Introducing the Stronger Together podcast with Marc and Matt! Hosts Marc Fucarile, an amputee, and Matt Castellucio, a quadriplegic, will deliver honest, empowering conversations with prominent voices from across the disability community.
“Matt and I had so much in common when it came to what brought us to where we are today and what makes us who we are after our injuries — we both had a lengthy recovery. As soon as we met, Matt, I felt your passion, and we both loved the concept of community because we both benefited from others facing similar challenges,” says Marc Fucarile, founder of the MARC Network.
“That’s what this is about, why it’s ‘Stronger Together’. Your disability is different than my disability, yet we are so similar,” says Matt.
Before Matt was VP of Community Empowerment for United Spinal, he ran an adaptive sports program for 14 years and worked in a rehab facility as a mentor coordinator.
“I’m very involved in the disability community. If this is the card I’m dealt, I’m gonna thrust myself into it full force. I play for the New York Warriors rugby team, do skiing, softball, sailing and biking. Just living the dream, trying to make the most of what I’m living with,” he says. “When I connected with Marc, it was immediate. I just felt like I found someone who got it, who was on the same line.”
Marc felt the same way, and soon after the idea for Stronger Together was born.
Their first guests were Jesi Stracham and Nikki Walsh of Wheel With Me Adapt Fit to talk about all things fitness. Their app offers a collection of adaptive workouts to help wheelchair users improve their fitness, independence and confidence.
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“The gym was my home before my car accident. I thought, ‘What am I going to do? How am I going to continue living my life this way?’ I messaged one of my girlfriends who I actually trained to be a personal trainer. She and I got in the gym and we figured it out together, how to work out as a wheelchair user,” says Nikki Walsh.
“Literally every single machine in the gym is seated, so you just have to use a cable machine or resistance bands and mimic and have a spotter if you need a hand. I thought, ‘You still have your brain. You can do this.'”
She started posting her workouts on Instagram for other wheelchair users and connected with Jesi Stracham, who has a passion for nutrition and creating the right mindset for change.
“It took me about two years after my injury to find adaptive CrossFit, which completely changed my life. I started competing in 2017 and joined the wheelchair curling team, started focusing on mindset and posting about fitness.”
She was in the process of developing an adaptive fitness app and joined forces with Nikki to create Wheel With Me Adapt Fit.
“Collaboration is the most important thing in this community. It’s often overlooked. We’re in such a small niche community that we’ve got to stop competing against each other. We have to collaborate more so we’re able to actually get the change we’re after,” says Jesi.
Stream the podcast every other Tuesday on United Spinal’s Facebook, the MARC Network Facebook or the MARC Network app. The next episode will air on May 27th at 7:30 pm ET and will feature Theo Braddy, CEO of the National Council on Independent Living.