Born in what has been often cited as the cleanest city in the United States – Bath, in Maine – as the daughter of a military Father, Gianna came into the world as a much-anticipated child. Gianna’s father, Richard was stationed at the Naval Air Station in nearby Brunswick. As with every military family, they moved frequently to postings that took them all around the country. “Every couple of years we were off to a new mission,” says Gianna. It is tough enough to be the new kid, earning your place in the school community, leaving friends behind and then having to make new ones and all that entails, but Gianna had one more obstacle to overcome as she pursued the human need to connect.
In the late fifties and sixties, expectant mothers were advised to take a medication called Thalidomide to combat the effects of morning sickness. Initially launched in 1957, it took four years for concerns regarding birth defects to surface. The drug was withdrawn immediately but during that period it had adverse effects on the development of an estimated 10,000 fetuses. Gianna was one such baby and it resulted in being born without fingers on her left hand. She can however take a positive from this start in life, saying, “I’m very glad for that opportunity and those experiences. Yes it was hard but now I can build rapport with anybody anytime, anywhere, everywhere in a matter of seconds…that was a skill that I had to learn. It was a survival skill for me.”
These were tough and character-building times for Gianna. Society, parents, and grandparents during that time taught their children, with the best of intentions, not to stare or ask questions as it would be rude. It was that mindset and culture, which nevertheless added to the isolation leaving Gianna feeling invisible and misunderstood. “I’ve been called names, left out, not asked to the dance, and was even pushed in a locker for three-and-a-half hours when in middle school. So it was very challenging, not only to be the new kid, but also the new kid that had a visible difference. It was a little tough. I think they have a term for it now. It’s called bullying.”
Sports didn’t really play much of a part of Gianna’s adolescence and only came into her life during her late twenties, when she met her husband, who was fully into his sports. Softball, football and golf were all part of the weekly schedule. Gianna would tag along, never really considering taking part until one day. “Her husband, his friends and his friends wives played at the weekends, and I started feeling like that 13-year-old girl again, being left out. I said, you know if I was able to learn how to do everything that I have throughout my life – I am a mother of two, I’ve got three grand babies, I’ve cleaned houses, changed diapers, and cooked, just like every other woman and mother does – then why not try to figure out how I can spend a little more time with my husband and learn to play golf.”
Gianna started hanging around with her husband at the driving range when he was practicing. Gianna tried lots of ways to hold the club, tried prosthetics, and other adaptive resources, before coming to the realization, “You know, when you’re born, you’re born with what you have, your neurological wiring knows what you have.” The idea then struck her, “Let’s not even put that other hand in there. Let’s figure out how to swing with just one arm.” It is at this stage that one’s motivation has to be strong enough to overcome the inevitable ups and downs that everyone experiences in the trial and error stage. Typically, Gianna pushed through and found her way to play, at least well enough to go out once in a while and play with her husband and his friends.
In her newfound sport, Gianna would find her calling, but not initially. In her childhood, Gianna was a poster child for an American nonprofit organization called March of Dimes. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had founded the organization in 1939 to help combat the effects of Polio, a condition he had been diagnosed with when in his late thirties. Gianna found her way back to the March of Dimes in 2013, volunteered and eventually was hired to be a Community Director helping to organize walkathons and fundraising activities. It was only after leaving the March of Dimes Gianna started to think that perhaps she could use her golf story to bring awareness to the opportunities that golf affords. She soon realized that adaptive golf was not being showcased enough and so picked up the challenge to ensure that more people could find out about what was actually available. Gianna then changed from being curious as to what might happen into being an advocate and ambassador for the inclusive nature of the game. She started adaptivegolfers.org.
Golf has given Gianna a real-life purpose. It’s a way to help others and give back to society. Golf is the conduit that Gianna uses to help unlock the potential of people who so frequently question if they can do things. Gianna explains, “If you have the mindset that you can’t do something, doubt will always creep in and limit you. ‘Well I can’t. I only have one hand’, or ‘I can’t because I have one leg’, or ‘I can’t because I can’t get out of this wheelchair’. They ‘can’t’ themselves into not doing anything. What I like to try to do is, empower people with questioning, in a different part of the brain. ‘How can I?’ When you say, how can I, you’ve already decided you’re going to do it. We have to figure out the how part. Golf can unlock so many other areas of people’s lives.”
Gianna was recently named by the LPGA “The Ladies Professional Golf Association is an American organization for female golfers” as one of the top 22 Women “Disruptors” in the golf industry. And you might think that she has a body double…because Gianna is everywhere…including the Golf Channel, local and national news, and as guest speaker at a broad range of industry and corporate events, including the PGA Merchandise Show and the Abilities Expo. Gianna is an active member of organizations too numerous to mention, where she collaborates and sits on several committees.
In addition to all of her advocacy work, Giana is a bona fide golfer. She walks the talk as an Adaptive Athlete. For example, she is a member of the US Disabled Golf Team and is a two-time division winner in the Adaptive and Para Long Drive competition.
She is an inspiration for people who aspire to build a business or career related to their love for the game golf. Gianna certainly has achieved that goal through her Adaptive Golfers organization. But what’s even more valuable than her success story, Gianna discussed with us what it takes to overcome the obstacles in your head and in your heart that keep you from reaching your full potential.
Regardless of whether your life goals involve a golf career, or simply being a happier person, you’ll find Gianna’s spirit and determination to be contagious.
Highlights to her discussion:
- How Gianna serves as an advocate for changing people’s mindsets, regardless of their abilities
- The social and personal challenges Gianna faced in her childhood
- The backstory on how Gianna became involved in the game of golf
- How Gianna developed her unique method of swinging a golf club
- How and why she founded her “Adaptive Golfers” organization
- Efforts to coordinate the various causes related to adaptive golf
- Challenges involved in getting PGA pros to teach people with unique needs
- Collecting data on different courses to determine mobility
- Difficulties involved in convincing people that golf is accessible and therapeutic
- The importance of empowering people to help themselves
- Finding a way to accomplish personal goals despite significant challenges
- Why people with challenges should be apart of the effort to help others with adaptive abilities
Notable Quotes:
On the definition of herself, and how she wants to be known: “I am differently abled, not “dis”abled. I am not defined by my lack of limb deficiency. I am a whole person, a whole-hearted person…and that is what I present to the world.”
On using a prosthetic device to swing the golf club: “For me to add something to my hand is the same as you losing something from your hand.”
On incenting people to try golf: “If we find something people like to do, then they’ll find a reason to move”
On her outlook on life: “We were not put here to be isolated and depressed.”
On self motivation: “If you focus on “How can I?” then you’ve already decided that you will. Then you just have to figure out the how.”
Gianna is making a difference in her unique way. Although she respects the cultures mindset to respect people, not to stare or ask questions, she now welcomes the looks and comments from others. She sees these occasions as opportunities to engage, build rapport and inform people that just because she has a different arm, it does not make her any less of a person. Yes, she has a visible impairment, but that limitation does not define her.
THIS WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION – THANK YOU GIANNA.
“Golf is between you, the ball and the hole, and the ball and hole don’t care if you roll it with your nose, or even if you get there. It’s a very independent activity, and because of the cognitive focus you need, it makes other stressors in your life melt away and disappear. But, it can also bring people together. You can go out and play golf with anybody of any ability.”
