When I think about what it means to be “living my best life,” I do not think about having a perfect life. I think about having a life filled with purpose, relationships, challenges, accomplishments, and opportunities to make a difference. I was born profoundly Deaf with Goldenhar Syndrome, and later in life I experienced kidney failure and received a kidney transplant. Disability and medical challenges have always been part of my story, but they have never been the entirety of who I am. Today, I am living my best life because I have learned to embrace every part of my journey while continuing to challenge myself to grow.
Being Deaf has shaped me in countless ways. American Sign Language is my language, and the Deaf community is an important part of my identity and life. Growing up Deaf meant learning how to navigate environments that were not always designed with people like me in mind. Communication access could sometimes determine whether I was fully included in a classroom, conversation, workplace, or event. Those experiences taught me early that accessibility matters. They also taught me the importance of advocating for myself and, whenever possible, helping create better opportunities for the people who come after me.
My education became one way I challenged expectations. I earned my bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gallaudet University, followed by a master’s degree in international marketing from Hult International Business School and another master’s degree in business analytics from the University of Virginia. Today, I am continuing that journey by pursuing my Doctor of Business Administration at Capella University. Education has never simply been about collecting degrees. Each experience has pushed me into new environments, introduced me to different perspectives, and strengthened my belief that Deaf and Disabled professionals belong everywhere decisions are being made.
Professionally, I have built a career in the federal government as a project manager and contracting officer’s representative. My work involves project management, acquisitions, financial management, technology, and working with different organizations and stakeholders. Being successful in this environment as a Deaf professional means that accessibility must be part of the equation, but accessibility does not lower expectations. It gives me the opportunity to participate on equal footing and demonstrate what I can contribute. I hope that simply being present in these professional spaces can help challenge assumptions about what Deaf and Disabled employees are capable of accomplishing.
My journey has also included challenges that I never expected. In my early twenties, I developed serious kidney disease and eventually experienced kidney failure. I spent approximately eleven months on hemodialysis. Suddenly, my life revolved around treatments, doctors, medications, blood tests, and waiting for the possibility of a transplant. On June 20, 2017, that possibility became reality when I received a living-donor kidney transplant.
That experience changed the way I look at life.
A transplant does not erase everything that came before it, and it does not mean that health suddenly becomes effortless. I still have responsibilities associated with protecting my kidney and taking care of my body. However, my transplant gave me something extraordinarily valuable: more time and more opportunities to live.
I have tried to make those opportunities count.
Fitness has become a major part of how I celebrate what my body can do. I enjoy challenging myself through CrossFit, HYROX-style training, running, strength training, and other athletic activities. There is something powerful about remembering the days when I was sitting in a dialysis chair and comparing them with the life I am able to live today. Exercise is not about proving that disability has disappeared. My disabilities and transplant history remain part of me. Instead, fitness allows me to appreciate my body for what it can do rather than defining it by what others might assume it cannot do.
My experiences with health and fitness also inspired me to become a Precision Nutrition Level 1 certified nutrition coach and start Shock Nutrition. I wanted to take what I had learned and use it to help other people build healthier, more sustainable relationships with food and fitness. I especially understand how complicated health can feel when someone is dealing with circumstances that do not fit neatly into the typical fitness narrative. My goal is not perfection. I want people to understand that food can fuel the things they love doing and that progress can take many different forms.
Sports have also given me another incredible way to connect with people. I have been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan for years, and in 2025, I was selected as the Steelers Fan of the Year. That experience eventually took me to NFL Honors and the Super Bowl. Being recognized by the team I love was surreal, but what made the experience especially meaningful was having another opportunity to represent the Deaf community on a national stage. Visibility matters. When Deaf children see Deaf adults participating in sports communities, building careers, traveling, pursuing advanced education, starting businesses, and experiencing major life moments, they can see more possibilities for their own futures.
None of these accomplishments would mean nearly as much without the people who share life with me. My family has played an enormous role in who I have become. My wife, Lauren, and I have built a life together filled with adventures, goals, laughter, challenges, and plans for the future. I have also experienced the incredible companionship of hearing service dogs. My first hearing dog, Remy, was beside me for nearly a decade before passing away in 2026. Today, Abby continues that partnership. These relationships remind me that independence does not mean doing everything alone. Sometimes living your best life means having an incredible team beside you.
I also believe that living my best life comes with a responsibility to advocate for others. Accessibility should not depend on whether a Disabled person is willing to fight for it every single time. Deaf and Disabled people deserve opportunities to communicate, work, learn, exercise, travel, participate in sports, build families, lead organizations, and simply enjoy life with the same dignity as everyone else.
My life has taken me from hospital rooms and dialysis chairs to graduate classrooms, federal workplaces, CrossFit gyms, NFL events, international travel, entrepreneurship, and now a doctoral program. There have been difficult chapters, and I am certain there will be more challenges ahead. Living my best life does not mean pretending those chapters never happened.
It means recognizing that they belong in the story too.
I am Deaf. I have Goldenhar Syndrome. I am a kidney transplant recipient. I am also a husband, athlete, doctoral student, federal professional, nutrition coach, sports fan, advocate, friend, and so much more.
Disability is part of my life, but it does not define the boundaries of my life.
For me, living my best life means continuing to show up, challenge expectations, take care of the gift I have been given, help others whenever I can, and keep discovering what is possible.
And I am far from finished.
