042: Tiffany & Stephanie

Written By Tiffany Yu

Tiffany & Stephanie | Three Decades of Disability Fashion Styling & Advocacy ft. Stephanie Thomas, Cur8able

Listen on: Apple // Spotify // Google // YouTube

In this episode, I’m joined by Stephanie Thomas, founder and CEO of Cur8able. We discuss her work in changing the fashion industry to include and celebrate the disabled community and how this helps us view disability as aspirational. This episode was edited by Julia Rushing.

We discussed:

  • Stephanie’s journey to creating her business, Cur8able

  • Why disability fashion matters

  • The power of freedom and choice for self-efficacy

  • Design, visibility, and value

  • Dress as nonverbal communication

  • Extending voices beyond the disabled community

  • Inspirational vs. aspirational

  • Disability fashion brands to look out for

  • The future of Cur8able after 30 years in the industry

Show notes:

About Stephanie Thomas

Stephanie Thomas has spent the past 30 years following clothing and retail trends for the disabled community. As the founder and CEO of Cur8able, Stephanie consults brands in designing for disability fashion and works with clients using her award-winning Disability Fashion Styling System: Accessible, Smart, Fashionable®. In her popular TED talk, “Fashion Styling for People with Disabilities,” Stephanie explains why disability fashion is necessary from both an inclusivity and a business standpoint . She is also the author and editor of the upcoming textbook "Fitting In: An Anthological Introduction to the Social Implications of Fashion Enablism".

Follow Stephanie Thomas:

Transcript

Tiffany Yu: Hi, everyone. You're listening to this episode of Tiffany & Yu. This is your host, Tiffany Yu, and if you're new to the Tiffany & Yu podcast, Tiffany & Yu is a podcast about things that matter. And more specifically, I'm talking with friends who are using their voices and platforms to cultivate creativity, compassion, and change. Today, I have with me Stephanie Thomas. She's the founder and CEO of Cur8able, a fashion company specializing in fashion styling for people with disabilities. Hi, Stephanie.

Stephanie Thomas: Hi, Tiffany, how are you?

Tiffany Yu: I'm doing well. I usually start by sharing how I know my guests. So, I had been following Stephanie I think for a couple of years online. And Stephanie I don't think knows this, but there was going to be senior and disability day happening in Sacramento and we wanted Stephanie to come and help curate something about helping people with disabilities show up at city hall and advocate. Do you remember that?

Stephanie Thomas: I do remember that.

Tiffany Yu: That was 2018 timeframe. But then, come 2021, all of us emerged on the Clubhouse. We were able to get Stephanie involved on these disability chats. That's actually how we connected. I always love starting with what I call origin stories. As a disabled person, I know I've talked a lot about origin stories, but I was curious if you could share a little bit of your origin story, whatever that means to you. So if it's a disability origin story, if it's the origin story of Cur8able, would love to hear a little bit more what that journey was.

Stephanie Thomas: So Cur8able is a company that I'm excited to say will be evolving over the next nine months, but right now it is my space that I use to help brands bridge the gap between where they are and where they must inevitably go to be authentically inclusive of people with disabilities. And it was simply birthed out of the idea that people don't understand what I'm talking about when I talk about dressing with disabilities until they actually see me do it. So, in 2012, I sold everything that I owned, except 23 boxes, mostly 12 boxes of books and then clothes, my cat, very elegant cat. He's no longer with us. Moment of silence. But he was my best friend and we took a one way flight to California and started all over again. And I did that specifically to start Cur8able. I didn't have the name in 2012, but I did that to take my advocacy to a place of being a business. And I purposely did not create an organization because in fashion I wanted them to see it as a viable earning tool. I wanted it to be something that earns money and people saw it as a business, not a charity. And the rest is history.

Tiffany Yu: So you have something called the disability fashion styling system. Can you talk to me a little bit more? I think it's a three part registered trademark process.

Stephanie Thomas: Yes, it actually is. And the reason why we're thrilled that they allowed us to even add disability to our trademark, which is so rare, is because it is a styling system specifically for dressing with injuries and disabilities. That origin story started in 2003 after watching Oprah Winfrey. I actually was watching her and she said they were going to have a fashion show that includes everyone. I was like a fashion show for everyone. So I was like, okay, I'm definitely going to be here. I'm going to record it. They included everyone except people with disabilities. I picked up the phone and the first company that I called was I believe Kenneth Cole. They weren't mean to me, she said, "Hey yeah, sure. Send over a one pager," because Kenneth Cole used to do all of these amazing ads of inclusivity before anyone else was really doing it in the way that he did it. And he would ask these poignant questions and I was like, okay, that's where I'm going to start . So I sent over the one pager. I jumped off the phone and wrote it. And that I actually have posted on my Instagram because I sent it to a ton of streetwear designers and bridge brands. And that's where it was actually born. Tiff, you may not know this, but next year marks 30 years that I've been following these clothing trends. So decade one was me learning a hobby. Couldn't let it go. It was that itch I couldn't scratch. And I was like why can't I let this go? But I was so focused on listening to other people with disabilities and their needs. And that's really where those three questions came from. Research and talking to people with disabilities. The first part of the disability fashion styling system is this: is it accessible, easy to put on and take off. Is it smart for your health? Is it medically safe? And then is it fashionable? Do you love it? Does it work for your lifestyle and your body type?

Tiffany Yu: You had a Ted Talk that came out about five years ago. And in it, you talked about how you are on this mission to use fashion styling to change negative perceptions of disability. And I love that phrase. I think that someone who is listening to this would be like, well, why do clothes matter? So I was wondering if you could talk about using fashion as a way to make a statement or change.

Stephanie Thomas: Without getting too academic and talking about the social psychology of fashion, let's just think, what's the difference? If you're seated right now and you were to stand up, you're going to adjust your clothing, period. Because clothing is generally designed for standing and not sitting. If you've ever used crutches and you found that your clothes ripped where the crutches were, that's because the seams were probably not secured in a way to withstand the pressure from the assistive technology. So those are little things, but it's kind of to help you wrap your mind around it. Self-efficacy, self-esteem. We all want it. We all need it in order to accomplish things. And it's no different for people with disabilities. It's important that people get to tell their own story. And part of telling your own story is what you're wearing. Although I did wear this this morning as my cover up for working out, I'm wearing a salmon pink sweatshirt and an apple green logo that represents my sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority incorporated. So that's not part of my personal identity like it makes me better, but is a part of a service organization that I'm proud to be a part of. And that choice was my choice. When you take away the choice for someone to decide how they dress themselves, think about people that are in prison, think about people that have been enslaved. They don't have those choices and it removes a part of their identity. And so I would just say that that's one of the reasons without getting too geeky or academic, it's just really important. Because when you have self-esteem, that impacts your self efficacy, your ability to believe that you can actually do the thing that you want to do. And I think that's important to say in October, which is disability employment awareness month. Just that ability to know that, wait a minute, I can do this. I can show up on the carpet. I can go in for this interview, virtual or not. I can do this. I'm representing myself.

Tiffany Yu: I love that. There was something that came up for me, where you're talking about choice is freedom and liberation. And since you provided the visual description, I'll also provide a visual description. So I am a Taiwanese American woman with very long, black hair. And I'm wearing these very futuristic looking headphones that are white and rose gold. And I'm wearing a pink sweatshirt.

Stephanie Thomas: And I will continue my description. I am, I would say, a dark brown black woman and I have braids and they have little decorations in them, like some gold braided in and a couple of shells just for decoration in the braids and I'm wearing glasses. And I also have on headsets. Mine are just black kind of studio specific headset, Sonys.

Tiffany Yu: So before we go to the break, I know you mentioned you are part of this Batchery incubator. I would just love to know why are you thrilled? What are you hoping will come out of this? How'd you find it?

Stephanie Thomas: Three years ago, signed up for angel list. Because women are mostly overlooked by traditional VCs. Black women, they walk by us, don't even see us. We're like duh duh da da and VCs are like, no, it's the mirror effect. I need people that look like me. I don't think it's personal. I just think it's what has been. So three years ago, I signed up for the Batchery. And then they contacted me for an interview. I was like, oh, this is real. And so we started talking. The one thing that was missing for Cur8able is its own identity. Cur8able is basically Stephanie Thomas' identity of what I've been doing for 29 years. So I signed up. The first thing they ask you is what's your business model? I was like, well, that's why I'm here. Because I don't have one. I've been trying to give Cur8ble Stephanie Thomas' identity and so I need to separate it. And so I'm super excited about what's coming up with Cur8able because not only does it have its own identity, I'm turning Cur8able LLC into Cur8able Holdings and there will be different aspects of it. And it is going to provide B to B consulting. And I'm super excited about that. That is going to be a disruptor, a game changer, and I have the best investment advisors at the Batchery. I do not believe that there is a coincidence. That was divine timing. It was so random that I saw it and filled it out. And then to be a part of this and for them to believe in me and really help me develop my vision. Not take over and mansplain me, just really honor who I am and allow me to flourish and to create this Cur8able consulting element that compliments Stephanie Thomas's work in the industry.

Tiffany Yu: That's huge. So I want to say congratulations. And also a lot of the shifts that we're having at Diversability too is how can we transition from a community to a community business, right? And I think that oftentimes we get, whether it's a nonprofit discount, a disability discount, both you and I are running for-profit entities that I think a lot of people have mistaken what I'm doing as charity. So with that, we're going to go to a quick break. And when we come back, we will continue chatting with Stephanie Thomas. And we're back from the break. I have with me Stephanie Thomas, the founder and CEO of Cur8able. And right before the break, we were talking about how Cur8able is part of this incredible Batchery incubator, so cool, helping Stephanie create a Cur8able empire. So I want to come back to this TedTalk because it was so good. I'm going to link it in the show notes. But you have something that you say in the talk that really touched me in my heart. And I also want to share with all of our listeners that I have learned so much from Stephanie over the 10 months that we've been interacting, whether it's through Clubhouse rooms or through voice notes that are happening through Instagram, or on text. And so I actually do want to share some of the things I've learned from Stephanie, but first we'll start with this quote from the TEDx Talk. You said you can't design for someone you don't see and you can't see someone that you don't value.

Stephanie Thomas: Yeah. And thank you, first of all, for your compliments, Tiffany. I've also learned a ton from you and continue to do so. That came to me I think it was 2011. I was in these rooms with different people, talking about design and the things that they would say to me behind closed doors, the laughter the, Hey, if this is so important, why did you think of this? Just the dismissal. And it dawned on me. You cannot design for someone you don't see. And then you can't see someone you don't value. And not just as a human, but as a fashion customer. And I always juxtapose the idea of pets and people and sometimes people think it's hyperbole. Sometimes people think it's just something I'm saying to get attention, but it is actually factual. Think about it. You can purchase clothing for dogs designed for their specific body type. Not a design for a snake that they're trying to make fit on a dog or a design for cat that they're trying to make fit on a dog. Designed for their specific body types at the pharmacy, at a big box store, luxury stores, online, all over, but people with disabilities, it's limited. And this summer, I said, let's just go through and let's locate brands for people with disabilities. And the one thing that we found was that out of 125 brands, nearly all of the brands fell into one category: casual. I don't think they think we leave our houses, Tiffany. I'm like, what the heck? And it just spoke volumes. And this is disability employment awareness month. So hold on, I got to step on my soap box just for one second. Can you do me a favor just personally for me? Can you please stop contacting people with disabilities who need employment, asking them what your billion dollar company needs to do to reach them? You need to pay them. You need to give them a statement of work. You need to hire them as consultants. If you're going to hire them to do marketing, pay them. Honor them. Have a public relationship with them beyond social media. And by the way, people with disabilities, you don't have to just be a model to have representation. Own stuff, lead stuff, innovate. Don't make yourself small to fit into some brand's idea of who you are. They are asking you to consult them for free because they don't see you. They don't value you. And they are trying to get in on a trend. Reject it. Require more.

 

Tiffany Yu: Mic drop. But it goes back to this: you can't see people that you don't value, you know? And I think the reason why that line in your talk touched me so much is we haven't been valued. Free emotional labor doesn't work. And I know Stephanie, you and I are so aligned on that. And yet we see the opposite happen all the time. Representation matters, visibility matters, getting paid for that representation and that visibility matter as well.

Stephanie Thomas: Exactly. That's what I'm learning from my investor advisors. They're like, you've trademarked this, yet you give it away. You don't license it. You don't require people to pay for it. That's what I'm doing with this new vision for Cur8able, I'm taking my own advice. And I can tell you the reason why I'm so passionate about what I just said is because I didn't value myself enough. I didn't see my own value. I was living with internalized white supremacy, internal lies, ableism. I only saw myself through the lens of what I saw in the media. I did not see myself. I didn't understand my beauty is beautiful. I didn't understand that four fingers and a thumb on one hand is just as normal as my four fingers and the base of a thumb only on my second hand. I didn't understand that my three toes on one foot and four on the other, that still allow me to have incredible balance, in everything from hot yoga, to African dance, to modern Graham style dance is beautiful for me. And I think that if you're listening and you're a person with a disability, or if you're not in the disability community, you know, challenge your own bias. It will help you grow and it'll help provide clarity for how you want to serve others. If you're a human being interested in being kind to other humans, we all have to start with investigating our own bias. And after you identify one you'll grow and then I'll identify another one and I'll have to continue to grow. But I do think you're right on with that. People have to see us and that's why fashion has to be aspirational.

Tiffany Yu: Yeah, so, Cur8able when it first started was to highlight aspirational figures and show that disabled people can live amazing, full lives. This is one of the many things I've learned from Stephanie recently is what does disability as aspirational mean?

Stephanie Thomas: Well, let's start with what it doesn't look like. Let's think back to Crip Camp going to the Oscars. People with disabilities from Crip Camp, I watched several fashion shows. It was mentioned that disability is on the carpet today. You know, talking about how inspirational it is, dah, dah, dah, and then they did their fashion story. They never mentioned Jim's custom Gucci. You know, they didn't mention anything about how the people with disabilities were dressed. You know, who are you wearing? None of that, that's the whole point. They left them out of the story. They marginalized them. They segregated them. And as a black woman, I

can safely say separate is rarely equal. So we want to bring those stories together. They need to be one story. It's not wow, Jim and the rest of the team from Crip Camp is inspirational. It's wow, who are they wearing? Who designed this? Why blue? It's the same questions you ask anyone else.

Tiffany Yu: Wow. I love that. What is so powerful about that to me is many of us who are disabled will often get the questions, if you could choose not to have your disability what would you choose? And through this lens of disability as aspirational, why would we ever ask a question like that?

Stephanie Thomas: Right. Well, because people feel sorry for us. We're the people that they don't want to be.

Tiffany Yu: I want to say that one more time. You said, we're the people they don't want to be? Right. And so much of what now I'm advocating for in your camp is how can we be the people that we want.

Stephanie Thomas: In the disability community, 15% put out a really dope video, right around the time of the Paralympics. And what I love about that is that the Paralympics in the past was often overlooked. Not seen. Even though they had designs for Paralympians. You know, that was a story within itself. You know, who's Ralph Lauren is designing for people with disabilities. It's not really talked about in that way. But one thing that happened with the 15% video is that it was so celebrated in the disability community. But when I looked at it, the first thing I thought was this is not aspirational. This is for us patting ourselves on the back. This is for us inside the disability community, preaching to the choir. Cur8able is all about getting out of this echo chamber. Because if we don't, we can say, Hey, I don't do this. That's not going to make anybody want to aspire to be you. You know what's going to make someone what to aspire to be you? Dress like Zendaya is dressing with luxury law, putting in all these gorgeous pieces. They're going to be like, whoa, what? You don't even have to say anything. I know there's some arguments in the communication field. Some back and forth on is dressing nonverbal communication and the power of nonverbal communication versus actually communicating however you communicate. And I'm in the camp that nonverbal communication is hugely important. And so that's where I'm coming from with this. When you see something that you aspire to be, or be like, it changes the way that you see it. I kept hearing people in the disability community complaining about Oh, the Nike shoe, they didn't bring it to us and I'm like, well, are you an athlete? That's their brand. Every disabled athlete that I know had that shoe. They didn't send it to me because I'm not an athlete. The idea, the privilege that, oh, we'redisabled. They need to send that to us. Are you going to be strong or are we going to be a stereotype of ourselves? And I think it can't be, I'm going to be weak when I want a shoe from Nike, but I'm really strong. I don't mean to sound antagonistic because I'm not, I'm just being honest. As good as that video was, it was not going to convince anyone to want to be like us. And that's what aspirational is.

Tiffany Yu: And then this was actually the conversation that Stephanie and I had that really helped open my mind around this. I had Emily Ladau on the podcast as her book was coming out and she has a mantra where she says, in order to make the world more accessible, we need to make the disability experience more accessible to the world. And I'm starting to learn a little bit more about how a lot of our work has been echo-chambery. We are catering within our community. And there's some version of that that is okay, but it's not going to be aspirational. So we're throwing around this disability as aspiration. And aspiration and inspiration sounded very similar. So I was curious if you could help our listeners better understand what the difference looks like between disability as inspirational versus disability as aspirational.

Stephanie Thomas: Great example. On the blue carpet with my client, Lauren Spencer, 2019. It's the Independent Spirit Award. Lauren Lauren, Lauren, snapping pictures, Getty images, it was so inspirational, you know what I mean? That's the main difference. One is, aw, and the other one is, oh, I love that dress. Oh, that's really cute. I mean, I'm speaking as a stylist right now. That's where my brain is. I'm thinking of when we're on the streets, shooting images for Lauren's branding or for a brand in general and someone says, oh my gosh, where'd you get those shoes from? That's aspirational. That person looked at something that she was wearing and it wasn't like, oh, she's in a wheelchair and she has on cute shoes? It was just like, oh, where'd you get those? That is so cute. That's the difference. It's just that simple.

Tiffany Yu: Yeah. Part of the reason why I love having a podcast is I get to talk more in depth with people who are really at the forefront of their fields. And I had Alex Locust on the show who is also known as Glamputee and Alex talked about, and I think this is coined by Laverne Cox, about possibility models. LoLo as a possibility model. Here's the possibility of who I can be. And I love that. So 2022 is going to mark your 30 year anniversary of following clothing and retail trends for the disabled community. I'm curious if you look back over the past three decades, what have been the biggest wins or the biggest changes you've seen?

Stephanie Thomas: So I worked in radio for eight years and unlike many women that were regulated to the sidekick, I was actually the morning drive host. So I had my own show. It was a lot of fun. My sidekick was the weatherman, Jim. And one day we were talking and I was telling him about my experience of going to the store, looking for toys for Mr. Yidi and seeing this gorgeous trench coat, Burberry-like, London Fog-esque type trench coat, fully functional for a dog. And not just one size, Tiffany, four sizes: extra small dog, small dog, medium dog, dog with girth. It just was infuriating to me. And so I asked the person I was dating at the time okay, will you go out with me in pajamas for a year? He was like, okay, I don't believe you're going to do it. So, okay. No one believed that I would wear pajamas for a year. And then I went to target and I bought 60 pairs of pajamas. And then I had a sponsor monogram them, the PJ DJ. And then I washed and wore the 60 pairs of pajamas for an entire year and ended up with actually having my very first fashion show in 2008, along with Miss. Wheelchair Virginia and women with different body types, one woman that was pregnant, just celebrating our different body types as women with and without disabilities. And that led me to going back to get a second graduate degree, this time in fashion journalism because I was like, okay, I'm going to leave media and I'm actually going to do something with all of this information, with my styling system. I wanted to do something full time. What is really exciting for me, I really believe that I was designed to do this work. I don't feel like it's a coincidence. I was a cheerleader for the Chicago Bulls for two years. I had a vocal scholarship that I hadn't taken advantage of and I decided, my second year of cheering, that I would take advantage of this singing scholarship. Went to school, I met a really amazing woman. We still keep in touch, her name is Leslie Thomas. She invited me to be a part of a pageant and she said you can win scholarship money. I was like, oh, okay, cool. No connection to it. Not a pageant woman. Get into this thing, wind up being third runner up to Miss Kentucky, meeting this amazing coach. And I couldn't believe that clothing for people with disabilities wasn't a thing. You know, I never thought about myself ironically. That's my own internalized ableism because people in the disability community used to tell me that I wasn't disabled enough. You're just missing toes. Well, you do know that impacts my back, my ability to ambulate, my nervousness. It impacts all of me and I'm born with it. So that started my journey. I started researching the first decade, and then I just talked to anyone that I could find. I had binders of research that I would, you know, rip out of magazines, catalogs. I was obsessed with it. I was like, why aren't more people talking about this? And I tried to tell people with disabilities that I should design a line in my first decade. They were like, no, shopping is social. I want to go with my family to shop. And so I said, I hear you. That's where the styling came from in 2003. Because after that Oprah Winfrey show and leaving out people with disabilities, and I have been talking with, spending my own money, buying clothes for, introducing them to these brands that I found. I would see people on the street in wheelchairs and sweatpants and I was like, okay, have you heard of this brand? And so my second decade was all about making a more substantive difference. I would do segments on TV, where I was telling people about dressing the disabilities, doing make-overs, helping people behind the scenes as a radio personality. So that was really fulfilling for me. But after going through that year as the PJ DJ, I was also a trained lobbyist. That year, 2008, I was accepted into a program called Partners in Policymaking and they used to have them in all 50 states and you would be trained to be a lobbyist. At the end of that, you're a certified disability advocate and I learned so much in that. And that combined with the end of my 365 days, it just made me say, I need to do more. But if someone's listening and they're like, oh man, I really want to tackle an issue. The one thing I can say to you is I had no idea how to tackle it. Even though I had developed this and trademarked this styling system, I still had no idea how to tackle it. So next year marks a really big moment for me, where it's like, wow, you've done this your entire adult life. And what a great time to be in the Batchery and have this new element coming out. The great thing is that I didn't do a lot of stuff in the past that is like, oh, I did this, or, oh, you should have known me then. It's still moving forward. People come to me, they trust my voice. You gave me time to talk on your podcast today. What makes me excited about it is that I'm not some kind of, you know, I've been a nurse 30 years. It's not like that for me. It's wow, I've learned so much. The biggest difference I've seen when it comes to disability is after 2020, D, E, and I started adding the A for accessibility. Because anytime social justice happens, all people that are marginalized, people start to look at them differently. Prior to that, I really saw a difference in 2009, when Izzy Camilleri came along with her Izzy Adaptive. I also saw a lot more happening in Europe before the states and Canada. In Germany, there was actually Rolli-Moden, and they had a physical storefront with wheelchairs hanging on the walls where people could come in and shop and try on clothing for seated body types. That was happening decades ago. We are pretty much behind Europe in this. They had the Next Missing Top Model in 2008 in Europe. So it was like America's Next Top Model but with women with disabilities. They had a lot of things happening, more fashion focused than here in the states. And so I've really seen with Maura Horton's brand, MagnaReady, along with what Mindy Scheier is doing and that initial partnership with Tommy Hilfiger and then Tommy just taking it from there and really drawing attention and getting people to pay attention to it in a different way. The one thing that I can say that Tommy does better than anyone else, and I'll give you an example, the Tommy by Zendaya collection. The thing that he did so beautifully is he invited disabled models wearing clothing that's on the runway in the audience. Because Lolo is a client, she was there. And if you looked at the site that night, there was no press release, there was no hoopla. You just saw Zendaya above the fold, a curvy model above the fold, and Lolo, all above the fold, wearing the same collection for their different body types. And now, when you search for women on tommy.com, you get curvy, you get whatever else, and you get adaptive. And so right now, social media is the game changer. That's the technology that's changing the game. The community has a voice, the community is seen and heard. And that is what makes a difference. Back to the quote. You can't design for someone you don't see, and you can't see someone you don't value as a fashion customer.

Tiffany Yu: Now, thanks to social media, thanks to the power and influence of our community, we are asserting our value so we can be seen.

Stephanie Thomas: I agree. And I think we should continue to do that. And I know it's exciting guys to have a brand reach out to you and want to work with you. Understand your value. And sometimes it's hard to ask for money yourself. Talk to someone and say, Hey, if I get this call, can I give you a percentage of this if you'll talk to them for me? Don't let them take advantage of you please.

Tiffany Yu: Very important message. So you did mention Tommy, you mentioned Izzy. I'm curious, any brands you think we should keep an eye out on?

Stephanie Thomas: Yes. I love Jam in Australia, and I love them because they were started by occupational therapists. They just started with this linen shirt. And it's gorgeous in green and white, off-white, it's just beautiful. It's elevated. And I want to see more of that. One of my favorite brands is not a clothing brand, it's Ffora. I use Lucy Jones' bag, the hard shell Ffora bag, which is a wheelchair bag and a cross- body bag that anyone can use. Every time I go out, I get compliments on that bag. And then when I turn it over and say, oh, it's also good for wheelchair users. They're like, what? You know, they're like, oh, where would they put it? It's a conversation starter. And so I'm in love with her marketing, I'm in love with her storytelling. Another brand that I'm excited about right now, it's something a college student did. I really love it. It's like streetwear and it has this really fun vibe to it. It's something that's not out there right now.

Tiffany Yu: I also wanted to mention that you are the author and editor of a textbook.

Stephanie Thomas: Yes. That I've been using in my class for now four years and I've been wanting to do the first edition. That's supposed to come out this year and now it looks like it'll be out in the spring.

Tiffany Yu: Okay. I just want to say the name. It says ""Fitting In: An Anthological Introduction to the Social Implications of Fashion Enablism". And I wanted to bring that up to tie everything all together over the past three decades. I've been following Stephanie for the past couple of years, but it's the past couple of years of three decades of really following clothing and retail trends for the disability community. And I always want to highlight for our listeners because a big theme of this season's podcast has been all the different ways that advocacy can look and all the different ways that allyship can look. And nothing happens overnight. I just want our listeners to understand that. So as we close our podcast, I always finish with the same question, what are you grateful for today?

Stephanie Thomas: Today, I'm actually grateful for the ability to move. I'm starting to see myself again. Like I talked about, yoga, Pilates, anything that was movement and dance and able to create beauty, was my favorite thing. Over the last year and a half, I was diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism. And if you know anything about it, it mimics depression. No matter what I was doing or eating, I was gaining weight that I could not lose. But I've been able to move. And so I'm so grateful to be able to move again. I can see myself again. My movements and adjusting my body and being able to hold poses and it's incredible. Last year I had to reteach myself how to walk because we were sitting so much at home because of safer at home mandates. So I'm grateful for movement.

Tiffany Yu: Thank you. And if people want to follow you or they want to support Cur8able, where's the best place to do that?

Stephanie Thomas: Cur8able.com, C-U R- the number eight- A-B -L- E. And you can follow Cur8able on Instagram. It's spelled the same way. C-U-R- the number eight- A-B-L-E. And you can follow me @DisabilityFashionStylist on both Instagram and Tiffany, you're going to be excited about this, although three years late, and Tik Tok has been out for about three years, right?

Tiffany Yu: Oh my gosh, this is a big deal.

Stephanie Thomas: Yeah, I'm actually working on something for my 30th year. I'm sharing my favorite brands, either daily or weekly, for Tik Tok that I will also share on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Tiffany Yu: Awesome. Well, we will go follow you on Instagram and Tik Tok. And I just wanted to thank Stephanie for coming on the Tiffany & Yu podcast. And I also just want to give a shout out to Julia Rushing, who is a student who has been working on this episode. So with that, this is the end of the episode and I hope you'll join us next time.

Tiffany Yu
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043: Tiffany & Mother Victory
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041: Tiffany & Melinda