Neff Inspiration

505 Ken Kunken: 50 Years of Challenging How The US Sees & Treats Disabled People

In 1970, while a junior in Cornell University’s College of Engineering, Ken Kunken broke his neck making a tackle on a kick-off in a lightweight football game against Columbia University. Ken sustained a spinal cord injury at the C 4-5 level, rendering him a quadriplegic, almost totally paralyzed from the shoulders down. Ken spent more than 9 months in various hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. While still a patient, Ken testified before a United States Senate Sub-Committee on Health Care, chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy.
 In 1971, almost 20 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act, Ken returned to the Cornell campus, where he completed his undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering. Ken estimates that he had to be pulled up or bounced down close to 100 steps just to attend his first day of classes.
 Ken is the first quadriplegic to graduate from Cornell University.
 Upon graduation, Ken decided to change his career goal. He wanted to work with and help people, particularly those with disabilities. Ken went on to earn a Master of Arts degree at Cornell in education and a Master of Education degree at Columbia University in psychology. Ken is the first quadriplegic to earn a graduate degree from Cornell University.
 In 1977, Ken was hired by Abilities Inc. in Albertson, NY to be its College Work Orientation Program Coordinator. Ken coordinated a program which provided educationally related work experiences for severely disabled college students. He also maintained a vocational counseling caseload of more than 20 severely disabled individuals.
 While working at the Center, Ken became a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor and made numerous public presentations on non-discrimination, affirmative action and employment of the disabled. In 1977, Ken was named the Long Island Rehabilitation Associations “Rehabilitant of the Year” and in 1979 Ken was the subject of one of the Reverend Norman Vincent Peale’s nationally syndicated radio broadcasts “The American Character”.
 Wanting to accomplish still more, Ken enrolled in Hofstra University’s School of Law, where he earned a Juris Doctor degree in 1982. Ken then went to work as an assistant district attorney in Nassau County, Long Island.
 Ken was promoted a number of times during his more than 40 years with the District Attorney’s Office, eventually becoming one of the Deputy Bureau Chiefs of the County Court Trial Bureau, where he helped supervise more than 20 other assistant district attorneys. In addition, over his years working in the Office, Ken supervised more than 50 student interns.
 In 1996 Ken received the Honorable Thomas E. Ryan, Jr. Award presented by the Court Officers Benevolent Association of Nassau County for outstanding and dedicated service as an Assistant District Attorney. In 1999, Ken was awarded the George M. Estabrook Distinguished Service Award presented by the Hofstra Alumni Association, Inc.
 Beginning in 2005, for nine consecutive years, “The Ken Kunken Most Valuable Player Award” was presented annually by The Adirondack Trust Allegiance Bowl in Saratoga Springs, NY, in recognition of Ken’s personal accomplishments, contributions to society and extraordinary courage.
 In 2009, Ken became a member of the Board of Directors of Abilities Inc., and in 2017 he became a member of the Board of Directors for the parent company of Abilities Inc., the Viscardi Center.
 In 2020, Ken was inducted into “The Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame,” as a member of the class of 2019.
 In March 2024, Ken was named one of the Long Island Business News Influencers in Law.
 Ken retired from full-time employment in 2016, but continued to work with the District Attorney’s Office for the next eight years in a part time capacity, providing continuing legal education lectures and litigation guidance.
 For years, Ken has tried to inspire people to do more with their lives. In October 2023, Ken’s memoir “I Dream of Things That Never Were: The Ken Kunken Story” was published.
 In 2003 Ken married Anna and in 2005 they became the proud parents of triplet boys: Joey, Jimmy and Timmy. On June 23, 2023 the triplets graduated from Oceanside High School, fifty-five years after Ken had graduated from the same school.

3 Top Tips
1 . Try to improve your knowledge, your skills and your performance. Get the best education possible, and never stop learning. Don’t be satisfied with the status quo.
 2 . Strive to make the impossible, possible. Just because something has not been done before, does not mean that you cannot do it now.
 3 . Find time to help others. Years from now be able to say that you did everything you possibly could to make not only your life, but the lives of those around you better as well.

Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/ken.kunken
 https://www.instagram.com/ken.kunken/
 https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

504 Steve Ward: Everyone's Addicted to Something and That's an Opportunity to Live life Better

We all have issues, and everyone is addicted to something. One half of families have someone struggling with substance abuse or mental health issues, but only about 10% of those hurting people are getting any help. There are practical principles and steps that have been proven to work that integrate principles from recovery, wellness, psychology, neuroscience, and personal development that can not only help people live life better but to also prevent or lessen the impact of behavioral health issues. STEPS is a nonprofit organization that provides easy-to-use resources to help people understand and deal with issues including addiction, recovery, mental health, living effectively, and personal well-being. We also have a strong focus on helping families by reaching parents and other caregivers as well as each individual in the family
In Steve Ward’s words: I struggled with alcoholism and other members of my family dealt with substance abuse, mental health issues, and other problems as well. But I saw there are proven ways to not only prevent behavioral health issues but to live life better. Those dark times led me to leave the business world after 38 years and found a new nonprofit ministry to help people improve their lives and prevent compulsive issues from robbing them and their family of the peace and joy they deserve. I have spoken to, taught, coached, and shared content with many thousands of people to help them take steps toward a positive future. I'm the author of two books and the Next Right STEPS blog.

3 Top Tips 
Learn to become aware of "what you don't know" 
have the courage to reach out and look for help
then focus on taking the next right steps one at a time.

Social Media 
Website - LifeImprovementSteps.com
 Social media - @lifeimprovementsteps
Free access to useful online resources, prevention, steps, life improvement, addiction prevention, emotional well-being

503 Satya Sardonicus: help your body get over trauma so your mind can follow

While there are plenty of doctors who find incredible solutions for their patients without living through the experience themselves, there’s something special that happens when the solution was developed by someone who has experienced the same struggle too.
My guest today is Dr. Satya Sardonicus, a chiropractor and expert in the neurobiology of stress. She developed the NeuroFascial Flow Method as a way to save her own life after more than a decade of suffering from a crazy list of symptoms. Symptoms like chronic fatigue, anxiety and depression, POTS, fibromyalgia, drop attacks, sensory overload and more.
The root cause of her symptoms ended up being Cerebellar Tonsillar Ectopia (CTE) or chiari - a brain herniation that put her nervous system into a constant state of fight or flight and drained her body’s resources.
So here’s the interesting part - today she lives 95% symptom free but her brain might actually still be herniated. So one of the things we’re going to discuss that will be interesting to everyone listening is “how important is it to find the root cause of your illness”?
Dr. Satya (as she’s known by her more than 50K TikTok followers) has been sharing tips for free on social media and joins us today to talk about how to help your brain become more receptive to change and healing.

3 Top Tips 
1 easy somatic practice to interrupt a stress loop in its tracks
The 5 steps to facilitate change that actually lasts (and doesn't boomerang your symptoms worse)
An alternative framework to understand anxiety + depression as your brain doing something ADAPTIVE and intelligent - not broken

Social Media
https://go.drsatyawellness.com/waitlist
 https://www.tiktok.com/@drsatyawellness
 https://www.instagram.com/drsatyawellness/
https://go.drsatyawellness.com/waitlist

NeuroFascial Flow Method, healing chronic illness, anxiety relief, trauma healing, chronic pain, self healing

502 Blair Dunkley: How to Go Beyond Mindset: Overcoming Life’s Toughest Challenges with Mind Models

Blair Dunkley, a Life Skills Coach and NLP practitioner, discovered the limits of mindset training during a personal tragedy when his father fell into a 14-year coma after surgery. Despite following all the recommended steps, including hiring a mindset coach, the advice to "believe more" failed him. Realizing the potential harm of such advice, Blair created Mind Models—a system designed to work consistently, even in the most challenging times, regardless of belief.

3 Top Tips 
Get to Now
Stop with Why
Identify, Repeat, and Duplicate What is Working

Social Media
Blairdunkley.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2089132807985614
https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairdunkley1/

501 Denise G Lee: From Survivor to Leader - Healing Trauma and Reclaiming Your Personal Power

Denise G Lee is a Healing and Leadership Coach, guiding entrepreneurs and business leaders through personal transformation. A recovering sexaholic and alcoholic, and an incest survivor, Denise draws from her own experiences to help others break free from trauma, limiting beliefs, and emotional blocks. With over a decade of experience, she uses a blend of empathy, real-life examples, and straightforward advice to empower her clients to lead their businesses and lives from a place of wholeness and resilience.
Her coaching philosophy is rooted in the belief that true leadership begins with healing the self, and she emphasizes emotional growth, self-awareness, and breaking unhealthy patterns. Through her podcast, blog, and coaching programs, Denise is passionate about helping others embrace their healing journey while leading with purpose and integrity. With the tagline "Heal, Grow, Lead," she focuses on guiding clients to transform their pain into power and their challenges into opportunities for growth.
Denise has appeared on various podcasts, sharing her insights on overcoming trauma, building resilience, and leading authentically. She is also a writer and speaker, bringing humor, empathy, and straightforward advice to her audience.
In her free time, she enjoys being a soccer mom, cheering on her son, who’s inspired by soccer legends like Messi and Ronaldo. Denise is committed to using her own life lessons to help others find strength, healing, and success, both personally and professionally. Her story proves that healing trauma and reclaiming your personal power is not just possible but likely, when you take the right steps.

3 Top Tips
1. Check People’s Veracity, Vision, and Values: Before forming close relationships or partnerships, ensure that the people you surround yourself with are aligned with your values. Evaluate their authenticity (veracity), what they aspire to (vision), and what truly matters to them (values).
 2. Reject False Formulas: Society often pushes us to believe that our performance, status, and appearance determine our worth. But true significance, security, and acceptance come from a higher source/power, not from external achievements or recognition.
 3. Miracles Often Come From Misfortunes: The challenges and hardships you face can be the very catalysts for the greatest miracles in your life. What seems like misfortune today may be the foundation for future growth, healing, and success.

Ready to Cultivate an Amazing Attitude?Transform your mindset in just 21 days with daily audio messages and powerful journaling prompts. Designed to help you elevate your personal and professional life. Enroll Now at a Special Rate for Listeners. Get it here: https://deniseglee.newzenler.com/courses/amazing-attitude

500 John David Graham: From Homeless To Business Owner To Author - A Second-Chance Journey

I have always been a curious person. Try taking a new road, a different direction, another adventure—or maybe failure. As a result, I have gone from homelessness to a business owner to a published author. Along the way I was a door-to-door salesman, children’s home counselor, substitute school teacher, truck driver, fireman, building contractor, minister and journalist.
Eventually I hit my stride at 53 when I started GOOD SAMARITAN HOME, a non-profit agency helping people restart their lives after prison.
 But there was a lot of resistance to our program, requiring years of legal conflict, community networking, and just plain hard work. Initially our budget was $5,000 with just one program house. Now we have 19 houses, a staff of 10 people, and a $2 million budget by constantly asking the question: “What is the need in the community, and how can we help meet that need?”
Then at 61, I finished my doctorate to better help me live our motto in the street where it was needed most.
 At 75, I published my debut novel called RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN, a fictionalized story of one man’s journey to overcome an abusive background to find forgiveness and love. But even publishing was no easy journey. My novel was rejected nearly 200 times. But now it has garnered 23 awards, including the prestigious 2024 StoryTrade Book Award for debut novel of the year.
Finally, at 76, on a lark, I saw an advertisement for extras in the television series “1923” being filmed nearby, and submitted my name and was hired. Now I can add “actor” to my resume—although I don’t plan on moving to Hollywood anytime soon!
So I am very familiar with second, third and fourth chances that many of us need to reach our goals. It is in developing what I call "calloused hands and a tender heart" along the journey.

3 Top Tips:
If I were to offer advice to someone just starting his/her journey, I would say to remember that success NEVER comes overnight. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Above all, keep your eyes on your goal, AND ALWAYS PICTURE YOURSELF GETTING THERE.
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Always keep running.
 Life is written in pencil. We get lots of second chances.
 It is our failures that develop the calloused hands and tender heart needed for success.

Social Media
https://johndavidgraham.com
 https://www.amazon.com/Running-As-Fast-Can-ebook/dp/B0CKK418FB/
 www.goodsamaritanhome.org
 https://johndavidgraham.substack.com/
 https://www.facebook.com/JGrahamAuthor
 https://www.instagram.com/JGrahamAuthor
 https://www.tiktok.com/@jgrahamauthor
If a reader is the leader of a book club, I would be willing to offer a free copy of my novel RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN to him / her to encourage discussion of the "second chance journey" that is the focus of the book and my life. And based on the reader reactions thus far, it is the focus of the lives of many people as well.
Life is written in pencil. We get lots of second, third and fourth chances.

499 Bev Mitelman: Your Attachment Style Predicts The Quality Of Your Relationships

As a child, Bev lived in a very unpredictable and chaotic environment where she never knew if she could rely on her parents to meet her emotional needs. This led her to absorb unhealthy relationship ideas based on what she was witnessing: she believed relationships were supposed to be unbalanced, uncertain, and overall chaotic. If you have an insecure attachment style, you probably relate to her experience, and navigating relationships can be particularly difficult for you.
Prior to becoming a Certified Attachment Practitioner and founding Securely Loved, Bev was an Executive Leader, University Lecturer and published author, having obtained her Masters' Degree in 2006. She has dedicated her entire career (25+ years) working with adults in the realm of personal growth and professional development.

3 Top Tips 
why attachment styles matter
how attachment styles show up in relationships
moving towards secure attachment

Social Media
www.securelyloved.com
IG: @securely_loved
TikTok: @securely_loved
YouTube: @SecurelyLoved

Take the free online attachment style quiz at www.securelyloved.com, or book a free 20 minute intro consultation at www.securelyloved.com/bookings

498 Jason Stanley: Heal your compulsive emotional eating Food Monster

Jason Stanley is a social research scientist focusing on field research and clinical trials on obesity. His focus is to teach the obese to understand and heal that unrelenting urge to eat when not hungry and continue eating far past full. We call that urge the Food Monster. His job is bringing Freedom from your personal Food Monster.

3 Top Tips 
1. The weight loss industry focuses on the fixing the symptom of weight without dealing with the cause of obesity.
 2. The root cause of Obesity is compulsive eating triggered by a patterning in the brain.
 3. With the proper therapy, the root cause can be healed. However, without addressing the root cause through Havening or EMDR style therapy, the root cause will remain and obesity will return.

Social Media
www.nevergaintheweightback.com

497 Ria Flanagan: The " Happiness Is An Inside Job Playbook"

Ria Flanagan (she/her/hers) is the Clinical Supervisor at Rise Up Recover, LLC. She also provides Workshops and counseling services to individuals struggling with the effects of addiction, trauma, and mental health issues. Her experience includes working with people struggling with addiction, trauma, and co-occurring issues: PTSD, depression, anxiety, sex addiction, Love addiction/Love avoidance, pain management, combat trauma, betrayal trauma, codependency, intimacy issues, couple's coaching, grief counseling, and process addictions. Her perspective is to view the person from all angles and address family of origin issues, spirituality, and mental and physical health. Ria is an eclectic practitioner using diverse modalities including Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Somatic Experiencing (SE), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), Post Induction Therapy (PIT), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and uses a person-centered approach, meeting the client where they are and providing a safe space to move forward into recovery. Her new "Happiness is an inside job playbook" helps everyone to gain deeper insights into ways of becoming a better human. 
Before opening Rise Up Recover, Ria worked as a Clinical Director for PHP, Residential treatment, IOP, and a Detox Center and has experience providing therapy to first responders, nurses, doctors, CEOs, artists, ex-gang members, and military. Ria is comfortable working with many individuals to provide support and tools to thrive. Ria is an AZ Board Certified Clinical Supervisor, Rainbow educator, and advocate, providing services to the LGBTQ+ community. Ria collaborates with other organizations as a consultant and educator. Her recent collaboration was with Ethical Narrative, uniting documentary film and experiential process to deepen the viewer's experience. She is publishing her first book, Happiness is an Inside_Playbook, through Balboa Press.
Learn about Betrayal Trauma
 Learn about Love Addiction and Love Avoidance
 Learn about recovery from Childhood Trauma
https://www.youtube.com/@happiness_playbook
 https://www.instagram.com/happinessplaybookseries/

496 Austin Davis: How Does The Current State of America Influence Teenage Drug Addiction?

My name is Austin Davis. I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor in the State of Texas. As such, I’ve worked in the mental health field for over a decade, and have helped rehabilitate over 5,000 teenagers since I founded Texas’ largest teen-oriented treatment center in 2017, Clearfork Academy.
I’m currently the CEO for said facility, and author of the book “My Kid, My Crisis”, which explores a variety of experiences of families that have faced challenges related to substance abuse and mental health issues with their teens. This interview dives deep into how the current state of the United States influences teenage drug addiction. 

3 Top Tips
1. How does isolation contribute to teenage substance abuse
 2. What caregivers, health professionals, and educators do to support troubled teens
 3. What to look for in a good treatment plan for your child

Social Media
"Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clearforkacademy/
 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW9obDBg7ElpdXichEyOS9Q
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearforkacademy/?hl=en
 X (Twitter): https://x.com/Clearfork616
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clearforkacademy "