130: Actor & MS Advocate Damian Washington

Uninvisible Pod with Lauren Freedman

Damian Washington is an actor who’s done 30+ commercials for brands like Fruit of the Loom, Realtor.com, and the NFL. Originally hailing from NYC, he attended the prestigious LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts (Fame, anyone?!). A few years ago, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS)…and soon discovered that developing an MS community is the best way to share his light with the world. Damian’s weekly YouTube channel has several thousand engaged subscribers; he sits on Genentech's Patient Advisory Board and the MS Focus Patient Advisory Group; and he makes content for MS Views & News. He’s also been featured by the National MS Society and Shift.MS. Damian was the winner of the WEGO Health Award for Best in Show: YouTube in 2020. Some say they find the silver lining in the dark MS cloud, but Damian says he’s turning poop into flowers…and that the engaged community that's developed out of his shares is one of the best things to come from this horrible disease.

Tune in as Damian shares:

• that his wife was the first to note a dip in his energy — which led to his MS diagnosis, about three months later
• why his diagnosis was both a validation and a relief
• why he’s open to multiple approaches to his health
• why meditation has been a useful tool for him — and how he learned to meditate with a friend when he first moved to LA
• how his identity forces him to navigate prejudice, and potentially triggering situations
• how sharing his MS journey launched his YouTube channel into visibility
• his lessons for others living through similar experiences

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