Joel Brown is a paraplegic dancer, choreographer, and musician. He grew up in Salt Lake City in a large creative family and was paralyzed as a boy. Not one to slow down, he pursued many sports living an active life, and eventually found his way to dance. His professional dance career took him to California, then London, and around the world. Now in his 30s and back in California working as a choreographer, Joel has extensive experience with dance, and is reflective about living and aging as a wheelchair user with a spinal cord injury.Guest info:@joelbrowndancerAdditional Resources:https://axisdance.org/team-member/joel-brown/https://candoco.co.uk/www.highfivesfoundation.orgContact us: Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypodEmail: [email protected] Hosted and produced by Tim BrownEditing and sound design by Louis ArevaloOriginal theme music by Jesse LaFountaineEpisode cover art by Lewis Falconer Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer
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Alex Cano Gonzalez on Forgiveness and Photography
Alex Cano Gonzalez is a photographer, videographer, and artist living in Denver Colorado. He was paralyzed at a young age as a result of gun violence. He's currently rebuilding his life with a commitment to physical rehab and exercise, exploring adaptive sports, and hustling to grow his freelance career as an artist. In our conversation, I was struck by Alex's profound gratitude, inner peace, and level of maturity and wisdom at such a young age. Alex is always looking to collaborate with other creators – rappers, artists, musicians. If you're interested in working with him or following his story, you can find him on Instagram @iamalexcanoGuest info:@iamalexcanoAdditional Resources:www.highfivesfoundation.orgContact us: Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypodEmail: [email protected] Hosted and produced by Tim BrownEditing and sound design by Louis ArevaloOriginal theme music by Jesse LaFountaineEpisode cover art by Lewis Falconer Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer
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Neven Hart on Recovering Intimacy and Joy
Neven Hart and his fiancé Amber Cogbill are rising stars on social media. They openly and vulnerably sharing their experience navigating life together following Neven's recently acquired spinal cord injury. Neven is an athlete and is getting into adaptive sports, but most importantly, he and Amber are educating hundreds of thousands of people through their social media following on the challenging, joyful, mundane, silly, and nuanced aspects of living with spinal cord injury, with a focus on relationships and intimacy. And they are doing so in a genuine and approachable way. Quick note. This episode discusses physical intimacy with spinal cord injury for a heterosexual couple and how spinal cord injury affects the male anatomy in that regard. We will explore this from the perspective of the female anatomy in a later episode. Guest info:@neven.harthttps://www.youtube.com/@ambercogbill03Additional Resources:www.highfivesfoundation.orgContact us: Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypodEmail: [email protected] Hosted and produced by Tim BrownEditing and sound design by Louis ArevaloOriginal theme music by Jesse LaFountaineEpisode cover art by Lewis Falconer Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer
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Jesi Stracham on Tough Mudders and Tenacity
Jesi Stracham is an advocate, adaptive athlete, and founder of the Wheel With Me Foundation. She's also co-owner of Adapt Fit and the Freedom LKN facility. I first read about Jesi in New Mobility magazine when she was competing in Tough Mudder races and blazing a trail for adaptive athletes in that realm, I met her in person four years later. Jesi is passionate about taking ownership of your life and pursuing your dreams, and she leads by example. These days she focuses her time and energy on her businesses, her organization, her upcoming book release, and being the best possible partner and family member. Guest info:@jesistrachamjesistracham.comAdditional Resources:https://wheelwithmefoundation.org/https://www.freedomlkn.com/www.highfivesfoundation.orgContact us: Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypodEmail: [email protected] Hosted and produced by Tim BrownEditing and sound design by Louis ArevaloOriginal theme music by Jesse LaFountaineEpisode cover art by Lewis Falconer Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer
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Erin Field and Jack Benziger on Caring and Building a Life with SCI
I briefly met Erin Field and Jack Benziger several years ago at Journey Forward, a spinal cord injury exercise rehab center outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Erin had recently been paralyzed in the summer before her senior year of college, just a few months after they started dating. I distinctly remember seeing the affection and care they had for one another when they arrived for Erin’s exercise sessions. In the year since, I have followed their story on social media and watched from a distance as they have built a life together. They now live in Florida and are in the midst of some big milestones and exciting developments. To me, Erin and Jack embody putting love and care for your partner first in your relationship even and especially when tremendous obstacles arise in your path. Guest info:@erin.fieldd@thetenpercentappAdditional Resources:youtube.com/erinfieldfacebook.com/livefearlessly3www.highfivesfoundation.orgContact us: Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypodEmail: [email protected] Hosted and produced by Tim BrownEditing and sound design by Louis ArevaloOriginal theme music by Jesse LaFountaineEpisode cover art by Lewis Falconer Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer
Summiting and skiing an 11,000 foot volcano, completing a DIY adaptive sport decathlon in one day, harnessing a passion for art to help spinal cord injury survivors adapt and bond, flying in a wing suit as a double amputee, giving birth to and mothering twin girls as a quadriplegic...these are just a few of the powerful stories you will hear on The Unexpected Journey. Adaptive athlete and quadriplegic, Tim Brown, talks with other disabled folks to learn how they challenge preconceived beliefs, push boundaries, and get after it - ultimately leading to a life fulfilled. The Unexpected Journey gives you the experience of listening to two friends sitting at a kitchen table, around a campfire, or on a boat, letting you eavesdrop on an intimate conversation about their shared experience, their passions, and the challenging, rewarding and exhilarating elements of their life. The episode plays like an audio memoir of the guest with the host providing clarity and narrating the biographical details so you can enjoy and appreciate the real and raw moments of the conversation. You’ll hear a sonic backdrop of original music to add emotional richness and additional sound design to bring into the moment with the guest as they describe their most formative and powerful experiences. The host, Tim Brown, is quadriplegic from a ski accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury 11 years ago. He prefers to listen before speaking and shares his own experience along with the guest. Our mission is to elevate, educate, and empower our disabled and able-bodied listeners on the disabled experience through creative and powerful storytelling. Our vision is to be a leader in the creation and distribution of empowering disability-centric storytelling and to provide an accessible platform for participants in the disabled experience to share their stories with the world. The Unexpected Journey is a podcast about adaptive athletes, adventurers, and creators. Each episode features an individual with a disability sharing their powerful story of learning how to challenge preconceived beliefs, push boundaries, and get after it - ultimately leading to a life fulfilled. Listen to guests like Anna Soens talk about being the first paraplegic woman to summit and ski Mount Hood, Greg Durso share his love for adaptive sports and completing an adaptive decathlon, and Channing Cash on her childhood and Laos and becoming a Team USA ocean paddle racer. Hosted and produced by Tim Brown, a surfer, sailor, and skier who is quadriplegic from a skiing accident 10 years ago.Our goal is to Educate. Elevate. Encourage.
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