No Barriers

Michael May was blinded by a chemical explosion at the age of three, but regained partial vision, at the age of 46, after cornea transplants and a pioneering stem cell procedure.  He has raised millions of dollars to develop four companies and has changed the landscape of how blind people get around independently. Mike’s start-up ventures have included developing the world’s first and only Laser T...

Having Minnesota roots, Quinn’s parents were committed to taking their children to national parks all over the country, gradually traveling further and further west. With her first look at El Capitan, Quinn knew that she’d climb it one day; ten years later, she did. Since that first climb, Quinn has amassed an impressive list of big wall ascents, speed records, and difficult free climbs, first in...

Victor Mifsud is a citizen scientist, biohacker, natural vision educator, psychedelic advocate, and filmmaker. He has recently completed a very personal feature-length documentary called “My Neuroplastic Adventure”. His journeys take him from the cutting edge of neuroscience to the most ancient forms of tribal healing.  He has interviewed doctors and scientists who are using technology and wisdom...

Dr. Kurt Papenfus works in family practice and emergency medicine in the rural communities of Colorado. Kurt attended school at the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine where he graduated in 1986 and began to complete his internship and residency at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, CO. Kurt has been involved in the Center for Disease Control, National Occupational Research Agenda, Oil and Gas S...

To many, Heather Thomson is an adored reality star from the hit Bravo reality television series, The Real Housewives of New York City , but what many don’t know is that she also is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and recently launched beyond fresh organic nutrition brand and Heather Thomson superfood shows, developed to educate and support people making positive and sustainable changes impac...

When Joanna Sprtel Walters graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1994, she was among the first group of women out of the Academy to have selected warfare specialties. She served aboard the USS PAUL F FOSTER (DD964) and the USS LA MOURE COUNTY (LST 1194) and finished her career in the Navy at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes while getting her MBA from DePaul University. Since graduating with h...

Courthney Russell is a creator, activist, and social entrepreneur.  At one time on a collision course with incarceration or death, Courthney turned his life around after high school when he applied and was accepted to a pre-med program. Though he found his calling in med school, he continued to struggle with homelessness until graduating in 2011.  Courthney’s resolve to overcome his difficult life...

Maureen Beck was born without her left hand, but that didn’t stop her from picking up the sport of climbing at the age of 12. Now based in Colorado’s Front Range, Mo spends her nights training at the gym and her days climbing all over the American southwest. She works closely with the adaptive climbing community as an instructor with Paradox Sports and is the Chair of the USAC Paraclimbing Committ...

Listen to the full episodes referenced in this episode: Episode 57 - Cultivating Compassion with Physician, Dr. Rana Awdish Episode 78 - Serendipity with Jill Wheatley Episode 54 - Thinking Through Uncertainty: Neuroscientist, Beau Lotto Episode 53 - Examining Collective Grief with Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber  Episode 64 - Exploring Vision with Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib Episode 41 - Harnessing A...

Eduardo Garcia is a professional Chef who owns retail food brand Montana Mex, a Mexican inspired line of Organic, NON-GMO condiment sauces, seasonings, and Avocado oil.  He is known as the "bionic chef" because he cooks with a prosthetic left arm, the result of an accident while hunting in 2011. His story is the subject of the feature-length documentary Charged . Eduardo is an avid outdoorsman, fi...

Mike Savicki In November 1990., while training to become a U.S. Navy F-14 fighter pilot, Mike Savicki sustained a severe spinal cord injury after diving into the ocean. In an instant, he went from being a fit, active, promising Naval officer – commissioned as the top-flight candidate in the nation’s number one ROTC college graduating class – to a quadriplegic who was challenged with learning to li...

Kate Merrill is a Registered Nurse who worked in a Trauma Intensive Care Unit for 22 years before taking the plunge to open her own bakery in Chicago.  Edge of Sweetness was off to a strong start in 2020, hitting its sales targets and becoming a neighborhood favorite. Then, COVID-19 hit, and after months of adjusting and taking the necessary precautions, Kate and her staff made the choice to tempo...

Dr. Perea-Henze is a global health physician, government official, and corporate executive who served most recently as Deputy Mayor for Health & Human Services for the City of New York since 2019. He was responsible for the citywide response for COVID19 from the start of the pandemic, preparedness for recurrences, and recovery efforts.  He was the Chair of the NYC Health and Social Services Sector...

Prior to her combat injury and subsequent retirement from service, Command Sergeant Major Gretchen Evans served 27 years in the US Army and was responsible for more than 30,000 ground troops in Afghanistan. She is one of the most decorated female veterans in U.S. history. During her service, Gretchen survived a rocket blast which left her with hearing loss and a traumatic brain injury. While strug...

Richard Casper is a United States Marine Veteran, Purple Heart recipient, Artist, and Entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of CreatiVets, a non-profit that provides art, music, and writing programs for wounded veterans with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries.  Richard was named one of TIME magazine’s ​ Next Generation Leaders, ​ is the feature of TIME’s documen...

After serving 14 years in both the Navy as a chef to the Commander of the US 6th Fleet and then transitioning on to becoming an Army team leader in one of the military’s most dangerous jobs, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Staff Sergeant Aaron Hale was blinded by an IED. Not letting his injuries hold him back, Aaron became an EOD instructor, motivational speaker, mountain climber, white water k...

Debbie Fisher was a physical therapist for over 20 years and is now a full-time caretaker for her daughter, Grace.  In 2014 during her senior year of High School, Grace Fisher’s spine was ravaged by a virus leaving her paralyzed from the neck down. She was diagnosed with Acute Flaccid Myelitis and sent to Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver, CO.  At Craig Hospital, she was introduced to music...

Melissa Comeau is honored to serve as the Director of the American Red Cross Military and Veteran Caregiver Network. Her book Sleeping with the War was published in 2015 and has brought the family and caregiver perspective to life after combat.  Melissa served as a Fellow for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. She has a long history of providing peer support to military families and is supporting effo...

Who are Youth Caregivers? Caregiving youths are children and adolescents who are 18 years of age or younger and who provide significant or substantial assistance, often on a regular basis, to relatives or household members who need help because of physical or mental illness, disability, frailty associated with aging, substance misuse, or other condition. Connie Siskowski’s broad background in heal...

In 2014, Jill was a Phys Ed teacher in Europe when she was hit in the head by a rogue baseball during class.  The severity of the blow resulted in a traumatic brain injury and a 70% vision loss. In addition to the physical wounds, it left Jill in a deep state of despair. After 26 months in 7 hospitals in 3 countries, she was finally on the road to physically recover but still felt emotionally lost...

An educator for over twenty years, Lisa Yokana is the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) coordinator at Scarsdale High School, where she designed and teaches a three-level STEAM course sequence for Scarsdale’s Design Lab.   In 2019, the program won the gold medal in the STEAMEX international contest for innovative curriculum design. Lisa works with teachers across the discipli...

Michael O'Toole has been immersed in education and coaching for more than three decades.  His work in the classroom focuses on the areas of both physical and cultural geography as well as Earth system science. Throughout his career as an educator and curriculum developer, he has had the opportunity to work with students and teachers around the world and with such organizations as National Geograph...

Dr. Michael Kuchar is the Superintendent of the South Bergen Jointure Commission, a New Jersey public school district whose mission is to dramatically increase the independence of individuals with extraordinary challenges. With a combined twenty-five years of experience as a school district administrator, Dr. Kuchar has served as the Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction...

In his quest for contentment, Christian Leeby dedicated his life to yoga. After studying with the world’s greatest masters and teaching full time for over 25 years, he finally attained the lofty goal of “stilling the mind”. But it didn’t work. When life got hard, as it does for everyone, and he couldn’t escape to practice the yoga he loved, he fell apart.  For two years all he focused on was tryin...

Christine Ha lost her vision over the course of a few years in her early twenties due to a neurological condition called neuromyelitis optica, which affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. Hosts, Jeff and Erik, speak with Christine about the challenges she faces as a blind Chef, and through their conversation, they discover that her tenacity and strength has been a mainstay of her personality si...