Episode 042
How extending my little hand to others helped me embrace who I really am
with Jacqueline Bezaire
Welcome to EP 042 of the CVD Podcast!!
Jacqueline Bezaire has such an incredible and inspiring story!
She was born without fingers on her right hand and refers to that hand as her "little hand." Growing up, she was ashamed of her hand and didn't want to be different, so she never spoke about it and she hid it whenever she could.
Later in life, Jacqueline's perspective was forever changed after she met a little girl with a similar limb difference. She started to realize that her little hand was only PART of who she was and she decided to embrace this difference rather than avoid it.
Since that mindset shift, Jacqueline has become a huge advocate for those with diverse abilities and limb differences. She shares her story both at work and publicly to help others like her and she is also a model for Kello Inclusive - the disability-focused media company that the industry has been waiting for.
In this episode, Jacqueline talks about:
Growing up with a limb difference
Why nobody (even her parents) never talked about it with her
How and why she hid her little hand from her friends
An uncomfortable situation with a pilot that she'll never forget
Joining an Employee Resource Group (ERG) at work
How this completely changed how she engaged at work
What the Diverse Abilities Network is and why groups like this are so important
The power of the words we use to talk about differences / disabilities
What "limb difference" means and how it can be interpreted
Why using "diverse ability" may be more appropriate than "disability"
Why two important moments completely changed her perspective
Meeting a little girl with a similar limb difference
Thinking about how she wanted her one-year son to grow up
How we can all embrace discomfort to better connect with one another
Where you can find Jacqueline online and the resources she mentioned in the episode:
Jacqueline: LinkedIn | Modeling Page on Kello Inclusive
Resources:
The Lucky Fin Project: raising awareness and celebrating those with limb differences
mimiTENS: making mittens for our friends in the limb difference community
Kello Inclusive: the disability-focused media company that the industry has been waiting for
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