Meet Shawna Barnes

We recently connected with Shawna Barnes and have shared our conversation below.

Shawna, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?

About six months into my deployment to Iraq (2009-2010), I started experiencing a range of distressing and seemingly random symptoms—seizures, cognitive issues, weakness and gait instability, to name a few. By July 2011, my medical condition necessitated an early retirement from the Army.

With no clear diagnosis and only a gut feeling linking my symptoms to the open burn pits at the base I was stationed at in Iraq, I moved back in with my parents. My son, who went to live with his father when I deployed, continued to do so because my health was so poor.

It took years of uncertainty and struggle to finally put a name to my condition. Diagnosed with several ailments, the most debilitating is a neuromuscular autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis. This illness affects my mobility, speech, eating, swallowing, and even my breathing.

Yet, here I stand, 13 years later—a wife, an advocate and writer for myasthenia gravis, and a business owner.

Sitting idle and simply collecting a disability check was never an option for me. Throughout the years spent trying to figure out what was wrong, I pursued various educational opportunities to retrain myself. Though I could no longer serve as a medic, I channeled my energy into my artistic talents, first as a ceramic sculptor and later as a graphic and website designer.

In these creative pursuits, I discovered a passion for barrier-free website design. Since 2017, I’ve been building websites and, since 2021, I’ve been focusing on digital accessibility. It became clear that I was alone in a crowded room.

I believe that when people know better, they do better. However, they can only improve if they know how. Many disability advocates resort to shame and fear to push for compliance, citing basic human rights. While this is true, fear mongering tactics never motivated me.

I approach advocacy through education and explanation. As a disabled business owner, I have lived both without barriers and within them. My life before my disabilities and the things I did (or didn’t do) didn’t make me a bad person or business owner—when I knew better, I still needed to learn how to do better.

Through this journey, I have become an effective and successful website designer and accessibility advocate, looking to change the way we have these conversations.

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?

I run two businesses in a little town/village in northwestern Wisconsin. One is a shared workspace and technology center called “The Nook” and the other is my website design business, S. Barnes Designs.

I specialize in barrier-free website design and maintenance. I make technology approachable, understandable, and not scary. I love working with small to medium sized businesses to help them create a website that works for them and doesn’t leave any potential customers out in the wind. With one in four people in the world having a disability that affects how they use the internet, harnessing over a billion dollars in spending power, that can be a big deal for small businesses. I love knowing that when I am done (re)building their website, they are automatically elevated to be in the top 5% of all websites on the interwebs simply because it is accessible to all.

I am in the process of creating a course for those that get the heeby jeebies when technology is concerned, called “Tech Demystified: Small Business Edition”. I am breaking down stigmas and industry terminology into concepts and terms that are easily understood by anyone. It is my way to expand my teaching and help as many people as possible. I love knowing that I am part of empowering a coach, author, wellness practitioner, or any other small business owner; to push past their fear of “doing it wrong” so they can just “do it”.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Perseverence, adaptability, and self-control are three of the skills that have been most impactful in my journey to get “from there to here”.

When I was medically retired from the Army, I was lost. I could no longer do what I thought I was going to do for the next 20 years – grow in the field of medicine from a combat medic to a doctor. Self-control was the biggest help to me here, believe it or not. I had to control the limiting beliefs and negative self talk that began to overwhelm my mind.

From there, adapatability became the focus. I had to figure out how to adapt to my new life. Change and update the definition I had of who I was and what my life’s purpose was. I went from pursuing medicine to throwing myself into creative pursuits. I allowed myself the opportunity to heal my mind and body throughout these years of adapting to my new life, limitations and dreams alike.

Being able to “adapt and overcome” will only get you so far. Next came perseverence. You can’t just change course every time you meet a roadblock. I had to use the self-control and the adpatability skills I’d harnessed to persevere through some hard times. That perseverence led me to eventually owning my own barrier free website design business and a coworking business.

My life is different now than it was in 2011 when I was medically retired from the Army. I’m sure your life looks different today than it did a decade ago. Don’t lose focus on what feels right to you and what you believe you’re meant to do. Have the self-control to keep believing in yourself and not accepting the nay-sayers and Negative Nancy’s version of you. Find ways to harness the adaptability we are all born with. Yes, born with. We go from living in a warm fluid filled environment to this harsh life on earth. We are born with the ability to adapt. Don’t let a roadblock deter you from your pursuit of living your best life, whatever that looks like for you.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

My biggest challenge is reminding myself that I can’t do it all even though I want to. My body simply won’t allow me because of my disabilities.

I am at a point in my life, and in my business, that I want to focus on the aspects of my businesses that bring me joy and allow me to help people. So things like social media creation and posting, bookkeeping, and payroll, are things that I am working to build a budget for so that I can get it off my plate. One of things about being a business owner and being passionate about the thing that led me to become a business owner, is the understanding that while I want to do it all because it’s “my baby”, I can’t. And I shouldn’t. It’s a disservice to my clients and customers that are looking to me to build them a kick ass barrier free website. I need the time and energy to focus and harness my “genius zone”. And that means building a team of people I trust.

I want to do it all. But I can’t. So I’m building a team that can help me do just that. My team is helping me remember that I CAN do it all with their help and that they “have my 6”.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All images are taken by Shawna N.M. Barnes.

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