Hello, My Darlings...

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and NASA | Leandra Stanley

Leandra, is a self-proclaimed work in progress who has turned her passion for advocacy and building relationships into a career in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. With a foundational background in Human Resources and then many years of growing within and managing a Data Operations team, she stepped into an inaugural Director of Diversity & Inclusion role at her organization in February 2022. Her responsibilities span across many departments, including reviewing policies, supporting a global employee resource group program, and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to work toward inclusivity for every body. When Leandra isn't writing and engaging on social media, she's reading, cracking jokes, hanging out with her partner and elderly dog, finding the best tacos in whatever city she's in, or antiquing with her mom. You can find her on Linkedin under Leandra Stanley.

Margo & You, a Children’s Book for Disability Representation | Megan Craft

Megan is a Speech-language Pathologist turned author to help better represent the students she works with. During her career, she often heard parents of her students express that their kids love reading, but they could hardly find characters that look like them. Megan made it a personal mission to change this! The now author has a book out called Margo & You, and she will soon have 2 others launched soon with one being a Christmas special. WIth her books, she hopes to bring joy and confidence to kids with disabilities and one day have her books become a kids television show! To find her books and other products, go to: https://mission-inclusion.com/collections/all [https://mission-inclusion.com/collections/all]Check her out on Instagram @mission._.inclusion1622 [https://www.instagram.com/mission._.inclusion1622/] and LinkedIn at Megan Craft.

Getting Paid as a Disabled Content Creator | Ashley McFaul

Ashley McFaul is a disabled content creator/makeup influencer who loves to share their life living with Arthrogryposis on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Their talents have been featured by Maybelline, The New York Times and TLC. Ashley lives in Houston TX with their wife, and their wife’s partner. But if you’re looking for Ashley they’re probably at a Stevie Nicks concert.

Genderdivergence, Neurodivergence, Oh My. | Sophie Cooper

Today’s guest is Sophie Cooper, an e-learning developer and former screenwriter for short films and a part time Trans and Non-Binary consultant on LinkedIn, talking about the stigmatization of gender-divergent and neurodivergent people.

Career Changes for Greater Purpose | Carolina (Cuquis) Robledo

Today’s guest is Cuquis Robledo, a Cuban-Mexican-American woman with dwarfism who is mental health counselor and EMDR Trained Therapist, a disability advocate and an award winning videographer/documentarian. In this episode, Cuquis talks about her career changes to serve a greater purpose to help others. She graduated with her BA from Duke University in 2017, her Master's of Arts in Interactive Media from Elon University in 2019 and her Master's of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of St. Thomas - Houston in 2022. What makes Cuquis unique though is her perspective and outlook on life as a woman with dwarfism (specifically spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia, also known as SEMD for short). Cuquis had her challenges in life, but she attributes them to her uniqueness in her size to motivate her to live her life to the fullest, and inspired a majority of her career path that lead to helping others in marginalized communities in her counseling career. Her love of the creative arts (specifically videography, acting, dancing and visual arts) all played a role in the multiple careers she has had. She also is a co-chair of the Dwarf Artist Coalition, a subcommittee of the larger organization, Little People of America, where she works to promote artists with dwarfism and creates programming opportunities for artists with dwarfism to connect and share their work. Most recently, she was the recipient of the Young Leadership Award from the Health 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas, where she was acknowledged for the work that she has done in the year she has been a mental health counselor. Some of her most notable works include creating an interactive documentary about the effects of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico, creating the #CrappyCurb campaign to help lawmakers see the importance of installing accessible curb cuts in the city, and her research in utilizing her love of Latin dance as a mindful and therapeutic tool in the counseling field, specifically for people with disabilities. But, there is also more to Cuquis than her work. In her spare time, you can see her dancing up a storm to Latin music, doing Zumba and learning Zumba choreography as a certified Zumba instructor, crocheting, baking, hiking in beautiful places, and spending quality time with her partner and family. Links to work:Counseling: https://www.authentichealingandcounseling.com/carolina-cuquis-robledo-ms-lpc-associate Videography work: https://www.cuquisrobledostudios.com/ Psychology Today Profile: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/carolina-cuquis-robledo-houston-tx/1025220 Research: https://www.proquest.com/openview/a1eb4d12cc0a70c352fc6bfd4a02fd17/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y Instagram: @standtallcuquis