Can I Sign Mississippi Banking Living Will

Can i industry sign banking mississippi living will

in this interview will talk about assisted walking for MS and the a linker walking bike I'm Jen de Tracy from women thriving with MS and this series is leading change for MS featuring inspiring people who share their insights and expertise on how to manage multiple sclerosis and improve health and well-being from the inside out if you're new here be sure to subscribe below and check out the links our guest today is be a link B is an inventor paradigm shifter edge walker and the founder of the a linker b sees the a linker as a vehicle for social change they linker connects people who are isolated because others are uncomfortable with disabilities b and her company live and breathe the values of inclusion and equality welcome b hi Jen nice to be here thank you for having me great well it is fantastic to have you here not only because of your ingenious and ingenuity but your vision for the a linker we're gonna talk about the the story I'd like to start off with the idea hmm that's um so yes that's a long time back actually it's a 8 years back that my mom made a comment my mom clearly is aging and she made a comment when we passed by some elderly people with scooters electric scooters and rollers and out of the blue she pretty much said over my dead body will I ever use one of those things now I'm always a bit hesitant to start with this story because then people assume like oh this is for elderly people and yes it started with a comment of my mother but the comment actually made me aware of that mobility devices and emphasize the disability and so I became aware that most of the assistive devices medical devices are a technical solution for a body with the problem sorry you're not a human being anymore now you're a body with a problem that we need to move logistically from A to B that's what the technical devices will do so I thought ah that's weird because if we design for a body with a problem we lose our humanity and we are humans whether I have a body with that with MS symptoms or lose a leg or have a stroke I'm still the same human being I just happen to have you know I just happen to walk differently or move differently it's interesting there was a woman that that I was communicating through YouTube because she had commented on video that I'd created around asking for help and she was in a grocery store and she asked someone for help and she was using her Walker and nobody stood in her the line behind her people are very uncomfortable around disabilities because it confronts you somehow that could happen to you and people don't want to think about that I think right so that brings me to the whole movement what if we make the space to have some kind of disability about 20% of us have some kind of disability what if we make that space a little bit safer that you're not alone there that it's not a place of isolation and being kicked in a curb and being pushed away by society because oh that's uncomfortable what if we make that a safe and fun place together that's how I set out to make the alinker to be so cool that people would love to use it and that people would feel that they can still be themselves regardless of their mobility challenges what happens very often with people that use the alinker is like oh my god what's that cool bike and then you can say like well I'll give you a clue I can't walk but in the meantime you're already talking the connection is there and then there is no then people can continue to engage with each other because it's already you're already engaged with each other it's it's like it brings the ability into the forefront in a way but the thing is that disabilities and abilities are always based on the body now we have a body that might look us boy that might have a certain skin color that might have the kind of disability that might have a gender reference well we have that that's not who we are and I think that if we continue to focus on what we have we create the divides that somebody can then make money over so I think that the importance is that we continue to build something is for who we are who do I want to be in this world be congruent with that I can be a kind person right yeah I can choose to be a kind person anybody who looks any different way whether skin color or sex or disability or ability we can all choose to be kind people and show up for each other and I think it is time that we connect with each other on who we want to be who we choose to be instead of what we have yeah the essence right of who we are or what we represent what we want to emit to the world and thinking in on systems level the more divisions there are the more big systems can make money over the divisions okay so do we want to support the systems that make money over our back or do we want to create a community for us by us where we can actually have fun together I say checkmark to the funny community with some people may not have heard of the a linker before but we can speak to some of the what the a linker is you know how that benefits people on all levels like body mind even freedom well freedom was one of the first things what you generally have when you start a new business is that people ask you like who's your customer typically investors shareholders will ask like who's your customer and what are you gonna mark it against I've learned that our customers are not a segment an existing segment in society because they're people that identify to be active people and are looking for for ways to stay active regardless of mobility challenges so I'm an active person I happen to get MS and then what do I do to continue to feel myself to be Who I am still I think again the the the fact that I walk warm he doesn't make me a different person I'm still the same person I just want to be out to you know be engaged with people that doesn't change so then I look for something that allows me to do that let's talk about the freedom of the a linker so for people that want to understand that it is it is a a you call it what a walking bike there's there's a few words I mean it's a new thing so you you always try to you know it's in a linker obviously it's a linker it links you back to life back to freedom back to agency is very important yeah worse that are used it's your assistive device it's your walking bike it's a a trike it's you know walking on wheels it is a over arching frame with two larger front wheels on the steering mechanism overarching to a rear smaller wheel with a seating assembly on top of it so you're at eye level as you stand but you're supported so your sit bones are on a seat so your core is stable and you walk now walking is crucially important some people said like why doesn't have pedals like well there's enough bikes out there but the motion of walking is crucially important so because you sit with your sit bones on the seat you tilt your pelvis back a little bit so your lower back is relaxed you open up your spine and you actually activate your brain as you walk while you're putting exerting pressure on your sit bones the whole medical system is sort of ignoring activation of brain pharmaceutical industry towards Parkinson's for example is focused on dopamine and dopamine receptors and completely ignores the circuitry of the brain now you activate the brain how much more is possible is the brain wants to work it just needs to be activated so if we sit down we demobilize the brain from the activities that I like that I can actually do so you said when we sit down we'd immobilize the brain so sitting is the new smoking you might have heard that sentence which is based on we do not activate a brain and it actually makes the brain frustrated because it wants to work and if it's not activated it can't work so our inhibitions are not activated and so do we get less inhibitions and become less social creatures because inhibitions is sounds like an inhibition like something that but actually inhibitions makes us more social because we filter better interesting so let's talk about some of the freedom in people being connected with the alinker and using it as a way to move around in the world and get their brain moving to the ways that the alinker has impacted the quality of lives of people or lives in general everyday surprises me it's like it's so simple why wasn't it there yet I can give you a few examples half the people that use wheelchairs can still use their legs there was actually nothing designed for them to be at eye level to use their legs to be active with their legs I mean it's not that people in wheelchairs cannot be active because they can and wheelchairs are awesome if you need them but if you're pointed into a wheelchair and here's your medication if you can still use your legs and you choose to have something else there wasn't anything else as an alternative so it was like between crutches or a cane and the wheelchair there's nothing and now there is and that just opens up a whole world for people so Joe has when he got me longer he had 20 years MS and he often goes to conferences now or later he's safe and stable he can hold a glass of wine he can grab a business card he can shake a hand with somebody and he's the one under cool bike as well when he's with crutches at that same conference it's like oh nice that you have a glass of wine I don't because I would fall over if I let go of my crutches etc etc and nobody would really talk to him because it's uncomfortable he looks uncomfortable as he's leaning of his weight on the crutches so his whole world had changed he literally said I've got my legs back I've got my world back now he was sitting at home frantically googling for something futuristic that might suit him is what he was looking for and now he's independently throwing a linker in the back of his car driving to Florida from New Jersey to visit family that's the difference well that is definitely freedom there is hundreds of those stories and the interesting thing is that people share this with us all the time I'm getting daily people like oh my god I got my alinker ID isn't it days and I haven't been up to the mailbox for four years people that have been at home for years that now go shopping again I mean grocery shopping how exciting yes it is if you have been locked up in a house for four years and you've been depending on people doing grocery shopping for you it's super exciting to be able to do that again it's moving people metaphorically and physically from homebound to possibilities they never imagined they would have again in their life which is phenomenal let's talk for a moment about because we cannot have an interview without talking about selma Blair hello oh my god silly yes so that's an interesting story and maybe you could share a little bit about it well um I got an email somewhere in January about have you seen this and it was a screenshot of a story that is 24 hours up on Instagram and then it disappears and the story was some a blur somebody took a picture of MA Blair no no linger in the I am SNP which is the International Center for MS in New York and she met Joe in the hallway there God on the alinker said like oh my god what is that and you know said I've got my lights Bank and then so somebody took a shot of her and she put that on her Instagram I was like yeah then I didn't see the picture because I didn't know who so my Blair was right yeah I don't have time for those stories and I mean I don't have times to time to watch movies or yeah so I had no idea who she was and I was like yeah nice great the next person who's discovered the alinker cool and then he wrote an email back and he was like do you want to check out who she is baby I was like that's just Google selma blair oh my god so I knew something was up with selma blair but at that time she just had seen it there so i did not have a way to contact her and don't chase celebrities because that's not who i am and i actually that whole thing about celebrities are going to have a celebrity and so on the notice at the end of February she was at a red carpet at the Oscars and with the king and sort of exposed to the world like this is what it looks like when you have progressive MS again I missed that because I don't watch the Oscars and I had no idea a week later in retrospect I know that was the Oscars and so a week later she posts herself on a linker that she then got from jamie-lynn Sigler who had an ax later before another actress from Hollywood who has MS and did you know that Jamie had a linker yes I dream in contact with Jamie that was also through the MS Center in New York because doctor sadiq is one of the stem cell researchers very highly advanced on stem cell therapies and so celebrities tend to go to him so that's why when they got the alinker and Joe is a it's a client there's then the post of someone appears on Instagram and my ding-ding-ding-ding-ding my Instagram just exploded I was like what is going on here and then it went from there and then in July I got a call from Troy the manager of Selma and he said summer is in Chicago and thought she could do without the alinker she's there for a treat but she was there of her treatment yeah and he said she thought she could do it without the alinker because she'd be in hospital but apparently the hospital is huge and you have to talk to walk and she's exhausted after a few days can you should be another liquor and I was like well actually I count because I were on backorder and I said but what I can do is just come over and deliver my link or that I have at home for so much he used and he was like oh no you shouldn't I was like of course I should and I felt with the post that summer was posting I got to know her a little bit and that she's a real person and not just a celebrity do to do to do and I got a feeling that summer was actually real and what she was doing exposing herself to the worlds like yes it's uncomfortable guess what I'm living with that 24/7 it's okay if you're a little bit uncomfortable because that's just what it is I haven't changed I'm still still a blur I was still a person who is dying and loving you know I thought that is a person that I'd like to be associated with because of who she was so then I actually drove and there's a video of that meeting with yes I saw it let's post that I'll post that for sure because that's such a great video and I've shared it before in and let's do that because that is such a joyous interaction and what a gift to be willing to do that it probably wouldn't have mattered who it was if you had known the person I know what a kind-hearted person you are if someone has been in that same position I know bu would have done the same thing because that means we do you are a lot of people I mean not 1500 kilometers you know I had to be in Detroit anyway for an interview so Detroit Chicago wasn't that far off be one of the things I want to share with people as we're here on the a link or home page is how to find out about how to crowdfund for yourself so there's lots of people living with MS or other health challenges that don't have the money to buy in a linker but you have an option for them to be part of a community in which they can actually raise money I'll give you a little bit background on that before we navigate the website the idea is that people have been driven into poverty by our health care systems that I always refer to as a sick care system and so when you're in the state of not having any resources left for your own health then how do you buy in a linker there are $2,000 cos that's part now the background in that is if we were to sell the alinker through the medical channels and so you could get it back from insurance it will retail at least for four and a half five thousand dollars because that is how that industry works so basically doubles or triples the cost of something in order to kind of recoup or at least make money back it's all about making money right the whole system is set up but it first of all takes away your agency so they do an assessment on you and they then determine which is the best device for you to use so it takes for your agency and then the devices that you get are way more expensive then we can sell them for so we sell them for two thousand they would retail for for an hour five thousand d llars because that's the margin of that industry so we do not want to participate in that so a little bit background than that so well I invented a way to do this differently and I thought what happened like many people do not know what happens to you once you get a diagnosis of MS or once you get a stroke and what happens to you in our current sick care system so what a way to share your story and then invite people to show up with generosity to help you finance the alinker so it's not just asking for money it is a platform where people share so you know so you can learn about what happens to you what you could be prepared for if something were to happen to you well what's interesting about that too is I I love the fact than this from my perspective that it gives people a voice right when you said tell your story I mean people get tired you know some people do not want to hear people's stories so this gives an avenue in which people can share and build a community and get support around moving towards getting their own a linker and there is something like oh my god they're experienced exactly the same as I do and so the people that connect with each other because the campaigners do connect with each other and we actually hire a linker users that have done a campaign successfully so far actually they've all been successful um that's how incredible this community is that we've been able to build and that shows up for each other yeah people feel seen heard understood and then they can share and then they can invite people and to you know show up with generosity right at work it works like anything like there's hundred nine campaigns completed that's amazing 109 people have received in a linker as a result of telling their story and can and having a campaign post it within your community and and finding and having people that don't even know them give them money towards having be a linker for themselves yes fantastic so here so here we are on the website so if I wanted to find that where would i look for it so click on the crowd fund to go if you're interested in the crowdfunding okay and then what you can see when you scroll down mm-hmm is a collective campaign don't we just completed that's a whole different thing I'll explain that later but scroll down further okay active campaign keep going yeah so there's the active campaigns okay and then me to folks who successfully completed you campaign a little link underneath there okay and when you and before you click on that learn more about crowdfunding so that gives you some background on what we're doing and underneath there you can see start your own campaign okay yeah and so me two folks who successfully completed the campaign's that's the people that still have active complaints open and the people that have completed our campaigns somewhere after the first 79 completed campaigns we switched to platform from Canadian dollars to aus door based platform okay just because the people from the US are ten times more generally than people from Canada it's just a demographic number so meet the folks who successfully completed I'm just gonna go here for one sec so these are the past campaigns so people can look and see what are the stories and they can also see these these campaigns are still running correct yep so the two point two dollars two point two thousand dollars these are campaigns that are completed they're still up we haven't closed them yet close them okay so anybody who's got two point two thousand means that they've completed so that person has already completed exactly okay and then the other ones are ones that are still in process and it's amazing within 20 so it says 20 days left so how did they determine how many days that there's going to be how does that work the campaign that's that's all set in at plans we set back we set it at 45 days and you raise two thousand two hundred dollars which includes the alinker shipping to your home and the full support and we hire alinker users to help build the campaigns and to do the whole community building so people that do the campaigns here do not handle money because if you're on disability you're not supposed to handle money or to raise money that is it will be deducted so yes the whole platform is integrated in our website and set up to to complete and we then ship the alinker so you never handle money that's a fantastic system so they can start a campaign now how many campaigns does the a linker run at any one time or Mitchell we actually toned it down to eight ten campaigns so that's the sweet spot is eight to ten campaigns at a time so do people end up in a queue yeah so we've got four Allegro users that are employed with us now and hopefully we will have more people employed with us in the future so once you put your campaign up and you submitted it at the end after you build your campaign make sure you have a video or a photograph story a tagline and your social media you have to be able to link your social media with the campaign so once you've submitted it then you will be contacted by one of the three people that helps you do the campaign's they go over it to make sure that that it's a strong story that you like that people understand that it's not sort of like oh this is such a life but it's like this has happened to me this is what happens to you what can happen to you when you know we have a day when you receive a diagnosis and this is what I envision that happens to me with the alinker based on how we engaged so once that's done your campaign is being set in on a waiting list there's about 700 and growing people on the waiting list so people have to be patient also they can they can look at other people's stories and read them and see what is a compelling story that has made it to the website and that will help guide them on creating their own story so it's not like they have to figure this out for themselves they have examples from the community on how to do that so I feel so much happiness and joy to know that people have this opportunity and that really comes back to those values and beliefs of yourself and a linker around inclusion thank you so much for really showing up in a way that illustrates what your values are and what your company represents and how you're very much involving community that this is a commune movement not just a social change it's it's so much more than that on that note I'd like at the last thing Jennifer is how we met each other is through CEO women funding women and that's actually how we met that's another very generous network of people that just show up for each other and that's I'm one of the ventures that supported by CEO and you're one of the activators and that's how we met and I think it's beautiful that that is the connection for a conversation like we just had absolutely yeah thanks remember to subscribe below so that you know when the next leading change interview is going to be available like share and write your comments below and we will see you soon