Quest Magazine received the 2025 Apex Award for Publishing Excellence in two categories. Why was this recognition meaningful?
We were so excited and honored. I was thrilled the work our small, talented team does every day was recognized. We’ve worked hard to modernize the look and feel of the magazine. We’ve worked hard on the aesthetics, and we’ve increased the page count and then obviously just all of the editorial.
As part of our editorial strategy, we looked at a lot of metrics and really listened to the readers and the consumers of this content… we know what the readers are looking for. It was important for us to keep up, to keep pace with the MDA organization and in the DEI conversation because those conversations are so important to the community right now.
This issue coincides with National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Can you share your personal employment journey and how you’ve seen attitudes evolve?
We’ve made progress, but there’s still a lot of work to do. I spent 20 years in the high-tech industry before going to work for MDA, writing a book, and beginning a speaking career. It was a mixed bag of being given good opportunities and working for companies and managers who helped me in my career.
But in all that time, working for three big companies with thousands of employees, I was the only person in a wheelchair I ever saw. Looking back, I can see how that affected me. It deterred me from leaning fully into who I was. It created doubts about my skills, my talent, and even who I was as a person.
I was really dependent on my job and I didn’t want to do anything to put it at risk. There wasn’t a sense of safety to truly own who I was or bring my full self to work. That meant I tried to do my job exactly the same as everyone else. I feared that if they saw I was different, or if I asked for accommodations, it would create vulnerability rather than empowerment.
That did me a disservice, and I think it did the companies a disservice too. I had to hide so much of myself in the interest of being the same. It underscored for me that it’s not just about opportunity and hiring. It’s about creating workplaces where employees feel safe to be who they are. If people can be themselves, they’ll bring varying perspectives and ideas that others may not see.
You’ve also been a strong advocate for accessible air travel. Why is this issue so urgent?
I hadn’t flown for 14 years. It is so challenging for a lot of different reasons, for a lot people with disabilities of all types. As a wheelchair user, I knew the risks—wheelchairs being broken all the time. These devices are very sophisticated medical and therapeutic devices. My current chair was about $80,000. Air travel is the only mode of transportation left in this country where you have to be separated from your mobility device.
I got back on a plane only because MDA invited me to go to Capitol Hill and talk about why accessible air travel needed to change. What I saw then was how little awareness there was of what wheelchair users go through. If you’re not ambulatory, you have to be lifted by strangers who may not be trained to help you in that way and there’s tons of opportunity for physical injuries. There’s also the issue of sitting for hours without the therapeutic supports of your chair, which can itself
cause injuries.
Working on this issue has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done because I’ve seen legislation impacted by advocates’ voices. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 and the new Department of Transportation rule were victories we at MDA were heavily involved in. But even now, those gains are being threatened by the airline industry.
It’s often one step forward and one step back, but I can’t wait for the day when I can say, “Remember when we couldn’t take our wheelchairs on planes? Wasn’t that crazy?” I know change is coming.
Your book, The Truth About Things That Suck, resonated with many readers. What are some core lessons you hope they take away?
The single most important lesson is that multiple things can be true at the same time. Even if you’re walking through something incredibly hard, there can also be good things in your life. Sometimes you have to look for them, but it’s important not to let the hard things be the only truth you see.
The second lesson is that we all have to choose who we want to show up as in this world. There were times I could have become bitter and angry, or I could learn the skills to be an optimistic, positive person. The second path is harder, but it’s worth it.
Looking ahead, what’s next for you?
I still feel I’m in the early days of my advocacy career, and there’s a lot more work I want to do. Beyond air travel, I want to focus on hotels and lodging, taxis, paratransit, and shuttles. Transportation barriers make life isolating for people with disabilities. Representation in the media is another passion of mine. Media shapes culture, and authentic, positive representation of people with disabilities influences everything—from employment and fashion to accessibility standards.