Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley

Our guest today is Mindy Scheier, a fashion designer and mother of a child with a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy. She is a TED speaker and the President and Founder of Runway of Dreams, a nonprofit organization which works with top clothing brands to develop clothing designs that are made specifically for people with disabilities that make dressing themselves a difficult task. Scheier talks about her journey and also shares her Top 3 tips for launching an organization.

Filmmaker and entrepreneur, Andrew Pilkington is our guest for this episode. Andrew was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy as an infant and lives every day with the challenges that come with such a condition. He shares how he learned to use what strong motor skills he has to compensate for the ones that are lacking and other methods he uses to overcome obstacles that stand between him and his dreams.

Today’s guest, Karin York, shares about her journey as the mother of a son with Down syndrome and her work with special needs children in the Arizona school system. She also expounds on what led her to start a coffee shop designed for persons with special needs as both employees and customers. Karin invites you to participate in a menu taste test at the site of the soon-to-open coffee shop on April 13, 2019.

Actor and SLP student Andrew Manardo is our guest today. He talks with Mai Ling about the challenges he had growing up with TAR syndrome, his experiences in LA as an actor with a disability, and the story behind his drive to become an actor in the first place. Andrew also gives some insight into his relatively recent decision to pursue a career as a speech-language pathologist. (Please Note: We had some audio issues in the beginning, but it clears up after just a few minutes so please stick with us.)

Our guest today is Ariel Sansom. She is the Director of Development and Programs for DSNetwork Arizona, an organization which offers resources, support, and advocacy to families touched by Down syndrome. Ariel shares her journey to stepping into a full-time role at the foundation years after it was launched by her parents. She also talks about her experiences of growing up as a sibling of an individual with Down syndrome and she explains what DSNetwork is and how they can be of service to those with Down syndrome and their families.

Today’s guest is Yudi Bennett, the Secretary of The Uniquely Abled Project, an organization which works to provide vocational opportunities for uniquely abled individuals. She is also the co-founder of Exceptional Minds, a Visual Effects and Animation Studio as well as vocational academy that trains individuals on the autism spectrum to hone their artistic and design skills and achieve the career of their dreams. Bennett talks with Mai Ling about the missions of these organizations and the impetuses for their creation.

Our host, Mai Ling, is joined by two guests on this episode. Kelly Ott and Dr. Lara Wakefield are the creators of the SMARTER Steps program and the company of the same name, both of which are designed to assist caregivers and professionals in creating more effective Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). They share the story of their beginnings, how they complement each other in their work together, and some tips on how you can be successful in your business partnership.

Celine Osukwu joins Mai Ling to share about the work she is doing in her native country of Nigeria as a leader for disability rights and women’s rights. She is the founder of Divine Foundation for Disabled Persons, an organization which offers, among other things, employment training for persons with disabilities. Celine also opens up about some of the struggles she’s personally faced as a woman with a disability and how she has overcome them.

In this final installment of our Hollywood series, our guest is actor and comedian, Nic Novicki. Nic chats with Mai Ling about the importance of not overlooking hard work, how comedy and drama are connected, and empowering people with disabilities who are working in the entertainment industry. He shares his passion behind the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, an annual competition focusing on promoting films using people with disabilities, both in front of and behind the camera.

Continuing our series of interviews with Hollywood actors, today’s guest is Paul Ford. Paul shares about his experiences with auditioning and landing on-screen roles in the entertainment industry, his early days as a guitarist in a band, and also why he feels it is so important for more persons with disabilities to be cast in TV and film. He also talks about his recent project, “Time to Start Booking PWD” which is working to assist actors with disabilities in their efforts.

As we continue our series of episodes spotlighting Hollywood actors, our guest this week is Eileen Grubba, who has had roles on the stage and the screen. She talks with Mai Ling about her extreme life experiences, the challenges that they posed for her, and how she didn’t let them deter her. Grubba explains why she’s in favor of getting rid of the labels society places on people and shares her story of overcoming cancer and a severe spinal cord injury. You don’t want to miss this inspiring conversation.

In this first episode of our Hollywood series, we are joined by actor Tobias Forrest. He shares some of his experiences being an actor in Hollywood with a disability, he talks about others who have helped to pave the way for him and future actors with disabilities, and he also gives us his 3 top tips for someone who might wish to follow the path that he has gone down in the film industry.

Our guest today is Pam Gaber, Founder and CEO of Gabriel’s Angels, a non-profit organization which pairs up loving pets with at-risk children to help better their lives. Pam shares about transitioning from a corporate job to starting a non-profit from the ground up, the importance of making sure your mission is greater than you, recognizing your skillsets and your limitations, developing systems and workflows, and much more.

Fe Murray is our featured guest on this week’s episode. Fe is the President of the Arizona Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ArSHA) and she shares valuable leadership insights including how to empower other team members to use their talents, the importance of volunteerism, 3 things to consider before taking a volunteer leadership position and more.

Our guest on the show today is Denise Resnik, founder and CEO of First Place Apartments, a housing solution for adults with autism. Denise is also a co-founder of the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC). She shares her experiences as the mother of a son with autism, her inspiration for First Place and SARRC, and encourages us to dream big.

Our host, Mai Ling Chan starts off this year of the show with interviews with two successful entrepreneurs who have some great information to share. We start with a chat with speaker, best-selling author, and leadership coach Chris Widener who shares valuable business principles and encouragement to help you launch or grow your business. Following that, Mai Ling is joined by entrepreneur Nathan Hirsch, co-founder and CEO of Freeeup, to share some tips and specific examples of how you can outsource tasks in your business to freelancers allowing you to make the best use of your time.

For this special holiday episode, Mai Ling Chan sits down for a fun, lighthearted roundtable conversation with the other hosts of the Xceptional Podcast Network. She is joined by Matt Hott of Speech Science as well as Chris Bugaj and Rachel Madel of Talking with Tech. The four discuss the challenges and benefits of creating a podcast in the special needs market. They also talk about how they first got into an SLP career, staying focused while interviewing guests, their favorite holiday films, and more.

Once again we bring you some great interviews from the 2018 ASHA conference in Boston. In this episode, we feature interviews with other podcasters in the SLP space. Mai Ling Chan talks with the SLP Happy Hour hosts, Erik X. Raj, Chris Bugaj, Lucas Steuber, Ayelet Marinovich, Venita Litvack, and Jenna Castro-Casbon.

Do you have a great idea but don't know the next steps to take to have the most impact on the world? Phyl Macomber shares her journey of moving beyond the borders to impact the world with her ideas and how you can too. She talks about mastermind groups, using your skills in diverse applications, the essentiality of being profitable as an SLP in order to continue helping people, the value of knowing when you need to learn more to improve your effectiveness, and much more. We also spotlight Jenn, our 2nd place winner live interview at ASHA 18.

Our host, Mai Ling Chan, attended the ASHA18 conference in Boston and had the opportunity to interview several SLP Bloggers on the show floor. These short conversations are full of insights from these talented professionals who are working hard to impact this field. Also included in this episode is a featured interview with Summer Loehr, live from the XceptionalED booth.