Unfiltered Resilience: Dawn Olson's Journey
Episodes
Women’s Month: The Power of Being Seen
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes the most powerful thing someone can do is simply see potential in you—and say it out loud.In this deeply personal episode of Unfiltered Re...
Blizzards, Blocked Curb Cuts, and Caramel Rolls: My Winter Survival Guide
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Winter in North Dakota isn't just cold. It's 30 below, blizzards every weekend, and windows buried under snow kind of cold. In this episode, I...
The Power of Being Understood
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Last time, we talked about grief — not just from death, but from all kinds of loss.Today, I want to talk about what helped me carry it.For most of m...
Learning to Live Honestly With Loss
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Unfiltered Resilience, Dawn Olson opens up about a kind of grief that often goes unnamed—and unvalidated.Not just the grief of lo...
Scared, Excited, and Still Showing Up: Setting the Tone for 2026
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As we step into 2026, I’m feeling a mix of excitement and fear, and I wanted to be honest about that with you.In this episode of Unfiltered Resilien...
The Work Isn’t Finished : What I’ve Learned After 15 Years in the Classroom
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Unfiltered Resilience, I’m reflecting on something I didn’t even realize until I sat down to prepare for this episode—I’ve been t...
The Year the Stuffing Failed — and Other Lessons on Gratitude
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Unfiltered Resilience, I take you with me through the Thanksgivings that shaped me — the ones spent at the Ann Carlson School, th...
$900 a Month for Independence: The Math That Doesn’t Add Up
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Disability Awareness Month may have ended, but the reality behind the statistics hasn’t. In this episode of Unfiltered Resilience, Dawn Olson goes d...
What Happens After Awareness Month Ends
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Awareness Isn’t Enough: What Disability Employment Really Looks Like”Disability Employment Awareness Month may be over, but the work isn’t.In...
Not a Step Backward: Redefining Independence as We Age
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to Unfiltered Resilience.Today, I want to talk about something universal yet rarely explored — aging, and what it means to age with a d...
Diagnosis Day: What Families Feel but Rarely Say
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to Unfiltered Resilience.Today’s episode is deeply personal — and yet, it’s one that many families will recognise. We’re talking ...
Workplace Rights & Realities: My Road Through Setbacks, Accommodation, and Resilience
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Unfiltered Resilience, I share the hard truths and unexpected lessons from my employment journey as a person with a disability. Sta...
Leaps of Faith and Finding My Voice
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is a milestone — Episode 10. Looking back over the journey so far, I can honestly say that telling my story hasn’t always been easy, ...
Anchored in Faith: Questions, Doubts, and the Journey to Belief
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Faith can be fragile, but for me, it has always been my anchor. In this episode, I take you deeper into my personal faith journey—the doubts I carri...
Faith, Stubbornness, and a Little Bit of Grit
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Unfiltered Resilience, I’m taking you on a journey through the many “they said I couldn’t, so I did it anyway” moments of m...
Loved, Not Managed: Dating, Family, and Friendship with a Disability
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is one of the most personal and vulnerable I’ve ever recorded. Today, I open up about the complex and often painful experiences of navi...
No Exceptions: Advocacy at 30,000 Feet
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I share what happened during my recent trip to Washington, DC — a trip meant to present important research but marked by frustratin...
Hiring and Navigating Life with a Personal Care Assistant (PCA)
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hi everyone – welcome back. It’s Dawn here.This episode is especially close to my heart because today, I’m talking about something that has play...
Navigating Healthcare When the System Works Against You
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Unfiltered Resilience, I’m sharing some deeply personal — and frankly, frustrating — experiences navigating a healthcare syst...
Redefining Independence: My Personal View on Living Fully with Disability
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dawn Olson reflects on what “independence” truly means for someone living with a disability. Speaking from her own lived experien...
The Financial Reality of Disability
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this deeply personal and eye-opening episode, host Dawn Olson unpacks the financial challenges that come with living with a disability—what she c...
Finding My Voice – Dawn's Story
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You know, there's this moment that happens sometimes. When you're facing what seems like an impossible barrier, and everything in you wants to...
Trailer Episode
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You know, there's this moment that happens sometimes. When you're facing what seems like an impossible barrier, and everything in you wants to...