitydefense.org/pro-dignity-no-doubt
Her Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicolemysmith/
Her Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NicoleMYSmith/
 

musicman

Jael is a very talented, intelligent man, he has been creating music since he was 14 years old and had over 100 projects to date. We discussed the music industry, writing versus artists who don't, and the popularity that comes with that. Jael had a stroke that affected the majority of his body, he had issues with his eyes legs, vocal cords, and did some real damage to his brain. At one point it looked very bleak, but he kept believing that he would recover, even if his voice wouldn't sound the same, he knew he had to get back to music and get back to living life the best way he can even if it would be altered by his health conditions
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4fzr9OnMCwJ9r2arYM38t9
https://jael.bandcamp.com/album/feeling-used-yet
Due to his site being down at this point in time, if you would like to get a hold of him here is his email  jaelmusic@gmail.com
 
 
 

Being able to see obstacles as opportunity

Andrew currently co-hosts the show Happy Hour with Heather and Guest. He writes crime fiction novellas, short stories, and volunteers. In 2018 he survived a ruptured brain aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage. He's going to start a Clinical Mental Health Counseling program in January '22. As I've stated before, I'm really being on positive vibes and energy, and Andrew radiates positive vibes and good energy. He's another example of someone who takes something tragic, and uses it to help others so that they can have the best possible experience
His website https://andrew-davie.com
https://www.facebook.com/adavieauthor
 

On a path to finding my personal identity

Zane is such a sweet person, and reminds me a lot of myself, always trying to find a place where he belongs, feeling, and being isolated from people, doing certain things that isn't necessarily in your character, but he would do it to try to fit in or to survive. As he says the most defining moment in his life was when his mom passed away, he was completely distraught, I didn't know how to go on. She was his biggest supporter, and loved him unconditionally, and was a person who helped him generate any sort of courage and fight that was deep inside him. Now he takes risks, and when he does something he thinks about what would a mother do, because he just wants to make her proud, and I know he does so. This is a story of a guy who is winning against his demons with a little help from his mom.
His Instagram is at Zanelandin
 

I have a cat and I have my sanity

Chris Mitchell has the trifecta of disabilities, a physical disability, a learning disability, add a visual disability. And of course, we can't forget he also has depression. Though he has so much to deal with, he really does have a good spirit, he has his good days and his bad days, but for the most part, he is a strong individual. We discuss how these disabilities affect him daily and throughout his life.  He started a podcast to help those with disabilities use life hacks to become successful and help avoid the traps, and hurdles that come with having a disability
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/successful-and-disabled-podcast/id1629739158
 

Mariah only knows how to be Mariah

I met Mariah Burley through a Facebook group, and we instantly became friends. I noticed that she is a very kind person, but is also guarded due to how she has been treated over the years because of her disability. She is autistic, dyslexic, and possibly has ADHD. She's very into her faith and her family. Like many others I've had on the show, she tries to advocate for those with disabilities, to make a better place for us to live in. We also discuss how bad her mental health was at one point, with multiple suicide attempts, I and her family are both happy that she is still here. 
She is Mariah Burley on YouTube.