Episode 8: Mike Mulligan

06/09/20 • 11 min

Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People

Mike Mulligan is the founder of Moving Forward Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. In June 1996, Mike sustained a spinal cord injury in a car crash. Since then, Mike has done everything an able bodied person would do, including earn a University degree, get a great job, buy a house, and travel throughout the United States and Australia. He was very happy with his life and the accomplishments he had made but he never gave up on the goal of one day walking again.

Mike’s primary motivation for founding Moving Forward is to ensure that he and others can have access to the tools, facilities and support required for them to continue Moving Forward with their recovery right here in London.

Mike Mulligan Episode 8 Audio

Mike Mulligan Episode 8 Transcript

Andrew Young: My name is Andrew Young. You may recognise me from the Internet. I love my life, my cats, my job, and my community. I'm taking up your time today because on this journey of life, I've met wonderful people who make our city better, and I want you to meet them, too. This is Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People.

AY: Modest. Magnanimous. A masterclass in motivation. Our guest has transformed a cataclysmic event into an opportunity to affect countless lives. His energy is infectious and his laugh contagious. Let's unleash the awesome that is Mike Mulligan. Mike, welcome to the show, man.

Mike Mulligan: Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.

AY: Aw dude, thanks for coming by. I really appreciate it, man, and every time that we get to hang out, it's, it's always a pleasure. So I'm looking forward to kind of cracking this nut open and getting some, some really great answers from you, okay?

MM: Sweet.

AY: Often when we're faced with tragedy, we have a decision to make. You can become half a man or a man and half, right? You've chosen the latter route, alright? You now have an incredible business: Moving Forward Rehabilitation and Wellness Centre. What, what motivated you to turn the accident that you experienced into something unbelievably inspirational and a vehicle to help other people?

MM: Well, it really came down to- for me, it was... I had my accident when I was 16 years old, and I, I promised myself I was going to walk by the time I was 40, and as years went on, I did my, I did my stretches. I did my therapy. But I realised, probably about 15 years in, that I wasn't going to walk if I really didn't take that step to actually do it. And so, I found a facility out in California and went down there and just saw the amazing things that they were able to do with someone of the quad- that was a quadriplegic and didn't really move a whole lot, similar to me, and being able to stand for the first time and look at someone in the eye, ride a bike, being able to get on the treadmill. It was those things that I was like, maybe this is possible, and maybe it can happen. It was when my parents came down too that, you know, them seeing me walk on the treadmill for the first time and my mom crying. It was like, you know, this doesn't just affect me, this affects families. So that's why when I came back home to London, I realised something like that needs to be done, and I decided to open up Moving Forward to help other people and other families and make people reach their goals, set goals, and, you know, one day hopefully walk again.

AY: Absolutely. I've, I've gone on your Web site and I took a look, and I just love how you celebrate the people that come to your business and through your business. That's, that's obviously important to you and important to them.

MM: It really is, because...

Mike Mulligan Episode 8 Audio

Mike Mulligan Episode 8 Transcript

Mike Mulligan: Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.

MM: Sweet.

MM: It really is, because...

Previous Episode

Episode 7: Matthew Santagapita

Matthew Santagapita is a licensed realtor specializing in the city of London and surrounding area. Matt's hard work, sensitivity, and professionalism, as well as his personal interest in investment properties, have helped him to become one of the top producing agents in the area.

A family man, Matthew believes in the value of community and has co-founded locorum.ca to highlight and promote the best and most exciting parts of local businesses, food, community, and events.

In addition to his professional commitments, Matthew is a strong believer in giving back to the community, and supports various charitable causes.

Matthew Santapagita Episode 7 Audio

Matthew Santapagita Episode 7 Transcript

AY: Unabashedly honest. Unapologetically altruistic. Uniquely analytical. This episode's guest will move you literally and figuratively. He has brought our community closer. He has a beautiful mind and challenges you to think about things on many different levels. I am proud to be sitting down with Mr. Matthew Santagapita. Matthew.

Matthew Santagapita: Thanks for having me.

AY: Thanks for taking the time today, man. Are you having a good day?

MS: Awesome.

AY: Yeah. You got strong sock game.

MS: So do you. Yeah, we match.

AY: I really appreciate that. We didn't even talk about it. It's going very well so far.

MS: I know.

AY: The Santa Sells Houses team.

MS: Yep.

AY: Santa Knows Best.

MS: Yep.

AY: Monday Market Update. Business of the Week. Finally, Locorum.

MS: Yep.

AY: You've built an amazing real estate team, and you keep pushing the real estate market forward and increased the amount of business and the quality of business. You've created a stronger community because of your efforts by highlighting independent businesses on top of everything else that you do. Why have you selected these independent businesses, and what are you trying to achieve by doing it?

MS: Why? So generally... It's kind of a tough question for me, and really, I guess what it- to summarise it in maybe a quick and easy way, it's that not enough is being done for small and medium businesses. That's what it really comes down to. You know, major corporations, they can afford lobbyists. They can afford, you know, multi-million dollar ad budgets and things like that, but... Which is great, and I'm not knocking big business because you need big business, but when you look at entrepreneurism, you know, small business owners, medium business owners, I mean, it's a grind. It's a struggle. So, you know, oddly enough, you know, this love of entrepreneurism and kind of like, you know, the local hustler and grinder stemmed from a few conversations that... Some conversations with you and kind of with some other people where... A lot of people think London is boring. And, you know, as a realtor, you know, my profession, my career, my job, we're supposed to know the city. And through these conversations, I started kind of scratc...