“They said she had no chance. But it never occurred to her to accept their reality”

At the age of 11, Marsha Shenk was suddenly and without warning taken from her family after contracting polio. Isolated in an iron lung, in a coma, she heard doctors tell her parents she was past the point of no return — that it might be best if they stopped visiting.

They were wrong.

A leader was born just before her 11th birthday: the day she walked — unsteady but determined — out of the hospital, knowing she would spend her life showing others that they have the power to shape their own reality.

In this extraordinary opening episode of Series 2, we hear from Marsha Shenk — a business anthropologist, leadership coach, and pioneer in human-centered strategy. Marsha shares her harrowing story of resilience, revealing how she used her own anger, grit, and inner will to survive what no one believed she could.

We explore:

• How to transform anger into a force for growth
• What it takes to keep faith in yourself when everyone else has given up
• The role mindset plays in overcoming impossible odds

Despite a life-changing illness, Marsha not only survived but thrived. Her experience shaped her unique perspective on leadership and business — where human beings play a game that wasn’t designed with us in mind.

Join us as we unpack her incredible journey, and set the stage for the powerful conversations to come in this season of Voices on the Edge of Change.