--- title: "Paul Rousseau: Why My Greatest Successes Stem Directly From My Traumatic Brain Injury" url: "https://authoritymag.co/articles/paul-rousseau-why-my-greatest-successes-stem-directly-from-my-traumatic-brain-injury" publisher: "Authority Magazine" author: "Authority Magazine Editorial Staff" authorUrl: "https://authoritymag.co/authors/authority-magazine-editorial-staff" interviewee: "Paul Rousseau" category: "Pop Culture" datePublished: "2024-09-04T18:48:16.301Z" dateModified: "2026-11-12T17:06:14.667Z" tags: "Pop Culture" --- # Paul Rousseau: Why My Greatest Successes Stem Directly From My Traumatic Brain Injury *Author Paul Rousseau shares how navigating a severe traumatic brain injury reframed his perspective on resilience, identity, and the extraordinary diversity of the human experience.* > I think the accomplishments I’ve made are because of my disability, not despite it. It gave me a reason to try harder, be more empathetic, understand more deeply basic human rights, basic human kindness. --- As*a part of our “Unstoppable” series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Rousseau.* *Paul Rousseau is a disabled writer whose work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Roxane Gay’s newsletter The Audacity, Wigleaf, Catapult and CRAFT, among others, and has been selected for Best Small Fictions 2024, the Wigleaf Top 50, as well as nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy. His first book,*[Friendly Fire: A Fractured Memoir](https://a.co/d/16GfGDV)*, is published by Harper Horizon. You can find more of Paul’s work online at*[Paul-Rousseau.com](http://paul-rousseau.com/)*.* --- **Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is really an honor. Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?** I grew up in the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. When I was a kid, I was torn between becoming a professional basketball player or a professional guitar player, practicing both with equal rigor. At some point, probably in middle school traveling basketball where I averaged four points per game coming off the bench, only one of those prospects continued to show any promise. Then when I was fourteen, my sister got married, and she and her husband decided it would be fun to go to a psychic, for the novelty of it all. Among the flurry of predictions, some trivial, some major, the psychic mentioned that I would become a writer and find lots of success writing about hair. I was pretty stoked about the success part, but the hair component gave me pause. I didn’t see how that could be a viable topic to me in any way. (Spoiler alert, hair is mentioned in detail at a few crucial moments in my debut book, [Friendly Fire: A Fractured Memoir](https://a.co/d/16GfGDV)). Nevertheless, it was spoken into existence. Just as with basketball and guitar, I figured I better start practicing this writing thing if I was to ever truly find success with it. By high school, I was writing every day. Mostly poetry, with the occasional short story and the even more occasional satirical essay. By the time college came into view, my every intention was still music music music. I was going to go to music school, get a degree in guitar performance. Become a studio musician before hitting it big with my own band. My mom, with all the right intentions, recommended I become an orthodontist. Somehow, we met in the middle with English. I would be a professor, a marketing copywriter, something, anything with a 401(k). Off I went to a private university, one with a good reputation for job placement after graduation, courtesy of an embarrassing amount of student loans. From that point on, the goal was to get a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction, but that never happened, mostly due to an injury I sustained one month before college graduation. **Do you feel comfortable sharing with us the story surrounding how you became disabled?** I suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury from a negligent discharge of a firearm. On April 7, 2017, my best friend, Mark, unintentionally shot me in the head in our on-campus apartment, one month before college graduation. He was in his bedroom, fooling around with a gun he didn’t know was loaded, and by some means, he pulled the trigger. I was leaning over at the time in our living room, picking up a scrap of paper or a guitar pick or dead battery. A split-second decision to clean. The bullet ripped through two walls before striking me on the top of my head. It fractured my skull, sending shards of bone into my brain before ricocheting off and landing on the carpet. Frightened for his own future, Mark delayed calling for help. After a slurry of bizarre circumstances, I finally got to the hospital and received a craniotomy, titanium plates and screws, the next morning. My disability also includes PTSD and chronic pain. **What mental shift did you make to not let that “stop you”?** The thing that got me through the worst of it was always — *okay, this happened, so what now? What can I do going forward?* There was never a mental shift, per se. That was just my initial gut reaction and it happened to stick. **Can you tell our readers about the accomplishments you have been able to make despite your disability?** I think the accomplishments I’ve made are because of my disability, not despite it. It gave me a reason to try harder, be more empathetic, understand more deeply basic human rights, basic human kindness. Yes, it was probably more challenging to write a book as a cognitively and emotionally impaired individual, and it is my hope that my success helps to inspire other people with disabilities. But it is important to remember that humankind is incredibly diverse. Being disabled is not bad or weird or even abnormal. It does not make you a lesser person — it is just another way to live. I am proud to be an award-winning disabled writer with a debut memoir, *Friendly Fire: A Fractured Memoir,*out from HarperCollins, a leading Big-5 publisher. It doesn’t get much better than that. **What advice would you give to other people who have disabilities or limitations?** I’ve found taking an active approach is helpful. Be stubborn, be your own best advocate, but at the same time, be willing to adapt given the circumstances. It’s not what happens, but how you respond that really matters. **None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?** My entire family played a huge role in my recovery. They were there as much as they could be and came up clutch more times than I can count. I am so lucky to have their support and love. Especially my mom. At the time of the shooting, she had just moved into a new place with her partner. They had no choice but to take me in and essentially raise me all over again. She cooked my meals, always made sure I was getting around safely on the hardwood floor, took time off from work to be home as much as possible. It was tough to have to grow up twice. But we made the best of it. **How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?** I would like to think my success is still in its fledgling stage. But with some of my previous publications, specifically my article in the *San Francisco Chronicle* about Invisible Disabilities, the messages people sent me were incredible. I was so moved reading how they were moved. Most of the people who emailed me also suffered from a brain injury, or helped caretake for a loved one who did. There was a constant refrain of feeling like someone was finally speaking up on their behalf, starting a conversation, long overdue. It showed me that everyone has a story they are dying to tell. And it showed me the power of a story well told. I hope my book has a similar effect. **Can you share “5 things I wish people understood or knew about people with physical limitations” and why?** 1. It is an old adage but it bears repeating — **you never know what someone else is going through, so don’t assume things**. Disabilities can look like anything or nothing at all. 2. When interacting with someone with a TBI, **patience is often the single greatest gift**. Hyperarousal and overstimulation are a perfect storm for aggression and rage. Sometimes TBI survivors just need a second to recalibrate, process, and cool down. 3. Again, being disabled is not bad or weird or even abnormal — it is just another way to go about life. **Humankind is incredibly diverse**. 4. As Linda Williams, PH. D, founder of the Invisible Disabilities Project says, “**disability is part of the normal lifespan and human experience**. If you live long enough, you too will know what it is like to be disabled.” I think that quote can be really illuminating to most people. 5. If you have an **invisible disability**, it is tough to have the energy or language to clarify your situation all the time. These disabilities and the considerable problems they pose, by their nature, require their own unique awareness and broader recognition across the board. **Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?** “Never wish time away” — Jim Petersen, TV announcer and analyst of the Minnesota Timberwolves. **We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this :-)** I think Emilia Clarke’s story is remarkable. She survived multiple life-threatening brain hemorrhages while working on *Game of Thrones*, and then as a response, founded SameYou, a brain injury recovery charity in the UK. She is a fantastic advocate and has raised so much awareness on how to improve the rehabilitation process for survivors of a stroke, brain bleed, or traumatic injury. **Thank you so much for the time you spent with this interview. We wish you continued success and good health!** --- A***bout The Interviewer:****Kelly Reeves is a published writer, copy editor, speaker, and certified entrepreneurship and personal growth coach. She is passionate about working with entrepreneurs and executives over 50 to help them discover their life’s purpose, unlock their full potential, and thrive in the second half of life. As an award-winning public relations professional with multi-industry knowledge Kelly worked with global brands, startups and media personalities including the Tony Hawk Foundation, Barrett-Jackson, Targus, Kingston, WD, and Howard Stern. Kelly successfully launched a variety of consumer electronics and B2B brands and executed highly successful PR and social media campaigns. With an average track record of generating more than 50 million media impressions on a monthly basis, she placed clients in leading media outlets such as InStyle, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNet, TechCrunch, AllThingsD and Mashable; and landed spots on high profile programs such as Extra, the Today Show, ABC News, CNN and Good Morning America. She also played an integral role in helping clients increase sales revenue by over 350%. Her community service includes mentoring students in the Masters of Entrepreneurship Program at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. She also mentors students in the College of Communications at California State University, Fullerton. Kelly serves as the Co-Founder and President of Paw Prints in the Sand Animal Rescue, a 501c3 animal welfare organization where she oversees the operations, donor relations, and marketing and PR strategy.* --- Source: https://authoritymag.co/articles/paul-rousseau-why-my-greatest-successes-stem-directly-from-my-traumatic-brain-injury (Authority Magazine, Pop Culture). Interviewee answers are first-person statements of the guest. Index of all pages: https://authoritymag.co/llms.txt