#42: Powerful Inspiration & Resilience from Paralympic Gold Medalist/15-Time World Champion Swimmer

Breakthroughs: Smart Strategies for Career/Business Growth

I’m excited to have Mallory Weggemann as my guest on “Breakthroughs”... She joined Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, to deliver an incredibly inspiring Townhall about representation & inclusion via a closed circuit stream to Delta's 75,000 employees. Bastian is one of Mallory’s biggest corporate sponsors as well as a huge supporter of inclusion and representation of disabilities in the workplace. Mallory is a world-class athlete, business owner and speaker. She is a Paralympic Gold-Medalist, 15-Time World Champion Swimmer, ESPN ESPY Award winner, TV Sports Commentator, and founder of social impact agency, TFA Group. Mallory knows firsthand that the words and images we use, and how we use them, impacts how society perceives everything. A bit of context to the void that currently exists: 20% of the US population is disabled 0 Fortune 500 CEOs are disabled 1 disabled female senator out of 535 representatives and senators 1 disabled president (who hid his disability) out of 46 Fewer than 2% of characters on TV are disabled. 95% of the actors playing those characters are not disabled. US unemployment rate is 7% - 76% of the disabled are unemployed 10.5 % of Americans live below the poverty level while 32% of disabled Americans live below the poverty level In 2020, Mallory was a TV commentator at the Golden Globes and didn’t see one person who had a disability the entire day -- one of the largest gatherings of the biggest names in Hollywood. In fact, she had to be lifted three steps when she reached the end of the carpet because no one had thought to create an accessible path for a wheelchair. In 2008, when Mallory was paralyzed at the age of 18, she yearned to see representation. When she looked at the world around her, she felt isolated by her differences. It was then that Mallory learned it is hard to become what you don’t see. For the past 13 years she has made a conscious decision to do her part to fill that void, so our next generation never has to ask, “what about me?” We discuss her newly released book, “Limitless: The Power of Hope and Resilience to Overcome Circumstance”. This episode is for anyone who’s interested in getting inspiration on the topic of how to garner hope and resilience to overcome any difficult circumstance. https://www.amazon.com/Limitless-Power-Resilience-Overcome- Circumstance/dp/1400223466