InvisiYouth Chat Sessions

Gotham Production Studios
  • 4.7 (7)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Check in for a dose of stigma-break, humor-filling, empowerment building life hacks and motivation for all the “medically-adult-ish” young people. The InvisiYouth Chat Sessions, is part of InvisiYouth Charity. This international nonprofit helps teens and young adults with various chronic illnesses and disabilities gain the right lifestyle programs, empowerment and interactive activism to learn how to keep living life. Twice a month, our founder, Dominique Viel, will bring guest experts from all illness/disability fields to have a chat show video podcast series, and our quick Audio Flash Files of 15 minutes of Self-Improvement techniques. Join this series, as it will be a one-of-a-kind chat show that clusters motivation and advocacy, entertainment and humor, and life hacks and tips.

  1. FEB 17

    E121: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with founder and principle designer of Blue Copper Design, Maegan Blau

    Season 8 begins today, and we’ve starting on a high with a returning special guest that was a crowd favorite to come back for a part two. We’re starting off the new season with founder and principle designer of Blue Copper Design, Maegan Blau. After an accident left Maegan with a spinal cord injury and became a wheelchair user, Maegan took her love of interior design and her experience of finding an accessible and beautiful home and created her own interior design company in 2018. Blue Copper Design fuses modern, southwest aesthetic with barrier-free design so clients are empowered to have beautiful homes that are functional for their needs. And they relay even more advice online for all those looking to make their spaces accessible and beautiful.  Here’s our Four Hot Takeaways:  At 3:33 Maegan goes through a rapid fire round of questions about her first job, why being a snow bird is an ultimate goal, and why there’s a science to the amount of throw pillows on a couch. Dominique and Maegan catch up at 12:35 and Maegan shares about Blue Copper Studio getting its first studio space, why designing a space for disability needs doesn’t have to feel niche when it can be enjoyed by many, and how the company’s growth has allowed for her to continue sharing the benefits of individualized and overarching designs that bridge accessibility needs with beauty to both her clients and the tradesmen they work with to create pieces.INTERMISSION STORY TIME at 27:00 brings us in on an inside joke with Maegan and her husband that all started on a vacation in Hawaii when Maegan met a fellow vacationer that asked a lot of curious questions that, to this day, still makes her chuckle. And our final segment at 31:16 goes through some of Maegan and Blue Copper Designs best social media posts. We chat about her Summer School Design Series, get deep into what you need to know about hotel accessibility to make your hotel visits the best for your needs, why good design layouts should extend to the exterior, and the value of the curb cut effect when thinking about interior design in your home and space.Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Maegan on @bluecopperdesign, on all social media platforms and Blue Copper Design’s website! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

    57 min

  2. FEB 8

    E120: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #40 "Building Up Self-Confidence so It Radiates From the Inside Out"

    40th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is the first addition to our “Inner vs External Growth Series” for 2026, where all episodes have been targeting both internal and external personal development skillsets and mindsets, and the ways you can utilize them to strengthen your mental wellbeing when tacking different areas of life. We’re focusing on the area of internal development, and specifically within the realm of self-confidence—especially how to preserve and grow our personal confidence through adding levels of supports and internal belief systems when we are faced with our own insecurities and external opinions that can lessen that confidence level.  Learn the steps on why it is important to gain greater tools by understanding self-confidence, what are the reasons that it’s never superficial to worry about external opinions when your external appearance is a cause of self-doubt, and the understanding of mentally rationalize away from self-confidence limiters to remind yourself that while the feelings are validated, they should not control your personal confidence. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Snow White Syndrome, and learn about how to remind yourself of the facts of who you are as a full person when you feel that inner judgement or self-confidence dwindle, the importance of acknowledging that feeling, why it’s valuable for self-confidence growth and stability to back up that acknowledgement with different supports like adding the things, mantras and people that can allow you to feel your most confidence inside and out, and the reminder that your full embodiment shouldn’t be defined by changes on the outside or what others might say because the security of your life path is all within you. Plus, founder Dominique talks about one of her experiences with self-confidence when she had to come to terms with her confidence taking a hit when she had to wear a bathing suit while out with friends and her scars from her chronic illness journey were catching attention, so she needed to not only validate her feelings, but also understand how to support herself to feel her most confident and enjoy herself in all settings. sLet's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth  Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

    16 min

  3. 11/18/2025

    E119: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with CEO of Diversability, disability activist and author, Tiffany Yu

    We’re celebrating the Season 7 finale because we have a returning special guest on the show, CEO of Diversability, disability activist and author (and Season 2 finale Episode 26 special guest) Tiffany Yu. A beloved disability activist championing equity and inclusion in the world, Tiffany created professional avenues to empower the disability/chronic illness experience for the community. And recently, Tiffany added author to her resume when she published her book. The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change and Building a Disability-Inclusive World. Here’s the Four Hot Takeaways: 3:51 Tiffany goes through rapid fire questions about the type of gift wrapper she is, the unique artwork that’s going up in her new apartment, her favorite taste sense, and the childhood collector of a specific toy that had a massive craze behind it.11:59 Tiffany and Dominique catch up on what’s made her the most excited about growing Diversability for over 15 years, the value of disability pride and establishing community, how creating a massively popular social media series “Anti-Albeism” with over 340 videos has allowed for more people to share the diversity of disability stories, and what she’s not only learned about disability history but also her own disability from her book writing experience with The Anti-Ableist Manifesto.34:12 STORY TIME INTERMISSION and Tiffany gets into her unique experience making a last minute decision to go to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games turned into a truly remarkable experience working with YouTube, meeting up with athletes and celebrating with their communities.40:49 is the final segment and gets us talking about something else that’s been added to Tiffany’s life since her Season 2 appearance on the podcast: competing at the world level for para-climbing. We learned how a childhood love of indoor rock-climbing connected her back to para-climbing later in life, the ways going to competitions and qualifying for the USA developmental team has allowed her to embrace the fun and wonder of a sport, and the advice she had to learn something new and challenge herself when living with chronic illness/disability. Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Tiffany @imtiffanyyu and Diversibility @diversability, on all social media platforms, and buy her book The Anti-Ableist Manifesto! Donate during our Donate Match Campaign until New Years Eve on our website (www.invisiyouthcharity.com/donate) and all donations will be matched by a private board member! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop to buy yourself or someone you care about our Subtle Activist Color Block bracelet or Sticker Collection on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth!  Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

    1h 3m

  4. 11/10/2025

    E118: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #39 "Get Out Your Metaphorical White Noise Machine for a Boost of Confidence"

    39th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is the final addition to our “Personal Growth Series” for 2025, where all episodes have been targeting one of four major personal growth areas in life, so young people living with chronic illness/disability can gain techniques to empower themselves for their best versions of adapting for success. We’re focusing on our final area: self-confidence, and specifically how to maintain—and strengthen self-confidence—when you get outside opinions, advice and chatter trying to permeate your thoughts, so you’re just hearing it and maintaining your self-confidence and not allowing it to stifle it. Learn the steps on why it is so important to gain greater tools of self-confidence, what are the reasons that outside opinions and unsolicited advice can actually harm self- confidence, why it’s important to create buffers around yourself to protect your inner peace from unsolicited opinions, and how to understand metaphorical white noise to achieve that success in protecting your self-confidence. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, White Noise Persona Effect, and learn about how create aspects of white noise when you’re feeling self-conscious, why it’s important to take stock of what bothers your self-confidence before embarking in experiences that can hurt it, how you can add metaphorical white noise into your life when you experience unsolicited opinions, judgements or ignorance so your confidence and inner peace is protected, and the ways that mentality can actually strengthen your self-confidence because you’ll know the difference between you being the best judge of adapting to thrive in your life versus an outsider judging what they do not know or experience. Plus, founder Dominique talks about one of her experiences with self-confidence and how keeping that strong during a moment she had to give a reading at a cousin’s wedding when she was in a flareup with a bad health injury that was noticeable to anyone was all about incorporating her metaphorical white noise to block out the judgment and feel strong in her way of living so she could know it was there without it permeating her confidence. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

    17 min

  5. 10/21/2025

    E117: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with owner and illustrator of organ plush toy and accessories company, I Heart Guts, Wendy Bryan Lazar

    Let’s tap into our inner artists and get playful! Our special guest is the founder and illustrator behind I Heart Guts, an award-winning company that promotes characters based on internal organs through a series of plush toys, stickers and apparel. What started as a side project for Wendy slowly grew into this incredible business where these whimsical, creative and impactful plush toys and products can connect with its thousands customers worldwide. Now 20 years since I Heart Guts was launched, Wendy is expanding her products, continuing to be creative, and allowing her company to embody the mindset of “life takes guts” with media attention like People, Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times.  Here’s the Four Hot Takeaways:  At 2:55 Wendy shares all of her lasts, like her last travel day, last plush toy that was her favorite, last TV show she found, and last thing added to her work desk that’s super sweet.  At 12:43 Wendy and Dominique dive into the love of art and chat about Wendy’s journey from having art as a hobby to diving down a career in art, how did I Heart Guts begin, top advice for those wanting to get into freelance and art careers while still being practical, and how to break through those moments of low inspiration to keep on feeling motivated.  STORY TIME INTERMISSION begins at 30:24 and Wendy gets her prank on! She shares a story about one April Fool’s when Wendy and an employee planned a prank on her husband that involved some plush toys and a highway, so you won’t want to miss this.  And the final segment at 33:51 talks all things organ plush toys! Wendy and Dominique talk about her go-to tools for illustration and why old school pen and paper are always a great way to start, why her company’s products seem to really resonate with the chronic illness and disability community, the value of having something to bring levity to the challenges or hardships of health issues, her favorite customer story, and what she hopes gets to be in the future of I Heart Guts.  Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Wendy and I Heart Guts @iheartguts, on all social media platforms! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop to buy yourself or someone you care about our Subtle Activist Color Block bracelet or Sticker Collection on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth!  Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

    53 min

  6. 10/09/2025

    E116: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #38 "Dilute the Toxic Positivity Self-Talk, and Gain Confidence Like Kintsugi"

    38th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is another addition from our “Personal Growth Series” for 2025, where all episodes will be targeting one of four major personal growth areas in life, so young people living with chronic illness/disability can gain techniques to empower themselves for their best versions of adapting for success. We’re focusing on our fourth and final area: self-confidence, and specifically how to boost self-confidence with full picture self-talk that not toxic positivity nor pessimism, but rather a mindset of the kintsugi philosophy for some realistic personal perspective. Learn the steps on why it is so important to gain greater tools of self-confidence, what kintsugi pottery is all about and how the actual philosophy of life is a way of finding growth and beauty within the imperfections the full picture is the focus rather than the cracks or problems, and why a mentality that’s focused on personal development rather than positivity can actually bring more confidence that’s sustaining.  Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, Kintsugi Method, and learn about how to develop self-talk that’s positive realism about the struggles or problems within our lives, how people can understand that reframing the way you look at struggles to see how they’re connected to the full person and their multiple facets versus focusing on the struggle can bring more positive self-talk, and the reasoning behind creating steps to find the personal growth and positives from the challenges in the over person that you are can make self-confidence stronger as it goes because you’re reframing the hardships.  Plus, founder Dominique opens up her journey of self-confidence and positive self-talk through her experience after her spinal correction and fusion surgery during the early years of her chronic illness journey make her self-confidence take a hit, and she wanted to find ways to reframe how she view her chronic illness, scar and overall life with a mindset that empowered the challenges as pieces of herself she was proud of and could find the growth and positives within so her full self-picture was always confident.  Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth   Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

    14 min

  7. 09/22/2025

    E115: InvisiYouth Chat Sessions with Mental Health and Wellness Content Creator, Kelly U

    Let’s get talking about some empowerment with mental and physical health with our special guest, mental health and wellness content creator, Kelly U. With over 200k followers, Kelly has created a vibrant platform filled with vulnerable empowerment all stemmed from her personal experiences living with IBS and mental health. With some of her content reaching millions of views, Kelly has gotten to work with brands like SXSW, Olly Wellness, and Aerie Real to name a few all centered on her strong content creator that’s honest and empowering. Here’s the Four Hot Takeaways: 3:14 Kelly gives rapid fire answers to her favorite childhood game, a staple in her fridge, why she wants to expand her date night plans, a dream vacation location, and why underdressed to the occasion is her functional favorite.13:43 Dominique and Kelly go through her Medical Pop Headlines as they share the stories behind her winning Health and Wellness Influencer of the Year with The Influence Awards, the power of talking about mental health and therapy from her time on the SXSW Panel, and why some of her viral IBS videos about relationships and IBS explain the value of finding trust in your support system.STORY TIME INTERMISSION at 29:09 gets vulnerable as Kelly shares the time she got empowered and learned the importance of setting boundaries with her parents in order to improve her own wellbeing and family dynamic.33:33 ends the podcast as Kelly and Dominique talk openly about the duality between physical and mental health, how she discovered the importance of working on both her chronic illness and mental health equally in order to live and empowered life, the steps she takes to use the distance of time when choosing content topics, her top advice on how to support your physical or mental health when the other part is struggling, and all the different tools they recommend trying in a wellness toolbox so your balance of life with chronic illness and mental health wellness can be achieved.Please like, comment, subscribe and share this episode, follow Kelly @kellyu, on all social media platforms! Please check out the InvisiYouth Charity Shop to buy yourself or someone you care about our Subtle Activist Color Block bracelet or Sticker Collection on www.etsy.com/shop/invisiyouthcharity with free shipping globally, and please support InvisiYouth Charity by donating, following and joining our programs and community @invisiyouth! Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

    53 min

  8. 09/11/2025

    E114: IYCS-Audio Flash Files #37 "Embrace Your Inner Rockstar When it Comes to Advocacy"

    37th InvisiYouth Chat Sessions: Audio Flash Files gives you a boost of life advice and perspectives that’ll provide empowering tools you can practically incorporate into your life for more success and joy. This is another addition from our “Personal Growth Series” for 2025, where all episodes will be targeting one of four major personal growth areas in life, so young people living with chronic illness/disability can gain techniques to empower themselves for their best versions of adapting for success. We’re focusing on our third area: advocacy, and specifically how we can achieve the level of advocacy or ourselves and causes that mean the most to us without feeling like we need to be pushed out of our comfort zones on the level and volume of our advocacy. Learn the steps on why it is so important to gain greater tools of self-advocacy methods and the types of advocacy that are available, why it’s valuable to understand passive activism as a starting point or way to evoke curiosity to create positive change or raise awareness, and the value of learning how to advocate for yourself and a cause that’s important to you when utilizing your confident communication style so you can feel its impact. Gain the ideas behind our life-improving technique, The Shania Method, and learn about how to creating in your self-advocacy style because you’re utilizing kind communication tactics to subtly advocate for your rights and needs while allowing the other party to feel open-minded to learn and grown, and how creating a perspective shift on advocating from a place of sparking someone else’s curiosity to listen, learn and grown can allow you to achieve the maximum amount of equity and support.  Plus, founder Dominique opens up how her personal style of advocacy fused itself into the formation of InvisiYouth’s mission and that she was able to actually utilize our subtle activist stickers in a moment when she needed to self-advocate for her chronic illness to not just educate someone but also raise awareness on her community. Let's get talking and learn how to incorporate as many elements of this life-improving technique as possible for your optimal for success and comfortability so there’s a sense of ease, success, and joy being added into all aspects of your life living with chronic illness/disability! SUBSCRIBE to "InvisiYouth Chat Sessions" on any podcast platform or YouTube! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisiyouth-chat-sessions/id1388370205 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XHN8GAcHfWMFM1V6o9vXc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@invisiyouth Wanna support our nonprofit? Watch on YouTube Shop Instagram Twitter Facebook Donate

    15 min
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4.7
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Check in for a dose of stigma-break, humor-filling, empowerment building life hacks and motivation for all the “medically-adult-ish” young people. The InvisiYouth Chat Sessions, is part of InvisiYouth Charity. This international nonprofit helps teens and young adults with various chronic illnesses and disabilities gain the right lifestyle programs, empowerment and interactive activism to learn how to keep living life. Twice a month, our founder, Dominique Viel, will bring guest experts from all illness/disability fields to have a chat show video podcast series, and our quick Audio Flash Files of 15 minutes of Self-Improvement techniques. Join this series, as it will be a one-of-a-kind chat show that clusters motivation and advocacy, entertainment and humor, and life hacks and tips.

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