The What's Your Excuse? Show The Blind Blogger Maxwell Ivey

Hello again, I hope you and your family are all doing well.



Personally, I have been struggling with some chronic pain in my right knee. Things are improving thanks to some physical therapy, but I'm still a work in progress.



Today, I'm bringing you another great interview on What's Your Excuse.



This time a return visit with my friends Anthony Saldana and Jason Figueira. And they will be talking more about Jason's experience with obsessive compulsive disorder and their work to raise money for a film about the disease as seen through Jason's eyes and the eyes of his friends.



You will see a great trailer that they created for the film and for their Indie Logo campaign.



You Can find out more about them by visiting their Facebook Page.



Sadly, I let them down in their efforts to raise funds for their next film through crowd funding.



However, you can still help them make this socially important movie by mental illness by contributing funds, donating equipment, or offering your services.



Just Send Anthony an email.



Notes About The Show



First, I don't edit my podcast. I prefer to share a real unscripted unedited conversation.



Just think of the recorded live television of the 50s and 60s.



Two, I sing on the intro to my podcast.



I did it in the beginning because I didn't have a way to create an intro. People liked it, so I continue to sing.









I will complete the post about this episode shortly, but I wanted to get it out there where y'all could hear it and be inspired by my friends Anthony and Jason.



Thanks for listening. If you received value from our conversation, then please share this with your friends, family, and social media communities.



Thanks and take care out there, Max

Hello again, I hope you and your family enjoyed the weekend together.



And I hope that my latest What’s Your Excuse? with my new friend Donna Jodhan will educate, entertain, and motivate you to overcome your own excuses.



Donna is an award-winning vision loss coach, crime fiction author, disability advocate, and host of two podcasts.



In Ask Donna she uses her lived experience to answer people’s questions about life in general and about living with vision loss in particular.



You can even send her your questions for future episodes.



She also hosts dining With Donna a cooking show. She started cooking during the pandemic with virtual help from her mother, and loved it so much that she just had to share what she has learned with the world.



Be sure to listen all the way to the end of her podcasts for the mental stretch during Ask Donna or the cooking problem solving hacks at on Dining with Donna.



She is the only person I have ever talked with who has experienced living as a blind person, then living with sight, only to return back to life without sight.



I am also fascinated by anyone who writes fiction, and I am especially amazed by those who can create whole worlds full of brand new people without the aid of vision.



I love the part about how she can do things like write fiction because she focuses on the joy rather than on any potential financial success.



Finally, a couple of subjects that came up often are learning to accept things as they are, stretching all five senses, and finding work arounds to deal with the world.



I just know you are going to find something to love in our conversation.



Disclaimers



There are a couple things you need to know about the show.



One, I don’t edit the recording unless a technical issue results in dead air.



I think of my show as recorded live in the same style used by television in the early days.



Two, I sing on the intro. I started doing it out of necessity many years ago, and people loved it. So, I keep doing it.



The music I’m singing is my own original song titled what else What’s Your Excuse?



Now On To The Show











Support Our Sponsors



Blubrry has been providing both financial and technical support for my show, for Shredding For Gold, and for the WYE Podcast Network.



I couldn’t keep doing what I’m doing without them. And it would be impossible to help other disable people with their podcast without their support.



Show Notes



A few friends have told me that it might be helpful to you to share a run down of the topics covered and their approximate time on the recording.



This is the first time I have ever done this, and I could really appreciate your feedback.



She explained about having seen vision loss from both sides having lived with no vision, then having her sight restored, and finally losing her vision again. 04:40



She talks about the emotional readjustment to losing that regained sight as an adult 08:13



She shares about how her family reacted to her changing vision. Including their patience when she wanted to see everyone and everything. 09:49



We discuss whether or not Canadian parents of visually impaired or of disabled children are more accepting and trusting than those from other countries. 11:41



I asked her about her about the various states of her vision effected her education. 13:18



She talked about pursuing her degree in Law and how the lack of accessibility in online learning was a problem that continues to persist. 14:20



We discussed how the features in overly robust software appl...

Hello again, I hope you and your family are doing as well as possible given all the challenges in the world these days.



In this latest episode of What's Your Excuse?



I sat down with Tyler Watson Vice President of Sales for Dan-O's Seasonings.



I met Tyler as part of being an affiliate and advocate for Dan-O's. Mainly because their seasonings are no-salt, low sodium, and packed with flavor.



Discovering their products allowed me to give my younger brother Patrick, an arrhythmia surviver, the gift of good tasting food.



We became friends after he wrote an amazingly honest post about the struggles he has gone through in his life before getting to where he is now in both is professional career and personal life.



You know I love story tellers and great stories, and Tyler provided both.



Plus he is one of those rare people in business who doesn't believe he has to hide who he really is or where he came from in order to be successful.



As you know this is something I believe in completely. Telling my story authentically is how I built my brands. And I tell others constantly that sharing your real self is great for business.



So, we bonded over authentic personal story telling, and I just had to have him on my podcast.



Well, I don't want to give it all away.



Disclaimers



First, I do not edit my podcast. This is partly because I am horrible at it, but mostly because I love the feel of sharing a recorded live interview.



Second, I sing on the intro of my podcast. It started out of necessity, but people like it and miss it when I don't sing.



So, you will be treated to me singing part of What's Your Excuse on the intro.



On With The Show











Support My Sponsors



blubrry.com provides both financial and technical support to my show, to Shredding For Gold, and for the wyexcuse Podcast Network. I couldn't do it without them.



I also want to thank Chip and Pam Edwards at Create My Voice for keeping my show on Alexa, Google, and Seri so you can listen by simply saying play What's Your Excuse. Reach out for help with your audio branding strategy.



And to the folks at Crystal Creek Organics for keeping me supplied with CBD oil while I have been struggling with knee pain. Some days have still been too difficult, but thanks to them there were more good hours or days than bad ones.



Key Points



He shared about being a young person with a baby and no real job. We spoke about his being a dish washer, failing at sandwich making, and going into selling shoes on the advice of his wife.



We talked about how understanding the needs of the customers who came into the store lead to him being a rockstar salesman that lead to his becoming the manager for stores in three states.



We followed his path to Dan'O's both earlier in his career and since he returned to the company to be part of their continued growth.



We talked about his battles to gain custody of his young child and how that lead him to take jobs in different parts of the country just to be close to his child while working his way through the courts.



I shared with him my equally nervous state concerning how until my nephew was of age we constantly worried that some day there would be knock at the door and we would lose him.



You can hear the joy in his voice concerning his family now including repaying his wife for supporting him and being able to spend more time with their latest child.



We talked about clothing. Him accepting that he could be successful without hiding tattoos or putting on a suit. Me talking about how wearing a suit has become part of me thanks to hel...

Hello again, I hope you and your family are doing as well as you possibly can.



And I hope this post and the accompanying video will encourage you.



I have written a second song called What's Your Excuse?



I share some of my life's accomplishments in a way that I hope will challenge people to overcome the excuses that are holding them back.



When you listen, please remember that I am not a professional singer, song writer, arranger, editor, or performer.



I'm a guy who does the best he can at the moment given the circumstances at that time.



This song has scared me more than most things I have done.



Read below if you want to learn more about the process and how I finally overcame my fear to share this with the world.













It started in February of 2021. I fell in love with Better Together by Luke Combes. But I wasn't crazy about some of the lyrics in his chorus. So I re-wrote them and recorded it.







After hearing that, a friend from church challenged me to write a song of my own.



That lead to my writing and recording If You Don't Ask a song about asking for help based on an expression my dad used to use all the time.







That one came out in March of last year. At the time there were a few friends who encouraged me to write more music. And maybe record an album. lol



Then I got busy with the Holman Prize and the beginning of the WYE, What's Your Excuse, podcast network.



I helped my friend Emily Trepanier launch her show Shredding For Gold.



Finally, my good friend Lorraine Reguly reminded me about my song writing during one of our fairly frequent calls.



She even got me started by suggesting that I do something around the What's Your Excuse? line.



So many people have said if Max can do it, then what's my excuse.



So, I took up the challenge and started the writing process.



The chorus was the easy part. The words and rhythm just came to me right away.



But that made coming up with the verses so much harder. Because in my mind that meant that the lines of words couldn't have more than about nine syllables in them.



I finally came up with a couple of verses. I recorded myself singing them and then shared them to social media.



Addressing Criticism



There was a lot more critical feedback this time than there was with my first song. It was positive, but it still put me back on my heals a bit.



I did my best to incorporate as much of it as possible.



I re-examined all the lyrics to find words that could be eliminated or replaced with ones that better fit the melody.



I practiced singing the song while tapping my fingers or slapping my pants leg.



I tried to learn a bit about editing my audios using audacity, but I'm afraid I didn't make such a great student. It might be easier for me to learn that software in person.



I listened to suggestions for more powerful lyrics. However, I chose to stick mostly with what I had as I had already started memorizing the original lines.



And I thought about ways to change up the tune so it isn't so repetitive. But I just couldn't figure that out.



Trust me, I know this song could be so much better in a technical or professional sense. And I'm open to working with someone to do just that. If and when I meet that person.



But I doubt it could be much better as an example of facing our fears, overcoming our excuses, and bravely putting ourselves and our work out there.



I finally had to remind myself what I have told aspiring podcasters in the past.

Hello again, I hope you are doing well.



I have to once again apologize for falling short on my podcast release schedule.



In this case this episode of What’s Your Excuse?



Was delayed by my trip to Washington DC to attend the national conference and Blind Leader Development Training Program of the American Foundation of the Blind.



Not having been anywhere in person since the beginning of Covid, it took me much longer to get prepared to leave.



Then the day before I ws scheduled to leave I fell in my yard and twisted my left knee.



And if that wasn’t enough I pulled a muscle in my back on the plane.



So, after five days in a hotel and day-long sessions, I got home really tired.



It took me so much longer to recover from this trip.



I think during covid I got old or soft or both. Haha



I know that y’all will understand. Including my guest this time Heather Hutchison



But I feel bad about disappointing you.



This is especially because my delay meant that this episode did not come out to coincide with the release of Heather’s latest Album If I could.



Which you can find at www.heatherhutchison.bandcamp.com



What We Talked About



This was an amazing conversation.



I do wish that I had the skills to edit it though.



This is because we spent the first half talking about writing, recording, and performing music both before and during Covid.



This was great stuff. I found out about how she deals with stage fright, and how she was discovered as an artist.



We talked about how music has always been there for her in good times and especially bad.



But we didn’t get to her struggles with depression and mental illness until the second half of the show.



If you go to the 29 minute mark, you can hear her sing If I could from her new album.



And our conversation about her emotionally struggles starts from there.



We talked about how before school she lived life in a bubble. And how attending school caused her to feel like she didn’t fit in because of her blindness.



She shared about how Covid brought on a major breakdown because she lost both the physical contact with her doctors and the tangible events to look forward to.



She shares about how being hospitalized was good for her in spite of some of the horror stories people have heard.



For her final thought she urged people to think of one small moment of joy in their lives. And then to think about what it would be like to have missed that because you are no longer here.



It was a difficult interview for me. Probably why I started with and spent so much time on her music.



And we both want you to think about asking for help if you are struggling with your mental health.



Two things You Should Know



One, I sing on the intro to my podcast. In this case I am singing the final verse of I song I wrote myself called If You Don’t Ask.



Two, I do not edit the recordings. The show is recorded live just like classic television or your local morning shows.



Now On To The Show











Support Our Sponsors



Thankful to Blubrry.com



For providing the podcast hosting for my show as well as The WYE Podcast Network.



We couldn’t do this without their continued financial and technical support. Reach out to them if you are wanting to start a new podcast.



I also appreciate Chip Edwards the owner of createmyvoice.com



He created the Alexa & google invocations for the podcast. And he makes sure people can find my show just by saying...

Hello again, I hope you have had a good week so far. And I hope you are looking forward to a fun, relaxing, and maybe even fruitful weekend.



This time on What’s Your Excuse? I’m lucky to be sharing an inspiring conversation I had with my wonderful friend and fellow author Amy Bovaird.



We originally met through our volunteer work for the Vision Aware Peers Group.



She is a very strong woman who has had to overcome so many setbacks in her life.



We talked about her education as a teacher specializing in foreign languages.



We discussed her vision loss and how it effected her to go through that while living in working as a single woman in the Middle East.



We talked a lot about how her faith, positive attitude, and sense of humor have allowed her to overcome all her traumatic experiences.



We talked about the process of writing, publishing, and promoting her work.



You are going to love her solution for funding the completion of her first book.



And while the loss of her father, her marriage, and her unborn twin daughters are there; they are more than balanced by a woman who is happy in her own skin.



I just know y’all are going to love Amy and her story.



Things To Know



First, I don’t edit this podcast.



It is recorded live just like 50s TV shows.



Second, I sing on the intro.



I stopped for a while because some were confused by it.



But I went back to it when regular listeners and past guests lamented the loss of my singing.



On To The Show











About Amy



Amy grew up in northwest Pennsylvania.



In 1982, she received her bachelor’s degree with a double major in English Literature and Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL) from Oklahoma Christian University.



In 1995, Amy earned her master’s degree in Bicultural Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas in San Antonio.



In 2004, she earned an additional certificate in Language Teaching with honors from Cambridge University in England.



Amy has worked at many unusual jobs over the course of her life, from selling hats at Cedar Point, an amusement park, to bagging glass bottles for the medical industry.



She has taught English to children and adults in seven countries around the globe and has visited thirty-three countries.



She taught English to all ranks of international military personnel, ranging from privates to generals. Her field was Specialized English, with such topics as the Abrams Tank, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Map Reading, Naval Operations. and Leadership at Lackland Air Force Base.



At age 28, she was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and declared legally blind. RP is a hereditary, degenerative eye disease that results in blindness. There is no cure to date.



Today Amy has no peripheral vision. She jokes that she is at the end of the “tunnel” vision in her eyesight. She suffers from a dual disability: progressive vision and hearing loss. She is currently undergoing genetic testing to discover the cause of her hearing loss.



Amy’s memoirs include: Mobility Matters:  Stepping Out in Faith, Cane Confessions: The Lighter Side to Mobility and a memoir / devotional, Seeking Solace: Finding Joy After Loss.



In 2015, Amy joined a group of blind professionals who volunteer their time to help others cope with blindness at VisionAware.org, an outreach website now under the auspices of the American Printing House.



In 2016, Ohio Valley University, Amy’s undergraduate institution, awarded her the Distinguished Medal of Literature for Mobility Matters.