189 Chris Whitaker, Disability Advocate and Coach: Rethinking Disability, Talent, and Potential Through Coaching

About this episode

Chris Whitaker discusses his journey and insights on disability, talent, and leadership.

Chris Whitaker has spent his life navigating systems that weren’t built with him in mind … and then choosing to change them. Born six weeks prematurely with cerebral palsy, Chris grew up learning how to operate in a world that often underestimated him. That early experience only served to sharpen his ambition. From university rowing squads to national-level sport, and later into leadership roles across the charity and disability sectors, he developed a perspective grounded in both lived experience and performance. Today, as founder of Purple Advantage, Chris works with organisations to rethink how they approach disability, employment, and inclusion. His focus is on closing the disability employment gap, unlocking overlooked talent, and helping leaders move beyond uncertainty into confident, human conversations. We explore the moments that shaped Chris’s identity, his competitive drive, and his approach to leadership … including the role his wife, a Paralympian, played in helping him fully embrace his own story. This is a perspective formed through experience, challenge, and reflection, and it invites a different way of seeing the people around us.

People in this episode

Host: Dr Gary Crotaz PhD

Guest: Chris Whitaker

Topics covered

• disability
• employment
• inclusion
• leadership
• coaching
• talent development

Keywords

• cerebral palsy
• disability employment gap
• human conversations
• overlooked talent
• competitive drive

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Purple Advantage

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