#66 Athena Brownson: Shifting Mindpower to Rebuild Life After an 8-Year Battle with Lyme Disease — Part One
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What is Athena Brownson's journey with Lyme disease?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change progressives in organizational and human transformation. Today, I'm talking to Athena Bronson, a real estate agent from Denver, Colorado. No, we are not talking about real estate. Instead, we dive into her extraordinary journey of resilience. At the peak of her real estate career, feeling invincible and unstoppable, Athena's life took unexpected turn. Strange health issues appeared, and she was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease, a condition that would change everything. For the past seven years, Athena has lived in chronic pain. relying on plasma transfusions four days each month just to keep going.
Her life has revolved around battling this disease, something she never imagined facing. As she says, if life didn't give us adversity and challenges... This story is too powerful and real for just one episode. Today, in part one, Athena shares her experience with Lyme disease, a condition that remains poorly understood but has profoundly impacted her health. She'll talk about how she caught it, what she's endured, and the fight to survive. Tomorrow in part two, Asina will share how she not only survived, but found ways to thrive, rebuild her support system, and grow her career once again. Athena, welcome to our show. Welcome to Chief Change Officer. I know you're in Denver. Good afternoon to you.
Good afternoon or good morning to you, I should say. Thank you so much for having me. It is a cold, snowy night. It is election night here in Denver, so I am very happy to be here with you.
I hope this turns out to be an enjoyable conversation that takes your mind off the stress of what's arguably the biggest event in the world right now.
So Asina, let's start with your story. As you mentioned, I am in Denver, Colorado. I was born and raised here in Colorado. I was actually raised in a small mountain town called Breckenridge. For those of you who are skiers or snowboarders, you've probably heard of Breckenridge at some point. Now, knowing this piece of information, it will set you up for how really my life unfolded because I learned I could walk. So I believe I was two years old. My dad was a professional skier and I like to say I didn't even have a chance, but he had me on skis from the time I could walk. And at age 15, I ended up going professional at skiing. So at a very young age, I was basically traveling the world skiing about 300 days a year with some of the top coaches in the entire world. And I always say that skiing is the best business school that I ever could have asked for or could have gone to because skiing truly set the stage for my success in business, which I'll get into a little bit later.
How did Athena transition from a professional athlete to a real estate agent?
And after becoming a professional skier, after I think nine knee surgeries, I decided it was time for me to hang up the skis and go into another field. I ended up going into the field that I never in a million years thought I would end up in, and that is real estate. Now, I say I never thought I would end up in real estate because, A, I don't think anyone grows up saying, oh, I'm going to be a real estate agent when I grow up. That's just not something you hear very often. But more in the small town that I was raised in, Breckenridge, There were more real estate offices than t-shirt shops. I grew up thinking real estate was, I had the preconceived notion that it was a little bit corny and there were the kind of used car salesman mentality, even though my dad is a home builder. So I grew up on job sites. I followed him.
I have very fond but funny memories of going to job sites with him in the freezing cold, watching his projects unfold and develop, and watching the impact that he had on this town. And it was pretty incredible, but it was something that my dad did. Because of that, as a young person, I wanted to make my own path. I went into interior design after graduating from college, and I was working in the interior design industry, both in Denver and Breckenridge, designing hotels, high-end residences, but I didn't feel that I was being fulfilled. To me, it was a nine-to-five job that I was counting down the hours to get through. I had a dear girlfriend at the time, still one of my best friends.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Athena Brownson's journey with Lyme disease?
0:11–5:08
2
How did Athena transition from a professional athlete to a real estate agent?
5:08–9:24
3
What challenges did Athena face after her Lyme disease diagnosis?
9:24–11:40
4
How does Athena maintain her passion for real estate despite chronic illness?
11:40–14:06
5
What does Athena's toolkit for resilience include?
14:06–16:52
6
What lessons has Athena learned from her experiences?
16:52–18:44
7
How can one become their own advocate in health struggles?
18:44–19:55
8
What advice does Athena have for those dealing with chronic illness?
19:55–28:54
Speakers
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