We were lucky to catch up with Amy Rivera recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Amy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I was born with a rare disease called primary lymphedema. All though I know what it is called now, that wasn’t the case for most of my life. I was misdiagnosed for over 30’s years. As I grew, so did my right leg. At its worst, it was 200% larger than my left leg – leaving me disfigured and alone. In 2013, I started my reduction journey and fought for my life. I used to wear long dresses and skirts to work so I could hide my right leg. I asked a co-worker if she wanted to go swimming. She asked me if the pool was private or public because “fat girls don’t swim in public pools” her words not mine. Her words hurt because I never saw her that way. If she was wrong about how I perceived her then was I wrong with how others would perceive me with the secret I’m hiding under my skirt? That day, I decided to DROP MY SKIRT and share my secret with my co-worker.
I thought I was the only one who was suffering in silence. But, after learning the truth about my condition, I realized that this community needed a voice. Through lifelong adversity with my disability, I developed an activist mindset as I feverishly fought to better my quality of life through medicine, nutrition, fitness, and faith. Against all odds, my journey led me to overcome the worst-known severity of lymphedema to minimal maintenance. I left the corporate world to pursue my calling to be a voice for those with disabilities and live a philanthropic life.
I’ve created the first-of-its-kind wellness program through my nonprofit – Ninjas Fighting Lymphedema Foundation, International Best-Seller, Best-Seller and Indie Book Award Finalist in Women’s Literature – Drop The Skirt – How My Disability Became My Superpower, International Speaker, Exclusive North American Distributor for Fast’n Go Hybrid Compression Bandages, Co-created the first children’s camp in the U.S., Created the first of its kind Lymphedema Blueprint program, and of course building my Nobel Peace Prize project team.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
Growing up feeling alone was tuff but what was unbearable was feeling alone as an adult. I would often pray if I could figure out what was wrong with me and learn how to live with it, I would devote my life to creating awareness, innovating treatments/therapies/products/
I’m most proud of my servant’s heart. If I give up on myself, I give up on others, I give up on my promise and not follow my calling in life. Sure, it’s easy to say “stay motivated”, “grind” and all other buzz words you hear in motivational videos, posts and etc but if you don’t have a servent’s heart, you will give up because it’s hard.
I’m creating a culture of progress in the lymphedema community. We often get stuck with being told what we can’t do that we end up buying into that and living a life we feel chained to. In reality, we can live with lymphedema as long as we are pushing the needle forward a little bit more everyday -PROGRESS.
Within, this culutre, I focus on creating opportunities for fellow lymphedema thrivers to use their gifts through advocacy, educational courses, volunteer efforts, and employment.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
As much as lymphedema has taken from me, it’s given me so much more. I have a purpose far more significant than I could ever imagine with another profession. So, yes, I would choose the same profession.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Drop The Skirt- How My Disability Became My Superpower illustrates nothing but resilience. Many told me that leaving a well-paying job to start a nonprofit was crazy and I would never be successful. Yes, it was crazy and also successful. People laughed at me when I told them I was writing a book. Not only did I publish but my placed in Indie Book Awards for Women’s Literature, participated in my first anthology with 40 0ther others, and I’m currently co-writing a third book. Doctors told me I wouldn’t have an active life with lymphedema – I competed in my first bodybuilding show at the age of 40 last year and placed 3rd and 4th in two categories. Friends and family either stayed quiet or told me you had to have “connections” to become an International Business Woman. They failed to understand it’s all about the relationships and trust factor, which has landed Amy Rivera and Associates as the Exclusive North American Distributor for a company that sells the first single-layered hybrid compression bandage, Fast’n Go Hyrbid Bandaging.
I guess this can be a two-part answer here: I’ve learned that not everyone will recognize the reflection of the evolving you and if you are not careful they will shatter that dream. Your calling isn’t meant for everyone and that is ok – seek wise counsel and stay focused on what was placed in your heart and only your heart.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amyrivera.
com/ - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/thisisamyrivera/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/thisisamyrivera - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/amy-rivera- ninjasfightle/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
amy_j_rivera - Youtube: https://youtu.be/
ePDYPWquLts
Image Credits
The photo with the little girl and myself – Alison Hillman https://www.btpbyalison.com/ The picture of me standing in front of a screen with my face and name -Alison Hillman https://www.btpbyalison.com/ The picture with me standing in a gym with a wrap on my leg – STLMAG https://www.stlmag.com/health/