Diversity in its many shapes and sizes is a thread that has been on the Australian consciousness and media landscape all year, and rightfully so. Whilst race and gender diversity has driven the majority of the narrative both locally and overseas, it’s opened the door for all sorts of conversations around how society is being represented in the media and popular culture in Australia. The long held status quo is being questioned, and at The Experts podcast we are all for it. Diversity of opinion and robust debate is critical for the media to be able to do its job, and for change to come about in our culture.
This week on the podcast we speak to disability advocate, media diversity professional, author and model Lisa Cox. At the age of 24, as a successful executive working her dream job in advertising, Lisa suffered a brain haemorrhage. After spending three weeks in a coma, two months on life support, a dozen operations including heart surgery and the amputation of her leg, all remaining toes and nine finger tips, Lisa had to learn to how to live her life all over again. Lisa was also left with a permanent brain injury, epileptic and 25% blind. Facing what would have seemed like an insurmountable challenge to most of us, Lisa used her love for writing, media and communications into her rehabilitation and is now one of the country’s most in demand media commentators, activists and consultants for people living with disabilities.
Whilst Lisa is certainly not short on inspirational stories or energy, “inspiration porn” is not her focus. Neither is she interested in presenting another disability stereotype. A quote we discuss in the episode is “you can’t be what you can’t see”, and this applies so well to Lisa’s mission in encouraging different, more diverse representations of disability in popular culture. Lisa and Lanna discuss the Australian fashion and modelling industries and the word that still needs to be done in these spaces. Lisa’s inclusion as a consultant and speaker for the 2021 Afterpay Australian Fashion Week is a huge step in the right direction.
Whilst she’s already achieved so much, Lisa has some incredibly exciting projects on the horizon and we can’t wait to see what comes next for this superstar.

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