Podcasts about blinded veterans association

In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset we get to experience a story of a man who demonstrates what real unstopability is really all about. I hope you will be inspired and that you will learn some good life lessons from what you will hear. Our guest, Kijuan Amey grew up around Durham North Carolina. After completing high school, rather than going to college, circumstances brought him to an Airforce recruiter. He scored quite high on his tests which resulted in his recruiter showing him a list of jobs including working as an in-flight refueling expert. The job was demanding, and it requires significant intelligence. After pondering and speaking with the recruiter Kijuan signed up for the job and spent the next 6 and a half years refueling aircraft in flight.   In May of 2017 Kijuan was struck by a motorcycle and suffered a significant number of major injuries. Of course, his career as a refueling expert ended. He actually spent the next 3 and a half years healing and eventually deciding to move on with his life.   Kijuan describes himself as someone who always likes getting answers and moving forward. This he did as you will discover. You will hear the story of Kijuan Amey in detail. Today he teaches and he is a coach. He also wrote and published a book. What I haven't told you to this point is that one of the things that happened to Kijuan as a result of his injuries is that he lost his eyesight. As he will tell you, however, “I may have lost my sight, but I have not lost my vision”. Kijuan today is a keynote speaker talking to many audiences and helping people to discover how they can move forward with their lives no matter what befalls them.     About the Guest:   Kijuan Amey, the visionary behind Amey Motivation, hails from Durham, NC, where his journey of resilience and success began. After graduating from Southern High School, he dedicated a decade of his life to the US Air Force, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant as an In-flight Refueling Specialist. Medically retired, he transitioned into academia, earning a degree and founding Amey Motivation LLC. Formerly served as the vice president for the Carolina regional group of the Blinded Veterans Association, Kijuan is also a mentor and ambassador for the Air Force Wounded Warriors program. Beyond his remarkable military career, Kijuan is a man of many talents, boasting over 25 years of drumming expertise, onstage acting, and now, an upcoming bestseller, “Don't Focus on Why Me.” However, life took an unexpected turn on May 5th, 2017, when a motorcycle accident claimed his eyesight. Yet, as Kijuan profoundly states, “I may have lost my sight, but I did not lose my vision.” Now armed with an inspiring story of overcoming adversity, Kijuan has become a motivational force, empowering others to reach their highest potential. Whether addressing a crowd of 1,500 or engaging in one-on-one sessions, Kijuan is well-equipped for any speaking engagement. He's not just a speaker; he's a catalyst for transformation, ready for the task ahead! Contact him at (919) 641-8150 | kijuan@ameymotivation.com | AmeyMotivation.com Ways to connect with Kijuan:   Website: ameymotivation.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kijuan-amey-783889121?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/167F8mGMfR/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kijuanamey?igsh=NmZtNHRqbW1meWNy&utm_source=qr      About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Hi, everyone. I am Michael hingson, and you are listening and or watching our podcast. Unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. And for those who may not really understand all of that, we start with inclusion, because if you talk to diversity people, they typically leave out any discussion of disabilities, and today, especially, that gets to be important, because our guest Kijuan, Amey, is blind, and I, of course, as many of you probably know also, am blind, and so we're going to talk about blind, and who knows what else we'll we'll get into all sorts of adventures. There's another thing that Kijuan and I have in common, and he doesn't even really probably know about it, and that is that in my book thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog, and the triumph of trust at Ground Zero, there's a section called guide dog wisdom. And in the section of guide dog wisdom, number two, the main point of that one is, don't let your sight get in the way of your vision. And that was published in Thunder dog anyway, we'll talk about whatever comes along. But Kijuan, I want to welcome you to doing a stoppable mindset, and thanks for being here. We're glad to have you,   Kijuan Amey ** 02:42 Michael, I truly appreciate you allowing me to come on your platform and share my story.   Michael Hingson ** 02:47 Well, no allowance necessary. It is all all about people conversing and telling their stories and why they do what they do, and showing that they're unstoppable, so that we can show everybody else that they're unstoppable as well, or really ought to consider themselves more unstoppable than they think. But anyway, we're glad you're here, and looking forward to having a great conversation with you. Why don't we start by you going back and telling us kind of about the the early years of Kijuan, the early years of Yeah. Let's start with the beginning. You know, you know, like they, they always say you gotta start at the beginning somewhere. So might as well start at the beginning.   Kijuan Amey ** 03:29 Yeah. So back in the 90s, born in Durham, North Carolina, where I was, of course, raised there as well. I don't live too far from there. Now, honestly, I'm only maybe 2530 minutes from there, so I still consider myself right here in it.   Michael Hingson ** 03:48 And of course, having grown up in Durham, you must be a major basketball fan of some sort.   Kijuan Amey ** 03:55 What? Why would you say that there's no basketball around here? What   Michael Hingson ** 03:58 are you talking about? Yes, 25 miles away from you. Yeah, I am definitely a, a   Kijuan Amey ** 04:04 true Understander of the rivalry UNC versus Duke. Okay, oh gosh, and and then I might be from Durham, but I'm actually a UNC fan.   Michael Hingson ** 04:16 I was in Carolina once and Northern Carolina, North Carolina in Durham, several years ago to do a speech. And we came in on a Thursday night, and I got to the hotel was pretty tired, but I thought I would unpack and watch TV. And at the time, there was a show on CBS called without a trace. I kind of like the show, so I turned it on, and at eight o'clock, when without a trace was supposed to come on, there was suddenly an announcement that says that without a trace will not be seen tonight, because we're going to be presenting live the basketball game between North Carolina State and University of. North Carolina to see which one is going to go to the chip college championships. And so if you want to watch without a trace, you can watch it Sunday morning at two in the morning. I wasn't going to do that, but anyway. But anyway. So yeah, the basketball. It runneth hot there, obviously,   Kijuan Amey ** 05:22 yeah, so it's pretty interesting. There is a meme for those who understands what that is, but it's a depiction. There's North Carolina State, Duke and UNC, all standing on top of a mountain, all of the mascots, and North Carolina State says, I'm going to do this one for my team, and they jump off the mountain. And then UNC says, and I'm going to do this one for my team, and then they kick Duke off the mountain.   Michael Hingson ** 05:59 Listen, I'm telling you, man, it is serious around I know it is really serious. It's so serious. So, yeah,   Kijuan Amey ** 06:05 no, I grew up in a UNC household, um, grandmother, mother, I mean, dad, hey, listen, if you they even worked at Duke and still were UNC fans. It's just the way it was, you know, and it's hard to when you grew up in it was hard to go against, you know, Unc, when they have such a amazing teams with Michael Jordan, Antoine Jameson, all these guys that came through there, you just like, gosh, these guys were really great. And so it's just one of those things. But, you know, kind of growing up with that lifestyle, you had the two games during the season, and you you hope they met in the in the in the ACC tournament, right? Because you wanted to see if there could be a clean sweep, well. And so this past year, Duke got to sleep. They rightfully, rightfully so, because their star player is going to be drafted number one this year. So they rightfully got it   Michael Hingson ** 07:12 another year. I was in brether County, Kentucky to do a speech, and it was the day of the NCAA championship. So one of the two teams was the what Wildcats of Kentucky, and I forget who the other one was, but I was to do a speech that started at 6pm and I was told it was at a high school. And I was told this speech has to end absolutely latest, at 6:30pm because by 631 the gym will be completely closed and and everyone will be gone because everyone wants to go home and see the Wildcats. Well, I did the speech. I ended it at 630 and everyone was gone. By 631 they were flooding out. Boy, I couldn't believe how fast they all got out. I'm   Kijuan Amey ** 08:09 telling you. Man, those, what we call them is blue, blue bloods, yeah, and these are the big, the biggest, you know, college teams that that impact that sport. So for basketball, of course, you got your UNC, your Duke, your Kentucky, your Kansas, those types of teams, you know. And football we already know is kind of shifting a little bit, but hey, it's just the way it is with all this nio money now. So yeah, and that's kind of what's going on nowadays. You got to have some money. And the difference between UNC and Duke, one's a private school and one's public. There you go. Well, so tell us. So tell us more about you. Yes. So me, besides me being a Tar Heel fan, I personally, you know, went after high school, graduated from Southern High School here in Durham, and then went on to the United States Air Force. I actually was going to consider going to North Carolina State, but it was not to become a fan. It was because they had one of the better engineering programs in the state, and better than UNC, huh? UNC doesn't really offer engineering. They offer computer science. And I didn't want that. And the computer science is kind of boring to me, yeah? And I mean, I'm just being honest, yeah, that's okay. And so I wanted to do either software or computer engineering, and the two best schools in the state were North Carolina State University and North Carolina agriculture and Technical State University, which we shortened for North Carolina A and T. So those two schools are the best here in North Carolina, which actually get a lot of great funding for engineering. Yeah, by the way. So yeah, that was what I was planning on doing, but there were admission hiccups. And so I said, you guys can have your admission hiccups. I already can't afford you. Anyway, I'm gonna take a different route. And so I have a really heavy or, shall I say my family has a really heavy background in the military, and mostly navy. Jeez, maybe seven, I think maybe six or seven Navy members, and then one army, one Marine, one went from the Navy to the Coast Guard. And then you have me, who kicked off the Air Force journey, and then my youngest brother is now carrying that torch, so he's out there in Italy. Man, I'm a little jealous about it. It's okay. I never got to see Italy. It's all right. It's all right. But anyway, I went into the Air Force and became an in flight refueling specialist. So what does that mean? Exactly, yeah, yeah. That's what I was getting into. I can't just say it without not telling so what that means is, I do refill aircraft, but I do it in the sky. It's basically like airplanes pulling up to a flying gas station,   Michael Hingson ** 11:28 which can be very tricky, tricky.   Kijuan Amey ** 11:30 That's a That's an understatement of the year. It's dangerous the first so when I was going through school, the first warning that they had in the book says flying two planes in close proximity is inherently dangerous. You think there's no way that's possible. No couldn't be Who are they telling this to? Like, man, it's almost like a five year or five year old needed to read that or something. So I'm just like, okay, the way to scare me. Appreciate it. And anywho I did that job for on paper, 10 years, three months and 17 days. That's how long the military counted. I Yeah, say, six and a half   Michael Hingson ** 12:22 years now. Why did you decide to do that, to go into the military? No to to become an in flight? Oh,   Kijuan Amey ** 12:31 that's because, well, first, yeah, yeah, you're right. That's a good question, because I had no clue that even existed. Didn't even know until my recruiter showed me, because I scored so high on the ASVAB, he said, I gotta show you something. And I was like, Okay, what is it? And so, you know, when you're going into the military, you're kind of skeptical about them trying to sell you a dream. And you know, so I'm like, and again, I have plenty of military families, so they're all telling me about this. They're like, don't let them sell you no dream. Make sure you pick a job before you go to basic training, because you don't want to go in open general and all this stuff. I said, okay, cool. Well, when he shows me that video, I start giggling. I said, Okay, all right. And he's like, what? I'm like, yeah, that's pretty cool. But what's the actual job you're going to show me? And he's like, this is the job as it that looks like a video game, man. He's like, he was like, I know it's crazy, but you qualify for it   Michael Hingson ** 13:40 now. What, what, what characteristic did you have, or what was the scoring on the test that made you qualify for that?   Kijuan Amey ** 13:49 I don't know what the exact cutoff is, but I score an 87 on my ASVAB out of 100 so that's that's high. Um, you needed a 50 to get into the Air Force. And I scored the 87 and he was so happy and elated. He called me as soon as he got my score. Not like, waited a day or two, no, he called me as soon as he saw the opening of the email. And he was like, When can you come in? That's all he said to me. He didn't say nothing else on the phone. And I was like, um, I could be there tomorrow. He was like, I'll be here. I said, okay, but anyway, that's literally how excited he was. He didn't even tell me why until I got there, so I had no clue, until the day I arrived in his office, and he was, he pulled out this stack of papers that he had stapled together, which was a was jobs, listing of jobs. And it was like eight pages, front and back, listings. And I'm like, Okay, what is this? And then I get close to it, I read. And I'm like, Oh, these are jobs. He's like, Yeah. He's like, go ahead. You flip through him, if you like. And I'm flipping through he's already started highlighting some and I knew there was something I wasn't gonna do. I mean, there was one of them that wasn't highlighted that I thought I wanted to do, which I'm glad I didn't, because I told it basically been me working on, like, Humvees and trucks and stuff. And he was like, You are way too smart for that. I said, okay, but that's what I know. That's what I just came out of high school doing, you know, because I went to a high school that had vocational trades and stuff. So I loved cars, I still do, and worked on mine until, literally, I couldn't see anymore, and so, you know, slowly becoming a lost trait. But hey, somebody's got to do it anyway. Yeah, that's how I got into that job. He showed it to me on a computer screen, and I was like, What the heck he's like, I've never, I said I'd never seen this before. He's like, you're not gonna see it as a civilian, because only the military does.   Michael Hingson ** 16:09 So why is it the military essentially said you did it six and a half years and you said you did it as 10.   Kijuan Amey ** 16:14 No, opposite. I said I did it six and a half. Oh, okay, rather, okay, 10, right? Because that was the day they retired me, the six and a half is the day I had my injury, and I never showed back up to work. Basically, what was your injury? My injury was a motorcycle accident where a car pulled out in front of okay, yeah, yeah. Sustained my eyes, my eyesight loss, traumatic brain injury, PTSD, spinal cord injury, broken, both legs, everything. What do you want to know? The only thing that didn't get, I guess you say, didn't have a surgery on was my arms   Michael Hingson ** 16:55 got it, but they, but they kept you in essentially, well, you were, you were in the military, so you stayed in while you were healing, or what?   Kijuan Amey ** 17:06 Yeah, so it, what happened was the reason it took so long, nobody really knew what to do with me and I, and I'll get you to why, or an understanding of why. So I did four years active, but now, at the time of my accident, I'm a reservist. I'm not active duty anymore. So fortunately for me, I was on an active duty, or in an active status, is what we call it, in the reserves, because I was in a travel status that day of my accident because I had to work that weekend, and on the day, which was May 5, 2017 that was my travel day. Okay, thankfully, because had it been may 4, 2017 I wouldn't have any of this, literally just one day. Wow. And so they were trying to figure out how to process me. They didn't know what to keep me, to let me go, to drop me off a cliff, like they didn't know what to do. And so as we were trying to file every piece of paper known to the what do you call it? DOD, Department of Defense. We had no clue what to do. Medical didn't know what to do. My leadership didn't know what to do. I definitely didn't know what to do. I mean, I never dealt with an injury, you know, or seen anybody deal with an injury, especially as substantial as mine. Yeah, of course, you were in the hospital. Well, even after getting out of hospital, you know, we were still dealing with this the whole entire time until I got retired, you know, up until the point where they eventually put me, it's kind of like they were trying to out process me with an honorable discharge, but they saw that he has an injury, so we need to get him some, you know, stuff done, and then he put me on a casualty report, and which means, you know, I was very badly injured. That's basically all that means. And that put me on a another piece of or or track, shall I say, which got me connected to a headquarters in Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, which is the Air Force Wounded Warriors Program. Now, when they saw my name pop up on the casualty report, they called me, and I'll never forget Connie Sanchez's voice, because I was like, What the heck is this? But she said, Hi, I'm Connie Sanchez calling from the Air Force winter Warriors Program, and I was trying to reach a key one Amy. And I'm like, You're who from where, because I had never heard of a program. Mm, hmm. So are you trying to in today's society, the scams that go on, you know? Yeah, I don't know what's going on. Who you? Who are you from? Where I'm I've been been in the Air Force for a while now. I've never heard of an Air Force. When the Warriors program, what are we talking about here, you know? And so she's doing her best to explain it to me and keep me from from being skeptical, as she says, I saw you pop up on a casualty report list, and we help airmen who have been wounded, ill or injured, you know, and and I said, Okay, well, what do you what are we we talking about? Like, what are mean you supposed to be talking about? She's like, Oh, I'm gonna help you get medically retired. I say, you gonna help me who? These are the words I've been looking for. You know, you gonna help me do what? Oh, I'm gonna help you get medically retired. I said, Where have you been for the last three years? And so anyway, that's how that whole thing got started. The ball started getting rolled to get   Michael Hingson ** 21:14 rolling so you were injured in 2017 Yeah. What was your attitude like after the injury? How? How did you move forward, or what? What were you thinking? Was it? Were you? Were you just totally devastated? Did you think you're going to just off yourself, or what?   Kijuan Amey ** 21:38 Well, let me preface by saying this, I told you I had a traumatic brain injury. The damage to my brain is most severe in the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe houses a lot of emotions, and so yes, there was devastation, yes, there was sadness. Yes, there was, well, what am I going to do now? Yes, there was anxiety, there was anything you can think of anger because of the guy who hit me or pulled out in front of me. Shall I say? You know, there was so much that was going on at one time, because, you know, I'm stuck in the hospital for, oh, by the way, I was at UNC hospital. Okay, so that's pretty cool. Uh, that I'm a Tar Heel Fanning and I got, you know, Life Flight of the UNC hospital. But back to what I was saying, there's so much that was going on that one time, because I'm stuck at a hospital for two months now, granted, the first month I know nothing about. I was in a medically induced coma for the first month, so from May 5 until June the sixth. Don't ask me any question. You know what? I mean, I literally know nothing, because that's when I came to I came out of my medically induced coma, and so I'm just trying to figure out where I am. I cannot see already, like my vision was already gone. This is not a gradual loss, as some might think or might be wondering. I could not talk at the time because my jaw had been broken, so they wired it shut to keep me from damaging it any further then I didn't realize it yet, but I also could not smell, and the reason I didn't realize it is because I could breathe just fine. The only time I noticed I couldn't smell is when some is when somebody said, Man, you smell that? It smelled good? No, no, I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about. What What smells good, you know? Or if I you know, yeah, something smell bad. I don't smell it. What are you talking about? And so anywho, um, all of these different things are going through my mind, and even after I was told what happened to me, because I, of course, don't remember. I have no recollection of the accident. So after they told me what happened now, I am sitting there with these thoughts in my head for basically, I don't know, 12 hours because I stopped talking or communicating with anyone after that, and I just wanted to be alone. Because, as the saying goes, I just got hit with a ton of bricks. Yeah, you know, so I'm literally going through all the emotions, the sadness, the net, the potential, thought of never being able to see again, never being able to fly again, refill again, see my, my girlfriend, see my, my nieces, nephews, a family, uncle, anything possible. My, I don't even have kids. I never get to see them, you know. So it's. It was one of those things. And I, I mean, I took a lot of pride in the things that I saw, because it was things that a lot of people would never see. And this is also why, you know, on some of my social media, when I did do air refuelings and things of that nature, or or went to really nice locations, or even some that weren't so nice. I would take pictures and post it, because some people will never get to see this. Yeah, so I want you to live vicariously if you want to say it through me, they're like, man, that's cool. That video, that was awesome. You you did the other day. Hey, I appreciate it, man. Hey, it's my job, you know? It's just what it is. It's all part of the   Michael Hingson ** 25:49 game, you know. And all that was taken away   Kijuan Amey ** 25:53 Exactly. And so when I tell you I used to have and I wouldn't even be sleep, I would be daydreaming, and could see so vividly, like airplanes that I used to refuel, like the F 22 Raptor, the C 17, you know, it's it's things like that. The views I used to have looking down at the ocean from 20,000 feet in the air, looking down at the coastline, flying over the North Carolina and Virginia border, where you can see literally go from land to water to land, because there is a tunnel that goes underneath the water for ships to pass over, I could literally see that stuff from the air and to now go from not seeing that ever again, the thoughts that you sit with were just like beating me up alive. And so I finally had to come out of crazy mode, because that's what it makes you do. It makes you go crazy when you do think about all these thoughts. I had to come out of that mode, because if I didn't, I probably would have really went crazy. And I finally started asking all the questions to get answers, instead of trying to formulate my own questions that I had no answers to. And so that is what you know, got me the information and how the accident happened, where I was, where I was coming from. I do remember the day that I had before that, like not not may 4, but like what I was doing before I had the accident. I do remember all of that, but the thing is, when it came up to the accident, I don't know nothing about it, it's like it completely erased that entire moment. And that's a protective mode that your neurological system does for your brain. So it's so, it's so. It's so empowering that your your mind, can do something like that. But it's also a benefit, because I would never, I do not want to relive that dream or that nightmare, shall I say, over and over. Right?   Michael Hingson ** 28:22 But you made the choice to move on, to get out of the crazy mode. What? What caused you to do that? Just you decided enough was enough, and it's time to move on, or what?   Kijuan Amey ** 28:39 No, I'm a man of answers. I need answers so. So when I think the military kind of did that to me too, but I've always been that guy who asked questions to you, even when I was younger, I was at, man, will you just sit down and we'll get to it, you know? So the military made it worse, because I became an instructor, and as an instructor, you tend to ask questions, so you can see what the person is thinking, how they're thinking, you know, making sure they're processing the information correctly. And so I am now doing that to everybody. I've put my instructor hat back on, and I'm going to asking questions that I need to know the answers   Michael Hingson ** 29:21 to so, how long after the accident, did you start doing this?   Kijuan Amey ** 29:25 Oh, no, this was a Maybe the day after I woke up from my medically induced coma. Okay, so, so the day I was informed of the accident, which was June the sixth, when I woke up out of my medically induced coma because I hate the panic button, basically not being a receipt or talk, you know what I mean? So, so I needed to figure something out, and that's when I asked the question, Well, what happened to me? Or what is the question I asked was, What? What is this motorcycle accident dream you guys are talking about? Because somebody, it was just people in my room talking, right? And they were like, Oh no, that's not a dream. That's what happened to you. And that was when I went into that shutdown period. And how long were you in that period? That was, that was the like, 12 to 16 hours or so that I didn't talk okay? And so the next day, June the seventh, is when I was like, hey, hey, I need to find something now. And that's what happened to me. What really happened?   Michael Hingson ** 30:30 So when that occurred? So now, on the seventh of June, did you just basically decide fairly quickly you got to move beyond from this, or did? Was it devastating for a while?   Kijuan Amey ** 30:44 Yeah, no, that's when the devastation and stuff really kicked in, because it made me say, What the heck, man, like, you know, somebody did this to me, you know, and I can't get back, none of that stuff. Yeah, that was taken away from me. I have all these different parts inside of me. I got metal plates in my head, screw rods and screws in my back, rods in both legs, a screw in my foot, like I even have two different sized feet now.   Michael Hingson ** 31:16 So how long was it before you started to decide you gotta go off and do something else with your life, and you're not gonna just let all of this rule you   Kijuan Amey ** 31:28 let's see when, when did that kind of transfer that it took me a little while, because I had to get acclimated to the new right life, you know, at first. So I think that would be around maybe I know I went on my first plane ride as a visually impaired person in 2018 So December of 2018 I went to my first blind rehab center. Where was that? In Tucson, Arizona. Okay, okay. The one for the V The VA has a couple of them. I can't remember how many it is, but that was the one I went to, because that was the first one to accept. I didn't want to go to the one that was closest to me. I've been to Georgia. It's okay. I wanted to go somewhere I haven't been, you know what I mean? And not no no shot at Georgia. I just wanted to go somewhere different, you know, yeah, and so that's what I did. And at first I wanted to go to Mississippi, but they took way too long to respond. And so anywho, I'm trying to get this done today, not next year, you know. And so I went there from December of 2018 until February of 2019 okay, I'm a pretty fast learner, and everything, when you go to those to the VA blind rehab centers, is at your own pace. You're fully embedded like you know, you're there the whole time. You got a room, you got everything, so they fully submerge you into this program, and you leave when you're ready. And so it only took me, and it wasn't even a full two months, is but, but I say two months because December to February, but anyway, I learned what I needed to learn, and I got out of there. I even learned stuff that I didn't know I wanted to learn, like copper tooling, wood working, you know, what's the other one? What's the leather? What's when you do leather? Yeah, but yeah, I I've even done stuff with leather, and that's so cool. It's pretty cool to do that stuff, but, yeah, I did all of that stuff, man. It's amazing. And, you know, come back home to show everybody what I learned, and they're like, Wow, you're like, a whole nother person. I said, Well, you know, I did pick up few things. And so once I got that under my belt, you know, the ability to know how to navigate, I still was not, like, really stable, because I hadn't. I hadn't, I didn't start lifting weights, or, you know, doing any like physical training, training, like legitimate training, until right before the pandemic, I was going to the YMCA and swimming, because, as we know, swimming is a full body workout, and so I was hitting the lap pool with a recreational therapist. And so what, man, that was the worst when that pandemic hit in March of 2020, yeah, because, trust me, I'll never forget it. That was when everything was looking up for me. I was like, Oh, this is so amazing. I'm I'm getting stronger, you know? I'm able to move a little bit better, get more confident in my life. And then, bam, shut everything down. I said, What? We can't go out. Wait. Everything's closed. Oh, okay, it'll only be two weeks. Oh, okay, that's okay. I could wait for two weeks. That's not that bad, yeah, but it'll be another month. Well, you said three months, six months, okay, I don't like this. So yeah, that's when everything started to come down. But then it went back up in 2021   Michael Hingson ** 35:25 Yeah, later in 2021 it started to lift   Kijuan Amey ** 35:28 Well, I mean, for me, for me in 2021 it was when I started actually working out by actually lifting weights again.   Michael Hingson ** 35:38 Now, were you still in the military? Swimming? Were you still in the military at this time I   Kijuan Amey ** 35:43 retired? Or was literally, uh, like, officially, medically retired, June 3, 2021, but again, I had not been to work since May. No, I understand 17, you know. So there's nothing that I'm doing at work. And when I did go down there, it was just kind of the just kind of a visit and hang out with those guys for the day.   Michael Hingson ** 36:07 You mean, they wouldn't give you a long cane and let you go ahead and continue to refuel aircraft, because you could just find the the appropriate place with the cane. They   Kijuan Amey ** 36:15 they would have had to switch it to the left hand, because I'm left handed, and they and they make you do that with the right hand, that refueling side, I'm way better with my left hand. Well, but hey, I would have gave it a shot, but, but   Michael Hingson ** 36:29 you don't move, yeah, but you, but you, but you had to make along the way the decision that you were going to move forward, which is what it sounds like you, you were doing. And certainly by June of 2021, when you retired and and so on, you made the decision that you were going to do your best to continue to to advance and do something else with your world. Oh   Kijuan Amey ** 37:00 yeah, yeah, no. I mean, the pandemic actually was a part of good and bad. I mean, yes, it made me upset because they kept pushing the timeline and stuff back. But October of 2020, that's when I started writing my book. So that was in the pandemic. I started writing my book. You know, I learned how to use a computer again in September. And then once I got that down pack, hey, I'm going to the next thing. What's the title of the book? Don't focus on why me. From motorcycle accident to miracle. Got it Okay, so that's the name of it. Yeah, that's the name of it. And, excuse me, like I said, I wrote the book, or started writing the book October 2020, but I wanted to publish it in May of 2021, because of the accident. You know, the accident was in May. I wanted to publish the book in May. Well, it didn't quite happen like that, because timelines get pushed back, because you got to get an editor, you got to get a book formatter, you got to get it covered. Oh, it was taking a long time. And so anywho, it got published in June of 2021, which is my entire retirement month. So I was okay with it. I retired and I published a book, a self published, by the way, a book in June of 2021, which is a big month for me, so I celebrate both good   Michael Hingson ** 38:32 so you did that, yep. And were you? So you got retired in June. And when, what did you decide to do? Or when did you decide to find work?   Kijuan Amey ** 38:47 Well, I don't, I don't really consider what I do work, and I'll tell you why, so as we will from what you're about to find out, I am the proud founder, and I call myself a chief motivational officer, not a CEO of Amey motivation. Now Amey motivation, I do keynote speaking motivationally based most of the time, and then I also am a trusted mentor and a resilience coach. So I don't feel like I'm working. I feel like I'm actually doing a service and giving back, right? I'm sorry, go ahead. No, I agree with you when I'm when I when I said a job, I kind of put it in air quotes, but anyway, I got you, but yeah, no, that's how I feel in my, you know, giving back. Because I almost feel like this is a type of ministry, a type of healing, a type of journey that not only benefits me, but benefits others. And it doesn't even feel like I'm working when I do this stuff. It just feels like I'm having a conversation. It feels like I'm building. It feels like I'm helping others, you know. And I. I couldn't even dare say that I feel like I'm working, and it's not even because I'm making good money. It's not because people are paying me, it's not because I travel to do this. It's because I really just don't feel like this is work, sure. Now, when I was in the military, that was work, you know, that felt like work. But this really does not. It's enjoyable, you know, and that's the beauty of it. And I love what I do.   Michael Hingson ** 40:34 But when did you decide to start motivating people?   Kijuan Amey ** 40:38 Well, that started back before the pandemic, too. And my first speech, like official, big speech, shall I say, anyway, was May of 2019, that's when I came out and told everybody, you know, kind of what, what happened to me, my story. Because, you know, everybody was hearing what happened to me on Facebook. I can't stand when I see a post of something bad happening to somebody on social media. Let me tell my story. And so that's what I did. And the title of that, that, uh, that speaking engagement, was, why not me? And everybody, I'm sure, was like, Wait, what the heck? Why is it called that? And I said, you're gonna have to come in to find out. You know, so anywho I told my story, and I do have a snippet of it on my website, Amy motivation.com   Michael Hingson ** 41:33 and Amy is spelled, a, yeah,   Kijuan Amey ** 41:36 A, M, E, y, right. So, you know, I did tell my story about just being the vulnerable side of what happened to me, how I feel, how I got through it, what I went through, what I was dealing with, you know, and man, when I tell you it was, you could literally hear a pin drop, and we were on carpet. Okay, so it was so quiet in there. Everybody was very attentive. It was a packed house, to say the least. There was not one empty seat, except for behind me, because, no, I didn't want anybody behind me. I wanted everybody to be out front. And so that was the only spot where there was an empty seat. I had people on the right side of me, people on the left side of me, people in front of me, everywhere. And so anywho you know, it was just an amazing speech and an amazing time, because a lot of people there, I knew some people I didn't, but a lot of people there I knew. And after they heard it and came up and talked to me after the speech, they were like, Man, I didn't even know you were going through that. I didn't even know this happened to you. I didn't even know that happened. I said, that's why I had to tell it, because what y'all are hearing on Facebook is partially true, and it's part of the story. It's not the whole story. Let me tell the whole story. So yeah, that's where all that started. I also did before that speech. I also did a couple of talks at high school, local high schools in Durham too. So my high school, Southern high school, my alma mater, another local high school called Jordan High School. So yeah, you know, just different things like that,   Michael Hingson ** 43:31 but you still ultimately were the one that you made the choice to do it. You made the choice to move on, which is so cool, because I can think of any number of people who, if they had the same sorts of things happen to them that happened to you, would give up, and you clearly did not,   Kijuan Amey ** 43:50 absolutely not. I think the hardest part for me is I can't sit down. Yeah, so, so me giving up is basically like me sitting down so and I can't do that. I'm like a person like the Energizer Bunny. As soon as you put a battery anywhere near me, I'm gone   Michael Hingson ** 44:09 well, and it's so much more rewarding to do that, I know for me after the World Trade Center attacks and so on, and we started getting calls asking me to come and talk about September 11 and what people should learn. My wife and I decided that selling life and philosophy was a whole lot more fun and rewarding, which is really probably the biggest issue, rewarding psychologically, was much more rewarding than selling computer hardware and managing a computer hardware sales team, which is what I did. So, yeah, it became also a a path and something that was worth doing. And I agree it, it is. It isn't work, right? Not. Not in the same way, but that is also in part because we've chosen to structure it and make it work that way, that it's not work.   Kijuan Amey ** 45:09 Yeah, yeah. You know what is. By the way, I love your story. I did hear it on another podcast that I listened to, who that I was interviewed by. And so the the so the day of the World Trade Center and the attacks, the plane that I used to fly on the KC 135 was actually the first plane to come check it out. That was the actually the first plane to come report what had happened, because it was one already airborne, nearby, and then when they look, they loop back around, and they were like, wait, the second one's on fire. Yeah. When did that happen? Like it was basically just like that. There was a   Michael Hingson ** 45:52 Air Canada flight. We met, well, I didn't. My wife did. Met the pilot. We were out in San Francisco, and I was doing a presentation, and she told me about it after the speech, but she said she was coming down on the elevator, and there was a pilot from Air Canada, and they got to talking, and she explained why she was there and what what we were doing. And he said that his plane was the first passenger plane over the world trade center after things happened. And as she said, the FBI must be, have become one of your favorite friends, right, or one of your best friends? And he said, Yeah, they sure did. But   Kijuan Amey ** 46:38 I don't want to get that knock,   Michael Hingson ** 46:40 but it's but it is a choice, and yeah, for for us, the other part about it was that the media got the story, and I feel so blessed, ironically, given how everybody likes to abuse reporters in the Media, but I got so many requests for interviews, and clearly it made sense to do what we could to try to educate and help people move on from September 11, so we accepted the interview requests. And for me personally, what I really learned is something, well, I kind of rediscovered and it got reaffirmed, was that, in reality, talking about something that happens to you like that is the most important thing, because talking about it gives you the opportunity to think about it and move on. And I got asked so many different questions by reporters, some intelligent, some not some in the middle. But the bottom line is that by talking to literally hundreds and hundreds of reporters, that made me talk about it, which was a very good blessing by the time all was said and done,   Kijuan Amey ** 47:54 right, right, instead of internalizing, yeah, no, listen, I also have to say, I'm glad you were in some shape, because what it was 78 floors, yeah, golly, hey, I don't want to hear you say 10, you know. But 78 floors,   Michael Hingson ** 48:15 it was going down. So that's pretty good. As I tell people, I do understand, but as I tell people, the next week, for the next week I was starting, actually the next day, I was stiff as a board. The adrenaline ran out. And, oh, it's horrible. And, yeah, you know, my wife was in a wheelchair her whole life, and we were in a two story house we built so there was an elevator. And I swear, for the next week after September 11, I use that elevator a whole lot more than she did.   Kijuan Amey ** 48:43 Ah, that's funny,   Michael Hingson ** 48:46 but, but, you know, it was just kind of the way it was. But it is a choice, yes, and the bottom line is that we we move on you. You certainly had lots of things happen to you. You lost a lot of things. Did you ever get your sense of smell back? Or is it still gone?   Kijuan Amey ** 49:01 No, no. It was damaged during the reconstructive surgery on my face where they had to input the two plates. Yeah. Okay, yeah. So that's where that came from. So now it happened, shall I say? So   Michael Hingson ** 49:13 now getting back to something that we talked about at the very beginning, as you point out, you lost your site, but you didn't lose your vision. So tell me more about that, what that means to you, and why you say that. Because, as I said, that's something that that I've thought and talked about a lot. And of course, when thunder dog was written, we put that into thunder dog. And by the way, if you don't know it, Thunder dog and and all three of my books actually are on on Bard, so you can download them, or you can help a poor, starving author and go buy them, but, but, you know,   Kijuan Amey ** 49:50 come on, I think you will off. Mr. Steve Harvey, No, I'm joking. But anywho. So, as I mentioned before. Four, you know, when I was talking about my business, I don't necessarily feel like I'm working. I feel like I'm helping and and what I mean, the reason I even preface that is because when I say I may have lost my sight, but I didn't lose my vision. Sight, to me, is the physical, the vision is the mental. And so my mental was helping others, and it's always been that way, whether it was me playing sports, I had to help in some way, because I played team sports. Now, did I play any individual? No, I played all team sports. I did bowling, I did football, the basketball and ran track. All of those are team sports. And so you can roll in singles, but at the same sense, some point you're going to be doing either doubles or three or four person teams. So most of the time I was doing teams and doubles. But anyway, I was always doing some kind of helping. I grew up with siblings. I had to help somebody. I, you know, I grew up with without much, so we had to help each other. Hey, you don't know how to cook. Let me show you. You don't know how to fix this in the microwave. Let me show you, you know. And so, um, when I got to the military, I had to help, you know, when I was became an instructor, I was helping teach the people who are coming in new and all these different times I'm helping people. And now I get to a point where, not only I have to help myself get back to where I can have some kind of normalcy of life, but what really is a normal life? You know what I mean? Yeah, I had to help others understand that if I can make it through this, you can make it through what you're dealing with as well, and be there to help you.   Michael Hingson ** 51:57 How about going the other way? Though you needed help too, yeah, yeah. And were you advanced enough in your thinking at the time that you were perfectly willing to accept help as well?   Kijuan Amey ** 52:12 Uh, no, I had my moments. Um, there. There's a chapter in my book I called, uh, it's called the depression set in, and that was when I was at one of my lower points, because not too long after depression, where the suicidal thoughts, the suicidal thoughts, luckily, didn't take me out and I never attempted, because I was able to think my way. I'm a very critical thinker, Problem Solver kind of guy, so I was able to think my way out of even having those thoughts again. And I said, Hey, man, this is not you. I don't know what it is, but it's not you. And so instead of me continuing to have those thoughts, I started asking people questions, what can I do? Because this is not like, it's not working, whatever life is not working for me, right? You know, and I'm a faith believer. So my grandmother, I was living with her at the time, and the first she's a faith believer as well. And the first thing she says is, you know, just pray. You know, just pray about it. I said, Grandma, we pray every day. Hear me clearly. I didn't say, some days we pray every day this obviously, and I'm not saying it's not working, but it needs something more. And so she was, well, I don't know what to tell you. And then eventually she goes in her room and thinks about it for a minute, and she said, Why don't you call your uncle? And I said, You know what? It's not a bad idea. And he, by the way, he's a senior pastor at his church, and so I said, that's not a bad idea. I didn't think to call my pastor because I didn't want to bother him. It's kind of one of those things you just felt like, I don't want him to think about that. I've had it on his mind, you know, stuff like that. And so I called my uncle, and I was telling telling him how I was feeling, and all I heard him say was, hold on key, I'm on the way. It was like eight o'clock at night, so for him to be like, Hey, I'm HOLD ON key, I'm on the way. That's what they call me Ki, my family. Some of them call me kiwi, but some call me Ki. But anyway, just as long as they don't call me late for dinner. And so I was like, Wait, he he's coming over here, you know? So I said, Okay. And I hung up the phone, and my grandma's like, Well, what did he say? I said, he said he's on the way. She's like, he went. I said, Exactly. That's what I said. And so she said, Oh Lord, well, let me put on some clothes. I said, let you put on some clothes. I need to put on some clothes. And. Yeah, and so anyway, we both get dressed somewhat. I wasn't, like, fully dressed. I just put on, like, some, you know, some basketball shorts, a shirt, yeah, you know, stuff like that. Because I'm thinking, we're just going to hang out at the house. He's going to talk to me. He's like, Hey, man, you want to throw on some pants and, you know, go out and put on some shoes. I said, Where we going? It's like, for a ride. I said, Okay, uh, yeah, uh, grandma, and she came back in there, she's like, Yeah, he's like, we're gonna go for a ride. Um, can you get my sweatpants from over this here? Because I knew where everything was in the room, and you know how it is, we know where everything is, where we put stuff. We know exactly where it is, right? And so I knew everything was get my sweat pants from this drawer and get my shirt from that drawer. And I said, No, it's the second drawer, not the third and stuff. So we I get dressed, we go for a ride, and he's talking. No, no, I'm talking first. He let me talk. He said, So key, tell me what's up. I said, I ran through the gambit of what I was going down with me, how I had the depressed thoughts, how I had some suicidal thoughts, but I had to bring myself back out of this, and I just could not figure out why this was coming over me like that. And he was like, Uh huh. And then, you know, I just stopped talking for a while. He said, You know what key I said, What's that? He said, I'm surprised it took you this long. I was like, What do you mean? He was like, Dude, I thought this would have happened to you a long time ago? He said, I've been waiting on this. And I said, that's crazy. Like I'm sitting there thinking, man, what the heck? You know? I'm thinking. People ain't thinking about me. Nobody's like, really, can't they see me smiling, laughing, giggling and all that stuff. So they're probably not even thinking about it, you know. But he was actually prepared. He's prepared for what I call the breakdown. And he said, Keith, I think the best thing you can do, and this is when we pulled over somewhere and start talking. He said, The best thing I think you can do with this situation is you're going to have to embrace and confront the issue. And I said, Can you explain that a little bit more? He's like, Yeah, yeah. He said, what it is, I think, is your the hope that we all have is for you to regain your eyesight. But the real realization is you don't have it right now. So I need you to live like you don't have it and hope that one day you'll get it. So don't keep dwelling on the hope part. Just live like you don't have it, and that way you'll keep moving forward versus thinking you're going to get it, because these thoughts are taking you down. Every day you wake up, every time you wake up from a nap, you think you're gonna open your eyes and see something that's gonna keep bringing you further and further down. I need you to embrace this thing and don't live in the denial phase of it happening. And that was when I started to come out like that was when I really started to gain some strength and a stronger mindset. Very wise words, oh, yeah, no, these are all he is, trust me, I'm just regurgitating them. I'm sorry. Oh, I said, yeah, these were definitely his words. I'm just regurgitating,   Michael Hingson ** 58:46 yeah, well, but, but certainly some, some good wisdom there. But you also then chose to follow, which is great, and probably whether he's surprised it took so long. It sounds like it all happened at the right time, because you are also willing to listen, which is great. So you you moved forward. When did you form your company?   Kijuan Amey ** 59:12 I mean, on paper, it was like two years ago, okay, um, but like I said, officially, I started speaking in 2019 right? I understand that, yeah. But so I always count 2019 because I really believe as soon as you start doing something, you're doing it, right, yeah, you understand and and the legality side of it, hey, you can have that. I don't care. But yeah. So that's how I view it.   Michael Hingson ** 59:44 So how did 10 years, if you will, even though some of it was less active, but how did 10 years in the military help prepare you for public speaking and what you're doing today?   Kijuan Amey ** 59:56 Oh, wow. I mean, well, first off, like I told you, the resilience coaching. Mm. Um, that's part of it, and that's all they used to talk about in the military, being resilient. We used to have, like, a training, I think it was every year, is it every year or twice a year, or something like that, but we used to have training on that stuff. Um, speaking, I I never really wanted to be a public speaker. I'll be honest. Um, I do have to stay that, say, say that, because I was not one who wanted to be in the spotlight. But if the spotlight found me, I'm okay with it. You know that that's that's what I was okay with. If it found me, that's fine, but I'm not trying to take over it. Don't put it on me, shine that light somewhere else and so, but what happened with that? Okay, yes, I took, I was in college for a while, and I did take a public speaking class with the instructor. Upgrade. You have to do public speaking, because you have to give presentations going through the pre training and the actual training, the certification training. So those were different. And also the the group sizes were different. Size you might be talking to one person you might be talking to an auditorium full. Mm, hmm. So there, there was that. And, you know? So these different things, I speak for different things at my church, you know? And so it started to kind of snowball again. Different things were building me up to that point, and as I got and you'll, you'll appreciate this here, as I got into my vision, or the eyesight loss, I understood that I have a superpower. Now, yeah, and I know people like a superpower. What are you talking about, man? So I can't see you so the the looks on your faces don't affect me, the fact that I'm looking at, or supposedly looking at, engaging an audience of one to 10 to 100 to even 1500 because I have spoken to over 1500 people before, it does not affect me, yeah? And that is like us to me, my superpower now. So that's how I've changed all of this to be fitting for me. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:32 yeah. Well, so let me ask you this. We've been doing this for a while, but I want to ask you one more question. Other people are certainly going through challenges. They're experiencing difficulties in their lives, and maybe some life altering kinds of situations. What kind of advice would you give them?   Kijuan Amey ** 1:02:54 Oh, the first one I can easily give you don't give up, and it's easily easy to give, but it's not easy to do. So I do have to say that you but if you keep that in the back of your mind, don't give up and you keep saying that to yourself, make it an affirmation. Put it on your vision board, put it in as a reminder in your phone, whatever you need to keep you grounded in that concept of, don't give up. And so that's one thing I would say. And for myself, I say this a lot, my situation, whether it's me being blind, me being having a traumatic brain injury, me having emotional, you know, flare ups, spinal cord issues or lack of mobility, what, whatever it is my situation that doesn't define who I am. I define who I am.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:56 So that's what I'll leave people with. And that is so true for everyone. Your your conditions don't define you. You've defined you, and you can choose how you want to be defined. Which gets back to, don't let your sight get in the way of your vision. Yep. Well, key one, I want to thank you for being here. I hope that people take this to heart, and I hope it will generate more business for you, if people want to reach out to you, maybe for coaching or for speaking and so on. How do they do that? Yeah,   Kijuan Amey ** 1:04:33 and I appreciate you saying that. So again, you can go to my website. That's Amey, motivation.com A, M, E, y, motivation.com you can also find my book on there. So don't focus on why me from motorcycle accident to miracle. You can also go on Amazon, Kindle Apple books as well as audible to find my book as well. So I do have audio versions out there for those who like to listen to their book. Books and for speaking engagements, feel free to click that book me link you can speak book me for a convention or conference or an event, a gala, high school, college, whatever you want me to come speak for. Come get me because I am all over it.   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:18 How many speaking events do you do a year.   Kijuan Amey ** 1:05:21 I don't count. Okay, if I try to count,   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:24 you know what I mean? I know the feeling, yeah,   Kijuan Amey ** 1:05:27 I just do Hey, hey. That's, I think that's what Nike said. Just do it, man.   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:31 Yeah, exactly right. Well, Kijuan, thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you who are out there listening or watching. Really, we're grateful that you're here. I hope that what we've talked about today not only inspires you, but it gives you some good life thoughts that you can go use. Because certainly, everything that we got to discuss today is relevant, not just if you are having a challenge in your life, but it's something that is important for all of us. Life lessons like these don't grow on trees, and I hope that you'll enjoy them and use them. Reach out to key one. I'd love to hear from you. Love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to email me at Michael H, I m, I C, H, A, E, L, H i at access, A, B, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, or go to our podcast page, www, dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, and Michael hingson is m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, S O, n.com/podcast, love you to please give us a five star rating wherever you're listening. We love your reviews and your thoughts, so please do that, and as I also love to do, and that is to ask you, if you know of anyone else who ought to be a guest on this podcast. And Kijuan you as well, love to get your thoughts. Feel free to reach out, introduce us to anyone who you think ought to be a guest. We're always looking for more people who want to come on and and share their stories and help us all become more unstoppable than we think we are. But again, really appreciate your time today, everyone and Kiju, especially you. Thanks for being here. This has been wonderful.   Kijuan Amey ** 1:07:15 Thank you again. I really appreciate you having me on to tell my story.   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:22 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Today, on Notable Leaders' Radio, I speak with Kijuan Amey, Chief Motivation Officer of Amey Motivation LLC. He highlights his extraordinary journey living his dream of working in the Air Force to an accident that changed him forever. He shares how redefining his life through resilience, faith, and the power of vulnerability, gave him what he needed to thrive again.   In today's episode, we discuss: Reframe vulnerability as a source of strength. Embrace open self-expression and honesty about your struggles. This can foster healing, help you confront past pain, and empower both yourself and others. Acknowledge and address mental health openly. Recognize the reality of emotional struggles, such as depression after trauma. Seeking support and being transparent about difficulties can reduce stigma and provide relief. Remind yourself that setbacks do not define you. Internalize the mantra, “my situation does not define who I am.” Use this belief to separate your identity from your circumstances and maintain hope for your future. Appreciate the hidden lessons in adversity. Understand that challenges during childhood or unexpected setbacks build resilience and self-reliance. Apply this mindset to reframe today's difficulties as opportunities for growth. RESOURCES: Guest Bio From serving in the US Air Force to becoming a CEO, mentor, and bestselling author, Kijuan's journey has been nothing short of remarkable. Born and raised in Durham, NC, he's a true testament to the power of determination and perseverance.  - Serving 10 years in the Air Force, advancing to the rank of Staff Sergeant.  - Former Vice President for the Carolina regional group of the Blinded Veterans Association.  - Mentor and ambassador for the Air Force Wounded Warriors program.  - A talented drummer with 25+ years of experience.  -On-stage actor. - Author of the bestseller, "Don't Focus on Why Me."  In a life-altering moment on May 5th, 2017, he lost his eyesight in a motorcycle accident. But as Kijuan says, "I may have lost my sight, but I did not lose my vision."  Now, Kijuan is a motivating force, empowering others to overcome odds and achieve success. No matter the audience or location, he's ready for the task, from captivating crowds of 1,500 to one-on-one sessions, he is now the chief motivational officer of Amey Motivation LLC.   Website/Social Links: ♦      LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kijuan-amey-783889121?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app   ♦      Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/kijuanamey?igsh=NmZtNHRqbW1meWNy&utm_source=qr   ♦      Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/share/1Bq7zzDeV5/?mibextid=wwXIfr   Belinda's Bio: Belinda Pruyne is a renowned Leadership Advisor, Executive Coach, Consultant, and Keynote Speaker recognized for her ability to transform executives, professionals, and small business owners into highly respected, influential leaders. As the Founder of BelindaPruyne.com, she partners with top-tier organizations, including IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, BBDO, Hilton, Leidos, Yale School of Medicine, Landis, Discovery Channel, and the Portland Trail Blazers. Recently, she led the redesign of two global internal advertising agencies for Cella, a leader in creative staffing and consulting. She is also a founding C-suite and executive management coach for Chief, the fastest-growing executive women's network. A thought leader in leadership development, Belinda is the creator and host of the Notable Leaders Radio podcast, where she has conducted 95+ interviews with top executives and business leaders, revealing the untold stories behind their success. Previously, as Executive Vice President, Global Director of Creative Management at Grey Advertising, she oversaw a global team of 500 professionals, gaining deep expertise in client services and executive leadership. With 25+ years of experience, Belinda is a trusted advisor to startups, turnarounds, acquisitions, and Fortune 500 companies, delivering strategic, high-impact solutions in today's fast-evolving business landscape. Website: Belindapruyne.com Email Address: hello@belindapruyne.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/belindapruyne  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotableLeadersNetwork.BelindaPruyne/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/belindapruyne?lang=en  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belindapruyne/ 

“Don't let your situation define who you are. You define who you are.”Today's guest, Kijuan Amey, is a dynamic speaker, author, and advocate for resilience. He shares how a motorcycle accident that nearly took his life became the catalyst for growth and why he's so passionate about helping others win in life's lessons.In a moment, his entire life changed (as it sometimes does), and he learned some invaluable lessons in guiding himself–and now countless others–through it. Listen in for a harrowing and inspirational story from a man who may have lost his sight, but didn't lose his vision. —Kijuan Amey, founder of Amey Motivation, is a dynamic speaker and advocate for resilience. Born and raised in Durham, NC, he graduated from Southern High School before serving a decade in the U.S. Air Force as an In-flight Refueling Specialist, attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant. After being medically retired, he pursued higher education and established Amey Motivation LLC to inspire others. Kijuan has served as the vice president of the Carolina regional group of the Blinded Veterans Association and is a dedicated mentor and ambassador for the Air Force Wounded Warriors program. With over 25 years of drumming experience, on-stage acting, and his book, Don't Focus on Why Me, his talents extend far beyond the stage. On May 5, 2017, a motorcycle accident took his eyesight, but not his vision. Embracing his journey, Kijuan empowers audiences with his story of perseverance. Whether speaking to thousands or engaging in intimate discussions, he is a catalyst for transformation, ready to inspire and uplift. For speaking engagements, contact Kijuan at (919) 641-8150 or kijuan@ameymotivation.com. You can also connect with him on all social platforms by searching his name, Kijuan Amey.

Want to learn the #keystoresilience after suffering life-altering trauma? Listen now to this interview with Kijuan Amey, #Author and #ResilienceCoach to learn how Kijuan turned his #painintopurpose, and now helps others do the same!About Kijuan:Kijuan Amey, the visionary behind Amey Motivation, hails from Durham, NC, where his#ResilienceJourney and success began. After graduating from Southern High School, hededicated a decade of his life to the #USAirForce, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant as anIn-flight Refueling Specialist. Medically retired, he transitioned into academia, earning adegree and founding Amey Motivation LLC. Formerly served as the vice president for theCarolina regional group of the Blinded Veterans Association, Kijuan is also a mentor andambassador for the Air Force #woundedwarriorproject. Beyond his remarkable military career, Kijuan is a man of many talents, boasting over 25 years of drumming expertise, on-stage acting, and now, an upcoming bestseller, “Don't Focus on Why Me.” However, life took an unexpected turn on May 5th, 2017, when a motorcycle accident claimed his eyesight. Yet, as Kijuan profoundly states, “I may have lost my sight, but I did not lose myvision.”Now armed with an inspiring story of #overcomingadversity, Kijuan has become amotivational force, empowering others to reach their #highestpotential. Whetheraddressing a crowd of 1,500 or engaging in one-on-one sessions, Kijuan is well-equippedfor any speaking engagement. He's not just a speaker; he's a catalyst for transformation,ready for the task ahead! Contact him at (919) 641-8150 | kijuan@ameymotivation.com |AmeyMotivation.com#WhyNotMe  #FromTraumaToTriumph #LiveUnfiltered #FaithOverFear #SpeakYourTruth #TruthHeals #BreakTheSilence #MentalHealthAwareness #VulnerabilityIsStrength #KeepSeekingHelp #SurvivorSupport #TruthTelling #DontGiveUp #SpiritualHealing #DivinePurpose #PurposeThroughService #ServeWithLove #FaithAndPurpose #LiveToServe #liveyourbestlife _____________________________________ABOUT SAMIA:Samia Bano is the #HappinessExpert, author, speaker, podcaster & coach for coaches and healers. Samia is most known for her book, 'Make Change Fun and Easy' and her #podcast of the same name. With the help of her signature Follow Your Heart Process™, a unique combination of #PositivePsychology and the #spiritual wisdom of our most effective #ChangeMakers, Samia helps you overcome #LimitingBeliefs, your chains of fear, to develop a #PositiveMindset and create the impact and income you desire with fun and ease…Samia's advanced signature programs include the Happiness 101 Class and the Transformative Action Training.Samia is also a Certified #ReikiHealer and Crisis Counselor working to promote #MentalHealthAwareness.Samia models #HeartCenteredLeadership and business that is both #SociallyResponsible and #EnvironmentallyFriendly.Samia is a practicing #Muslim with an inter-spiritual approach. As someone who has a love and appreciation for diversity, she is a #BridgeBuilder between people of different faiths and cultures. Although Samia currently lives in California, USA, she has lived in 3 other countries and speaks Hindi, Urdu, and English fluently.  Want to learn even more about Samia? Visit www.academyofthriving.com :)To Book your Free HAPPINESS 101 EXPLORATION CALL with Samia, click: https://my.timetrade.com/book/JX9XJ

Want to learn the #keystoresilience after suffering life-altering trauma?Listen now to this interview with Kijuan Amey, #Author and #ResilienceCoach to learn how Kijuan turned his #painintopurpose, and now helps others do the same!About Kijuan:Kijuan Amey, the visionary behind Amey Motivation, hails from Durham, NC, where his journey of resilience and success began. After graduating from Southern High School, he dedicated a decade of his life to the #USAirForce, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant as an In-flight Refueling Specialist.Medically retired, he transitioned into academia, earning a degree and founding Amey Motivation LLC. Formerly served as the vice president for the Carolina regional group of the Blinded Veterans Association, Kijuan is also a mentor and ambassador for the Air Force Wounded Warriors program.Beyond his remarkable military career, Kijuan is a man of many talents, boasting over 25 years of drumming expertise, on-stage acting, and now, an upcoming bestseller, “Don't Focus on Why Me.”However, life took an unexpected turn on May 5th, 2017, when a motorcycle accident claimed his eyesight. Yet, as Kijuan profoundly states, “I may have lost my sight, but I did not lose my vision.”Now armed with an inspiring story of #overcomingadversity, Kijuan has become a motivational force, empowering others to reach their #highestpotential. Whether addressing a crowd of 1,500 or engaging in one-on-one sessions, Kijuan is well-equipped for any speaking engagement. He's not just a speaker; he's a catalyst for transformation, ready for the task ahead! Contact him at (919) 641-8150 | kijuan@ameymotivation.com |AmeyMotivation.com#WhyNotMe #FromTraumaToTriumph #ResilienceJourney #LiveUnfiltered #FaithOverFear #SpeakYourTruth #TruthHeals #BreakTheSilence #MentalHealthAwareness #VulnerabilityIsStrength #KeepSeekingHelp #SurvivorSupport #TruthTelling #DontGiveUp #SpiritualHealing #DivinePurpose #PurposeThroughService #ServeWithLove #FaithAndPurpose #LiveToServe #liveyourbestlife_____________________________________ABOUT SAMIA:Samia Bano is the #HappinessExpert, author, speaker, podcaster & coach for coaches and healers. Samia is most known for her book, 'Make Change Fun and Easy' and her #podcast of the same name. With the help of her signature Follow Your Heart Process™, a unique combination of #PositivePsychology and the #spiritual wisdom of our most effective #ChangeMakers, Samia helps you overcome #LimitingBeliefs, your chains of fear, to develop a #PositiveMindset and create the impact and income you desire with fun and ease…Samia's advanced signature programs include the Happiness 101 Class and the Transformative Action Training.Samia is also a Certified #ReikiHealer and Crisis Counselor working to promote #MentalHealthAwareness.Samia models #HeartCenteredLeadership and business that is both #SociallyResponsible and #EnvironmentallyFriendly.Samia is a practicing #Muslim with an inter-spiritual approach. As someone who has a love and appreciation for diversity, she is a #BridgeBuilder between people of different faiths and cultures. Although Samia currently lives in California, USA, she has lived in 3 other countries and speaks Hindi, Urdu, and English fluently.  Want to learn even more about Samia? Visit www.academyofthriving.com :)To Book your Free HAPPINESS 101 EXPLORATION CALL with Samia, click: https://my.timetrade.com/book/JX9XJ

Here's what to expect on the podcast:Kijuan's inspirational journey after a life-changing motorcycle accident.How Kijuan shifts his mindset after losing his sight.The power of asking for help.Key influences that led Kijuan to share his story through speaking and writing.And much more! About Kijuan:Kijuan Amey, the visionary behind Amey Motivation, hails from Durham, NC, where his journey of resilience and success began. After graduating from Southern High School, he dedicated a decade of his life to the US Air Force, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant as an In-flight Refueling Specialist. Medically retired, he transitioned into academia, earning a degree and founding Amey Motivation LLC. Mr. Amey also served as the vice president for the Carolina regional group of the Blinded Veterans Association, Kijuan is also a mentor and ambassador for the Air Force Wounded Warriors program. Beyond his remarkable military career, Kijuan is a man of many talents, boasting over 25 years of drumming expertise, on-stage acting, and now, an upcoming bestseller, "Don't Focus on Why Me." However, life took an unexpected turn on May 5th, 2017, when a motorcycle accident claimed his eyesight. Yet, as Kijuan profoundly states, "I may have lost my sight, but I did not lose my vision.” Connect with Kijuan Amey!Website: https://ameymotivation.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kijuan-amey-783889121/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Story_OfSuccessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/kijuanamey/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kijuanamey/Help A Veteran Find Zen Through Adaptive Sports: https://tinyurl.com/yc6k4mw6Book Available on Amazon:Don't Focus on Why Me: From Motorcycle Accident to Miracle https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737036614?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_4M53B40XBMSWFSVQBSCD_1 -----If you're struggling, consider therapy with our sponsor, BetterHelp.Visit https://betterhelp.com/candicesnyder for a 10% discount on your first month of therapy.*This is a paid promotionIf you are in the United States and in crisis or any other person may be in danger -Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Dial 988----- Connect with Candice Snyder!Website: https://www.podpage.com/passion-purpose-and-possibilities-1/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candicebsnyder?_rdrPassion, Purpose, and Possibilities Community Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/passionpurposeandpossibilitiescommunity/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passionpurposepossibilities/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candicesnyder/Shop For A Cause With Gifts That Give Back to Nonprofits: https://thekindnesscause.com/Fall In Love With Artists And Experience Joy And Calm: https://www.youtube.com/@movenartrelaxation

In this episode of the Kankakee Podcast, host Jake LaMore chats with military veteran Brad Stosiek and local community advocate Eric Peterson, diving deep into Brad's unique military journey and his life post-service. Brad humorously recounts his time as a cook in the Marines, often describing himself as a "glorified lunch lady," while sharing the invaluable skills and experiences he gained in the military.The conversation shifts to Brad's medical condition, Chiari malformation, which led to his severe health complications and eventual blindness. Brad candidly shares his challenging journey, comparing it to navigating a dark version of Jurassic Park, while expressing gratitude for the support of his family and community in Kankakee County.Eric Peterson emphasizes the importance of community support for veterans, discussing various local veteran organizations, such as the Blinded Veterans Association and Buddy Check 22, as well as the significance of finding purpose post-service. The trio touches on the impact of the "I'm Fine" podcast, a mental health-focused show that Jake helps produce, and the humor and camaraderie that it brings to both veterans and civilians.From discussing Brad's resilience and activities like archery and hiking despite his visual impairment, to reflecting on the need for community engagement and understanding, this episode is a heartfelt tribute to veterans and their dedication. Whether it's providing care packages, peer support groups, or fitness programs, the episode showcases the myriad ways Kankakee County steps up for its veterans.Jake, Brad, and Eric conclude by encouraging listeners to get involved in their local communities, volunteer, and find meaningful ways to honor veterans beyond the simple "thank you for your service." With humor, gratitude, and insightful discussions, this episode is a testament to the power of community support and the indomitable spirit of veterans.Tune in to hear Brad's inspiring story and learn how you can make a difference in the lives of veterans in Kankakee County!Send us a text Support the show

Join us for this episode of Civic Warriors, where we speak with Donald Overton, National Executive Director of Blinded Veterans Association. Support the show

ACB Conference and Convention General Session Sunday, July 7, 2024 Call to Order – Deb Cook Lewis, ACB President, Clarkston, WA Moment of reflection Presentation of Colors: Naval Station Mayport Color Guard National Anthem – Brian O'Connell, National Sergeant-at-Arms, Blinded Veterans Association, Greenville, SC Welcome to Convention – Sheila Young, Immediate past president, Orlando, FL; Mikey Wiseman, President, Florida Council of the Blind, Miami, FL ACB President's Report – Deb Cook Lewis, Clarkston, WA Executive Director's Report – Dan Spoone, Scott Thornhill, Alexandria, VA Sponsor Presentation: Diamond Sponsor; Vanda: Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder (Non-24) Life Member Presentations – Deb Cook Lewis, Clarkston, WA; Nancy Marks Becker, ACB Chief Financial Officer, Brooklyn Center, MN ACB First Timers – Zelda Gebhard, Co-Chair; Durward K. McDaniel, First Timers Committee JPMorgan Chase Leadership Fellows – Scott Thornhill, Alexandria, VA Nominating Committee Report – Brian Charlson, Watertown, MA Roll Call of Affiliates – Denise Colley, ACB Secretary, Richmond, TX ACB Elections The full video of the July 7 Opening Session can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EE6bCU_NO4&list=PL8lZLvTN7ZUhCTZJok4LfxN7WqcpBev8j&index=5&t=238s Edited by Dennis Becker Find out more at https://acb-convention.pinecast.co

In this episode of the Vets First Podcast, hosts Dr. Levi Sowers and Brandon Rea interview Dr. Renata Gomes. Dr. Gomes is a medical and forensic specialist with a sub-specialized in regenerative biomedicine who works with blinded Veterans in the United Kingdom. She was born in Portugal into a family with 5 generations of Army officers and moved to England at a young age. She earned her degree in Forensic Medicine and a Masters in Cardiovascular Medicine and Biology from University College London. Dr. Gomes then earned her international PhD in Regenerative Medicine and Biochemistry with the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), University of Coimbra (Portugal), and the University of Eastern Finland (Finland). After gaining her doctorate, Dr. Gomes became a researcher in regenerative medicine and joined the Royal Naval Reserves.Dr. Gomes established Blind Veterans UK's research and innovation department in 2017 and was central to the establishment of Bravo Victor in 2021. Blind Veterans UK is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1915 that provides rehabilitation and services for blinded UK Veterans and their families. Bravo Victor was established to invest in the combination of medical research, social welfare research, and innovations to prepare Veterans living with sight loss for the future, as Veterans in the UK stay with Blind Veterans UK for their lifetime. Dr. Gomes shares about the focus on traumatic brain injury that can cause significant issues in sensory loss, family relationships, and innovations that ensure that Veterans can live independent and fulfilling lives. She also highlights their international collaborations many countries including the United States to better serve Veterans and help stop significant loss of vision through promotion of eye health. Bravo Victor has and continues to work with the Blinded Veterans Association, the only congressionally chartered Veterans Service Organization created for, consisting of, and led by visually impaired Veterans. For more information about Bravo Victor, viewers can visit https://www.bravovictor.org/. If you are a Veteran or you know a Veteran needing help with visual loss, contact the Visual Impairment Services Team coordinator at your nearest VA medical center or contact the Blind Rehabilitation Service Program by phone which can be found here. There are 13 Blind Rehabilitation Centers around the country, which can help with things like mobility, communication, and living with vision loss. 

Warning before the podcast, this episode contains graphic content of an Iraqi Veteran's experiences and may be difficult to hear for some listeners.   In this episode of the Vets First Podcast, Dr. Levi Sowers and Brandon Rea interview Veteran Tim Hornick. Tim Hornick is a post 9/11 Army Captain who served from 2002 to 2011 in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He earned his Master's in Social Work and began working for the Western Blind Rehab Center. Tim grew up in the south side of Chicago and joined the military while applying for colleges to study nursing through the ROTC. However, he decided to not go the nursing route, enlisted at 22, and was stationed in South Korea. In this episode Tim tells his story of when he was deployed to Iraq in 2004. On November 11, 2004, while supporting the Iraqi national guard Tim was shot through the left temple, narrowly missing his helmet, and the bullet exited the right eye where he ultimately lost his sight. The bullet missed the brain but tore through nerves causing him to lose his sight. Tim talks about his journey after the accident and speaks on the mental process that allowed him, years later, to be able to laugh about the trauma and grow. Tim shares that over the years he has become happier and learned from his condition. While he still misses parts of his old life, he does not dwell on the past and has turned his experience into a way to help others grow from similar situations, highlighted by his term “transilience”. The VA has started to move forward with Ocular Trauma and Blind Disability Excellence Centers that allow Veterans with vision loss to find others with similar conditions. At the time of this recording, Tim Hornick was working within the VA's Western Blind Rehab Center as the admissions coordinator. Now Tim has moved into a new position with the Blinded Veterans Association as their Director of Special Initiatives. He oversees the development of the Vet Tech program which focuses on assistive technology through support groups and podcasts and CARE review.If you are a Veteran or you know a Veteran needing help with visual loss, contact the Visual Impairment Services Team coordinator at your nearest VA medical center or contact the Blind Rehabilitation Service Program by phone which can be found here. There are 13 Blind Rehabilitation Centers around the country, which can help with mobility, communication, and living with vision loss. 

In this episode of the Vets First Podcast Dr. Levi Sowers and Brandon Rea interview Elizabeth Holmes. Elizabeth “Liz” Holmes is the Blinded Veterans Association National Secretary and is part of the Georgia regional group. She is an Army Veteran and during her career she attended both basic and advanced ordinance courses and airborne school. Liz was born and raised in the south side of Chicago about 15 minutes from Indiana. She went to DePaul University and didn't initially have plans to join the military. However, seeing that the ROTC program there did not have any women and knowing she could do anything a man could, Liz decided to join the ROTC program in 1975 and received her training at Fort Riley, Kansas. Following college, she joined the service as a reserve officer and then went on active duty for 11 years where she traveled all over the states, Korea, and Germany. Liz served from 1976 to 1987, where in 1976 she was commissioned to be a Second Lieutenant in the ordinant specialty. Following her military service, Liz worked in the United States Postal Service serving in a variety of different ways until retirement in 2014 due to vision loss because of glaucoma. She had never noticed a change in her vision until she went to an eye exam where her glaucoma was diagnosed. Liz had surgery on her left eye but continued to experience issues. She began seeing a specialist that worked to save her right eye's vision. Liz was referred to the VA for further care and joined other programs to help navigate life with vision loss. While in blind rehabilitation in Birmingham, Alabama, Liz joined the Blinded Veterans Association and became an active member. She shares about her experiences in the military, vision loss with glaucoma, and her involvement in the Blinded Veterans Association.If you are a Veteran or you know a Veteran needing help with visual loss, contact the Visual Impairment Services Team coordinator at your nearest VA medical center or contact the Blind Rehabilitation Service Program by phone which can be found here. There are 13 Blind Rehabilitation Centers around the country, which can help with things like mobility, communication, and living with vision loss. 

In this episode of the Vets First Podcast, hosts Dr. Levi Sowers and Brandon Rea interview Dr. Thomas Zampieri. Dr. Zampieri currently serves on multiple Department of Defense grant review panels and has been appointed to the VA National Research Advisory Council, which is a Congressional mandated council to advise research at the VA. He is also the past president of the Blinded Veterans Association and he's a former Army Veteran who served during the Vietnam era as an Army medic. In this episode, Dr. Zampieri talks about his career as a physician assistant and as a Veteran suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic degenerative disease that breaks down cells in the retina over time.Dr. Zampieri started his career early on as an emergency medical technician in rural New Hampshire and Vermont, which led him directly to the Army as a field medic and as a physician assistant. He talks about how the gradual visual loss affected his work and how it ultimately forced him to stop medical practice and leave the VA. He then discusses his perseverance with loss of vision and how he found the motivation to obtain a PhD in Political Science at the age of 47. Later in the episode, Dr. Zampieri narrates his journey back to the VA through the Blinded Veterans Association as the Director of Government Relations to represent blind Veterans. From there, he obtained many other VA positions and discussed his appreciation for helping Veterans. He elaborates about his efforts towards advocating for more funding in research to assist degenerative eye conditions, particularly vision dysfunction from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Then, Dr. Zampieri communicates about the struggles many Veterans go through with TBI. Finally, he talks about one of his unique meetings with a recently blinded Veteran and demonstrated how you can still live your life well with vision loss. If you are a Veteran or you know a Veteran needing help with visual loss, contact the Visual Impairment Services Team coordinator at your nearest VA medical center or contact the Blind Rehabilitation Service Program by phone which can be found here. There are 13 Blind Rehabilitation Centers around the country, which can help with things like mobility, communication, and living with vision loss. 

We are finally back! It has been almost 2 years since we last published a season. A lot has changed over that time. Dr. Sowers started a faculty position at the University of Iowa in the Department of Pediatrics where he is studying migraine pathophysiology in preclinical models. This is an exciting season! In total, we have 11 new interviews for your from across the spectrum. The Blinded Veterans Association was integral in the topic this season which is all about Vision and Vision related issues in Veterans. We interviewed many awesome Veterans who told amazing stories. One that stuck out to me was Tim Hornick. His interview was one of the most difficult interviews Brandon and I have ever done (in a good way). It is a captivating listen! Several wonderful practitioners join us this season who all have VA funded awards to study vision. We cover glaucoma, diabetic neuropathy, traumatic brain injury induced vision problems and much more! We also interview the former president of the Blinded Veterans Association. Moving forward, the podcast will take a little bit of a different shape. We are going to stop doing seasons and attempt to release an episode every month or so. We are going to start bringing guest hosts on in future episodes and we may do join interviews with a Veteran and Researcher/practitioner at the same time. Finally, thank you all for listening and we apologize for the long wait! The Vets First Podcast would not be possible without the people that listen.  This project has been one of the most rewarding projects that Brandon and I have ever worked on. We would like to thank the VA Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual loss and the Iowa City VA Research foundation for aiding in the production of this season. We also want to give a shout out to Jayme Waite, Thomas Duong, and Michael Huebner who are wonderful undergraduates or VA employees that volunteered their time to edit blogs this season. Once again, thank you all for listening and we hope you enjoy and learn something along the way! 

Special Treat for Valentine's Day! Empowering Ourselves & the World with Self Love with Mary McManus  Mary McManus, motivational speaker, critically acclaimed author and poet, 2009 Boston Marathon finisher, and polio and trauma survivor has a remarkable story of resilience, healing, hope and possibilities. She is celebrating 15 years of healing after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease! Mary contracted paralytic polio in one of the last polio epidemics in the United States. She endured years of abuse at the hands of family members from the age of 8 until 17 when her father ended his life. She managed to become High School Valedictorian and was elected to Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society when she received her MSW from Boston College. At the age of 53 years old, her life came to a screeching halt. She was at the height of her award-winning career as a social worker at the Boston VA Outpatient Clinic having received awards from the Blinded Veterans Association, the Ex-POW's, Employee of the Month and Social Worker of the Year. She was diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease and was told to prepare to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. She was three years shy of being eligible for retirement. Mary refused to take the diagnosis sitting down. Her pen became her divining rod for healing harnessing the power of the mind/body connection through poetry. She embarked on a journey that took her from taking a leap of faith, leaving behind her career as a VA social worker, to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon, and many adventures as a woman transformed through the sport of running. Out of the rubble of her past, Mary dug deep to discover the treasure of who she was always meant to be. Her Spirit shines with brilliant resilience as she conquered every challenge going the distance on the roads and in her life. Mary speaks to the power of forgiveness, gratitude, love, hope and optimism when confronting life's challenges. Mary is the author of the critically acclaimed, “Hope is a Garden: Poems and Essays From the 2020 Pandemic”, “Into the Light: Emerging From the 2020 Pandemic,” “Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life,” and her Trilogy of Transformation that chronicles her health and wellness journey. Mary has shared her story on many podcasts and radio shows, including the award-winning Exceptional Women radio show. Mary was featured on Boston's Channel 7 after her inspiring Boston Marathon run, is featured on the Heal Documentary website and in best-selling author Dr. David Hamilton's book, “The Tenth Anniversary Edition of How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body.” She has shared her journey on Bernie Siegel, MD's Mind/Health Matters Show and most recently was a guest on the Los Angeles Tribune Show, “All Things Rex Worldwide.” Mary holds a BS in Communications from Boston University, an MSW from Boston College and many fond memories of her veterans and their families who blessed her life when she worked at the VA. Call In and Chat with Deborah during Live Show: 833-220-1200 or 319-527-2638 Learn more about Deborah here:  www.lovebyintuition.com

Into the Light: Emerging From the 2020 Pandemic with Mary McManus As you begin reading “Into the Light: Emerging From the 2020 Pandemic” you will be drawn into Mary McManus' unique perspective of experiencing a world pandemic as one who contracted paralytic polio in one of the last epidemics in the United States. Mary's revelations about her struggles with whether or not to receive the vaccine despite sharing on the local news she planned to receive it after her husband received his, reveals Mary's tender heart and ability to be vulnerable. She shares how the pandemic unearthed traumatic memories from her tumultuous childhood after polio and will leave you asking the question, “How has Mary been able to live life with an attitude of gratitude, hope, optimism and faith after all the challenges she endured.” Mary's poetry and essays chronicling 18 months of emerging from the 2020 pandemic is woven with her valiant and inspiring story of healing her life after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006. Mary's beautiful journey provides a road map to discover the light in all of us. Mary McManus, motivational speaker, critically acclaimed author and poet, 2009 Boston Marathon finisher, and polio and trauma survivor has a remarkable story of resilience, healing, hope and possibilities. She is celebrating 15 years of healing after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease! Mary contracted paralytic polio in one of the last polio epidemics in the United States. She endured years of abuse at the hands of family members from the age of 8 until 17 when her father ended his life. She managed to become High School Valedictorian and was elected to Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society when she received her MSW from Boston College. At the age of 53 years old, her life came to a screeching halt. She was at the height of her award-winning career as a social worker at the Boston VA Outpatient Clinic having received awards from the Blinded Veterans Association, the Ex-POW's, Employee of the Month and Social Worker of the Year. She was diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease and was told to prepare to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. She was three years shy of being eligible for retirement. Mary refused to take the diagnosis sitting down. Her pen became her divining rod for healing harnessing the power of the mind/body connection through poetry. She embarked on a journey that took her from taking a leap of faith, leaving behind her career as a VA social worker, to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon, and many adventures as a woman transformed through the sport of running. Out of the rubble of her past, Mary dug deep to discover the treasure of who she was always meant to be. Her Spirit shines with brilliant resilience as she conquered every challenge going the distance on the roads and in her life. Mary speaks to the power of forgiveness, gratitude, love, hope and optimism when confronting life's challenges. Mary is the author of the critically acclaimed, “Hope is a Garden: Poems and Essays From the 2020 Pandemic”, “Into the Light: Emerging From the 2020 Pandemic,” “Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life,” and her Trilogy of Transformation that chronicles her health and wellness journey. Mary has shared her story on many podcasts and radio shows, including the award-winning Exceptional Women radio show. Mary was featured on Boston's Channel 7 after her inspiring Boston Marathon run, is featured on the Heal Documentary website and in best-selling author Dr. David Hamilton's book, “The Tenth Anniversary Edition of How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body.” She has shared her journey on Bernie Siegel, MD's Mind/Health Matters Show and most recently was a guest on the Los Angeles Tribune Show, “All Things Rex Worldwide.” Mary holds a BS in Communications from Boston University, an MSW from Boston College and many fond memories of her veterans and their families who blessed her life when she worked at the VA. Call In and Chat with Deborah during Live Show: 833-220-1200 or 319-527-2638 Learn more about Deborah here:  www.lovebyintuition.com

In part 1 of this two part series Donald Overton and Danique Masingill join with Dr. Shulkin and Lou to talk about the power of animal regulation for the future of Veteran support.  Donald is the Executive Director of the Blinded Veterans Association (https://bva.org/), and Danique is the Co-Founder and President of Leashes of Valor (https://leashesofvalor.org/).  

Marana Vradenburg is a personal trainer, jiu jitsu practitioner, and advocate and friend to American military veterans. Her work with the Blinded Veterans Association, and veterans in general, is born out of a desire to give back to those who have given of themselves. The post Choking Your Friends Blind with Marana Vradenburg (AMP215) appeared first on Adventure Mind.

Marana Vradenburg is a personal trainer, jiu jitsu practitioner, and advocate and friend to American military veterans. Her work with the Blinded Veterans Association, and veterans in general, is born out of a desire to give back to those who have given of themselves. The post PREVIEW: Choking Your Friends Blind with Marana Vradenburg (AMP215) appeared first on Adventure Mind.

A conversation with Dr. Thomas Zampieri president of the Blinded Veterans Association. In this episode we discuss the changes that have occurred in July of 2020 on Capitol Hill for disabled veterans, specifically items related to the special adaptive housing grant. Visit: www.bva.org to learn more about how you can help Blind Veteran‘s.

We speak with Joe Bogart, Executive Director of the Blinded Veterans Association on how he is serving people with visual impairments that have served out country. We speak on a number of legislative bills, and how the COVID-19 Virus is effecting veterans in the blindness community. #VVL #VoicesOfVisionLeaders We want to hear from you! Want to hear on a particular topic? Want to join as a guest speaker? Send us a request at info@visionservealliance.org. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/visionserve-alliance/message

On this episode of the Navigating Blindness podcast, we speak with Joe Bogart, Executive Director of the Blinded Veterans Association. During the podcast, Mr. Bogart talks to us about serving in the military with a visual impairment, how the BVA supports its blinded veterans and the BVA’s initiatives to help serve more veterans who are blind or visually impaired.

Dr. Thomas Zampieri served as an Army Medic from 1972 until September 1975.  After college he enlisted in the Army National Guard, retiring in 2000 as a Major after 22 years. His service included 13 years as a Military Aeromedical Flight Surgeon, logging more than 600 hours of flight operations. Tom graduated from Hahnemann Medical University’s Physician Assistant Program in June1978. He obtained a Bachelor Science Degree from State University of New York and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Political Science from University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, in 2003. Dr. Zampieri completed his Political Science Ph.D. at Lacrosse University in December 2005. He was employed in April 2005 as the Director of Government Relations for BVA, presenting testimony before U.S. Congressional Committees on a variety of veterans’ issues.  Retiring from BVA in 2013, Tom currently serves on the Association’s Board of Directors and is chairman of BVA Government Relations Committee. Tom has 5 percent vision in both eyes resulting from degenerative retinal disease. He has volunteered since 2010 in planning an award-winning international exchange program with the Blind Veterans UK known as Project Gemini in eight year now.  He has organized briefings with senior defense medical officials on military eye injuries, blast traumatic brain injuries with vision dysfunction, defense vision trauma research program, and rehabilitation services with both DOD, VA, and UK officials. For More Information about the Blinded Veterans Association, please visit www.BVA.org

1846 Blinded Veterans Association (Nov 14, 2018) Show Notes Joe Bogart, Executive Director of the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA), is the first legally blind soldier to return to combat duty since the Civil War. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Joe about the various services offered to veterans by the BVA as well as … Continue reading 1846 Blinded Veterans Association (Nov 14, 2018) →

All BVA programs and Services are available to any blinded veteran in need, regardless of how or when they lost their sight, or whether they are a BVA member. BVA has over 50 regional groups that make up our membership including the Puerto Rico regional group. Regional groups host many events in addition to the national office programs listed below

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we demonstrate how to use Aira’s Guest Access Program. Aira is a service that uses a combination of your smart phone, pair of smart glasses, or a computer to securely connect to a highly trained, professional agent to provide instant access to explore your […]

BVA17: Introducing BrainPort and Low Vision Simulators - Two New Kinds of Accessibility Products Blind Abilities brings you their final installment from the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) 2017 national convention in Jacksonville, Florida. With this episode, Pete introduces two products which he has not previously encountered.    first, BrainPort V-100 Vision Aid, a pair of sun glasses possessing a video camera that converts images into electronic impulses to a square disk that sits on the tongue. This device allows blind users to detect contrast in an image: the lighter the image, the more intense the sensation will be on the tongue. It is used in conjunction with a navigational tool, such as a cane or dog to provide an additional piece of sensory information for the user - any information is good information!  Check out BrainPort at: www.Wicab.com   Next, Pete learns about Low vision simulators, created by Marshall flax who converts ‘welders goggles” into devices that simulate various visual conditions, such as Macular Degeneration, RP, etc. These goggles can be purchased in a package of all 13 units, or individually to show sighted people what blind or visually impaired folks actually see. These devices can be shared with friends or family, or used by Rehab specialists, trainers or other professionals help family or friends better understand and cope with blindness.  Check them out on the web. www.LowVisionsimulators.com Blind Abilities would like to thank all the folks who chatted with us at #BVA2017, and special thanks to the Blinded Veterans Association for all they do for the heroes who served our country, and for holding a great convention! Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

BVA17: What’s New With Aira For Vets? A Chat With Amy Bernal Aira is the focus of the fifth installment of the Blind Abilities coverage of the Blinded Veterans Association 2017 national convention. Pete chats with Amy Bernal, VP of Customer Experience, who brings us up to date on what Aira has to offer blind veterans. Aira has worked closely with the VA to provide funding for the Aira hardware (Glasses and WiFi Hotspot), allowing qualifying vets to enjoy the full Aira service for only $29 per month. Listen as Amy outlines how vets can take advantage of this funding arrangement, and check out the details at the new Aira web page, specifically created for veterans:       Of course, you can find out all about Aira on the web   Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

BVA17: The Hadley Institute and Orcam BlindAbilities brings you more great audio from the Blinded Veterans Association 2017 national convention as Pete Lane introduces an old friend of the podcast. Meet Larry Muffett and The Hadley Institute.  Larry discusses some of the programs offered for veterans, as well as some general information about Hadley’s 2017 focus. You can find Hadley on the web   Also featured in this episode is Orcam, a smart glass device that offers many features, including OCR, facial recognition, bar code reading, color identification and more. Stay tuned as Orcam version 8.0 of their software is announced in the next few weeks.   Check out more about their two products at Orcam on the web    Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

BVA17: Check Out Cyber Eyez From Cyber Timez    Blind Abilities coverage of BVA 2017 continues as Pete Lane interviews Sean Tibbetts, CEO and Co-founder of Cyber Timez, makers of Cyber Eyez. These smart glasses offer numerous functions, ranging from OCR text recognition in more than 160 different languages, performs as a magnifier, color identifier, recognizes more than six billion objects, a bar code reader, offers internet radio, Skype, and much more without an internet connection.    Join Pete as he witnesses a live demonstration of just a couple of these features at the Blinded Veterans Association 2017 national convention. Check out Cyber Eyezon the web: Call them at: 202-827-6883, Email at: Sales@CyberTimez.com Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Blinded Veterans Association: Meet Paul Mimms and Chuck Miller, and Meet BVA Blind Abilities brings you audio from the 2017 Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. Pete Lane introduces us to the BVA and two of its key members: Paul Mimms, National BVA Secretary, and Chuck Miller, adventurer and Certified Sailor. Join Pete with this, our first episode in a series from the convention floor of the BVA 2017 National convention. Check out the Blinded Veterans Association on the web.   Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

A brief interview that Aira Agent Analyst, Patrick Lane and Pete Lane did on a local Jacksonville radio show. They talked about Aira, of course, and a bit about The Blind Abilities podcast.  Also on the show is an interview with Al Avina, Executive Director of the Blinded Veterans Association. The national BVA conference will be held in Jacksonville the week of August 14 - 18th. Aira will be there in full force and Pete Lane of the Blind Abilities Team will bring you and keep you up to date with the latest out of Jacksonville and the Blinded Veterans Association. We hope you enjoy.   Explore your world  like never before From exploring new neighborhoods and restaurants in the city, to traveling the globe - Aira empowers the blind to experience their world and surroundings like never before. Accessible devices Aira's platform works on wearable devices such as Google Glass and Vuzix that can be paired with your smartphones. Real-time request The tiny camera mounted on your wearable device provides instant feedback so Aira Agents can safely guide you with any activity. Certified agents Our network of trained Aira Agents, who could even be one of your family or friends, are able to assist you whenever and wherever.   You can find out more about Aira on the web and follow Aira on Twitter @Airaio   Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Guest: Tom Zampieri, PhD, PA-C Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA The Department of Veterans Affairs is the single largest employer of PAs in the United States. With 1,600 PAs in the VA workforce, the PA leadership is only a part time field position. Dr. Tom Zampieri, director of government relations for the Blinded Veterans Association, joins host Lisa D'Andrea Lenell to talk about the possibility of a full-time director in the VA central office.