1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,240 All right, welcome to the AdaptX podcast where we have conversations with individuals who 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:09,080 are building accessible businesses advocating for inclusion or excelling an adaptive sports. 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:12,360 Our intention is never to speak on behalf of those with disabilities by amplify their 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:16,160 ideas and voices so more businesses and organizations can do the same. 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,440 Today we're joined by Tim Alexander, speaker, author, athlete, husband. 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:22,360 Tim, thanks for joining us today. 7 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:24,840 Thank you so much for being here. 8 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:31,280 Tim's out from Atlanta for a keynote at this YMCA presentation, sharing the role of the 9 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,400 YMCA in your life as well as the adversity that you've overcome. 10 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:40,520 Maybe we can start with the YMCA's role and both your upbringing and now are you involved 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:42,360 in various capacities? 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:46,160 Thank you so much, Brandon, for allowing me to be here from Birmingham, Alabama. 13 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:52,800 My YMCA was the Northeast YMCA and I've been a part of the YMCA from a minor to teenager 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,720 to young adult and still now involved with the YMCA. 15 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,280 You know, just on the mission of building communities and developing our young adults 16 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,400 through the comprehensive resources that we have. 17 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:09,560 And you don't really know that growing up in it, but as you become older and wiser, 18 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:14,440 now you're able to look back and see what they were doing and why they were doing based 19 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:15,440 on the needs. 20 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,960 So I'm very thankful for the YMCA. 21 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:21,440 It's bigger than the YMCA song that we love. 22 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,760 It's the belonging of the mission and each individual that makes up the mission. 23 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:26,760 So thank you. 24 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,320 Yeah, the reason that we personally loved working with the YMCA was like you mentioned 25 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:35,200 that mission of creating access and inclusion, not only for people with disabilities, but 26 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:36,200 all ages. 27 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:37,200 Right. 28 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:42,560 I wonder if other gyms and organizations can kind of execute a similar model to kind 29 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:48,360 of reduce some of those barriers and increase participation across all ages. 30 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:56,320 What have you personally found in terms of the YMCA that has helped you post injury kind 31 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:58,240 of just in your career as a whole? 32 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:04,240 I think about going back home when I had my injury at 17 years old, we did not know anything 33 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,320 about the handicapable community. 34 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:11,360 If I'm being completely honest, that was one of the reasons why I was suicidal because 35 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,120 we didn't have resources. 36 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:19,200 We didn't have any exposure to an area where we knew the even first question to ask. 37 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,680 And so I challenged and struggled a lot by just saying, if I'm going to be like this 38 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,600 the rest of my life, it might as well pull the plug. 39 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:31,560 And so I beat that moment and then feeling came back and I became a paraplegia from the 40 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:37,280 waist down, but I still wasn't happy or whole in my mind or happy with myself due to a lack 41 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:38,280 of resources. 42 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,840 And quite frankly, you don't see a lot of chair users around, right? 43 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,480 When you're in therapy, you see everybody that's injured or wounded. 44 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:50,680 But once you get released to go back and transform in your own rehabilitation way, you don't 45 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:51,680 see it. 46 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,920 So I had to become, you know, it's a lot of quotes out there. 47 00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:56,120 There is not change. 48 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:57,120 You become change. 49 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:01,840 And so I immediately had to become what I wanted to see, right? 50 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,160 While being a one day show, but I didn't have to do it alone. 51 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,880 I was able to do it with the Northeast YMCA. 52 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,960 And remember, I learned how to be a lifeguard at the YMCA. 53 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,520 And so I remember becoming a paraplegic lifeguard. 54 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,200 Thankfully, nobody ever drowned it, right? 55 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,640 But I was still able to jump in there and get them. 56 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:25,280 They just gave me an opportunity to live out my why, right? 57 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,080 By starting with my what? 58 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:32,080 And so from there, I started working with other departments and working with other programs. 59 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:33,680 And it is true. 60 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,760 Once you get your purpose, once you get your vision, once you get your mission and your 61 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:43,800 statement and still doing your heart, then it will innately be a part of you wherever 62 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:45,320 you go, wherever you grow. 63 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:51,480 So here I am now, one of the most sought after speakers in this world, an influential leader. 64 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:58,360 I'm still living on basic principles that I learned at the YMCA because we as people, 65 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,000 we make different things hard, right? 66 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:05,000 My cousin just graduated with his CDL license. 67 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,200 And I said, okay, tell me the first thing you do when you get in your truck. 68 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:10,760 He was like, what you mean? 69 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:12,960 I said, tell me the first thing you do. 70 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,080 Oh, I'm gonna check my mirrors. 71 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:16,840 I'm gonna let my truck warm up. 72 00:04:16,840 --> 00:04:20,400 I'm gonna make sure my side mirrors and everything I can see. 73 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:25,160 I said, yeah, that's the first thing you're supposed to do when you get in your car. 74 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:31,040 So the farther we grow in life, sometimes the farther we grow away from the basic things. 75 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:37,120 And so I've just learned that so that you don't get burnt out in life and through life 76 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,080 or which are life, just always go back to the basics. 77 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,280 And so I've been living off the basics. 78 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:45,440 Never forget where you come from. 79 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,920 Come back to see where you come from. 80 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:53,400 Never forget that your resource help, that your resource help, right? 81 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,600 Come back to see how your resources is helping. 82 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,960 Never forget that you were alive even in a dark place. 83 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:04,560 Come back and meet other people who may be in a dark place where you can be their light. 84 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:09,840 Never forget that to whom much is given, much is required, which is a Christian principle, 85 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:12,920 that the YMCA is built on Christian principles. 86 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:17,200 So come back and see that to whom much is given, much is required. 87 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:22,680 Never forget that you can never give honor to something that you haven't been exposed 88 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:23,680 to. 89 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:29,360 So this new world that you're exposed to, come back and expose it to our young adults 90 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:35,960 who have never been to New Hampshire, who may never come to Massachusetts, who may never 91 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,400 fly into Manchester airport. 92 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:44,480 Come back and let them know that there is a world out there that's willing to embrace 93 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:50,640 you and give you a sense of belonging, but you have to have the resources and become 94 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,880 a resource, else you will never be able to see that, right? 95 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,120 And seeing that is not common. 96 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,120 I'm saying this for sale at a time, common sense ain't common, right? 97 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:06,640 I got a friend that's partially impaired that I have to lead across the street. 98 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:11,080 But as I'm leading them, I'm still like, hold up, you don't see this stop sign? 99 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,320 You know, because I just forget sometimes, right? 100 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,560 Sometimes we do forget when we caught up in that moment. 101 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:23,920 But one day he said, man, I can see better than most people who got sight because what 102 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:30,480 you see right now is your sight, but what you see for the future is your vision. 103 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:31,720 You get what I'm saying? 104 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:38,040 And so that's the key that we must always live outward, not about what we see right 105 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:42,280 now in sight, but what we see for the future, which is our vision. 106 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:43,280 I'm so thankful. 107 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:50,600 And I come from a background that challenged us to imagine based on a realistic mind. 108 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:52,880 I don't have unrealistic dreams. 109 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,560 I have realistic achievable dreams that I know is going to take not only effort, but 110 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:00,560 a valuable effort branded to get there. 111 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:01,560 Sorry to give you that rant. 112 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:03,680 No, no, that's exactly what I want. 113 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,000 My role is always just to stay out of the way of the speaker. 114 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,760 So at the core of kind of what you were mentioning there was representation. 115 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,520 You left the hospital and you didn't see a lot of wheelchair users. 116 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:19,920 And I think that's one of the things that we really try to advocate for is that like 117 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,720 demystifying disability by including them in regular facets of life. 118 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,600 So you might go to a gym and you look around and you don't see anyone in a wheelchair and 119 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:30,880 you immediately think, oh, maybe this isn't the place for me. 120 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:31,880 Right. 121 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,880 But if you walk in and you see able-bodied individuals, wheelchair users, individuals 122 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,760 of visual impairments, you start to think that, okay, maybe this is. 123 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,440 So I think that's like the model that the why is after. 124 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:45,920 It's a model that we're after at my gym. 125 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,400 And I think it's essential for getting people involved in programs like this. 126 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:51,640 Is that representation piece? 127 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:57,160 Did you have anyone after your injury that you kind of like looked up to or that started 128 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,160 you like guiding you in the right direction? 129 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:00,160 Yeah. 130 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:04,640 So I believe or not, I look up to a lot of people who've been through far greater things 131 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,880 and I'm going through and growing through right now that still made it. 132 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:12,400 So a person that I met in my journey was a gentleman who got hit by a train. 133 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,760 He was a chair user for about 20 years. 134 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:15,760 Right. 135 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,480 He was doing better than what he was when he got hit through, through nutrition, through 136 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:27,120 the ability to go out and be unique and understand that there is no physical limit to human 137 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:28,120 achievement. 138 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,720 There is no fitness limit to human achievement. 139 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:36,680 If you have someone that's willing to have equipment and accessibility accessible for 140 00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:37,680 all, right? 141 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:42,160 And willing to have a person to not focus on what you can do. 142 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,760 There's no need for you to be like, we're going to focus on you doing leg press the 143 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:47,760 entire time. 144 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,800 I may not come back to your training, right? 145 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:55,600 Because I already know that that's going to be a challenge for me to continue to do. 146 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:02,560 I may can try, but then we got to also learn to really pour into people's screen. 147 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:03,560 What can you do? 148 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:05,240 Yeah, we call that bright spot to the gym. 149 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:10,040 So like you can challenge clients in various ways and whenever we have a client with an 150 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:14,840 SCI or with a lower body impairment, we're like, we're still going to try to strengthen 151 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:19,440 legs because it's important to get you upstanding, trying to do different things. 152 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:24,280 But we also want to kind of like you said, play to your strengths, emphasize bright spots, 153 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:28,880 see what you can excel at and make sure that you leave the gym feeling accomplished. 154 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:34,720 So I'll never forget I had, I left through, I was leaving the Y and I had to go to a facility 155 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:36,720 called the Lakeshore Foundation. 156 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:38,720 Yeah, I'm familiar with that. 157 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,080 I was up at UAB, that's a partnership. 158 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:49,560 They work heavy with the Y and I went up to the Lakeshore Foundation and it was like 159 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:55,240 it was like a handicapable universe, right? 160 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:01,680 Like everybody here was dealing with something like, you know, if you in this gym, you got 161 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:03,680 something you growing through. 162 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:04,680 Everybody's unique. 163 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:05,680 Everybody is handicapped. 164 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:11,720 But I remember at first I was like, man, I don't want to work out here because I was 165 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:16,680 thinking I would never get better if I just do whatever chair use and everybody else is 166 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:17,680 doing. 167 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:22,600 Like, no, I want to go out there and work and work out in general society and go out 168 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:28,440 there and go to the lifetime fitness or planet fitness or Riviera, whatever. 169 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:34,000 But then I'll never forget I saw a basketball come across and once the athlete, always an 170 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:35,000 athlete. 171 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:39,400 And I'm a football player, but I saw this basketball and I'm like, man, let me see if 172 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:44,240 I still got it had not even shot a basketball after my card today. 173 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,840 So I'm dribbling and I shoot my first shot. 174 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:48,840 I make my first shot. 175 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,440 Get the ball again. 176 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:51,680 Shoot my second shot. 177 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:53,280 Make my second shot. 178 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:54,280 Get the ball again. 179 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,240 I go out to the three point line, let the bottom of the net. 180 00:10:58,240 --> 00:10:59,240 Boom. 181 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,800 I hear coach yell out, I want to offer you right now to the University of Alabama to 182 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:05,560 come and play wheelchair basketball. 183 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:08,520 Say, man, I want to play wheelchair basketball. 184 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:10,040 I want to learn how to walk again. 185 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:11,040 I'm going to walk. 186 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,120 He said, well, in the meantime, as you're learning how to walk again, we still want 187 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:16,440 you to be an athlete. 188 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:23,600 I did not know that I didn't have to give up walking to become a paraplegic athlete. 189 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:24,600 I didn't know. 190 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:27,760 I just thought like, Hey, this would hinder me. 191 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:33,760 But no, this was going to give me the nutrition and the fitness and that coaching that I 192 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:39,320 have every athlete loves every person loves to even feel like they were on the team. 193 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,440 If they wasn't, I would still get that moment again. 194 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,920 And that's what truly pushed me to understand. 195 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:47,360 It's not about where you are. 196 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,520 It's about where you're going and you can't base your eyes on what you see because it's 197 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:52,520 temporary. 198 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:54,280 Base your eyes on what's coming next. 199 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:55,720 And so just that partnership. 200 00:11:55,720 --> 00:12:02,160 I'm so thankful that the YMCA was able to direct me to the Lakeshore Foundation. 201 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:07,000 It was just a circle of faith and that's what truly allowed me to advocate. 202 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,760 I became a poster boy for the, I was a poster boy for the Y became a poster boy for the 203 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:13,160 Lakeshore Foundation. 204 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:14,760 I became a role model. 205 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,320 We created a program called Cunner Roll with me. 206 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:21,680 We take away, I know how you feel until you really been in the chair all day and it gives 207 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:26,960 you a little bit of knowing because you'll never know how we feel unless you have, you've 208 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:28,960 been given an injury like that. 209 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,920 You can know a little bit, but eventually you don't get up and get out and walk. 210 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:39,800 So I was just able to be what I wanted to become based on an epic experience that was 211 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:40,800 given me. 212 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:47,920 And that's why I talked about in my message, the epic experience of the opportunity, right? 213 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:53,000 Coming to the Y, coming to Lakeshore, coming back to the Y, coming back home. 214 00:12:53,000 --> 00:13:00,760 It allows me to be reminded of the experience that allowed me to participate in that created 215 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:07,280 an image of connection that said, I can do this, but not only I can do this, other handicapable 216 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,280 communities in the world can do it too. 217 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:15,640 And so that's why I live my life is saying, okay, what are you doing for the handicapable 218 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:16,640 community? 219 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:17,640 Right? 220 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,080 How are we making their life accessible for all? 221 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:25,120 How are we giving them the same opportunity as the next person? 222 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:31,320 Because now I know, because I've seen life from walking one day to rolling the nicks, 223 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:32,640 now trying to re-walk. 224 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,640 So as soon as I figure it out, I turn around and advocate to help somebody else figure 225 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:37,640 it out. 226 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:38,640 Absolutely. 227 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:39,640 Yeah. 228 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:40,640 I mean, the Lakeshore is one in a million. 229 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:41,640 Yeah. 230 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:42,640 We use some of their resources. 231 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:47,080 Dr. Rimmer from the Lakeshore has the AIM Free manual and they just opened a sports 232 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:48,080 performance lab. 233 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:49,080 Okay. 234 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:54,160 They're doing a bunch of research on wheelchair racing and trying to come up with better standards 235 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:55,920 for Paralympic athletes. 236 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:57,160 So that's awesome. 237 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:01,600 Like obviously that's like the gold standard, but then we try to impact like local communities 238 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:06,200 and all the regular recreational activities so you can continue to participate. 239 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,640 I was wondering, this is a question that we ask some of our guests who have gone through 240 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:17,000 like TBIs, SCIs, do you think an acquired disability and losing a goal of yours is more 241 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,600 challenging than someone who might have a lifelong disability? 242 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:20,600 Yeah. 243 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:22,000 Give me what you mean by acquired. 244 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:23,000 Yeah. 245 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,000 Just like, so when you were a senior, you were in your accident and beforehand you had 246 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:31,040 these visions and you had these dreams and then you were in a traumatic accident versus 247 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,720 someone who might be in a wheelchair since they were born. 248 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:39,600 Do you think it's a different experience and kind of how do you think people kind of cope 249 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:40,600 with that change? 250 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,800 It is very different and a different way of knowing this happened to me. 251 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:50,360 I was born like this or this happened to me or like I met a kid who was pushed in a pool 252 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,880 at five and now she's a part of the handicapped world community. 253 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:56,920 So it's different strokes for different folks. 254 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:58,520 That's what I like to say. 255 00:14:58,520 --> 00:14:59,800 Different strokes for different folks. 256 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,360 So I'm like Pepsi, so I'm like Coke, right? 257 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:07,680 But when you start coming to talking about what you like and what you dislike, then that 258 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,560 opens up a door for you having to explain. 259 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,960 And sometime what you explain can either help someone or hinder someone. 260 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:22,400 And so what I try to always do, man, for me, I understand and I'm always very, very conscious 261 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:27,440 of who I'm talking to and what I'm talking about because I was complaining one day because 262 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,880 I couldn't stop having stasms. 263 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,880 But then I met someone who's never had stasms. 264 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:39,800 So what really helped me is knowing my personnel, but also understanding that yes, it's different, 265 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,200 but it's the differences that allow us to make a greater difference. 266 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,160 We still connect because we are different. 267 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:47,160 Everybody's different. 268 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,000 The way we live, what we dress, what we like, it's different. 269 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,800 It's different all around you, but it still allows you to make a greater difference. 270 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:59,880 So that's how I kind of look at you boring like this, this happened to you or this just 271 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:00,880 happened. 272 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:02,360 That's how I kind of look at it. 273 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,960 Yes, it's a different lifestyle. 274 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:06,720 It's a different lifestyle song. 275 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:13,880 I meet people all the time who have no passion of walking the gear and that's okay because 276 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,680 that's their desire. 277 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:18,680 It's not my desire. 278 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:20,840 My desire is I still going to try. 279 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:26,080 Although I've been given a 5% chance, although it ain't happened yet, that's still my desire, 280 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:31,200 man, but I'm not going to make you feel bad because that's not your desire. 281 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,400 I just tried a lobster roll. 282 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:34,400 It was okay to me. 283 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:35,400 You was like, I don't eat them. 284 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,200 You know what I'm saying? 285 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:38,200 It's okay. 286 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,080 Man, the guy was like, it's not that I don't like them. 287 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:41,640 It's just I'm allergic to seafood. 288 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:42,880 Man, I'm afraid and honest. 289 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:43,960 I love them. 290 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:45,960 So different strokes for different folks. 291 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:52,400 And so instead of focusing on the differences or what makes us different, let's focus on 292 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:57,960 what connections we may have because we all want and like some of the same things. 293 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:04,160 And if we are part of the handicapable community, all we want is to live a healthy, long, accessible 294 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:12,760 life, being able to do things for our own, own our own time and not having to always 295 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,880 have to wait on someone if we're able to do that. 296 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:21,560 Or if we have to have a caregiver, I had to have a caregiver for about four or five years. 297 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:23,160 My uncle was my caregiver. 298 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,080 He left his job to be my caregiver. 299 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:27,080 He had to clothe me. 300 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:28,080 He had to feed me. 301 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:29,080 He had to base me. 302 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:30,840 He was had to take care of me. 303 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:35,040 My body was performing like a 17 year, a 17 month old. 304 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:36,040 You know what I'm saying? 305 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:41,640 And, but he still allowed me to have my own personal space. 306 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:42,640 Yeah. 307 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,400 So it's like everyone has their own goals and their own goals. 308 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,560 The fact that your goals different than someone else's doesn't diminish the value of their 309 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:49,560 goals. 310 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:50,560 It doesn't diminish. 311 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:58,120 But what, but what glorifies the dignity of the, of the goal is, is we find a common 312 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:01,080 ground, which is community. 313 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,600 That's why community is what you and I have in common. 314 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:05,600 Yeah. 315 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:06,600 Yeah. 316 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,400 I think one of the barriers that prevents a lot of people from being more inclusive 317 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:14,560 or accessible is communication etiquette. 318 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,640 Some people aren't sure what to say when they see someone in a wheelchair. 319 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:18,640 I'm sure. 320 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:19,640 Yeah. 321 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:20,640 You get that all the time. 322 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,440 You can see like a little kid might walk up and look at your wheelchair and their mom 323 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,400 goes, Hey, don't, don't look at that person. 324 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:27,400 Don't talk to that person. 325 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,320 And it just kind of perpetuates this narrative of like, Oh, stay away from anyone who's different 326 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:32,400 than you. 327 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:37,000 Um, regarding etiquette or language, when you meet someone for the first time, like 328 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,840 if you're walking into a gym and I'm your trainer and we haven't met before, what would 329 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,400 you want me to ask you or talk to you about? 330 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:49,880 I would honestly, I would ask that you greet me and treat me as you would do somebody else 331 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:51,200 walking in the gym. 332 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:52,200 Yeah. 333 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:53,200 Right. 334 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,000 Like don't, don't devalue me because I look different than you because when I'm looking 335 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,480 at you, I'm like, you look different than me. 336 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,800 How in the world you on two feet and I'm on four wheels and got two feet. 337 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:05,880 So I'm already like, you look way different than me. 338 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:06,880 Right. 339 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:12,680 So it's already a different, but just you pushing me and challenging me the same way 340 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:14,960 you were pushing challenge anyone. 341 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:15,960 That's what I like. 342 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,520 I remember my therapist, her name is Natalie Shannon. 343 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:19,520 She's awesome. 344 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:20,520 She's five foot. 345 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:26,760 We used to do therapy and this was me coming back to do therapy for a fourth time. 346 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:33,480 And I remember going to therapy one day and I said, before we stop, I just want to know, 347 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,360 I want to ask, have you read the doctor report? 348 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:37,920 She was like, yeah, I read it. 349 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:38,920 And I said, what did it say? 350 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:43,640 She said, well, you know, we can tell that you, you have some limitations through walking. 351 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,560 You only have a 5% chance you haven't been able to move and I'm sure you have no, you 352 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:49,240 don't have any movement right now. 353 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:50,240 Do you? 354 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:51,240 Right. 355 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:52,240 Although she knew I did it. 356 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:53,240 She still asked. 357 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:54,960 And I said, well, why do you ask questions? 358 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:55,960 You already know. 359 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:56,960 I don't know. 360 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:58,920 You probably got feeling right before you came in here. 361 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:00,640 And that meant so much to me. 362 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,440 And so I asked her a question that I never forget. 363 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,800 And I said, do you believe I'll be able to walk again? 364 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,720 And she said, it ain't really about if I believe or not. 365 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,200 It's about what you believe. 366 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:19,840 And that meant so much to me that she was willing to say, if you believe it, my job is to help 367 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:21,800 get you to what you believe. 368 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:27,000 And so when I meet people, when I, when I, when I, when I, when I get with traders, when 369 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:31,800 I advocate is match my belief realistically. 370 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:36,360 Cause with technology today, you can walk. 371 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:41,320 The doctor said I had a 5% chance, but if you put me in some far as gone braces right 372 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,560 now, I can lean with it, throw my leg and walk. 373 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:49,000 It's going to be, it's going to take me two hours from here to the front, but I can do 374 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:50,000 it. 375 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,560 And it's all about what are you willing to do? 376 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:57,880 And so I just like for people to don't assume my friend told me some other day, he said, 377 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:03,360 I tell my son all the time, don't be the kid in the class thinking you know it all so that 378 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:06,520 you don't look like, so that this, this is what he really see. 379 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:07,520 I can't see it. 380 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:11,240 See, don't be the kid in the front of the class that's just yelling out answers because 381 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:15,920 you think you know it all, but you're making yourself look not smart at all. 382 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:16,920 Right. 383 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:22,200 So oftentimes when we don't know something, we pretend to know and the person who pretends 384 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,120 to know don't know nothing at all. 385 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:28,480 So instead of pretending, oh, he can't do this or he may not want to do this or he may 386 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,000 not want to get out of the chair and get them on the ground and do push ups or this and 387 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,920 that don't pretend to know, just ask what you don't know. 388 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:41,400 So when that little kid runs up and that parent grabs away, the first thing I said was chair 389 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:42,400 this starts at home. 390 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,840 Hey, man, listen, it's nothing wrong with him running up. 391 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,080 The kid may think I'm that grandfather or grandmother. 392 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:49,880 Do y'all have any chair user in the community? 393 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:50,880 Oh yeah. 394 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:51,880 He thinks you're his grandma. 395 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:52,880 Yeah. 396 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:54,640 But don't pull him away. 397 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,680 Allow him to steal, come up and to steal, be curious, right? 398 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,760 Because that gives that person a sense of humor that, wow, a little child doesn't think 399 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:07,120 of a dinosaur or anything like that. 400 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:10,880 That, oh, let me run up because they like wheels or different things. 401 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,040 So different strokes for different folks. 402 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:14,040 Yeah. 403 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:19,440 So it's just like, so you said like to presume competence, ask questions, anyone that kind 404 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,120 of adopts that like growth mindset. 405 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:27,000 When I'm working with someone who's a wheelchair user versus a client who might have had a knee 406 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,120 replacement or an injury, we're always just trying to figure out what they're able to 407 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:31,120 do. 408 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:34,720 Put together a list of exercises that kind of match that level. 409 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,560 Talk about their goals for you. 410 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,400 You might want to walk again, but we also have to address global strength and everything 411 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:41,400 else. 412 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:48,000 So find a way to kind of like collaborate between your goals and what I think as a fitness 413 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:53,240 professional would benefit you like globally from a health standpoint. 414 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,600 So my goal right now is just to be healthy outside of walking again. 415 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:57,760 I want to be healthy. 416 00:22:57,760 --> 00:22:59,880 I want to compete at the highest level. 417 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:01,080 I want to ski. 418 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,280 I want to be able to do anything I can do that my health permits me to do. 419 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,600 That's my goal and I, and I attack it every day. 420 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:08,600 Yeah. 421 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:13,280 I hit on the ME that you want, just kind of that story as a whole. 422 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,320 I know I'd reading about it earlier this week when I was doing my research. 423 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,560 But yeah, do you want to maybe tell the listeners about kind of how that came about? 424 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:26,600 The Emmy Award recipient was able to receive the Emmy Award just based on documentation 425 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:32,880 and fighting and peaceful protest for the UAB bowling and rifle free UAB movement that 426 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:33,880 took place in 2014. 427 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:39,520 You know, I'll be talking here today about utilizing your resources as students. 428 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,520 We did not have a lot of resources. 429 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:42,520 Right. 430 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:47,520 UAB is a top five medical schools, top 10 youngest in the country, but we still struggle 431 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:51,360 with resources on how do we get our story out with social media? 432 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:55,120 The number one influence that we have instant wise is our cell phones. 433 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:57,360 So I said, we don't have money for cameras. 434 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:01,320 We don't have money for effect for for to be falling around by the proper. 435 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:05,160 See, we're going to picture everything, we're going to document everything and we're going 436 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,760 to take notes and everything that we did. 437 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:13,120 We captured this moment because we was we believed in how big this moment was. 438 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:14,120 It wasn't just for me. 439 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:15,120 It was my guy Mike. 440 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:16,800 It was my girl Courtney. 441 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:21,640 It was my boy Tray that all of us that kept our devices and became the resource. 442 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:29,000 And when we brought our program back, our program at UAB in December 2, 2014, I gave 443 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,840 a press conference and told the team when we come back, we'll be bowels by our first 444 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:34,840 year back. 445 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,520 We're going to win from championships and the world will know our name. 446 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:45,280 Sam Hutt came down, Marty Smith came down, ESPN came down and said, T.A. you're crazy. 447 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:46,920 I said, I'm a crazy believer. 448 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:47,920 Right. 449 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:48,920 I just believed in the program. 450 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:54,920 I believed in the community and Brandon, I believed in the program and community when 451 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:59,680 they announced we were coming back in six months after we raised $48 million as students 452 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,800 that we documented and capitalized everything. 453 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:09,800 When they announced we was coming back, June 2, 2015, six months later, they nationally 454 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,600 ranked us 132. 455 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:16,200 It's only like a hundred and yes, only like 130 teams. 456 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,680 We were ranked at the bottom. 457 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:24,040 And so we took this negative publicity and that became our campaign. 458 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:27,360 And I said, coach, let's not run away from this. 459 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:28,360 Let's run to it. 460 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:29,360 Hashtag 132. 461 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:30,360 They don't know. 462 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:35,360 They've ranked us out of 130 some RITs. 463 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:39,200 We're the last one, but no one knows our narrative. 464 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,080 No one knows what we believe in. 465 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,400 And we documented man from our phone. 466 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:44,400 We put it all together. 467 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:49,600 And when the sidewalk film festival came, we all sat down in a row. 468 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:55,120 My guy Mike, my guy Courtney, my guy trade, who was going to UAB for media. 469 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:59,480 We all sit in a room and we became a producer. 470 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,320 We became a director and we told the story that we wanted to tell it. 471 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:05,360 Didn't think anything was going to happen. 472 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:07,520 We sent it to into the sidewalk festival. 473 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:09,120 It was like, what you think? 474 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:10,120 I said, we told the truth. 475 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:12,840 He was honest and hey, I'm not a cry. 476 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:13,840 It made me cry. 477 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:16,120 It made me want to run through a wall. 478 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:18,960 We got to get the community out to come and see this. 479 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:24,440 The IMAX Museum in Birmingham, Alabama was like, man, we like this documentary. 480 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:28,760 So we invited the whole UAB family and everybody to come out and we're watching it in like 481 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,240 four max and it's all around us. 482 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,680 And we're sending the audience like, man, we really got something here. 483 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:43,120 And so a few weeks after that, we get an email from the National Indian Ward Ceremony organization. 484 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:45,000 And I think it's a scale. 485 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,560 I'm like, what? 486 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:52,240 Like this is serious and so I never forget the whole team went up and I'm sitting at 487 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:58,360 the table with the CEO who's over the image and man, honestly, we're eating the meal. 488 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:02,160 It's probably the first on core meal I ever ate in my life. 489 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:03,720 Like I saw stuff on my plate. 490 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:05,960 I'm saying, like, do I eat this? 491 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:08,720 Like it was like plants and I didn't know what it was. 492 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:10,720 It was like purple leaves. 493 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,040 I had never seen purple cabbage in my life. 494 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:18,760 But anyway, the CEO asked and he says, Hey, you're Mr. Alexander, you're nominated for 495 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:19,760 any. 496 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:28,160 He says, how do you feel if how would you feel if you're not an Emmy recipient? 497 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,760 I saw what everybody else was doing when he asked me this question. 498 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,480 It was they set up prostrated. 499 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,840 They wiped their mouths with their nice handkerchiefs that they have. 500 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,200 So I did the same thing like my mouth. 501 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:43,960 I saw people drinking water or drunk water that crossed my hands over like everybody 502 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:44,960 else was doing. 503 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:49,360 I'm leaving him and said, even if I don't win, I'll always be able to say I was nominated 504 00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:50,360 for an Emmy. 505 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:51,360 Yeah, absolutely. 506 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:52,360 Right. 507 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:55,640 And he said, that's the best response I've ever given. 508 00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:01,440 Five seconds after that, as they're playing the stage in the background, the sports program 509 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:08,760 feature, I get word that I just became an Emmy award recipient just like Charles Barkley, 510 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,880 just like John Madden, just like some of the great celebrities in this world. 511 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,720 They're an Emmy awards one and two, three time back to back. 512 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:17,840 And they asked me to come out there and speak. 513 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,760 I've only had two bad speeches in my life. 514 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:25,280 The first speech is when I was speaking in Denver, Colorado, when I found out my father, 515 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:30,280 who at the time was struggling with dementia, he came up missing right before I got on stage. 516 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,000 The second time was when I gave my Emmy award. 517 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:38,560 I was so caught off guard because I wasn't expecting to win that if you watched the video 518 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:42,000 that we show today, I kind of stutter a little bit. 519 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:47,360 And all I can say, the greatest gift is the gift of giving to who much is given, what 520 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:48,360 just required. 521 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:49,360 Y'all have a great day. 522 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:54,680 I didn't know what else to say because I could not believe that I had just received 523 00:28:54,680 --> 00:29:00,120 one of the highest rewards for humanity just by serving my community. 524 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,480 And it changed my life. 525 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:04,480 You know what I'm saying? 526 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:10,440 I never knew how big it was until I see people who have received Emmys End. 527 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:17,440 I look at that great reward all the time and that's just testament to me to go farther 528 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:18,440 and do more. 529 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:23,560 Yeah, it's an interesting contrast between before earlier you mentioned how after you 530 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:27,520 accent you want to take your life and now you're achieving all these things. 531 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,320 How much better is your life because of your disability? 532 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:35,160 It has my opposition, it's my inspiration. 533 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,080 This has truly inspired me because there are days. 534 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:46,840 I mean, you know, I don't say that I struggle, but I have to be mentally strong every day 535 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:52,520 because when my kids are running or when I go around a family member, what do you do 536 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:57,360 when you go around a family member's house and a child sees you in a wheelchair? 537 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:04,040 I think one upstairs and say, come on, Uncle Teal, what do you do? 538 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:08,640 So you got to still be able to be inspiring when you have those moments. 539 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,280 And so that's why I live out loud. 540 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:17,080 I have an image on my body that says push, pray until something happens, chosen royalty 541 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:23,120 on my body right now because I'm using my life as a living example of we don't need 542 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:24,120 it to be easy. 543 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:25,920 We just need it to be possible. 544 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,160 But as I told CEO Michelle, I do it with a smile on my face. 545 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:31,360 I do it willingly. 546 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:32,840 I do it positively. 547 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:33,840 I do it. 548 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:34,840 Why? 549 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:39,560 Because I've already faced the most difficult time in life. 550 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:41,800 People say nobody gets a second chance in life. 551 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:42,800 I got three chances. 552 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,280 I flatlined three times in the hospital. 553 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:49,160 And even after I flatlined three times and they brought me back to life and said, you 554 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:54,720 have a severe brain damage, they still said you only have a 5% chance of making it to see 555 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:55,720 tomorrow. 556 00:30:55,720 --> 00:31:00,480 So 17 years later, here I am still challenging the status quo. 557 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:06,240 I started first with my mind because I'm still only giving a 5% chance of making it to see 558 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:07,240 tomorrow. 559 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,080 But what gives me a better chance is my nutrition. 560 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:18,240 What gives me a better chance is my perspective toward fitness, making the right food options, 561 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:26,160 living a very balanced and visionary life and understanding that it is what it is. 562 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,360 And really, this is what I tell myself. 563 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,200 I used to always here suck it up. 564 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,880 Now I embrace this up because it ain't nothing good about me. 565 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,600 The only thing good about being in a wheelchair sometimes is you ain't got to wait in lines. 566 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:38,600 You get free perks. 567 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:40,920 You ain't got to wait in line if you go to Disney. 568 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:42,720 You get to get on the plane. 569 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:44,880 Just a lot of perks that come with it. 570 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:47,880 But that don't mean sometimes when it's cold. 571 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:51,000 You put your chair in your car and you look back, your chair gone down. 572 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:55,880 Or when you're out in public and you know you've been great on your bowel bladder or 573 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,480 your bladder plan and you end up having an accident. 574 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:03,800 And now you got to stop and go and change clothes and then come out. 575 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,160 Hey, what made you change? 576 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:08,640 And now you got to explain yourself. 577 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:12,040 And you really don't like explaining yourself, right? 578 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:19,160 So those are the things that make you become so mentally driven and so mentally strong 579 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:23,080 because you don't know what you're going to face, but you got to welcome it. 580 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:24,680 That's why I don't fly in. 581 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,320 If I have an event, you would never see me and never scroll word. 582 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,360 But if I have an event, you will never see me fly in a day off because you never know 583 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:33,360 what's going to happen. 584 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:34,360 Yeah, absolutely. 585 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:35,360 You see what I'm saying? 586 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,280 So that's just my life. 587 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:43,120 Be prepared for the unexpected, be prepared for the unexpected, but being prepared is 588 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,120 very minimal because I have to prepare my mind every day. 589 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,600 Every morning I listen to a song called optimistic. 590 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:56,000 It's about a group called, it's about a group called Sounds of Blackness, man. 591 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:01,600 Coming to America, they have a song called optimistic and the song says you can win 592 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,640 as long as you keep your head to the sky. 593 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:05,640 Yeah. 594 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:10,200 So, a lot of these episodes we wrap up like our taglines, making fitness accessible. 595 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,720 So the question, the question that we ask all of our guests is what do you think needs 596 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,240 to be done for the industry to be more accessible as a whole? 597 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:23,760 I think every gym needs to have more than two accessible equipment. 598 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:29,360 If you have a gym, everything in that gym needs to be accessible, accessible in a way 599 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:35,680 that your family members would say, I'm comfortable enough of laying on this bench. 600 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:40,920 I'm comfortable enough of doing this if you have to walk away and help somebody else knowing 601 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:41,920 that you're coming back. 602 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:47,400 I don't have to think twice about is there a place I can get out and stretch or a wheelchair 603 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:54,520 height massage table I can get on and lay out to always think of those who need you 604 00:33:54,520 --> 00:34:00,120 to think about and to make your place accessible. 605 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,680 Fitness is all about how accessible you can be for others. 606 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:05,880 And so I just want people to do that. 607 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:11,280 And by doing that, people will be able to grow in health and have a healthy mind because 608 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:17,360 they have a place where they can operate and do fitness and bring for transformative growth. 609 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:19,320 So, Tim, thanks for joining us today. 610 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:20,320 Thank you for coming out. 611 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:22,320 It was nice to meet you. 612 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,120 Thank you so much. 613 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:26,440 Thank you for listening to the Adaptex podcast. 614 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:30,320 Our effort to amplify the ideas of our guests and create more inclusive and accessible industries 615 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,400 is futile unless these episodes reach a larger audience. 616 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:37,280 If you enjoyed our discussion today, please leave us a rating or review on whichever platform 617 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:38,280 you use. 618 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:41,320 And if you would like to learn more about Adaptex, the course that we teach to health 619 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,160 and fitness professionals in the projects that our organization is working on, you can 620 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:49,720 subscribe to our newsletter through our website, www.adaptex.org. 621 00:34:49,720 --> 00:34:56,720 Until next Monday.