When There Isn't a Why | Disability, Neurodivergence & Your Self to Work | Winning Wednesday Ep.52

What happens when you're a professional opera singer turned Verizon leader who survives multiple strokes — and comes back to work only to realize the attitudes you once held about illness were the same ones now being directed at you? Krista Hinman, disability advocate, ERG leader, yoga teacher, painter, photographer, and self-described perpetual learner, brings one of the most honest and quietly radical conversations in the Winning Wednesday catalog. Her message is simple and profound: sometimes people just get sick, there isn't always a why — and the work of becoming a better ally starts with interrogating your own assumptions first.

🔥 What You'll Learn:
✅ Why a background in opera and musical theater actually prepared Krista for a corporate career — through rejection, resilience, and flexibility
✅ Why ERGs will never stop being relevant — because as culture shifts, new conversations always emerge
✅ What it's really like to return to work after serious illness — and how the attitudes of colleagues (and yourself) can be the hardest part
✅ Why people search for a reason when someone gets sick — and what it means that sometimes there just isn't one
✅ How leaders can open the door to mental health conversations without oversharing — and why that vulnerability goes further than any policy

⚡ Key Focus Areas:
Opera to Verizon - How years in music and theater taught Krista the flexibility, resilience, and rejection tolerance that corporate life demands
Disability Is More Common Than You Think - Why once you include mental health, neurodivergence, and acquired disability, almost everyone is touched by this community at some point
The Search for a Why - Why people need a cause for someone else's illness — and how confronting that impulse is the first step to real allyship
ERGs as Culture Builders - Why there will never be a finish line for diversity work — and why that's exactly the point
Who Are You on the Weekend - Krista's framework for winning Wednesday — close the gap between who you are outside of work and who you bring into it every day

💎 Krista's Approach:
Verizon leader, disability advocate, and ERG leader whose experience surviving multiple strokes shifted her entire perspective on illness and allyship
Former professional opera singer and musical theater performer — degrees in music, theater, and opera — who brings an artist's mindset to continuous learning
Teaches yoga, paints, photographs, and pursues curiosity across every medium — because personal growth has no finish line
Believes the most effective leadership tool in disability advocacy is asking questions that lead people to their own conclusions rather than telling them how to think
Committed to confronting her own internalized attitudes — even the uncomfortable ones — as a daily practice

🎯 Perfect If You're:
A leader who wants to create psychological safety on your team but doesn't know how to start the conversation
Someone who has returned to work after illness or disability and felt the weight of other people's assumptions
An aspiring ally to the disability or neurodivergent community who wants to show up more thoughtfully
Someone living a version of yourself only on weekends — and wondering how to close that gap

🔑 Krista's Philosophy:
"Sometimes people just get sick — and sometimes there isn't a why."
"Disability, mental health, neurodivergence — when you start thinking of it through that lens, you realize how common it is."
"Dip your toe in the water of vulnerability — it doesn't have to be super in-depth, just take that first step."
"I never hit a point where I'm arrived — I'm always asking what do I need to learn next."
"Who am I on the weekend — and why can't I be that person every day?"

ABOUT KRISTA HINMAN:
Disability Advocate | ERG Leader | Former Professional Opera Singer | Yoga Teacher | Painter | Photographer | Perpetual Learner | Helping workplaces shift attitudes, open conversations, and make space for every version of who people are

CONNECT WITH KRISTA:
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristahinman/

CONNECT WITH KATRINA:
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connectorqueen/
📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connectorqueen/?hl=en
🌐 Website: https://katrinafuhrman.com/connector-queen/

ABOUT WINNING WEDNESDAY:
Deep conversations exploring the significant moments that shape who we become. Winning Wednesday launched in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as a remote networking tool and mid-week inspiration. Now evolved into Becoming You — stories of transformation available to binge at your convenience. Created and hosted by Katrina Fuhrman, The ConnectorQueen.

#ConnectorQueen #DisabilityAdvocacy #Neurodivergence #MentalHealthAwareness #WinningWednesday #ERG #Allyship #Verizon #WAVE #BringYourWholeSelf #OperaSinger #PerpetuaLearner #WorkplaceInclusion #BecomingYou #WomenInBusiness

Видео When There Isn't a Why | Disability, Neurodivergence & Your Self to Work | Winning Wednesday Ep.52 канала ConnectorQueen