Empowering Abilities Book
Meet Tracey McCann, a woman who is living a successful, happy and free life, because she made a choice to continue going on, she chose to continue being her best, she chose to help herself and other people who came across her path.
As a girl, she faced various traumas before her life even began. Going from that to truly discover the meaning of inner strength, resilience and endurance, before she even properly understood their definitions. As a girl she had every reason to give up, and more times than not she truly wanted to. Having been diagnosed at the age of 8 with Rapid Onset Muscular Dystonia, the physical pain she endured, combined with the social isolation which she experienced in her teenage years, gave her a justifiable reason to. Ultimately however, she knew deep down that there was no option but to continue moving forward, and never give up.
As a registered Sole Trader trading under the name “Empowering Abilities” Tracey McCann is now giving a Voice to the Voiceless. She is a Two Time Bestselling Author, Tedx Speaker, International Speaker, Disabled Advocate, and Empowerment Life Coach. Her passion has always been and continues to be the service of others, assisting all to feel more connected with themselves and the world around them.
She also assists others in gaining that much needed self-confidence, and also, to live the life that they deserve.
Empowering Abilities is a collection of stories written by 14 individual authors most of whom have a physical disability. The disabilities in question range from Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystonia, Bi-Polar Disorder, Congenital Heart Defect, Hashimoto’s Encephalitis (which causes short term memory loss) and Spina Bifida.
The sole purpose of this book as conceived by both Tracey McCann and Patrick Hogan was to gather together a group of individuals and give them and the people whom they represent a voice or a means of voicing their daily uphill struggles…and triumphs. That last word is important because while it is great reading about other people’s challenges it is more beneficial for the reader to read about how the authors overcome…how they achieve the seemingly unachievable despite their supposed limitations. So, in reality, this book is firstly a collection of stories, and secondly a message of hope through any and all types of storms that we may face…
The authors featuring in this book are predominantly Irish…with two exceptions. The first being a man who made contact with Tracey McCann after watching her TEDx talk on YouTube by the name of Christian Formosa…who was born and resides in Malta. The second being a former client of Tracey’s 1-1 6 week coaching program, Cheryl Hilson from Australia.
There has been a huge amount of work put into this book by both Tracey and Patrick…not to mention all the other Authors who contributed to it so incredibly and openly. Most of the chapters were put together by Patrick Hogan. This was achieved by recording the author in question telling their story and Patrick then “ghost-writing” on their behalf…this was due to the fact that none of them had ever written a book before and felt that they needed assistance. Also, one of the authors as mentioned above suffers with short term memory loss.
All authors then had their chapters read back to them and any adjustments that were needed were then made.
In total this book took roughly 4-5 weeks to put together. Despite the struggles that the Covid lockdowns presented Tracey McCann is now delighted to announce that she will be launching this book on the 12th of May in Mansion House in Dublin. Also, hoping (if launched it correctly) that it can make this an Amazon Bestseller…as this will greatly benefit the confidence of the authors. We know that seems a bit far-fetched but we have done this before i.e., Tracey’s own book was an Amazon Bestseller.
In this book there are 14 chapters in total (1 for each author) which all have a specific theme as indicated below:
Introduction – Cheryl Hilson
A Attitude – by Tracey McCann
B Bravery – by Christian Formosa
I Intelligence – by Lorraine Maher
L Love – by Alan Fay
I Imagination– by Michelle Rooney
T Tenacity – by Paul Gantley
I Identity – by Emer Concannon
E Equality – by Sandra Dilon
S Strength – by Patrick Hogan
Candemic – Kathryn Hogan, Aine Lawlor, Niamh Dunphy
Sunshine and Rain – Jennifer McCann
The below is a brief summary of this book and will feature on its back cover.
“Originally envisioned and put into motion during the height of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Empowering ABILITIES is a collection of stories written by 9 authors who have either individually dealt with, or assisted others in dealing with disability. It allows insight into their unique perspectives of a world where, at times, you have to scream at the top of your lungs for your voice, and your opinions, to be heard.
The chapters in this book include some of their stories, their insight into the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis; and how they face them. This book in its collective entirety…illustrates their Empowered VOICES.”
Book Launch 12th May 2022 Mansion House Dublin