Destiny Is Debatable

Morten Bonde returns to talk about life after publishing his book, Sentenced to Blindness, Now What, which chronicles his journey from hopelessness to possibility and liberation from sight loss due to Retinitis Pigmentosa.  Since leaving his career at the Lego Group, Morten has become a meditation teacher, mindfulness instructor and TEDx speaker with an ambition to captivate, influence and motivat...

Ms. Wheelchair America, Ali Ingersoll, stops by to share her personal journey as a C6 Complete Quadriplegic that began with a shallow water diving accident. Ali’s captivating personality, relentless drive and belief in paying it forward, are all on display as she shares about the work she does for the disability community and inclusion for all humans in the corporate world as well as the basic rig...

Vice President of Marketing, Stephanie Jones, stops by to talk about how the Menus4ALL app puts over 850,000 accessible restaurant menus in the palm of your hand. She then takes John for a test drive with the app to demonstrate the ease of use and empowerment it provides as well as a great Memphis BBQ restaurant. Stephanie also shares her unique story of sight loss due to a condition called Pseudo...

Mary Mammoliti, host of the Kitchen Confession Podcast and the Dish with Mary TV Show, stops by to share her personal journey with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and how she confronted her imposter syndrome, stopped saying sorry and started finding ability in her disability and smiling all the time. Mary found that spending time in the kitchen was therapeutic and launched Mary 2.0 and the podcast and T...

“Marketing publicist”, podcaster and advocate, Lis Malone stops by to share her personal journey with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and how she developed a #DontWait mindset to move forward through the uncertainty of her diagnosis and future. Lis and John compare notes on brushes with danger and reflect on the tough decision to surrender their driver’s licenses, and its underlying impact on one’s psyc...

Co-host of the AT Banter Podcast, Ryan Fleury, stops to share the story of how his sight was abruptly lost in an accident and the new found direction his life took thereafter. Ryan and John discuss assistive technology and how AI and Chat GPT,  will be a game changing technology for the blind a visually impaired. A musician on the side, Ryan shares a song he wrote that was turned into an audio des...

Patti Wukovits and Alicia Stillman, two mothers who each lost their young, healthy daughters too soon to a now vaccine-preventable disease, Meningitis B (known as MenB). High school senior Kimberly (Patti’s daughter), 17, died one week before her graduation. College sophomore Emily (Alicia’s daughter), 19, died just 36 hours after her first symptoms. Both Kimberly and Emily had received the MenACW...

Founder and President of the Together Achieving Dreams (TAD) Foundation, Kathryn Webster, stops by to share her unbelievably unique sight loss journey and the humbling moment she became comfortable with herself. Kathryn explains TAD Foundation’s three pronged approach to increasing employment in corporate America for the blind and low vision community by bridging the gap between potential and poss...

Director of Strategic Partnerships, Billy Parker, stops by to explain how NSITE is a one-stop-shop for blindness employment. A spinoff of the National Industries for the Blind (NIB), NSITE works with employers to identify potential candidates who are blind, visually impaired, and/or veterans. From there, NSITE assists with accessibility needs, onboarding, and training, then prepares both parties f...

James Warnken stops by to share about his journey with progressive vision loss due to the rare eye disease, Genetic Retinal Dystrophy, which typically leads to blindness. He discusses some of the challenges he faced during his unconventional path through school and how the challenges taught him to self-advocate and solve his own problems, usually with technology. James also talks about his passion...

During a performance in summer 2020, Mark Erelli looked down at his guitar neck and couldn’t believe what he saw. Or rather, what he couldn’t see: his fingers on the frets. Soon after, a diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) would bring some answers, but it also yielded new questions. Does diminished eyesight correlate with lesser insight? Does your songwriting change when your perception of the...

Fellow survivor, Samantha Bennett, stops by to share her meningitis experience that begins as a 10-month-old baby and how the fast action of her family and an ER doctor helped her beat the odds. She recalls the countless months spent in the hospital as a child enduring reconstructive surgeries and how she turned to art to express herself. Embracing her scars and her story, Sam connected with the N...

The great Neva Fairchild stops by to share her unique sight loss story with Cone Rod Degeneration (a form of Retinitis Pigmentosa) and how she was set on a path to success by her parents. Neva recalls her time at Esther’s Place during her early days with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and her infamous encounter with John and the Motorola Q. Neva discusses her current AFB role coordina...

Founder and CEO, Lukas Simianer, stops by to illuminate some staggering employment statistics of the blind and visually impaired community. He shares the origin story of Clusiv , the world’s first e-learning platform built for and by the blind and their mission to remove barriers to employment and to reduce the net amount of suffering in the world. :: SHOW LINKS :: For show notes, guest profiles ,...

Kirk Adams stops by to share his sight loss story and journey learning to advocate for himself and how his work with the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind lead him to the CEO position at The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Kirk talks about the AFB’s history and his time with the organization and the role AFB Consulting plays in the development of accessible technology including VoiceOver o...

Entrepreneur and founder of Jack From Brooklyn, Jackie Summers shares how a health scare caused him to reevaluate his priorities, create a liqueur company, and build his own table. While creating Sorel, a modern twist on a 500-year-old Caribbean classic, he became America’s first black legal distiller and filled his team with diversity and inclusion in mind. With the help of Dr Hoby Wedler, Sorel...

John and Erin welcome back long-time compadres, Chris and Heidi Elder all the way from Germany, for some season’s eatings and Alton Brown’s version of aged eggnog. As homemade eggnog experts, Chris and Heidi discuss the simple recipe and their traditions. Not much into dairy, John gets distracted by one of the ingredients, Courvoisier, and resurrects a “high-society” cocktail, the Stinger, which w...

While on a family road trip, Regina Mitchell noticed a pain in her eye that changed from slight to excruciating within a few days. After a long medical journey she was diagnosed with Bilateral Panuveitis and began losing her sight rapidly. Regina stops by to share her sight loss story and how she adapted her lifestyle and career as a classically trained chef and began working intuitively in the ki...

Professionally Marissa Nehlsen is a coach, speaker, and CEO of a 7-figure financial firm. Personally, she is a sister, mother, and grandmother with an extraordinary journey from a trailer court to financial freedom with plenty of challenges along the way. Marissa stops by to share her unique Stargardts sight loss story, the sage wisdom from her mother to be victorious rather than a victim and the...

Born with the rare condition, Microphthalmia, Dr. Hoby Wedler has been totally blind since birth and is remarkably tuned into his surroundings and has frequently chosen to walk the unbeaten paths in life. Among many things Hoby is a chemist, food scientist, sensory awareness expert, entrepreneur and lives with an abundance mindset. He stops by to share his sight loss story and how a wholesome upbr...

As a photographer well into her professional career, Robyn Rachel sensed something was changing in her body. After a routine eye exam, she was referred to a specialist and diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and Usher’s Syndrome (Usher’s 2A). Robyn decided it was time to pivot from weddings to see the world while she could. Now, as the Silver Lining Explorer, Robyn lives fully, travels often...

Matt Philipenko returns to expand on the assistive devices and software that makes his world go ‘round. As a Microsoft Office Ranger, Matt is passionate about Windows and Office accessibility. Matt takes John for a tour of new and improved Magnifier and Narrator features as well as some of the new natural voices.  Previous Episode: Rise Up with Matt Philipenko Connect with Matt at: https://www.amb...

As a senior at the University of Kansas, Andy Marso was not aware of the signs and symptoms of meningitis. Because of the fast action of his friend and local doctors Andy miraculously survived to tell the tale in his book, Worth the Pain: How Meningitis Nearly Killed Me - Then Changed My Life for the Better . Almost two decades later, Andy lives with the permanent physical effects of his battle wi...

Producer and host of Reid My Mind Radio, Thomas Reid, stops by to share his journey that started as an infant with a rare form of cancer, retinoblastoma, that eventually took both of his eyes and how life began anew in 2004. Thomas explains what he does to make blindness sound funky and shares some girl dad advise with John. As a pioneer in the new ear of audio description, Thomas talks about the...

As a teenager in South Australia, Bethany Cody, only experienced minor and somewhat random signs of a visual impairment. During her driver training she was concerned about driving at night. After consulting with an optometrist, she was referred to a specialist and diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa and a carrier of the USH2A  (Usher’s Syndrome) gene. Bethany stops by to share her often lonely jou...