In this week’s episode I sat down with Catarina Rivera. Catarina is a dynamic public speaker, DEIA consultant, and content creator. She works with companies to improve disability awareness, inclusion, and accessibility. As a disabled Latiné woman, she is passionate about sharing her own unique story to help build a more inclusive world. We discuss how her life experiences shaped her career, changing the narratives and language around disability, who The Blindish Latina is and the platform she’s built, and much, much more.

Follow Catarina: Instagram: @blindishlatina LinkedIn: Catarina Rivera TikTok: @blindishlatina YouTube: @CatarinaRivera Website: https://www.catarinarivera.com

Join Catarina's newsletter: https://catarinarivera.kit.com/newsletter

Watch Catarina's TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbXxhuraJsE

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: alwayslookingup227@gmail.com

Read With Me:

Goodreads

The StoryGraph

Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/

Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org

Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros

Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:

Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/

United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/

Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf

Welcome Back!

In this week’s episode of Always Looking Up I sat down with Jenna Bainbridge. Jenna is an actor, singer, co-founder, disability rights advocate and executive producer of two of my favorite TikTok series. She navigates the world as an ambulatory wheelchair user and, in 2024 became the first wheelchair user to perform in a New Musical on Broadway when she made her debut in Suffs. Now she is again making history portraying Nessarose in the Broadway production of Wicked, being the first wheelchair user to do so on stage. We discuss how she became Nessa, doing Broadway as a wheelchair user, why we all need to be asking ourselves if our outfits sit and much, much more.

Follow Jenna: Instagram: @bainbridgejenna TikTok: @bainbridgejenna Website: https://www.jennabainbridge.com

Follow ConsultAbility: Instagram: @consultability Website: https://www.consultability.org

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: alwayslookingup227@gmail.com

Read With Me:

Goodreads

The StoryGraph

Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/

Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org

Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros

Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:

Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/

United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/

Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf

Dear Diary,

We have some housekeeping to do, and then let's start a conversation about how the world see's (or doesn't see) dwarf bodies.

This episode is the newest in my Jillian's Diary series on Patreon available to my "Second Step-Stool" tier.

Join The Patreon: Click ⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠

Follow Me: Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@jill_ilana⁠⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠⁠@alwayslookingup.podcast⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠@jillian_ilana⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.jillianilana.com⁠⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠⁠alwayslookingup227@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠

Read With Me:

⁠⁠⁠Goodreads⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠The StoryGraph⁠⁠⁠

Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:

The Partnership For Inclusive Disaster Strategies: ⁠https://disasterstrategies.org⁠

Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/⁠⁠⁠

United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/⁠⁠⁠

Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf⁠⁠⁠

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin

In this week’s episode I sat down with Liz Gutman. Liz is the Head Audio Description Writer at International Digital Centre in New York City. She has written award-winning AD for 850+ hours of movies and TV, and proudly works as an instructor with Audio Description Training Retreats. We discuss making and creating content that is digitally accessible, how she explains and defines access f*ckery and much, much more.

Editor’s Note: This episode was recorded back in August of 2024 as a collaboration with her podcast, also titled Access F*ckery, so tuned for that conversation which is coming soon, link in show notes.

Join The Patreon: Click ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠

Listen To Access F*ckery:

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Follow Liz: Instagram: @lizgutman Website: https://www.lizgutman.com/about

Follow Me: Instagram: ⁠⁠@jill_ilana⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠@alwayslookingup.podcast⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠@jillian_ilana⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠https://www.jillianilana.com⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠alwayslookingup227@gmail.com⁠⁠

Read With Me:

⁠⁠Goodreads⁠⁠

⁠⁠The StoryGraph⁠⁠

Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:

The Partnership For Inclusive Disaster Strategies: https://disasterstrategies.org

Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/⁠⁠

United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: ⁠⁠https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/⁠⁠

Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf⁠⁠

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin

In celebration of May being Mental Health Awareness Month I am honored to have sat down with Kirsten Ferguson. A successful career woman turned Peloton fitness instructor, Kirsten wholeheartedly embraces the changes that life brings. After seven years of working with the NFL, she shifted her focus to family. Her journey to motherhood was not easy, and fitness helped Kirsten strengthen her body and soul during difficult times. She is now the proud mother of two beautiful daughters and uses her life experiences to fuel her deeply inspiring workouts. We discuss how she came to Peloton (and how Peloton came to her), how she makes the time and space for her mental health, becoming a runner and then empowering others to follow in her footsteps, her journey from hip surgery to running the New York City Marathon, and much, much more.

Join The Patreon: Click ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠

Follow Kirsten: Instagram: @iamkirstenferguson TikTok: @iamkirstenferguson

Follow Me: Instagram: ⁠⁠@jill_ilana⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠@alwayslookingup.podcast⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠@jillian_ilana⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠https://www.jillianilana.com⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠alwayslookingup227@gmail.com⁠⁠

Read With Me:

⁠⁠Goodreads⁠⁠

⁠⁠The StoryGraph⁠⁠

Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:

The Partnership For Inclusive Disaster Strategies: https://disasterstrategies.org

Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/⁠⁠

United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: ⁠⁠https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/⁠⁠

Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf⁠⁠

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin

In this week’s episode I sat down with Peet Montzingo. Peet Montzingo is one of the top social media content creators who has over 21.5M subscribers on his YouTube channel, 14.2M followers on his TikTok, and 3.1M followers on his Instagram. Known for his comedic videos that feature his family and daily life, his content also dabbles in the supernatural, where he formerly lived across the street from the infamous Cecil Hotel and documented its strange occurrences. Aside from being a star on social media, Peet is an accomplished singer/song writer, model, and the author of Little Imperfections: A Tall Tale of Growing Up Different. We discuss his experience growing up in a space that was not designed for him, who society will actually listen to when talking about disability issues, average-height allyship in a little person world, and much, much more.

Join The Patreon: Click ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠

Follow Peet: TikTok: @peetmontzingo YouTube: Peet Montzingo Instagram: @peetmontzingo Spotify: Peet Montzingo

Follow Me: Instagram: ⁠⁠@jill_ilana⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠@alwayslookingup.podcast⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠@jillian_ilana⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠https://www.jillianilana.com⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠alwayslookingup227@gmail.com⁠⁠

Read With Me:

⁠⁠Goodreads⁠⁠

⁠⁠The StoryGraph⁠⁠

Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:

The Partnership For Inclusive Disaster Strategies: https://disasterstrategies.org

Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/⁠⁠

United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: ⁠⁠https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/⁠⁠

Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf⁠⁠

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin

In this week’s episode I sat down with Keah Brown. Keah is an award winning journalist, author, and screenwriter. Her work on disability, identity, and pop culture has appeared in Town & Country Magazine, Teen Vogue, Elle, The LA Times, Marie Claire UK, And The New York Times, among other publications. We discuss the connection between disability and celebrity, not having time for imposter syndrome, the pressure of writing an acknowledgements page and much, much more.

Join The Patreon: Click ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠

Follow Keah: Instagram: @keah_maria TikTok: @keah_maria Website: https://keahbrown.com

Follow Me: Instagram: ⁠⁠@jill_ilana⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠@alwayslookingup.podcast⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠@jillian_ilana⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠https://www.jillianilana.com⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠alwayslookingup227@gmail.com⁠⁠

Read With Me:

⁠⁠Goodreads⁠⁠

⁠⁠The StoryGraph⁠⁠

Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:

The Partnership For Inclusive Disaster Strategies: https://disasterstrategies.org

Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/⁠⁠

United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: ⁠⁠https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/⁠⁠

Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf⁠⁠

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin

In this episode I sat down with Anna Pakman, Margo Gignac and James Ian, the writer/director and stars of Emergency Plan, a new short film for the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. Emergency Plan stars Margo and James as a disabled couple forced to send their young son out alone after a catastrophic East Coast earthquake — when it becomes clear no one is coming to help them evacuate. Ali Stroker voices the radio anchor whose warnings grow increasingly urgent as the crisis unfolds. We discuss the making of the film, the real-world inspiration and reason for telling this story, how systems fail disabled people during disasters and much more.

Join The Patreon: Click ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠

Watch Emergency Plan: https://www.emergencyplanfilm.com

Follow Anna: Instagram: @annatated

Follow Margo: Instagram: @margo_gignac

Follow James: Instagram: @jamesianmusic

The Partnership For Inclusive Disaster Strategies: https://disasterstrategies.org

Learn More About The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge: Website: https://disabilityfilmchallenge.com YouTube: @TheDisabilityFilmChallengeInstagram: @disabilityfilmchallenge

Follow Me: Instagram: ⁠⁠@jill_ilana⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠@alwayslookingup.podcast⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠@jillian_ilana⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠https://www.jillianilana.com⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠alwayslookingup227@gmail.com⁠⁠

Read With Me:

⁠⁠Goodreads⁠⁠

⁠⁠The StoryGraph⁠⁠

Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:

Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/⁠⁠

United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: ⁠⁠https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/⁠⁠

Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: ⁠⁠https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf⁠⁠

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin