Get Fired Up's Podcast

In this episode, hosts Jamie and Cindy talk with self-advocate Ethel Quisler to talk about her journey into self-direction. From the friend who helped her navigate the system to the barriers she's faced along the way. Ethel shares candid stories about waitlists, fraud scrutiny, restrictive care practices, and the fight to be treated as the expert in her own life, plus her hopes for a more fle...

In this episode, we sit down with Heidi Jo Hanson of Fox Valley Autism. This is an honest, heartfelt conversation about what it really means to raise children on the spectrum. From early diagnosis moments and fighting to be believed, to caregiver burnout, sibling challenges, and celebrating the unexpected wins. This one is for every parent who has ever felt alone in this journey. We also talk abou...

Brett Everman moved out of his parents' home at 21 with 24-hour care needs and no roadmap. In this episode, Brett and his mom Kareen share their honest journey into self-direction: the failed care agencies, the grind of recruiting staff, the game-changing role of a support broker, and what life looks like five years later (spoiler: Monster Jam, a girlfriend of 8 years, and a very full social...

In this episode, Cookie talks candidly about growing up blind, attending what she calls "Braille jail" (a residential school for the blind), and the decades of guide dogs, technology, and hard-won independence that followed. She opens up about losing most of her hearing later in life, getting a cochlear implant, and what it's like to navigate websites, devices, and apps that were ne...

Ever wonder where the long-term care journey actually starts?  In this episode, Cindy and Jaime sit down with Linda from the Outagamie County Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) to break down what the ADRC does, who it serves, and why it's the first stop for anyone navigating services in Wisconsin.  From options counseling to functional screenings, eligibility requirements, Medicaid e...

This week, self-direction participant Katie Napiwocki shares her lifelong journey with self-direction.  From navigating agency-assigned caregivers as a college student to building her own care team as a graduate student and professional advocate. She opens up about the autonomy self-direction has given her, the very real challenges that remain, and why involving people with disabilities in policy...

Real talk this week — Medicaid funding uncertainty, the caregiver workforce shift that never recovered after COVID, and why so many families have never even seen their own self-direction budget. We also get into the language gap that blindsides families when kids age into adult long-term care, where HIPAA ends and confidentiality begins, and why self-determination might be the more important word...

If you've ever had to explain what a support broker is to someone at a doctor's appointment, you already know this episode. This week, we're talking about what we actually do and why "broker" is such a weird word for it. We get into the hiring process, what it looks like to help someone write a job post that sounds like them, the interviews that go great and the ones that...

We're Cindy and Jamie — both healthcare burnouts who somehow ended up building something better. In this episode, we're starting at the beginning: what self-direction actually is, why almost nobody understands it, and how we ended up here after years of 24/7 on-call chaos. We also get into the IRIS waiver changes coming in 2026 that could pull the safety net out from under thousands of W...