For people with mobility challenges, it can be difficult to find the right balance of assistive technology that provides you with freedom, and enough challenge to keep you moving in style. Today we are looking at a device that does it all that with a unique Dutch style.
Hey everybody, this is Chris Brandt, here with another FUTR podcast.
Today we have with us BE who set out to bridge utility with functional design, making Mobility cool. The A-Linker, a non-motorized walking-bike without pedals, is custom designed to challenge society’s assumptions about disability, helping people with mobility challenges stay active. So let's learn about drove BE to create this and learn how she approaches design.
Welcome BE
The Alinker:
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FUTR.tv focuses on startups, innovation, culture and the business of emerging tech with weekly podcasts talking with Industry leaders and deep thinkers.
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For people with mobility challenges, it can be difficult to find the right balance of assistive technology that provides you with freedom, and enough challenge to keep you moving in style. Today we are looking at a device that does it all that with a unique Dutch style.
Hey everybody, this is Chris Brandt, here with another FUTR podcast.
Today we have with us BE who set out to bridge utility with functional design, making Mobility cool. The A-Linker, a non-motorized walking-bike without pedals, is custom designed to challenge society’s assumptions about disability, helping people with mobility challenges stay active. So let's learn about drove BE to create this and learn how she approaches design.
Welcome BE
The Alinker:
Click Here to Subscribe:
FUTR.tv focuses on startups, innovation, culture and the business of emerging tech with weekly podcasts talking with Industry leaders and deep thinkers.
Occasionally we share links to products we use. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases on Amazon.
For people with mobility challenges, it can be difficult to find the right balance of assistive technology that provides you with freedom and enough challenge to keep you moving in style. Today, we are looking at a device that does it all with a unique Dutch flair. Hey everybody, this is Chris Brandt here. Welcome to another FUTR podcast. Today we have with us BE, who set out to bridge utility with functional design, making mobility cool. The Alinker, a non motorized walking bike without pedals, is custom designed to challenge society's assumptions about disability, helping people with mobility challenges stay active. Welcome BE.
BE:Hi Chris, very nice to be here.
Chris Brandt:I'm so excited to have our conversation and I'm sure it's going to be an interesting one because, uh, you know what I know of you B, you are definitely an interesting person. Well, thank you.
BE:I'm just easily bored. That's what I say generally. And that sort of covers it.
Chris Brandt:I like that. So on that point, tell me who is B. Where do you come from? You know, what, what's your story? My name
BE:BE comes to start with, um, in my passport, it says Barbara Elizabeth, but that none of those names ever jived with me. And at a certain time, somebody started calling me BE and I was like, It's so logical. Of course, I'm BE. I'm just BE.
Chris Brandt:Yeah, you're the kind of person who only needs one name.
BE:Exactly. And then when people ask, like, what are your pronouns? I say, how can I help you? Because clearly you need a way to think about me. And how can I be of service?
Chris Brandt:Well, BE is a short or shorter than any other pro pronoun you're going to use.
BE:And it rhymes. He, she, be. And it rhymes. So, it's kind of logical. Um, I was born and raised in the Netherlands, Chris. Um, but never felt home there. And I ultimately left the Netherlands in early, late 98, early 99. And I went to Kenya. And um, that turned into 10 years international work. But what I found in retrospect a little bit, I wasn't so aware of it in that time, but what I found in retrospect is that I'm, I'm a bit of a gender weirdo, as you might, might get by now and by, by my name B and how I explained that. But I never understood why I was a weirdo in my own culture in the Netherlands. And so getting, becoming a white person, placing myself as a white person in a, in a predominantly black people country like Kenya. Um, I was in charge of being the weirdo. I didn't realize it then, but I think in retrospect, that is what drove me into international work. That I was in charge of placing myself as the exception as the weirdo in a context where I wasn't mainstream. And that has taught me a lot and, um, to be visitor, like a guest in countries for years, it is on me, the onus is on me to understand where I am because I'm just a guest, uh, to understand where I am, what motivates people. Um, what the whole setting is not to bring my perspective in and insert that into like what you often see in developing work or something, but really sit back and try to understand what motivates people and what, what, what is, what is the situation. After 10 years international work, I came to Canada and have lived here 2008.
Chris Brandt:You mentioned to me when we were talking before is the idea of practicing kindness, and that's sort of how you go about doing things. Could you talk a little bit about, about your philosophy around that?
BE:When I grew up as a little girl, um, you know, people ask you like, what do you want to become when you get old? And I've always found that a very strange question. I was like, what? As if the choice for my professional direction would... Um, would make me who I am. I never got that. And I always thought as a young girl already, like, shouldn't the question be, who do you want to be when you grow up and who do you want to be is a choice. And in a world that doesn't have a lot of kindness and everything is measured in money and in greed and in extractive and destructive systems, the one thing that I can do that doesn't cost anything, doesn't require resources is be kind. Cause being kind. Practicing kindness is a lot harder than you think, and it's different than the Canadian niceness. That's just shoving stuff under the carpet and, well, let's just pretend this is all good now.
Chris Brandt:Well, I'm from the Midwest, so we got a lot of that here.
BE:Well, yeah. Um, but it's that, that sort of making things go away for the sake of comfort and not disrupting the, the, you know, whatever. I, I'm, I'm very much a disruptor, and I... I like to get things out in the open, be honest, and be real about stuff. And if you want to practice kindness in the real world, it's really hard. And so it is an ongoing practice because if I really want to be kind in this world, it inherently means that I need to decolonize myself. Because a lot of the colonized practices that we have... are not kind, not to animals, not to other people, especially if they look different than, you know, a white heteronormative white wealthy guy or something. Anything that looks different than that is sort of fucked. Um, but yeah, so kindness also to those white guys, by the way, because I think they suffer as hard in this system as anybody else, not as hard, but they also suffer. I think everybody gets traumatized in this system. So to be kind is really a way of being, and then, and then willingness to constantly be aware, like, who am I in this position? I can do this, or I can do that. Or could I do this? What is the kindest thing that I can do at this moment? And so it is really a deep practice daily, every moment of the day.
Chris Brandt:Want to talk about the Alinker, you know, this product that you built. Um, and you know, it makes me think about, you know, the, the, there's a, there's a, Look, I think it's Transparent Things by Nabokov where the character is in there. He gets asked, what do you do? He says, don't ask me what I do. Ask me what I can do, you know? Um, and I just want to point out to people that, um, you're sitting in your living room and this looks like a craft person's studio here. You know, you got all the tools and you're ready to go. So I think that says a little bit about some of the things that you can do, right? Uh, could you tell me a little bit about what, Okay. You went into the creation of the Alinker.
BE:Well, the fact that I sit in my living room, which is a work, a wood workshop, um, reflects on the fact that I never chose to be a CEO of a company. And that wouldn't be my choice either, to be honest. But once you Invent something and this, this happens to a lot of creative people. I think they, they come up with something and then it works. And then you feel the obligation to, you know, if that does that to people, then yeah, I should do more of that. Then I need to bring it to two more people. But I never set out to be a CEO. I'm a woodwork. I love woodwork and I need to work with my hands. Otherwise I go insane. Some people would argue why I'm already insane, but I take that as a compliment generally.
Chris Brandt:Takes a little bit. Yeah, right. It's the world that's insane, not you.
BE:That's why I take it as a compliment. Right. Um, well, about awareness, because I practice awareness and kindness, things that people say trigger thoughts. It's not just, oh, somebody says something and then it's like, oh yeah, whatever. But somebody says something and it lands somewhere because I'm aware of language and trying to catch things. And so when my mother said years ago in 2011. Uh, we walked in, in, in, in her little village over the market plane and she said, while pointing at, um, some people that sat there with rollators and electrical scooters, you know, in the middle of the plane, like little village, blah, blah, blah. Right. And, um, and she said, over my dead body, will I ever use one of those things? I was like, what? You said what? Um, but two, two things happened in that moment. And she said. She caught herself on her own judgment about those people. And what it did to me is like, I realized that medical devices are generally technical solution for a body with a problem, and it creates a social divide between people with and without disabilities because we are not comfortable around disabilities. So if something emphasizes the disability. Because it's just designed as a logistical thing for a body with a problem. It emphasizes that we are a body with a problem, which we are not. That instantly became a sort of justice issue for me. Like if there's a social divide created or amplified by the way medical devices are, that's a justice issue. That's not okay. Right. I get kind of activated when I see injustice things. So I went home and Set out to create something so cool that people would love to use it. And that, um, that it bridges the divide because I can go to a bike shop and get a bike, super cool bike. I mean, you have to pay a little bit more. The cooler the bike is generally. Um, but the moment I have a disability, there's nothing cool for me available. Why? And now with the linker, people get often think like, Oh, that's too cool. Like you're, you're, you're, you're, you're too cool to be disabled. Like really? Well, tell me what disabled looks like really in your assumptions. It really brings out the fact that we do have assumptions about disabilities and that if you don't fit that mold, you're sort of a disruptor is bright yellow too. And then I designed it to, to, to look like a sculpture. So it's, it is really cool. But that was the whole point.
Chris Brandt:One of the challenges for people with disabilities is that, um, oftentimes there's gaps in sort of, you know, like what your capabilities are, you know, you, they may not, this is a, this is a product that sort of fits, you know, for people who aren't ready to be in some sort of. fully seated or motorized sort of device, but still have some mobility and, and actually need to use that mobility to retain that mobility, right? And the Alinker is really there to sort of bridge that gap as well, right?
BE:Yes. It does a few things different than, um, than the general, than the mobility devices that are generally available. It also requires you to work. And we were a little bit trained to just like the moment you get a diagnosis of MS, people, people hear from the doctor 99 percent of the time, get used to the idea of a wheelchair and here's your medication instead of saying like, what do you eat? How much do you move? What does your poop look like? And like, what can we do? To tend to a body, a body is a living organism, and if we don't move, we do not operate well. If you don't activate the brain, the brain doesn't know what to do because it's not activated. So all the, like, if we, we feed this machine. If we feed it crap, then obviously it can't work as it's supposed to work. So there's a lot of logical things that we need to do with our body. And we don't do that. We feed crap in our body. Then we don't move because we sit on chairs all the time. And then we get sick and we go to a sick care system to just fix that for us with a little cure. It's not how a body operates. We need the right fuel. Then we need to activate it by keeping it as active as possible because that's how a body operates. We're living creatures.
Chris Brandt:Well, and another thing that you mentioned there too that I think is really often neglected is that when you start, you know, losing some of your ability to... integrate yourself in the world. It's not just a physical problem that comes about. It's actually the mental challenges are really significant too. I mean, if you, your mobility gets limited and you don't get out and interact with people that is not great for your, for your brain function as well. Yes, it's not. And, and I think the thing that's cool about The linker that I, I enjoy is that it's not something where you're, uh, the person is below eye level. It's at eye level. I think there's a lot of, I mean, besides the fact that it's, you know, a beautiful piece of sculpture, which I, you know, we could put in our house just for that. But I mean, there's, there's a lot of like, really. technical design challenges and lots of thoughtful things that you put into this. Right.
BE:As I was developing 14 prototypes to get to the final linker. So, um, conceptual prototypes and then pre production prototypes seven and seven. Um, I learned a lot of things because many people. Try to linker to prototypes and from the feedback that I got from them, I integrated that to create the next prototype. Um, and one of the things that I learned is that 66 or 60 percent more than half roughly, uh, people that use wheelchairs can still use their legs yet. There is nothing designed for them that they can continue to use their legs. And again, if you don't activate your legs, Where you can you don't activate your brain right now very important thing to say wheelchairs are absolutely fabulous If you really need them, and I really want to say that I I I try to emphasize that as much as possible People in wheelchairs are wheelchairs are not the problem No people at eye level that treat people in wheelchairs in a certain way That's the problem. And I'm hoping that with the eye level of a linkers and the conversations that we're opening up, because we do challenge, um, assumptions about disability, it will also benefit people that use wheelchairs because it is insane that the moment there's somebody in a wheelchair, we start raising our voices and talk slower to them as if they also lost their brain. Yeah. It is unbelievable. Like the, the, and I've got a few friends in, in that use wheelchairs. I think it should be mandatory actually in high school or something to use a wheelchair and go out in the world for a day. You cannot get out. You're 15 years old. Get in a wheelchair, go to shopping centers, navigate the world. That should be mandatory because it's a physical experience. Navigate anything because it's a jungle of obstacles, really. And that's just talking about the physical stuff. But also on a jungle of obstacle of how people treat you right in my TED talk. I actually, um, go over that when, when Dini who lost both her legs, um, uh, is in a, in a shop to buy a new dress and she's using a wheelchair at that time. And, um, she has a bad day and she goes to a shop to buy a new dress. She says, Bert. Um, let's go. I need, I need to buy a new dress. I need to have something to make me feel better. She had a really bad day. I mean, losing both your legs and whatever. Dini rolled in and they were looking around for nice dresses. And this lovely sales lady come to them and said, can I help you? And Dini said, well, yeah, I'm looking for a nice dress. The woman turns to Bet and says, does she like red? And in that moment, Dini realized that losing her legs was only part of the problem. The bigger problem is how people now treat you. And that is something that we're hoping to raise or confront people with. Like it's, it's not just the people with disabilities that, that, that have certain things in their life. Like you're, you're actually disabling people by the way you treat them. Right. To, to, to have those conversations. Um, come up and, um, and have uncomfortable conversations with each other about that because people with disabilities are constantly exposed to all the discomfort, uncomfortable comments that they're getting, but let's just turn that around and let's, let's, let's all be in an uncomfortable space after all, we are mortal creatures and shit can happen to us. And, um, in that vulnerability, we have this beautiful connection possibility to, to truly connect with each other on real time. things. So, um, I think it, you know, the fact that we're vulnerable is something that we need to embrace. And then also it becomes maybe a little bit less scary to become disabled because
Chris Brandt:you get to still participate in society.
BE:It's not a space where you're kicked in the curb and isolated. Exactly. And that's, that's what we're hoping to do with the link or not just sell bikes. But also to, to create a safer space with each other by showing up for each other. And, and frankly, Chris, the thing is, once you're hit by life, you learn a little bit more about life. So why do we, why do we isolate and dismiss people that actually know a little bit more about life? It's so backwards really. So I always said like, when, when meeting a linker user or potential linker users, I meet the best people because those people have gone through hell and back a few times generally by what physically happened to them, what socially happened to them, what mentally happened to them, all that stuff. And so, and then come through it there, they've built their resilience. Um, they, You know, they have learned a little bit about life. They have reclaimed their agency because over my dead body, will I ever whatever. And so I meet the best people. They're stubborn in general, but it's the best people.
Chris Brandt:Well, you have to be stubborn, right? But I mean, I think society loses out on a lot, you know, by not fully embracing people with of all types diversity. And you know, on that, on that point, I think that, you know, one of the areas where, um, you know, there hasn't been enough attention paid is on some of these medically. you know, uh, assistive devices that, you know, you know, you said something that I thought was, is really interesting. And, and you talk about it sort of in, in, in the context of the importance of design, right? Cause you know, somebody has a disability. Now you say, instead of going and getting that really cool looking bike, you know, they're limited to, you know, maybe a walker or, you know, something, you know, with tennis balls on it or something like that, that's not giving the cool factor. And just because you have a disability. Doesn't mean you don't want to be cool and in your day to day life, right? And so that was a really important piece for you, right? For sure.
BE:Because, because they're not cool. People are rather at the risk of falling and not getting the support that they need physically than using a burgundy red hook.
Chris Brandt:Right, right. You're here to stomp out all burgundy red and medical assistive devices.
BE:That's my, that's my personal little pet peeve there. But, um, it, it, it is true. Like it. Because of what the devices are, people refuse to use them and are at the risk of falling, which has a lot of consequences for, you know, breaking bones, um, being unsafe, not going out anymore because, um, your range reduces when you don't have the assist that you need to go out. And so if you've got a cool looking yellow bike that activates your brain, that puts you at eye level. That mobilizes your leg. I mean, you, you need to work for it. Um, your range expands again. People go traveling with it. I like, I see people on the North pole with an, a linker. And yes, seriously.
Chris Brandt:Does it fit in the overhead compartment?
BE:No, they're on cruise ships to, to Alaska and like anywhere. Disneyland. Um, they fly to Europe and people go all over the place and they were like, this is. This would have been completely impossible without the Olinker, so, you know, it just expands your range because you feel different. It's not just what it does to your body, it's also how it makes you feel. Many people report that they're not depressed anymore. 80 percent of people with disabilities Are you using antidepressants 80 percent
Chris Brandt:you've got a sort of celebrity endorsement from Selma Blair, who, you know, is, you know, it's notable that she, you know, developed MS and she's been really outgoing about having MS and talking, you know, about, you know, some of the challenges of that. Um, and, and she's in a linker user too, right?
BE:Yeah. And she refers to it as a game changer. She said it literally changed my life that the whole trajectory in MS the moment I got on the Alinker.
Chris Brandt:That's fantastic. Yeah. Getting back to sort of the design of the device. I mean, it's, it's, it's a, it's a three wheel vehicle with a lot of like complexity to the design because, um, you know, like one, you have this small sort of. back wheel, um, to kind of get it out of the way of someone's feet moving. And there's, you know, there's a lot of thought into, you know, how does this thing go up a hill? How does this thing go down a hill? You know, can you speak to some of the, like, you know, challenges that you had in designing it that, you know, you didn't, that weren't obvious at first?
BE:Well, I looked a lot at current devices and how people are using it. And most used is the, the rollator. And what you see is people hunched over, over the rollator. So I translated that to like people try to get rid of their weight, the weight bearing on their legs. So I was like, oh, we need to put people on a seat. Coming from the Netherlands, that would be a bike seat. And, um, and so how do you get to walk on a bike seat? Like sitting, walking while being supported with something up your bum. And that's a bike seat because that allows you to still walk. And then at that height, put an arch underneath it so you're at the, um, at the, the, the height that the saddle needs to have for you to be able to walk. And then wheels, two wheels, that would be a little bit tricky. Three wheels, two in the back, one in the front, you'd kick into something, so the two wheels need to be in the front, one in the back, the one in the back that needs to be small because if you kick it with your ankle, you, it doesn't ride over your ankle. If the wheel is too big, too big, you would ride over your ankle. Um, and the two wheels in the front needs to be big so you can take, um, thresholds easier because the tipping point of the wheel is half at the point of the axle. So that's 16 inch wheels in the front and eight inch wheel in the back. Um, and, and if you realize. Oh, two wheels in the front. That's really difficult to engineer because if you, if you parallel steer them, they start bouncing. People don't see that. And the simpler the design loops, generally it means that there's a lot of engineering that went in there to make it look that simple. Simple is very hard. Simple is very hard. And people don't get that. Why is it so expensive? Well. Let me explain that to you, um, without trying to defend it because we know what goes into it.
Chris Brandt:It's a cool design. And, uh, you know, I think that, I think that, you know, there is an importance to design. Sure. You know, and, and like you, you, you definitely brought a lot of it to it. And I think, you know, you spoke to me before about empathy and design. And I think, you know, the product. It shows that it's sort of, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I think, you know, when I look at the, the linker, it's a product that's designed for the whole person, not for the disability, like you, you say,
BE:we're not a body with a problem. We're whole human beings that want to be active and engaged. And ultimately, as I'm aging, I'm 60. Now, what do I have in my future that I can,
Chris Brandt:we all end up with a disability of some sort. Exactly. Other eyes or ears or. Yeah, mobility or whatever.
BE:So ultimately I'm happy that the linker is there because that's the only thing that I would want to use if something with my mobility, um, would be challenged. So ultimately I, I chose myself as, as, as the user, like what would I want to use when I get older? Or when something happens to me, and yeah, something yellow, at least.
Chris Brandt:There might be a couple other colors you could add in there. Yellow's pretty cool. You're not going to miss it. And keep it simple. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. That's so Dutch.
BE:Yeah, exactly. Why overcomplicate it?
Chris Brandt:Stylish and simple. There is a cost to this. And it, it can be. A little expensive. Um, that's to say is a lot of, um, assistive technology tends to be very expensive. Um, and you know, the, the problem is, is a lot of folks who are in this situation, you know, do have oftentimes limited incomes and, and things like that. And I know, you know, you've Made, you know, the product available in a lot of different ways to sort of address some of those issues too.
BE:Many people ask, is insurance covering this? The problem with insurance is that you need to sell it through a certified supplier and a certified suppliers. That whole system works in such a way that now we're selling the Olymco for two and a half thousand dollars. And if I were to sell it through certified, um, suppliers, it would probably go up to three times the price because all the. That's taken up by everybody needs a piece. Everybody needs a piece. And then the insurance would pay maybe half of it. And then I always said like, so, you know, and if you see, we made a movie, um, a little video about how 40 suppliers. Um, how we source from 43 suppliers, actually all the parts that go into the linker and then how it's being assembled. First, you've got the frame makers. It's all hand welded because there are five, five centimeter pipes to two inch pipes. Um, It's all hand welded, then hand aligned, then the frames go, um, to, uh, to the paint factory. All the logos and decals, they're all put in by hand. Then it's, then it's painted, and it's secured, and then you have to clean it in between, and then it goes to the assembly plant, and then all the parts that are custom parts, the only parts that are not custom, Is, uh, the steering bar with the, the, with the holder of the steering bar and the seat and the, the seat pen. All the rest of the parts, we make them. Also the wheels, because the wheels are, um, baby stroller wheels. But they're not because our wheels have 32 spokes in it because the lateral strength that or, or, or stability stability that you need to have in the wheels requires a little bit more than 16 spokes that you have on baby strollers. So we hand spoke the, the hubs, the wheelchair hubs that have a quick release system in the thing. Into a special rim that can hold 32 spokes, little things like that. I can see them. I know them, but people don't necessarily see that the back wheel. Now we have developed that you need to create a mold, the tooling, um, the, the, the rubber, the testing, um, what kind of rubber do you need to, to get sort of that thing without the wear and tear. Like it is a huge process to every. Part is a huge process. There's enormous tooling involved with the forged parts. There's an extrusion bit, um, the ring around the frame. And so the whole process of 43 suppliers that come together in three manufacturing plants before it actually ends up in the box, most of it is manual work. People have no idea and we're paying people well. We make sure that everybody in the supply chain is treated well. And then sometimes I get the comment from people like, why do I have to pay for that? Yeah. I'm just like, well, whoever's got it, who else has got to pay for that? And is it okay to mistreat people just because you want a cheaper product? I don't live in that world. So we make sure that everybody in the supply chain is treated well. has at least minimum income in their country in Taiwan. Um, that there's air and water treatment plants that they've got their safety gear, all that stuff has to be in place. I do not want to produce anything else and I want to be more than carbon neutral. Um, in the whole process, we've not that planting trees is the only, uh, holy grail. We are more than carbon neutral because we planted over 80,000 trees so far.
Chris Brandt:You guys are a B Corp. Oh, we're a B Corp. So, I mean, uh, that, that's a really amazing. thing as well. So that's fitting within, you know, the mission that you've outlined.
BE:We just recertified. So we've been a certified B Corp for six years, which means we're not just measuring in making money for shareholders, but also measure in the impact, social and environmental impact that we have with everything that we do. And that is completely embedded in the DNA of this company.
Chris Brandt:Getting back to, you know, sort of the, how do you get one of these if you can't afford it? You do have a couple other ways for people to get it, even though you don't take insurance, right?
BE:I get it two and a half thousand dollars, but in, in the world of, of devices. Um, we're really selling it not, we're actually probably not, not asking enough in the retail for, for what we need as a company. Um, so we're selling it cheaper than we should actually. Um, that is one thing. And then if you're driven into poverty by the sick care system and how that works, we understand that. That's a whole different issue. It's the Olinker is not expensive. Yet it is a lot of money if you don't have the money very different issues, and it's good different concepts Yeah, yeah, and it's very good to to To separate that because one is like why are you so expensive like no the issue is why did society? drive you into poverty that you don't even have the Two and a half thousand dollars to give you your life back. Yeah. That should be the question. So how we try to bridge that is to make the linker available for what I say, like the, the price that we can sell it for to still have a company to be able to do this. Um, we have a 0 percent rent to own, um, and we do campaigns with people. We were the first company ever to integrate a crowdfunding platform in our website. The Rent to Own works this way that you, that you pay for four months of rent. And if you, if you, so you get to test the link for four months and if you keep it, then you pay eight equal payments. It's actually a sort of hidden payment plan, but with an initial threshold because I don't. Want people to just tag on something to the monthly cost and further participate in, or, or, or help people to drive further into, you know, uh, in incredible, uh, credit card bills. So there's an initial threshold of that four months rent. If, if that is a problem, then please go and do a campaign with us. And we have, I'm still surprised and continue to be surprised how generous this community is. There's not, not one campaigner that fails with us. say that out loud because I don't want people to count on that because you do have to activate, um, your community and, uh, And everybody around you. But the thing is that we have 240, 242 campaigns completed right now. That's 242 people that would have never been able to get on the link and through the community, it's incredible.
Chris Brandt:And the, you know. The disability community, there's a lot of folks who a lot of grassroots kinds of organizations that are helping people get things like this. I know, like, um, there's a couple who a differently abled couple, uh, they go by the handle of squirmy and grubs on, uh, on YouTube, uh, but the Shane who is disabled, uh, he's got a muscular atrophy sort of, um, challenge and, and Hannah, his wife, who is fully abled, um, you know, they run a lot of, uh, campaigns. They have one, Shane has one that's laughing at my nightmare, which helps to raise money to put people in assistive devices. Maybe that's a good one for you to, you know, connect with.
BE:I'll check that out. Yeah.
Chris Brandt:Yeah. I mean, they may be, uh, the, the linkers might be a great, great thing to get in there, uh, in their purview.
BE:With a little difference though. And it's, and it's not just semantics, but Language is really important. We don't help people. We have a platform and people help themselves. And I don't see doing a crowdfunding campaign as asking for help. I see a crowdfunding campaign. Like we have so isolated people with disabilities that we as temporarily able bodied people actually don't know how that life is. What happens to you once you're, once you're dependent on the sick care system? We, we, we're so isolated from that. So when people do a campaign in all their generosity, they share what life looks like once, once you get a diagnosed with MS and what you're faced with. And then we can learn and show up with generosity to help them complete their campaigns. It's based on sharing in generosity that creates a community because I learn things. Every day when I look at those campaigns and the stories that people are willing to share and it's not easy to share your vulnerable story out there, but they do that in all generosity and we become better people because we give if you give without the transactional, I give you something, you give me something back without a transactional thing, but you give with generosity. I become happier. I become a better human being. That's, we are generous creatures that really love giving and we have completely lost that.
Chris Brandt:Yeah. Well, I mean, all that, all the happiness studies always say that, you know, life of, you know, service to others is what makes people genuinely happy. So you must be really happy.
BE:I'm very happy. And it's not helping people, the top down sort of power dynamic. Like, Oh, I'm helping you. Like, who the fuck am I that I can say that I can help you? All I'm doing is helping myself by giving to a campaign. I become happier. So I'm not helping the other person. I'm actually helping myself. When I went to Kenya the first time, um, I was in the slums in Kisumu and people's like, Oh, it's so amazing that you, that you come and help us. And I was like, I'm not helping you. I was unhappy in the Netherlands. I come here to make myself happier. If I'm happy, I can be a better contributor to, to the, to a community that I'm just part of. You know something, I know something together. We're super happy because we're both happy. Now we can do really good things together. But it's not because I'm coming here to help you. I do not help people. Sometimes people say, B, you saved my life with the Olinker. And it's like, with all respect, but please do not put that on me. I did not save your life. You got on the Alinker. There's millions of people that do not get on the Alinker. They can, but they chose not to.
Chris Brandt:You make an important point about the power of language. And when we talk about this subject, I, you know, I did an interview with Pete, which is part of the U uh, U S department of labor's initiative in and around assistive technology. And. You know, it was a real eye opener for me because the language that I was using. I mean, we had to stop all the time because it's like, well, you shouldn't say that. And here's why. And it's and it's and it was, you know, in some ways unconscious, you know, on my part, but it's sort of astounded me how embedded in our culture and our language all of this is and how, you know, we dismiss people. In our language all the time without even really thinking it through.
BE:But look around how we are conditioned with everything. Like kids, for example, they go curious to a wheelchair. It's like, Oh, what is this? This is cool. And then the parents are like, Oh, don't do that. Don't so they're learning. Clearly, there's something wrong with people in the wheelchair. They're scary. You shouldn't talk to them, right? That's all being that's taught behavior. Like the curiosity of kids. There's nothing wrong with because it's real. Yeah. If they say, Oh, what's wrong with you? Because you're using a wheelchair, then they must have listened to their parents before they actually say that. But you know, we're constantly conditioned with all the stuff that we see online with all the advertisement is embedded with. Messages that condition us constantly. So language is a very powerful tool because I can use language to manipulate you to buy something that's advertisement, right? And so you have to be very mindful about the language that you're using, how you're using it to who you're using what. All our language that we use without awareness is colonized language. And it's discriminatory, it divides people. Because that serves systems, you know, so yes, it's really important to become aware of all the words that we're using, all the language that we're using, how and when
Chris Brandt:I knew this was, we were going to go off in a whole lot of directions when we started talking, but I love it. Uh, you're, you're awesome. I always enjoy talking with you. Uh, thanks so much for coming on and, and sharing with us my pleasure linker, but, you know, sort of life philosophy and all of that in a time when I think a lot of people need, need more of that. So thanks for doing what you do. Um, and thanks so much for being on. It was a pleasure.
BE:Thank you so much. Well, it is a pivotal time that we are in, so it is important that we decide who we want to be in this time because this is, we're alive here at this moment for a reason. I don't believe this is coincidental that all the stuff outside is happening and we're here just because of inci like, it is important. We're needed here. And we need to be mindful in who we are and how we are upholding systems that abuse or creating something new, creating something new in, in, in kindness and, um, and generosity with each other. And that's, that's, that's the choice. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chris.
Chris Brandt:Thanks for watching. I'd love to hear from you in the comments. And if you could please give us a like, think about subscribing, and I will see you in the next one.