What Disability Pride Teaches All of Us with Tiffany Yu
— EPISODE 58 —
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This episode was produced by Crys & Tiana.
What can disability pride teach us about self-worth?
In this episode, I welcome Tiffany Yu, a disability pride advocate, content creator, Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, and the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise that elevates disability pride.
Tune in as Tiffany shines light on the powerful (and relatable) self-worth insights we can gleam from disability pride. Even for those of us who aren’t disabled, there are powerful lessons we can take away from conversations like this. From the importance of community to the life-changing benefits of loving yourself… There are countless ways we can learn to accept and affirm our full selves as worthy, even when we’re not meeting the standards or expectations that society puts on us.
At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father. Now, she’s a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and has cultivated a wealth of wisdom on self-worth and empowerment. But it hasn’t always been that way… “In terms of self-worth, I would say I internalized a lot of messages growing up that something was wrong with me, that my body was broken, and that it needed to be fixed,” Tiffany says, “So, very low self-worth, very low self-confidence, very low self-esteem. But I didn’t really have consciousness about it until, honestly, probably 2018.”
After a major break-up that year, Tiffany noticed that she didn’t feel worthy on her own. Thus, she began spending time investing in her confidence and falling in love with herself. “It’s when I realized that I had attributed so much of how I felt about myself based on other people’s opinions of me,” she says, “And it was that conscious decision to want to spend intentional time investing in reminding myself that I like myself.”
Disability pride is about people asserting their worth and their worthiness despite all the harmful messages and stigmas against disability that are present in our ableist society.
Tiffany wasn’t always loud and proud about her disability, but she is now and she’s empowering others to be on that same growth journey. So, are you ready to come along for the journey, too?
What Disability Pride Teaches Us About Self-Worth:
You do not need to look, communicate, or move in a certain way to be worthy of love, respect, success, freedom, and happiness. You are who you are… and you are worthy.
Your body is not an apology. You do not need to apologize, forgo boundaries, or silence and hide yourself in order to be respected, cared for, and protected.
Don’t depend on others to define your self-worth. You can do it yourself (so much better)! Using fun and light affirmations will remind yourself of what you like about yourself.
Pride is a source of power. What’s one thing you can be proud of and empowered by today?
Advocacy is contagious! When other people see us being unapologetically ourselves, they become inspired to be unapologetically themselves. Then, the ripple effect continues!
If you have a disability, you are worthy. If you don’t have a disability, you are worthy. If you’re facing difficult challenges and issues in life (spoiler: that’s ALL of us!), you are worthy.
About Tiffany Yu:
Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise to elevate disability pride; the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, a monthly micro-grant that has awarded $59.5k to 60 disability projects in 10 countries; and a content creator with 160k+ followers across platforms. She served on the San Francisco Mayor’s Disability Council from 2019-2022 and was a 2020 Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father.
She started her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and has also worked at Bloomberg and Sean Diddy Combs' REVOLT Media & TV. She is a 3x TEDx speaker and spoke on 5 sessions at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. She has been featured in Marie Claire, the Guardian, and Forbes.
To connect further with Tiffany
Visit her website: https://www.tiffanyyu.com
Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imtiffanyyu
Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/imtiffanyyu
Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanyayu
Watch the full video episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5NDurgIRi_k
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