Tiffany Yu’s career journey has been a jungle gym of bold, agile leaps. From Wall Street to becoming a disability advocate, founder of Diversability, entrepreneur, grantmaker, and author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto, she continues to use her voice to create change. Most recently, she’s taken on para climbing, adding yet another adventure to her story.

At nine years old, Tiffany survived a tragic car accident that took her father’s life and left her with a permanently paralyzed arm and multiple broken bones in one of her legs. She used a wheelchair for four months and was years later diagnosed with PTSD as an adult.

In this episode of the Step Out of Line Podcast, titled “Dear Nine-Year-Old Tiffany,” we explore mental health, disability advocacy, the author journey, and the lived disability experience.

The cultural landscape around disability often overlooks beauty, fashion, and art; they’re seen as “extras,” not essentials. But for many of us in the disability community, those creative pillars are just as vital to identity and self-expression. Xian Horn's nonprofit, Give Beauty Wings, recognizes this truth. Their work reminds the world that inclusion in art and design matters, that everyone deserves to feel seen in beauty.

Too often, society assumes disabled people should simply be content with what they have, no matter how limited the options, even something as basic as shoes. Expanding access to beauty and fashion isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s a movement toward greater equality, one that ripples far beyond what we wear.

When you have a visible physical disability, you face two options: spend your energy hiding your differences, or accept who you are—and if people stare, let them. This was the beginning of Angela Yoder Stepping Out of Line and into the life she wanted. As a photographer, she captures people in the moment by interpreting their unspoken thoughts and feelings through the lens of her camera. Yet for years, she didn’t admit what she was asking from others: to be transparent and live their own unique truth. She soon recognized that it was time for her to be open about her life, her medical challenges, and all that is in between so that others like herself would not feel so isolated and alone.