Lisa Greer is a mother of five, a former executive and business owner, a convener of charitable events, and the author of Philanthropy Revolution.  We discuss her childrens’ diagnoses with cancer and adolescent-onset epilepsy and how that affected the whole family. Lisa explains how transparency fosters trust, something that applies to the worlds of charitable giving, healthcare, and parenting.  There are so many impactful takeaways from this wide-ranging conversation with Lisa, as the wisdom she has gained in her variety of roles interconnect in sometimes surprising ways.

In this episode, we meet Patty Braendel, a special education teacher who is an adoptive mom, a birth mom, and also a foster mom. We hear about her journey to parenthood with all its ups and downs and learn how her experiences as a parent have helped her work in special education. 

Kathryn Paylor-Bent has a lot of wisdom to share and we cover a lot of ground in this conversation. We talk about her experiences as a disabled woman, wheelchair user, and the CEO of two successful businesses. She uses her disability as inspiration for her successful career as an adaptive fashion designer and as a consultant to other organizations.

In this episode, we meet Dom Raban, a designer, software developer, and father of Issy.  Issy underwent cancer treatment at age 13. While Issy is now a young adult and cancer-free, the lack of information given to Issy during her treatments prompted her father to create a child-centered app called  Xploro. This amazing app was designed to improve the health literacy of children, to decrease procedural anxiety, and  to improve the hospital experience for all children and their families.

Eleven-year-old Easton and his mother Jennifer are a great son-mom team. In this episode, we will hear from both and learn about support dogs, supercars, playgrounds, pregnancy, birth, and spina bifida. 

George Estreich is an award-winning writer whose work includes poetry, memoir, and non-fiction. He is also a musician who plays with the band Mule On Fire. In addition to writing and music. George is an activist, storyteller, husband, and father to Ellie and Laura.  George talks about raising his daughter, Laura, who was born with Down syndrome. And then he talks about biotechnology, disability, and the stories we tell ourselves. He discusses how all people are more than a single identity and not only are stereotypes untrue, but they are also incomplete.

Laura, a young woman with Down syndrome talks about her life and goals. She graduated from general education program, went on to become an advocate, an athlethe, an activist for the disabled community and educator.

In this episode, we meet Josh Burch, a 48-year-old man who was born with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. Josh talks about the challenges of growing up blind and shares how he navigates a world built for sighted people with the help of technology and his guide dog, Lou. We also hear more from Josh’s stepmother, Julie Burch, and learn how they inspired and learned from each other, and how their relationship has changed over time. 

In this episode, we meet Josh Burch, a 48-year-old man who was born with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. Josh talks about the challenges of growing up blind and shares how he navigates a world built for sighted people with the help of technology and his guide dog, Lou. We also hear more from Josh’s stepmother, Julie Burch, and learn how they inspired and learned from each other, and how their relationship has changed over time. 

In  this episode  Jillian and Audrey, mother and daughter, share their perspectives about dwarfism  and offer helpful advice and wisdom along the way. They  speak about topics ranging from the “sport” of dwarf-tossing to some very enlightening and evolved perspectives on disability, advocacy, decision-making, overcoming challenges, and thriving in a world that does not make it easy to live without being stared at and  photographed without consent. Dwarfism is relatively rare so most of us have never met a little person. In this episode, you will gain a new appreciation for the challenges, gifts, and wisdom of one little person and her mom.

Jillian Curwin, an advocate for dwarfism and disability awareness, is the host of the podcast, “Always Looking Up.”  She was born with achondroplasia—a form of dwarfism. On the previous episode of Wisdom Shared, I spoke with her mother, Audrey. You can listen to that episode here: https://wisdom-shared.simplecast.com/episodes/audrey.

Audrey Curwin is the mother of two adult children, Jillian and Benjamin. Audrey was the Assistant Prosecutor in Gloucester County, New Jersey, supervising the domestic violence and sexual assault unit until her retirement in 2006. She was married for 23 years to Michael Curwin, and together, they were the only husband and wife team of first assistant prosecutors in New Jersey.