Always Looking Up

In this week's episode it is just me and the microphone. With the chapter that was the year 2025 coming to an end, and 2026 just around the corner, I wanted to take a moment to unpack and reflect. I went into this year with plans and expectations that quickly and quite often had to be altered, in both good ways and bad. And those experiences have made an impact on my body, physically, mentally, em...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Hillary Wool. Hillary is a disabled business strategist, model, and advocate reshaping how we think about ambition, style, and wellness for chronically ill and disabled women. As a partner at Boston Consulting Group, she led global research on the disabled workforce experience, which was covered in outlets including The New York Times and Forbes. She has also...

In this week’s episode of Always Looking Up I sat down with Lindi Marcusen. Lindi is a Paralympic sprinter and long jumper whose journey began after surviving a catastrophic accident in 2017 that resulted in the loss of her right leg and a traumatic brain injury. A former high-level gymnast, Lindi turned to adaptive sports during her recovery, finding purpose and power through competition. Now a 5...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Selene Luna. Selene is an actress and producer hailed by The New York Times as “a polished spitfire.” A magnetic live performer, she’s toured extensively alongside Margaret Cho and Dita Von Teese. We discuss the mask people with dwarfism are often forced to wear, the moment in her career where she was able to take the mask off, creating a character such as So...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Caity. Caity is the founder of her own fashion brand where she repurposes thrifted garments and enhances them with her signature free-motion embroidery. Her work is best described as wearable art, incorporating appliqué and embroidery featuring nature-inspired and character-driven motifs. We discuss her being a designer with dwarfism in the fashion industry a...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Jake Stimell. Jake is a disability inclusion and accessibility specialist at New York Road Runners, who is on a mission to make the sports world more accessible for and inclusive of people with disabilities. Jake advocates for people with disabilities to be involved in the sports world as athletes, spectators, employees and community representatives, and he f...

In this week’s episode I sat down with John Feal. John is best known for his work with the FealGood Foundation (“FGF”), a 9/11 First Responder advocacy group that has provided both economic aide and individual comfort to countless First Responders, as well as his tireless efforts on behalf of those Responders in the passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Today, John remains...

In this week’s episode I welcomed back Aubrey Smalls. Aubrey is an actor, filmmaker, and content creator with dwarfism who uses his platforms to educate people about what it means to be a little person and dwarfism history. October is a month for celebration in the dwarfsim community, so we wanted to take the time to discuss how we will be celebrating as well as have a conversation about how being...

In this week’s episode I welcomed back Dr. Akilah Cadet. Dr. Cadet is the Founder, CEO of Change Cadet consulting firm, a Forbes listed entrepreneur, co-owner of the Oakland Roots and Soul soccer teams, and author of White Supremacy Is All Around: Notes From a Black Disabled Woman in a White World. She literally has all the degrees, lives in Oakland, CA, celebrates her disability, is a proud Beyon...

This week’s episode is a special episode in celebration of New York Fashion Week which just came to an end. As the tailor-made fashion girl, I wanted to share my thoughts before and after Fashion Week about the industry, representation, and being a little person who has such a passion for fashion, even though the industry still refuses to see her. This episode was originally recorded in two parts...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Ariella Elm. Ariella is a queer, Jewish, disabled political influencer offering daily visibility into the stories of Democratic fighters and inspiring activism from a place of hope, rather than fear. We discuss how our community can speak up, speak out, make an impact and make a difference, even if our bodies do not always allow us to show up, even if that me...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Richard Whitehead MBE. Richard is a Paralympic Gold Medallist, world record holder, professional athlete, marathon runner and a passionate diversity and inclusion champion. Richard is now currently the fastest amputee runner in the world and is undertaking an epic 20 marathon challenge around the world throughout 2025, to bring him to an incredible 100 marath...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Ashton McGrady. Ashton is a Charlotte-based creator sharing beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content through the lens of someone living with a disability. She is especially passionate about accessibility in the beauty space and loves spotlighting inclusive products and creative ways to make your routine work for you. Alongside her creator work, Ashton is the co...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Violet Ferguson. Violet is an emerging producer, content creator, and disability advocate based near Toronto, Ontario. Over the past few years, she’s focused on sharing disability-led stories and supporting disabled voices through her filmmaking and advocacy work. She recently served as the associate producer on the award-nominated series The Squeaky Wheel: C...

This episode celebrates 200 episodes of Always Looking Up, an incredible milestone that I am so incredibly proud of and grateful for. I wanted to take the time to reflect on what it means having gotten this far and the journey to get here, highlighting some milestone moments, look ahead towards where I want to be, where I want the podcast to be, and to say thank you to my brother, the audience, an...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Sheila Xu and her interpreter Justin Baldi. Sheila is an oral and signing Deaf woman who broke barriers as one of the first deaf commercial analog astronaut trainees and the first deaf Asian female pilot. As Director of Development at AstroAccess, a non-profit advancing disability inclusion in the space sector, she holds degrees from MIT, Harvard, and Wharton...

In the 200th episode of Always Looking Up I sat down with Ellie Simmonds. Ellie is a five-time Paralympic Champion and a fourteen time World Champion in the sport of para swimming. Ellie shot to fame when she won her first Paralympic Gold medal at just 13 years old at the Beijing Paralympics and after that summer success was the youngest ever recipient of an MBE, an award from the Queen at the age...

Trigger Warning: In this episode we do discuss sensitive topics related to mental health such as addiction and self harm. If these are triggers for you please feel free to skip this episode. In this week’s episode I sat down with Jen Montzingo. Jen is proud to serve in Los Angeles local politics in various ways such as serving on the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council and sitting on the Los Ange...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Aariana Rose Philip. Aariana is a groundbreaking trans model from The Bronx, by way of Antigua and Barbuda, known for championing representation for disabled and trans women of color in fashion. Represented by Supreme New York, she has starred in global campaigns, graced major magazine covers including British Vogue, and continues to push for a more inclusive...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Catarina Rivera. Catarina is a dynamic public speaker, DEIA consultant, and content creator. She works with companies to improve disability awareness, inclusion, and accessibility. As a disabled Latiné woman, she is passionate about sharing her own unique story to help build a more inclusive world. We discuss how her life experiences shaped her career, changi...

Welcome Back! In this week’s episode of Always Looking Up I sat down with Jenna Bainbridge. Jenna is an actor, singer, co-founder, disability rights advocate and executive producer of two of my favorite TikTok series. She navigates the world as an ambulatory wheelchair user and, in 2024 became the first wheelchair user to perform in a New Musical on Broadway when she made her debut in Suffs. Now s...

Dear Diary, We have some housekeeping to do, and then let's start a conversation about how the world see's (or doesn't see) dwarf bodies. This episode is the newest in my Jillian's Diary series on Patreon available to my "Second Step-Stool" tier. Join The Patreon: Click  ⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠ Follow Me: Instagram:  ⁠⁠⁠@jill_ilana⁠⁠⁠  ,  ⁠⁠⁠@alwayslookingup.podcast⁠⁠⁠  TikTok:  ⁠⁠⁠@j...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Liz Gutman. Liz is the Head Audio Description Writer at International Digital Centre in New York City. She has written award-winning AD for 850+ hours of movies and TV, and proudly works as an instructor with Audio Description Training Retreats. We discuss making and creating content that is digitally accessible, how she explains and defines access f*ckery an...

In celebration of May being Mental Health Awareness Month I am honored to have sat down with Kirsten Ferguson. A successful career woman turned Peloton fitness instructor, Kirsten wholeheartedly embraces the changes that life brings. After seven years of working with the NFL, she shifted her focus to family. Her journey to motherhood was not easy, and fitness helped Kirsten strengthen her body and...

In this week’s episode I sat down with Peet Montzingo. Peet Montzingo is one of the top social media content creators who has over 21.5M subscribers on his YouTube channel, 14.2M followers on his TikTok, and 3.1M followers on his Instagram. Known for his comedic videos that feature his family and daily life, his content also dabbles in the supernatural, where he formerly lived across the street fr...