Meet Aaron Baker

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aaron Baker. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aaron below.

Aaron, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

My resilience has come from the women in my life. It began multiple generations ago with my great grandmother who personified a gritty tenacity in a time of famine and great need, she was the bedrock of our family. My grandmother and my mother share those same qualities from which I was raised, and then sought after in my life partner. All I can do to honor this influence is to live in the same vein and pay it forward for our daughter.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

In 1999, as a professional motorsports athlete, I sustained a career-ending spinal cord injury fracturing cervical vertebrae 4, 5, 6—rendering me a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chin down. Medical professionals gave me a “one in a million” chance of ever feeding myself again. From the onset of my injury, I focused on rebuilding and redefining my life by becoming a student of my mind and body—as well as mastering a set of fundamental tools I still use and share with others today. More than two decades of recovery and the consistent, long-term restorative movement and mindset, my mother and I co-founded the Center Of Restorative Exercise in Los Angeles, CA in 2011.

In 2022, I published my memoir “The Rebellious Recovery” and was the subject of a documentary, “Coming To My Senses”, formally on Netflix. I also sit on the Board of Directors for Red Bull’s charity, Wings For Life, and am a Spinal Cord Injury Lifestyle Specialist and author for Shield Healthcare.

In 2024, my wife and I founded Los Angeles based non-profit, Adversity Into Adventure Foundation. Our mission is to create life enhancing opportunities for a diverse-abled (TM) world by funding high impact organizations within our 3R Ethos – rehabilitation, recreation and neurological research.

We set out and completed the first route of our World Tour by wheeling, walking and rolling America’s Main Street – Route 66. 2,448 miles from Santa Monica, CA to Chicago, IL as a grassroots catalyst for community awareness, engagement and giveback.

and represents Red Bulls non-profit charity – Wings
For Life Foundation serving on the Board Of Directors, USA and Chairman of the Ambassador Council.
He serves on the Board of Directors for Los Angeles based non-profit, Artists For Trauma and is the
Spinal Cord Injury Lifestyle Specialist and author for Shield Healthcare, Permobil, Boost Oxygen, and
contributor for the Huffington Post.
During his recovery, Aaron has achieved numerous world’s firsts including: two cross-country cycling
tours, former member of the United States Paralympic Cycling Team with a 2011 Paracycling National
Championship title, two Mammoth Mountain Bike Games adaptive class championships, and two
Skyscraper Stair Climb awards.”Coming to my Senses,” a Netflix and Amazon documentary film, covers
a 20 mile solo trek across the infamous Death Valley desert in California.
2024 marked the formation of his not for profit, the Adversity Into Adventure Foundation and subsequent
start of a multi-year world tour to raise awareness and funds for Diverse-AbilitiesTM.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

My three areas of knowledge came from 25 years post spinal cord injury – rehabilitation, recreation and neurological research.

Rehabilitation is when quality of life begins with wellbeing – mentally, physically and emotionally.
Recreation is the valiant expression of triumph over tragedy – the reintegration of a passionate life back into the world.
Neurological Research is finding purpose in something greater than yourself – investing in the future for a greater good.

I implore anyone facing adversity to “hold the vision, do the work, trust the process”.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

My mother, Laquita Dian, selflessly retired her career to remain at my bedside and care for me at my lowest. She was my hands, my feet and my voice at a time when my body most fragile and my mind most vulnerable. This was not short lived as recovery from a spinal cord injury is a lifelong pursuit. We worked my recovery together, eventually starting a business together and continue to share our mission and message to enhance other people’s quality of life.

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Aaron Baker

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