Leah Orleans shoots a bow and arrow with her toes, juggles fire, puts knives on her face, and performs around 300 shows a year as Tiny Girl Big Show. In her late twenties, in the middle of a tour, she landed in the ER with an A1C of 14. A few months later, a well-meaning doctor asked what other skills she had, and suggested she start looking for a desk job.
She didn't. Instead, she got loud about it. Leah started writing comedy about diabetes (it turns out it's a genuinely funny word), performed a song called "Diabuddies" using a giant cardboard pancreas, and now when she asks "Who's diabetic?" from the stage, hands go up all over the crowd. We talk about the $2,000-a-month reality of living with type 1, how the logistics skills of a touring performer turned out to be life-saving, and why she has convinced food vendors near her stages to keep an insulin pen in their fridge for her. (They've never said no.)
We also get into the Big Nonprofit Insulin Party happening in Brooklyn on Friday, October 23, benefiting Project Insulin, the nonprofit working to sell insulin at cost. And we land on a question I keep coming back to: what are you optimizing for? If you've ever been told to trade the life you want for the one that feels safe, this conversation is for you.
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and meet Tiny Girl Big Show
03:01 From touring acrobat to an A1C of 14
05:26 Following your passion versus healthcare security
06:13 Turning a $2,000 monthly bill into logistics
07:31 Diabetics are everywhere, even at Ren Faires
08:57 Why "diabetes" is a hilarious word
10:25 Diabuddies and a giant cardboard pancreas
11:22 Health content doesn't have to be sterile
13:13 The Big Nonprofit Insulin Party in Brooklyn
14:24 Why Project Insulin's mission hits home
17:02 The doctor who said find a desk job
20:10 Advice: pick the problems you want to solve
22:43 Systems, habits, and insulin in strangers' fridges
24:12 What are you optimizing for?
28:25 Where to find Leah and her diabetes content
Resources:
Tiny Girl Big Show Website & Schedule
