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Hidden Chapters: Real Stories that Bring Light to the Hidden Parts of Life
Behind every put-together exterior is a chapter most people never see.
If youāve ever felt alone in your own story, especially in the middle of it, this is a place where those unseen chapters are spoken out loud.
Not the version that made it onto a stage. Not the polished takeaway or the neatly packaged lesson.
Hidden Chapters is a storytelling podcast that goes back further. To the grief that didnāt come with a lesson yet. The identity crisis in the middle of the night. The fear, the silence, the in-between, the raw and unresolved moments most people donāt talk about.
Hosted by Genevieve Kruger, each episode invites guests to share the parts of their story that are often left out. Not because the ending doesnāt matter, but because most of us are still living in the middle, and that part deserves its own space.
This is a show about the messy, complicated, tender, and deeply human parts of life that rarely get airtime because they donāt fit neatly into the stories we present to the world.
Hidden Chapters exists to honor the stories we don't always see, so you don't feel alone in yours.
Hidden Chapters: Real Stories that Bring Light to the Hidden Parts of Life
What Real Inclusion Looks Like: Disablity, Ableism, and Advocacy with Jenna Udenberg
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Send me a message via text or voicemail!
šļø Episode Summary
What does real inclusion actually look beyond good intentions and surface level awareness?
In this episode, I get to sit down with educator, author, and accessibility advocate Jenna Udenberg, founder of Above and Beyond with U, for an honest conversation about disability, ableism, and what true advocacy requires.
Jenna shares her experience living with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and unpacks the realities that often go unseen, including the pressure to be labeled āinspiring,ā the complexity within disability culture, and the emotional weight of navigating a world that wasnāt built with accessibility in mind.
We talk about the difference between performative inclusion and real, lived inclusion, and the deeper internal work it takes to recognize and dismantle ableism in our everyday lives.
This conversation invites you to rethink accessibility, challenge your assumptions, and consider what it really means to see people fully.
š Jennaās Hidden Chapter
Jennaās hidden chapter is the part of her story before she had the language to understand her own identity.
Itās the years of navigating a world that didnāt fully see or reflect her experience. Before discovering disability culture. Before realizing she didnāt have to earn belonging by being palatable, agreeable, or āinspiring.ā
That chapter led her to a pivotal moment of self-recognition, where she could finally look at herself and see her whole identity clearly. That truth now shapes the work she does and the way she shows up in advocacy.
š§ Who This Episode Is For
Itās for educators, parents, advocates, and leaders who want to move beyond performative inclusion and step into something more honest and impactful.
Itās for those living with chronic illness or disability who are still navigating what it means to fully embrace their identity.
And itās for anyone willing to sit with discomfort, reflect honestly, and do the deeper work of understanding themselves and others.
You donāt have to have a disability to be part of this conversation.
Resources Mentioned
- Jenna's Memoir: Within My Spokes ā available on Amazon
- Above and Beyond with U (Nonprofit): aboveandbeyondwithu.org
- Disability Culture Resources: disabilityculture.org
Connect with Jenna
š Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!
šļø Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters: Real Stories that Bring Light to the Hidden Parts of Life? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger
šµ Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay
