EP7 Melony Brown: Overcoming Odds & Teaching Others Same

---

Joining us today on the podcast is, Melony Brown, an amazingly upbeat person who has a passion for life and makes a major difference in the world- all while she deals with the struggles of serious neurological issues. While she has her own story, she also has a ministry in which she shares how others have overcome challenges in an effort to inspire others. This is very much aligned with my Clear Choices podcast and why I am so excited to have her on the show!

Melony has been married to her husband for 26 years and has two adult sons. She spent 17 years teaching special education in public and private sectors, is a published writer, and now has a ministry and podcast about sharing women’s challenges and how they overcome them.

Melony’s own struggles began at the very young age of two when she suffered a stroke. Since then she has faced many neurological, physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges. Even in the face of a diagnosis of a rare, progressive disease, she has not allowed these difficulties to define her. She has gone on to interview over 90 women, in the past seven years of her ministry, to help tell their stories of how they have become overcomers in the face of challenges.

“I continue to experience fatigue and it is frustrating but it is something that I am determined that it is not going to take over me. It’s not going to deter me from what I want to do with my life. It is a choice I have made. And I almost have to make it daily.”

"I’m not going to let something stand in my way. If I want to achieve it or want to have it, I’m not going to let struggles I have deter me.”

"The foundational part of my ministry is that people who go through struggles have a choice. They can live in defeat or they can fight to overcome. Now sure you’re going to live in defeat right after the diagnosis or the huge trauma in your life. You’re going to want to give up but it’s those overcomers who say: ‘I’m not going to live there.’ ”

In this episode, you will hear:
- How Melony developed resilience and a passion for life despite the struggles and challenges she has faced
- How she is making the powerful choice to overcome struggles almost daily and what that looks like for her
- Some of the inspiring stories she shares from interviewing so many women who have overcome difficult challenges

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend.

If you have a guest idea or want to connect with me, please visit my website www.clearchoices.live or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Clear-Choices-104719800920939/. I am also available for speaking engagements.

Other resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Overcomer Ministry http://www.melonybrown.com/
Zigzag and One Podcast http://www.melonybrown.com/zigzag-and-1-podcast/

Welcome to the podcast, Diego Corzo! Diego is from Peru and came with his family to the United States as a tourist legally when he was nine years old. After his parents visa expired six months later, they stayed in the US as undocumented immigrants. Congress calls Diego and other's like him "Dreamers" as they came into the country with their parents and have become Americanized and are now adults. They are all faced with many challenges since they are undocumented, and at this time in 2019, there is no path for Dreamers to become American citizens.
Despite all of the challenges Diego faced when going to school and starting his career, he knew his "why" and pushed to build wealth and a successful career in real estate- all at the young age of 29. Because of his amazing success, Diego has been featured in Forbes and has given a Ted Talk.

"I believe if people take some kind of action, they'll either win or learn something and then they will not make mistake again hopefully."

In this episode, you will hear:
- The many challenges that Diego faced in high school, college, and beyond because he was undocumented
- How a strong "why" helped him overcome those challenges and not give up
- Diego's principles of building wealth and how he makes critical choices

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend.

If you have a guest idea or want to connect with me, please visit my website www.clearchoices.live or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Clear-Choices-104719800920939/. I am also available for speaking engagements.

Other resources and links mentioned in this episode:
Diego's Ted Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfgUfgCZZ_I

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

The Minimalists Podcast https://www.theminimalists.com/podcast/

The Millionaire Next Door by William D. Danko and Thomas J. Stanley

Dave Ramsey https://www.daveramsey.com/

It is a privilege to welcome another amazing guest, Beth Abrams,  to the podcast! She has led a very inspiring life and has done things  that many would like to do themselves. She went to Berkeley for  undergrad and got her law degree from the University of Michigan. She  was an Assistant US Attorney. She has been married for 23 years and is  the mother of four children.

Beth joins us today to discuss how  she and her family's life forever changed when her middle child,  Jackson, was diagnosed with a very rare form of pediatric brain cancer.  She takes us through the most difficult time in her life and how she and  her husband made a significant choice that got them through such a dark  time. She blesses us on this episode with her courage, strength, and  wisdom.

"Grief does not have a finite end point. And it goes in waves, not a straight line but there is definitely progression."

"I  would tell everyone- you are so much stronger than you think you are.  You can learn to live with your loss. It becomes part of you. It is your  new normal."

"It's the getting stuck and not being able to make a  choice is what holds people back in life. Sometimes you just have to go  for it"

In this episode, you will hear:
- The significant choice that Beth and her husband made that quite possibly saved them
- The importance of pediatric cancer care and research and how healing  it is for her and her family to give back in Jackson's memory
- How Beth has gotten through this painful tragedy and has turned it into something that fuels her

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend.

If you have a guest idea or want to connect with me, please visit my website www.clearchoices.live or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Clear-Choices-104719800920939/. I am also available for speaking engagements.

Other resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Griefhaven https://griefhaven.org/

Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation https://pcrf-kids.org/

Dribble for the Cure UCLA https://uclabruins.com/news/2019/8/22/mens-basketball-dribble-for-the-cure-set-for-oct-13-at-ucla.aspx

Paul Walker brings a ton of value and perspective to the podcast! Paul has lived an incredible life. He grew up in Southern California as a successful student athlete receiving accolades in high school for playing both tennis and basketball. He decided to focus on basketball in college and was named an NCAA first team All- American and inducted into the University of Point Loma basketball hall of fame. After college, he married, had two sons and went on to work in pharmaceutical sales until starting his own successful construction company.

The reason Paul is joining us on the show is to discuss how he made a radical choice, one that many of us think about but don’t often have the courage to pursue. That was to sell his successful business of 20 years solely to run a youth soccer organization that helps underprivileged kids. In this episode, he takes us back to 1999 when his own boys were playing soccer for the local soccer league that was falling apart. He felt the calling and then made the choice to get involved. Paul talks to us about what it took for him to leave his successful business and follow his purpose and passion into the unknown. His powerful choice has changed and transformed thousands of lives and continues to grow today.

"All I can say is you do what you feel you've been given the tools to do and the drive to do. And don't be afraid because through discipline and drive, it will make through the tough times. That's just the way it is. And sports taught me how to compete and how I'm not going to always win but I'm gonna come back."

"If we can give that and instill that in all of these youths when they're young, they're set as adults."

"Competition is an amazing tool. Have competitive juices inside you is an amazing tool for your life and will help you as an individual make it through tough times because you are a competitor."

In this episode, you will hear:
- How Paul came to a crossroads and had to make a radical choice between his successful business and a youth sports organization that would help thousands of kids
- How his youth soccer program gets kids off the street and prepares them for life
- The impact that Paul's youth soccer organization has had on him and his family

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend.

If you have a guest idea or want to connect with me, please visit my website www.clearchoices.live or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Clear-Choices-104719800920939/. I am also available for speaking engagements.

Other resources and links mentioned in this episode:

LAFC Barcelona Soccer Foundation http://www.kidsoffthestreets.org/

Total Futbol Academy https://totalfutbolacademy.com

I am so excited to welcome to the podcast a proactive, positive, and inspiring individual, Stephen Beard. Stephen is an active realtor in the Oakland area and in the last three years has sold over 50 real estate units valued at over $27 million dollars. He has built his career on a foundation of professionalism and dependability. While his clientele consists of all kinds of people, he does specialize in real estate services for people with disabilities.

Stephen has cerebral palsy which affects his mobility and therefore has first-hand experience dealing with some of those limitations and challenges for the clients he serves. Stephen's amazing outlook on life, all of his accomplishments, as well as his commitment to giving back,  will leave you encouraged and inspired.

"We have a brief span of time on this planet, Rob, and we are going to get the bodies we get. We are going to get what we get, and we can choose in each and every moment. You talk about clear choices, we choose in each and every moment how we are going to respond."

In this episode, you will hear:
- Stephen's most difficult times and how he has gotten through them
- How his disability has brought him gratitude and has enriched his life
- The way Stephen makes big decisions and choices and the legacy he hopes to leave

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend.

If you have a guest idea or want to connect with me, please visit my website www.clearchoices.live or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Clear-Choices-104719800920939/. I am also available for speaking engagements.

Other resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Inspiration porn and the objectification of disability: Stella Young at TEDxSydney 2014 . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxrS7-I_sMQ

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Welcome to my second interview and I am honored to introduce my  dad, Leslie Aigner, to the podcast! Since he and my mom are the reasons  that I have created Clear Choices, it is only fitting that they are my  first two interviews on the podcast. If you haven't listened to Episode  1, please go back and hear my mom's interview.
Leslie was born in  1929 in Nové Zámky, Czechoslovakia. His family moved to Csepel,  Budapest, in the early 1940's to escape the oppressive Nazi  discrimination against Jews. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning  of the horrific treatment my father, his family, and millions of other  people faced because of their religion. On this episode, you will hear  how, through some amazing choices and a few miracles, my dad lived  through and survived four concentration camps including Aushwitz and  Dachau. You will also hear how he met my mother, immigrated to America,  began a new life and family, and created a legacy for many generations  to come.

"There were many of these small decisions. I don't know  why, it's not the smarts but I made it just for gut feeling that I had  to do this."

"Being a survivor, I count every day my blessings  and appreciate life more than anyone and I wanted to prove myself. Every  day to learn something, embrace people- regardless of their background  or religion or color and just embrace everything."

In this episode, you will hear:
- My dad's testimony of his survival through the Holocaust, how he met my mother, and their immigration to America
- The choice they made to begin telling their difficult history to help others and create an amazing legacy
- How my dad's horrific Holocaust experience created in him a profound appreciation for people, life, and his blessings

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend.

If you have a guest idea or want to connect with me, please visit my website www.clearchoices.live or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Clear-Choices-104719800920939/. I am also available for speaking engagements.

Other resources and links mentioned in this episode:

https://youtu.be/HvBpeGKZ8W4

http://www.ojmche.org/oral-history-people/aigner-eva

http://www.ojmche.org/oral-history-people/aigner-les

https://www.ktvz.com/news/gov-brown-signs-bill-requiring-holocaust-education/1095708875

"Night" by Elie Wiesel

Welcome to the Clear Choices podcast!
35,000- that is a big  number! Did you know that that is the number of decisions an average  American makes every day? 35,000! With that many decisions every day,  how can we be confident that we make the best ones?
My name is Rob  Aigner and I have created this podcast to help you- and me- discover how  we can make choices that will enable us to create our best lives and  make a positive impact in the world.
Inspired by my parents and  their incredible testimony of their Holocaust survival, I feel called to  provide this platform to find out how people make their choices and how  those choices effect their lives. You can expect to hear from people  who have faced daunting and challenging scenarios, but because of their  choices, have come through stronger, wiser, and better for it. We can  all learn from them.

"The Clear Choices podcast is your vehicle  to meet inspiring individuals who have made the bold choices to elevate  their lives. Our goal with each episode is to elevate yours as well."

In this episode, you will hear:
- Who I am and why I am creating this podcast
- How my parents incredible history inspired me to start this podcast
- What you can expect to hear each week and why you should listen

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend.

If you have a guest idea or want to connect with me, please visit my website www.clearchoices.live or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Clear-Choices-104719800920939/. I am also available for speaking engagements.