When Resilience Becomes Art with Lyndsay Mitcheson

What happens when life takes something from you and leaves you standing at a crossroads you never expected?

In this inspiring episode, host Dionne Malush sits down with Lyndsay Mitcheson, founder of NeoWalk, to explore resilience, reinvention, and the power of choosing confidence after loss. After losing her leg to a life-threatening MRSA infection, Lindsay refused to let adversity define her. From her own kitchen table, she designed a walking stick that was not only functional but bold, elegant, and empowering.

That single act of creativity grew into NeoWalk, a global brand now reaching people in over 28 countries and redefining what mobility aids can look and feel like. Together, Dionne and Lindsay talk candidly about identity shifts, building a business through uncertainty, and how beauty and strength are shaped by the battles we survive.

This episode is a powerful reminder that adversity doesn’t end your story. Sometimes, it’s where purpose begins.

Connect with Lyndsay here:

Website: https://neo-walk.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndsay-mitcheson-a146b97a/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neowalksticks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neowalk.neowalk/

Chapters

• 0:00 A Life Upended And A Choice
• 0:23 From Necessity To First Prototype
• 3:28 Reframing After Amputation
• 7:46 From Hobby To Reinvention
• 10:26 Funding Fears And Physical Limits
• 12:04 Making Mobility Fashionable
• 15:43 Customer Stories As Fuel
• 17:49 What Sets NeoWalk Apart
• 20:38 Naming The Brand And Practical Guidance
• 22:22 Realistic Goals And Small Steps
• 24:07 Redefining Beauty And Strength

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:12

What do you do when life takes something from you that you never imagined living without? Do you give in or do you create something that changes not only your life but thousands of others around the world? My guest today, Lindsay Mitchison, knows that Crossroads personally, after losing her leg to immersive infection, she didn't let adversity define her. Instead, from her own kitchen table, she designed something that she herself longed for: a walking stick that wasn't just functional, but elegant, bold, and empowering. That spark became Neowalk, a global brand now shipping all over the world in 28 countries, celebrated with awards and even seen on red carpets. Lindsay's mission is simple but powerful to help people living with disabilities rediscover confidence and pride in the tools they use every single day. So, Lindsay, I always like to start with this one question. What is the one thing you want people to know about you that's not in your bio?

SPEAKER_01: 1:10

Ooh, that isn't in my bio. Before I lost my leg to the MRSA infection, I was a regular stay-at-home mom and I was training to be a hairdresser. So I had other plans, but then life had other plans for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:25

Wow. What a big difference, right? Like, yeah. So were you planning on owning your own salon or were you Probably Yeah, I probably would have wanted to do that.

SPEAKER_01: 1:35

But if I, I mean, if if the old Lindsay could have seen what was in store for the new Lindsay, I mean, she would not have believed it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:45

That's really cool. So, what inspired you to turn such a deeply personal challenge into a creative business venture?

SPEAKER_01: 1:52

Necessity. Necessity is the mother of all invention. And I, when I lost my leg, I was a super active prosthetic wearer, but sometimes found that I needed something to lean on to help with fatigue and and balance. And I was looking for a walking stick, but I couldn't see anything that even remotely looked like it belonged with me. That they were all really just ugly and so I'd I thought I can do better than this and I can I can make my own, which I I designed my own out of one-inch acrylic, which I sourced the internet. And uh yeah, I made my first walk-in stick in my kitchen, heated it in my kitchen oven, then molded it around a wine bottle. That was how I made my first walk-in stick, and one thing led to another. My confidence was really rocky because I was dealing with a lot of body image issues and big, big personal changes. And but yeah, I would say my confidence hit an all-time low, really. But when I was walking around with these gorgeous walking sticks, people were noticing them and they were talking to me, and they were talking to me about the sticks, not about how I lost my leg or had I been in the army or had I done well, you know, just every question. Lots of questions. And uh yeah, and I thought, do you know, this is something that I can give to other people. And one day I had the pew light bulb kind of went off. And I thought, yeah, I can make this into a into a business, and it it I can share this this confidence that that I've found in these these walking canes.

SPEAKER_00: 3:28

So take us back to the moment. You lost your leg to MRSA, we say that in the United States. What was going through your mind and how did you begin to reframe your future? Because uh you said something about being in your lowest, right? So some people can't pick themselves back up out of that space. So can you take us back there?

SPEAKER_01: 3:47

And I get I get that, you know, I get that it's sometimes it's it's just too hard a mountain to climb. I thought it was the worst thing that could happen in the world. I thought it would be the end of my little world as I was living in it. I thought I would be, you know, severely disabled, I wouldn't be able to do things, um, I wouldn't be able to work, it was just lots of negative, there was there was nothing at the time I couldn't see anything remotely positive coming out of it. And I actually didn't, probably until after I'd recovered from the from the surgery. And you know, all I really thought about was what kind of example I was setting for my children, because I had two teenage children, like 13 and 15 at the time, and I thought, goodness, am I am I going to teach them that this is where you roll over and you just give in and you you know you don't you don't keep trying? And it I I just couldn't do that. So everything, every time I tried something new, every time I yeah, every time I told myself I could do something that I was previously being told that I couldn't do, I was I was really thinking about them and thinking about how I was setting them up to actually push themselves in in life and and not not just give in.

SPEAKER_00: 5:08

Yeah, and just not let the adversity keep you down. Yeah, completely. Because we all face it. Some way or another, for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 5:15

No matter where it, you know, it can come from a hundred different directions and it can affect you in many different ways, physically, mentally, financially, spiritually. It can affect you in so many ways, but yeah, I can guarantee it will come for you.

SPEAKER_00: 5:29

Sometimes it keeps coming and coming and coming. It's like Yeah, but like you just get knocked down and you're like, bounce back off, get back up. I mean, I I definitely feel that. And I'm going through some seasons of myself that are, you know, more difficult. And but I feel powerful in them because I know there is light inside of them. And I know that. And sometimes it takes going through some of this to realize it. And look what you're doing. Like it's incredible. So when you created that very first walking stick in your kitchen, did you have any idea that you were going to be starting a global movement?

SPEAKER_01: 6:03

No, not. No, no, no, chance. And I think it didn't actually come to that point of where I thought, oh my goodness, I could do this, probably for about four or five months after that. Because I was I was still kind of recovering. My like I said, my confidence was so low, but it was it was coming up. I could I could feel it coming up. But to get to a point where I thought I can do something I'd never done before, which is to design and make products and to run a business, my confidence really it yeah, it uh it needed to be to be really buoyant before I could do that. So yeah, it was um and it it was just a reinvention, a complete reinvention of myself, because I'd gone from, you know, like like I said, stay-at-home mom, um, hairdressing, to being really, really ill to the point where I thought I was I was gonna lose my life, to then losing a leg and everything that came along with that. I actually went through a a divorce around about the same time, you know, never rained, it paused. Yeah. But so there was this this sense of reinvention going on as well, which is absolutely invigorating, you know, when when you can feel the changes bubbling up inside you. And each each challenge does become an opportunity to learn something and to to reinvent. So I I kind of it has become a way of life since then, just accepting challenges head on and not trying to think, oh, I can skirt around this one. No, just take it head on.

SPEAKER_00: 7:43

Just have it. How long has it been since that happened? 15. 15 years, amazing. So while building your business, Neo Walk, what has been one of the biggest challenges you've had in building and how did you push through it?

SPEAKER_01: 7:56

So, business wise, felt some financial challenges, still feel them now. You know, again, that's another roller coaster that you're on with a business. You know, you go from good and you think you're never gonna hit the bad again, and then lo and behold. Um, so financially faced and facing challenges, where's the money going to come from? So I had a pot of money of my own that I invested at the very beginning to buy stocks of materials, to uh pay for a website, to all all those kinds of things. And I spent my money and I remembered clicking the button to send it something like£6,000 to buy all these rods or something, and just hovering for it, thinking, Oh God, am I doing the right thing? You know, so that felt like a real, a real challenge. Physical challenges, so I've I still feel as my condition I I have other chronic conditions going on. So as those conditions worsen, I still keep working, but the effect that the work has is a lot more painful and sort of traumatic on my body. So I keep doing that. So I still have physical challenges at every every single day. Yeah, every all all kinds of challenges. Um, like I said, you you're never really sure where they're gonna come from. When you're up, you never think you're gonna go down again.

SPEAKER_00: 9:18

Yeah, so one thing you described your sticks as elegant, stylish, even red carpet ready. Why was it important to you to bring fashion into mobility eights?

SPEAKER_01: 9:29

Because we were being ignored. So heavily ignored by designers, by the fashion industry, by the red carpet, by uh yeah, we we we were just being completely ignored as if we didn't exist, as if, as if, and this was something that I encountered. It was the attitude of what's the point? And the the point is if you used one, you'd know what the point is. Because, you know, these uh hideous, grey, ugly walking stocks do nothing for you. They don't make you look nice, they don't, you know, they click, click, click, click when you walk along. If you ever had to use one, even for rushing my Achilles, and they they don't do anything to make you feel good about yourself. Um, but I'm I love your your glasses, by the way. I I collect, I I love glasses. I usually have a pair. I feel really good in those. Why shouldn't a walking stick feel the same? It's actually helping our eyesight. It's a medical aid, if you want to argue it that way. So don't come to me and say, what's the point? The point is you enjoy them. It's like your handbag, it's like your shoes, it's like the hat you're wearing, your daughter gets married, all that stuff. So there is a point. Um, but that that that was the challenge was was overcoming the attitude of people that had had that. And then I I very much wanted to see design and function and fashion meet in the middle where where they could they could help and make a beautiful, beautiful bit of music together. And there was no reason that they couldn't apart from nobody thought, well, what's the point? So that yeah, we put that right.

SPEAKER_00: 11:14

It's funny you say that because I always say to my husband, how we get to be super rich is to take something that's there and make it better, right? And so I feel that with you, right? You took something that was ordinary and you made it extraordinary. So, you know, that's super cool. And I I talk about things even like a thermostat where you're heating thermostat, how years ago they would just be clunky looking ugly boxes. Now they're all modern and cool. But hey, the person that made the new one didn't invent the thermostat, he just invent the better one, right? So yeah, I love that. I all have all these ideas all the time. I always think, yeah, I know I have that million-dollar idea in my brain. I just gotta figure out which one it is. You might, you might well have it.

SPEAKER_01: 11:57

You do you write them down? Do you write your ideas down?

SPEAKER_00: 12:00

I might I kind of do it. I create, I'm a creator, so I own a real estate brokerage here in in Pittsburgh, but I also am a professional graphic designer, so I always create all kinds of cool things. So I have them on my computer, and I always say if I die with them in my computer, it's gonna be a damn shame. But hopefully someday one of them will get out there and I'll I'll make all my dreams come true. So I love that you're doing that. It's it's just super awesome. So, how do you how do your customers' stories fuel you on days when running a business feels heavy, as we all know?

SPEAKER_01: 12:32

So the stories, the ones that keep me going and that will get me up tomorrow, the people where the lady received her walking stick and she hadn't left the house for three years because she'd felt so ashamed. Yeah. But she'd gone out with one of our walking sticks and people had spoken to her, and she couldn't believe it that someone that actually, a stranger, had come up and spoken to her and said, I like your walking stick. And it's just as simple as that. That changed that lady's narrative around completely. You know, we have we we support some children who end up going away to to college, and that the independence that they have with their walking sticks and knowing that we'll keep supporting them, that helps them have the confidence to go. It's just the the gentleman at night who's going out to take his dog out for a walk, and he knows that he can do that because he's he's got he's stable, he's got his light-up walking stick, and people can see him. Um, so he doesn't feel as vulnerable. Because there's a big vulnerability to going out with a mobility aid. So we there's so many things that just push me through when you have days that people can be toxic, people can can make running a business really difficult. So those are the moments, those are the things that I hang on to that will get me up tomorrow and make me do it all again.

SPEAKER_00: 13:56

You're right, because there are a lot of really tough days in business and everything looks good. Like social media always made everything look amazing and it looks good, but the other side of it, it's difficult. And and real estate is a difficult industry to be in. It's an industry where you don't get paid until the end. And if if it doesn't sell, you get nothing. And but then when you do get something, it's it's nice, right? So you know, people are like real estate doesn't make too much, but they don't realize that 10 different people that you showed houses to or put a listing on the market it didn't sell and you spent your own money to market it. So there's a lot of roller coaster ride. That's what it seems to be. Is I always say that as an entrepreneur, it's just always up and down. And a lot of risk. Oh, yeah, a lot of risk. And you know, what you're doing is is amazing. And I know that you've reached over 28 countries and you've earned really cool national awards. So, what do you think sets your brand apart from others in the space?

SPEAKER_01: 14:50

The heritage that we have, because we've been going for for so long, we've been working for 13 years now. It's the material that the walking sticks are made out of, because a lot of walking sticks are made of metal, they're made of wood, and very, very, very little acrylic is used in walking stick manufacture, which is a shame because it's a beautiful, a beautiful material that is it can be made very pretty, it can be made very bright, it can be made, you know, invisible, it can be made, made clear almost, um, which is what I wanted at the time when I made my first walking stick. I wanted to be invisible, so I wanted an invisible walking stick, which is why I know that's that's that's where I was up here, you know. I just didn't want anyone to to sort of look at me or see me. But yeah, and I'd I th I think because we're British, we're handmade. All all the products are still handmade in a workshop that I have at the back of my my home. We don't import things from China, we don't import ready-made things. Everything's handmade by started with me, but they've been passed down maybe two or three people, and you know, we're we're all handmade. So I think that there's lots of things that that set us apart from just your average walking cane website or cellar or pharmacy, even where you can go in and and buy uh a cane. And we we we advocate for inclusivity for people with disabilities. So we want to see more people out there being visible. And we uh yeah, we we we advocate for community, we've built a strong community around um around our brand, and we we we educate people as well. So if you want to ask a question about how to use your walking stick, just fire away. There's no such thing as a silly question. If you don't know it, you don't know it. And a lot of people over here, I don't know what it's like where where you are, but a lot of people don't get taught. Um, you know, they they could possibly be just given a walking stick and told to on, you know, on on you go, or you buy your own because nobody's recommending that you use one, but you feel like you could do with one. So there's a lot of gaps that needed filling in, which which hopefully we uh are attempting to fill in at least.

SPEAKER_00: 17:18

So how did you come up with the name Neo Walk?

SPEAKER_01: 17:20

It used to be Neo York because I'm in York, north of England. But then as we we started selling outside of the country, a lot to the state, uh the the York bit became a little bit irrelevant. So that was where it became Neo Walk, and it was more to do with the walk. I don't know, Neo is just new, it's it's a new style of of walking. It's and the new style of walking for me was with a walking stick and with confidence, you know. So that's that's basically where it comes from.

SPEAKER_00: 17:52

It's very cool. So, what would advice would you give to someone that's facing adversity in their own life who feels stuck in survival mode? Because I'm sure you've felt that.

SPEAKER_01: 18:00

Yeah. Survival. Survival's difficult because you can't see forward, but you also can't see you can't see back and you can't see where you've come from. And I think that's really that spoils the moment when you can't see how much progress you've already made. All you can see is what's ahead of you and the steep ride ahead of you. So I think I would think about who you surround yourself with, and surround yourself with people who are positive, people who are in your corner, people who are willing to laugh and to cry with you, and surround yourself with those people because they will help take you up that mountain, that they they will help push you up. I would also say be realistic about your targets. You know, I had great targets. I wanted to learn to run. I was gonna wear a blade and I was gonna, yeah, not so much. I, you know, to actually walk a good quality walk would have been a really good target for me. And I would have, I wouldn't have beaten myself up quite as much as I did because I wasn't progressing into, you know, the Olympic sprinting. And it just wasn't enough for me, and I d I couldn't understand. So yeah, just to be realistic with with targets and put the work in. You know, it's it's a lot of rehabilitation and physio and um, if needs be, you know, psychologists, and it's just to get you into the right mindset. But small steps, uh and for me that's ironic, but small steps, you know, every every every journey begins with the first step. I know that's it's difficult because all you can see ahead of you is the journey, but just don't look that far. Just look at that first small step. And then the next day, it's a different small step. Then you are seeing slow progress, but progress is progress.

SPEAKER_00: 19:55

No matter how fast or slow, right? So how is your definition? Of beauty, confidence, and strength changed through this journey?

SPEAKER_01: 20:04

That's a really good question. That's a really good question. So for me now, beauty and strength lie a lot more within a fight that you've had to get where you are. So it's much more than skin deep. A huge amount more. I know beauty always has been and it always should be. Um, but you can't deny that someone who's struggled and who's carrying the scars is much more admirable. And I think with that comes its own, its own kind of of beauty. But my definition now, I have one leg, I think that's beautiful. I mix, I work, I socialise, I know hundreds of disabled people that maybe 30 years ago I would have not considered to be beautiful. And I'm I'm ashamed to say that. But now knowing their their stories, their lived history, the struggles that they've seen, damn beautiful people, really. And uh yeah, that we we we can learn a lot from each other.

SPEAKER_00: 21:08

Do you have a mantra quote or personal belief that keeps you moving forward?

SPEAKER_01: 21:12

Every morning I'm grateful without fail. Every morning I wake up with my dogs. I need to with my parrot at the moment with my mum, my mum's living with me, and I just feel so feel hugely grateful and blessed to be where I am and waking up again because that it's not a given. Uh we've all lost people that went too too early. So I'm I'm hugely grateful every day, and I don't understand people who can't wake up and feel that way, at least for for for the the gift of of living that they've been given that day. You know, fair enough, you might not be in a 12-bed mansion with six bathrooms and all the rest of it, but does it matter? No, it doesn't. You're here and you're you're there to fight for that if that's what you want. And so every day I'm I'm really grateful. And I yeah, I'm just grateful for my for my family. Every day I'll tell them I love them. I think beyond that, there's I don't need to say anything else. Well, if they know that, then that's been a good day.

SPEAKER_00: 22:18

For sure. So on these tough days, and you said today was maybe a little tough. What does resilience look like to you on the days when things don't go right?

SPEAKER_01: 22:26

So resilience today looked like me keeping the rest of the the staff buoyed up and you know that we you know we are okay, that we will be okay. These things are said, and you know, it's it it think things can be difficult, but that resilience came in that form today where I was I was more looking for the people and I think that's that's valid because they they keep me, you know, they they look after me, they they keep me r resilient as well. So I think paying that back is is just as just as good on days like this.

SPEAKER_00: 23:06

So what's next for you in New Orwok? And a funny year.

SPEAKER_01: 23:10

I don't know what your year's been like over in the US, but it's been a funny year where you know we've had many years of growth, but this year static has become the new growth.

SPEAKER_00: 23:23

I always say flat line, like we're stable, but you need to have life, so we need to have movement.

SPEAKER_01: 23:29

Yeah. So hopefully we'll get back to having some growth next year. Um, we've maintained where we are, which is amazing, it's really good. And I know there's there's people who've fallen by the wayside. So yeah, we want to continue to grow next year. We want to explore new markets, Asia Pacific. Um, we know that we've got a lot of friends over in Australia that because of the distance and the the cost of shipping, you know, we want to try and let them enjoy Neo Walk a bit more. So hopefully we'll be building more relationships over there and and maybe even closer ties with Europe because they are our nearest and nearest neighbours, but they're still a bit cross that we left the EU, you know. So um, yeah, we'll we'll nurture some new relationships. Just keep bringing out gorgeous colours and yeah, we'll just keep doing doing the same and just doing it for more people.

SPEAKER_00: 24:21

Well, one thing for sure I can say if you remind all of us that adversity doesn't have to be the end of our story, it can be the very beginning of innovation, creativity, and impact. So you were on at your kitchen table, then your red carpets across the world. You've proven that mobility can m mobility aid can be more than just functional. It can be fierce, fashionable, and confidence restoring. So, where can our listeners find out more about you in Neowalk?

SPEAKER_01: 24:48

So, if anybody wants to come and have a look at us, you can find us at neohyphenwalk.com on the internet, and you can find us at NeoWalkSticks on Instagram and Neo WalkSticks on Facebook. So come on over, you know, we've got lots going on, there's lots of blogs to read, there's, you know, there's lots of style ideas, and you it's not just for shopping.

SPEAKER_00: 25:12

So, and that we've got a lovely community on Instagram, so it you know, you might find a new friend on the thank you so much for showing us and me that resilience can be elegant, and you definitely are that. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I really appreciate it. It was a pleasure getting to know you, and I hope to see you again soon.

SPEAKER_01: 25:31

Thank you, Dion. Thank you.