Internalized ableism drives many disabled and chronically ill people to overperform, avoid asking for accommodations, and question whether they are “disabled enough,” often because outside systems and narratives define who deserves support. These standards harm everyone, showing up in exclusionary event habits, pressure on new mothers, and the expectation that disability must be overcome rather than accepted and grieved. Entrepreneurship can offer a way out by letting founders build their businesses around their own needs, rest without guilt, and attract clients who respond to flexibility with understanding. Join me and some of my favorite returning guests for this week's small group conversation about internalized ableism.
Meet the Speakers
Sarah K. Heeter is the CEO of Podfox Media and host of the award-nominated Big Brave Business podcast. Her work sits at the intersection of ethical entrepreneurship, podcasting strategy, and inclusive leadership. She also teaches public policy at Arizona State University.
Launch Your Own Podcast:
Podfox offers a 100% free, private strategy session for anyone thinking of starting a podcast.
https://launchmyshow.com/
Connect with Sarah Heeter & Big Brave Business:
https://www.instagram.com/sarahkheeter/
https://www.threads.net/@sarahkheeter
https://www.youtube.com/@bigbravebusiness
Erin Perkins is a deafblind designer and CEO of Mabely Q, the company behind Successible, a plain-language accessibility checker for anyone who publishes online. After 20+ years in graphic design and eight years teaching accessibility to small business owners, she saw the same pattern: accessibility treated as a fix for later instead of part of building the brand.
Successible catches issues like missing alt text and hard-to-read color before they go live. A 2026 Social Impact Award Honoree by The Power Table and a Rising Tide Society 20 On The Rise recipient, Erin shows business owners that being accessible doesn't mean giving up their brand. It means catching the small things before they ship.
ColorReady.Successible.co (try for 3 free brands) Successible.co (lifetime access one time cost)
https://www.mabelyq.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erineperkins
Ali Cameron is a writer, speaker, and community builder based in Vancouver. She is the founder of Seated Perspectives, an advocacy space that disrupts narratives around disability and amplifies disabled voices, with a growing focus on disabled joy. She also leads the Disabled Joy Collective, a community grounded in the belief that disabled joy can live alongside every other experience of disability. The Collective hosts In the Sitting Room, a monthly conversation series with disabled guests. On her Substack, Ali writes about disabled joy, existence, and community, and what it means to build a life that makes room for all three.
https://seatedperspectives.co
https://instagram.com/seated.perspectives
Dr. Catrina Mitchum is a recovering academic and adult learning specialist who helps small and solo businesses create courses like they give a shit about clients getting real results. She uses learning science and instructional design theory to make it easy to create something you love and they get transformation from.
https://www.cmlearningdesign.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/catrina-mitchum-learning-design/
