Born without arms, not without attitude!

Nicky Abdinor is an expert on doing MORE, with less.

 Nicky is a registered Clinical Psychologist, international speaker, and founder of the non-profit organisation, Nicky’s Drive. Nicky has a passion for challenging our perceptions of ABILITY. She is a firm believer that it’s not our situation, but how we THINK about our situation, that determines our emotional well-being. 

 Nicky is a sought-after inspirational keynote speaker who gained international recognition following her TEDx talk, "Driving Dreams." She was awarded the 2022 “Speaker Hall of Fame” award, a great honour through the Professional Speakers Association of South Africa. Nicky has presented talks as far as Europe, the USA, Middle East and Australia - and now will be chatting to us from her office in Cape Town

Some key points from our interview:

·        How unbroken means finding meaning in our perceived brokenness

·        How there was no medical explanation for being born without arms and shortened legs

·        How her parents always focused on what she could do and not what she couldn’t which led to her never seeing her limitations

·        How it was never a question of can Nicky do this? but how 

·        How she focused on academics and trained as a psychologist

·        How she believes her humour helps her with her positive attitude 

·        How meeting a client who had lost and arm and a leg in an accident made her realise she should share her story to motivate others 

·        How a woman in the UK gifted her an adapted car and she said driving gave her wings

·        How she started a non profit organisation to help other people with disabilities get their car adapted to meet their needs 

·        How she believes it’s so important to not ignore what is wrong, but focus more on what is right

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nickyabdinorspeaker

Twitter: @Nicky_Abdinor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickyabdinor/

Instagram: @nicky_abdinor

Website: www.nickyabdinor.com 

TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJV9LG9-Vp0

Short of time but want to tune in?

Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE

Tammy is Canadian and moved to Scotland in 1989.  

 She is trained in adult massage and when she had her first child it just felt logical to massage her.  

 She then discovered research about the benefits of massage for preterm babies and became passionate about massage for all, especially babies/children. 

 She began teaching parents, mid-wives, health visitors, early years practioners and the Scottish School of Child & Baby Massage was born 28 years ago.  

 She ran her business while having and raising a family of 7 children. 

She has many stories about the profound impact that massage has on lives of other babies/parents with bonding, health & well-being and wants to start writing a book now that most of the young people have moved out!! 

Some key points from our interview:

·       How unbroken means being able to pick herself up whatever happens

·       How life in Vancouver was chaotic as she was born to a schizophrenic mother 

·       How she fell in love with massage at 12 when received one from a Dutch woman and started to have massage parties teaching her friends as a teenager

·       How when she moved to Scotland, she met Jim and qualified in massage

·       How her family became one of seven children including one son who has severe autism and epilepsy

·       How she loves teaching mums to massage their babies and has so many stories of mental health improving for the mums and physical health too for babies

·       How she believes that massage can be used to help others connect to themselves and their baby which improves the bonding between them both

·       How self-care is not a luxury but an important way to take care of our health

Her website for training: http://www.babymassage.org.uk/

Online course for Parents: https://bambinoandi.co.uk/

Facebook:  Scottish School of Child & Baby Massage
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Hosted by Madeleine Black, the show will share stories of all the amazing people Madeleine has met on her own journey as an author/speaker and these stories will heal, motivate, inspire and bring hope when they share their wisdom and knowledge with her.

She really believes in the power that comes when we share our stories, that in fact we are not story tellers but story healers. Tune in to discover what helped them to stay unbroken and together we will discover that none of us are broken beyond repair.

You can find out more about Madeleine, her story and her memoir, Unbroken,  from her website: https://madeleineblack.co.uk/


You can listen to the full extended series of incredible stories on https://www.buzzsprout.com/1386718

Short of time but want to tune in?

Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE

Jaz Ampaw-Farr is a ‘resilience ninja’, international speaker, coach and author.

 Hailed in the US as ‘The British Oprah’, Jaz has travelled the world advising governments, educators and helping tens of thousands of people with her bespoke leadership development programmes, training courses and motivational speeches.

 As a successful entrepreneur, mum of three, and former teacher - she knows a thing or two about galvanising people into taking action!

 With a passion for resilience, positive disruption, and a human-first approach to everything, Jaz’s energy is infectious and you can’t help but become mesmerised and fall under her captivating spell

 Some key points from our interview:

·       How she believes that unbroken is about being unbreakable and being able to reform with a new story to be resilient

·       How she feels that resilience is all about knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do

·       How her start in life was tough and being beaten, neglected and sexually abused left her feeling broken, worthless and defeated for many years 

·       How she ended up in care at eight years and homeless as a teenager but meeting five everyday heroes when she was at school changed her life 

·       How having a family is her success as she broke the cycle

·       How she’s passionate about helping people to become at least 10% braver

·       How her brother dying of a heroin overdose motivated her to speak out to show others what is possible in choosing a different life

·       How when she recently received an award at a conference, she was moved as she reflected on the enormity of her journey from foster care to speaker of the year 

 www.jazampawfarr.com

 Hosted by Madeleine Black, the show will share stories of all the amazing people Madeleine has met on her own journey as an author/speaker and these stories will heal, motivate, inspire and bring hope when they share their wisdom and knowledge with her.

She really believes in the power that comes when we share our stories, that in fact we are not story tellers but story healers. Tune in to discover what helped them to stay unbroken and together we will discover that none of us are broken beyond repair.

You can find out more about Madeleine, her story and her memoir, Unbroken,  from her website: https://madeleineblack.co.uk/


You can listen to the full extended series of incredible stories on https://www.buzzsprout.com/1386718

Short of time but want to tune in?

Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE

Andrea Rainsford –Andrea had an extensive career in the corporate world, working as a Business Development Manager for Ernst & Young and Eversheds. 

 A career change beckoned following a stroke and in 2009, Andrea graduated with a BSc in Computing Science.

 A need to help and guide small businesses followed and SEO Angel was born in 2014. 

 SEO Angel aims to de-mystify SEO, to help small and micro businesses with their visibility and watch them thrive!

Some key points from our interview:

·        How she believes that Unbroken means her life had many broken shards of glass at times, but she’s examined and fixed them and is thriving again

·         How in 2003 she was diagnosed with ME which almost broke her as she fought against the illness and believes that could be what led to her stroke

·        How once she was left hospital, she didn’t leave her house for six years

·        How she was unable to carry on with her work and went to university and got a degree in computing science

·        How she went to university in a wheelchair, but walked in for her graduation with crutches  

·        How despite being told by her Dr’s that she won’t walk again she never gave up on her dream of walking unaided

·        How she practices self-care 

·        How at the time of this interview she has walked without the use of crutches for the last eight weeks only but is also determined to dance unaided too!

·        How she recognises that it would be so easy to wallow in everything she’s been through, but she chose to get back

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-rainsford-seo-angel

https://www.subscribepage.com/o4t3y8

Hosted by Madeleine Black, the show will share stories of all the amazing people Madeleine has met on her own journey as an author/speaker and these stories will heal, motivate, inspire and bring hope when they share their wisdom and knowledge with her.

She really believes in the power that comes when we share our stories, that in fact we are not story tellers but story healers. Tune in to discover what helped them to stay unbroken and together we will discover that none of us are broken beyond repair.

You can find out more about Madeleine, her story and her memoir, Unbroken,  from her website: https://madeleineblack.co.uk/


You can listen to the full extended series of incredible stories on https://www.buzzsprout.com/1386718

Short of time but want to tune in?

Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE

As a professional speaker, author and resilience coach Steve’s mission is to deliver his story that took him from wheelchair to world champion and beyond. 

 He explains how he fixed his broken life and the learnings he gained which he now shares to empower people with the right mindset to go confidently on their journey in the direction of their dreams, their GOLD.  

 He’s passionate about everyone experiencing the happiness and fulfilment of achieving the life that they have imagined and truly deserve

 Some key points from our interview:

·        How Kuntsugi means unbroken to him, which is a Japanese word that refers to a broken vase that is mended with gold, making it better and more unique

·        How he believes that resilience is a like a wave and there are a range of emotions you need to go through to come out the other side

·        How a car accident in 2002 caused so many injuries to his legs that he was told he may never walk again

·        How his patience was tested as he wore a cage over his leg for 18 months but could also only twist the bolts through his legs by 1mm per day, which grew his leg back

·        How even walking just 10 seconds per day caused utter exhaustion, but he pushed himself to improve

·        How he stopped saying “Why me?” and instead I’d say “Try me!”

·        How years later he was looking for a new challenge and discovered paratriathlon’s and started his training 

·        How he has always focused on what he can do rather that what he can’t do

·        How he went from being told he may never walk again to becoming British and then world champion in the paratriathlon

·        How he believes if you want to become a high achiever in life then you need to start focusing on what you want to achieve

 www.steve-judge.co.uk

Hosted by Madeleine Black, the show will share stories of all the amazing people Madeleine has met on her own journey as an author/speaker and these stories will heal, motivate, inspire and bring hope when they share their wisdom and knowledge with her.

She really believes in the power that comes when we share our stories, that in fact we are not story tellers but story healers. Tune in to discover what helped them to stay unbroken and together we will discover that none of us are broken beyond repair.

You can find out more about Madeleine, her story and her memoir, Unbroken,  from her website: https://madeleineblack.co.uk/


You can listen to the full extended series of incredible stories on https://www.buzzsprout.com/1386718

Short of time but want to tune in?

Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE

Joan Kane (director, writer, performer, educator) recently performed her script of Almost 13 in the Edinburgh Festival Fringereceiving a five-star review. She also got favourable reviews for her direction of Safe and what do you mean in New York and Edinburgh.

  She is the founding Artistic Director of Ego Actus Theatre Company. Off Broadway, she directed Sycorax at HERE, Play Nice! at 59e59 theatres, and I Know What Boys Want at Theatre Row. She directed Six Characters in Search of an Author in Oslo, Norway and Kafka’s Belinda in Prague.

 Joan was awarded Best Director in the United Solo Festival where she has directed six pieces. She was named to the Indie Theatre Hall of Fame by nytheatre.com. 

 She has also directed plays and readings at the Lark, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Urban Stages, Workshop Theatre, Nylon Fusion, Abingdon Theatre, Oberon Theatre, the Samuel French Short Play Festival, T. Schreiber Studio, and many others. Joan is an alumni of the LaMama directing and playwriting symposiums in Umbria, Italy.

 She is a member of the Playwright/Director unit at Actor’s Studio, the League of Professional Theatre Women, the Dramatists Guild, and the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers

 Some key points from our interview:

·        How she believes that being broken is ok 

·        How in the summer of 1969 she witnessed a gang member being murdered and she was then raped by the murderer to silence her

·        How she became a selected mute after these traumas, as she was too scared to speak out

·        How a friend encouraged her to go for therapy at high school as she was having obtrusive dreams

·        How she was encouraged at a writing retreat in Italy to share her story

·        How it took her many years to write her story down due to shame and denial

·        How writing has been her escape from trauma and her therapy too

·        How she’s passionate about storytelling and wrote “Almost 13” which are her memories of a young girl’s violent summer in Brooklyn and plays all 10 characters herself 

·        How she believes we can all have horrible things happen to us, but we can survive them too

Review of Almost 13  - “Joan Kane sets an example to others to face up to their stories and to be prepared to share them in order to disseminate, perhaps dissipate and gain some healing through the process”



Hosted by Madeleine Black, the show will share stories of all the amazing people Madeleine has met on her own journey as an author/speaker and these stories will heal, motivate, inspire and bring hope when they share their wisdom and knowledge with her.

She really believes in the power that comes when we share our stories, that in fact we are not story tellers but story healers. Tune in to discover what helped them to stay unbroken and together we will discover that none of us are broken beyond repair.

You can find out more about Madeleine, her story and her memoir, Unbroken,  from her website: https://madeleineblack.co.uk/


You can listen to the full extended series of incredible stories on https://www.buzzsprout.com/1386718

Short of time but want to tune in?

Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE

Arno Michaelis is a speaker, author of My Life After Hate, co-author of The Gift of Our Wounds,  Filmmaker, and Peacebuilding Consultant. 

 In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Arno was a leader of hate groups, and frontman of the hate-metal band Centurion before single parenthood, love for his daughter, and the forgiveness shown by people he once hated helped to change his world, bringing love for diversity and gratitude for all life. 

 Arno has appeared on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360”, “The View”, the BBC, CBC, and ABC. He has published op-ed on CNN, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and Al Jazeera English.

·        How he feels proud of his broken heart as it opened him up for the world to touch the most tender part of him

·        How his faith in humanity remains unbroken

·        How he had an idyllic childhood even though he ended up in hate groups

·        How violence and hatred made sense in his world when nothing else did and he likens it to an addiction

·        How a black women pointed to his newly tattooed swastika on his finger and told him “That’s not who you are” and her compassion totally disarmed him and left him powerless

·        How he left hate groups and went to the rave scene which was hyper diverse and found himself embraced by the people he would have attacked in the past 

·        How he struggles with self-forgiveness but recognises its importance and that it’s a process

·        How he believes people commit crimes because they are suffering 

·        How he now embraces diversity, practices gratitude, is a Buddhist, promotes peace and has totally tuned his life around

     https://www.parents4peace.org

     https://www.instagram.com/arnomichaelis/?hl=en

 
Hosted by Madeleine Black, the show will share stories of all the amazing people Madeleine has met on her own journey as an author/speaker and these stories will heal, motivate, inspire and bring hope when they share their wisdom and knowledge with her.

She really believes in the power that comes when we share our stories, that in fact we are not story tellers but story healers. Tune in to discover what helped them to stay unbroken and together we will discover that none of us are broken beyond repair.

You can find out more about Madeleine, her story and her memoir, Unbroken,  from her website: https://madeleineblack.co.uk/


You can listen to the full extended series of incredible stories on https://www.buzzsprout.com/1386718

Short of time but want to tune in?

Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE

He says he’s just a bloke that runs ultra-trail marathons in his spare time…16 now!!

He lives just outside of Glasgow with his awesome wife Nikki who has been and is his total rock. 

He’s 48 years young and passionate about running, cycling and all things motorsport and if he’s not in trainers, he’s on a bike or driving a car. 

‘Anxiously chilled out’ describes his approach to stuff now after suffering a catastrophic stroke, out of the blue, in February of 2017 at 42, that changed his life and set him on a new and exciting path and adventure.  

He thinks the words loyal, considerate, challenging and inappropriately dark humoured would best describe him.

Some key points from our interview:

·       How he thinks the word unbroken means acceptance of who and what he is

·       How at forty-two years old he suffered a cryptogenic stroke despite being obsessed with cycling and training

·       How he wasn’t sure it was a stroke when it happened, but his wife had read about FAST (face, arms, speech and time) acronym and knew it was worse than just an ear infection, which is what he thought he had

·       How he didn’t want to make a fuss and call an ambulance, even though he was aware that he couldn’t stand or speak properly 

·       How he found himself in dark spaces emotionally

·       How he believes his stubbornness helped him to recover physically and emotionally

·       How he made a choice of who he was now going to become because of his stroke

·       How he believes that his stroke was the best thing that ever happened to him as it softened him

·       How he accepts and loves who he is now and feels he’s a more compassionate version of himself  

Reach Out to Andy here: 

Instagram - andyd2574_stroke_of_luck

Hosted by Madeleine Black, the show will share stories of all the amazing people Madeleine has met on her own journey as an author/speaker and these stories will heal, motivate, inspire and bring hope when they share their wisdom and knowledge with her.

She really believes in the power that comes when we share our stories, that in fact we are not story tellers but story healers. Tune in to discover what helped them to stay unbroken and together we will discover that none of us are broken beyond repair.

You can find out more about Madeleine, her story and her memoir, Unbroken,  from her website: https://madeleineblack.co.uk/


You can listen to the full extended series of incredible stories on https://www.buzzsprout.com/1386718

Short of time but want to tune in?

Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE