Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Jeff Tiessen: Welcome to Life and Limb, a podcast from Thrive magazine, all about living well with limb loss and limb difference. I'm Jeff Tiessen, publisher of Thrive magazine and your podcast host. My guest this episode is Tracy Schmitt, known to most as Unstoppable Tracy. Tracy has a best-selling book and top honors as an international mega success speaker.
She's also been named a number one Female Transformational Global Leader. She's earned awards as an athlete, a businesswoman, and for her work in underdeveloped countries. She's spoken to audiences in over 40 countries and is Toronto's most virally viewed speaker with over 30 million views in just three months back in 2019.
I think that's way more than 30 million now.
[00:00:51] Tracy Schmitt: Yes.
[00:00:52] Jeff Tiessen: Born a four-way amputee, she's climbed the Himalayan mountains, captained a towering 110 foot tall ship, and conquered challenges that many would never dare attempt. Unstoppable Tracy has never let limits define her and promotes to others that they need not as well. Tracy, welcome. How are you?
[00:01:13] Tracy Schmitt: I am fabulous, thanks. What a beautiful introduction. Thank you.
[00:01:18] Jeff Tiessen: Well, you earned it. We know each other well enough that I've shared that bio many, many a time. But let's start here with Unstoppable Tracy. That's how you're known to most publicly. Me and you, we met long ago and we'll talk about that in a little bit. But you are Tracy Schmitt to me. Where or how did that name, that brand, really originate?
[00:01:47] Tracy Schmitt: So I had a scary life-threatening moment on a plane when I discovered that I definitely wanted to pursue my Paralympic dream life. I drove down to Miami to meet a man named Magnus, a gold medal Olympian. Because you want to make something happen, you surround yourself with people who are doing it more successfully than you are. I camped out in his boatyard for three months, sleeping in my car, day in, day out, every day, 5:30, washing and waxing his boats in the morning. And he's a lot like Shrek. I wish I was the Fiona of the story, but I'm more like the donkey and I just didn't give up.
Like the 89th or 90th day in the hangar, late at night with a beer in his hand, he took a Sharpie and there was this boat that was on its side. There was a creature living inside of the boat. It was surrounded in garbage. And he took this Sharpie and he wrote Unstoppable Tracy on it. Just because I was there every day for three months, it wasn't his thing to train me in his world. And so, in a moment of loving frustration, he wrote Unstoppable Tracy; that's funny!
[00:03:14] Jeff Tiessen: That's where that came from. And then he let you sail the boat, I'm sure.
[00:03:18] Tracy Schmitt: Yes, yes. It was up to me to fix it up, and I did.
And what's funny is that like in kindergarten, that's what my kindergarten teacher said to my mom. When they said, ‘no, you can't ski’, that's what they said to my mom. And with sailing, ‘no, you can't sail’. And you know, each time she'd be like, ‘can you just try?’ And of course, it would work out and they'd say, ‘she's unstoppable’. So, it’s one word — lots of adjectives surround us - but for some reason, unstoppable is really anchored in the feedback that I've gotten all my life.
[00:03:52] Jeff Tiessen: Interesting. I want to talk more about your sailing career, but you've given me a nice segue back to childhood. So again, a four-way amputee. Limb loss from birth above the knees, both. Both legs and essentially above the elbow on your upper extremities as well, right?
[00:04:14] Tracy Schmitt: Yes, yes, I do have one finger on my right side. And a bit of a single extension bone.
[00:04:21] Jeff Tiessen: And you use an orthotic device, right, with your thumb?
[00:04:27] Tracy Schmitt: Yes, I like to call it Trevor. It's more approachable. Trevor's a great hand, but like an opposition device with that one finger digit.
[00:04:37] Jeff Tiessen: Right, I got it. Trevor. I like that. So childhood in the 70s, that was my time as an amputee child at that time. What was it like growing up back then? It had to be much different than what you see today. What were your parents like? Siblings. How did you make your way through the 70s?
[00:05:02] Tracy Schmitt: 70s… You know, I think most of the other kids I met - and like you - are acquired disability. That's right, isn't it? Yes, yes. So, I was born this way. All the kids that I met that were born this way were all foster kids. I was the only one that actually had my birth parents, because doctors would, because there was no ultrasound, you know, tell parents to give your child up for adoption. And in the 70s, children with disabilities went to segregated schools, especially if you were born this way. Mom and dad went to visit those segregated schools. They did not feel like that was the vibe that I had playing with all the neighborhood kids. And, you know, I’d go the dentist and people would cry when I'm going up the stairs. And I was a happy-go-lucky kid. Nobody needed to cry for me going up the stairs. But just the laws and the awareness and the education and the exposure, right? People with disabilities just weren't out and about the same way.
[00:06:07] Jeff Tiessen: Sure. I remember a story you told me about ice cream. And just to set this up as a kid, strangers would come up to me and my mom and give us money on the street. You know, pity, charitable money doesn't happen so much anymore. But for you, it was ice cream, right? People would buy you ice cream and there stood your sister with nothing.
[00:06:33] Tracy Schmitt: Yeah, my younger sister. 11 months younger than me. Like, how do you face two little girls and only give one of them ice cream? And so, as a result, I did not like ice cream until my 30s. Unfortunately, I found out that ice cream is really delicious. But…
[00:06:52] Jeff Tiessen: You gave it to your sister, right?
[00:06:53] Tracy Schmitt: Oh, yeah. I'm like, I would just give it to my sister. Really. Or, if my sister wasn't around, if there was a dog that wanted it, I would give it to the dog. It was terrible. I was so rude, so ungrateful. But it's like as a child, it really got my gander, shall we say.
[00:07:11] Jeff Tiessen: I bet it did. Following you on social media, you are one busy woman and always busy with so much that you do, from your own sports and recreation activities to speaking on stages around the world and everything else. So what's on tap for this summer?
[00:07:30] Tracy Schmitt: So, you know, during COVID I actually didn't do great care on my legs for the first time in my entire life. And I ended up getting sepsis. So I ended up not being able to wear my legs. Also because of COVID, sailing really took a backseat. So, this year and last year, September of last year was like a comeback regatta, which is sort of the end of the season in Toronto. And I fell in love all over again. And so this year is my comeback year. There isn't Paralympic sailing, but there's World cup sailing. And we have representatives in the 2.4 and in the RS, which are two—there are three classes of competitive boats, but we didn't have anybody in the 303. And as soon as I heard that, I'm like, okay, I self-funded and got myself on a boat in Australia at a World cup event in March. I've just packed my summer with any regatta that I can see that's para-related and not para-related. I've sailed in open races the last couple Tuesday/Thursdays at the National Yacht Club. So anyone, anywhere and any way and any boat I could sail, I'm jumping into it to get my game back on.
[00:08:53] Jeff Tiessen: Do you have adaptive equipment that you bring with you then? Have equipment, will travel, will sail. Is that how it works?
[00:09:00] Tracy Schmitt: Will sail, right! So, when I was competitive in 2011-2016, Magnus finally got on board with me and we eventually got the boat more and more tailored to me. Magnus fed all of the cleats at the front of the deck. So everything was immediately in front of me and it was all shoulder height so that my little arm and my longer arm could reach all of those lines. I didn't have to get to them and the tiller. The other people, they sailed with their feet and I of course have no legs. So, my hands were pulling 24 lines and steering the boat. So, we put two gigantic PVC tubes either side of the tiller and dropped them down to my knees. It made the tiller nice and wide between my knees and I could push the tiller left and right with my knees on, say the 2.4.
And in the Martin 16, it's a naturally adapted boat, the lines are fed forwards anyways. But I also use a windlass so it's an automatic wench that reels the main and the jib sails in and out for me which is great because I'm using my one finger and all these people with two arms and lots of muscles, they just do like one big long pull and their main is in, whereas I'm like scrolling away. So when I have the windlass it helps me pull the sails in and out. But the 303 in Australia, like it's new so I have no adaptions yet for the 303. But you know, they lovingly call me the dumpster diver. And it seems to be how I start. I saw some broken piece of hose… I took the piece of hose and I made it into a loop and I took a line and fed it through the existing tiller so there was a loop so I could use the tiller a little easier so that my hand was free to reach all over the boat for the cleats that are not currently fed into one place for me. So I compete and sail anything with or without adaptations, but I wasn't competitive without adaptations in the high winds. I did great on three races that were light wind and then I did crap on three races.
There were 80 boats and I got 4th, I got 12th, I got 20th on the lights out of 80 and most of the people were able-bodied men and then I got 36 out of 80. So still not bad, but not putting me on a podium. Sail Canada wants me to be their 303 rep.
[00:11:57] Jeff Tiessen: So the adaptive equipment levels the playing field for you for sure. Yes?
[00:12:02] Tracy Schmitt: Yes. But I'll sail anyway just to get boat time.
[00:12:06] Jeff Tiessen: Oh, I know you will! Let's talk about off the water and into the mountains.
I mean a signature piece in all of your bios is climbing the Himalayan mountains. And for the record, the first four-way amputee to do so. Right? It may be the only—that, I don't know.
[00:12:27] Tracy Schmitt: I've done some research and I haven't found any male or females that have done the Annapurna region as a four-way amputee yet.
[00:12:34] Jeff Tiessen: So an experience like sailing that most of us will never experience. What was it like? Were there times when you thought to yourself, what have I signed myself up for climbing up the mountain and how did you do that with, I mean, as a four-way amputee?
[00:12:53] Tracy Schmitt: You know, when you do adventure you often find there's parallels in life. You find your roadblock in the adventure is also maybe something that you do applying for jobs or in relationships or you know, taking on new challenges. And in Nepal I actually loved working super hard. I would wake up early ahead of the group. Because of my little stumps, I did them on my knees. They were shorter than everybody else's long legs, so I would fall behind quick. So, I would start earlier and I would finish later. And I didn't mind that. But the other people in the group, they were struggling and they had moments when they were… ‘what have I signed myself up for?’
And what I find in life and on the mountain is, that was projected onto me. People, they're like, ‘how could you bring her? You didn't set her up for success. It doesn't make sense that this happened. And like everybody was trying to be an advocate for me and the only people really struggling were them.’ And it really was my biggest struggle, trying to be empathetic and appreciative, but also like, I'm okay, and we've got this. That was my biggest struggle. And it was beautiful moments. Like, I crossed the suspension bridge over the Motai Cola River, 850 foot drop. It was long days and really physical, and everybody was taking a rest after the suspension bridge, but my heart was beating; so I kept going because I'm always behind the group. So I kept going. I met this farmer, and he asked a student, ‘if she looks like that, what do the rest of them look like? And one of the Nepalese porters replied, ‘one of them doesn't have a head.’ And it was hilarious! Right? And it might be insulting to some, but this porter, he'd been traveling with me for nine days, and he could make a joke.
And I know you know this story, Jeff, but in Nepal, zero technology, people with disabilities die off, babies born with a disability get killed off. There's no awareness or support, no crutches, no prosthetics.
And this guy, after nine days with me, could make a joke. We can bring awareness and acceptability anywhere. If that can happen in Nepal in the most extreme circumstances.
[00:15:39] Jeff Tiessen: Yeah. I mean, when I talk about inclusion and training, we hear ‘training’ all the time. And that word kind of puts me off a little bit because it's really about familiarity. It's getting comfortable and getting to know one another. Right? And so, your porter was right in step with that. But those who were climbing with you, it seemed that there were some societal stigmas there that, like you said, maybe they were projecting their own inadequacies, but yeah, interesting dynamic. It must have been more so, or as much as, the physicality of climbing that mountain?
[00:16:17] Tracy Schmitt: Yes, certainly. Just as in life, like with this podcast with you, Jeff, creating that lifeline and creating advocacy and creating more space for an authentic voice. Right? You and I both know Kathy Smart and her husband, Steve Couchman, and they were amazing at facilitating and generating conversation and getting to the crux of where that feedback came from. I don't want to do a paintbrush over everybody. There were allies like yourself out there and why this podcast is so important.
[00:16:54] Jeff Tiessen: Thanks for that. Yeah. Kathy was one of my first employers at March of Dimes.
[00:16:59] Tracy Schmitt: Yeah.
[00:16:59] Jeff Tiessen: You started the Independence Afloat. Is that the name?
[00:17:06] Tracy Schmitt: Kathy started it. Then I felt like when she left…I got to join, take over.
[00:17:11] Jeff Tiessen: Gotcha. Sticking with sports and recreation. And you do so much. One that really intrigues me though, that I've done a little bit of although lacking a little certification when I should have had it, is scuba diving. It would seem to me that might be one of your most challenging activities. I mean, sailing a boat. I have no idea. I don't do that. But there's truly an element of risk and danger with scuba diving. And you don't have any hands or feet, frankly. Am I worrying for you needlessly? Tell us about that.
[00:17:52] Tracy Schmitt: Well, I love to swim. And I grew up in affordable housing. But one of the first things my parents did was get an above ground - expensive to them - pool. And we were the only ones on the whole street with a pool. And so all the kids used to come down and swim in our backyard pool, which was great because it brought the neighbourhood to me and lots of friends because everybody wants to swim. And so swimming's been special. When my niece was young, she thought I was a mermaid because I had no legs. And I love water, anything water. Scuba diving was great because I can swim anyways. And the wetsuit, I've done over 100 dives. I've gone more than once over 100ft deep. And it sounds exotic, 100ft deep, but everything turns gray. You lose all the colour. It's not that much fun at 100ft deep. And your time is very short at 100ft deep because of what it does. Nitrogen that gets into your bloodstream at 100ft deep. So 30ft is great or less. You see all the beautiful coral. But anyway, we've modified a wetsuit to be sewn on my left arm, short right. And tight on my right, skinny extended arm. And we've cut off the fingers. Just left me one pointing finger for my glove. And then the wetsuit's cut off at my knees above me. So that's sort of expensive to get your wetsuit tailored. I can't buy an off-the-shelf wetsuit, but it's important. Everything is closed and keeps you warm that way.
And we discovered these shin fins where people with legs use them to just horse around in a swimming pool; they put these fins on their shins. But I put them on my thighs and so now I kind of have some fin action. In some minor current and medium current, I can swim with these fins, which is great. And I can do drift dives. You know, drop me in and I'll go with the current. Which is great. You don't have to swim at all. But I scuba dive with Trevor and so I can pinch my nose with Trevor for regulating. I hold the, I'm putting my cell phone on my shoulder right now to show all you people who are not watching me, but I lift my little left stump arm in the air and the regulator just follows the inside seam of my little stump arm so it holds it up, which I need for gravity. And now my one finger that I have, I can push the regulator to let air out or let air in. So I don't need any significant adaptation really to regulate my nose or to regulate my regulator for my BC going in and out. And I, I have incredible buoyancy control. I was born with no arms and no legs. But what you don't see is I was born well endowed. So that also helps me with scuba diving, but not with free diving. It's very hard to get down, but it's certainly part of my strength in swimming.
[00:21:31] Jeff Tiessen: I would have thought there would have been a bunch of equipment adapted, but really, just the wetsuit to fit your body?
[00:21:46] Tracy Schmitt: It's so great. And there are motors that can drive you around, but I'm not on a motor.
[00:21:52] Jeff Tiessen: Yep, I'm familiar with them. I love snorkeling and like I said, I've done a few dives. I love the water like you, too. Just the freedom of it. Right?
[00:22:02] Tracy Schmitt: Yes. And because I could swim, I could sail because I could fall out of a boat. Now there are adapted boats and there's lots of creative solutions with certification. So you don't have to right a capsized boat. You don't have to be able to swim with a disability. You can be paralyzed and just sip and puff in a boat. When I learned to sail in the 80s with Kathy at Independence Afloat, I needed to be able to swim and I needed to be able to right a capsized boat.
[00:22:37] Jeff Tiessen: Interesting. Quick story. I was in Mexico with my wife this spring, and we always go on a snorkeling trip. So we're on the boat. It must have been a law that everybody snorkeling in the group has to wear a life jacket. So as the boat's going out to the reef, the first mate is handing out life jackets to everybody but me. My wife, of course, jokes, yeah, you're the disabled guy, you're expendable. You know, personal, family jokes. I'm like, what's going on here? Well, he presumed I was just accompanying her and there was no way I was going in the water. Right?
[00:23:15] Tracy Schmitt: Oh.
[00:23:16] Jeff Tiessen: So I would just be a passenger today. And I explained to him, I'm a pretty good snorkeler. I like diving down deep. I said, ‘this is not going to be fun for me with the life jacket’. And I had to talk to the captain about it and they, you know, could get fined. I said, ‘I'll pay your fine’.
[00:23:36] Tracy Schmitt: Good, good. Yeah.
[00:23:38] Jeff Tiessen: So what he did, they agreed and they grabbed a life jacket that they took in case I needed it, and a lifesaving ring that they dragged behind in case I needed it. And immediately I just dove down and they both looked and said, “yeah, you'll be fine.” But there again, those assumptions, right? On what our abilities are not.
[00:24:01] Tracy Schmitt: Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's funny. I thought you were just expendable, not that you were going to be excluded.
[00:24:10] Jeff Tiessen: You and I met more than 45 years ago in a place called the Ontario Crippled Children Center. So much has changed for amputees since then. Language and facility names for sure. But from the work you do, and you would have a really unique lens on some of this evolution and change in culture, what have you seen that has changed significantly? And maybe what hasn't – and that should.
[00:24:38] Tracy Schmitt: Yeah, well, I will say, because I've been in the wheelchair for a couple of years, getting back to my prosthetic legs now, that there's a real difference when I've got my legs on and when I'm sitting in the wheelchair. And it's horrific.
But I also have noticed, since COVID I really feel like we've gone backwards in time massively, where people are afraid again. Children. I used to go into schools, kids weren't afraid of me, but now they're afraid again. I get to earn their trust and make them comfortable all over again because they're, you know, so sheltered and protected and, you know, 80s, maybe even a little in the 90s when parents would like yank the arm and don't look, don't stare. Whereas there was a time there up until 2020, where it was almost too much; where it's like, just ask her, right? I too have to be somewhere on time sometimes, right? Like, you gotta build in extra time to make sure you educate the world that everything's okay, except when you're running late, but that's not possible.
But now it's gone backwards again. So I think we've gone forwards in lots of technology and we've gone forwards in laws where you've got the Canadian Disability Act opening up now, which we never had. But I still feel like the jobs that are available are like frontline tellers for banks. What about…I have a master's in business…. senior leadership roles?
It's really tough to break into a senior leadership or managerial role in a company, which is why I'm an international keynote speaker. But only 1% of the bazillion people that try to be a keynote speaker can actually pay their mortgage as a keynote speaker. I'm very lucky to be in that 1% range. And that career got totaled during COVID so it's like building it back up again. It's interesting, there's strides where companies are expected to be inclusive, but in nominal roles.
And now in grocery stores for a while, people were like, shunning that aisle and don't look at her. And then they were too helpful. Let me get that for you. And I'm okay getting it. But you know, born in a different time is like, you get to be gracious and let people help you. And even though you get to do it totally by yourself, because that's what I expect of you from mom's angle, but that I have to be gracious when people try to help. So, you know, not give my ice cream cone to the dog. When somebody gives me a gift, I need to say thank you, but it's gone. And then they ignore you. Then they're around you in the aisles, which is great.
They expect me to be able to get what I need off the grocery store Items and to 2021 and yesterday, where people are avoiding the aisles and avoiding contact and there actually are things I can't reach when I grocery shop in the chair, instead of with the legs. And it's really hard to get assistance. Like the subway. I'm trying to find out from the locals if there's an accessible entry. Do you know where the other St. George entry is? I'm only finding the one with stairs. And they're just like, sorry, I can't talk. Like, I can't ask random strangers on the street anymore because they won't talk to me. But this is in the wheelchair. And then in the grocery store yesterday, nobody helped me in the aisles, but when I was loading up the car, some random man, as I was loading my car said, you inspire me. And, and I was just loading the car. I get it. If I climb the Himalayas or as a World cup sailor sailing against able-bodied men, or double black diamond skiing or at 100-feet scuba diving with no adaptive equipment, like I get that; that's stuff that even able-bodied people don't do. But just loading my car?
[00:29:10] Jeff Tiessen: Yeah. We know in our community, we hear it from so many, that objectification. Right? And praising us for doing the ordinary and I mean, how does that leave us feeling? Well, if that's the bar that you've set for expectations of us, that we can put groceries in a trunk and that inspires you. Yeah. That's not fulfilling; it's not gratifying for us at all, is it?
[00:29:37] Tracy Schmitt: No. And it's from a kind space. So how lucky am I that my worst obstacle is excessive kindness? I get it.
[00:29:52] Jeff Tiessen: Yeah. It's, it's a tricky one for sure.
[00:29:54] Tracy Schmitt: Yeah.
[00:29:54] Jeff Tiessen: But it's that microaggression, Right? That you hear that over and over and over.
[00:30:01] Tracy Schmitt: And I wouldn't normally share that, but this audience gets to know.
[00:30:06] Jeff Tiessen: You've been called, and I read this, ‘a disruption of normal’. What does that mean to you?
[00:30:29] Tracy Schmitt: So that came about when Uber was trying to bust into Canada and they had some roadblocks. Our taxi drivers were very organized in petitioning and they had a long, lifelong legacy of controlled medallions, or making up numbers, like 100s of them in the 70s. So now there's only so many licenses. So they could charge lots and lots of money to charter or share a cab because there's only so many medallions. And so when Uber came, it busted that structure. And they were trying to say that it was the cheapness of Uber, but the reality of it was there was a very corrupt background structure to the taxi world and so they were very powerful in petitioning the city, in not getting them in. And we were at an event to disrupt innovative thinking and Uber came and there were students that were meant to be inventive with apps, and Airbnb were there as well. How do we do accessibility in the apps? And so I got to know this man Jared at Uber and he said, will you come talk to our team? And so they ended up involving me. And I said, you really got to get the voice of many people with disabilities. I'm not the voice. And so they brought in Mayan Ziv when she was much, much younger, and Luke who was just starting to thrive with the stopgap ramps. And George from the Center for Independent Living. So they started to bring in the gurus of the time. Mayan was just up and coming at that time. Now she's super extraordinarily successful. And so they brought us all in and had us be voices and talk to city hall about how we need on-demand accessible transportation, which the Uber Wave wheelchair accessible vehicle was the intention at the time.
And so that's why they said, ‘disrupt the norm’. And so I think you've heard me say, you know, being two years old, I just want a cookie from the cookie jar. I'm not being a hero, I'm not being anything but a two-year-old in my heart and soul that wants a cookie. And like any two-year-old, you see them push stools, or push obstacles around to reach something to get to the cookie, right? I'm not aware of not having hands and legs. And so the bonus to that, and being told no in kindergarten and no, you can't sail and no, you can't ski and no, you can't scuba dive, right? Being told no, you learn that you get to say, okay, how come? And then you keep counter offering until you can get a foot in the door. Can we just try? No expectation, right? And then it works. If we're not generating possibility, we are generating breakthroughs in somebody else's mind to give you a chance to go snorkeling because they had said no, you're not going.
And it's policy, right? We become master generators of conversation with humans that stop us. It's not us, it's everybody else that's trying to create a roadblock. And we need them to be comfortable to get through the door. So that we can now figure out what we're going to do to figure it out. I don't know why I got on my soapbox at the beginning of this conversation.
[00:34:14] Jeff Tiessen: Disruption of norm.
[00:34:17] Tracy Schmitt: Yes. But the bonus to disrupting those normal conversations of no is that it has created an incredible skill set for Uber during the entry into Canada, or for pharmaceutical reform, for shoppers drug mart. Right. They needed to invent new ways of business. And that's yours and mine and all of your listeners forte. We become the disruptors of ‘Well that's impossible’, right? Like well, I'm impossible. Unless what? And we expect people to say ‘oh, it's impossible’. Unless you are like, why? And then they say some ridiculous thing.
[00:35:17] Jeff Tiessen: I know what you're talking about. I've heard others talk about it in terms of interrogating normal… don't interrogate difference and different lived experience; I mean there's richness and currency in that—interrogate what's normal and work from there.
[00:35:36] Tracy Schmitt: So I love that.
[00:35:38] Jeff Tiessen: Yeah. Yeah. Your friend Dr. Maureen Connolly said that. From Brock University.
[00:35:46] Tracy Schmitt: Beautiful. She's a powerhouse.
[00:35:48] Jeff Tiessen: She sure is. You've been on countless stages and what you do is lift people up. What lifts you up?
[00:36:00] Tracy Schmitt: Sailing. Friendships like ours and Kathy's and Maureen's. You know, having that handful of people that get it right, where you get to be. I am guilty of… because I have to pay my bills… of that brave face and super positivity all the time. And I have you and Kathy and Maureen that call me out on it and you say BS, what's really going on? Like really? Or you know, and push the envelope to say, well yeah, you're right. You're the only one that dragged that ice cream cone story out of me. I don't think I've ever shared it anywhere else except when I'm with you. So it's there, authenticity. You get a few people where you get to be completely authentic with and that doesn't mean you're negative. It doesn't mean you're hopeless. It just means there's brutal realities out there and then we go back and crush them.
[00:37:02] Jeff Tiessen: It's interesting that you talk about that, because that was my next question. I mean, your public persona is about positivity, and that's not fake. That's you. That's your personality. But I guess the question would be, that energy and that positivity, can that be a burden at times? Does that wear you out? Is it tiring? Particularly like the story you told, you've been out of your prosthetic legs almost three years because of sepsis and living a different identity of disability as a wheelchair user.
[00:37:43] Tracy Schmitt: Yes, yes. And as you say it like that. You know, you get moments. So I wasn't allowed to leave the hospital, but I desperately wanted to leave the hospital. And one of the reasons I really had to go is that they were out of rooms. And I ended up for a short time being in a bed in hospice. And not because I was like all of my roommates. Being around those families and being the positivity for those families while I'm, like, still in hospital figuring this out. They were saying, ‘oh, you're at an age now where you're lucky. You walked all your life. It was bound to be that you'd eventually use a chair. You won't be getting legs after this.’ It was really interesting times where even then they were trying to give me realistic expectations about walking again.
And so, what I did was I ordered a wheel trans ride. We were allowed to wander the building, the hospital. So, I just wandered for a walk around the hospital, but I actually got on the wheel trans and I went down to Harborfront to go sailing. And the news media was at Harborfront that day. And Karen Ann Xavier, a phenomenal soul who runs Able Sail Toronto, said ‘hey, will you demonstrate the lift?’ And I said I can't get my knee wet. She's like, no, no. I know you normally jump in the boat. We want to show them how people who can't jump in the boat get in. So can we use you for the hoyer lift? And then the media said, ‘can she just do a little figure eight right here at the dock?’ And she said, ‘I don't mind if you don't mind’. No, I don't mind. So I did this figure 8, and then I came back and sure enough, I'd been on the news and one of the other hospital patients was like, hey, I just saw you on the news.
And I whiz over and the nurse's desk is like, what? Nah, I'm like, no, no, that was from a past time. And they're like, you're wearing the same dress. Oh, I wear this dress all the time. You know, like, I got caught. I do get tired.
Paralympic sailing started because I got laid off from a job and I was depressed in a parking lot. And I know I've seen with my heart of hearts what you focus on for growth. I was afraid to drive home after being laid off from my job that day. And I'm like, how am I going to get home? A tree is going to fall on me or I'm going to have a car accident. And now I'm manifesting it because I'm focusing on it. You manifest that. You think it and it happens. You believe it, it happens. You've got to make it happen.
But I'm like, I've got to make this drive home happen in a way that I'm confident that I drive home safe. And so I googled sailing and I went to San Diego, and that's where Hurricane Sandy was that made me decide to pursue my paralympic dream. So, when I am at the lowest of low, it seems to be where I go is sailing. I try to find some sailing. Like, same with the sepsis. I'm like, okay, I'm not walking yet. I'm having trouble with the legs. Australia, World Cup sailing. Okay, I'm there and there I go. And now I'm back to authentically the happy me.
[00:41:18] Jeff Tiessen: I know you like movies, and you're back in your legs. You told me you were at the theater on the weekend. That story you tell about showing up on the news, it's like that movie Four Christmases with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. They don't want to spend the time with their family at Christmas and they're going on vacation, but a storm stops and they're on the news. That's how the word comes out. Anyway, a total aside. Let's wrap up with this. And it's a little bit of what you've talked about already. I mean, that overarching message for corporate audiences, as I understand it, is turning ordinary days into extraordinary ones. And, I've seen you bring that energy, like I talked about, to the stage and motivate your audiences. But behind the curtains, which you've talked about a little bit - those personal and private challenges that come with being an amputee, congenital or traumatic - whatever it may be. Does that messaging translate to a coffee shop with other amputees? Let's say, when you're sitting around with our community, you know, the brotherhood and sisterhood of amputees, does it extrapolate to us? Or is that something that only lives on the corporate stage?
[00:42:35] Tracy Schmitt: No, 100%. It extrapolates to every human being I meet for me and vice versa. Like, I was at a Tim Hortons drive-through and I reached out to get the coffee and the lady was like, ‘oh no.’ And I could hear my mom in my ear… ‘she just doesn't know.’ And it's like, I can do it. I got this and she handed me the cup and I took the cup with my one finger and my little elbow and said, thanks very much. And I know that she was left inspired and it might be for the wrong reason. She doesn't know about Nepal or skiing or scuba diving or sailing, but I know.
I didn't know if I could go scuba diving in Egypt after Covid. I was in the chair. We'd all been isolated for a couple years and For myself, I was like, I don't know, am I still in shape? Can I still do this? I just had two years of all these people in my ears of saying, you got to be realistic and you're older and now this has happened, your life is different. Just count your lucky stars, you know? And I had all those doubts in my ears from a thousand experts and I needed to self-fulfill. You get to a feeling of doubt and fear. And I cried. Cried before Nepal. I cried in the hospice. I cried in Australia when I didn't make podium. Like, I cry. But you get to do it anyway. You get to feel the feelings and then you get to go exceed uncertainty. You get to be frustrated that they don't hand you a lifejacket or they don't let me just try skiing, sailing, scuba diving, jumping out of airplanes, every single thing. I went to 14 scuba diving schools before I found one. And I got to fall out of the boat and fail my certification before I figured out how to climb back in. But convince them to let me try again. Right, like you are a big pain in the arse. Why can't I just try like everybody else? And that's frustrating, but it's better than not changing their mind and eventually succeeding. I could not ski and I could not sail, but I needed to turn some heads first.
[00:45:08] Jeff Tiessen: And so for a new amputee, let's say relatively new amputee, or maybe someone that's seasoned but is struggling at a different stage and age of life, what is that message for them from your lived experience? All that you’ve… and I think ‘overcome’ is the right word here. I don't want to be sensational, but I think it truly fits. How do you boil all that down? Having a coffee with someone in that coffee shop who's an amputee of some sort. What's that message?
[00:45:43] Tracy Schmitt: One of the things I learned from people that have acquired a disability or are born like Mayan Ziv, is that there's almost an expectation from their family and friends or themselves to accommodate them. I've lived a life of not having it. Is that expectation fair? And that you get to expect it of yourself as well. I have some realistic reasons, right? Me, I had sepsis, I lost my legs, I lost my mom, I lost my home, I lost my car, I lost my source of income. It was a crazy time. You can see me welling up even thinking about it.
And so those are realistic reasons, and we have some real reasons. You know, if you were a football player or a baseball player and you've lost your arms, you know… but when you live a life of no excuses, difficult people, difficult learning, difficult times, when you live a life of no excuses, even when there's realistic reasons rooted, you get to live a life. The bonus to no excuses is you get to live a life of no limits. No excuses, no limits. And that's some real tough love, because I know our listeners have some very real reasons. But I could be in that hospice bed or I could break out and get some water time. You know, you get to have no excuses and figure it out and be prepared for that world of naysayers. But you got this.
[00:47:34] Jeff Tiessen: You have done a lot of firsts in your life. And I would imagine breaking out of hospice and going to the docks, demonstrating how to get into a boat and ending up on the news and then returning to hospice might be a first for hospice.
[00:47:53] Tracy Schmitt: Well, it depends if any of them are listening today. They'll be like, oh, I knew it. You know, you might have just outed me, but now I'm out. It's okay!
[00:48:01] Jeff Tiessen: That's it! Great message — expectations and no excuses. It all ties back to that story you talked about someone finding you so inspiring for putting groceries away; expectations were low of you from others but that doesn't mean they need to be low of you from you. Right? Yeah, terrific. It’s been so good to have you on the podcast. I really appreciate it. Tracy… the unstoppable one.
With that, this has been Life and Limb. Thanks for listening. And if interested in Tracy's book Unstoppable, a bestseller, or her speaking schedule, visit her website Unstoppable Tracy.com and it's important to say there's no E in Tracy. Unstoppable t r a c y.com. And you can read about others who are living with limb loss or limb difference and plenty more at Thrivemag.ca and you'll find our previous podcast episodes there too. Until next time, Live well.
[00:49:02] Tracy Schmitt: Thank you for listening. Thank you Jeff.
[00:49:05] Jeff Tiessen: Thank you Tracy.
