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Have you ever walked into a room and felt like people looked straight past you? Like your presence didn’t quite land the way it should? That’s what this episode is about — and why I haven’t stopped thinking about what happened at a recent healthcare industry event. 

I was there representing Hurdle2Hope®, with a stand in the Start-Up Zone — speaking about my wellbeing workshops for frontline workers. It was an amazing opportunity, one I was really grateful for. 

But as I sat beside my partner Andrew — me on my walker, him on a stool — something subtle happened. 

Even when I said the first hello. Even with my badge saying “Hurdle2Hope® Founder.” Even though I was the one with the lived experience and the program. 

The eye contact. The follow-up questions. The interest. 

It went to Andrew. 

No one was unkind. In fact, everyone was lovely. But something stuck with me — and today I want to gently explore what that was. 

What I Observed at the Healthcare Event 

This event was held at the International Convention Centre in Sydney, right near the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in Sydney. Hurdle2Hope® was given a stand to showcase our work supporting the burnout of frontline workers in healthcare and aged care. 

Throughout the day, Andrew would come sit with me — I’d be on my walker, and he’d perch beside me on the stool. 

And even if I made the first approach to someone walking by, I’d watch the conversation naturally shift to Andrew. The eye contact. The body language. The questions. 

And to be fair, Andrew is incredibly supportive. He listens to my ideas, hears me talk about my business all the time, and he shows up for the physically hard parts. But I’m the one that can explain anything to do with Hurdle2Hope®. 

What made me smile, though, was how quickly he’d redirect the attention back to me. “It’s all Teish,” he’d say. “She’s the one who knows what’s going on.” 

ut it also got me thinking. Why did people assume otherwise in the first place? 

Understanding Unconscious Bias 

From my understanding, unconscious bias is when we make assumptions or judgments about someone without even realising it. It’s not usually intentional — it’s just our brains taking shortcuts, based on what we’ve learned or seen over time. 

And these biases show up in small, subtle ways. Who we greet first. Who we assume is leading. Who we believe has the answers. 

So looking back on that day, I can see where those assumptions may have landed on me. 

We see someone using a walker and assume they’re cognitively impaired. But I’ve got three university degrees, and I’ve built a national wellbeing program from the ground up. 

We hear someone has MS and stage 4 breast cancer and assume they’re too unwell to be running a business. But I’ve been relapse-free from MS since 2012, and my secondary tumours have been inactive for nearly three years. I’m in full metabolic remission. I use a walker because of damage from years ago — not because of how I feel today. 

And then there’s gender. I’m a woman sitting on a walker, next to a man on a stool. And in that moment, people assumed he was the one leading. 

He’s not. Hurdle2Hope® is my work. My vision. My lived experience, transformed into something to support others. 

Chronic Illness, Disability and Gender 

I live with chronic illness. I use a mobility aid. I’m also a woman. And while each of these alone can invite assumptions — together, they sometimes make you quietly disappear in a room. 

I don’t believe anyone meant to look past me that day. But they did. And it reminded me just how easy it is for people like me to go unseen in rooms where our voices really matter. 

That’s why I wanted to record this episode — not to blame or shame — but to gently name what happens. Because once we see it, we can’t unsee it. 

Finding Strength in Self-Advocacy 

I could’ve taken it personally. And to be honest — for a moment, I did. 

But Andrew and I always laugh with each other. I was more intrigued to hear how he’d try to explain what I did — and when he fumbled, he’d smile and gently redirect the attention back to me. 

And still — something lingered. Not just for me, but for everyone who’s felt like that. 

I remembered what it was like when I lost my voice to muscle tension dysphonia a few years ago (more on that in Episode 34). For over a year, I couldn’t get more than a few words out. And people assumed I couldn’t hear, or couldn’t understand. 

It was isolating. It was frustrating. And it broke my confidence. 

So yes — I got through the event with a smile. But I couldn’t help thinking of those who deal with this every day. Who live in a world where they’re constantly underestimated. 

And that’s why I’m talking about it. 

Unconscious bias might be invisible. But its impact is not. 

Let’s Create More Awareness Together 

I’m not angry about what happened. But I am aware. 

We still have so much work to do when it comes to recognising our assumptions — especially about people with chronic illness, disability, or difference. 

So let’s stay open. Let’s read stories and hear perspectives that challenge our thinking. Let’s ask questions instead of assuming. 

That’s what I hope to do with this podcast — and with my work at Hurdle2Hope®. 

Because yes, I live with two serious health conditions. But I also live with insight. And that insight can help others — from those newly diagnosed to the frontline workers supporting them. 

If we can better understand unconscious bias, we can create more inclusive spaces — where everyone feels seen. 

Resources: 

Episode 34 – Muscle Tension Dysphonia: How Speech Therapy and Allied Health Transformed My Recovery. 

Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @hurdle2hope  

Transcript Episode 63 Chronic Illness + Disability + Woman = My Experience of Unconscious Bias

Teisha Rose: [00:00:00] Hey there, Teisha here and welcome to episode 63 of Wellbeing Interrupted. Before we get started, I just want to say I am loving the weather here in Central Victoria in Australia where I live. It's autumn time here, so mid twenties during the day. Very sunny skies, lower temperatures at night, making,  sleep a lot easier.

Beautiful sunsets at night. If you follow me on Instagram, so at Hurdle2Hope I share, you know, often during, at nighttime we walk up to the ridge, have a look at the sunset count, how many kangaroos have come outta the forest, and yeah, just have a, a moment of mindfulness. I.

In today's episode, though, we are not talking sunsets, but instead another solo episode, and this is something I've been thinking about quite a bit since I [00:01:00] had the amazing experience at the Australian Healthcare Week. So. If those of you who don't know, I shared it in last week's episode that as the founder of Hurdle2Hope, I was given the opportunity to have a stand in the startup zone of the exhibition. It was an amazing opportunity to chat about my Wellbeing workshops for frontline workers in aged care. Also healthcare and in the disability sector. During the day, Andrew, my partner, came to sit by me,

he was on a stool. I was beside him on my walker. And what happened really stayed with me, and I share this, not to call people out, but just to highlight what the experience is for many of us living with health conditions, also with a disability. So you have two people [00:02:00] sitting side by side, one with a badge that says Hurdle2Hope.

Founder, the other that says, Hurdle2Hope support. So who do you think gets the initial eye contact? The conversation starter or the follow up questions? It wasn't a big thing. No one was unkind, but it was something I really noticed. And honestly, as I mentioned, I've been thinking about this a lot over the last couple of weeks.

So in today's episode, I wanna talk about unconscious bias, and this is the quiet ways it can show up, especially when you live with chronic illness, when you use mobility aids, and let's be honest, when you are a woman. [00:03:00] , so I'll set the scene for you a little bit. , the Australian Healthcare Week that was held at the International Convention Center at Darlene Harbor in Sydney. If you live outside of Australia, darling Harbor is near the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Opera House. So that's where New Year's Eve fireworks happen.

We, as I mentioned, had a stand in the startup zone of [00:04:00] this really big expo. It was an amazing opportunity to chat to businesses about what I'm doing in this space. But it was when Andrew was sitting beside me, he on the stool, me on my walker, . That I noticed, even when I initiated the conversation, even when I said hi to whoever was walking past eye contact, automatically went to Andrew as to the initial questions about what Hurdle2Hope was up to in this space.

And although Andrew has listened to me a lot about what I do with my business and he's incredibly supportive, particularly in situations like this, where physically it's very challenging for me.

He is definitely not the one to chat about, to find out what's happening with Hurdle2Hope and what we offer in terms of workshops and [00:05:00] courses. 

And it made me smile because Andrew would always gently redirect whoever was chatting to me and say, you know, Tish is the one you wanna , chat to about what's going on with Hurdle2Hope. But it was when I got back home that I couldn't stop thinking about this experience. About how unconscious bias really does exist, how easily it goes unnoticed until you are the one who's treated differently.

 So this episode is definitely not about telling anyone off or you know, calling people out, but instead, I really wanna shine a light on what can happen and how we might start noticing unconscious bias together. 

my understanding, unconscious bias is when we make assumptions or judgements about someone [00:06:00] without even realising it. It's not usually intentional, it's just our brains taking shortcuts. It's taking shortcuts based on what we've learned or what we've seen over time. Unconscious bias can show up in really small ways.

Like my experience, , who you make eye contact with first, who we ask questions to or who we assume is in charge. It's subtle, but in those moments, they can really have an impact on those that feel unseen. So if I look back on my experience at the Australian Healthcare Week, I can definitely see how a few assumptions have been made about me.

Again, these assumptions weren't made on purpose, but they're made based on unconscious bias and made based on a very long history of what people expect [00:07:00] when they see someone like me. So if we see someone with Walker, we maybe assume that they're cognitively impaired. But just to set the record straight, I have three degrees cognitively, I haven't been impacted by MS.

And. I've been the one to build this Hurdle2Hope program from the ground up, and I'm certainly more than capable of chatting about it to anyone in the room at the Australian Healthcare Week.

Another example of unconscious bias in relation to me. We hear someone who lives with MS or with stage four breast cancer or both, and we assume they're too unwell to be working or running their own business.

But the truth is in relation to ms. I haven't had a relapse since [00:08:00] 2012, although my legs struggle. The actual disease has been inactive for over 10 years. Why a struggle is the impact I think cancer has had physically on me, emotionally on me, but also the damage done early on when my MS was very aggressive in relation to stage four breast cancer.

I mean full metabolic remission even though I had secondary tumors in my bones, in my liver. They are inactive and they have been for nearly three years. And then in relation to me, another area of unconscious bias is . I'm a woman, then a woman sitting on a walker next to a man. .

And in that moment. The assumption is often made that the man [00:09:00] is heading up the work of the startup. So in this instance, Hurdle2Hope. And as I mentioned, Andrew's incredibly supportive, but his strengths are different to mine. And Hurdle2Hope is definitely in relation to my own experience as a social worker.

As a trainer at Telstra, but also in relation to my illnesses.

But as I said, I definitely didn't take this personally. And I often say self-advocacy, calling out things like this is important, but it's important to do it in a way that's kind, because so many people would not have even noticed that their eye contact was with Andrew. And who knows I could possibly be exactly the same.

You know, if I met Andrew and [00:10:00] myself every chance, my eye contact would go to Andrew as well.

But then I thought even though I didn't take offense, and I ended up actually being a bit more amused by it, thinking, I wonder how Andrew were asked, answered the questions he's been asked, and then knowing that he would straight away . Redirect the attention to me.

But I still thought this is really an important topic to talk about because again, I feel like I'm in this privileged position that I gain all of these insights, and that also creates absolute empathy for those constantly overlooked

And for those who put up with assumptions constantly made about who they are. What they're capable of and that happens day in, day [00:11:00] out.

And this experience also reminded me of. Dealing with muscle tension dysphonia a couple of years ago, so I share about that in episode 34 for almost a year. It was probably over a year. I couldn't say more than a few words. The actual muscle above my voice box seized up. That was a combination of all the trauma I was dealing with with my cancer diagnosis, the impact that had on my MS and the tightness my body was experiencing, but that. Experience nearly broke me because people constantly assumed that something was wrong with me, cognitively, that I didn't understand what they were talking about.

People would look at me strangely when I was ordering things in a shop. [00:12:00] People would speak to me with increased volume because they assumed I couldn't hear them or understand them. So that's why conversations like this are so important, and that's why it's important for me to put voice to these experiences

because I'm fortunate that my voice came back, that I can be heard and understood that overall, unless I'm using a walkin aid. My illnesses are very invisible, and to tell you the truth, I don't mind that because people don't treat me differently. But it's not fair then on people whose illnesses have made them different because we constantly make assumptions about them.

And I can't imagine how hurtful that would be to deal with over and over again. It would knock your confidence. [00:13:00] It would make you filled with self-doubt. And I'm sure it would make you feel really angry. And as I said, I wasn't angry about this experience. I was more bemused by it. But again, I thought I really need to highlight this to bring it into awareness for all of us.

And as I often do with these episodes, I really wanna also challenge you to think about some of the assumptions you might make. Again, this isn't about making us feel bad, but it's about bringing into awareness what some of those assumptions are, and then challenging those. assumptions and you can challenge those assumptions by staying open, you know, to listening to. Stories and experiences of others without making assumptions [00:14:00] about that person by reading different perspectives, by listening to podcast episodes like this and having conversations with others that challenge your thinking. And that's what I really hope I'm doing with my business and what I'm doing with this podcast because yes, I live with two significant illnesses in MS and now stage four breast cancer. But I wanna constantly challenge the assumptions made about someone living with such significant illnesses and what they're capable of achieving.

And I also think, as I've mentioned often, that with these experiences come such deep insight and that insight, I think. Can be used not to only help people living with health conditions like I do, but also to help support the incredible frontline workers that risk burnout [00:15:00] to support us. 

So maybe next time you're in a room at work, at an event, or even, you know, just a casual gathering of people, just notice who the attention naturally goes to and who it doesn't go to.

And if you're someone who sometimes feels overlooked, I want you to know that . Your voice matters. Your presence matters. I'd also love to hear from you about your experience

So make sure you DM me @hurdle2hope or otherwise. My email is [email protected]. Okay, so that's it for this episode. I really hope it's, you know, the conversation has shone a light on unconscious bias. Again, not to have a go at anyone, but just so we're all aware of it. If [00:16:00] you haven't already listened to episode 34 and have it listened to how bad my voice was, other than that, hopefully have a great week and next week.

I promise it's not another solo episode. Instead, I'm chatting to someone. All about how they've navigated being a digital nomad, along with living with very challenging health condition. Okay, chat soon.

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