Paralyzed at 19 to Forbes 30 Under 30 with Ryan Chen

Let me introduce you to Ryan Chen. This year Ryan was on stage at the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneurship event for the company he co-founded, Neuro. But a decade ago, at the age of 19, Ryan was being rushed to the hospital from a snowboarding accident that would ultimately paralyze him from the waist down. Ryan was forced to open his eyes to this new reality, learn to not blame himself and become comfortable with the uncomfortable. He learned to adapt, rekindle his love for athletics and ultimately build a successful business.
 
EPISODE SUMMARY
- Ryan describes the snowboarding accident which instantly paralyzed him.
- The complete shock he felt in the ambulance - and pain but fueled by adrenaline and a racing mind.
- At the hospital, Ryan didn’t want anyone to know about the accident - didn’t want folks to worry.
- Imagine the doctor telling you that you will never walk again. Ryan didn’t believe it.
- Ironically, pain returning was a welcome sign but reality was setting in.
- The very long and dark process included 2-3 years of opioid pain pills which Ryan gave up cold turkey but also a climb out by rekindling his love for athletics and racing in the LA Marathon.
- Ryan would go on to race in seven marathons and met with the US Paralympic team; ultimately deciding he wanted to pursue other passions, like entrepreneurship.
- Ryan co-founded Neuro with his longtime friend, Kent Yoshimura.
- He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list as a top entrepreneur. (Kent was 30 already so received an honorable mention.)
 
QUOTABLES
- “It is a rollercoaster. I mean, you're still trying to figure yourself out and then you throw this in and it feels like your whole world stops. And for me, I think it took me two years of like really trying to figure out, well, not only like who I was, what I wanted to do, but like what was my purpose of living? Why did I survive this?”
- “I never told anybody. I told friends not to tell anybody.“
- “Life is constantly changing, it's about adapting to that change.“
- “I think it's about being comfortable with being uncomfortable as kind of like something I always think about. There's always situations where you're like, you know, you're doing something for the first time, It's uncomfortable. And then you do it again and it feels a little bit more familiar. And then by the third time, you're like, I'm pretty comfortable with this.”
- “You know, you're doing the best you can and be patient with yourself, because then you're going to come out on the other side and realize that that's part of your story. And that's that's going to shape who you are.“
 
TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE
https://inourbelly.com/season-1/episode-3-ryan-chen/
 
RESOURCES
Support Ryan’s company, Neuro
https://neurogum.com/ (https://neurogum.com/)
 
Forbes 30 Under 30 Profiles
https://www.forbes.com/profile/ryan-chen/#7afd0cb441d0
 
@ryan.ryc on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/ryan.ryc/ (https://www.instagram.com/ryan.ryc/)
 
Loma Linda University Medical Center - Level I Trauma Center
https://lluh.org/locations/loma-linda-university-medical-center
 
Casa Colina for Rehab
https://www.casacolina.org/ (https://www.casacolina.org/)
 
SHOW RESOURCES
Subscribe, rate and review this podcast ♥️ Thanks for listening!
http://inourbelly.com (http://inourbelly.com) to preview all episodes coming up and future seasons
Become a Patron https://www.patreon.com/bellyofthebeast
@inourbelly on Instagram http://instagram.com/inourbelly
@inourbelly on Twitter  http://twitter.com/inourbelly
@davidall on instagram (host) http://instagram.com/davidall
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Let me introduce you to Ryan Chen. This year Ryan was on stage at the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneurship event for the company he co-founded, Neuro. But a decade ago, at the age of 19, Ryan was being rushed to the hospital from a snowboarding accident that would ultimately paralyze him from the waist down. Ryan was forced to open his eyes to this new reality, learn to not blame himself and become comfortable with the uncomfortable. He learned to adapt, rekindle his love for athletics and ultimately build a successful business.

EPISODE SUMMARY

- Ryan describes the snowboarding accident which instantly paralyzed him.

- The complete shock he felt in the ambulance - and pain but fueled by adrenaline and a racing mind.

- At the hospital, Ryan didn’t want anyone to know about the accident - didn’t want folks to worry.

- Imagine the doctor telling you that you will never walk again. Ryan didn’t believe it.

- Ironically, pain returning was a welcome sign but reality was setting in.

- The very long and dark process included 2-3 years of opioid pain pills which Ryan gave up cold turkey but also a climb out by rekindling his love for athletics and racing in the LA Marathon.

- Ryan would go on to race in seven marathons and met with the US Paralympic team; ultimately deciding he wanted to pursue other passions, like entrepreneurship.

- Ryan co-founded Neuro with his longtime friend, Kent Yoshimura.

- He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list as a top entrepreneur. (Kent was 30 already so received an honorable mention.)

QUOTABLES

- “It is a rollercoaster. I mean, you're still trying to figure yourself out and then you throw this in and it feels like your whole world stops. And for me, I think it took me two years of like really trying to figure out, well, not only like who I was, what I wanted to do, but like what was my purpose of living? Why did I survive this?”

- “I never told anybody. I told friends not to tell anybody.“

- “Life is constantly changing, it's about adapting to that change.“

- “I think it's about being comfortable with being uncomfortable as kind of like something I always think about. There's always situations where you're like, you know, you're doing something for the first time, It's uncomfortable. And then you do it again and it feels a little bit more familiar. And then by the third time, you're like, I'm pretty comfortable with this.”

- “You know, you're doing the best you can and be patient with yourself, because then you're going to come out on the other side and realize that that's part of your story. And that's that's going to shape who you are.“

TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE

https://inourbelly.com/season-1/episode-3-ryan-chen/

RESOURCES

Support Ryan’s company, Neuro

https://neurogum.com/

Forbes 30 Under 30 Profiles

https://www.forbes.com/profile/ryan-chen/#7afd0cb441d0

@ryan.ryc on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/ryan.ryc/

Loma Linda University Medical Center - Level I Trauma Center

https://lluh.org/locations/loma-linda-university-medical-center

Casa Colina for Rehab

https://www.casacolina.org/

SHOW RESOURCES

Subscribe, rate and review this podcast ♥️ Thanks for listening!

http://inourbelly.com to preview all episodes coming up and future seasons

Become a Patron
https://www.patreon.com/bellyofthebeast

@inourbelly on Instagram
http://instagram.com/inourbelly

@inourbelly on Twitter 
http://twitter.com/inourbelly

@davidall on instagram (host)
http://instagram.com/davidall

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