Lindsey Mazza

Transcript

I'm 6 years old and a few weeks into grade 1 and at the start of every school year my parents would meet with my principal and teacher to make sure all my necessary accommodations were in place and this included a buddy system for me which would allow my best friend to come with me to the washroom in the event that I needed help and then one day I asked my teacher if I could go to the washroom and she told me I could go but I had to go alone and I remember being so confused and saying but miss my mom and dad told me

I was always allowed to bring my friend despite my pleading she looked back at me and she said no and I remember sitting alone on the bathroom floor that day scared trying to problem solve and in the end I figured it out but it was on this day at the tender age of six that the Universe assigned me my role of an advocate and a problem solver and I accepted my mission I knew that I was Unstoppable regardless of what anyone else believed now fast forward a few years when the time came for me to decide what career path I would pursue I chose to

be a lawyer I thought hey since I've been making a case for myself from the tender age of six fighting for justice in a courtroom will be a cakewalk right wrong it turns out that the profession that is supposed to be built on Justice and equality didn't want me either I was denied my accommodations to write my law school entrance exam and without them I couldn't apply but I appealed this denial was eventually successful and I went on to practice in a profession that was full of barriers the cour houses are not fully accessible so I would create my own accommodations and this looked like

figuring out how to make more money so I could hire someone to assist me at court and by the time I was 28 years old I was so tired of working harder than my colleagues while lining someone else's pocket so I quit my job at a prominent law firm and I went on to build a multi-city firm from the ground up I had reached the epitome of success but here's the plot twist I did all of this while hiding my disability in plain sight and I was exhausted you see throughout my life I never talked about my disability because it never seemed to serve me

so I ran from it I accepted that I was going to have to work harder and and carve out my own unique path and I also understood that every step forward was a risk because I was always met with a hurdle but I continued to move forward with complete trust in my ability to problem solve as each issue arose and I was great at it this is what kept me safe all until October 25th 2023 the day that I lost my dad and this was not simply the loss of a parent you you see my dad had the same physical disability as me he was

a lawyer and then a judge our lives were paralleled and although I may have lost my teammate I was bound and determined to make sure the world would know our story but in order to do this I would have to come out of hiding I fell into a deep depression and the thought of continuing in law was unfathomable to me I knew I was meant to do something unique in this world but I didn't know what that was and I didn't know how I'd find the strength to move forward so in the depths of my depression I remember saying out loud Dad if you can

hear me help me find my way and I know that he did because I realized that my only way forward would require me to stop rejecting myself so that I could use my life experience to help others so I quit law I quit law so that I could pursue what I now know is my life's Mission and that is to change the world by telling people the beauty in our differences by sharing mine and my dream was to be on a stage to help Inspire audiences one story at a time and you see I realized that I had to start talking about my disability instead

of being ashamed of it and when I did just that I realized the most amazing thing my disabilties my superpower the one thing that I was so afraid to talk about has given me the strongest and loudest voice and that is why I am here to continue to tell my story every single dream that I have brought to fruition did not happen by chance or luck it happened because I consistently took the biggest risk I could ever take I risked it all and I bet on me so my friends when you leave here tonight please remember the most important life lesson the biggest risk you

can ever take is to unwaveringly commit to your belief in you because when you do you will live to witness the greatest rewards all born from something that was once just your dream thank you

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.