In this episode of Girls with Grafts, Rachel sits down with Charlene Pell, a burn survivor and the founder of Facing Forward, a nonprofit dedicated to advocating for individuals with visible differences. ✨ Charlene shares her journey, from surviving a burn injury to advocating for face equality.

Rachel and Charlene also dive into Face Equality Week, this year’s theme, “My Face is a Masterpiece,” and why shifting the perception of beauty and identity is so important. 🫶 They discuss the representation of survivors in the media, the challenges of living with a visible difference, and the importance of advocacy. This episode celebrates resilience and the beauty of every survivor!   

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Meet Our Guest 

Award-winning author, Charlene Pell is the founder and executive director of Facing Forward, a 501©3 nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals with congenital or acquired facial or physical differences contend with staring, improve control of social interactions, and communicate confidently. Thirty years ago, Pell survived a catastrophic plane crash that burned 64 percent of her body, severely injuring her face and hands. She shares her compelling story of physically and emotionally surviving, recovering, and resurrecting her identity in her new book, In This Altered Body: A Survivor’s Story of Resilience and Love.

As a result of her disfigurement and the lack of psychosocial resources available to her during her recovery, Pell researched and created programs and resources to help herself and others adjust to their changed appearance and circumstances. Since 1998, she’s shared her insights internationally as a keynote speaker at conferences for burn survivors and healthcare professionals. She created a nationwide program titled “What to Do When People Stare: A Workshop to Teach Individuals with Disfiguring Conditions to Contend with Staring and Improve Control of Social Interactions.” Her work has been published in Skin, Psychology Today, the American Burn Association’s Journal of Burn Care & Research, and other periodicals.

Before her accident, Pell was vice president of communications for one of the most prominent design centers in the United States, the Design Center of the Americas. She managed and administered its marketing strategy and created extensive public relations programs in cooperation with Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Interior Design, and many other publications. Pell has a master’s in communication studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with her husband.

Links 

• Purchase and read Charlene’s book “In This Altered Body: A Survivor’s Story of Resilience and Love:” https://www.amazon.com/This-Altered-Body-Survivors-Resilience-ebook/dp/B0CVF7X9JT
• Learn more about Face Equality Week: https://faceequalityinternational.org/about-fei/international-face-equality-week/
• Download the “Visible Difference & Disfigurement in the Arts” position paper: https://resources.phoenix-society.org/visible-difference-disfigurement-in-the-arts 
• Sign the petition ‘Tell Hollywood Visible Difference Doesn’t Equal Evil!’ here: https://www.change.org/p/tell-hollywood-visible-difference-doesn-t-equal-evil
• Download the 2024 State of the Survivor Report: https://resources.phoenix-society.org/2024-state-of-the-survivor-report 
• Learn more about Phoenix World Burn Congress 2025: https://events.phoenix-society.org/event/PWBC2025/summary 
• Learn more about the “I Am Not Your Villain” campaign: https://www.changingfaces.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/i-am-not-your-villian/ 
• Contact Charlene: charlene@facingforwardinc.org
• Read Charlene’s “Hidden From View: Women With Facial Differences in the Media” here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/disability-is-diversity/202303/hidden-from-view-women-with-facial-differences-in-the-media 
• Learn more about Facing Forward: https://facingforwardinc.org/ 

Podcast Sponsor 

Today’s podcast is powered by our new Phoenix Partner, Kerecis! From a small town in northwest Iceland, Kerecis develops, manufactures, and sells patented fish-skin soft tissue regeneration products. Kerecis GraftGuide is their intact fish-skin especially developed for the management of burn wounds.

Kerecis fish-skin grafts contain fat, protein, elastin, glycans and other natural skin elements and are supplied in multiple shapes, variants and sizes. Learn more about Kerecis by checking out their website www.kerecis.com or reach out to info@kerecis.com if you are interested in using our products.

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the show? Email us at info@phoenix-society.org.