InvisiYouth Chat Sessions

E133: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with USA Para Track and Field athlete, 6x medalist and 2x record holder, and Marine Biologist, Delaney Nolin

We’re diving deep into the para-sport world for all the how-tos and knowledge to get everyone tuning in. Team USA Para Track and Field athlete, 6x medalist and 2x record holder, and marine biologist, Delaney Nolin, has always loved track and field. Living with cerebral palsy which impacts her gait and ability to run, Delaney went from competing on the collegiate level into Team USA at the Paralympic level. She competes in T35 running for 800m, 400m, and 200m, along with F35 shot put, and holds two US records and the American Women’s shot put record. When Delaney isn’t being an advocate for inclusion in sports and supporting underrepresented athletic groups, she’s working in her career as a marine biologist. With over six years in the field, Delaney has worked in research on climate change impacts and a focus on data driven solutions for sustainable environmental management. Here’s our Four Hot Takeaways: At 2:56 Delaney answers the rapid-fire questions about her favorite sport to watch, best cooldown exercise, the one country she’d love a Paralympics to be in next, her taste in music and what she does on the weekend. At 6:25 Delaney drops the facts about para sports, and specifically all about classifications. She gives the new fan guide on what are para sport classifications in sports and their value, what the letters and numbers mean for different categories, how athletes can get classified, and how to be a new spectator enjoying the sports with one major fact that Delaney drops that’ll change your perspective. INTERMISSION STORY TIME at 22:29 gets motivational as Delaney shares how she got into para sport from one university track and field tournament resulting in an introduction to Team USA in the best of ways. And we end the podcast episode on 29:45 with Delaney giving us all the insight into her two careers between shot put and marine biologist. Delaney shares how she got into shot put and what’s the thing she loves the most about this community, how she got into marine biology, and the one thing she feels aligns the best between her two careers that a lot of people can take into their futures. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Delaney @delaneynolin on all social media platforms! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

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E132: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #46 "Developing Your Self-Advocacy So You Can Achieve Success with Subtly"

46th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is another addition to our “Inner vs External Growth Series” for 2026, where all episodes have been targeting both internal and external personal development skillsets and mindsets, and the ways you can utilize them to strengthen your mental wellbeing when tacking different areas of life. We’re focusing on the area of external personal growth, and specifically we are taking the time to gain information and a new perspective on how to approach activism in the personal and social settings so you can still feel changes and progression are made, but at the volume you’d prefer so the spark of curiosity can permeate subconscious. Learn the steps on the different forms of advocacy and levels to advocate, why it’s needed to take subtle approaches to advocacy in the early stages because quiet doesn’t mean powerless, and how it’s important to find ways to spark curiosity in activism so opinions can grow with lasting impact. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Silent Solidarity Theory, the steps to be able to learn your own style of advocating, internally gauge the way you communicate with the world, why it helps to lean into quiet activism as a way to show the pockets other can be curious about to learn and grow to take as a spark of momentum for positive change that’s in their subconscious and greats positive changes. Plus, founder Dominique talks about how the development of InvisiYouth’s Subtle Activist Color Block bracelets allowed her to showcase her subtle activism on her personal advocacy of her own chronic illness journey, as well as community advocacy of the chronic illness/disability community of our nonprofit because she was able to lean into curiosity so a long-lasting progression of change was possible with those she met. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E131: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with actress, singer and team captain of the Rollettes LA dance team, Joci Scott

We need some energy, and nothing’s better than some singing and dancing. Actress, singer, and team captain of the Rollettes LA wheelchair dance team, Joci Scott, is a passionate performer since childhood, but a plane crash with her family when she was 20 resulted in a pivot for Joci as she navigated life paralyzed with a T12 spinal cord injury. She would return to performing months later while using her wheelchair, and her pursuit for a career as a working actress, singer and dancer. She’s performed in numerous stage performances and short films, and when she’s not acting, Joci is team captain of the popular wheelchair dance team, Rollettes LA that she’s been dancing with for over five years. Here’s our Four Hot Takeaways: At 3:47 Joci answers the rapid-fire questions about the unique activity she’d want to be an expert in, the one TV show she’ll always turn on, and which genre of a tv show/film she still wants to try next. At 10:21 Joci shares about her life as Rollettes LA team captain, how she got into wheelchair dance after her accident, the advice that’s worked to empower her on the journey, and what’s the best experiences with the Rollettes LA and dancing with the new generation of dancers. INTERMISSION STORY TIME at 30:45 brings us out to nature with Joci’s one and (and only) camping trip with her family that resulted in disappearing water, sleeping on the ground, and a long hike. And in our final segment at 39:06 Dominique and Joci talk about her acting career, what she’s learned and appreciated from more representation in front and behind the camera and what accessibility should still be improved, how social media actually plays a key role in expanding the roles available, what’s she’s taken from her experiences in producing and writing that have made her a better actress, and her advice for fellow actors with disabilities in their careers. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Joci @jociscott and the Rollettes @rollettes_la, on all social media platforms! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

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E130: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #45 "Reframing How to Achieve Independence with Supports Let's You Embody it Fully"

45th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is another addition to our “Inner vs External Growth Series” for 2026, where all episodes have been targeting both internal and external personal development skillsets and mindsets, and the ways you can utilize them to strengthen your mental wellbeing when tacking different areas of life. We’re focusing on the area of external personal growth, and specifically we are honing in on reframing how we can achieve levels of independence in our life’s events when you find different supports you are able to lean on which will enable you to actually achieve and embody altered independence with yourself at the helm of control. Learn the steps on why it is important to gain tools of why a mental reframe on what independence truly means and it’s lack of requiring solitude to achieve it, the rationale behind adding supports to each your goals of independence are better than being fully reliant on others, and how we can shift the way we achieve independence by knowing we are at the helm of creating the supports to reach out goals. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Leaning Independence Mindset, the steps to be able to recognize when you need supports in people and programs in order to achieve independence, how you are able to independently think of what accessibilities and supports will be needed before going forward with an action, and why it is crucial for yourself to remain in control of how you access and use the supports you lean on so you are still able to maintain autonomy when others are involved in your quest for independence in a reframed manner. Plus, founder Dominique talks about how she was able to find her own leaning independence when she started working in the city and needed to run errands when she was having flareups and wanted to do her work independently; thus, she incorporated her skills of finding her supports to lean on and was able to do all of her tasks within that altered independence to be successful without compromising her health. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E129: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with four-time Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing gold medalist and PhD neuroscience student, Sydney Jo Peterson

Let’s go from the snowy mountains to the laboratory. Four-time Paralympic Cross-Country skier gold medalist and PhD neuroscience student, Sydney Jo Peterson began to experience symptoms of dystonia in her left arm. As time went on, Sydney went to be a skier in university and her dystonia ended up affecting her left arm and leg. Instead of leaving the sport, Sydney was encouraged to go into para cross-country skiing. She’d qualify for the 2022 Beijing Paralympics, and earn a hat trick: a gold, silver and bronze medal. And at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics she’d earn three more gold medals and a silver. Off the snow, Sydney is going for her PhD in neuroscience at University of Utah, working in a neurogenetics lab to research how existing drugs can be repurposed to treat rare neurodegenerative diseases. Here’s our Four Hot Takeaways: At 3:25 Sydney gives her superlatives of best skiing location, the summer Paralympic sport she’d try, what she’s most likely to listen to while training and the type of food she’d give a five-stars. At 10:33 Sydney and Dominique talk all things para cross-country skiing! Sydney talks about how she got into skiing, what the experience was like transitioning to para cross-country skiing and how she navigated a new version of a sport as her health changed both physically and mentally, what event she enjoys the most, and how she balances her full-time para cross-country skiing career with her full-time PhD work. INTERMISSION STORY TIME at 30:09 brings the levity as Sydney talks about one time she went training solo while in Montana and a series of events left her five miles from her car with a surprise twist saving the day. And the episode ends at 34:03 as we talk all things neuroscience. Sydney shares how she got into the science world for her studies and a career, what about her personal experience with dystonia has given her a different approach to her PhD research role, what’s her favorite thing about working in a rare disease-focused lab, the elements of going into the sciences that she feels people should know when they’re in their early college years, and how she feels her cross-country skiing background has sharpened her approach to her neuroscience research career. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Sydney @sydney.j.p! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

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E128: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #44 "How to Make Three Seconds Change Your Life Perspective For the Better"

44th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is the next addition to our “Inner vs External Growth Series” for 2026, where all episodes have been targeting both internal and external personal development skillsets and mindsets, and the ways you can utilize them to strengthen your mental wellbeing when tacking different areas of life. We’re focusing on the area of internal development, and specifically within the realm of reviewing thought processes—especially how to rationalize and reframe the life changing moments in our lives and health from an analytical viewpoint where we can compartmentalize the varying emotions of the full experience and how it impacts the present day. Learn the steps on why it is important to gain thinking tools of understanding why there’s such a benefit to learning the psychology of reframing, what are the benefits to dissecting the major traumas and life-changing events in life into three different sectors in order to understand them fully, and how to comprehend your emotions in levels. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Three Second Life Change Theory, the steps to be able to recognize your life-changing event and recognize the before, during and after experiences, how to be able to analyze the emotions and changes from each sector, and why it’s so valuable to our internal development to grow with confidence when we can see the event in stages versus being overwhelmed by all the emotions of such a life shift. Plus, founder Dominique talks about how was able to look back on the moment she got injured which developed her chronic illnesses and instead of feeling a wave of sadness, was able to compartmentalize the moment into three different seconds, logically analyze how each experience made her feel and grow, and then became capable of learning and thinking about that major life event with more internal confidence. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E127: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with award-winning home cook, TV personality, cookbook author and creator of Dish It Girl, Dina Deleasa Gonsar

We’re bringing back one of our favorite guests and friends for a catch up! Dina Deleasa-Gonsar creates recipes that fuse family traditions with modern twists so getting into the kitchen is fun and approachable with over 123k followers. Dina’s bright personality has made her a staple on TV and online as a fantastic home cook. And Dina uses her platform to connect to others, being an advocate on the journey of postpartum depression, thyroid cancer, and how to empower yourself to keep growing and becoming your best version. Last year, Dina’s first cookbook, At the Kitchen Sink was released and she also began hosting on TV with On New Jersey’s In the Mix, and joined the podcast world with DishItGirl Podcast. Here’s our Four Hot Takeaways: At 3:05 Dina shares the one cooking tool she hasn’t mastered, what she wishes she invented, and why her morning ritual is a surprise. At 14:51 Dominique and Dina catch up about her cookbook journey, what surprised her the most going from creating visual content for cooking to a written book, what’s helped her keep her ethos throughout her cooking career’s evolutions, and her advice for others about being intentional both personally and publicly from her thyroid cancer journey that can help others. INTERMISSION STORY TIME at 40:07 gives us the funny exclusive about Dina’s experience on Guy’s Grocery Games when she may have been accidentally the last one left on set. And the final segment at 45:29 get us in the foodie brain as Dina shares about the foods her daughter, Sienna is expanding into her palette, recipes she’s shared online that have gotten the most surprising reaction, how her cookbook recipes have made the rounds with her family members, and the mission she’d want in a future cookbook. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Dina @dishitgirldina on all social media platforms, buy her cookbook and check out her podcast! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

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E126: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #43 "Find Your Patio Door Opportunities to Be Seen and Heard in Conversations"

43rd InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is the next addition to our “Inner vs External Growth Series” for 2026, where all episodes have been targeting both internal and external personal development skillsets and mindsets, and the ways you can utilize them to strengthen your mental wellbeing when tacking different areas of life. We’re focusing on the area of external personal development, and specifically within the realm of empowering redirection—especially how to gain the conversational skills and creativity to become included in conversations and community that you might otherwise feel unintentionally excluded from. Learn the steps on why it is important to gain greater tools by understanding how to redirect miscommunication and exclusion so you are empowered in conversations, and why you might unintentionally excluded from conversations and community because others don’t know how to proactively adapt and find accessibilities. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Patio Door Theory, the metaphor of finding a patio door as an alternate route to break into conversations and situations that feel inaccessible to you, the steps to be able to read the situations you are being unintentionally disempowered by choices being made for you and how to utilize your communication style to break into the chat so you can share your desires and needs so others know how to adapt and be accessible so your involvement can continue. Plus, founder Dominique talks about how she had to get creative in her metaphorical patio door search when it came to her friend group hanging out together without inviting her and how she was able to be empowered to express her wants and needs while opened the conversation in their worries of impacting her health while going out so she was able to ask for the invites and communication to adapt to excel. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E125: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with Australian gold and silver medalist and 4x Grand Slam wheelchair tennis player Heath Davidson

We are proponents of the power of para-sports, and we are massive fans of one specific sport that started it all: wheelchair tennis. We are thrilled that this episode’s special guest is Australian gold and silver medalist and 4x Grand Slam wheelchair tennis player Heath Davidson. After contracting viral transverse myelitis which led to paraplegia and using a wheelchair, Heath was first introduced to wheelchair tennis at 14 and his talent and perseverance in a journey would begin. He’d skyrocket to wheelchair tennis legacy status in 2016 after winning guild in the 2016 Rio Paralympics with doubles partner, gold medalist Dylan Alcott, and continuing to have more success in the sport in singles and doubles, even being runner-up in this year’s Australian Open with partner Andy Lapthorone. Here’s our Four Hot Takeaways: At 03:13 Heath shares fun facts like which winter Paralympic sport he’d try, best appetizer to order, the one word to describe his tennis playing and a favorite childhood band he still listens to now. Heath and Dominique talk more at 07:59 when Heath shares his journey getting into wheelchair tennis, how different his approach to the sport is from his teen years to his current career in this thirties, and what he learns as he inspires and encourages the younger generation of wheelchair tennis players that sparks more into his current play. INTERMISSION STORY TIME AT 25:48 gives us the behind the scenes experience of how Heath returned to wheelchair tennis after a hiatus in his twenties which would ultimately lead to playing with Dylan Alcott and going to his first Paralympics to win gold all within one year…but that wasn’t the only highlight. And our final segment at 36:09 gets us into the world of para-sport and the power of it in your life. Heath shares what he likes about singles versus doubles, the surprising thing he had to learn when getting into the sport, and how his commitment to sharing about mental health and its importance for people and athletes within their overall wellness that’s both insightful and empowering. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Heath on @heathdavidson13 and his website! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop to buy bracelets or stickers from our Subtle Activism collection on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

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E124: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #42 "The Benefits of Planning So You Can Feel Prepared for All Life's Situations"

42nd InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is the third addition to our “Inner vs External Growth Series” for 2026, where all episodes have been targeting both internal and external personal development skillsets and mindsets, and the ways you can utilize them to strengthen your mental wellbeing when tacking different areas of life. We’re focusing on the area of external personal development, and specifically within the realm of proactive planning—especially how preplanning the situations that give you the most struggle or feel the most inaccessible can benefit in the long run because you are going to feel prepared for all of life’s situations and be invigorated to find success through the preplanning. Learn the steps on why it is important to gain greater tools by understanding premeditative planning, why so many young people can get into the situation when life goals are created but derailed because of unforeseen circumstances, and the reasons premeditative planning can be the key to that success. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Swiss Cheese Life Plan, the metaphor of layering up a bunch of Swiss cheese to block as many holes as possible is vital, and the rationale of the mindset of how to premeditatively plan for supports within yourself and others in order to guide for accessibility and achievements on your plan towards reaching the same life goals in supported ways for successful outcomes. Plus, founder Dominique talks about how she was dealing with a lot of pitfalls and unsuccessful doctor and physiotherapy appointments when short term memory loss kicked in, and how she needed to do a lot of premeditatively plan all the holes and cracks that made this unsuccessful so there were supports in place so that each time would now be successful no matter what. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E123: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with American Paralympic track and field athlete, motivational speaker and philanthropist, Noelle Lambert-Beirne

As an American Paralympic track and field athlete, Noelle Lambert-Beirne has always had a deep love and devotion to sports. From her background playing lacrosse, even returning to Division 1 lacrosse at University of Massachusetts after losing her left leg in a moped accident in 2016, Noelle transitioned to track and field, specializing in 100m and long jump T63 events. She has numerous accolades, including joining Team USA in Paralympic Games and winning bronze last year in T63 long jump at World Para Athletics Championships. She’s also competed on Season 43 of Survivor, and started her own foundation, Born to Run Foundation, which provides prostheses and supports young amputees to promote adaptive sports. Here’s our Four Hot Takeaways: At 3:45 Noelle lists her lasts, including the last new place she’s visited, the last date night activity with her husband, the last new sport she wanted to try, and the last competition reality tv she watched and wanted to compete on. Noelle and Dominique get chatting at 13:48 as Noelle shares how her athletic journey transitioned when she returned to lacrosse after her accident, her best advice for those wanting to try para-sports, the top experiences she learned from her time on Survivor, and why it’s vital more people understand the multi-faceted journey of getting prosthetics that should be supported. INTERMISSION STORY TIME at 34:45 will get your celebrity citing on as Noelle shares about the time she got to meet Tom Brady and made sure she got an autograph in the most unique of places that will forever be memorable. And our final segment at 38:02 dives in the world of para-sports. Noelle and Dominique talk about her addition of long jump and how it redefined her track and field career in exciting ways, the importance in supporting para-athletics and how to support their careers, and what’s the one thing she wants to make sure LA 2028 Paralympics Noelle remembers. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Noelle @noellelambert on all social media platforms Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop to buy bracelets or stickers from our Subtle Activism collection on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

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E122: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #41 "Find the Good in the Sudden Changes Like Chocolate in Dinner"

41st InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is the next addition to our “Inner vs External Growth Series” for 2026, where all episodes have been targeting both internal and external personal development skillsets and mindsets, and the ways you can utilize them to strengthen your mental wellbeing when tacking different areas of life. We’re focusing on the area of internal development, and specifically within the realm of mental reconfiguration—especially how to find ways to regroup in the face of roadblocks and limits in our life so we can find the new skills and new paths to adapt to excel without feeling pessimistic about the changes and actually feel invigorated in your path for growth. Learn the steps on why it is important to gain greater tools by understanding mental reconfiguration, what are the reasons that it’s important to know roadblocks and limits to our goals in life can happen and shouldn’t be blamed on ourselves, and how to mentally regroup when a change in plans is needed so you can actually still find the sweetness in the things you learn and grow in the struggle. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Dinner Chocolate Mindset Theory, and learn about how to recognize the challenges while simultaneously pondering for the new positives and new paths that can come from within hardships, how to project forward what can be learned in these moments from what’s new and good with challenges, and how to make a pivot in the plan become just as sweet as the original plan because you can actually learn new skills or learn a new path in life that allows for more doors and opportunities to come from reaching the same goals. Plus, founder Dominique talks about one of her first experiences of her chronic illness limiting how she was able to work when the temperature dysregulation in her hand actually caused her to need to pivot away from traditional typing and she needed to get creative to find a new path to success, or rather a path to success that opened new doors. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E121: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with founder and principle designer of Blue Copper Design, Maegan Blau

Season 8 begins today, and we’ve starting on a high with a returning special guest that was a crowd favorite to come back for a part two. We’re starting off the new season with founder and principle designer of Blue Copper Design, Maegan Blau. After an accident left Maegan with a spinal cord injury and became a wheelchair user, Maegan took her love of interior design and her experience of finding an accessible and beautiful home and created her own interior design company in 2018. Blue Copper Design fuses modern, southwest aesthetic with barrier-free design so clients are empowered to have beautiful homes that are functional for their needs. And they relay even more advice online for all those looking to make their spaces accessible and beautiful. Here’s our Four Hot Takeaways: At 3:33 Maegan goes through a rapid fire round of questions about her first job, why being a snow bird is an ultimate goal, and why there’s a science to the amount of throw pillows on a couch. Dominique and Maegan catch up at 12:35 and Maegan shares about Blue Copper Studio getting its first studio space, why designing a space for disability needs doesn’t have to feel niche when it can be enjoyed by many, and how the company’s growth has allowed for her to continue sharing the benefits of individualized and overarching designs that bridge accessibility needs with beauty to both her clients and the tradesmen they work with to create pieces. INTERMISSION STORY TIME at 27:00 brings us in on an inside joke with Maegan and her husband that all started on a vacation in Hawaii when Maegan met a fellow vacationer that asked a lot of curious questions that, to this day, still makes her chuckle. And our final segment at 31:16 goes through some of Maegan and Blue Copper Designs best social media posts. We chat about her Summer School Design Series, get deep into what you need to know about hotel accessibility to make your hotel visits the best for your needs, why good design layouts should extend to the exterior, and the value of the curb cut effect when thinking about interior design in your home and space. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Maegan on @bluecopperdesign, on all social media platforms and Blue Copper Design’s website! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

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E120: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #40 "Building Up Self-Confidence so It Radiates From the Inside Out"

40th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is the first addition to our “Inner vs External Growth Series” for 2026, where all episodes have been targeting both internal and external personal development skillsets and mindsets, and the ways you can utilize them to strengthen your mental wellbeing when tacking different areas of life. We’re focusing on the area of internal development, and specifically within the realm of self-confidence—especially how to preserve and grow our personal confidence through adding levels of supports and internal belief systems when we are faced with our own insecurities and external opinions that can lessen that confidence level. Learn the steps on why it is important to gain greater tools by understanding self-confidence, what are the reasons that it’s never superficial to worry about external opinions when your external appearance is a cause of self-doubt, and the understanding of mentally rationalize away from self-confidence limiters to remind yourself that while the feelings are validated, they should not control your personal confidence. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Snow White Syndrome, and learn about how to remind yourself of the facts of who you are as a full person when you feel that inner judgement or self-confidence dwindle, the importance of acknowledging that feeling, why it’s valuable for self-confidence growth and stability to back up that acknowledgement with different supports like adding the things, mantras and people that can allow you to feel your most confidence inside and out, and the reminder that your full embodiment shouldn’t be defined by changes on the outside or what others might say because the security of your life path is all within you. Plus, founder Dominique talks about one of her experiences with self-confidence when she had to come to terms with her confidence taking a hit when she had to wear a bathing suit while out with friends and her scars from her chronic illness journey were catching attention, so she needed to not only validate her feelings, but also understand how to support herself to feel her most confident and enjoy herself in all settings. sLet's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E119: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with CEO of Diversability, disability activist and author, Tiffany Yu

We’re celebrating the Season 7 finale because we have a returning special guest on the show, CEO of Diversability, disability activist and author (and Season 2 finale Episode 26 special guest) Tiffany Yu. A beloved disability activist championing equity and inclusion in the world, Tiffany created professional avenues to empower the disability/chronic illness experience for the community. And recently, Tiffany added author to her resume when she published her book. The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change and Building a Disability-Inclusive World. Here’s the Four Hot Takeaways: 3:51 Tiffany goes through rapid fire questions about the type of gift wrapper she is, the unique artwork that’s going up in her new apartment, her favorite taste sense, and the childhood collector of a specific toy that had a massive craze behind it. 11:59 Tiffany and Dominique catch up on what’s made her the most excited about growing Diversability for over 15 years, the value of disability pride and establishing community, how creating a massively popular social media series “Anti-Albeism” with over 340 videos has allowed for more people to share the diversity of disability stories, and what she’s not only learned about disability history but also her own disability from her book writing experience with The Anti-Ableist Manifesto. 34:12 STORY TIME INTERMISSION and Tiffany gets into her unique experience making a last minute decision to go to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games turned into a truly remarkable experience working with YouTube, meeting up with athletes and celebrating with their communities. 40:49 is the final segment and gets us talking about something else that’s been added to Tiffany’s life since her Season 2 appearance on the podcast: competing at the world level for para-climbing. We learned how a childhood love of indoor rock-climbing connected her back to para-climbing later in life, the ways going to competitions and qualifying for the USA developmental team has allowed her to embrace the fun and wonder of a sport, and the advice she had to learn something new and challenge herself when living with chronic illness/disability. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Tiffany @imtiffanyyu and Diversibility @diversability, on all social media platforms, and buy her book The Anti-Ableist Manifesto! Donate during our Donate Match Campaign until New Years Eve on our website (www.invisiyouthcharity.com/donate) and all donations will be matched by a private board member! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop to buy yourself or someone you care about our Subtle Activist Color Block bracelet or Sticker Collection on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

• Chapters

E118: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #39 "Get Out Your Metaphorical White Noise Machine for a Boost of Confidence"

39th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is the final addition to our “Personal Growth Series” for 2025, where all episodes have been targeting one of four major personal growth areas in life, so young people living with chronic illness/disability can gain techniques to empower themselves for their best versions of adapting for success. We’re focusing on our final area: self-confidence, and specifically how to maintain—and strengthen self-confidence—when you get outside opinions, advice and chatter trying to permeate your thoughts, so you’re just hearing it and maintaining your self-confidence and not allowing it to stifle it. Learn the steps on why it is so important to gain greater tools of self-confidence, what are the reasons that outside opinions and unsolicited advice can actually harm self- confidence, why it’s important to create buffers around yourself to protect your inner peace from unsolicited opinions, and how to understand metaphorical white noise to achieve that success in protecting your self-confidence. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, White Noise Persona Effect, and learn about how create aspects of white noise when you’re feeling self-conscious, why it’s important to take stock of what bothers your self-confidence before embarking in experiences that can hurt it, how you can add metaphorical white noise into your life when you experience unsolicited opinions, judgements or ignorance so your confidence and inner peace is protected, and the ways that mentality can actually strengthen your self-confidence because you’ll know the difference between you being the best judge of adapting to thrive in your life versus an outsider judging what they do not know or experience. Plus, founder Dominique talks about one of her experiences with self-confidence and how keeping that strong during a moment she had to give a reading at a cousin’s wedding when she was in a flareup with a bad health injury that was noticeable to anyone was all about incorporating her metaphorical white noise to block out the judgment and feel strong in her way of living so she could know it was there without it permeating her confidence. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E117: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with owner and illustrator of organ plush toy and accessories company, I Heart Guts, Wendy Bryan Lazar

Let’s tap into our inner artists and get playful! Our special guest is the founder and illustrator behind I Heart Guts, an award-winning company that promotes characters based on internal organs through a series of plush toys, stickers and apparel. What started as a side project for Wendy slowly grew into this incredible business where these whimsical, creative and impactful plush toys and products can connect with its thousands customers worldwide. Now 20 years since I Heart Guts was launched, Wendy is expanding her products, continuing to be creative, and allowing her company to embody the mindset of “life takes guts” with media attention like People, Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times. Here’s the Four Hot Takeaways: At 2:55 Wendy shares all of her lasts, like her last travel day, last plush toy that was her favorite, last TV show she found, and last thing added to her work desk that’s super sweet. At 12:43 Wendy and Dominique dive into the love of art and chat about Wendy’s journey from having art as a hobby to diving down a career in art, how did I Heart Guts begin, top advice for those wanting to get into freelance and art careers while still being practical, and how to break through those moments of low inspiration to keep on feeling motivated. STORY TIME INTERMISSION begins at 30:24 and Wendy gets her prank on! She shares a story about one April Fool’s when Wendy and an employee planned a prank on her husband that involved some plush toys and a highway, so you won’t want to miss this. And the final segment at 33:51 talks all things organ plush toys! Wendy and Dominique talk about her go-to tools for illustration and why old school pen and paper are always a great way to start, why her company’s products seem to really resonate with the chronic illness and disability community, the value of having something to bring levity to the challenges or hardships of health issues, her favorite customer story, and what she hopes gets to be in the future of I Heart Guts. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Wendy and I Heart Guts @iheartguts, on all social media platforms! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop to buy yourself or someone you care about our Subtle Activist Color Block bracelet or Sticker Collection on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

• Chapters

E116: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #38 "Dilute the Toxic Positivity Self-Talk, and Gain Confidence Like Kintsugi"

38th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is another addition from our “Personal Growth Series” for 2025, where all episodes will be targeting one of four major personal growth areas in life, so young people living with chronic illness/disability can gain techniques to empower themselves for their best versions of adapting for success. We’re focusing on our fourth and final area: self-confidence, and specifically how to boost self-confidence with full picture self-talk that not toxic positivity nor pessimism, but rather a mindset of the kintsugi philosophy for some realistic personal perspective. Learn the steps on why it is so important to gain greater tools of self-confidence, what kintsugi pottery is all about and how the actual philosophy of life is a way of finding growth and beauty within the imperfections the full picture is the focus rather than the cracks or problems, and why a mentality that’s focused on personal development rather than positivity can actually bring more confidence that’s sustaining. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Kintsugi Method, and learn about how to develop self-talk that’s positive realism about the struggles or problems within our lives, how people can understand that reframing the way you look at struggles to see how they’re connected to the full person and their multiple facets versus focusing on the struggle can bring more positive self-talk, and the reasoning behind creating steps to find the personal growth and positives from the challenges in the over person that you are can make self-confidence stronger as it goes because you’re reframing the hardships. Plus, founder Dominique opens up her journey of self-confidence and positive self-talk through her experience after her spinal correction and fusion surgery during the early years of her chronic illness journey make her self-confidence take a hit, and she wanted to find ways to reframe how she view her chronic illness, scar and overall life with a mindset that empowered the challenges as pieces of herself she was proud of and could find the growth and positives within so her full self-picture was always confident. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

E115: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with Mental Health and Wellness Content Creator, Kelly U

Let’s get talking about some empowerment with mental and physical health with our special guest, mental health and wellness content creator, Kelly U. With over 200k followers, Kelly has created a vibrant platform filled with vulnerable empowerment all stemmed from her personal experiences living with IBS and mental health. With some of her content reaching millions of views, Kelly has gotten to work with brands like SXSW, Olly Wellness, and Aerie Real to name a few all centered on her strong content creator that’s honest and empowering. Here’s the Four Hot Takeaways: 3:14 Kelly gives rapid fire answers to her favorite childhood game, a staple in her fridge, why she wants to expand her date night plans, a dream vacation location, and why underdressed to the occasion is her functional favorite. 13:43 Dominique and Kelly go through her Medical Pop Headlines as they share the stories behind her winning Health and Wellness Influencer of the Year with The Influence Awards, the power of talking about mental health and therapy from her time on the SXSW Panel, and why some of her viral IBS videos about relationships and IBS explain the value of finding trust in your support system. STORY TIME INTERMISSION at 29:09 gets vulnerable as Kelly shares the time she got empowered and learned the importance of setting boundaries with her parents in order to improve her own wellbeing and family dynamic. 33:33 ends the podcast as Kelly and Dominique talk openly about the duality between physical and mental health, how she discovered the importance of working on both her chronic illness and mental health equally in order to live and empowered life, the steps she takes to use the distance of time when choosing content topics, her top advice on how to support your physical or mental health when the other part is struggling, and all the different tools they recommend trying in a wellness toolbox so your balance of life with chronic illness and mental health wellness can be achieved. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Kelly @kellyu, on all social media platforms! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop to buy yourself or someone you care about our Subtle Activist Color Block bracelet or Sticker Collection on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

• Chapters

E114: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #37 "Embrace Your Inner Rockstar When it Comes to Advocacy"

37th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is another addition from our “Personal Growth Series” for 2025, where all episodes will be targeting one of four major personal growth areas in life, so young people living with chronic illness/disability can gain techniques to empower themselves for their best versions of adapting for success. We’re focusing on our third area: advocacy, and specifically how we can achieve the level of advocacy or ourselves and causes that mean the most to us without feeling like we need to be pushed out of our comfort zones on the level and volume of our advocacy. Learn the steps on why it is so important to gain greater tools of self-advocacy methods and the types of advocacy that are available, why it’s valuable to understand passive activism as a starting point or way to evoke curiosity to create positive change or raise awareness, and the value of learning how to advocate for yourself and a cause that’s important to you when utilizing your confident communication style so you can feel its impact. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, The Shania Method, and learn about how to creating in your self-advocacy style because you’re utilizing kind communication tactics to subtly advocate for your rights and needs while allowing the other party to feel open-minded to learn and grown, and how creating a perspective shift on advocating from a place of sparking someone else’s curiosity to listen, learn and grown can allow you to achieve the maximum amount of equity and support. Plus, founder Dominique opens up how her personal style of advocacy fused itself into the formation of InvisiYouth’s mission and that she was able to actually utilize our subtle activist stickers in a moment when she needed to self-advocate for her chronic illness to not just educate someone but also raise awareness on her community. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate