When Purpose, Humor, Medicine, and Applied Neuroscience All Converge
There’s a very distinct sensation that hits you when you roll onto a stage and 3,000 people go silent. Part electricity, part adrenaline, part “Please for the love of all things holy, don’t let my wheelchair squeak in Dolby Surround Sound.”
That was me at BD’s National Sales Conference — a gathering of some of the most mission-driven healthcare professionals on the planet. And yes, this was not “just another speaking engagement.”
This one felt like stepping into a moment where purpose, science, and storytelling all shook hands and said, “Let’s do this.”
Because BD isn’t just a company I admire. BD is personal. BD has literally been inside my body for fifteen years.
(We’re in a long-term relationship. It’s serious.)
🌍 WHY BD MATTERED BEFORE I EVER STEPPED ON THEIR STAGE
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world — advancing the world of health™, building innovations that diagnose, heal, restore, and support millions.
Some of those innovations? They’ve kept me alive. Literally. More than once.
In my keynote, I told the story I rarely get to share at this scale — the story of how a shallow-water sandbank, my mother flipping my body over like a human pancake, and gravity’s undefeated streak changed my life forever. And how BD’s products have shaped my recovery, my independence, and my ability to keep moving forward.
My life story has a thick plot and even thicker medical files — Murphy’s Law as a full-time roommate, pressure sores that lasted years, 11+ surgeries, pulmonary embolisms, autoimmune curveballs, cervical cancer, more hospital bracelets than friendship bracelets, and dying seven times — unsuccessfully, I might add. (I am the Energizer Bunny with a very expensive battery.)
So when I say BD is personal, I mean it.
❤️ WHAT I SHARED ON STAGE
I told BD that their products didn’t just help me — they helped save me.
Not metaphorically. Mechanically.
People often assume catheters are simple devices… until their entire bladder function depends on them. When a urologist once told me to switch to a permanent Foley catheter — essentially “just drain it nonstop forever” — I realized that would destroy my bladder permanently.
So I raided my BD supplies and built my own system at home. Yes. A DIY bladder-saving system.
(You don’t choose the mad scientist life. The mad scientist life chooses you.)
Fifteen years later? Healthy bladder, minimal infections, full independence intact. That’s BD engineering meeting Bahamian stubbornness.
🧪 THE MOMENT SCIENCE AND STORY COLLIDED
One of my biggest messages to BD was this: Great companies don’t just solve problems. They seek them out.
It’s the scientist mindset — the same mindset I had to adopt to rebuild my life.
In my keynote I shared:
Values + Beliefs = hypotheses
Actions = experiments
Thoughts + emotions = data
After my injury, I became the scientist of my own life. A full-time researcher in pain, resilience, decision-making, and applied neuroscience. I built systems. I ran experiments.
I failed. I adapted. I tried again. FAIL became First Attempt In Learning. NO became Next Opportunity.
And persistence became pleasantly persistent — my signature concept. This resonated deeply with BD because it is exactly how their culture works:
Curiosity. Humility. Purpose-driven experimentation. Continuous improvement sharp enough to literally save lives.
💬 THE STORIES THAT HIT ME HARDEST
After the keynote, something unexpected happened. BD employees started sharing their stories with me:
💙 The family members who shaped their commitment to healthcare
🧬 The personal diagnoses that made BD’s mission real
🌍 The belief that what they build affects people they will never meet
🙌 Their pride in knowing they contribute to something that directly impacts human survival
These conversations were brave and emotional — the kind of moments that remind you that behind every device, every innovation, every product… is a human being who cares enough to make healthcare better.
You don’t forget faces like that. You don’t forget stories like that. And you definitely don’t forget what humility feels like in a room that big.
🤝 WHAT STOOD OUT ABOUT BD’S CULTURE
Three things became clear that week:
🌟 Humility — from senior executives to brand-new hires
🧠 Curiosity — not “What do you do?” but “How do we do better?”
💡 Purpose — the sense that every role connects to a patient’s life
This isn’t corporate branding. This is lived identity. One of my favorite BD moments? After a town hall where I shared how the wrong catheter nearly killed me, a BD team member reached out the next morning — not to manage optics but to ask,
“Was that problematic catheter a BD product?”
No fear. No defensiveness. Just a desire to learn and improve. That’s excellence.
😄 NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT THE HUMOR
People kept telling me: “You must be so confident rolling onto a stage like that!”
Let me assure you: My inner monologue was nerves → adrenaline → wheel check → do not run over anyone important → find the spotlights → Go Time.
And then something wild happened. The moment I started speaking, the room felt like family — the kind of family you want to see at holidays, not the ones who argue about politics and cranberry sauce.
Bonus:
I didn’t run over a single executive. My wheel didn’t squeak. And I may have emotionally melted at least 14 people in the front row. We’ll call that a win.
💛 MY GRATITUDE
BD — thank you for:
✨ Welcoming me into your culture
✨ Letting me connect purpose to patient lives
✨ Trusting me to represent the humans you never get to meet
✨ Building products that have carried me — often literally — through the hardest years of my life
And thank you for letting me bring humor into a space where survival, medicine, and innovation meet.
Because sometimes the most resilient thing a human can do is laugh.
👩🦳 BONUS: MY MOM STOLE THE SHOW
I even flew my mother out to San Diego for the final event. People adored her so much she is now convinced she is part of my official speaker contract rider. Honestly? She might be right.
🎥 WHAT’S NEXT
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing:
🎥 Short video highlights of the keynote
🧠 “Brain candy” breakdowns of the applied neuroscience behind the message
💛 Additional stories I didn’t have time to share onstage
🔥 And maybe a blooper reel, because we all deserve joy