My cerebral palsy and wheelchair has never stopped me from getting what I want. I was slow when it came to writing with a pen and pencil. Quite literally I worked three times as hard to go half as far. But guess what, I kept going.

I was on the honor roll from the first day of kindergarten through the last day of high school. I topped it off by graduating college with honors.

When I made my way into the real world, I spent five years slogging through soul-sucking job search. I snagged a few internships and some part-time, temporary jobs, but I was never able to land a “real” job.

You’ve probably seen the PR pieces from big corporations touting the programs they have to hire disabled people. I’m living proof most of these are a lie a little more than windowdressing to get positive PR.

Believe it or not, I did eventually land a “real” job.

I was doing social media customer service for one of the biggest and most well-known companies in town.

But here’s the catch, they discriminated during the interview process. They basically had to give me a job so they didn’t leave themselves open for a lawsuit.

After five years of searching and a discrimination complaint, I had the good fortune of working with colleagues who got in trouble for playing in the fountain in front of the building. Then there were the handful of other colleagues who came to work high or drunk on a daily basis.

It was one heck of a wake-up call when I realized all my job searching efforts led me to a position where my fellow employees couldn’t be bothered to stay sober for their shift.

I decided to put my passion for marketing and my writing skills to work. I started my own copywriting business.

I didn’t have any clients, so I did what most folks do when they strike out on their own. I through my shyness to the wind and hit the networking circuit.

I met some great people, got some small one-off jobs, and found confidence I didn’t know I had. But, that was about it.

Writing articles for $10 apiece doesn’t pay the bills.

I knew if I wanted to be a successful copywriter, I’d have to hire a coach to help me hone my craft.

After putting the skills my coach taught me to work, I started writing for marketing agencies, major airports, one of the largest nonprofits in the country, specialty roofers, real estate software companies, and many others.