In this episode of Pathways to Healing: The Perfect Step Podcast, host Hal Hargrave sits down with Annie Streit, Grassroots Advocacy Manager for United Spinal Association, for a candid conversation about spinal cord injury, resilience, advocacy, accessibility, and what it truly means to build a meaningful life after injury.

Annie takes us back to May 7, 2005, when a shallow dive at her college graduation party resulted in a C5 spinal cord injury. She shares the uncertainty of those early days, the physical and emotional realities of rehabilitation, and the pivotal realization that while her plans had changed, life around her had not stopped.

The conversation follows Annie's journey of reinvention—from athlete and aspiring interior designer to educator, children's book author, speaker, and ultimately disability advocate. Annie explains how she discovered that she had been “an advocate before I knew I was an advocate,” simply by sharing her story and helping others who were beginning their own spinal cord injury journeys.

Hal and Annie also explore the realities that often exist beyond the visible aspects of disability, including the importance of caregivers, secondary complications of spinal cord injury, pressure injuries, autonomic dysreflexia, bowel and bladder management, and the amount of preparation that can go into simply beginning each day.

Today, Annie helps mobilize advocates across the country through United Spinal Association. She explains grassroots advocacy, why lived experience matters in policymaking, and why someone does not need a background in politics—or even need to personally have a disability—to become an effective advocate.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Annie's life-changing spinal cord injury and the journey that followed

• Rebuilding identity, independence, and purpose after injury

• Turning lived experience into meaningful advocacy

• Why sharing your personal story can be a powerful form of advocacy

• The importance of caregivers and the current care-support challenges

• Accessibility barriers surrounding transportation and air travel

• The need for greater disability representation in leadership and decision-making

• Why healthcare, rehabilitation, fitness, mental health, equipment, transportation, and community resources should function as a continuum of lifelong support

• How individuals can begin advocating without being policy experts

• The power of collaboration between disability organizations and community partners

• Annie's vision for a future where people with disabilities are supported not simply to survive, but to remain healthy, maintain independence, participate in their communities, pursue relationships and careers, and thrive throughout their lives

At the heart of this episode is a simple but powerful message: your experience matters, your story matters, and your voice can create change.

As Annie reminds us, advocacy doesn't require knowing everything or having all the answers. It can begin by identifying something that needs to change, finding your community, sharing your experience, and being willing to speak up.

And when the hard days inevitably come, Annie leaves listeners with an important reminder:

“Don't let the hard days win.”

Pathways to Healing: The Perfect Step Podcast brings together meaningful conversations, lived experiences, healthcare, rehabilitation, fitness, advocacy, and community to help bridge gaps and create better outcomes.

One Mission. Stronger Together.