Larger than Life: The Story of Bunny Young and Her Service Dog Guinness

So in during the filming, you know, she's very good at what she does and the stunts, and she's executing fire burns and high falls and all of these kinds of things and fighting and car chases.

And then they say cut and she just kind of falls to pieces and is tripping over herself.

And so it was a very fun show to do.

And the irony of it was that I spent the first year of marriage being paid to set my husband on fire, push him off a building, fight him, blow up his helicopter, and kiss another man.

SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm Kevin Lowe, the host of The Lowdown with Kevin Lowe.

Here on the podcast, my aim is to show you the world through blind eyes.

And my hope is that you leave feeling inspired, motivated, and excited to take on the day.

Hey, welcome back to the podcast.

I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and you are back again for another inspiring story of another ordinary person living out in anything but ordinary life.

This is episode number 43, and we are joined by Bunny Young, and well, I would be remiss to not mention the other person in the studio, and that is Guinness Young.

When I sit down to do one of these podcast interviews, I don't really know a whole lot about the people I'm about to talk to.

I mean, I do my fair share of research to be sure that they are somebody who I feel has a story that, you know, is in line with what I want to share here on the podcast, but I specifically try to not do too much research because I really want this to be my opportunity to be like the first time I meet them.

And so, because of that, sometimes what I think the conversation with the guests is going to be turns out to be something totally different.

And that's what I love about this.

And today's episode with the bunny, it's exactly that.

Because here is where the problem comes into play.

I thought I was guiding this conversation.

But in fact, it wasn't me.

It was the other guy in the studio, Guinness.

Guinness would end up basically being the star of today's show.

And, well, you're about to find out why.

That's because Guinness is Buddy Young's service animal.

And I don't know.

I think he's pretty amazing, he's pretty good looking, he's tall, handsome, and uh, he just has four legs.

And and as Buddy says, they're a pair, so they basically have six legs and they're walking and living life together.

Now, I want to go ahead and get started because today's guest, she's just kind of larger than life.

You know, there's some people you talk to who you immediately get this connection with, and that's exactly how I felt with Bunny.

So, without further ado, let's go ahead and get this party started as I introduce you to both Bunny Young and Guinness Young.

SPEAKER_02: So I have a service dog named Guinness, and we say we have six legs because obviously being my service animal, so much of my success and my ability to, my quality of life really depends on him being there.

And so when we do these interviews and they say, you know, Bunny Young, you know, I feel like it's almost like brought to you by Guinness Young.

So I wouldn't be here without him.

So if you hear a caller in the background, he's a great Dane.

And sometimes he comes up and will literally put his nose on the microphone because he just wants to make sure that you all know he is here and he loves you all.

SPEAKER_00: Oh, that is so sweet.

Well, I can't wait.

We're gonna definitely get to talk about him later on in the episode.

But now that we we just didn't want to be rude, made sure that he didn't feel left out.

So we we want to acknowledge his presence.

So thank you.

Yes.

So I have to say, there's a lot of people who who I look at, you know, for for having on my podcast, and they have these awesome stories and stuff.

And and some people though, you know, my my first sign of a person is is what I read about them.

And the thing that caught my attention was the first headline of the uh the bio that I read about you.

It said, stunt woman turned businesswoman.

And if that didn't catch my attention enough, it was the fact that you then acknowledge the fact that what better line to start a bio?

And I'm like, oh my goodness, Bunny is so my kind of person.

So tell me, what in the world is that about?

You were a stunt woman?

SPEAKER_02: Yes, yeah.

So my now husband, uh, basically he's a stunt professional and he's in the military now.

And when we were dating, he came to me and said, I have an opportunity to go to China to do a stunt show, a live action stunt show.

And they said, You can come with me if we get married.

So to this day, Kevin, I'm not sure if that was the truth or if it was just his way of getting me to marry him.

Nevertheless, we went over to China and I am a third generation entrepreneur, and so I'm like, what am I gonna do in China?

I took my school remote, I was getting my bachelor's degree at the time and and master's degree.

Actually, I was I started my master's degree too when I was in China.

And so I just said, give me a job, and they did.

I was a model for several years prior to that.

So I wasn't foreign to being in front of crowds and striking a pose, but stunt work was so much different.

And it helped me a lot in business because it taught me about risk aversion, right?

And being able to have safety plans and contingency plans, how important it is to have a really good communication system and a good relationship with your team.

So there are people on our stunt team that I don't necessarily want to go grab drinks with, but the importance of being able to effectively communicate with them and trust them and work through our personality differences in order to get the job done.

And honestly, in order to make my life safer and their life safer.

And so there was a ton of business lessons unanticipated in that career, as well as living in China and, you know, picking up and moving across the Pacific Ocean and being away from my family and away from everything that I knew, and being six foot three and blonde in this country that I mean, I to say I stuck out like a sore thumb would be an understatement.

And also the culture is so much different from diet to boundaries to, you know, how individuals are treated.

And so it gave me a ton.

I mean, I could we could spend this entire episode just speaking about the perspective on that, but it it definitely 100% made me a better businesswoman.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Well, that's that's really incredible and so interesting.

Now, so what kind of stuff though, as as a stunt woman, what what did you do?

SPEAKER_02: So my favorite stunt that I did on a daily basis was a 40-foot face first rappel.

It's called an Aussie rappel or an Australian rappel.

And so I did it in a flowy red dress and heels because my character was a Marilyn Monroe character.

It was the the stunt show was that we were filming this movie about Bonnie and Clyde, but then they would say cut and it would turn to just the actors and actresses.

And my actress character was very Marilyn Monroe.

So, in during the filming, you know, she's very good at what she does and the stunts, and she's executing fire burns and high falls and all of these kinds of things, and fighting and car chases.

And then they say cut, and she just kind of falls to pieces and is tripping over herself.

And so it was a very fun show to do.

And the irony of it was that I spent the first year of marriage being paid to set my husband on fire, push him off a building, fight him, blow up his helicopter, and kiss another man.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

That sometimes helped like every Element movie's dream scenario.

SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was definitely at one point, because I'm a retired therapist, at one point my husband said, we should open like a couples ranch where people can come for couples therapy and do this kind of stuff to work through their issues.

And I laughed, but it really was a very interesting way to spend the first year of marriage.

It was very non-traditional, but it also set up a lot of the foundations of what is a good relationship in trust communication.

And I truly believe if you're working out together and not necessarily just working together, but working out together, it's a whole different dynamic.

SPEAKER_00: That's so awesome.

That's just so amazing.

It's a great so no, how old were you guys when when you moved to China and were doing that?

SPEAKER_02: I think I was 21.

SPEAKER_00: Okay.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I was younger.

Let's just leave it at that.

Um, but my husband is a couple years older than me.

But this was this was our early 20s that we went and did that.

And then my husband obviously kept going.

And I had a baby and decided that when we he got the opportunity to go to Germany for a year and do another stunt show.

I already had my business growing and decided that I was going to stay stateside with our baby, which well prepared me for when he joined the military for deployments and things like that.

But my husband is a very talented stunt professional, and I'm a moderately talented stunt professional and a very talented businesswoman.

SPEAKER_00: We all have our strengths.

So that's what so tell me now.

So at what point then did we transition over and I guess kind of taking in the the footsteps of the generations before to start into business?

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: I'm laughing because the only thing I told my parents and anybody who had listened that I would never be is an entrepreneur.

And I think that's just because growing up and seeing, you know, how I don't want to glorify the hustle of having your own company and how hard it can be.

But witnessing it as a child, I often told people that, you know, I had another sibling and it was the name of my parents' company at the time.

And, you know, it my friends thought it was so cool because my mom had a cell phone before anybody else had a cell phone.

But the only time the cell phone rang was so that, you know, she could answer client calls for her and my dad's company.

But there's so much that I was learning as a kid that, you know, other children whose parents don't work in front of them don't necessarily get.

And so I was learning customer service.

And my mom had a cell phone so that she could take calls, so that she could be out of the office watching my practices or taking me on these trips for modeling.

And so she was really talking the talk as far as what a designing a business around your family meant and looked like.

And I cannot thank her enough for the lessons that she taught me when she didn't know that I was learning.

And despite what my mouth was saying, my brain was learning something else.

And so I found in every single quote unquote job that I had, I was working on the actual business system.

Because even as a therapist, when we graduated with our degree and then took our license, nobody sat us down and taught us how to start our own practice or what it meant to run a company or what customer service might look like.

We were trained to be therapists.

And so all this admin stuff, no one else really knew how to do.

And my classmates were like, How are you doing all of this?

Well, I knew how to run a company because I'd watched it done in multi-generations.

And it wasn't something I was aware that I knew how to do, and yet it just came second nature for me.

And so it just every single job I was working on the business.

And I found that I really could pair this magic of psychology and entrepreneurial psychology and organizational psych with effective efficiencies and business minds and help people not have their lives run by their companies, but actually run their companies to better their lives.

And that goes into my disability with having multiple heart conditions.

I'm aware that this hustle that is portrayed and kind of, you know, out there is as far as the only way to be successful is to work 120 hours a week and all that kind of stuff, that wasn't going to be for me.

And so I figured that this trading time for dollars was not the right system for me.

And I sat down and worked really hard at how to figure out another system and how to get my expertise to as many people as possible, not out of wanting to be a multimillionaire, but out of the aspect of I have this knowledge that not everybody has, being able to have the gift of growing up in a multi-generational entrepreneurial family and living in China and living in Ecuador and going to school to be a therapist.

There, there are things that I've seen and that I've experienced that I don't want to die with me.

And so really setting up courses, setting up books, you know, writing books, all of these things that I've done was just to get the stuff that's in between the six inches of my ears out to everybody listening to this, even doing this podcast, so that it helps you make your world a better place.

SPEAKER_00: That's so amazing.

So amazing.

Now, so tell me though about your company and exactly what your company does.

SPEAKER_02: There's five right now.

Oh my, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: I know.

There's a little, there's a little collection.

Maybe you went a little too far and beyond that hole.

I might have in your spirit.

My goodness.

SPEAKER_02: I might have.

Yeah.

My my family jokes with me.

There's a kid's robot movie that says uh see and need, fill a need, and they joke with me that it's see and need, you know, start a company.

Because I've I've I have about a two-year burn though between starting a company and then I sell it or transition, or another one of my companies Pac-Mans it, which means that, you know, we we take it into one of my other companies in order to help that company with a system.

So there's a better place consulting.

I can get through them very quick.

Um, there's a better place consulting, which does growth coaching, work-life alignment, and burnout prevention.

And that's all the way from Fortune 50 companies down to I work with people like my parents that are family oriented and want to make money, but also make a difference and be there for their families.

So I coach one-on-one those kinds of individuals.

And so there's business coaching, courses, all of that kind of stuff.

And then I am the lead investor and owner of a piece of tech that is also in the coaching industry.

And then we have an online entrepreneurial community with my business owner, Chris Harris, called Boss on Purpose.

And that's where our latest book came from, that company.

There's a nonprofit that is for uh service animal awareness.

So we teach companies, communities, and organizations around service animals.

We don't actually train the actual animal, we train the humans in the communities that they live in.

And let's see, the last one is a private investment company.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Well, nothing.

You're amazing.

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02: Oh, well, thank you.

I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00: I feel I feel like that whole thing of like, you know, just like calling yourself like a businesswoman.

I'm like, I don't know, not that's not a fitting title.

Like you, you, you, you like multi, you know, business entrepreneur, like something huge.

Some it should be a title that I can't even pronounce.

SPEAKER_02: I I have that title.

It's it's called mom.

And that's that's the best title because this is the first time I've actually stepped into my office all week, and it's gonna be the last one.

That's the point, right?

Is being able to have this.

I mean, you and I talked about that a little bit off air about having companies that serve the world, but also make it so that you know it's not at your c expense.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly.

Exactly.

And I and I do, and I love that, and you kind of spoke about it earlier, is this fact of we we come from a mindset, and I don't know if it was maybe uh a generation thing or what, but where is to make it you gotta put in the work.

You gotta work, you gotta get up, you gotta hit the grind, but that's not that's not necessarily true.

You know, and and I and I feel like there's a a very fine line, I feel, between hitting the ground and and being successful in in your business and being successful at home.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's one step beyond that for me, is getting the relationship down with myself and really understanding where the should and shouldn't've and need to and have to's were actually coming from.

And were they real, or was it something that I was telling myself?

You know, that one more hour after dinner on my laptop to get XYZ done, is that a real thing, or is that just something I was telling myself?

And so that relationship with myself is where I think I can attribute a lot of my success in not just being confident, but being able to listen to myself well before I push myself too far.

And also, you know, honestly, having Guinness and having a service animal, it's great to be able to have an outside entity that's like, hey, mom, you know, like this, you're you're not doing this in a healthy manner.

And so that's where I said is I sat down, let's go back to the stunts since everybody loves that.

So I sat down and thought about the fact that I actually worked maybe 20 minutes during that show.

I was actually out in front of people for 20 minutes times four.

So 80 minutes a day and I received a salary.

So 80 minutes a day is how much I worked.

The rest of the time, if you asked my team, I was either working out or on Skype talking to family or doing school work.

And so, but I received a salary for for a full day's work or full week's work, just working 80 minutes.

And that was my first like realization that, hey, it's not really about the time that you put in, it's about the effort and energy because these all of these people gather for 45 minutes.

Actually, they're there for an hour and a half, right?

And we're entertaining them for 40 minutes, and it's worth it to them because those 40 minutes is jam-packed with like fireburns and high falls and fights and all of that kind of stuff.

So, what if I can make my content as interesting, as entertaining, as impactful as that stun show?

And then people will pay the money for those 20 minutes that I'm delivering that content.

And they, because they see the value, and we can trade value for value rather than time for money.

And that's really the aha that I had and why I'm able to structure my companies in that way.

It's also I refuse to do it any other way because at the end of the day, I don't want my obituary to say, like, she was on her email at 11:30 at night.

Like, if you email me any hour of any day, you get a autoresponder.

And that's because I check my email maybe like four times a week.

And it's amazing.

And people are like, How do you do that?

I do it.

And and nothing has really like blown up catastrophically.

But I can tell you on the opposite side of things, my daughter's made honor roll two years in a row because I'm there.

You know, would she do it without me?

Maybe, but at least I'm there to see it and at least I'm there to cheer her on.

And at least, you know, I am there to read the bedtime stories and sing off-key all of the Disney music.

Like that's the stuff that I want in my obituary.

SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.

Do you feel like it's it came from seeing how your parents operated business stuff?

But like where this passion, this desire and stuff to live this type of lifestyle came from.

SPEAKER_02: My grandfather definitely lived every moment to the fullest.

I remember at his memorial, like it was standing room only.

Like I remember there being speakers out in like the waiting area, and I I don't maybe outside.

And these people that I had no idea even knew my grandfather showed up because they saw it in the paper.

Like, first off, who reads the paper?

And you know, like this was this was 2010.

So and it was he he passed away on Christmas.

So you're even talking about like the holiday season.

And I'm just sitting there thinking, like, wow, like for this man to have such an impact because he, I mean, he went bankrupt.

He, you know, started multiple.

Multiple companies.

He quit a real like he did all the things that society would tell you like you shouldn't do.

And yet let's measure his success by this room right now.

And this man is a multi-billionaire, you know, as far as if you're measuring his wealth and his success by his the value that he provided into this world.

And I just I was fascinated by that.

And I he didn't do it for the glory, he did it because he believed that that was his purpose.

And so it's like, what if every day that I wake up, you know, it's a gift because I'm here to deliver my purpose to this world.

And I think that to answer your question in a single person, it's my aunt and my grandfather, but you can't get there without my parents being able to, my parents would tell you that I observe something and I process it, and then I've got to talk about it.

Like sometimes I talk about it with my dog, sometimes I talk about it with my horse.

But my parents growing up, you know, they were there to help me process a lot of the things that I was observing.

And I questioned everything.

And so I wanted to know why.

And now my dad laughs because we went to Orlando for a conference I was speaking at, and him and my youngest daughter were playing in the pool.

And I sat there and figured out the return on investment on SeaWorld's newest roller coaster and how many tickets they had to sell.

And, you know, I did it in like four minutes-ish.

And I told my dad about it, and he just, you know, shakes his head.

And it's kind of like that's just the way my brain works is that I want to know the value.

And I think I was born that way.

And I think I was encouraged by everybody in my life who was allowed to be close to me, to that being myself was good enough.

My mom used to tell me she would love me if I snail raced, um, which I'm not sure what that meant, but I've never actually snail raced, and my mom loved me very, very much.

SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, that's so wonderful.

Now, now tell me about the the disability you have with the heart condition.

When did that come up in life?

SPEAKER_02: As a teenager, I was extremely active and played multiple sports, and I started passing out.

And so that was kind of when it started that like something might not be right.

And actually, I wrote a book for my previous service animal, and it was the first time, Kevin, that I'd really sat down and kind of chronologed what my life was like being diagnosed and then growing up and all of that kind of stuff.

And when I got to college, by the time I got to college, I was getting multiple tests and trying to figure out what was going on.

And I was diagnosed with the first condition, which is that my heart goes too fast.

And then if you fast forward, a couple surgeries, many more tests.

Then you get to my second condition, which is my heart goes too slow.

So now all of the medications and interventions that they want to do for one might disrupt the other, or might offset the other, or might, you know, make the other worse.

And so we're we're kind of living in this interesting space.

If you can hear the callers, that's that's giddness.

Um he knows we're talking about the heart condition.

So, but that's just been to be labeled as disabled and be like, yeah, but I can do this and I can do that.

And I'm like, why am I why when somebody says you're disabled, was my immediate reaction to like argue with them and show them all the reasons that I'm not disabled.

Like, what if, and this is if you're in the disability community, this is not saying that everybody identifies with the statement.

This is very personal.

I prefer differently abled because I feel like if I wasn't diagnosed with my heart conditions, I wouldn't live my life with the richness that I do because I would just assume that tomorrow was always guaranteed.

Rather than when I wake up considering each and every day a gift and wanting to make the best impact that I can and just going for going to sleep at peace.

That's my goal, is being able to get to sleep and have peace in my body and my spirit and my heart.

And so I think that I was gifted with the diagnosis and with the disabilities, as well as my ability to spread disability awareness and service animal awareness.

And I understand that not everybody feels that way.

So the most recent development is that I was in a really bad car accident and I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury after the car accident.

And so I had somebody say, like, you know, because I'm I'm not able to work in the capacity that I used to.

And it's really impacted my life.

And somebody said, Yeah, you know, now that you're living life with a disability, and it's like, I've always had a disability.

I I mean, I don't know, always a strong term, but I've I've had a disability since I was, you know, a teenager.

Was I born with it?

I don't know.

But I'm aware of this disability since I was a teenager.

And I've lived my life.

So like now that I have this TBI, like maybe I just live my life a little bit differently, but I still get to live my life.

Like there's there's no you're disabled that's you know, curtain and film.

SPEAKER_00: It is.

And and I mean, and and coming from from me who, you know, I'm completely blind.

And and then I also have, you know, an underlying, you know, disability of I have no pituitary function, you know, in my brain, which affects all of my different hormones and everything, and which is a you know a disability in of itself.

So I I can relate so much to everything that you've been saying because I feel like the the word disabled or disability, it even it even just for myself, it just even sounds harsh.

It sounds like there is something wrong with you.

And when you can get to that point, like my like I did, and and you know, for a long time, I mean, I've been I've been now blind for 17 years.

I didn't become blind until I was 17 years old.

And anyways, you know, for a long time, maybe I don't even know that I looked at myself as being disabled.

You just figure out different ways to do things, you know, and and now today, you know, after I think it's been four years ago, I traveled out to to California and learned literally to see again, but in a different way by using echolocation.

And so, you know, and I have all these different experiences in my life where we uh I recently uh just share real quick is you know, recently I traveled up to uh Charlotte, North Carolina, and we were staying with some family, and and I actually just I recently just published a blog on this whole topic is the way in which I saw one of the mornings there, where we're sitting out on our family's back porch and and they had all these birds all over in their woods behind their home.

And and I just basically, you know, painted the picture in the way in which I see it.

And so then, you know, you have these situations where you're just living life and in and you adapt to your situation and you you you lean on the abilities that you do have, you know, until, as I say, until sometimes I forget I'm different than anyone else until somebody brings it to my attention.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: You know, and so I totally relate to just everything that you've said.

But but I'm wondering with with with the heart condition, because that's what I was very curious about, like the timeline for that is because that didn't stop you from being a stunt woman.

SPEAKER_02: No, I think that my mom would have preferred that, you know, I'd be in like a little bubble.

And now that I'm a mom, I can understand that.

There was probably a good couple years of my life where I took it a little bit too far in the aspect of I didn't want to be seen as fragile.

I didn't want to, you know, walk on eggshells, even though I had a heart condition.

And ironically enough, like I did take it too far in China and I didn't end up in a hospital because of my heart.

Yeah.

And that's a lesson in and of itself, right?

You you need to know your boundaries and you need to know your limits.

And I needed to figure them out.

So there was that.

I think that I'm doing my best to answer your question in a way that serves the most people.

So I heard the diagnosis and I expected that the desire was for everybody to kind of, or for me to keep it low and not play sports and not put any additional stress on my heart.

And for me, not doing the things that I love, not living the life that I love would be the most stressful thing for my heart.

You know, not riding horses, doing these kinds of things.

The same thing with my TBI is like I still ride my horse, even though I have a traumatic brain injury.

I just do it with a helmet and I don't run.

I don't, you know, do dangerous things, which riding horse in and of itself is a dangerous thing, but I don't participate in the activities that I used to while riding a horse.

I just walk and trail ride with a helmet on.

And so I'm admitting to those of you listening that I once I came to terms with that diagnosis and that peace and that realization that I need, I wanted to live my life the way that I wanted to live it.

And if that meant that I didn't get to wake up the next day, I would have more peace than not actually living my life to the fullest.

And then, as I said, there was a couple of years where I was like, where's the fullest?

Let me figure that out.

And I have a very good awareness now of how important it is.

My heart's a muscle, it needs to be exercised.

And I do have a disability and multiple disabilities, and being able to maintain that and take care of that and see the doctors and take the supplements and take care of myself.

And so I think that having a disability and that awareness of having a disability gave me permission to live my life in a way that I otherwise would not have really realized.

And the ways in which it's quote unquote limited me just helped me to focus more in the areas of what I could do and focus more on the areas of the things that I can do.

I don't think I've ever really, maybe a roller coaster, but I don't think I've ever really looked at something and felt like I was missing out because I have a disability.

You know, when we go to Disney World, they now have the ability, like Guinness went on Pirates of the Caribbean with us.

And so being able to include my six legs, you know, have have me included six legs in all feels really good in today's world.

And I don't know that that would have been the case 15, 20 years ago, but I can tell you I'm focused on today and I'm focused on what I can do.

And that's that is my mindset.

And I think a lot of people have a disabled mindset and not an actual disability in the aspect that they put limits on themselves.

And what I mean by they don't actually have a disability is that they don't have it diagnosed the way that you or I do.

They don't have a diagnosed disability, but they're living life with such limits.

And I feel like when I was walking out of that doctor's office, the doctor had these limits in their head about my life that I didn't have for myself.

And that means that my life looks a lot different.

I'm not sure I said that the way that I meant it.

SPEAKER_00: No, well, I don't know.

I thought it came out beautiful.

So, yes.

What I think is awesome about this part of our conversation is the fact that you have a disability.

I have a disability.

They're both completely different.

Yeah, everything you say, I relate to 100%.

And I just think that's so awesome.

You know, and can only imagine anybody listening, you know, I hope that maybe they relate also.

And you know, and if not, maybe even if they are in a hard time, if if what is is different about them is affecting their life negatively, you know, I hope that maybe our conversation today can be something that maybe sparks something in their mind that maybe changes that because there's definitely nothing greater than being able to come to a place when you accept the fact that it's just what makes you you.

It makes you unique.

It's it's as I as I've said, I mean, it took me it took me a long time after becoming blind to be able to say this and truly mean it.

And is that now I say that God, he gave me a gift.

He gifted me with this this unique ability to now see the world both as somebody who could see with perfect eyesight to now somebody who sees the world in a completely different way.

Yeah.

Now, I gotta ask, how does Guinness help you with your heart condition and your other and your other disabilities?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, my husband and I were just having that conversation when you, because you said other disabilities, we were just having that conversation last week about how he's actually evolved since the accident in order to, I mean, service animals are for trained for an individual with a disability.

And for the most part, those skills don't necessarily translate to any person with the same disability because our lives are so different.

And so Guinness doesn't know that he's a cardiac assistance animal.

He knows that he's my service animal.

He knows that he's my other four legs.

And so nobody told him like it is just my heart that he's responsible for.

And so since the accident, I'm a lot more unsteady on my feet than I previously was.

So he was trained as a walking cane to help me and let me know when I need to sit down and help me get up steps and use his collar for steadiness and use his harness to be able to help me walk and stand and get up.

But he's been able to really take that to a whole new level since the accident.

And when I'm getting a migraine, the things that he does, anybody who's ever suffered from a migraine knows, you know, like light, sound, all of this kind of stuff.

And I'll lay there with an ice pack in a dark room.

And because of the kinds of circumstances along with my disability, you know, it's very difficult for me to just lay in a dark room and relax.

And, you know, Guinness will lay with his back right up against mine, just letting me know that he's got my six and that, you know, I can just relax and be able to sleep.

And to my husband's not necessarily contentment, Guinness sleeps in our bed.

And even when we first got him, like he slept next to our bed on a dog bed, and he would just stare at me.

And I could feel him like staring at me, and it's like he wasn't close enough, like he didn't necessarily know.

So, with my heart condition, he detects dangerous variations in my heart rate when it's too high or too low.

And he alerts me, he can get my cell phone, he's been trained to get my medication, and then of course he can get somebody to help me.

And he also can find me if I collapse somewhere, like on our property, and for some reason he's not with me.

If you let him outside and tell him to find me, he will find me.

Or in our house, he'll go find me.

So if he comes and he gets you and, you know, tells you that something's wrong, which is gonna sound a lot like barking.

He he doesn't necessarily talk.

I can give him, I can, I can hear what he's saying, but other people are like, you say Guinness will tell you something's wrong.

I'm like, oh, you'll know.

Trust me, you will know.

Um, but if you tell him to find mama, then he'll go and and find me.

And he looked at me right now when I just said, find mama.

And he's like, You're right there.

And yeah, so it's really the walking cane, the alert with the dangerous variations.

And then the last component is he does what's called a body block.

So in pre-COVID world, when I was doing speaking on stages, after you finish speaking, there tends to be a line or a crowd of people that come up.

And even though I'm 6'3, sometimes people get a little bit too close and I feel like I can't breathe, and that could set off a tachnocardic episode.

And so Guinness will hold people about four feet away.

We're working on getting him to hold people at six feet away, just so much.

We can have the social distancing into the future.

But he's people are funny because they see what they want to see and they'll be like, Oh, you know, I know he's your service dog, but look, he's just standing so close to me.

And it's like, mm-hmm.

And my husband was commenting on that because somebody was like, Oh, look, he wants me to pet him.

And my husband just looked at me like, no, he doesn't.

SPEAKER_00: No, no, he he actually he actually is looking at you like, can you please just step back?

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

You can go now.

SPEAKER_00: I was sitting there thinking to myself, I'm like, he he needs like um, like a one of the t-shirts say on the front, like security.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

Yes.

Like my husband got um, he he has a tactical vest.

My husband bought him a tactical vest, and there's patches, uh, two patches that my husband put on there.

One that says, I'm here to do my job, I'm not here for your entertainment.

And the other one says, not all disabilities are visible.

So, you know, that's that's been another evolution, Kevin, is my family's learning to live with this disability.

And I'm sure you can relate to that as well, but especially for my parents, what does it mean to have a child with a disability and be told this?

Like, what is that, what changes now that you're aware of that?

And then you get a service animal.

And this is the early 2000s, and so service animals weren't quote unquote cool back then, and especially a service animal as large as the ones that I had.

And so it's no longer just going out to dinner as a family, it's figuring out an inclusive environment, it's having those conversations.

Whenever we go to Disney World, you know, what's it gonna look like with the wheelchair?

Because I use a wheelchair when we go to Disneyland or Disney World.

And then my husband to be, you know, he just sees this woman that he loves and wants to spend the rest of his life with.

And he also, you know, literally marries into six legs.

I mean, my girls, I had two um female service animals prior to Guinness.

My girls were in our wedding, Kevin.

So it's like he he married it all and has learned and adapted to being married to somebody that partners with a service animal and has a disability.

SPEAKER_00: That's that's awesome.

And and uh I love that so much because I can tell you in my in my own life, my personal life, that's something that me, you know, I I I'm not married.

And and it's something that for myself, being different, being disabled, being blind, it's something that that I guess probably internally like I have this this struggle with of who would want to to be with somebody who who requires more, who who who is different.

You know what I mean?

And and so to to hear that and to hear this thing of like this amazing relationship that the two of you have.

And and I just sit there and I think, like, that's what love is.

SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't call it amazing.

I mean, we're it's it's a lot of work.

SPEAKER_00: Yes.

I love it's a relationship, all relationships are love, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's amazing that he has continued to seek more education and learn and evolve.

And he is an amazing husband and an amazing father.

And so, I guess by definition, you know, we have an amazing relationship.

If you're listening to this, what I want you to understand though is it's not like a Disney fairy tale, like it takes a ton of work, and that's the something that I guess having a service animal has taught me is that people will ask me, How long does it take to train a service animal?

And my husband was the first one to say, like, it's an ongoing, like it's always happening.

And so, how long does it take to train a husband?

It's it's ongoing.

And you know, that's the same thing with you know, relationships.

My husband's never gonna listen to this, but if he does, I love you.

So just you know, it's it's just being able to see the person, though.

I think that's the biggest message is being able to see the person and love the person and love the energy, and knowing that you're gonna do whatever you can to defend that and to be with that and to make that world better.

So it's it's yeah, it's it's definitely interesting.

And what I would say, Kevin, is is love yourself the way that you want to be loved.

And you'd be shocked at who shows up and invites you on a trip to China.

SPEAKER_00: Right.

I'll just be sure my passport is kept up to date.

Just ready and waiting.

SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, definitely do that.

SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.

That's awesome.

No, no, I wanted to ask you though, about back on the topic of Guinness.

Have you experienced like any issues with with places with having a service animal?

Because especially I can tell you here where I live here, and I, you know, I'm in Florida, and I can tell.

You in recent times, there's been this like sudden influx of what I call fake service animals, people who who they legit will say they're a service animal, but they're not.

They they they run amok, they're they're crazy, they're just they're literally they're they're pet.

And for whatever reason, all of a sudden all these businesses all of a sudden feel like they can't tell them no.

And I would love to get your perspective on that whole situation.

And and like I said, in a you know, my first question is if you've run into any issues with either customers or business owners.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

So first, let me preface this with if you are one of those business owners that feels like you can't say no, I'll make sure Kevin has the link to pausable.org, which is a organization, the nonprofit, that you know, you can say no and and you do have rights as that business owner.

So, and I say that, and people are always shocked because they're like, I thought you'd be like all four people having service animals everywhere.

And I am when the service animal is properly trained for to support that individual with a disability and for public access.

So even if it is a trained service animal, I mean, Kevin, I have a trained service animal at home that didn't like going to conferences and getting on planes.

And, you know, so I couldn't necessarily use her in my life.

And so she works with my mom.

We don't call her a service animal, but she was, she's still trained.

We laugh because she's still trained to do the and perform the tasks for me.

And so even though she's at my mom's house, I'll go over there.

And if I'm, you know, my heart rate's up, Guinness and her both come over because, you know, she's still trained as a service animal.

And by the Department of Justice's definition, she performs tasks that mitigate an individual's disability.

She just doesn't like airplanes, and so she did not behave appropriately on airplanes.

And so the short answer to your question is absolutely.

I mean, I had somebody at the Phoenix Airport come up and jump on the back of Guinness and try to ride him.

What?

We've had on American Airlines, which I will give a shout out that they are sponsoring the Assistance Dogs International Conference this year.

However, about three years ago, American Airlines tried to have me arrested for having a service animal on board.

So because he's a great Dane and they put us in a middle aisle, and you know, he didn't fit.

And so he was standing and they said he had to be sitting.

And, you know, it's like we we don't fit here.

And if I was an individual with a wheelchair that didn't fit, you know, we wouldn't be, you wouldn't be talking to me like this.

And so, and to tell somebody with a heart condition at 40,000 feet in the air that when I land, I'm gonna get arrested, probably not a good idea.

I do believe that the company has had training since then, and obviously they're involved in the service animal community more today than they were then.

But the list just with Guinness alone, those are kind of the the biggest ones of, and and right now with Airbnb, not to keep calling you're gonna have so many royalty payments.

But with a certain company that will allow individuals to rent their houses or rooms out, they have non-discrimination policies.

And, you know, we've been standing on the side of a corner waiting to be picked up by a car company that allows people to use their own vehicles and had not one but two drivers just leave us once they saw the dog and the size of the dog.

Even though there's a non-discrimination policy with the company, you can't control individuals.

And so, you know, there it's it's a very interesting time for us because while the world is opening up more than ever and you can stay in other people's homes and all these kinds of experiences, and being what you do in your day profession, however you want me to put that in travel, this is something that you can understand when I say I would rather pay extra and know that I'm not going to be discriminated against and be able to relax than, you know, not have that peace of mind.

Like we will stay at a hotel industry or a hotel name that starts with an M that we absolutely love and we'll stay there anywhere in the world because we know at a corporate level that they've done the training and they've done the work.

It doesn't mean that we're not going to run into an individual that has, you know, that kind of mindset, but we know that that individual has gone through training and we know what steps to take.

But when I go to stay at your house and you're like, you call me, you know, I get a$2,000 cleaning bill afterwards because there's dog hair and I say it's a service animal.

Like it's taken us months to be able to recover and get corporate to, you know, talk to the person, do all of that kind of stuff.

So there's still a lot of discrimination out there.

People have said, well, I he's not a service animal because he's a great dane.

Only labs and golden retrievers can be service animals.

That's not true.

You know, or we've had people say, like, we're we're totally not discriminating against you, but we just we're scared of dogs.

SPEAKER_00: Okay.

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: You know, or we've been in a restaurant and somebody has said, you know, there's a person sitting on the other side of the restaurant who's allergic to dogs.

Okay, what would you like me to do?

Like, what how is that?

What would you like me to do about that?

So yeah.

And and there's been amazing learning opportunities.

My previous service animal goose, the one that the book was written about, she's the first service dog, service animal in the state of Virginia in a labor and delivery room.

SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02: So yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

And so to just be able to know that and say that, like it was, it was an amazing opportunity to to call a hospital board and say, hey, I'm gonna be giving birth in approximately X amount of months.

Like here's I have a service animal.

And, you know, it's I that's one thing that I can say for the listeners as far as an awareness is that I've gone from like asking permission to be disabled to saying, I'm coming.

SPEAKER_00: Yep.

SPEAKER_02: Prepare yourself.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

Yeah.

It kind of goes of like it's almost like a person, like a like a confidence thing to own it.

You know what I mean?

You know what I mean?

It's it's like this is just this is just me.

It's not, you know, I'm not actually to make some crazy exception because of some weird thing.

It's I'm just giving you a heads up that this is me.

Yeah.

And I'm just gonna need a few little adjustments made.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: You know.

I mean, we we went on um a cruise with Guinness when my daughter was like about six months old.

And we went to all these different countries, and that's one of the coolest experiences that I've ever done because the crews handled it so well, and I got to see how different governments handled service animals.

So one of the places that we went is a US territory, but the other three islands that we went to were not.

And so some of the islands were like, yeah, you know, like we everybody, like no matter what, you're totally welcome.

And then we had other islands that were like, yeah, we don't allow mastiffs on the island.

And a great dane is a German Mastiff.

Um and we all learned something that day.

Um, I only felt a tiny bit small when I'm like, he's a great Dane.

And then like they looked it up and were like, no, it's a German mastiff.

I was like, oh, cool.

Americans only call him Scooby-Doo.

So that's a learning experience for us.

Thank you.

And for those of you that do have service animals, you know, there's an entire list on the Department of Justice's site about reciprocation in different countries.

And, you know, we flew over to Prague and did a European vacation with a service animal.

So it's really, I want to say that that living with a service animal has provided more opportunities for a higher quality of life, period.

Despite all of the craziness that people can't believe that, you know, we've and how many times a day?

I would be a billionaire if I got a nickel for how many times a day somebody'd say, I didn't know you could bring your horse here.

It's not a horse.

That's not funny.

We actually have real horses.

And no, I'm not gonna put a saddle on a$30,000 piece of medical equipment, and you're not funny.

And then my mom will politely like look at me and be like, you know, you're you don't have to like she she will say, if my mouth doesn't say it, my face will.

And I'm not amused, like it's not funny.

You don't go up to somebody in a wheelchair and be like, oh my gosh, can we race?

SPEAKER_00: Exactly.

You know what?

And and I think though it goes back to because it it's experiences that I have, and it's always amazing to me.

I I find it funny, people you meet of how people handle something being different about you.

So for myself, it's either like they're like super kind, super, you know, you know, very cautious, they don't want to say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, or you have the other people who they almost, you know, they they make jokes about it because they think, you know, it's funny.

And and you know, and being I'm somebody I'm super humorous, I'm always joking and stuff, but there comes a point when you know, I can easily make a joke something about my blindness, which I will do a lot of times if I notice somebody's being, you know, is uncomfortable or something, you know.

But then you have these other people who who make you know all these comments and and jokes of, you know, oh, you know, I bet I bet you wish you could see this.

And you know what I mean?

And so, and it's like, okay, well, now we've taken it to another step of where you're just being rude.

And, you know, and and and I see that like in your situation because of the fact that it is, it's like he is part of me.

He is, you know, like you said, he is your other four legs.

And and so by making these comments, like maybe you think you're just being funny and cute, but he's part of me that you're making fun of, you know?

SPEAKER_02: So I can I say something about that, of course.

So if I make a joke about us, it's for your benefit because I can tell you're uncomfortable.

That's that's the truth.

Because self-deprecation is not for my own preservation, it's for your level of comfortability.

And if I'm making a a joke about us, it doesn't mean that it's okay for you two.

Yep.

It's an interesting dynamic, and you know, it just I'm also human.

And so I one of the reasons that I stepped away of being executive director of the of Plausible is because, you know, to be on a pedestal as an individual with a service animal and to be constantly feeling like I've got to answer other people's questions about service animal awareness is exhausting.

Sometimes I just want to walk through the Atlanta airport and catch my flight.

Like that's I'm a human with a service animal.

And, you know, most of the time I'm traveling with a young child.

So on a good day, if you ask me how much I weigh, I'll include the 165 pounds of my service animal and just watch as you try to do that calculation because I'm allowed to, you know, elevate the mood of the situation.

I'm I'm allowed to do that.

And on a bad day, when you know you are staring at my dog, and while you're trying to talk to me, I'm going to make a comment about it, or I'm gonna give you that look when you make a comment about, you know, oh, it must be so cool to be able to bring your dog everywhere.

Yes, I have a disability and may or may not be able to see my children get married, live to see my children get married.

But yeah, it's so cool that I that I have get to take my dog everywhere.

SPEAKER_01: Exactly.

SPEAKER_02: And he's also he's 165 pounds.

Like he's impacted everything from the car that we've bought into the house we purchased, every element of our vacations that we plan that now Kevin's gonna plan.

So, you know, like it is amazing that I'm able to not take the meditation as many medications as I used to because I have a service animal and it's a ton of work.

SPEAKER_00: Yep, exactly.

Exactly.

And and you know, and that's where like all I can sit there and equate to is is oh, well, I'm gonna preface what I'm about to say by by saying that I can tell you for my family who listens to this episode, their immediate thing to me is going to be, Kevin C, I keep telling you, you need to get a CI dog.

And so I I know what they're thinking about this, and I couldn't help but but make that comment that yes, mom, Tiffany and Anna, yes, I know it does sound amazing.

Um but you know, is you know, is the fact of just you know, it is, it's it's something different, you know, about us.

And and but I do, and I just I guess the biggest thing about it is, you know, talking to you is I find you so just uplifting, so positive, and just bringing light to the fact of to people listening, you know, just be kind before you open your mouth sometimes, you know, and and and and realize that that you know, sometimes the fact is we do have something that makes our life different from the quote unquote normal.

And so, and so like I was thinking to myself of of traveling is I remember we had gone, me and mom, my sister had did a Caribbean cruise, and one of our stops was in Puerto Rico.

And on that, we had did a tour of the rainforest.

And I remember we went up and we didn't really know, you know, the extent of what the excursion was going to be.

And this was this was back, I hadn't even opened up my travel agency at this point.

And anyways, we went on this excursion, and part of the excursion was to literally do this like hike through the rainforest.

And and so we kind of decided, you know what, maybe not the best idea like for me to try and do.

I had had some issues with one of my legs at the time, and it just didn't want to hold anybody up, you know.

And so I remember the the tour guide, the driver, he was, you know, dropping everybody off at the one, you know, head of the trail and said, you know, okay, just meet back in the parking lot, you know, you finish the loop, you know.

Well, he found out that we weren't gonna go.

And he was like, no way.

He's like, I will he's like, he can walk with me.

And so literally, this guy who was just our driver, he literally got out and he did the whole hike with us.

I I held on to his arm just like I would have to my mom or sister or whatnot, and and and went inside a guide, and he he took the time to to show me all the different plants and he would pull down limbs of the trees for me to feel the leaves and and all of this stuff.

And so we we get back and and you know, by him taking that time, it did, it it made maybe the little hike last a little longer.

Well, we had people when we got back to the bus, they start making rude comments.

They start making comments about wow, wouldn't it have been nice if we had had a personal guide?

And making all these just being really rude.

And I remember my my mom and stuff was getting very angry, and and I was so glad, you know, finding the the guy who had been with me.

He's like, you know what?

I'm sure if you would rather be the one who's blind, I'm sure he would be more than happy to have you be the one who gets to have, you know, me show you around, you know, and and it does.

It just it's kind of like, you know what?

Like I said, just stop and think before you open your mouth.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and be willing to, I think you couldn't have said it better, and be willing to apologize because that's something that Guinness and I see a lot is somebody won't think they'll say something, and they can read by my face.

Yes, mom, I know.

By my lack of reciprocation, that they're out of line.

And their immediate response is, oh, well, you don't have to be a you know, B-I-T-C-H about it, or you know, you don't have to be rude.

And it's like, was I the rude one?

Like it's I understand you're now uncomfortable because you realize you've said something offensive.

And it's okay to just say, I'm sorry.

Like it's it's okay to say, like, I shouldn't have said that.

SPEAKER_00: Yep.

SPEAKER_02: And we can go on about our days.

It doesn't make you a good person, it doesn't make you a bad person.

It makes you a person, it makes you human.

And as I've said, like, I have human days too.

On occasion, they're rare because I know my husband may listen to this.

So there's those days.

And when we have those days, like being a, I just did it on Friday.

Like, I I could tell you in my being a businesswoman, as you gave me all of those accolades, I totally screwed something, like weeks worth of my team's work.

I totally screwed it all up.

And I was the first one to tell the team, it's on me.

Like, I have no idea what I did, and it's completely and totally on me.

And I want to say it doesn't negate all the amazing work that you did.

You guys are still awesome.

And this is just a lesson that I need to not mess with technology.

So, in that same aspect of being human, if I'm in that Jeep in that moment, and I'm the one who is tired after the hike and is like, oh wow, what did I?

I feel like I missed out because I didn't have this guide.

So let me insert some stupid, snarky comment here.

Being able to say, you know what?

I apologize.

That was way out of line.

And there was no call, like no reason for it.

I apologize to you, and I apologize to your family.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly.

Exactly.

I mean, yeah, and you there's so much power in two simple words of I'm sorry.

And and and that, you know, relates to just so many things in our life of just being able to simply recognize when you when you screw up and just say, you know what, I'm sorry.

unknown: Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: So and not saying anything afterwards.

My husband will be the first one to tell you, I'm sorry, but I'm sorry, and negates anything that you said prior to.

SPEAKER_00: Yep.

SPEAKER_02: So like, I'm sorry, but I really wish that you know, we had gotten a guided tour.

And it's like, you're not sorry.

Try again.

SPEAKER_00: What were you gonna say?

That was that was door number one.

You might want to try door number three.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.

So now, so now I want to ask you because now correct me if I'm wrong.

One of you the businesses that you have, is that where do you work with other businesses to do like do you do work with them with like service animals and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

So Pausable is a nonprofit organization that's around education and advocacy for service animals.

So we work with countries, we work with communities, we've worked with schools, with government agencies on service animal education.

So the Department of Justice is the one that puts out the law on service animals that are on the ground.

The Department of Transportation puts out the law on service animals and assistance animals in the air in the United States and in her territories.

And so being able to take that law and then provide education, there's nobody that really does that.

And so there's a lot of organizations that train service animals for individuals with disabilities.

And so we step in and we provide the education to the communities that these service animals are going to be a part of.

And so we're doing our best in chipping away at the burden of education, not resting on the individual with a disability, but resting on this organization.

Plus, it's full of individuals who are corporate trainers, our professional speakers, have service animals.

It's a great mixture of individuals, professors of disability and inclusion awareness.

And so we do the education.

And so we don't train any animals.

We do train companies and we do train teams on how to interact positively with service animals.

What happens if you have a negative interaction with the service animal?

What rights do you have?

What questions you can ask?

And we do that, you know, from service animals 101 all the way up to advanced specific training if it's like a specific industry.

And we've done that for major hotels and a whole bunch of different other organizations.

And it's been amazing to see the desire increase in training, because, as you said, I think the need has definitely increased because individuals just buy a vest off of Amazon.

And even if you have a service animal, that's still what you do.

Most organizations provide you with a vest, but for me, I need a very specific vest that has a handle and, you know, certain elements if we're traveling somewhere that has pockets for my medication.

And so it's okay to buy your service animal vest off of Amazon.

It's not okay to buy your buddy that you want to take into Target a service animal vest.

And we were walking in some store, this was like a year and a half ago, and somebody had a service bearded dragon in their shopping cart.

And I remember when I was in college that a community Community college had called me just because I was an individual of the service animal and they said, Hey, we have somebody who's bringing their service monkey to class and it's not going well.

I won't give you the gruesome details of that specific situation.

If you don't know anything about monkeys, you might want to Google that and figure it out.

But it's so a service animal in the United States is strictly a dog according to the law.

And there is a small paragraph that pertains to miniature horses.

And even as we speak, that is being updated.

And so for the sake of this, I'm confident in saying a service animal is a canine that assists an individual with a disability and mitigates that individual's performs tasks that mitigate that individual's disability.

And it's not just making that individual feel better.

Like that is not a task.

We we discussed some specific tasks that Guinness does for my disabilities.

So you can understand what those tasks look like.

And they're very specific and above and beyond just, you know, what you train a regular pet for.

And, you know, this is a guide dog, is like a$65,000 piece of medical equipment.

Guinness is more like a$30,000 piece of medical equipment.

So when people get frustrated with me because I won't let them pet him, you know, when we're going through COVID and I had to actually go somewhere, the idea of somebody touching my dog and that dog sleeping in my bed with me that night, like, I mean, I give Guinness a bath fairly regularly, but anytime we had to go out in public in the past 15 months, it meant that I had to come home and give him a bath and, you know, wash his shoes and all this kind of stuff.

And so please don't get offended that you can't pet my device that my life depends on.

Because that's it, it's not about I'm willing to hurt your feelings if it helps me stay safer.

SPEAKER_00: Yep.

And I just I absolutely love it.

I have never heard anybody use the term medical device.

And I think that is absolutely a brilliant way of explaining a service animal of as it is a medical device.

It's like me.

I use a cane, a mobility cane that I use.

And, you know, people know you don't touch the cane.

Like, you know, you have some people who every once it doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while I'll have somebody who I'm I'm somewhere by myself and I'm, you know, going to get around and I'm and they come up to help me and they'll grab hold of my cane, like they're just gonna pull me along.

And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

No, we don't do that, you know.

But but it is, it's it's yes, you I know you think of it as a pet, as a dog, but uh, it is a medical device.

They are doing a service to me.

So I just I think that's a really, really great term.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, and and under tax law, he's a piece of durable medical equipment.

Yeah, so he is recognized as that.

Guinness would like me to go on record as saying he's a sexy, handsome piece of medical equipment.

He is a sexy, handsome medical device.

His ego needed that, but that is Guinness's contribution to this recording.

He just wanted that to be on record that he is a certain kind of medical device.

SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.

Well well, what what color is this sexy beast?

SPEAKER_02: He is it's called Merlequin.

So he he looks like a cow, but he has a little bit of gray spots.

And so it in the Great Dane world, it's called Harlequin, but because he's got those gray spots, it's merlequin.

So he's and he has one brown eye and one blue eye.

And so people will get right in his face and go, Oh my gosh, does he have two color eyes?

Like, would you do that to me?

Like, or people will come up and say, like, oh, does he bite?

And they're standing like six inches away from him.

And I'm like, only idiots.

And that's that's a comment, sorry, mom.

That's a comment that my mother will be like, Did you really?

Yes, I did.

Because why do you walk up to the animal and stick your head in the lion's mouth and be like, what do you think's gonna happen?

Like, what do you think happens when somebody walks up and is six inches away from me and is like in my face and is like, hey, does he bite?

Like, for the record, Guinness isn't going to bite a human, like, unless there is cause for it.

So my response to anybody who has that question is, will this animal bite?

He has teeth.

So, I mean, there are situations and circumstances where I'm sure he would.

And I haven't seen them, but I'm sure that there would be a situation in which any of us, if provoked, would, you know, could you walk up to a human and be like, Will you shoot me?

I mean, I'm sure there is a situation where Exactly.

Like, so that question is is just so I want to say interesting, I guess is the correct word to say.

Is like the I just I'm not understanding where people think that there's gonna be an answer to that question that's going to improve their life.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly, exactly, exactly.

And then and I'll I mean, and I just, you know, sort of thinking is is I had two thoughts was, you know, it's oh no, uh oh, only people who ask stupid questions like that does invite, you know.

SPEAKER_02: C mom, you know C Mom, I'm not the only person.

SPEAKER_00: No, and then I have to equate it to me, is I'll be somewhere, we'll be walking through a store or restaurant.

Normally I'm thinking of like a restaurant setting because you're walking through, you know, where tables are are full of people and stuff.

And and of course, me, you know, I'm oblivious to the fact that that, you know, I catch a lot of stares.

Now, I like to say it's because I'm a big handsome guy who who has a cane, and so it just, you know, it makes me unique and and and they're just struck with the awe.

But well, I think that's the truth.

Exactly.

I'm I'm I feel like I'm kind of like Guinness.

Yes.

SPEAKER_02: But um You're a sexy handsome beast with a cane.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly, exactly.

And so, but get that shirt done.

That's right.

And so, so my mom, she was the one who was always for the longest time was so funny because if we're walking, I'm with her and I'm going sided guides.

I've got hold of her arm.

And she said, you know, she would let me know when we get to this, you know, table.

She's like, that table over there, she said, they were staring.

She's like, so she would just always look at them and give them this nasty glare, you know, and get them to turn around.

Now, after it's been some time, now she's adjusted that strategy.

And, you know, she just kind of looks at them and and smiles and it lets them know, oh my goodness, I'm staring, a quick look away.

You know, the best thing though was me and my Nana, who me and my Nana, we used to, especially right after I went blind, we I was with her all the time.

And we would go, you know, all the different stories, and we had come up with a strategy when people were caught staring, was that Nana would just also just straight up stop and be like, oh, he does tricks too.

Hit it, Kev.

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.

But yeah, it's yeah, people are very interesting.

I've my family could tell you, and we could definitely do an entire podcast on like our family members of being with us, experiencing like what they experience.

But my family member, like I I can think of one particular time we went into a fast food restaurant and they said, like, you can't have your dog here.

And they came up and were speaking to my husband.

They were talking directly to my husband as if I was not even there.

Like, I'm they're closer to me than they were to him, and we're just like, She can't have her dog in here.

And he's like, It's a service animal.

And it's like, it doesn't matter, she has to leave.

And it's like, I'm right here.

And I've also had people come up and they will start speaking, and you know, my husband will say, like, that's that's her service animal.

And they turn to me, start speaking slower and louder.

SPEAKER_00: So, see, I thought that only happened because I'm blind.

The fact that people at a restaurant they'll turn to whoever I'm with and say, Okay, and what would he like to eat?

No, you know, and and they always will look and say, I don't know, Kevin, what would you like to eat?

You know?

And so it it and so, or the whole thing of talking slow.

And so I always thought that was just something with me blind, but no, it's just people with any of us.

That's just people that's so funny to me.

SPEAKER_02: It's just people.

SPEAKER_00: And and I think the funniest is when you said earlier how they'll actually turn and talk to the dog.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

Yeah, it's it goes back to the staring, like they will just stare, and I'm trying to have a conversation.

It happened at the DMV.

Like the the person could not stop staring at my dog.

And it was just like, okay, and like, where are we gonna have a conversation or is that not gonna happen?

Or, you know, but I've I've even had people come up.

This is funny, Guinness won't appreciate this, but I've had people come up and try to feed him in a restaurant.

It's very, let me let me preface this by saying it's very sweet or kind that you during your meal thought about my service animal and wanted to save him a part of your meal.

That's very sweet and very kind.

And he doesn't eat while he is working, like he doesn't eat in a restaurant, and that's a huge no-no in the service animal world.

And so for you to walk up and open a to-go box and bend down to feed my dog, that's not okay.

And I have been known to threaten to send him home with you because if you feed him outside of his diet, his gas is awful.

And I drive a vehicle with him in the back with air conditioning going through the entire vehicle that I don't want to share that car ride home.

So you will sit in the back with him and smell that because it's gonna be awful.

So it but it's just so I people don't always have the most mean or rude intentions.

Sometimes they have very good intentions and they think it's just like their dog, and their dog would like, you know, sausage or bacon or steak or and he would just don't feed him at the restaurant and please don't feed him prior to us getting in the car.

I don't need him throwing up, and I don't need to sit in that smell.

Like he is, yeah, and I don't know what you're giving him.

Like, you wouldn't walk up to like my child and be like, oh, here's a lollipop.

Like we he doesn't take candy from strangers.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly.

So that is just oh my goodness.

All I know is I get along with you way too well.

I think I'm like, oh my goodness, we can we can stay on this subject forever just because it's people.

It just goes back to people.

It's just like I said, just think, think before you act.

Yeah, you know, yeah, and but but everybody, no matter how old everybody is, they all resort back to that like inner elementary school student.

SPEAKER_02: So you know, and my mom and I had this conversation last week because I was being I was asked a question, and my response was the more time I spend with people, the more I like my horses and my dogs.

My mom's like, you know, that's rude.

And I she's like, how do you think that sounded?

And I was like, exactly as I meant it.

Like, you know, and that's true, and the older I get too.

It doesn't even necessarily apply to people.

It's just there are times, and this is this is life with a disability for me, I can say.

And I I'm only speaking for me, but there are times where I sit there and I'm like, I would really like some kind of food from some kind of restaurant.

And then I think about the aspect of getting in the car, driving to the restaurant, getting Guinness in the car, getting Guinness out of the car, getting his bed, getting into the restaurant, getting us settled, all of the people staring, figuring out if we're gonna get a server that's gonna navigate around his bed.

And it's not worth it.

And I stay home.

And so, you know, there's there are those days that I want you to remember as well, because, you know, as much as Kevin and I have joked and laughed at our experiences, like there are those days where I just can't, I don't even have the energy to go out into public because of how exhausting it is to interact with individuals who don't yet have the awareness of how to be inclusive.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is.

And it's exactly what you just said.

And and I think and I think sometimes for myself, like I don't even think about it, but it is so true is the fact of I recognize it in times when uh when I do go out somewhere, and and for the most part, you know, here where I live, everything goes great, you know, but it's just sometimes when when I go somewhere and everything just runs smoothly.

And, you know, it it's not a big deal of, you know, oh my goodness, do I give him a menu?

Do I not give him a menu?

You know, everything just runs where it makes you feel like there's nothing different about you from everybody else who's who's going to the store.

And so therefore, sometimes it makes those other times just exhausting, you know, and and and it's like, you know, it's like myself, you know, yeah, could I could I go to the store if I wanted?

Sure.

But what does that it's not as easy as me walking out into the driveway, getting in the car.

I've got to now figure out, I've got to, you know, go on and order an Uber, you know, I've got to, you know, figure that out.

And, you know, it just it is it is different.

We you know, we we talk about it and you we we find ways around it and you you may do, but that's not to say that it's always easy and and that it doesn't just kind of get to you sometimes.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and if you or I find an Uber driver that knows us, it's like a welcome, it's like a warm bubble path, you know, because it's like, oh, I don't have to explain me.

I can just show up and be me.

And exactly, you know, and even though our families love us, like sometimes it's it's a lot too, you know.

And so there are family members who are like probably don't invite us because they know that it's gonna be a circus.

And that's not our fault necessarily.

I mean, that does have to do with the environment, but it's also, you know, I I know our crews.

There was like three extra hours of drama because we have a service animal in our family.

And I love the fact that my family, my immediate family, are the most inclusive and protective of him.

Like, I mean, if if the ship was going down, I'm pretty sure we'd have four people saving the dog.

I may drown, but you know, they they tell my parents are so to watch my parents and how grateful they are to this being who is who is taking care of their daughter and they trust with their daughter's life.

I mean, that is a really big deal.

And, you know, my husband being in the the army and, you know, being gone for days at a time, months at a time, years at a time, he has a love-hate relationship with Guinness because of Guinness being in the bed and Guinness not really understanding that there's another man in my life.

Yeah.

And my husband will be the first one to tell you that he wouldn't leave me in the paws of anybody else, because you know, my life is better for having him in it.

And that benefits my clients.

That benefits the world.

That benefits, you know, the companies that I am trusted with and the contracts that I am trusted with.

When Guinness can take that on, and I get to be fully present with you on this podcast and in the work that we do.

And, you know, just think about how much he's brought to this podcast.

And so including individuals with disabilities is a great thing to do from a business perspective, from a personal perspective, from a human perspective.

Because it is the, I think it's the fastest growing population of individuals on this planet.

And so, you know, just opening your mind, opening your heart, listening to this again, and hopefully you've gotten something out of it that you're like, here's how this has made my world better.

That's that's my hope.

That's why we did this.

SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Well, I well, I love it.

And goodness gracious, I I seriously just want to tell you how awesome it has been to talk to you today.

You, I mean, like I said, you are a woman with an extremely interesting storyline.

You have so many things.

And what I love about the fact of my podcast is the fact that I'm sitting here, I have my notes open, and I, you know, I have some, you know, kind of guidelines and questions to kind of, you know, guide the conversation.

But I don't think I asked you any of them besides the first couple, because literally it was able to just let our conversation be guided how it was.

And and I think it's awesome is you know, a big guide to that was was Ginnon.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I and I couldn't help but sitting there thinking as you were just talking about him, is I thought it's so awesome because you've got this this big guy who's is basically your guardian.

You know, he he's he's your security guard, he's your your lifeline.

And and I don't know, I just think it's awesome.

I think I think your your story, your your life that you live right now is such an amazing testimony to the power of a service animal.

And I just think I just think it's really awesome.

I didn't when I sat down today, it wasn't this takeaway is not what I expected to come away with, but it is.

I mean, I just think you are you are so awesome to talk to.

Oh, thank you.

I love your outlook, I love your openness, and and you've you've made me come to to love Guinness.

SPEAKER_02: Uh well, so the last two things I'll say is let me know when the vacation plans are finalized, and I'll send payment.

Uh, so now you know that you're planning a vacation for the entire family.

Thank you.

And to Nana and mom, Kevin spent his first hour and a half with the service of a podcast guide dog in the sense that Guinness is not a guide dog, but he has guided this podcast.

And so that's an hour and a half down the rest of your life, possibly to go.

I'm I'm in team service animal and guide dog shocking.

But so Nana mom and I will get you that.

It's okay to stare, I know I'm a sexy, handsome beast with a cane shirt.

We'll get that made, and we'll definitely take a group vacation then.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that sounds wonderful.

I that would be the absolute best thing I could think of.

So because I don't, I mean, I don't know.

I'm sitting here thinking, cruise, I don't know if that ship could hold two sexy beasts, one with four legs and one with two.

But we we can we can make at 30% capacity, I'm pretty sure they could though.

unknown: That's right.

SPEAKER_00: That's so awesome.

Well, listen, I just want to thank you once again.

It was an absolute pleasure to get to to speak with you today.

SPEAKER_02: Oh, it was my pleasure.

And uh, Guinness and I truly do hope that uh the listeners have gotten at least one thing out of this to improve their lives.

And thank you for the honor and pleasure of being able to be here and being me on a podcast.

SPEAKER_00: Awesome.

And that's the blowdown with Kevin Lowe.

I hope today's episode inspired you, motivated you, and excited you to get out and enjoy life, no matter what obstacles may be standing in the way.