We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andrew Gurza a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Andrew, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I am a Disability Awareness Consultant, living with Cerebral Palsy and using a power wheelchair. In 2020, I launched a sex toy company called Bump’n to create the world’s first hands-free sex toy. I did this in partnership and collaboration with my sister who is non-disabled. While we eventually decided to close the company in 2024 (thanks Covid delays), that is one of the most meaningful projects I have ever worked on because it brought my sister and I much closer, but it also put sexuality, disability and access to self-pleasure in the public eye, and I’ll forever be proud of that.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In 2013, I had just finished my Master’s degree, and I was looking for a job. I knew that I wanted to do something different specifically focused on Disability. When I started asking for jobs that aligned around disability awareness, I was told by very prominent people that this was “just a hobby”. Undeterred, I printed a business card off of a website, branding myself a Disability Awareness Consultant and started cold e-mailing outlets that I wanted to work with to talk about sexuality and disability. I have always been self-made and self-taught in the work I do.

What sets me apart, I think is my willingness to talk about disability different than others do. I am willing to go places others may not be comfortable. My brand is about making disability accessible to you; specifically, queerness and disability, an intersection that often gets forgotten.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have built an interesting following on social media, which is where I do a lot of my activism around disability. I share my feelings about disability, exposing my vulnerability and an honesty, the likes of which we rarely see if we see disability at all on socials. Between Instagram and Bluesky, I have roughly 30K followers. I have gotten those numbers simply by being honest about my journey. My advice for those trying to build a following, especially if you are disabled, just be honest on the social media platforms that you use. Be honest about the struggles of disability, and the joys too, and see where it goes.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a disabled creative is building bridges between disabled and non-disabled people. I get to bring them into my world and show them that disability isn’t as scary as they may have thought. If I can impact one person’s worldview on disability, then I have made a difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.andrewgurza.com
• Instagram: @andrewgurza6
• Other: @andrewgurza6.bsky.social

Image Credits

Alice Xue, 2022