179: Finding Strength To Keep Going Despite Challenges w/ Candis Welch

Are you making excuses or are you making it happen? Are you willing to break so that you can rebuild yourself to be even stronger? At 18 months, Candis Welch was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Despite the early predictions on her life, Candis is now a 32 year-old college graduate that holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration, has been Issa Rae's assistant for 5 years, and works for the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority - all from her wheelchair.  Although Candis experiences everyday adversities dealing with her disability, she lives a FULL LIFE! Candis chooses to persevere and prove people's stereotypes wrong, wishing to set an example and provide hope for others in her situation. On her blog, 'Can Can on Wheelz', she chronicles daily life from her perspective. Candis opens up about some of the challenges she's faced along her #dreamdriving journey and why she is so committed to improving herself, remaining strong, changing the perception of those that are disabled and/or using mobility devices and being an advocate for others living with disabilities that deserve to live life just as anyone else would. Some of the things we discuss on this episode:- What inspired Candis as a child - Living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy - Having agency in your life - The power of Faith + Why Candis stopped questioning God - Being strong to handle tough situations - Erasing the "finding an employer that cares" narrative - Stereotypes within the disabled community - Her love for her mother - Candis' experience working for Issa Rae - 3 lessons Candis learned from working with Issa Rae  - Launching her CanCanOnWheelz blog - The importance of character building... and more SHOW NOTES: http://www.dreamsindrive.com/candis-welch SHOP DREAMS IN DRIVE MERCHANDISE: http://www.dreamsindrive.com/shop SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER - THE KEYS: http://www.dreamsindrive.com/join  JOIN THE #DREAMSINDRIVE FACEBOOK GROUP: http://www.dreamsindrive.com/facebook FIND CANDIS WELCH ONLINE:Instagram: http://instagram.com/cancanonwheelz Twitter:http://twitter.com/cancanonwheelz Web: http://www.cancanonwheelz.com FIND RANA ON SOCIAL: Instagram: http://instagram.com/rainshineluv Twitter: http://twitter.com/rainshineluv FIND DREAMS IN DRIVE ON:Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dreamsindrive Twitter: http://twitter.com/dreamsindrive Web: http://www.dreamsindrive.com