About

Monica J. Foster is Chief Motivational Officer (CMO) of BUTTERFLYWHEEL® Motivation Advocacy and Consulting (www.butterflywheel.com). As a certified life and career coach for individuals and families impacted by disability and other life challenges, peer mentor, disabilities advocate, accessibility and inclusion consultant, writer and motivational speaker, she has dedicated her life to doing what others said she couldn’t. Known as The Life Beyond Limits® Coach, Speaker, Trainer, Consultant & Writer, she uses her life stories of strength, courage and triumph to educate, entertain and encourage others to face their life’s various obstacles with success squarely in mind. She shares a signature activity "The Eye CAN," with groups to help them construct their own personal motivational tool.

Monica avidly works with other people with disabilities, as well as other people who feel paralyzed by their lives’ circumstances, in an effort to help them maximize their possibilities, strengthen self-esteem, achieve greater independence, acquire sharper decision-making skills and seek deeper intimate relationships. This North Carolina native was born with spina bifida and is the daughter of a disabled Coast Guard veteran and retired public school educator respectively, and has used a wheelchair for mobility her entire life.

Then, in January 2010, she made the hard decision to become an amputee after a life-threatening infection endangered her left leg and possibly her life. Regardless of her physical challenges, Monica has enjoyed a career as a journalist, worked in nonprofit disability civil rights and writes for several local and national publications on disability life-enhancing topics. She has wheeled on Capitol Hill and spoken to various policymaking entities concerning accessibility, fair treatment and inclusion of people with disabilities. A highly sought after motivational speaker and lecturer, she travels the country educating others on multiple advocacy issues and encouraging everyone to live what she calls “a life beyond limits”.

Monica and her loving husband, Bryan – who is a stroke survivor himself, returned to her childhood home in the summer of 2010 to become first-time, accessible homeowners where she spends her days helping others accept what is, in order to discover what can be. She enjoys reading, painting, journaling, meeting new people, going to the movies and is also busy chasing her rambunctious cat, Annabelle, around the house.

Monica is also Disabilities Editor for the Disabilities Network at BellaOnline™ (www.bellaonline.com/site/disabilities) providing weekly articles on cross-disability topics that emphasize, engage, educate and empower a fuller life with any disability. She has been published in Disabled Dealer Magazine’s West Coast edition (www.disableddealermagazine.com) and Parenting Special Needs Magazine
(www.parentingspecialneeds.org) as well.