Hello again, I hope you are doing as well as possible. This time on The Accessibility Advantage I am blessed to have a conversation with Jenna Udenberg. She shared about growing up in the North Shore area of Minnesota and being involved in lots of outdoor activities growing up. Then she talked about being diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, and how that eventually lead to her living her life in a wheel chair from the age of eight. She spoke about how she learned to advocate for herself from an early age, and how this effected her college years. Her desire to leave places better than she found them lead to major improvements for accessibility by the time she graduated. I loved also hearing about personal experiences at camps or events for many other people with disabilities. I appreciated her admitting that after college she hit a dry spell as an advocate due to exhaustion from constantly having to push to be heard and have your needs met. It was great hearing about how she found the passion to get back in the game so to speak thanks to winning The 2017 Blandin Foundation Community Leader. followed by other prestigious fellowships. Along the way you will get a glimpse of what it is like living in a wheel chair. And I especially loved her metaphor about how people have different chairs just like you would have different shoes based on the occasion. Finally, we talked a lot about the challenges of enjoying outdoor activities like hiking, walking trails, rock climbing, fishing, swimming, etc when you have a disability. She makes a great case for how access for wheel chair users isn't just about getting in the door. It's about the quality of life and ability to pursue personal interests inside that door. And we talked about how her community has improved its appeal to tourists who enjoy outdoor activities because of their commitment to continuing to make more areas more accessible. I hope you and your friends start to comprehend the potential benefits to your travel and tourism appeal that comes from making the effort to truly welcome people with all abilities. Just For Max Question She is a great story teller. And I have to admit I forgot to ask my just for Max question. I used to love going fishing with my dad, but it became less fun as I lost my vision because I couldn't see the float bobbing on the water sink to know I had a bite. Also some of the best fishing in our area is off of coastal jetties which are difficult to navigate with low vision. I bet there are places where she lives I could go fishing again. And I bet she would have a solution for my fishing problem. Solutions finding is one of those things us differently abled get good at over time. I know you are going to enjoy our conversation. Personal Notes 1: I sing on the intro of the podcast. It is acapella, but I'm told I'm pretty good. 2: I do not edit my podcast recordings unless absolutely necessary. Just think of the show as a 50s TV show recorded live. Just without a laugh track. On With The Show