Talking Vision is Vision Australia Radio’s flagship program, discussing the latest news and issues from a blindness and low vision perspective.
On the program this week Sam is excited to be joined by blind chef, entrepreneur and Blind Australian of the Year award winner Craig Shanahan, the founder of Blind Chef Café in Penrith.
Craig joins the show to have a chat about being the star of Cooking up a Storm, the second of three books in the Big Visions series, a children’s book series which tells the stories of notable figures in Australia’s blind and low vision community.
Craig has shown that living with blindness or low vision doesn’t have to be a barrier to career or personal success, but along the way he faced his fair share of challenges in finding acceptance in his chosen field.
“I did struggle to get a job because with only one eye they would class me as unsafe in the kitchen, but then after I got an apprenticeship at an Italian place things opened up, and everything was OK once I got that opportunity to prove I could do it,” Craig said.
Along with Vision Australia, Craig hopes that Cooking up a Storm can help challenge those perceptions, and serve as motivation and encouragement for children and young people who are blind or have low vision and their families.
“I think the biggest thing that I’m proud to be involved with is for people like myself to inspire and show that you can chase your dream and achieve it, as long as there’s nothing to hold them back. To have my story in the book is really amazing and I’m honoured to be a part of it,” he said.
Get your copy of Cooking up a Storm from the Vision Store.
Listen to the full interview on Omny or in the player below:
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