The Lived Résumé Between the Lines
Content Notice: Raw talk about chronic illness, workplace discrimination, and medical trauma. No inspiration porn here.
Let me tell you about the most impressive skill I've built as a disabled professional: The art of reinvention between bodily betrayals.
In 2015, I left college with a back injury that left me horizontal for months and derailed my academic+career plans in 2011-2012. Since then, I have rebuilt a lot, because I focus on a future and not on replaying my checkered (frankly complicated) past. Spoiler: I'll never be "100%." Neither will you, and disability can happen to anyone, at any time. If anything, able bodied adults are much more likely to be in circustances that allow them to walk into accidents compared to people with mobility issues.
Seriously, data from the CDC shows that pedestrian fatalities disproportionately affect able-bodied adults (especially if the're impaired by substances, poor visibility or their phones.)
What Disability Taught Me About Work
For those who prefer bullet points:
- Productivity ≠ Worth
- Accommodations benefit everyone
- Pain gives you X-ray vision for system flaws
1. "Accommodation" is Just Another Word for Innovation
Built a consulting career precisely because traditional workplaces wouldn't bend. Every "reasonable adjustment" I've designed (flex hours, async work, etc.) ended up making teams better for everyone.
2. The 20-Hour Workweek That Outperformed 60-Hour Grinds
When pain forced me to condense work into precious functional hours, I discovered:
- Most meetings are optional
- Async communication > real-time performativity
- Rest is part of the work
3. Empathy is a Superpower Forged in Suffering
When you've begged doctors for basic dignity, you recognize desperation in a customer's voice before they articulate it. My "bundle of struggles" helps me see yours—and build systems that serve real humans.
Why I Keep Fighting
Disabled professionals are the canaries in the coal mine of late capitalism: we spot systemic failures first. Every barrier I've smashed through made workplaces better for:
My Real Résumé
- 📌 Degree in Survival (University of Adversity, 2011-Present)
- 📌 Concentration in Adaptive Strategy
- 📌 Minor in Stubborn Joy