This episode is the first of our series of “begin again” stories. In each of these episodes, we’ll be interviewing a guest from our community, to dive deep into their own unique story of beginning again, sharing the challenges, learnings and growth that came from either choosing to, or needing to evolve and start over in some way in their life.

For our first every begin again story, I’m excited to chat with my friend, Isabella Choate!!

Isabella (they/them) is a Lived Experience Advocate, CEO of the Youth Disability Advocacy Network, and 2023's WA Young Person of the Year - but they didn't always have their sights set on advocacy! Growing up as an elite athlete, Isabella pinned their hopes on the 2020 Olympics in their sport, Canoe Slalom.

In 2014, they were the Australian Paddler of the Year, Senior Female Whitewater Champion, and Australian Schools National Champion, after taking out gold medals in all 9 of their categories. Less than 6 months later, they were diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and could barely walk or feed themselves.

We chat about Isabella’s journey of beginning again, exploring:

• what purpose looks like for elite athletes, and what it was like to have something you were good/talented at become your purpose and pathway from a young age
• what happens when the thing you are passionate about is no longer accessible to you, and the impact of an invisible illness on your sense of purpose and community
• lived experience and the value of working in jobs and work environments that recognise and celebrate your lived experience
• intersectionality and recognising the way our different identities intersect and impact our outcomes, privilege and experience in the world
• how to define your purpose and self worth as an advocate for change when change happens slowly
• Isabella’s own podcast, Unapologetically Disabled!

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Just because you’re figuring out who YOU are, it does not mean you need to do it alone!!

Join the Begin Again Club by:

• connecting with our community on Instagram and TikTok, @beginagain.club, let me know what you thought of this episode and what you want me to talk about on the podcast!

• sharing this episode (and others that you love) with a friend who might need to hear it today

• rating and reviewing our podcast, we want to know what you think!

We’ll be dropping a new episode each week, so check in every Monday for your weekly dose of purpose + authentic chats about how to work out what the heck you want from your life, and the journey of beginning again in a purposeful way :)