Interview with Michele L. Sullivan

Support the Breakfast Leadership Network! Contribute on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bfastleadershipOr PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/bfastleadershipBreakfast Leadership Network Merchandise: https://teespring.com/stores/breakfast-leadership-network------   Feeling different can be commonplace among kids and today’s digital age certainly isn’t helping. But, what’s important, is the choice that our kids make to let their differences dictate their lives or take advantage of those differences to find success.   Michele L. Sullivan knows this all too well. Michelle was born with a rare form of dwarfism, and realized that she had three choices to make at an early age:   She could tailor her differences into something more suitable for the world. She could hide from the world and live on the fringe. Or, she could embrace her differences, turn them into assets, and come to recognize that there was a strength within them that could help others. Michele chose to embrace her differences, which led her to become the first female president of the Caterpillar Foundation, a TEDWomen speaker with 1.6 million views and a prominent philanthropist. In her new motivational book, Looking Up: How a Different Perspective Turns Obstacles Into Advantages released on February 25, 2020 (HarperCollins Leadership), she outlines her story and roadmap for kids to turn their differences into strengths. The book has received high praise and endorsements from Sheryl Sandberg, Bono, and Michael Bloomberg. We've all had moments when we felt like we didn't belong. But for Michele, who was born with a rare form of dwarfism, fitting in was never an option. Michele's acceptance of not filling anyone's shoes but her own led her to become a force to be reckoned with in corporate philanthropy. Standing at just four feet tall, and perpetually looking up, Michele transformed her perceived disability into an advantage—using it as fuel, a source of insight, and a relentless drive that allowed her to establish an extraordinary career. Her passion took her from the Oval Office alongside President Barack Obama to the halls of one the biggest philanthropy powerhouses in the U.S., the Caterpillar Foundation—where she would ultimately become the first female President— to the villages of Uganda where she sought to eradicate poverty. Michele's book:  Looking Up:  https://amzn.to/2zeVUjd Michele's website:  https://www.michelelsullivan.com/about