The SwagAbility Show -With Stephen Wagstaff

She could have quit… but she didn’t. In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen sits down with Julie Barth to explore what it really means to keep going when life gets difficult. Julie shares her journey through adversity, the mindset that helped her push forward, and how resilience is built one decision at a time. This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt like giving up — and needed...

Have you ever noticed how people lower their voice when they say the word disability? As if it’s something fragile… something to fix… something to avoid. But what if disability isn’t a limitation at all? In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen sits down with Jenna Udenberg, founder of Above and Beyond With You, to challenge the way we think about disability, accessibility, and inclusion....

What does it take to go from playing guitar in a dive bar… to negotiating stadium naming rights inside the NFL? In this powerful episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with Megha Perik, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for the Jacksonville Jaguars. A Harvard-educated leader operating at the highest level of professional sports, Megha’s career is nothing short o...

What happens when your brain begins to fail you—and no one can explain why? In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with Rob Renee to explore the deeply personal journey of facing cognitive decline, neurological dysfunction, and the fear surrounding conditions like dementia. After experiencing severe brain health challenges, Rob refused to accept a future defined by dec...

Every year, more people are injured in their own homes than in car accidents. Not because they’re careless. Not because they’re clumsy. But because most homes were never designed with accessibility in mind. In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, host Stephen Wagstaff sits down with Greg Cantori, founder of Little Deeds, to talk about the hidden dangers inside everyday homes and what we can do to...

More than 50 million Americans live with chronic pain, and back pain remains the number one cause of disability worldwide. Even more alarming, one in four patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain struggles with addiction. Stephen Wagstaff sits down with Dr. Alex Halario, founder of Chiropractic Rehabilitation Source in Yonkers, New York, to discuss the growing epidemic of chronic pain and the...

One moment can change everything. At just 20 years old, Ken Kunken was a college football player at Cornell University with a bright future ahead of him. But during a game on October 31, 1970, a devastating spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the neck down. Most people would have believed life as they knew it was over. Ken chose a different path. In this powerful conversation on The SwagAbi...

For some, rock bottom is a metaphor. For Andrew Drasen, it was a jail cell. After seven felonies, eight treatment programs, and a near-fatal overdose, Andrew’s life looked beyond repair. What followed wasn’t just sobriety — it was transformation. In this powerful conversation on The SwagAbility Show, Andrew shares the unfiltered truth about addiction, incarceration, identity, personal responsibili...

What if the ability to text, run a business, surf the internet—or even play Xbox—could be restored using nothing more than your breath? For individuals living with high-level spinal cord injuries, even the smallest daily tasks can become overwhelming barriers to independence. But today’s episode introduces a life-changing innovation that is redefining what autonomy looks like for people with limit...

Nicholas "Nick" Akosa wasn’t just placed on life support — he was placed on ECMO, one of the most advanced and invasive life support systems used when the body can no longer sustain life on its own. After being put into a medically induced coma due to an unknown illness, his future was uncertain. Today, he’s stepped into the ring as a champion amateur boxer — and is also working as a world-class s...

Sometimes life doesn’t just change your plans — it changes everything. In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, I sit down with Gail Showalter, a former high school teacher who found herself raising three children alone after losing the marriage, the security, and the future she thought she had built. What followed was a calling she never expected. In her 40s, Gail went back to school to become a...

Unlocking Hope: A Non-Surgical Approach to Chronic Pain with Dr. William Moyle Life can change in a moment — through illness, disability, trauma, or burnout — and when it does, too many people are left feeling unseen and unheard. In this episode, Dr. William Moyle shares his groundbreaking three-step system that offers a hopeful, non-invasive alternative to chronic pain treatment. Whether you're l...

Most diets fail — and it’s not your fault. In this powerful episode of The Swagability Show, trauma-informed nutritionist Lisa Franz explains how diet culture, trauma, and metabolism intersect, and what true healing with food can look like. Why do diets fail so often — and why does the blame almost always fall on our bodies instead of the system? In this episode of The Swagability Show, Stephen Wa...

Disability can change more than your body — it can redefine your identity, your community, and your place in the world. In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with Peter Torres-Fremlin, founder and editor of Disability Debrief, a global publication featuring disability voices from more than 160 countries. Peter shares how disability becomes a global identity, what he l...

Everything can change in a moment—and no one prepares you for that. A raw conversation about diagnosis, resilience, and rebuilding life after uncertainty. In this powerful episode of The Swagability Show, Louise Twardowski shares her deeply human experience of navigating sudden life changes, health challenges, and the emotional impact of uncertainty. With honesty and compassion, Louise reflects on...

What does resilience look like when your bones break before your dreams even begin? In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with Katherine Klimitas, an advocate, speaker, and changemaker living with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) — also known as Brittle Bone Disease. Standing at 2 foot 7 inches tall and having experienced more than 500 broken bones, Katherine’s story is o...

Sometimes life doesn’t just challenge you — it forces a complete reset. In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with John Fela to talk about what happens when adversity disrupts your plans, challenges your identity, and forces you to rebuild your life from the ground up. Through personal experience, John shares how leadership is often forged not in comfort, but in momen...

What happens when the mission ends — but the mindset remains? In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with a military coach to explore the challenges and opportunities that come with transitioning from life in uniform to life beyond service. Together, they discuss how leadership, discipline, and resilience developed in the military can shape identity, mindset, and purpo...

If your life has ever been interrupted by disability, illness, trauma, caregiving, or an unexpected diagnosis, you’re not alone—and you’re in the right place. I’m Stephen Wagstaff, a C5 quadriplegic since a diving accident at age 19. For over 10,000 days, I’ve been learning what it means to adapt when life doesn’t go according to plan—and how purpose can still exist even when everything changes. T...