Heather Zoccali

I live a brutally beautiful life. What that means to me is that while I have experienced profound hardships, as many of you have, I’ve found that by opening my heart to the pain and letting love fill the cracks in my heart, I have grown stronger & have found such joy and happiness despite the brutal moments this life has given me.

One of my first memories of this came from when I was 8/9 years old. I am sitting on the dewy grass in the hills of Appalachia, looking for four-leaf clovers. I am lost in my own world when I am instantly thrust into reality as I faintly hear “heads up,” and I turn to see a soccer ball coming straight for me than my father's hand as he saves me from the direct hit of the soccer ball. I look up at my father, my hero at that young age, and he smiles at me and then throws the ball back to the players. Little did I know that this would be the last time I saw my father whole and happy.

I went back to my clover hunt for a few but it had lost its intrigue so I went to go sit by my dad. As I was walking up, I instantly notice something was not right with my father. Half of his face was drooping with his milk running down the edge of his left lip down to his chin, where the milk carton had fallen on his pants and then onto the ground. Like the fall of the carton, his left side had fallen. I looked into my father's eye and for the first time saw fear. My father was a strong man, who seemingly could do anything: master trainer of horses, and built houses; I once saw him grab a rattlesnake and throw it halfway across the barn so, seeing and feeling fear in my father was a new experience for me.

This was the first of many brutal moments I would face in life; my mother/brother live with severe mental health issues,a survivor of sexual abuse, I live with EDS, my eldest son was paralyzed at 16, father passed by suicide to name a few.

Heather has been recognized by the state of CO for her pioneering work for family caregivers, CSU as a Hometown Hero, 2022 Tandy Spirit Award. 2022 Success Women's International Top Influencer (non-profit category) Winner. Nominated as a visionary caregiver and top caregiver program by caregiving.com. Heather's true magic comes from her ability to bring authenticity, humor, and passion and vulnerability, discussing sharing deeply personal stories of caregiving and the brutally beautiful moments in life. Heather's the kind of speaker where the listener will move through a range of emotions from tears to laughter and back again.

Heather continues to use her personal story and voice to raise awareness for family caregivers and people living with disabilities.

Heather hails from Kentucky and has made Colorado her home since 2002. Heather taught dance in public schools but personal tragedies in her life led her in a new direction. She was thrust into the role as a child and then again experienced tragedy in her adult life when her son, Connor, was in a vehicle-pedestrian accident that led to a Spinal Cord injury leaving him to learn life as a T-12 paraplegic. Heather found that caregivers were often a forgotten part of the rehabilitation and recovery process and needed opportunities to practice self-care. With that in mind, she founded The Arch Foundation in 2017, to help bridge that gap and provide caregivers with resources. Heather has long been a leader in the Family Caregiver community. Founder of The Arch Foundation and heads No Barriers Caregivers Program. Heather is the ultimate Alchemist. Her attitude and mindset have helped her to be strong in the face of adversity and to turn her pain into action that benefits those around her. She has found this to be true as a survivor of sexual abuse, cancer, losing her father by suicide after decades of caring for him after a stroke paralyzed him then living with Multiple Sclerosis, and being raised by an emotional/verbal abusive mother and brother, and caring for her estranged mom living with end-stage mixed Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.

She has since been honored as a Colorado State University Hometown Hero, as Rookie of the Year for Volunteer Disaster Aid Work with The American Red Cross, and received a Tribute from the State of Colorado for her pioneering work for Family Caregivers. Heather was nominated as Caregiver of the Year along with her No Barriers Program as Caregiver Program of the year in 2020. Heather firmly believes in the notion that a broken spirit grows back stronger in the face of tremendous life challenges and lives her life accordingly. She continues to live in Fort Collins, CO with her husband Matt and her two sons, Connor & Max, enjoying the outdoors, dancing, writing, and a good martini. Heather lives, works, and podcasts from Fort Collins, CO, and is available to travel for speaking engagements.

The Brutally Beautiful presentation is focused on my life story and work in advocating for family caregivers, people living with disabilities, and the power of sharing our messy hard moments

and celebrating the small victories that help us turn our power into pain. "It is my intent to shed light on the strength and beauty that culminates from those tragic moments in life, moments I have come to call "brutally beautiful", because of the randomness at which they seem to occur and the unexpected connections that develop. Love. Empathy. Power. Grace."

Contact Heather for more info.