Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Julian.
Lynn, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was known as Cookie Cutter Girl, 21st Century Pop Superhero. I packed “Girl Power Pop” with a punch on 500+ radio stations and 30+ CDs Internationally. “Rolling Stone” called me “Nashville’s Version of Fiona Apple.” (
PopSuperhero.com) I had started the night of 10/1/2006 excited to play a popular, 40-year-old club in a major city—but I ended it in a Boston ER. In my 25 years performing, on stages all over the U.S., I had never fallen. (I guess I should feel lucky?) Then I slipped on an untapped stage cord, fell backwards, bounced my head off the stage, and knocked myself unconscious. After that stage accident, I was left disabled, in a wheelchair, due to a TBI in the base of my brain, in addition to already living with health complications due to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Fibromyalgia. I slowly, painfully, learned how to do many things over again, including walking, during the next 5-6 years. I worked my way through every kind of therapy: physical; speech; occupational; ocular; mind-body, etc. In the fall of 2009, I moved to Boston to be closer to all the major hospitals. In 2012, I found a new passion to pursue and began acting in short films in Boston’s Back Bay. (BostonActress.org)
From the end of 2011 through March 2013, I found a new passion to pursue, acting. I’d been on stages since I was five, spending my last year’s performing as a Pop Superhero. Acting was a natural transaction, so I began taking classes and acting in regional short films and commercials. TBI made it MUCH more challenging, as it does almost everything. The bright lights and tiny print on the scripts gave me migraines. The 12–16 hours days were exhausting and took me days to recover. Yet, it stimulated the part of my artist’s brain that needed to be creative. I was nominated as “Best Actress” for a New England Actors Best of Award (NEABO), slowly earned a substantial acting resume, garnered good press, and built a new website, BostonActress.org. This artist was thrilled to be reinventing herself! But life had other plans…
My partner and I were spectators at the Boston Marathon finish line when it was attacked on 4/15/13. Suddenly, athletes’ dreams turned into nightmares none of us will ever forget. In shock, we were stunned …until my dog violently scratched my face to force me to move. We ran into the closest hotel, with me pressing my panicked, flailing dog into my chest with both arms, terrified I’d lose him forever. Some people were in shock, frozen in place, blocking our way to safety. Others were screaming. Some were throwing chairs out of the way. Others were pushing, shoving and trampling in fear. I became a drill sergeant, barking orders at frozen people blocking the door to “walk, walk, walk!” After herding people to the back of the room, I lead them out the back door to safely. People who did not see the explosion wanted to go back outside again. I hope I convinced enough people to change their minds…to help who I could, when I could, how I could.
Having become accustomed to reinventing myself, I found another way to give my life purpose: volunteering! I chose to be a Patient Advocate because it gave me my voice back, not just to sing, not only to act, but to speak up for those who cannot. The lesson is to find what speaks to you, and channel what energy you have towards it. Only you can decide what gives your life “purpose” and will make you feel good about yourself again. My message is one of INSPIRATION and HOPE. I fought my way out of that wheelchair, and I fought my way across that finish line. If I can do it, so can you. Never give up HOPE!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Still in shock and denial that a terrorist attack occurred 2 blocks from my apartment, my neighborhood was now labeled “Ground Zero” covered in police tape. Most mistakenly I believed my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) came only from the bombing itself. However, I was equally traumatized, and re-traumatized, every day, over following months, having to walk through “a war zone.” I spent the day after the marathon attack at the ER, hoping to get treatment for my low back pain, massive headache, slowed thinking, severe nausea, hearing “underwater,” ringing in my ears, severe anxiety, and more. The bombing left my Service Dog since my stage accident of 2006, “Lil Stinker,” afraid of sudden or loud noises, such as a car door closing, which is too distracted to do his job.
I felt like a “victim,” rather than a “survivor,” and needed to do “something” to feel more in control and empowered. So, I trained every day, for five months to run the 2014 Boston Marathon. I completed that race, in the Mobility Impaired division, along with the Boston Athletic Association’s (BAA) Half Marathon, 10K and 5K races, collectively called their “Distance Medley.” I am so honored to be named one of the “Most Inspirational Women to Ever Run The Boston Marathon” by “SELF Magazine.” In the Summer 2015, I auditioned for my first film since my second TBI, “Witch Hunt, and was cast as the Evil Nun in this Indie Horror movie. I was also relieved my parts could be filmed all in one day because people with TBI need extra breaks, more rest and lots of sleep. In 2016, I had noticeable TBI improvement from HBOT treatments, which reduces my PTSD by half, and increased my cognitive ability. I also started using CBD oil to successfully prevent and interrupt my panic attacks, which also reduced my inflammation and chronic pain.
Please tell us about Strength To Strength & US Pain Foundation & Brain Injury Assoc. of America.
I wear more hats than a Hydra has heads! In film, I’m an actress in dozens of movies. In music, I’m a Pop Superhero on 30+ CDs Internationally. In tech, I’m a website SEO guru and a press release and article marketing writer. In health, I’m an “Advocate, Ambassador, Speaker, Consultant.”
As a survivor of a terrorist attack, I sit on the Victim’s Advisory Council of Strength To Strength (http://StoSglobal.org). My daily struggle with chronic pain inspired me to volunteer as the Massachusetts Ambassador for the US Pain Foundation (http://USPainFoundation.org) and the Director of Medical Marijuana Advocacy for Leaftopia (http://DispensaryLocation.com). My message is one of Inspiration and Hope.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of the best things my Mom did for my brother and I as children was continuously telling us to “Go Play!” Before there was Netflix…before there was Xbox…before there were smart phones and social media…there was the daily demand, from your parents, to “get out of the house and go play.” Imagining our own, original characters, storylines and daily episodes, my brother and I were developing the young brains of the creative entrepreneurs we would one day become. Nothing in any of my decades of schooling developed my creativity, as a musician, an actress and a patient advocate, more than designing my own “play time.”
Contact Info:
- Address: 133 clarendon st. #170063
Boston, MA 02117 - Website: http://BostonActress.org
- Phone: lynnjulian007@gmail.com
- Email: http://Facebook.com/PopSuperhero
- Instagram: http://Instagram.com/BostonActress
- Facebook: http://Twitter.com/BostonFilm
- Twitter: http://stosglobal.org
- Yelp: http://uspainfoundation.org
- Other: http://DispensaryLocation.com
Image Credit:
PHOTOCREDIT: All photos are taken by me or of me using my camera…
EXCEPT: US Pain Foundation group photo, printed with permission,
and Strength To Strength group photo, printed with permission.
PERSONS PICTURED: myself; Doug Julian; Lil Stinker, Service Dog
(permission granted by all)
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
