Hi!  I'm your host Charlene

The beginning

Charlene was 5 years old when her sister was diagnosed with Autism at age 3.  She didn't know it at the time, but her life was not going to go the way she thought. 

A rocky start

As Charlene did her best to navigate through her pre-teen, teenage, and young adult years, it was pretty tough.  Not a lot of her friends really understood her perspective.  It got really exhausting trying to keep up with the Jones' while trying to stay sane and calm at home.  There had to be more to life than just trying to keep the boat afloat.

(Literally) Searching for more

With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping everyone at home, Charlene had a lot more time to peruse the internet for resources for siblings of people with disability - just like her.  She searched and found some things here and there, but they didn't quite hit the spot for her.  She was still looking for something more.  How was it that she could find 10 million podcasts on parenting kids with disabilities and/or living life with a disability yet nothing about the typical siblings in the household?

A cup of coffee started it all

As she continued her research, Charlene began to tell people about this problem: not finding the resources she wanted to support her as a special needs sibling.  It became a regular topic for her to bring up, until one fateful day when she had a cup of coffee with a friend.

That's all it took!  Charlene told her friend she was getting tired of telling people this problem who didn't really get it.  They would be good listeners, but that's all they could do to help.  In her venting, Charlene realized that she could record herself while talking.   Then with the recording she could save her voice and just press "play" for someone instead.

Putting it out into the world

So after hyping herself up (and some reassurance from her husband), Charlene wrote her spiel, sat in her closet, recorded herself reading the words on her laptop and then released her recording into the wild.

And of course, who's going to listen to someone pitch a podcast if no one knows about it?  So Charlene went to her email and contacted everyone she thought could help her out.  Either fellow special needs siblings (who were her friends in the real world) or people who were connected to those circles.  And then the hunt for podcast guests began!

Getting started

Fortunately for Charlene, she had a few real life friends who were willing to share their story as a special needs sibling on the podcast!  Super exciting!  But Charlene only knows so many people, so what else does one do when looking for podcast guests?  Scour the internet and social media!  Haha.  With a few cold calls, Charlene was able to meet new sibs from all sorts of places!

Up and running!

As Charlene continued to connect and interview more and more siblings, she not only has podcast guests and episodes, but has friendships with siblings all over the world! 

What's next?

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