Let's continue the conversation- send me a text! Exactly 1 Year ago today the empowEAr audiology podcast was released. Today is not only a celebration of 1 year, but also a celebration of the 25 th episode. 25 is a great # to celebrate whether it is a birthday, anniversary, or the 25 th empowEAR audiology podcast. What are you waiting to celebrate? I encourage you to believe in yourself and make the most of what gifts and talents you were made for. IN celebration of 1 year and 25 episodes, I wanted to dedicate this episode to reflecting, refreshing and restarting. Today I will reflect on my own personal gain, refresh on how 3C digital media made empowEAR audiology come alive as well as the multiple guests and listeners, and restart with goals for year 2. The first episode of empowEAR audiology is titled “What is My Purpose”. In reflecting on this question over the past year, I have been reminded that we truly do not know another person’s journey- we all have our own experiences that make us who we are. I am truly grateful that I tood this leap of faith with the empowerEAR audiolgy podcast to develop a unique platform for storytelling as it relates to personal and professional hearing journeys. In episode #20, I interviewed Karin Weiser, international career transition coach, connector, and storytelling. She also has a journey with a cochlear implant. In this episode Karin goes deeper into why sharing your story. We learn by stories, we open up emotions by telling stories, and we make lessons stick by telling stories. What Story do you have to tell? Reflecting on my own story as it relates to being hard of hearing as well as an audiologist; I hope empowEAR audiology is helping to break down the stigmas that continue to surround hearing loss and others gain a deeper understanding of the unique spectrum of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. I started thinking about stigma again because it has been a topic of conversation at a recent conference that I attended. My reflection actually took me back to my childhood years. I thought to myself….this little girl ME, was born with hearing loss and not identified and fit with amplification until the age of 4, had a significant articulation difficulties, wore analog hearing aids that really did not have the capacity to give access to the full speech spectrum, spend 12 years in speech, language, and auditory therapy, attended my public neighborhood school and was on an IEP receiving special ed services, went onto college and was told that because of my hearing loss, that pursing the field of audiology may not be a good choice, persisted through and achieved a doctorate in audiology, began a successful and rewarding career path in educational audiology, went on the cochlear implant journey late in life, and NOW I am hosting a podcast!! Who would have ever thought that the little girl who was so difficult to understand with a significant bilateral severe to profound hearing loss would be celebrating the joy of 25 podcast episodes!! Life has a way of making your own challenges your greatest purpose and if you dare to think differently you will emerge stronger. In my own spiritual personal journey, I am absolutely grateful to have this lifelong hearing challenge. Yes there are times that I am frustrated, mad, and feel isolated in this vibrant hearing world; but I have learned how to be resilient and determined. From this hearing journey, emerged many positive relations and a purposeful career. If you have not already heard my story, take a listen to episode one. I hope you feel empowEARed after this little reflection to overcome your own obs For more information about Dr. Carrie Spangler- check out her Linktree at https://linktr.ee/carrie.spangler. For transcripts of this episode- visit the podcast website at: https://empowearaudiology.buzzsprout.com