Title:
Breaking Free from Expectations with Spencer West

Subtitle:
Spencer West shares how disability autonomy, interdependence, queer identity, and unlearning ableism helped him stop following expectations and start following himself.

Transcript:

Alycia Anderson: Welcome to Pushing Forward with Alycia, a podcast that gives disability a voice. Each week, we will explore topics like confidence, ambition, resilience, and finding success against all odds. We are creating a collective community that believes that all things are possible for all people. Open hearts, clear paths, let’s go.

Welcome back to Pushing Forward with Alycia. This is Alycia again, and guess what? We have a big guest today. Spencer West has become one of the most recognizable faces in disability advocacy. His presence literally reaches millions and millions on top of millions, as well as global stages around the world.

And today, I’m so excited to welcome him to our show. I was beyond thrilled when his team reached out to me, and it was an instantaneous yes, please. He’s a global speaker. He’s a content creator. He’s an activist. He’s a best-selling author with a brand-new book. And he’s just one of the most influential advocates around the world doing the work, creating space for us. He climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. I can’t wait to hear about this. I’m sure we all know a little of this story, but I’m very excited. He’s opened for Demi Lovato. He’s been on global stages. He’s got a documentary called Redefine Possibility: The Story of Spencer West. He’s a best-selling author with a brand-new book that is called Breaking Free: Stop Following Expectations and Start Following Yourself.

I can’t wait to hear about this specifically ’cause I feel like you and I are on similar journeys with the theme of your book. I’m very excited. And anyways, thank you so much, Spencer, for coming onto our show. Welcome. It is my pleasure to meet you.

Spencer West (He/Him): Oh my gosh, Alycia, likewise, and thank you for holding space and allowing me to come spend some time with you. I’m really grateful to be here.

Alycia Anderson: Aw. So we talk about all the things, the books, the stages, the of followers, the way that you’re creating content in such a humorous, palatable, but educational way, you do it in such a lovely way for everyone around the world to consume, so I wanna talk about all of that.

But back before all of the stages and all of the notoriety, can we hear just a little bit about young Spencer? I have a congenital disability, so I know yours isn’t congenital, but it’s been a lived experience. And how was it figuring out all of this before all of the stages?

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah. I acquired my disability at birth. I was born with a genetic disease that caused the muscles in my legs not to work. I had two surgeries the first where they amputated my legs below the knee with the hope that I could use prosthetic legs, but that just didn’t work. So then at the age of five, they were amputated just below my pelvis.

And so now I navigate the world, walking on my hands and using a wheelchair, mostly as a wheelchair user, truthfully. Forty-five now, and I gotta take care of my shoulders, as I’m sure you can understand. So yeah, the interesting thing, I was born in 1981, and disability was definitely talked about and viewed differently.

I think, we’re still trying to make that switch, but it’s a bit better now. But in those days, after my surgeries, the doctors told me two things. The first is they said, “Every kid wants to walk,” and so they wanted me to use prosthetic legs. And the second was “You’re just like everyone else,” because in the ’80s, they didn’t want you to see yourself as disabled.

It was a deficit. It was a negative. It was something that was frowned upon. And so these are the things that I entered the world with. The prosthetic legs, I– they’re so helpful for so many people, but they weren’t for me. And it also just seems so silly. I was like, “Why would I pretend to have legs when people knew that I didn’t?”

And I could walk on my hands and use my wheelchair much faster than I could my legs. And so finally by grade six, my parents and the therapist that I was working with was like, “Do you wanna use these?” And I was like, “No.” “Thanks, but I’m good.” And so that was like the first real lesson for me of oh I have control and autonomy over how I wanna navigate the world.

And then, it was very confusing with the idea that you’re just like everyone else because that’s what I thought was true. And then every day that I would go out in public, people would point or whisper, ask questions. I’m like, “Wait, am I just like everyone else or am I not?” And that’s really what part of my book is about, is this idea that, like, all the things that make me different are all of my superpowers and all the things that I had to learn about and lean into when the world told me otherwise.

And so little Spencer had… Although he had a great childhood and his parents did a lot of really great things and were really supportive, I had– a lot of unlearning and undoing that I had to do as I became an adult.

Alycia Anderson: Do you find you’re still struggling with that a little bit every once in awhile?

Spencer West (He/Him): Yes. Yes.

Alycia Anderson: Me too.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah.

Alycia Anderson: Yeah.

Spencer West (He/Him): That’s why I have a therapist, and she helps me identify all of those things and, like, all the internalized ableism that still comes up and that I’m unlearning. It’s hard to avoid it.

Alycia Anderson: Yeah. And sixth grade, I think you said sixth grade was, like, when you made that decision, “I don’t… I’m just gonna be me.” And that’s still a pretty young age to start to own that, and I’m impressed because when I was that age, I was still trying to keep up with, “You’re just like everybody else.”

And you’re like, ” Man, I’m…

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally.

Alycia Anderson: …not like everybody else.” I didn’t admit it to myself probably, so I think that’s a pretty powerful age, especially when you’re, like, transitioning into, junior high and the hormones are starting and I don’t know, for you, that was the roughest time for me.

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally.

Alycia Anderson: Horrible. Bad.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah, yeah. It was so hard. And to be fair, this is all in hindsight now, thinking back to sixth grade. But, my parents gave me the autonomy to choose, and that’s what I think was so important. And now looking back, it’s oh, that was like, that started to set me up for the idea that like, oh, I can choose other things too. So I wanna make that clear. I didn’t just know at grade six that like, “Oh, I’m gonna choose for myself.” It was like, it was given… It was an option that was presented to me.

Alycia Anderson: Another great lesson for a lot of the parents that are out there listening to this show.

‘Cause I think that’s hard for them to say “Do you want this or this?” Or you go decide and let us struggle a little bit and navigate that. So I love that too.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah.

Alycia Anderson: Powerful. So would that be the number one lesson like back then for like when you’re navigating like youth is like what you wish people understood back then was to allow you to have your own autonomy to figure things out?

Was there one lesson back then?

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah. I think that’s the overarching one.

Yeah, th- this idea that I could choose because, and I don’t know if this was your experience, but like people were so often pointing out my differences that I just wanted to fit in so desperately. So I did wanna lean into that idea of you’re just like everyone else.

Alycia Anderson: And then, as I got to junior high and then high school, I was starting to realize and say, “Oh there’s no way that’s true.” And now I’ve gotta figure out like what that means for me. But yeah, I would say that was like a big looking back now, that was a big turning moment for me or turning point was like, oh, I’m at an age now where I can choose for myself what feels good for me and what doesn’t, and to have the support of people around me to agree with that. That’s powerful. I love it. So Kilimanjaro chapter, let’s just touch on it for a minute.

Spencer West (He/Him): Sure.

Alycia Anderson: It’s the big story.

So this was, I’m sure, absolutely extraordinary the fact that you embarked on such a massive goal. And I can imagine that there were parts of you climbing that mountain that, you had to maybe lean in to others a little bit more, trust. Talk about just the whole experience of climbing a mountain in your wheelchair and on your hands and the community that came around you. Can you just give us a little glimpse into it? And what you learned?

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah, totally. So to back up the whole reason that I climbed the mountain in the first place, I don’t like camping. I’m not like a mountain climber. That’s not something I’m interested in at all. However I was working for a social enterprise here in Canada where I live now.

I’m originally from the United States, but I live in Toronto now. And I was working for a social enterprise that was based out of here, and I was, similar to you, I was like I’m a speaker, and so I was traveling two hundred days out of the year, and I wasn’t getting time with my friends. And part of my message was to empower people to get involved with things that they care about and create awareness campaigns or fundraising campaigns.

But I was just talking about it. I’d never actually done it, and I was starting to feel like a bit of an imposter of I– it doesn’t feel right for me to continue to tell these folks that these are the things they should be doing when I don’t have the experience myself. My boss I’d been traveling with and he had recently climbed Kilimanjaro, and he said, “Is that something you ever thought of doing?”

And I was like, “No that’s the last thing I wanna do.” But then I started thinking about all the things that I was missing that I wanted. I wanted that experience to tell people, this is how it’s done. And then I also wanted a cool adventure with my buddies because I wasn’t getting enough time with them.

So I went back to him, and I said, “Listen I would actually like to think about climbing Kilimanjaro, but I’d like to do a campaign around it.” So eventually, came up with a campaign called Redefine Possible, and our goal was to raise a half a million dollars for clean water in East Africa, who at the time was facing one of the largest droughts it’s seen in over sixty years.

Part of my job was to live there during the summer and host volunteer trips with folks from North America and around the world. So this was the place where I spent my time, a lot of my time. And so that was the whole purpose behind Kilimanjaro. So my two best friends came with me. We spent the entire year campaigning and training, like our bodies and our minds to do it.

And then we got to the mountain, and Alycia, the hope was that I was gonna do like half on my hands and half in my wheelchair ’cause there’s no way that my body could do the whole thing on my hands. It’s just not possible.

Alycia Anderson: Mmm hmm.

Spencer West (He/Him): And so we got there, and the first day, I was doing about most of it on my hands.

Alycia Anderson: Wow!

Spencer West (He/Him): We realized that that was gonna be for the rest of the expedition. And so we had to regroup, and they built this sort of contraption that we could put my wheelchair on, so I could be carried a little bit. There were parts where I could use my chair, so my buddies helped push me.

They were amazing at like encouraging me with words and physical support. But then what I didn’t anticipate, because, I have a physical disability, I just assumed like I was gonna be the person that would need help the whole time. But then on summit day, the day that we were gonna get to the top, my buddies got altitude sickness, and I didn’t.

And, standing on my hands, I’m two foot seven inches tall, and so we joked that it was because of my height. That’s why I didn’t get altitude sickness. It’s not actually true. That’s not a thing. Science would not support that claim. But but they needed my help. And that was honestly the first time ever where I wished that I had legs that day ’cause then I could physically carry them like they had carried me.

But, one of the things my mom had been so instrumental at, doing subtly, she never said this out loud, but this is what she did with me, is when things were difficult, we always focused on the things that I could do versus the things that I couldn’t do. And, my buddies were like, “It’s really helpful to watch you walk with us.”

So I said, “If that’s all that I can do, then I will do that to the best of my ability.” And, I got on my hands and I stood in between them, and slowly we walked, and they stopped, and they collapsed and threw up, and we helped to pick them up, and we walked a little bit further, and eventually we made it to the top.

And we collapsed and cried and celebrated, and we’d raised well over our goal, which was very exciting. But I think the biggest lesson that I took away from that is this idea of interdependence and help. We all need help. We all need to ask for help, and we all need to offer help, and how important that is for everyone, not just for disabled folks, for every single person to have that courage and vulnerability to say, “Hey, I can’t do this on my own.”

And this is also a big part of the book as well is why I did the climb, but more specifically importance of asking for help. And I don’t know what your thoughts are on this, but I feel like there’s this… We often hear about the self-made person “They did it on their own,” and I just find that so hard to believe.

I’m like, there was definitely folks behind the scenes that helped you, and to not recognize those people or talk about that just seems a, like a disservice. So for me, it’s like that was the biggest piece. I learned the importance of asking and offering help.

Alycia Anderson: Oh gosh, so I’m with you on that. I struggled my whole life trying to not ask for help because I felt like it would make me look weak. And I moved to Europe and did a whole program over there, and that was the first time I would not only ask for help ’cause it was so inaccessible, but I noticed that others around me were, like, leaning in without even the request.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah.

Alycia Anderson: That sense of community really builds you up in a place to find a way to navigate in better ways.

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally.

Alycia Anderson: I love that you just said that, and I think it’s really important. And I think kinda pushing your… I don’t know if it’s pride or…

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah, I think so.

Alycia Anderson: Yeah. But that’s incredible. And, when I was younger, I’ve done a lotta navigating on my hands as well. Like, when I look at you, your upper body reminds me a lot of me, too. When I watch how you navigate and I can envision… it’s so selfish, but I can envision myself like how would that have been climbing up a mountain especially when you’re saying most of it had to be done on your hands when you were independent.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah.

Alycia Anderson: Which makes total sense, obviously.

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally. Totally.

Alycia Anderson: So congratulations, and I love you had a mission behind that to help other people. Absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible.

Spencer West (He/Him): Thank you. I wasn’t the first disabled person to climb Kilimanjaro, and I wasn’t the last, and I didn’t want that to turn into sort of an inspiration porn moment, where it’s like, “Look at this guy with no legs. He climbed Kilimanjaro. Anybody can do anything.” And I’m like that’s not true. So that’s why I wanted the focus to be on the campaign as much as possible.

Alycia Anderson: How do you combat that? I’m sure you run into that in your platform. You’re on massive stages in front of thousands and thousands and millions of people. Thousands doesn’t even reach your reach, you must get that, right? I get it in my platform.

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally.

Alycia Anderson: How do you combat that when, people are inspiration porning you?

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah. I usually try to educate them and help them understand why that’s not helpful or why that is harmful to disabled folks. I’ve done quite a few videos on that topic in general just to help people understand, ’cause I’m also… I also try to remain empathetic to the idea that these are new concepts for a lot of folks.

You know what I mean? We don’t grow up learning about the disability experience in school. We don’t, at least I didn’t. We didn’t grow up learning about disability justice. Disability was othered and thought of as a negative. And so I also try to be empathetic to the idea that people don’t know what they don’t know, and so this might be their first interaction.

Understanding that I know you meant this as a compliment, but it’s backhanded, and the subtext of what you’re actually saying is, “Wow, thank you for showing me that m- my life is so much better than yours and inspiring me to understand that my life will be better.” And so I think doing my best to subtly educate folks on that, and I have to be honest myself, this is something that i- is new to me as well.

I would say over the last 15 years, after I climbed Kilimanjaro, I was doing a workshop with a bunch of students and we had a speaker come in, Naomi Ortiz, who they’re an incredible disability justice advocate. And afterwards, they pulled me aside and they said, “Listen, the way you’re talking about Kilimanjaro is not helpful for our community.

You’re coming across as a super crip.” And for folks that don’t know, a super crip basically is a term that says, showing that this disabled person can overcome their disability and do amazing things, and that if they can do it, any disabled person can do it. And Naomi was like, “That’s not true.”

And it’s a bit of a dangerous line to roll across. And they’re like, “What you experience is interdependence. That’s the story. The story of you didn’t get up there because of your disability by yourself. You got up there because of the support of a community.” And so Naomi really forced me to start looking at oh my gosh, I actually think I’m doing a lot of harm for our community and not really doing a lot of good.

And so I really dived deep into the history of who we are and where we came from and the Judy Heumanns of the world and Alice Wong and Tiffany Yu and Leah Lakshmi, and all of these incredible folks that are still leading the charge or that have led the charge for our community. So I had a lot of unlearning to do myself.

So I, a lot of my content too is just me teaching people in real time what I’m learning as well. But that’s how I combat it, using social media, and I talk about it a lot in my speeches as well.

Alycia Anderson: I love that. And I’m a little bit older than you, but, same thing. I wasn’t taught disability justice. None of that was in school.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah.

Alycia Anderson: At all.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah.

Alycia Anderson: I think that’s one of the things that’s been so incredible about our community kind of banding together, is we do check each other and also learn from one another.

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally.

Alycia Anderson: And better the movement and understanding where we are today in 2026 versus these things that we weren’t even taught when we were in school. So that’s really incredible.

Breaking free.It feels like a declaration or something. That’s where I am right now in my space with my disability and in my identity at a 50, 50 years old, and just wanting to be free.

Can you talk a little bit about that term specifically, what it means to you?

Why?

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah. Yeah, for me, it’s the minute we all enter the world we’re bombarded by expectations, right? For me, it was, “You’re just like everyone else. You wanna overcome your disability. Don’t see yourself as disabled.” And, one of the other ones for me was growing up in a conservative town in Wyoming was like, “You’re gonna wanna get a really good job that pays really well, and then maybe you’ll meet a wife, and then you’ll get married, and then you’ll have kids.”

So there’s all these expectations that some were blatant, and some were under the surface, but half of them didn’t apply to me, or I couldn’t live up to those expectations. The first one for me really was when I got to college, and I realized that I was gay, and I was like I can’t live up to that expectation of marrying a woman and having a family.

That’s not the path for me.” And so I had to break free of that expectation, this idea that oh, I’m actually much different than that, and that’s actually okay, and there isn’t just one way to love or to i-i- if you choose to have a family. So breaking free to me is letting go or understanding those expectations that have been put on us and how we break free of those.

The next one for me was after I graduated college, I r- came rolling out into the world with this degree thinking, “Great, I’m gonna go get the job of my dreams and make lots of money, and then everything will come true.” It didn’t matter that I had a degree. I couldn’t get a job in my field, and no one prepared me for, like, when things don’t work out, and that’s when I realized I had to change.

First, I had to get outside my comfort zone and understand what was this expectation, and why did I fall into this trap? And secondly, how do I get out of this trap and how do I break free of this idea? And so part of that was wrapped up in my disability of understanding that my value and success isn’t tied up in what my body can produce.

It’s more about what am I passionate about and what will bring me joy, and then how can I make money at the same time? And so I had to, I ended up figuring this out on a volunteer trip to Kenya with a friend and for the first time feeling passionate about international development and discovering this whole new passion that I didn’t know that I had through this volunteer trip.

And then, I got to share my story with a bunch of kids a- in East Africa at one of the schools that we went to. And after, I told them about my disability and answered all their questions, a young girl said to me, but she didn’t realize that something like this, meaning my disability and the loss of my legs, could also happen to white people, too.

Alycia Anderson: Oh, wow

Spencer West (He/Him): And that sentence put everything together for me and helped me realize that oh, I, my disability up until this point was just something that had happened to me, but it wasn’t something that was an identity. And it was the first time where I was like, “Oh, I’ve missed something here.”

And then I also, because I found myself being so passionate about international development, I was like, I wanna work for this organization that I’d been volunteering with. And so when I came home, I applied for a job and moved to Canada and became an ambassador for them, and I worked there for 12 years.

I’ve since moved on and started my own business. But when I say breaking free, it’s all of those things. Breaking free of those expectations that the world puts on us. Now, those are big examples for me, for some folks it could be wanting to change your career or wanting to get out of a relationship that you’re in or not, loving the city that you live in, or maybe it’s like making a small change at home and wanting to do something for yourself after work or whatever that might be.

But it’s breaking free of those expectations

Alycia Anderson: I love that. And I just had an aha moment myself.

Spencer West (He/Him): Oooh.

Alycia Anderson: Because I feel like it took me a long time too, to identify with every layer of my identity too, including my disability. I felt like y- I felt like I couldn’t. I felt like I didn’t want to. I didn’t… it wasn’t even an option for a lot of my younger years.

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally.

Alycia Anderson: So you meet this little girl. She’s brings this identity thing up for you, which I love. Out of the mouths of babes, like, all the best things…

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally.

Alycia Anderson: …Come out of, and that was a moment. That was just a moment for me too “Oh, wow.” And love that you did that with the multiple layers of your identity.

And the representation that you show with who you love, what your body is, how you navigate, and I’m sure all of the other pieces of your identity that you share with the world that the representation, right? It isn’t just the one body type that gets this lived experience, and we’ve been needing that desperately in our movement for so long, right?

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally

And you just, you do it in such a joyful way, you’re funny, and just the content, the way that you, you deliver it is very unique and very special. And I… It’s just incredible. Thank you.

Alycia Anderson: Yeah, breaking free, I feel like for me, it took me until my 40s to be, like, super authentic with it, that I felt like I wasn’t still…

And I still, hide a little bit here or there. But today as a 50-year-old woman, I, the things that come out of my mouth, I’m like, “Oh, wow, I can’t believe I just said that,” and it, it feels good to be you are finally.

Spencer West (He/Him): Totally.

Alycia Anderson: That’s how it’s been for me, but it took me a long time. So I think that’s incredible that you’re sharing that with the world globally. And not just from your content perspective, but h- going out into the world and having these experiences in community, in these cultures.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah. Thank you.

Alycia Anderson: incredible.

Spencer West (He/Him): Thank you.

Alycia Anderson: Can you imagine how many people you changed their life in that moment?

It’s so beautiful.

Spencer West (He/Him): Oh, that’s very kind. Thank you. I’m very grateful for the platform that, that we’ve been able to create over the last, 20 years. And that was, like, part of the reason that I wanted to write the book, ’cause similar to you, it wasn’t until my 40s where I really could lean into my identity of being disabled.

I’d worked out being queer. That part I’d figured out. But, it’s taken me a long time to do that. And, on social media, I do like to make it fun and silly and educational at the same time. But that’s not always, the, our reality. And so that’s part of the reason that I wanted to write the book too, is to give people the full picture of all of the things that were really hard and that I really struggled with to now get to this point that you’re seeing on social media.

It wa- it wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t it wasn’t all joyful and funny.

Alycia Anderson: Okay, so let’s talk about the book a little bit.

Spencer West (He/Him): Sure.

Alycia Anderson: Tell me. Tell me about it.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah. Part of, one of the, one of the things that I wanted to do, I didn’t want this to just be a book of my story. It is my story, and there’s I’ve peppered stories in here. But I really wanted this to be a tool for other people to be able to use to break free in their own life.

So at the end of every chapter, I’ve provided questions and exercises and key concepts and things for people to think about and to consider to start doing the work in their own life as well. So yeah. And it also gave me the ability to tell some truth that I that I haven’t told before, I climbed Kilimanjaro after I wrote my first book, and so that wasn’t included in there. And, the social enterprise that I was working for, they were very comfortable with me being queer inside of the organization, but they didn’t want me to talk about it publicly. Part of it was they wanted to protect me, but more than anything, we had conservative donors and specific religious affiliates that they didn’t want to cause any drama with, so to speak.

And so for years, I didn’t tell my coming out story. And I stayed because I wanted to– I knew eventually that I think I could figure out a way to break them down. And it was also a different time. It was in the early 2000s and the queer community in general, like gay marriage hadn’t been passed yet in the United States, and so there was lots of, the queer community was, the movement was still new-ish and taking shape.

But eventually with myself and other queer people in the organization and other allies, I w- was able to tell my coming out story. Actually, I actually got to tell it on June 26th, 2015, the day gay marriage was legal, legalized in the United States, which was so fun, and it was, like, such a special day to be able to do that.

I was, like, in New York gonna speak at this big Pride event, and I was at The Met, and I was… The alert came through on my phone, and I ran to the bathroom and I cried in the bathroom, and I couldn’t believe it was all happening on the same day. So yeah, it gave me the opportunity to then share that story and to share the evolution of this company that I was working for.

And by the time I left, they were ce- they had celebrated Pride and really leaned into that. But it was a lot of work, and I experienced a lot of homophobia leading up to that. Getting to tell that story and helping people understand that. And just at the end of the day, hopefully giving people a guide.

I… This is a guide that I wish that I would have had when I was in my 20s and 30s when I didn’t know what was happening and how to figure out where my life should go. Hopefully this will help other people do that in their own life.

Alycia Anderson: I think it’s so needed. like our community of the show specifically too, like they’re constantly… The 20, 30-year-olds that are struggling with whatever their identity is and not sure how to be a little braver or a little, lean into it a little bit more. So I feel like it sounds like this book is gonna be really wonderful as a guide for that.

So that’s… I love that you wrote a book and like it has some resources in there to follow through. That’s incredible.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Alycia Anderson: So what’s happening now? What’s your North Star?

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah, I think for now it’s continuing to get this book out into the world. We’re hoping to get it to as many people as possible in hopes that, that, that’ll be a resource for folks. My main revenue stream is I’m a motivational speaker being hired for speeches to help empower folks.

I have a speech specifically on the importance of hiring folks with disabilities and leverage, leveraging that amazing talent and sharing my story about what that experience was like trying to get a job and how the ableism that I experienced unnecessarily trying to find employment. And just helping, organizations understand that we are a viable and incredible group of employees looking for work and wanting to work.

And because of all of the ableism, both, all the myths that exist and a lot of the harsh legislation that we’re seeing coming through in the United States as well that’s making it difficult for us. Yeah, I think speaking and getting the book out there, and of course creating content those are the things.

But those are my north stars right now.

Alycia Anderson: And congratulations on the platform that you’ve developed, and I’ve got some… Speaking of everything that’s going on in the US I have a couple clients that can’t hire me because of the everything that’s going on in Toronto that I need to ship to you.

Spencer West (He/Him): Ugh.

Alycia Anderson: If you don’t know ’em.

Spencer West (He/Him): Yeah. Yeah, please. Yeah.

Alycia Anderson: These big shots are like, “I’m sorry, we can’t hire anybody from the US right now.”

I’m like, “Oh, bummer.”

Spencer West (He/Him): Ugh. Yeah.

Alycia Anderson: But yeah, that’s abs- incredible. Congratulations on such a great platform, and movement, and your book.

Spencer West (He/Him): Thank you.

Alycia Anderson: I cannot wait to get It in my hands.

Spencer West (He/Him): Thank you.

Alycia Anderson: How do we find you? How do we book you? Tell us, and I’m gonna leave everything in the show notes.

Spencer West (He/Him): Thank you.

Yeah, so you can buy the book anywhere books are sold, Amazon or any bookstore. You can find me on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. My handle is @spencer2thewest, so spencer2thewest. And then my website is spencer2thewest.com, and that’s where you can find how to book me as a speaker, where you can purchase my book, and all the other things.

Yeah, that’s how you can find me.

Alycia Anderson: Did we miss anything?

Spencer West (He/Him): I don’t think so. I think that’s it.

Alycia Anderson: It was absolutely incredible to meet you, Spencer. I really appreciate your time. Thank you for coming on the show.

Spencer West (He/Him): Likewise.

Alycia Anderson: Thanks for everything that you’re doing for our community.

Spencer West (He/Him): Thank you. Likewise. Thank you.

Alycia Anderson: It’s lovely, your reach, and you give us all a little something to reach for the stars a little further in our own spaces.

Alycia Anderson: So we appreciate that a lot.

Spencer West (He/Him): Thank you. Thank you.

Alycia Anderson: Thank you to our community Oh. Oh my God. I forgot the Pushing Forward moment. Not with Spencer. Spencer, we end the show with a Pushing Forward moment, a little mantra, something to motivate our listeners to go into their day and week with. Do you have a little something to help us?

Spencer West (He/Him): I do.

Alycia Anderson: Okay.

Spencer West (He/Him): The sort of thesis of my new book was based on a quote by Paulo Coelho from his book, The Alchemist, and I’m not gonna get the quote exactly right, but essentially it’s something of this nature. It’s, “Maybe our job isn’t to become anything. Maybe our job is to unbecome all the things that don’t really belong to us so we can become the person we were meant to be in the first place.”

Alycia Anderson: Oh, melt. Oh, that is so lovely. Yes.

Thank you so much Spencer, for your time.

Spencer West (He/Him): Thank you. It was such a pleasure.

Alycia Anderson: You too. And thank you to our community for joining again. This has been Pushing Forward with Alycia and Spencer, and that is literally how we roll on this podcast. We will see you next week So good.