Title:
Creating Inclusive Spaces: Rolling Forward with Women’s World on Wheels (Women’s WOW)
Subtitle:
A New Era for Women with Disabilities: Lily Fox Shares Her Vision
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. I’m Alycia Anderson. I am so excited to welcome Lily Fox to our show.
She is the executive director of women’s world on wheels. Or for short, women’s wow, which I love the wow in the name of your organization. I met the incredible, beautiful Lily right before the holidays hit at the end of 2024. And we were talking about events and organizations and partnering.
And I told her she had to come on this podcast, the organization that she has and the women empowerment movement that she’s creating and just launching into the goodness of our world is absolutely amazing. I’m so excited to share it with our community because I think it’s going to be a great resource for y’all to utilize.
Lily leads this incredible nonprofit that is empowering spaces for women in wheelchairs, women with disabilities, they put on events webinars, community building initiatives, you name it. They’ve got all kinds of programming going and so I’m really excited to learn more about this organization.
Number one, Lily, I know our community is going to love it and frankly, learn more about you. There was some really cool pieces of your story that I want to dive into. So welcome to the show and being willing to share.
Lily Fox: Thank you so much. That was such a wonderful introduction.
Alycia Anderson: Oh, good. It’s all you. Introduction’s all you. I was really happy that our paths crossed. I think that the, us supporting each other within both of the work that we’re doing within each of our companies is really special. And when we were on our meeting initially, you were so kind to share your background and I asked you like, what is your tie to disability?
Do you mind sharing? Are you disabled? Do you have some type of lived experience? And you shared this really amazing story with me that I want to start off your personal, like backstory. Do you, whatever you’re comfortable with, will you share with our community? Your life story.
Lily Fox: Yes, I’ll try to say it as eloquently as I did last
Alycia Anderson: Okay.
Lily Fox: Yeah, I grew up with a mom who has a spinal cord injury. She has been in a wheelchair since before I was born. I was in a car accident. She has a T 11 spinal cord injury. And so growing up, my whole world was with a single mother who was in a wheelchair and to me, that was just normal.
That was all I knew. And I was lucky enough that she’s so independent and such a great mom. We have a great relationship and my family was always there. So they all raised me together, but, Everyone else obviously looks at us a little bit differently. And I’ve always said, as I’ve gotten older I see the world from two perspectives, and it’s from my 5’6 and from my mom’s 4’11, but her 4’11 is from a wheelchair, and growing up, we’d go to the grocery store and I’d stand on her left to reach the things on the top shelf, and just little things like that were a little different, but it was our way of doing things.
Alycia Anderson: How did that translate in school for you growing up? Did you find that the lived experience was just integrated and adapted into Like how your friends accepted it and how you know, can you talk to that a little bit? I think it’s just so interesting.
Lily Fox: Yeah, so to me it was very normal. I think as I grew up, I started to notice that, okay, people stared and asked certain questions, but I asked questions about their families and think the biggest thing was always going to other people’s houses. I just noticed some things weren’t accessible.
And managing our way around it was, okay, we invite people to our house. We want to be very inclusive in our home and bring people over because we know we may not be able to get into your house as easily. Or just choosing activities that were a little different. But like I said, my mom’s very independent.
We’re very active family. We are always going up to the mountains and skiing. So yeah.
Alycia Anderson: I I think these type of stories are so beautiful. You’re starting to see more representation of mothers with that have disabilities with children. And I think that it’s been a misrepresentation for a long time and a misunderstood lived path. So I think it’s very beautiful that you have this lived experience and what you just said about you going into your friend’s homes and recognizing that it’s not accessible.
Like that awareness as a child is incredible. And I see that in, I’m not a mom, but I do see that with my nieces and nephews and how their view of the world is expanded into this different light that’s so organically translates into their own lives. And it’s just it’s really amazing.
So I, I love that your specific lived experience comes from your mom and that she was spinal, had her spinal cord injury before you were born and it was just, and is the way that it is. So I appreciate you talking about that. We’ve had a couple of women with disability, spinal cord injury, both that have been on this show and.
Some of the challenges that they talk about and the judgments of society, not thinking that they’re capable to be a mom or that they had their children to help them like unbelievable things that they’ve said on this show before. So I just think it’s beautiful to have the daughter, the child to share her experience here as well.
Lily Fox: Yeah. Yeah. And my mom is my rock. I love her so much and she’s just taught me so much about being a strong independent I think just her being who she is, has shown a lot of, my friends, like what her life is like and open their eyes to what the adaptive world is so I think it goes beyond just mother daughter, but like everyone who we interact with.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. And it probably goes beyond that. Like showing what the adaptive world looks like, but more holistic picture of what the human experience looks like, which disability is included in that, and we’re so easily, especially as women and like that want to be mothers who are wheelchair users and beyond.
Those judgments are really difficult to live through. And, so I just think it’s really cool. Oh, you’re the best. Okay. So I know your mom and I’m going to let you fill in the blanks. I’m not going to take over. She introduced you to the work that you’re doing now. I believe can you give us a little bit of backstory on the women’s wow, like the organization, where it came from and its conception?
Lily Fox: Yeah. My journey into this work began when my mom attended a camp for women wheelchair users in 2018. And it was so inspiring for us because she had never been a part of a group of women, who are in wheelchairs. It’s always been very specific to the injury or to like it was very co ed but dominated by men.
And so seeing so many women who are in wheelchairs with all sorts of different backgrounds was really cool. And it was like a three day camp, all these women from across the country together, and I had the opportunity to. to volunteer. The plan was for my mom to take this camp over following that summer then COVID 19 happened.
And while she was taking it over, we, she ended up having to shut it down. And so at the time I was going off to college and I was studying entrepreneurship and legal studies out in Miami, Florida. And. During that time, there were all these women who just no longer had this summer camp to look forward to every year.
And I was asking my mom, do you have any plan to bring it back? And she said, I would love to, but I just don’t know how. And so I luckily being in the area of study that I was, had some really great professors and mentors out at school. Who helped me, the legal side and the business side of how to reinstate it and rebrand it. And we reached out to some past members of the camp to help us. And with my mom’s support and their support, we were able to rebuild the organization into what it is now. And we’ve rebranded it to the name women’s world on wheels. And it’s so much more than just the camp. Now we hope to keep all these women connected year round, hosting local events and webinars and providing all the resources that we can.
Alycia Anderson: So I love that piece of the story and that’s for the entrepreneur that is listening right now. You wanted to have a rebirth of this organization and you utilize the resources at your university. And the experts. And I think that is such an incredible smart way to figure out how to go down a path that you might be unfamiliar with when you can leverage those things.
If you’re in that space, that’s super clever. So that’s amazing.
Lily Fox: I think using the resources that you have around you and luckily with school you have every different. Like I was in business, but I was able to speak with the engineers and the entrepreneurs in different fields and communications on how to do marketing and all sorts of things that weren’t my area of study whatsoever.
And. It, what I learned most about it all is the power of networking and just finding people who have the same passions and goals and just overall kindness and respect. That is what got me to where I am.
Alycia Anderson: yeah, I think one of the key things in business, like you said, is figuring out networking. That statement that you just made, the power of networking, the power of relationship building, the power of not thinking that you need to be an expert in everything, but utilizing your resources, is huge in building a business, a nonprofit, whatever that is. And I love that you’re looking at this nonprofit through the lens of a business model.
And I think sometimes that is missed in the disabled business entrepreneur community. And I think it’s really important and necessary to be successful. So I love that you’re marrying your education, your talents, Your expertise into your passion. I think that’s if we can all do that, what a dream, right?
Lily Fox: Well and nonprofit. No, we aren’t trying to make money by people buying a product, but we are giving a service and we’re trying to show people why they should donate to us and our services hopefully provide that for them.
Alycia Anderson: Let’s talk about your services and maybe we can give an overview of what you do. And then if you can share like a specific, wow, story, like something that came from one of your camps or events that you go this is why we are doing this.
Lily Fox: So we are, of course, known for our annual summer camp and the last two years. It’s been three days this coming year. We’re trying to make it to four days and it’s out here in Colorado. It’s an overnight camp. And it’s exactly what you imagine when you’re a little kid going to camp. Fun activities from tennis to rock climbing, ziplining, pool.
We host some workshops that are a little more professional or some that are fun. There are relaxation stuff like yoga and massages, which everyone loves. It’s really just a great way for people to connect. I think everyone’s favorite part, honestly, is just hanging out in the lodge at the end of the day and getting to know each other. And so that is what we’re most known for. We’ve hosted a few webinars, anywhere from working on finances in your life, to organizing your home and kitchen and bedroom closet. So all sorts of things that people are looking for. And then, of course, our local events, anywhere from a Friendsgiving to a workout.
Just ways to keep people every month getting together so those are our main events. I will say the big stories that come out of our organization do come from camp. And one that happened this year a woman broke her leg. wheelchair on the plane on the way over to Colorado and she called me up right before she landed and was like, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it. wheel is broken. I don’t know what to do. And mom actually grabbed what she had from past wheelchairs, put one together and brought it out to camp was like, come we’ll make it work. And so she ended up making it and she sat in this wheelchair that my mom had given her. And right away we realized she has been in a wheelchair that isn’t fitted correctly. It was so bulky, um, it would be like who wears a size 7 shoe was wearing a size 10 shoe, is how I like to put it and it just brought out her confidence immediately, and by the end of camp, my mom was like, keep it, it is yours, um, it’s obviously going to be your forever chair, but you’ll have the measurements to get your next one.
And she has since sent us of her in different parts of her house that she used to never even be able to reach because she was in this wrong fitted wheelchair and how it’s just changed her life. It’s so incredible. And. We have since hosted several different workshops where people learn how to get the right fit of wheelchair for them.
And you just don’t think of something like that. I would have never known. I feel like it’s also a huge Camp is a great way for volunteers and staff to learn new things, because while my mom, I’ve grown up with my whole life, every single time, I learned something new from the other women there. And so great for everyone, participants, staff, volunteers, and we ask that, Anyone who donates or just wants to help out please come because anyone can learn something
Alycia Anderson: What is your ideal partner? Is it an organization that is like donating resources and time, like wheelchair companies or medical supply or things like that? Or, I don’t know can you speak to, do you want people there to support you? Like, how does that work? What are you looking for? All of the above.
Lily Fox: All of the above, of course we are looking for anyone who can provide a resource or service, whether it’s hosting a webinar or letting us come and do an activity we’ve worked with. Organizations all around Colorado specifically like the NSCD or Craig hospital and they’ve helped out with transportation or hosting activities. We are not trying to specifically provide like medical equipment or wheelchairs, but we love those partners because if someone comes to us looking for that, we’ll send them to you. So wanna get the right resources to the right people, but we’re not necessarily trying to always give those things.
We’re the middleman connection.
Alycia Anderson: So I love the idea of camp and you, I talked about this on our first call, like camp for me, and I’ve never been to an adult women’s camp. But I used to attend a children’s one till I was 18 and there was this sense of community and being able to blend into a crowd and not be the one that was always sticking out.
Can you talk about the like community aspect of it? Like the supporting each other.
Lily Fox: Yes. Lot of the women who come are from different states where they’re the only woman in a chair that they know. And so this offers an opportunity to just interact with other women. I think here in Colorado it definitely is a lot more common just because we have so many organizations out here for the adaptive world. And but I’ve made some lifelong friends from being in this organization and running it. And I think all the women can say the same thing. And we have who will fly in for local events here in Colorado, like a workout, just because they’ll get to see their friends. have women who every year bring And so that also just is growing our organization year to year. And I don’t know. I love what I do.
Alycia Anderson: I know you do. I love what you do too. And it is pretty amazing that you’re in Colorado where some of the biggest at least as far as I know, like sports organizations, Paralympic activity is happening. Are you partnering with different organizations like that?
Lily Fox: Yeah, we are. We’re we have one board member who’s out in Colorado Springs. Who’s helping us work towards connecting with the Paralympic teams out there. We’re working with the NSCD Craig hospital and like several others, the Breckenridge. The BOAC. So everyone, I would say, I thought when getting into the nonprofit world, it was going to be very competitive. I have not found that whatsoever. Everyone is very supportive and wanting to do anything they can to. lift us all up together and just bring more awareness to the nonprofit. I think there is some. Unfortunate. don’t know. People look at nonprofits a certain way we’re trying to change that.
Alycia Anderson: What is that way?
Lily Fox: I think negative, negatively.
And I don’t think people give enough credit to what we’re doing. Especially people my age. I don’t think are really donating to nonprofits yet. That’s something that you do once you are in a solid career, but I think people should start now as soon as possible because there is a lot of benefit to it.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah, I agree with you. I think nonprofit work and specifically disability inclusion, nonprofit work is, needs to be like shine, have a brighter light shining above it. And I think people like you that are bringing in a strategic business model. That are trying to leverage it and grow it. Like what, where are we growing it?
What’s the goal? What’s your North star?
Lily Fox: Yeah. There is a lot that we want to do. I think anywhere from just every state I want to be involved, but we’re looking to grow to Miami and do a beach camp and go sailing and snorkeling and do all of that fun stuff. I know that something my mom has brought up and that a lot of women are really wanting to do is the Camino de Santiago. And that is out in Europe, which is a multiple day, hike and just the spirituality that it brings out of it and more of a journey of self reflection and being able to do something like that I think is the ultimate goal. So we have a lot of dreams and we’re looking to do that. But we’re planning on events for a winter camp and a Miami based camp in the near future and one day going across the world.
Alycia Anderson: I would love to do that with you.
Lily Fox: Yes.
Alycia Anderson: And I like the journey of self reflection. I think in, at least I need to come in experiences for sure. But being among, I’ve learned this from even this podcast. Being among so many people with disabilities and like having a community that comes together, whether you realize it or not, because it’s happened for me over time.
That self reflection piece is like happening. It’s being downloaded in the back of my brain constantly. And I all of a sudden realize that my voice is stronger. The acceptance of my own disability is stronger. The belief in possibilities and dreams coming true. Seem to come to fruition rather than just sitting there wondering so I love the journey of self reflection because I think it’s necessary. But it’s so much easier when we do it together with a group of our community that Understands it and might be further along or a little bit behind in that process and we support each other So i’m assuming You get that vibe with all of your programming probably in, in everything that you do.
Lily Fox: Yeah. And especially it being the new year, like everyone is reflecting right now on the past year and looking forward to this next year, so it’s a great time to be talking about this.
Alycia Anderson: I love it. So besides the camp, let’s just give a total. So you said that there’s monthly meetups, webinars. Will you talk about the groups, webinars? And what is available right now?
Lily Fox: Yeah, so we Host here in Colorado, typically closer to the Denver area, but sometimes expanded local meetups. So the next one is a horse equus therapy. So you’re working with horses and they’re reflecting your, movement and energy, and it’s some sort of therapy. The next month we’re doing a dog sledding.
So we have all sorts of fun activities planned each month in person and then month to month, I know we’re speaking with you about entrepreneurship and the importance of Just running a business and that you can run a business. And so we’ll have all sorts of webinars that are open to anyone to come on. Sometimes those will be prerecorded and posted on our website. On top of that, we have quarterly newsletters that just provide resources and show people what we’ve been up to and planning to do. then if people have events that they want us to run or that they can help us run. Like we’re always looking for more people to get involved and bring new activities to our participants.
Alycia Anderson: I love it.
Lily Fox: Yeah.
Alycia Anderson: Congratulations.
Lily Fox: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: Okay. Did we miss anything that we need to share that we didn’t?
Lily Fox: No, I think this is great.
I feel like I’ve blabbered a little bit.
Alycia Anderson: No, I love it. What we do need is your website. We’re going to leave it in the show notes. So everybody can go and find you either there or on social media. So why don’t you just let us know what that is too. So we can listen to it as well.
Lily Fox: Okay. Our website is women’s wow. org.
Alycia Anderson: womenswow. org. And so that means to our community. If you want to get involved, go and to the companies and organizations that are subscribed to this podcast that I work with. We’re looking for donations too. So go there and donate and get involved. And thank you for doing the work that you’re doing. I think that this is so powerful and we need more women.
I love that. It’s like a women empowerment group too. I don’t think there’s enough of them. So congratulations. And thank you genuinely for creating space for this. It’s amazing.
Lily Fox: Thank you, and thank you so much for having me, and everyone in my organization is loving what you’re doing,
Alycia Anderson: Oh, I love you guys.
Our friendship has just started.
Lily Fox: Yes
Alycia Anderson: Okay. last thing. We always have a pushing forward moment at the end of this podcast. A little nugget of motivation, a mantra, something that you live by, is there anything that you can share with our community?
Lily Fox: Like an affirmation?
Alycia Anderson: Yeah, an affirmation is great.
Lily Fox: I always say, feel the fear and do it anyway,
Alycia Anderson: I like it. Feel the fear and do it anyway.
Lily Fox: yes.
Alycia Anderson: Powerful. Lily, I’m so happy you’re in my life.
Lily Fox: I’m so glad that you are. Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. And we’ll be, I will be doing a webinar with Women’s Wow. So everybody stay tuned for that. And we’ll wrap up. Thank you. And this has been pushing forward with Alycia and that is how we roll on this podcast.
We’ll see you next time.