I met Angie Shireman in 2015 at a No Barriers ‘What’s Your Everest’ event. She had been through a hard decade, having undergone a preventative double mastectomy and several reconstructive surgeries. In 2014, she was diagnosed with a rare brain disorder and underwent two deep brain surgeries to correct the condition. Throughout this tumultuous time, […]
I recently received an invitation to travel to Dubai and Jordan from Jim Lafferty, the CEO at Fine Hygienic Holdings, a paper company based out of Jordan. Jim has hired me several times before at his past companies. In 2005, we climbed Kilimanjaro and helped to form the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust which is involved with literacy among […]
Earlier this year we launched our “No Barriers Podcast.” We highlight people who have experienced barriers in their lives and used these roadblocks as catalysts for positive change. From visible barriers such as a physical disability to invisible trauma, PTS, cultural or political obstacles, we learn how some people have navigated around these experiences and […]
Our 2018 hallmark event was the No Barriers Summit in New York City. I have heard wonderful feedback, but one note in particular was especially touching to me as a parent. Rosalie Mastaler attended with her husband and their sons, ages five and eight. Afterwards, she wrote my team to express her gratitude and some […]
Shanna Adamic is the Senior Operations Manager at the First Hand Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Cerner Corporation. First Hand provides funds for children to receive health treatments such as necessary surgeries or travel. They also implement health-focused preventative programs for schools in low-income communities. When Shanna was suddenly derailed by a devastating diagnosis, her […]
Creating a film is certainly a reach. With adventure documentaries especially, there’s no Hollywood budget or army of editors. There’s uncertainty too – whether there’s even a story, or whether the film will ever be finished. When I decided to kayak the Grand Canyon in 2014, I knew the best person to document our journey […]
My dad has always been my biggest fan and, as I often say, the originator of the No Barriers mindset. He’s also a fanatical Princeton Tiger, having been the captain of the football team and a graduate in 1962. A couple weeks ago, I had the chance to visit his Alma Mater for the second […]
John Orth, a friend of mine from my local rock gym, decided that his original Guinness World-record of 7,600 pull-ups in 24 hours could be beaten. So, he made a pledge. It would not only be an ambitious physical reach, but also a chance to represent a No Barriers life. Each month we share a […]
Earlier this month we hosted our 10th No Barriers Summit in New York City. We’d always hosted our Summits in the mountains, but in an effort to bring the message to more people and build the movement, we decided to reach as an organization and debut it in the Big Apple, one of the biggest […]
The Reach Scholarship is an annual award given to individuals, through the Reach Foundation, as an all expense paid experience to attend our No Barriers Summit. The goal of the Reach Foundation is to highlight stories of people who have reached into darkness and difficulty only to emerge far stronger and are able to elevate […]
