365 – Isaac Jean-Paul of Los Angeles, CA A Father & Author Who Is A Legally Blind U.S. Paralympic Medalist

Transcript:

Tom Couch: Special thanks to Horizon Therapeutics for sponsoring the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Working tirelessly to research, develop and bring forward medicines for people living with rare and rheumatic diseases. Discover more about Horizon Therapeutics mission at horizontherapeutics.com.

Isaac Jean-Paul: I never grew up having an example of someone with a visual impairment doing extraordinary things. I mean, the only person I had was Stevie Wonder and I can’t sing nor can I play any type of instrument. So the only thing I can identify with him is that he’s black and blind. I am a living proof that you can have a disability and do whatever you want to do. Play sports, write a book, paint, draw, make music. Anything in this world, it’s for the taking. And you just gotta find what really speaks to your heart and just live through your spirit, you know?

David Hirsch: That’s our guest this week, Isaac Jean-Paul, a US Paralympic track and field star who just happens to be legally blind. Isaac’s an engaging fellow and we’ll hear his thoughts on success and life on this week’s Special Father’s Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Now say hello to the founder of the Special Fathers Network and host of the Dad to Dad Podcast, David Hirsch.

David Hirsch: Hi, I’m David Hirsch, host of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Two short messages. First, I’d like to invite you to attend the 6th Annual SFN Dads Virtual Conference taking place via Zoom on Saturday, May 10th at 8am Central Time. We have a great roster of speakers and there will be plenty of time for breakouts to meet like-minded dads who are committed to their children and self-improvement. Secondly, the Special Fathers Network Mastermind Group Experience is the most comprehensive program the 21st Century Dads foundation offers. Dads raising children with special needs, meet virtually on a weekly basis and form meaningful relationships while sharing weekly wins, discussing books and sharing heartfelt challenges. One of the highlights of the year is attending an in-person weekend retreat scheduled this year from September 5th to the 7th. As you think about the year ahead, I invite you to join one of the existing or soon to be formed SFN Mastermind Groups and join a group of like-minded dads to become the best version of yourself. It might just transform your life like it’s done for so many others. For more information please go to the Show Notes or Simply go to 21stCenturydads.Org.

Tom Couch: Now let’s listen to this entertaining conversation between Isaac Jean-Paul and David Hirsch.

David Hirsch: I’m thrilled to be talking today of Isaac Jean-Paul of Los Angeles who’s a 31 year old Paralympic champion who’s also the father of a typical three year old daughter. Isaac, thank you for taking the time to do a podcast interview for the Special Fathers Network.

Isaac Jean-Paul: It is my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me on your platform, Dave. This means a lot.

David Hirsch: You and Myra Harris are the proud parents of 3 year old daughter Shylah. Let’s start with some background. Where did you grow up? Tell me something about your family.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yeah, so my story starts from Evanston, Illinois where I’m originally from. A little further background on my story is that I’m visually impaired. I’ve been visually impaired since the age of two. At the age of two I was diagnosed with juvenile retinoschisis which left me with 20% of my vision. But you know, that didn’t stop me from chasing my dreams and achieving my goals. From there being a, kid in Evanston, me and my family moved up to Gurnee, Illinois where I spent majority of my teenage years. I’m the youngest of six. My father had four other children outside of my mom before he met my mom and marrying my mom. So I spent majority of my time with my full sister Ashley, who is four years older than me. My other siblings are much older than me. My dad is actually turning 70 this year and he’s currently in Illinois with my mother. They’re still married, been married for like 40 years and they’re still rocking. They’re holding on, you know.

David Hirsch: Yeah, I love it. Thanks for sharing. So if I can paraphrase, your dad was married previously, he had four children and he and your mom have two children. You have an older sister, Ashley and then you’re the baby.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yes, sir.

David Hirsch: And out of curiosity, what does your dad do or what did he do, for a living?

Isaac Jean-Paul: So my dad, he did a lot of jobs. My dad is an immigrant from Haiti. he moved to the States at the age of 13 if I’m correct, with little English, if not any English. And he moved out here by himself trying to make a living. so my dad, he did a lot of jobs. Honest man, hard working man,

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Isaac Jean-Paul: built his own family here, coming from Haiti. From my conception of him, when I was a kid, he used to be a security guard at the local high school. He also drove taxis for a long, period m of time. And currently he is a chauffeur driver for one of my uncle’s, chauffeur businesses out in Evanston. But majority of his time is spent doing Lyft.

David Hirsch: Okay, well, what I heard you say Is that, your. Your dad started from nothing, right? Coming in as a teenager to the United States, maybe with some language, but very little language. And he had to do what he needed to do, right, to, establish himself. It sounds like he has a great work ethic. He’s very family oriented, and, you know, he is a man of commitment. You mentioned that, he and your mom are still married after 40 years, right? That’s. That’s not a small undertaking.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yes.

David Hirsch: I love it. So when you think about your dad, I’m wondering, were there any important takeaways beyond what we’ve already discussed, lessons, learned that your dad has, sort of shared with you, that maybe you’ve tried to incorporate into being a dad yourself?

Isaac Jean-Paul: Oh, man. My dad is forever teaching or lecturing, I would say even at this age of 31, he’s always reminded me of my safety, largely because of my visual impairment. I never realized how scary it is for a parent to have a child that has a disability, Right. I never understood it until I was having a child, and I could only imagine how my parents felt when they discovered that I had this visual impairment. Now, God bless, my daughter has no disability, but who is to say that she won’t acquire a disability later on in life, right? And trying to navigate around that. So the worrisome from my father at first was, like, irritating because I’m like, dad, I’m okay. I could do all these things. He quite didn’t understand my disability, and largely because he probably never been around someone with a disability. I mean, he comes from Haiti, and disability probably was never taught in his country. It’s never taught here. It’s barely taught in the States. So you can only imagine his background and knowledge of someone with a disability. So I was his first person that he probably encountered with a disability, and I happened to be his son. And, you know, you’re a father. You know how delicate it is to have a son or have a daughter. I mean, you can still be rough around the edges with your son, but at the same time, it’s just like you want to protect him as much as possible. So my dad has always lectured me about safety and being aware and knowing when to get out of situations. And, I mean, he has lived a storied life, and our life experience oftentimes remind us of the horror of the world. So I don’t know what he seemed when he was growing up in this world to make him feel the way he felt. but I appreciate every lecture my dad has Given me because there’s a lot of kids out here that doesn’t have the opportunity to hear from their father. I do. I get to see my father almost every day when I want to at my convenience. Right. And I didn’t understand that as a kid. I just thought that my dad was always annoying and like, dad, like, be a man, like I could take a hit, you know what I’m saying? but now I understand. It took me almost 29 years to understand that when I first had my daughter. So that’s the role that my father has played in majority of my life. It’s been every sporting event that I can think of. Yeah, he’s always been around.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, I love it. you didn’t use the word present, but that’s what I heard you saying. He was present physically and wanted to be part of your life. And you’re like, you’re right. it’s unfortunate, but you know, 40, 50% of kids growing up today don’t have that type of relationship, with their dads. And you know, it becomes a little bit more important when you become a parent yourself. You realize the level of humanities to be present physically, emotionally, spiritually in your kids lives. So thanks again for sharing a big call out to your dad.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Absolutely.

David Hirsch: So I’m thinking about other father figures and I think in a prior conversation you mentioned that your grandfathers, both your mom’s dad and your dad’s dad passed away at a relatively early age, so you didn’t really have much of any interaction with them. But I’m wondering if there’s any other men that played an important role when you were a young guy or perhaps as a young adult now?

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yeah, absolutely. I have a big family. Right. My mother’s side is huge. And I’m the youngest of all the grandbabies too, of my generation. My generation. I grew up with all boys. Again, being

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Isaac Jean-Paul: the youngest, I didn’t have a long time with my older cousins, but nonetheless, they showed me the do’s and don’ts, you know what I’m saying? Whether if it’s, you know, learning by example, learning by trial and error through them, watching them. A lot of my cousins, man, they, they taught me how to be tough. Even my, my girl cousins, you know, they got some masculinity into them too. So they were also. I would factor them into what influenced me to be the man that I am. Like, you know, being the youngest, you have to, you’re literally the punching bag. You Know what I’m saying? So they taught me how to be tough. They taught me different skills, how to do certain things, such as play basketball. Sports was big in my family, so I grew up watching basketball players, you know what I’m saying? And wishing that I can dunk on my older cousin and watch it. Like, I remember this one time, my cousin Tony and my other cousin Tyrone, they’re both brothers and they were just having a dunk competition in the backyard, and they were like in their 20s, and they’re dunking on a for real 10 foot rim and they’re doing all these moves, like dunking on each other, and I’m like, man, that moment right there solidified what I wanted to be when I got older. And that was a basketball player outside of watching my mom. But I still, till this day remember that dunk competition that they were having.

David Hirsch: How old would you have been?

Isaac Jean-Paul: I was probably maybe no older than 10.

David Hirsch: So pretty small, relatively speaking. Physically. Yeah. any other individuals that have had an influential role in your life?

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yes, sir. So in college, I had a mentor. His name is Dubois McCarthy, and he by far taught me, and I still remember this phrase till today. He said, your perception is your reality, so whatever you perceive is going to be right. And he told me at this time where I was having a disagreement with one of my cohorts, I used to be the president of Black Student Union at my college. There was, I guess you would say, disagreements amongst the group, and people perceived one thing to be one thing and it wasn’t necessarily what it is. But he taught me that, you know, no matter what the reality may be, people’s perception is their reality. So you have to be the person to understand that and navigate around that, ensuring that you can articulate yourself as best as possible to get your point across so they’ll understand what your reality is. Right. Or what your perception is or your analysis of whatever is going on. He taught me how to communicate, and I find that to be very important, especially today. A constant line of communication is important in everything you do. Whether if it’s me communicating to a professor on the accommodations I need in school due to my visual impairment, or me communicating with a coach that, you know, this is what I need to be successful on the track, or me communicating with my significant other on how to parent or what type of parenting style we’re trying to implement for our daughter, he taught me that. And before that day, like, I just thought that the world was. I wouldn’t say mine, but I thought I Didn’t have to think about communicating effectively or in a constructive way. I just thought, okay, they’ll understand it if I say it like this. But there’s so many different levels of understanding and so many different ways that you have to communicate for someone to understand. so he definitely helped me out early on in my college career. Most recently, I would have to say, Tony Campbell, who is an Olympian, Olympic bronze medalist in the men’s 110 hurdles for the 88 or 84 games. Please, coach, if you watching this, please don’t hurt me. I know you told me over a thousand times which Olympics you participated in and won your medal. You know, this old mind of mine kind of gets foggy thoughts. Nonetheless, he was instrumental at a time in my life where everything was black. He taught me how to sprint. He taught me how to believe in myself. He instilled a newfound confidence in me, that I needed at the time of us working together. And I can’t thank him enough because, like, he. I would say, saved my life in a lot of ways. Yeah. Tony Campbell, he. He taught me to think about it this way. It’s. Life is like this big forest, right? And once you step out of that forest and you just look at it,

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Isaac Jean-Paul: you’ll see all the trees, all the bushes, Everything that’s in this forest, you’ll be able to see once you step out of it. And, once he gave me that perspective, I was literally taking myself out of a lot of situations. Meaning that you can’t take things personal. You have to eliminate your ego, your pride. You have to eliminate yourself from a situation to see the full picture. He used to always say, you don’t know that you’re standing next to an elephant until you step back and you look at it. You know what I’m saying? Because it’s so big. That’s how big the picture is. You stand close to an elephant, you probably only looking at the leg, you don’t see the full beauty of it all. He taught me that. And, I’m gonna give you another quote that he used to say while we would train. He said, the making of a champion isn’t made after one rep. It’s made after every rep of every day, every week, every month, every year. It’s a continuation of work and piling that work to get a final product. And when he taught me that, when he told me that, it made everything make sense. Nothing is built overnight. Nothing is given to you. Well, some. Some people are lucky, you know, I’m saying. So people are lucky, they’ll get it overnight and, you know, whatever. But things that last aren’t built overnight. And at the time of meeting him, I used to be so impatient. You know, I’m saying I used to want it to come like that. And now in this present moment, as we’re speaking, I realize that there’s timing in everything. And learning, patience and understanding is very important. There’s a bigger picture. Don’t get stuck on a little small piece of that picture. Think of the bigger picture and where you’re going to be at long term instead of short term.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Great pearls of wisdom. Thank you for sharing. I think of, guys like McCarthy and Campbell as being the angels in our lives. Right. Sometimes you realize it at the time, sometimes you don’t realize it until years later. Right? With the influential role that they played in your life. And it’s pretty obvious just from the kudos that you’ve given that, they played a very influential role in your life. My recollection was that, you went to Harper College, got an associate’s degree, and then you went to Lewis University. And I’m wondering, where did things take you from there?

Isaac Jean-Paul: So out of high school, my grades weren’t good enough to go into a university, thus me leading to go to Harper College, where I went there for two years, graduated with my associates, and then, I was able to transfer, getting a track scholarship at Lewis University. So shout out to my Hawks, shout out to my flyers. Gotta represent every day, you know what I’m saying? Because if it wasn’t for those two places, again, I don’t know where I’d be. Those two places gave me an opportunity to really go for it, you know I’m saying, and accomplish my goals. And within those two schools, I met incredible people that helped shape me as a person. So big shout out to that from Lewis University. After, you know, finishing with my bachelor’s degree, I ended up go moving to Rhode Island. Crazy, right? I never thought in my wildest dreams I’ll be living in Rhode island of all places. Had no clue what was in Rhode Island. I just thought it was a whole bunch of white people. I’ll, be honest. I’ll be honest. And I was just like, how the hell am I going to do this? You know what I’m saying? And little did I know, Rhode island is a very diverse state for how small it is. It’s very diverse and it’s beautiful out there, even in the wintertime. I love Rhode island, but what brought me to Rhode Island Was that I got an opportunity to work at a alternative school for court adjudicated youths named Ocean Tides. Ocean Tides is a school, founded by the Christian Brothers, if you’re familiar with them. They’re like a Catholic organization that helps serve various communities. While I was there, I was a mentor, counselor, teacher, recreational coordinator for all the kids that was housed there and that was also going to school there. It was all boys school and it was a transformative experience. If you’re familiar with the show A Different World, I don’t know if you’re familiar. Are you familiar with that show, Dave?

David Hirsch: Nope.

Isaac Jean-Paul: So A Different World is a show that came out in the late 80s and it highlighted black youth in college at an HBCU school named Hillman College. It’s a fictitious school. It was written by and created

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Isaac Jean-Paul: by Bill Cosby. It was like a spin off of the Cosby Show. And there’s a character that I resonate with the most named Dwayne Wayne. Dwayne Wayne was like the nerdy but slightly cool guy, in the show, but he was all about his community and uplifting the youth. And he knew the importance of education. I don’t like what’s going on in the real world. And the only way we can deal with that is by what we do in this classroom. My father drives a bus in Brooklyn. Not because he isn’t intelligent, because he didn’t have an opportunity to go to college. But you all do. You all do. But regardless of your degree, I am telling you, they will think you know less than you do because you’re black. It’s not enough for you to be equal. You have to be better. We have to be better. And it’s my job to see that you and we are. And I was always a fan of Dwayne Wayne. Dwayne Wayne was like who I wanted to be. In fact, you know, when I had a high top fade and I had my glasses, my flip up glasses, people thought I was Dwayne Wayne. It was just like, this is who I really like. I admire men who want to change their community for the better. You know what I’m saying? That understands the importance of community and the richness within our community. And teaching, the, the youth about that richness is important. And I tried to bring that to Ocean Ties. The demographic of boys that I was working with were boys of color. And there was a few white boys in the, at the school. I’m just being, I don’t know what way, but I got along and all the Kids could identify with me maybe because I was close in age. I mean, when I was working there, I was like 23, 24, maybe even 25. But it was a great experience because I got to be my childhood hero for those kids that was at that school. And we did a lot of things. There would be kids even wanting to come train with me out on the track, you know what I’m saying? I was. That’s how much they believed in me. I have this one video, it was me and this young boy. His name is, Zach. He’s a grown man now. but we’re like, I’m recording. He has his arm around me. And at the time, the Olympics didn’t come around just yet. So I’m preparing to go to the Olympics in 2020. But I was working there at like 2017, 2016, 2017. And he was just saying, yeah, this is my boy Ijp. He bout to make it to the Olympics. And he’s hitting my chest as hard as he can. And we sharing this moment of just genuine laughter. And I’m looking at, I’m like, damn, dude, you heard me hitting me that hard in my chest, man. but it was, it was such a great experience. I still stay in touch with some of those kids, some of the men, because they’re men now. Oh, man, it’s crazy to say men, because I, I remember these kids when they like 14, 15, and now they’re in their 20s, like doing all types of stuff on Instagram, and I’m just like, oh, my God, this is crazy. But, yeah, I still stay in touch with some of them till this day.

David Hirsch: Yeah, I love it. What you’re describing to me, them looking up to you is like you were looking up to Tony and Tyrone.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yes, sir.

David Hirsch: So, you know, it’s like a pay it forward type of experience. So from Rhode island, where did you go?

Isaac Jean-Paul: So from Rhode Island, I ended up getting the opportunity. Now, up until this point, I knew nothing about the Paralympics until one day I was at a track meet and this girl told me about the Paralympics. And in fact, I had told her that, hey, you know, I think it’d be cool if, you know, sponsors would market a person that was legally blind that was high jumping. And then that’s when the Paralympic thing came into play. Right? When I said that to this girl, she was like, you should think about doing a Paralympics. I was like, Paralympics, but I can jump with the Olympians. And then she told me to look up this guy. His name is Roderick Townsend. So shout out to Roderick, because if it wasn’t for what he was doing in the Paralympics, I probably wouldn’t be a Paralympian right now. I was immediately inspired by what he was able to accomplish. He was like at the time, coming off in a Paralympic win for the high jump and long jump at the 2016 Paralympic Games. He’s an arm, disability. His classification is T47 for ARM functionality category. He had brachial plexus syndrome when he was born. He is one of the best high jumpers you’ll probably ever watch. He is a three time gold medalist in the high jump for the Paralympic Games, A legend in his own right. But when I saw him, I was like, I want to compete against him. I want to be just like him. I want to be better than him. And that led me into wanting to

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Isaac Jean-Paul: get involved with the Paralympics. From there, I went to a track meet called Desert Challenge out in Arizona. And it was at Arizona State University. That was my first ever Paralympic track meet that I’ve ever been in. So my mind was blown. I saw some people with no arms, no legs, and they were all doing they thing I’m talking about running, jumping, flying, you know, doing everything under the sun, throwing buildings. These people were incredible. And I immediately said, I gotta be a part of this movement because I’m literally watching superheroes right in front of me. God dang it, I’m, one of them. So from there I excelled at that track meet. And maybe a month later, while I was in Rhode Island, I get an email with an invitation for me to come train at the Chula Vista Elite Training center in Chula Vista, California. And I was like, this is a dream come true because ever since I was a little kid, I always had dreams of moving to California. And I had no clue of how I was going to get there. I just was like, palm trees and beautiful women. I’m there, I’m there, you know what I’m saying? And so, God made it happen. He made a way for me. And that started my paralympic journey in 2017.

David Hirsch: So that’s what brought you out to San Diego. And where has your experience taken you since then, man?

Isaac Jean-Paul: So my experience, my first experience being a Paralympic, was a culture shock, right? My entire life I, competed against able bodied athletes and I was always on the top end of the better side of the athletes, right? If not the best athlete at the schools that I was at, at every sport that I played, in fact, I used sports to kind of run away from my disability In a lot of ways, because that was the only place where my disability, shockingly enough, didn’t matter, right? People didn’t see it, people didn’t notice it. I was able to just shine like everyone else. But when it came to school, it was much different. It was hard for me to learn because I had all these assisted tools that was distracting for a lot of other students. So therefore, a lot of people wanted to use my tools. They wanted to use, do all these things with my magnifying glass, CCTVs, my enlarged textbooks. And I just did not like that attention because I wanted to be like everyone else. So I gravitated towards sports. Now, once I joined the Paralympics, I’m no longer this best athlete or the greatest athlete in the room. I’m, the disabled athlete, the Paralympian that can only do Paralympic stuff, whatever the hell that means. I knew that I was no longer competing on the track. I was competing to, you know, say that I’m just like everyone else. From the very start, I was receiving comments about my vision, how I was too blind to see the long jump board. So stop looking at it, or you’re too blind. Why are you watching tv? You’re blind anyways, or you’re blind. You don’t have anything to say about basketball because you can’t see the game. Although these may have been playful jokes, I didn’t see it to be playful because this is something that I have to live with. Like I said, early on, I used sports to run away from my disability. Now it’s right in the same car as me and I have to ride with it everywhere I go now. I learned rather quickly that God was putting me through something that I had to go through. God was facing me with a challenge that I spent majority of my life avoiding. I faced that challenge head on. And I started to stand up for myself. And in turn standing up for myself, I was also standing up for every person that would come to that training center with a disability saying, hey, you know, they’re not making comments about any other marginalized groups, so they shouldn’t make comments about us because they don’t know the lies we live and how different difficult it is. The psyche, right? The psyche is freaking crazy, you know what I’m saying? So whatever your mind consumes, like I said, your perception is what your reality, right? So with that being said, I had to learn how to stand up for myself and others. I had to learn how to accept my disability because I wasn’t accepting of it. And then I had to understand it, understand how it works, understand how to explain your visual impairment so other people can understand it. You can’t run away from this anymore. It’s time to embrace it, you know? And, long

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Isaac Jean-Paul: story short, although those things were going on, I wouldn’t take it back for the world because I had to go through it to be the person that you see m here today, talking to today. And, that’s when Tony Campbell came in and he redefined my confidence. He rebuilt my confidence by teaching me how to sprint and simply not saying that, oh, since you’re blind, you can’t accomplish these things. You know what I’m saying? So, that was my early on experience training at the training center.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing. It sound like you went from not being in denial about your disability, but having a different relationship with it, right?

Isaac Jean-Paul: Absolutely.

David Hirsch: You know, excelling on the track and then sort of like not being as comfortable in the classroom or in the other aspects of your life to embracing your disability for what it is. And then, you know, once you’ve done that right, you’re just one person. You’re not living two lives. And that’s what I sort of heard you say. There was your track life and your non track life. Right. And, you are more comfortable in your track life. and now you’re just comfortable overall. You’ve gone through this transformation.

Tom Couch: We’ll be back with more of the conversation on the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast in just a few moments. But first, this quick message. Please help 21st Century Dads gather research on families raising children with special needs by having them complete the Special Fathers Network Early Intervention Parents survey. A link to the survey can be found in the show notes. As a token of our appreciation, each person, mom or dad, who completes the survey will receive a great dad coin. Thank you. Now back to the conversation.

David Hirsch: That was early on in your, training, right, that you were talking about, training in 2017. And a lot of years have passed since then. So where has your Paralympic career taken you?

Isaac Jean-Paul: Oh, man, it, it, it’s taken me to the moon and beyond, to be honest. So it has taken me to win a world record, world champion in a high jump in 2017. I have to count how many world medals I have. I think I have four world medals and two Paralympic medals. my four world medals consist of two golds, a, bronze and a silver. And my two Paralympic medals is bronze in 2020 and silver in 2024. Now, I like to say this right, there’s no doubt in my mind that I could have came into the Paralympics and just won gold all over, right? I’m capable of doing that. I have no doubt in my mind I could have done that, but that wasn’t the case. I’ve had the liberty and privilege to win every single color medal. And that right there tells me and shows me growth, right? It shows that, okay, I may win bronze this one year, but I’m damn sure gonna come back and I’m gonna upgrade my metal, which I have done, and one silver, and then come back and win gold. You know what I’m saying? So, in LA28, what you think I’m gonna do? I’m gonna win gold. I bet my bottom buck on it. but with that being said, each medal that I won has its own story of what I’ve been through in that year of achieving that medal. This most recent medal has a special story because I call it the people’s medal. If it wasn’t for the people in my life this past year, I would have not been able to win that medal. I’ve been through The Wire in 2024 from almost being suspended for four years for something I have no clue of how it got into my system, to not having a coach until two months before the Paralympic trials, to not training for the long jump for practices, only having an opportunity to train for the long jump during competitions, and then come out at the Paralympic Games and not only win a medal, but hit season best in the, 100 meter, dash, taking fifth place with limited training. Mind you, I only had a coach for two months leading up, and then coming out at a world stage in front of 70,000 people, by far the biggest stadium I’ve ever competed in with that many people, and coming out with a season’s best in the 100 and then a season’s best in the long jump, man, I don’t think you can top that. In my mind, I won gold with the circumstances given, right. But nonetheless,

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Isaac Jean-Paul: that silver medal means so much to me because my support system, my current coach, Tim Bowman, out at West LA College, who is another man who influenced my life greatly. He came in at a time where nobody else would even try to come in. I was. In fact, I’m gonna tell you a cool, a funny story, but I want to give you an idea of what I’ve been through, Dave. So, boom, I actually moved out to LA. I quit my job the fall of 2023. I was working at San Diego State University adaptive sports as the head track and field coach. I was working there for four years when I was in Paris for World Championships, where I won gold in the long jump. a situation happened at the university and I just didn’t feel supported and I ended up leaving. I just was like, you know, what with this next year coming up, I think I need to focus on myself and give myself the best opportunity for myself in 2024. So while I was in Paris, a man by the name of Blake Leaper invited me. He’s a, another great man, father, who has a story that may knock your socks off. But he invited me to come train with him out in la. And I said, you know what? Why not? So I packed my bags. Me, my daughter, my significant other, we moved to la. Well, from my significant other, she was already from la. Her parents live in la. So we moved back to her, her father’s home. And now I’m training in la. Now I thought this was the best thing for me, you know, I, have a new situation. I have a training team. Blake is cool, but didn’t have the best communication with the coach. For some reason, we just weren’t understanding each other. I don’t know why, I don’t know what the disconnect was, but, you know, there were certain needs not met on both sides. Thus me needing to leave. And now when I leave that training group, guess where I go? I go back to San Diego. I’m taking a train, a bus, whatever it took to go back to San Diego to the training center that I was just at training at to get coached. And Tim, Bowman, after one day of me training at the track at west la, he saw me train and he offered to help, coach me. Now, this coach, Tim Bowman, he’s well known, he’s a great man. The great thing that I love about him is that he reminds me of Tony Campbell, where it doesn’t matter about your disability. We gonna figure this out. And he loves working with the underdog. My whole life, I’ve been the underdog. I’ve been doubted. I’ve been, you know, stepped on or talked about or misconstrued or misunderstood. You know what I’m saying? And he brought me in and he’s coaching me, and we’ve been rocking ever since.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, I love that. Sorry to hear that you went through that crazy period, of time. But, you know, it sounds like if you could get the right people around you from a, training standpoint, with a long Runway like we have between now and 2028, with the LA games, that you know, the world is your oyster, right? You just have to stay healthy and injury free between now and then.

Isaac Jean-Paul: A wise man once told me when I was maybe 15, there’s no such things as problems, only situations. And we can always overcome situations. It’s all about what’s up here and how you take it on.

David Hirsch: The only thing I think you have working against you is that you’re 31. You’ll be 35 then, right? gravity is pushing down on all of us.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yes, it is. Well, you don’t see my wings behind me. They still flat. Man, I got wings.

David Hirsch: Well, I don’t know that we would have had this conversation, but you may or may not know that I’m, a two time, Iron man competitor. I’ve done, ah, a lot of running marathons. And I attempted to do a ultra marathon, which is a 100 mile run. And I tapped out after 85 miles at age, 62. So I’m still in denial about my age. And I’m hoping that you can stay in denial about your age for at least another four years.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Oh man.

David Hirsch: Don’t take no for an answer, right? Just say, hey, the most important thing is just to stay healthy and injury free. And then, you know, you don’t know if you’re going to be the, the strongest competitor or the fastest competitor on the day that you’re competing. But you know, if you put it all out there, you’ll have something to show for it.

Isaac Jean-Paul: So there you go. I like that.

David Hirsch: So, I want to talk about two other things. One, I want to talk about Angel City Sports and I’m wondering, what’s your interaction been with, that organization?

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yeah. So Angel City Sports. I got involved with angel city sports in 2018.

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Isaac Jean-Paul: My first ever Angel City sports event was at UCLA. Yeah, that’s where it was. And at first, you know, Clayton had reached out to me because the year before, the United States Paralympic Track and Field team hosted our nationals at UCLA. So he was there when he saw me jump at that national meet. From there, we just always stayed in touch. And the very next year he invited me to come jump for the kids. And I said, of course, I would love to. It was by far an experience that made me really think, because in that moment, I remember as a kid I used to look up to like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, all these great basketball players. They were heroes to me, superheroes. In fact, they had some type of power about them. And every time I would watch them. I would just inspired. And when I got done jumping at that angel city event in 2018, I became that Kobe Bryant, that Michael Jordan, that Magic Johnson. To all those kids with disabilities that was watching me, they were so excited to see me jump. They thought I was a superhero. I mean, I did have my superhero costume on. I usually compete in a tie dye crop top that says it’s in my DNA across the chest. And that just symbolizes, well, first and foremost, self expression, confidence. But it also shows kids that the greatness is in your DNA. You don’t have to go search for it. You don’t have to look for it with any outside influence. It’s in you to be who you are. And every time I jump, I wear that. It’s in my DNA, because it’s literally in my DNA to do what I’m destined to do. And I found my purpose. I found my greatness. And it. It’s all inside. But, yeah, Angel City Sports 2018. And until this day, I still work with them. they usually have a annual youth weekend that I participate in as one of the track and field coaches. In fact, I have an engagement with them, tomorrow where we’re going to the premiere of Unstoppable. Unstoppable? Never heard of that movie, But I was told that is an amazing movie. It’s about adaptive sports, and it should be good.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, I’m a big proponent of Angel City Sports, the Angel City Games. And, I’ve, participated from a distance, being from Chicago or in Chicago, and just have the utmost respect for Clayton. The work that he’s been doing, and then, following along and, seeing how Ezra’s really blossomed into an athlete himself. A Paralympic athlete.

Isaac Jean-Paul: You know, with. With that being said, you know, since you in Chicago, you might have to start Windy City Sports. You know what I’m saying? Let’s get it started.

David Hirsch: Okay, well, I think I, hear you want to be involved in that, so, I think that’ll make it happen. Let’s switch gears and talk about this child’s book that you created called Mya’s Marvelous Day at the Games. When did you create that? Why did you do it? Who’s it for?

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yeah, so Mya’s Marvelous Day at the Games. I wrote that book during my temporary suspension where I thought I had nothing left but my creativity. It came from a place where I wanted to educate my daughter on inclusivity and diversity and, exposing her to a community that her father belongs to and, with the hopes of encouraging her to be her own superhero. Much like every individual with a disability that is living their lives one day at a time, the best way that they can. That’s where it came from. From that part of my life, just wanting to educate my daughter on her father and the people that he hangs around with and that he encounters every day. But also, I wanted to make something cool for kids to want to learn more about the Paralympics. I want to empower my community. You know, that’s what I’ve always been about. and I guess I owe that to Dwayne Wayne of A Different World. I’m all about just uplifting my community and making sure that the youth have a better tomorrow. I mean, I never grew up having an example of someone with a visual impairment doing extraordinary things. I mean, the only person I had was Stevie Wonder. And I can’t sing, nor can I play any type of instrument. So the only thing I can identify with him is that he’s black and blind. Other than that, I didn’t have anybody, so. And I know that there’s a whole world of kids with disabilities that are in sports that should have the opportunity to play. And, I am

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Isaac Jean-Paul: a living proof that you can have a disability and do whatever you want to do. Play sports, write a book, paint, draw, make music. Anything in this world is for the taking. And you just got to find what really speaks to your heart and just live through your spirit, you know?

David Hirsch: I love it. Well, thanks for sharing about the background on Mya’s Marvelous Day at the Games. I’m assuming that people could purchase that on Amazon if they wanted.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yes, sir. Mya’s Marvelous Day at the Games is available on Amazon, but also, I do have a few copies that I sell on my personal website. All it takes is sending an email on how many copies you would like to have, and I would not only send them to you, but I will also sell. Assign them for you.

David Hirsch: Yeah, that’s. That’s nice. Very nice gesture. So I’m thinking about advice, and I’m wondering, what advice can you share with parents, particularly parents who might find themselves with a child, maybe who might be sight impaired or with a different type of disability, for that matter.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Confidence is everything. The thing that got me through a lot of. A lot of situations was my confidence and believing in myself. And it starts with the parents, like allowing your child to explore, to experiment and have his or her own experience. That is the biggest thing. And allowing your child to learn himself or herself, you know, I’m saying through the lens that God has blessed them with and encouraging them that they can do whatever they want to do in this world, no matter what circumstance lays in front of them. They can accomplish anything. And for the parents, just like, learn, learn your child, learn. And also learn their limitations. Now, there’s nothing wrong with limitations. We all have limitations. That’s a good thing. But who says that we can’t overcome these limitations? The only way we can overcome them is by acknowledging them and knowing that they’re there and being honest with your child. But I promise you that I’m not going to allow you to face it on your own. And being a healthy support system is key to that for that. So that is the advice I would give all parents.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, pearls of wisdom. what I heard you say was confidence is everything. Make sure that you, learn your child’s limitations. Be honest with your child, and then don’t isolate yourself. Right. Make sure that you surround yourself with the right resources. Is there anything else you’d like to say before we wrap up?

Isaac Jean-Paul: Shout out to my dad. You know, I, love you, Pops. Without you, a lot of this would not be. I would not be where I am without your love, your patience and your lectures and glory to the most high. Glory to my God. because without him, I wouldn’t be here. Just want to give all the shout outs to all the fathers out there in the world that’s doing the best that they can with the circumstances that’s in front of them, trying to be the best father that they can be for their children. And, you are loved and you are very important.

David Hirsch: Yeah, very insightful, especially for a 31 year old. let’s give a special shout out to Clayton for truck as well. Founder of Angel City Sports in Los Angeles and SFN Dad to Dad Podcast episode number seven for helping connect us.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Yes, sir. Shout out to you, Clayton. Appreciate you, big dog.

David Hirsch: If somebody wants to get a copy of Mya’s Marvelous day at the games or to contact you, what’s the best way to do so?

Isaac Jean-Paul: You can contact me via, email. My email is Isaac with two A’s and two C’s. J, E, A, N, P a u l@gmail.com. again, that is IsaacCJohnPaul@Gmail.com. or you can also direct message me on Instagram. My Instagram IJP_IAMONE. That is IJP underscore. I am the number one.

David Hirsch: I’ll be sure to include that information in the show notes. It’ll make it as easy as possible for somebody to follow up. Isaac, thank you for taking the time and many insights. As a reminder, Isaac is just one of the dads. He’s part of the Special Fathers Network mentoring program for fathers raising a child with special needs. If you’d like to be a mentor father or are seeking advice from from a mentor father with a similar situation to your own, Please go to 21stcenturydads.org. Thank you for listening to the latest episode of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. I hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as I did. As you probably know, the 21st Century Dads foundation is a 501c3 not for profit organization,

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David Hirsch: which means we need your help to keep our content free. To all concern. Would you please consider making a tax deductible contribution? I I would really appreciate your support. Isaac thanks again.

Isaac Jean-Paul: Thank you. Appreciate you guys.

Tom Couch: And thank you for listening to the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. The Special Fathers Network is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Through our personalized matching process, new fathers with special needs children match up with mentor fathers in a similar situation. It’s a great way for dads to support other dads. To find out more, go to 21stCenturydads.Org.

David Hirsch: And if you’re a dad looking for help or would like to offer help, we would be honored to have you join our closed Facebook group. Please go to Facebook group facebook.com groups and search dad to dad. Lastly, we’re always looking to share interesting stories. If you’d like to share your story or know of a compelling story, please send an email to david@21stcenturydads.org.

Tom Couch: The Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast was produced by me, Tom Couch. Thanks again to Horizon Therapeutics who believe that science and compassion must work together to transform lives. That’s why they work tirelessly to research, develop and bring forward medicines for people living with rare and rheumatic diseases. Discover more about Horizon Therapeutics at horizontherapeutics.com.

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