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2012 Paralympic Games Hopeful Says Landmark Education Helped Her Overcome Self-Consciousness To Compete

Katy Sullivan, an actress and Paralympic runner ranked 5th in the world in her category, credits training she received through Landmark Education with helping her overcome mental obstacles to running on prosthetic legs.

Katy became the first person to compete internationally in track with above-knee prosthetics at the 2007 Para Pan Am Games in Brazil. She found inspiration to run, she says, in The Landmark Forum, a weekend seminar offered by Landmark Education, an international personal and professional growth, training and development company.

Landmark’s programmes speak to and make a difference in what people are dealing with and what matters to them. The company specializes in helping people achieve breakthroughs to pursue their dreams. Katy, a 31-year-old Los Angeles resident, says attending Landmark Education courses gave her the confidence she needed to compete.

Katy was born without most of her legs and has used prosthetics most of her life. She can walk so well that, as an actress, she could hide the fact that she uses prosthetics, she says. But that isn't possible when she runs.

“There is really no place to hide if you are going to commit to this,” she says. “One of the ways Landmark Education helped me was in getting to a new level of acceptance of who I am and living life from that place instead of trying to hide something that is part of me.”

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Katy grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A professional actress in television and theater, her acting jobs include appearing on My Name is Earl on NBC and shooting a pilot for a reality series based on her life with her husband, wheelchair-bound “standup” comedian Jay Cramer. She also works for Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics as a national advocate for people who have lost limbs.

Katy, who is seeking sponsorships for her running career as she sets her sights on competing in the Paralympic Games in London 2012, says that her newfound confidence is what has made it possible to boldly pursue her dreams.

“One of the many things I got out of Landmark Education was that by being completely authentic about who I am, people do look at me and appreciate me for the kind of person I am, not because they are noticing I have a disability,” she says.

Landmark Education is a personal and professional growth, training and development company that's had more than 1.3 million people use its programmes to cause breakthroughs in their personal lives as well as in their communities, generating more than 100,000 community projects around the world. In The Landmark Forum, Landmark’s flagship programme, people cause breakthroughs in their performance, communication, relationships and overall satisfaction in life. For more information, please visit http://www.landmarkeducation.com.