Jay's Journal: Notes on Resilience LIVE!
🎤 Speaking Mission Statement
I help people face what they thought they couldn’t—and discover their inner resilience.
Too many of us are taught that resilience looks like pushing through, faking fine, or bouncing back with a smile and a Pinterest quote. But real resilience? It's messier than that. It's more human. And it's absolutely something we can learn.
As a disabled parent, writer, and speaker living with cerebellar atrophy and progressive ataxia, I know what it’s like to grieve a life you imagined—while still building a life you love. I bring that truth to the stage with equal parts grit, humor, and vulnerability.
Through powerful storytelling and disarming humor, I explore three essential truths of resilient leadership:
Leaders accept limitations—not as defeat, but as direction.
Leaders adapt to change—even when it’s unwelcome, uncomfortable, or wildly inconvenient.
Leaders ask for help—and more importantly, they receive it without shame.
Whether you're leading a team, a family, or just trying to lead yourself through the chaos of life, I offer a a refreshing reminder: you don’t have to be fearless to lead—you just have to be real. And resilient.
In every talk, I offer more than inspiration. I offer practical actions anyone can take. Whether I’m speaking to caregivers, corporate teams, chronic illness communities, or creative professionals, I teach people how to:
Stop waiting to feel “ready” and start taking imperfect action
Accept limitations without losing identity or joy
Reframe struggle into strength using humor and self-compassion
Build emotional endurance for long-term challenges
Replace toxic positivity with honest hope
My goal isn’t to tell audiences how to be brave. My goal is to remind them that they already are—and show them how to access that bravery when it matters most.
If you’re looking for a speaker who blends heart, humor, and hard-earned wisdom, I’m here. And I bring my rollator, too.
Contact: writeonfighton@gmail.com
Writer, Speaker, Disability Advocate, and Resilience Expert
Jay Armstrong is an award-winning writer, poet, and public speaker who brings fierce honesty, quick wit, and emotional insight to the realities of living with a progressive neurological condition. Diagnosed with cerebellar atrophy, Jay speaks candidly about life with a disability—addressing mobility, identity, mental health, and the radical act of embracing vulnerability.
His work resonates with anyone navigating chronic illness, invisible disabilities, or the emotional toll of change. With a background in storytelling, Jay delivers talks that are equal parts soul-stirring and laugh-out-loud funny—proving that you can be both broken and brilliant, often in the same breath.
Through keynote talks, panel conversations, and intimate storytelling sessions, Jay helps audiences reimagine resilience—not as toxic positivity, but as a practice of honesty, humor, and self-compassion.
Testimonials:
Our conversation with Jay on the Two Disabled Dudes Podcast was deep and light. Jy provides so much value to our listeners because he is personally on this rare journey and he provides his perspective with levity, heart, and precision. We had a great time and our listeners are enjoying the episode.
~Kyle Bryant, Author, Advocate, and Host of the Two Disabled Dudes Podcast
Jay Armstrong is the epitome of resilience. With grace, humor, determination and intense authenticity, Jay provided my Brilliantly Resilient podcast listeners with a Master Class in building resilience after life pulls the rug out from under you and then beats you with the rug. Diagnosed with Ataxia in his 30's, Jay's world was turned upside down as he struggled to make sense of his new reality. He shares with humility what he has learned about growing through challenges, resetting priorities and the importance of being present in whatever way possible to redefine a life well lived. Jay is a light for all of those fortunate enough to hear and learn from him.
~Mary Fran Bontempo, Host of The Brilliantly Resilient Podcast
Author of From Broken to Brilliant: How to Live a Brilliantly Resilient Life