Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Jamie MoCrazy of MoCrazy Strong Is Helping To Change Our World

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Be your own personal best. I was raised with that quote. At one point in my life my own personal best was landing the first double backflip in competition; at another point in my life my own personal best was swallowing water (took me three weeks to swallow water after my feeding tube was taken out!) To do your own personal best is to accomplish what is the best for you on that day with regards to all the different factors in life. If you accomplish your own personal best every day you will climb the best mountains with the most glorious views.

As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jamie MoCrazy.

In 2015, Jamie experienced a horrific crash at the world tour finals that resulted in her going into a coma, sustaining a traumatic brain injury (tbi) and becoming paralyzed. In an instant, Jamie went from being one of the world’s best slopestyle skiers to relearning basic gross motor skills like walking upstairs and riding a bike.

Despite the monumental challenges, Jamie’s family made the decision to use their education and belief to not let the results of this traumatic accident keep her down and Jamie progressed farther than any medical diagnosis said was possible. Today, Mocrazy Strong Inc raises awareness for tbi as well as educates on recovery. Jamie develops keynotes that teach others how to climb alternative peaks after set back and believe in that 1% chance.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

In April of 2015 I was heading up from Park City, UT to the ski World Tour Finals in Whistler, Canada with my little sister Jeanee. We were both so excited for Jeanee to be competing in her first ski World Tour Finals! On the Slopestyle competition day I ended the first run in fourth place. As a competitive girl I knew by upgrading my off-axis backflip to an off-axis double backflip I could get on that podium! Two years prior I had become the first woman in the world to land a double flip at X-Games! However, on my second run I crashed and whiplashed my head onto the snow. I received a 3rd degree diffuse axonal injury with shear hemorrhages in my midbrain- the cerebral peduncles. 2 spots of bleeding in the midbrain and 6 in the cerebral context. Jeanee heard the ski patrol radio crackle to life saying “we need all hands on deck and a helicopter on standby.” She skied down to me and saw me spewing blood, convulsing, and my eyes were rolled back in my head. My Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) was so critical my first responders wrote my fatality report as I was airlifted to the hospital.

There was a ton of education and mindset/belief that played vital roles in my recovery. Not only did I live, but a platform to change TBI protocol, understanding, and awareness was created. I was surrounded by some of the most hard working, groundbreaking and intelligent people during my recovery and feel blessed to be able to share what we learned through my lived experience that mirrors what has been scientifically proven with a greater grasp on neuroplasticity to change millions of lives.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?

An interesting story that happened at the beginning of MoCrazy Strong was when I met a snowboarder named Kody Williams at Vancouver General Hospital. It was two years after my brain injury and I was going back to give a few speeches in Vancouver. Kody’s mom had already emailed me sharing how she would pray to my picture and only sit at the tables I was on the placemat. Hearing from Kody’s mom, Jocelyn, about how my recovery story being shared around the hospital motivated her on the daily to believe her son could recover brought me to tears, the thought still brings me to tears as I’m writing this. That experience solidified the gift I had to share. After meeting Kody in the hospital, a year later I brought him to Park City to film my chapter of the documentary Helmets Are Cool put out by High Fives Foundation. Kody was not wearing a helmet at the time of his crash, and during his recovery he started Dome Peace Headwear. A company that normalizes the use of helmets in action sports. I have stayed close to Kody and Jocelyn and they are both coming to my wedding in Whistler May 28th 2022!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was younger I used to be very forgetful and a bit scatterbrained. My mom actually had this deal going on with the other kids: that if they found my ski boots or gloves, they would make money for returning it. However, when I started MoCrazy Strong I learned how to put reminders on my phone and update calendar invites. This helped me stay organized and structured.

Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?

MoCrazy Strong is sharing my recovery to save the lives of survivors, and equally important to educate and guide family caregivers. The CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control estimates that 5.3 million U.S. citizens (2 percent of the population) are living with disability as a result of a traumatic brain injury. MoCrazy Strong knows there are steps we can take to lower that number. That number doesn’t include the family caregivers whose lives are also changed.

Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?

I gave the story about Kody above because his mom and he were affected by our cause and they helped us equally. We run into so many stories about survivors or family caregivers who need guidance and help. We are gifted with the opportunity to help frequently. We would like to structure all the contacts we are receiving and create a family caregiver virtual program that all TBI family caregivers can join from around the world. The latest pair of a TBI survivor and family caregiver we are working with is a girl I ski coach whose skull was shattered during a fall at a competition. This is very personal and we are glad to be able to share our knowledge.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

  1. Politicians can recognize the impact and immediate deficits of TBI as a medical condition and change employment regulations.
  2. Politicians can address insurance mandates concerning TBI
  3. At a company, the management needs create more flexible scheduling for TBI survivors so they can enter the workforce and deliver their skills while still struggling with TBI deficits like chronic fatigue

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

Leadership involves finding the people, who like a puzzle, all have different skill sets that fit together. I know that everyone I work with has amazing strengths and my role is to communicate and link everyone together so instead of scattered puzzle pieces we work together and create a masterpiece. Think about how small each snowflake is, yet what they can accomplish if they will work together! Leadership is helping those snowflakes stick together to form the best powder day!

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Don’t give away trust and depend on others too fast
  2. There are many behind the scenes steps needed to create the brand that will allow you to accomplish what you want
  3. You don’t see visible results until after a very long time!
  4. Not everyone you try and work with with understand the core mission of the business
  5. It’s OK to end working partnerships

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I think the movement that would bring about the most change is for my lived experience story linked to my education on modes of neuroplasticity to be shared with as many trauma centers, companies and society at large to vastly change the mindset regarding TBI recovery. The science behind TBI recovery has vastly changed in the last decade, and it’s hard for some doctors and therapists to understand the change until they hear from a lived experience that proves new science regarding TBI is true.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Be your own personal best. I was raised with that quote. At one point in my life my own personal best was landing the first double backflip in competition; at another point in my life my own personal best was swallowing water (took me three weeks to swallow water after my feeding tube was taken out!) To do your own personal best is to accomplish what is the best for you on that day with regards to all the different factors in life. If you accomplish your own personal best every day you will climb the best mountains with the most glorious views.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. The work he has done on neuroscience is phenomenal. I would love to talk with him and discuss what he thinks are the best modes of naturopathic and technological medicine to be used in Traumatic Brain Injury recovery.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

@jamiemocrazy on Instagram

MoCrazy Strong on Facebook

Jamie MoCrazy on LinkedIn

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!


Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Jamie MoCrazy of MoCrazy Strong Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.