Episode 113 - Rob Answers Your Questions - How to start a successful Diabetes blog or podcast

There are a few questions that I get very regularly on the podcast and Instagram (@robhowe21 on Instagram) and I decided to use the podcast to address them.

This episode is my exploration of the question “How did you start a Diabetes blog, social media account or podcast?”

I do my best to dig into what compelled me to start Diabetics Doing Things, and what has kept me going over the past 3 years. I also dive into some of the mistakes people make by setting unrealistic expectations early on, which make them feel defeated and burn out and stop.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy this episode, and maybe a few of you will be inspired enough to start your own podcast, blog or Instagram account. If you have any questions about this episode, be sure to reach out!

This episode is sponsored by Real Good Foods the makers of the 4g Net Carb Pizza! Real Good Foods has amazing tasting products that are friendlier on blood sugars for people with Diabetes, so you can enjoy the foods you love without the roller coaster of blood sugars. Use code RobHowe at checkout and you can save 10% and get FREE SHIPPING! On all Real Good Foods products.

Episode 112 - Diabetics Doing Whatta Prick with Adam Schreiner

We all know Diabetes can be a real downer, but did you ever consider Whatta Prick Diabetes is? Adam Schreiner (whatta.prick on instagram) did and his new book by the same name, chronicles his journey through his Type-1 diabetes management, along with recommendations for people with Type-1 and Type-2 Diabetes.

I’m a big fan of Adam’s outlook on diabetes, not just because of his humor, but also his attention and focus on mindfulness. Be sure to give his podcast a listen as well, which you can find on his Instagram.

What’s your favorite Diabetes book, and why? I really enjoyed “Whatta Prick” and I hope you’ll get a little insight as to why from my interview with Adam.

Episode 111 - Diabetics Doing College Diabetes Network with Christina Roth

In a very special episode of the podcast, we are joined by Christina Roth, the Founder and CEO of College Diabetes Network (CDN @collegediabetes on Instagram). CDN creates opportunities for students and young adults living with Type-1 diabetes to connect, share, and succeed in their academic and professional life. 

Previous guests have mentioned CDN on the podcast as an instrumental support system in their college careers with Diabetes. Their programs seek to guide students through the many new experiences and challenges of attending college with T1D.

Christina and I talk about her own personal journey with T1D as well as where the idea for CDN came from and how it’s grown since 2010. We talk about the entrepreneurial journey and what it’s been like to learn as a CEO on the go. 

Christina and CDN are amazing resources in the community, and I’m grateful she was able to spend time with us on the podcast. Visit CollegeDiabetesNetwork.org today to become a member, find a chapter at your local college or university or download information on advocacy, mental health and more. 

Episode 110 - Diabetics Doing Aviation 2 with John Roth

In an episode I was sure I’d lost, I speak with John Roth, a commercial pilot who nearly 4 years ago lost his wings to T1D. John’s interview is similar to those of past pilots like Jeremy Robertson, who found a new outlet for advocacy after losing their wings. 

John also talks about how his very regimented life with T1D with regard to diet and exercise help him keep his levels extremely well managed, and discusses how his decisions with food and dosing come easier for him because of how good he feels. John heard about my podcast from my interview on Vinnie Tortorich’s podcast, which I’d also encourage you to check out.

When I switched computers in early 2018, I thought I’d lost his interview, but I’m very glad I was able to find and publish this very insightful episode of #diabeticsdoingthings. 

This episode is sponsored by HealthIQ, who is rewarding people with Diabetes who actively manage their A1C and live an active lifestyle with lower rates on their life insurance. I also cover why it’s important on the Diabetics Doing Things blog

Episode 109 - Diabetics Doing 1000 Miles of Portraits with Annalisa Van Den Berg and Erik Douds

Join Annalisa Van Den Bergh and Erik Douds (@annalisavdbergh & @erikdouds on Instagram) on a journey through their lives with Type 1 Diabetes as they prepare for yet another incredible feat of distance biking. We’re talking about @milesofportraits, the dynamic diabetic duo’s 1,000 mile journey across Alaska, snapping photos of everything and everyone along the way. 

You can learn more about their journey in their film series below, but I sat down with Annalisa and Erik to talk about their various journeys across the world that led up to this trip, and how they were preparing for this one.

I’m LONG overdue in posting this interview, but I think the insights these two provide leading up to their 1,000 mile journey across Alaska are just as poignant today as they were this summer. 

I’m big fans of Annalisa and Erik, and I’d highly recommend you follow their journeys all across the world as closely as possible. Check out milesofportraits.com and keep an eye on their social media for more amazing “things” that Diabetics do.

Episode 108 - Diabetics Doing A Future with Hope with Carl Armato

Join us for an in-depth interview with Carl Armato, President and CEO of Novant Health and the author of “A Future With Hope.” Diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes at just 18-months old, Carl’s life was shaped by his diagnosis in ways he couldn’t have imagined as he was growing up.

Carl’s life with T1D ignited a passion for healthcare from the patient’s perspective, and helped shape Carl’s career which has led him to becoming President and CEO of one of the largest healthcare systems in the Southeast United States.

Listen as Rob asks Carl for his insights on his mindset, finding success and family alongside his diabetes.

Episode 107 - Diabetics Doing CBD

By now you’ve probably seen dozens of articles, social media posts or videos talking about CBD (cannabidiol). CBD is having its moment, it’s popping up across the country in various forms, from tinctures in vape shops to medical journals to coffee shops and bakeries each claiming to offer one or more of the many benefits linked to CBD.

In typical Rob Howe fashion, before I offered an opinion on CBD, I wanted to make sure the many claims were substantiated not only by my own experience, but by people I trust as well. So I reached out to 7 of my friends from the Diabetes online community and asked them to give me their experience with CBD products, in and out of Diabetes.

I was fortunate enough to partner with an awesome CBD company in Green Helix who helped me get started on my CBD journey and experience different products to aid in my research. They even let me pass the value on to our listeners, so any orders where you use code: RobHowe will get 20% off.

Thanks to my friends Mitch Green, Libby Russell, Whitney Lewis, Mariel Schofield, Erik Douds, Paulius Podziunas and Leila Prevette for making this one of the most unique and exciting episodes in the Diabetics Doing Things journey. Take a listen as you hear my thoughts on CBD as we all work collectively to educate past the stigma of cannabis products in the pursuit of a more holistic approach to wellness. Enjoy!

Episode 106 - Diabetics Doing Cookbooks and Community with Taylor Riggs

Taylor Riggs (@Taylor__Riggs on Instagram) joins the pod to talk about her life with Diabetes. Diagnosed at the age of 10, Taylor shares great small details like missing a field trip because of her diagnosis, which I feel we can all relate to.

Taylor even gets me to share my story for how I drank a Doctor Pepper on my way to the urgent care for “my nausea.”

We talk about everything from learning about what Diabetes is, to the strain parents take on when you’re diagnosed, to my theory about the different emotions associated with when you’re diagnosed with Diabetes as a child and Taylor shares her struggles adjusting to life with Diabetes as a kid.

Taylor also gives great insights on the mental strain of living with Diabetes, for kids, parents and adults and we both dish on how we’re glad the conversation is coming more into the fold of everyday life with T1D.

Taylor also shares how T1D affected her decision to become a Dietician, and is an inspiring example of using T1D as a catalyst for doing good in your career. Her cookbook is “Real Food, Real Simple” and is available on Amazon! Give her a follow and dig deep into her insights in this episode.

This episode is sponsored by HealthIQ, who is rewarding people with Diabetes who actively manage their A1C and live an active lifestyle with lower rates on their life insurance. I also cover why it’s important on the Diabetics Doing Things blog

Episode 105 - Diabetics Doing A Game Plan with Sam Benger

It’s a T1D Athlete’s dream interview. I go 1 on 1 with the great Sam Benger (@gameplan_t1d on Instagram) and we talk about his journey growing up with Diabetes, to Diabetic Collegiate Athlete, to Diabetes Podcaster.

Sam talks about the importance of sports and Diabetes in developing his workhorse mentality. Never a guy to make excuses, Carnegie Mellon University’s All-Time leading Rusher dishes on overcoming challenges and outperforming expectations.

He also talks about he’s recently become more involved in the T1D community through podcasting and instagram, something I really relate to. Sam really dove-in feet first to help tell the amazing stories of athletes with T1D and their amazing accomplishments.

And if you want to hear Rob on the GamePlan T1D Podcast, just follow this link.

Episode 104 - Diabetics Doing A Second Chance with Dave Maher

There are some stories which you have to hear firsthand to fully comprehend, and Dave Maher’s story (@thisisdavemaher on Instagram) certainly falls into that category.

BeyondType1 approached me with the opportunity to interview a fellow Type-1 Diabetic comedian, but I had no idea how much more there was to Dave’s story.

Mismanagement of Dave’s Type-1 Diabetes put Dave into a coma from High Blood sugar, and doctors weren’t sure he would ever wake up. After a wild Facebook outpouring, chronicled here by This American Life.

The good news, Dave did wake up, and he and I talk about the differences in his life & diabetes management before and after his coma, and how he’s using his second chance as an opportunity to look at the bigger issues beyond Diabetes which nearly caused him to lose his life. This is an incredible, honest, endearing interview and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dave Maher.

Episode 103 - Diabetics Doing Life Down Under with Luke Armstrong

Luke Armstrong (@Lukey_Armstrong on Instagram) joins the podcast for one of the more open, casual and fun interviews of all time.

Luke is a T1D from Australia, and he takes us through much of the Aussie slang throughout his interview, so be prepared to learn a lot.

Luke also digs deep into the struggles of young people with Diabetes who are working to be normal and go out and have fun drinking and partying with their friends. We take a good hard look at some of the things we’ve learned about that type of life and hopefully can pass along some wisdom to people out there dealing with a similar journey.

Luke also has a tremendous fitness and sports background, and talks about living his life as a trainer with Diabetes and tips and tricks he’s learned along the way.

Give Luke a follow and be sure to shout out his mom, who I have owed this interview to for a long time.

Episode 102 - Diabetics Doing Wild Child in the Tree T1D with Celia Johnson

Celia Johnson (@wildchildinthetreet1d on Instagram) joins the podcast to talk about her journey with Type-1 Diabetes. Diagnosed at the age of 16 in New Hampshire, Celia remembers all the general symptoms that many T1Ds experience at diagnosis and even recorded her number of times she had to use the restroom, and recorded 40 urinations in one day.

She also outlines the struggles that many of us relate to because at the outset of her diagnosis, her doctors educated her how to treat Type-2 Diabetes, so even though she had the correct insulin, she wasn’t properly prepared to know how to live with T1D until she switched hospitals and found a new endocrine clinic months into her life with T1D.

We also talk about Wilford Brimley (lol) and how I think he would be the best person to break down the differences between Type-1 and Type-2 Diabetes. You definitely need to check out the beginning of this interview.

Celia is an inspiring member of the Diabetes community and I’m grateful she shared her story. Be sure to follow her journey on Instagram.

Episode 101 - Diabetics Doing Youtube & Community in Canada with Michelle Lord

Michelle Lord (@miche_lo on instagram) joins the podcast to talk about her journey into the Type 1 Diabetes community. She takes us through her inspiration behind her AWESOME YouTube channel, and how she evolved it from a Vlog channel to a channel about Diabetes Tips and information for people living with T1D.

Michelle and I also discuss the importance of the global community and how she is working to bring meetups and other types of events to Canada. I’m very fortunate to get to interact with lots of T1Ds from Canada on Instagram, and we both talk about how social media has brought us all together.

I work with Michelle on the Beyond Type 1 Global Ambassador Council and she recently hosted her first meetup in Toronto with many other Canadian T1Ds who have been on this podcast! Check out her video on the meetup here.

Michelle’s YouTube Channel is one of my favorites in the T1D space, and she has incredible videos on her life with Type 1, including this video below which is one of my favorites:

Michelle is such an awesome member of the T1D community, and I’m grateful to get to work with her with BeyondType1 and glad T1D brought us together.

Episode 100 - Diabetics Doing Incredible Support and Community Building with Marie Diaz

We are KEEPING IT 100!!!! 

Today’s guest is Marie Diaz (@nerdscanfight on Instagram) and when I was thinking of who would be the 100th episode, I thought of Marie immediately and I’ll tell you why! 

She was one of the first people I didn’t know that shared that she was listening to this podcast, and I just remember being so encouraged by someone enjoying this podcast and sharing it publicly. That could have been the end of the story, but Marie always outdoes expectations. 

The first time I met Marie, she DROVE 3 hours from Austin, where she was attending the University of Texas, to attend JDRF Dallas’ Type One Nation Summit in January 2018, and then 6 weeks later she drove AGAIN from Austin to San Antonio where I was speaking at another Type One Nation. 

She’s an incredible friend, fanatic and FREAK ATHLETE because she’s running with team Beyond Type Run in the New York City Marathon this fall. In fact, if you want to donate to her race fundraiser, follow this link and give her back some of the support she gives to our amazing community.

I’m not gonna spoil the episode any further, but please enjoy this awesome conversation with an AMAZING person with Diabetes Marie Diaz. 

Episode 099 - Diabetics Doing T1D Community in Canada and Vegan Lifestyle with Abby David

99 Episodes! Special thanks to all our listeners and guests for all the support over the years. Today's guest is Abby David (@abbyjdavid on Instagram) from Toronto, Ontario, Canada! 

Abby's Diabetes story begins with her Diagnosis at age 16, and we continue our theme of diagnosis stories running the full spectrum, as the doctor who diagnosed Abby didn't know how to use a glucometer and Abby had to wait 24 hours for her glucose test results. 

Abby and I have a unique discussion about the emotional response of parents when their children are diagnosed with T1D. Both of our parents had the initial response that they may have done something wrong and caused our diabetes, so we discuss how each of our parents worked on acceptance. 

Abby also tells us about the Diabetes community in Canada compared to the US, where the patients are more scattered and the organizations less focused on patient engagement. It made me happy to see the first BeyondType1 meetup in Toronto this past weekend, to see how far things have come since Abby and I spoke earlier this year. 

We also discuss Abby's vegan lifestyle and the impact it's had on her Diabetes. I'm so grateful Abby joined the show to share her story, and I'll apologize a million times for how long it took for me to post her episode. 

Episode 098 - Diabetics Doing Handball with Mikkel Moldrup

Please welcome Mikkel Møldrup (@mmoeldrup on Instagram) from Dusseldorf Germany. Mikkel is a Professional handballer in the 2nd Budesliga in Germany, and has been living with T1D for just over 7 years. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the sport of Handball, I highly encourage you to do a quick YouTube journey, because it is super exciting. It's a team sport that is highly popular throughout Europe, though not as much in the United States. Mikkel explains it better than I do, but my best comparison would be a combination of Basketball, Volleyball and Hockey. 

Mikkel was diagnosed in 2012 at the age of 18, and felt as though he was overloaded with information at his diagnosis. He discusses the frustrations and feelings associated with having to learn so much in such a short time, in addition to adjusting to a new lifestyle. 

However, he maintains a positive attitude and mentions “Diabetes is not a sickness to me, it’s a healthy sickness. Because you learn how to live healthy. Before Diabetes I never would’ve looked at what was in my food or lifestyle. You learn so much about yourself.” 

I'm inspired by Mikkel's story so please take a listen and enjoy me stumbling over the pronunciation of his last name multiple times ;)

Episode 097 - Diabetics Doing Improv at Dallas Comedy House

I've been either taking classes, performing, teaching or just hanging out at Dallas Comedy House for the past five years. I've made lifelong friends, had crazy experiences and learned more there than I could've known when I signed up for classes 5 years ago. Better still, I met some of my first Type-1 Diabetic friends at DCH, so even before I started this podcast, the community of DCH was impacting my life with Diabetes. 

When I started the podcast, Scriven Bernard and Lindsay Power were kind enough to be among the first interviews, and in the years since, Eric Van Leeuwen joined our T1D comedy family. 

So last spring, we had a Casual Comedy Gala to raise money for JDRF, and did an Improv4Humans style improvised podcast. We'd always talked about doing this type of podcast, and I'm so glad we finally did. Check it out! 

Episode 096 - Diabetics Doing Mission & Advocacy with Dr. Nicole Johnson

This is a very special episode of the Diabetics Doing Things podcast featuring none other than Dr. Nicole Johnson, the Director of Mission for JDRF. If you haven't heard her speak, she frequently speaks at JDRF Type One Nation Summit's throughout the U.S., so if you have a chance to hear her and meet her, I'd encourage you to do it! 

Dr. Johnson's T1D story begins as many do, where she knew something was wrong but her doctors hadn't landed on Type-1 Diabetes as her illness. So in one of her first preliminary Miss America pageants, she passed out on stage! 

After finally being diagnosed T1D, Nicole's doctors started off her life with Diabetes by listing all the things she wasn't going to be able to do: work in the field she wanted, pursue her dream to be Miss America or have a family! Nicole takes us through the very daunting personal journey of what it's like to hear a physician tell you that you need to change the dreams you've had for your life, and how she started the process of proving them wrong. 

Get a big dose of motivation from Dr. Nicole Johnson and listen to a story that starts with a T1D Diagnosis and turns into a story of passion, success and advocacy from the first person with Diabetes to be crowned Miss America, but who also finished her PhD, started a family and became JDRF's first Director of Mission. 

This episode was recorded in Tampa, Florida on the conference floor of the Students with Diabetes Conference, Nicole's incredible summit for young adults living with Diabetes. 

Episode 095 - Diabetics Doing Balance in New Zealand with Samantha Northcott

Today’s guest joins us from New Zealand! Samantha Northcott (@findbalance.nz on Instagram) takes some time to join Diabetics Doing Things and share her story. Samantha was diagnosed at age 24, but felt it was a long time coming. After some blood work, the hospital called and told her to pack a bag. Since then, she’s been part of the T1D family!

Samantha and I discuss what she’s learned along the way, such as: taking on her own journey, managing her body, and how to care for her well-being through the process. Her experience goes hand-in-hand with her career, as she is a nutritionist, and gets to share some of that wisdom today.

Further, we get into different forms of exercise and how to find one that works for you. We talk about food and diet and some simple ways to ensure that you are feeding your body what it needs. We also talk about finding balance and how to make sure you are happy in the present, but also in the years to come.

Most importantly, Samantha tells us that everything is going to be alright. Hit play and show her some love!

Episode 094 - Diabetics Doing Diabetes Strong with Christel Oerum

Welcome Christel Oerum to the show! (@diabetesstrong_ig on Instagram) Christel is the co-founder (along with her husband Tobias) of Diabetes Strong, which began as a personal blog in 2015 to share her experiences as a fitness enthusiast living with Type-1 Diabetes and grew into the largest website about health and Diabetes with expert contributors from all over the world. It's an incredible resource for anyone looking to make sense of T1D, exercise and an active lifestyle. 

Christel and I discuss her diagnosis in Denmark, where she was diagnosed after experiencing extreme fatigue (accompanied by the other usual symptoms), by her primary care physician. Christel also takes us through the challenges of moving to the United States and discovering her love for strength training. This 20-year T1D veteran is full of knowledge that ranges from traveling across foreign lands, to T1D technology, to health, fitness, and wellness.

Be sure to check out Diabetes Strong for tons of resources on how to live fit and healthy with Diabetes, and keep on the lookout for more Diabetes Strong and Diabetics Doing Things content in the future! https://diabetesstrong.com/