An Interview With Maria Angelova
Therapy is also great. I see a therapist, Jamie sees a therapist, a lot of our family sees a therapist. Being involved in therapy can be really helpful, and just talking about it, being able to have people in life where you’re like, “Today was bad. Today was good.”
As a part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeanee Crane Mauzy.
Jeanee Crane Mauzy is a professional skier, fashion designer and climate change advocate. Jeanee will be representing Vanuatu in the 2026 Olympics. Jeanne is also the co-founder of the MoCrazyStrong.org — a charitable foundation raising awareness on traumatic brain injury (TBI) and methods to recover. Jeanee travels across the nation alongside her sister, Jamie MoCrazy, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, to raise awareness of TBI.
On Tuesday, March 7th, 2023, the short documentary, #MoCrazyStrong, was screened on Capitol Hill. Jamie and Jeanee went face-to-face with nation’s policy makers, showing the importance of family involvement, person-centered practices, and complementary medicine and healing opportunities for TBI recovery to help make change and increase access to recovery.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! On behalf of Authority Magazines, it is my absolute pleasure to welcome Jeanee MoCrazy with me today. How are you doing, Jeanee?
I am great. Thank you so much for having me.
Absolutely, Jeanee. I am excited to have you here. We are in the capital of the United States for an exciting event. But before we get to that, let’s go back and tell people a little bit about you. Tell us a little bit about your childhood and what has brought you to where you are today.
I had a really amazing childhood. I lived between Connecticut and New Hampshire. We were constantly outside playing. We all learned to ski when we were one. It kind of comes in our DNA. Our mom put us on skis as soon as we could walk. Skiing has always been a part of our lives. We have skied all winter long. In fact, when we were kids, while everyone else went on summer holidays, we went to Chile to go skiing. Our grandmother brought our family to ski in Chile every summer. These experiences really shaped a lot of my upbringing and who I am today. I actually still compete professionally in halfpipe skiing. I compete on the World Cup tour for halfpipe skiing.
Halfpipe skiing. Tell us a little bit about that. Why not regular skiing, but halfpipe skiing?
I started out in the ski racer program as a kid and went up through there until I was about 12. Then my older sister, Jamie, switched to freestyle, and she and my mom kind of tricked me into signing up for a mogul competition. They were like, “There aren’t any other girls, and Jamie’s lonely, so you have to train with her.” I did that for two days, and they were like, “Oh, well, we signed you up and paid the deposit, so the competition is tomorrow.”
I actually liked it. I also followed Jamie into freestyle, and then I did all the events, and I ended up liking halfpipe the most. I grew up as a ballerina, and I think that translates really well to the spinning and creativeness that you can find in halfpipe skiing.
I never would have thought that skiing and creativity could go hand in hand, but I guess there is an art to it, right?
Yeah, especially in freestyle skiing where it is a judged sport. You are looking for individuality and what draws attention. There is also the level of difficulty, of course, but there is a lot more creativity than in ski racing or one of the other ski events.
Jeanee, we are here for a particular event tonight and you watched your sister go through something pretty terrifying. Tell us a little bit about your view of what happened to Jamie.
Sure. We were at World Tour finals in Whistler, Canada. It was the first year that I got invited, and I was really excited. I was supposed to compete the next day. I was watching Jamie compete. I gave her a hug and she started her run. From my position, I could see her go off the jump but I could not see her landing. Once we didn’t see her hit the next jump, we knew something had happened. Jamie’s coach and I were actually next to the ski patrol, and we could hear the radio say we need ‘all hands on deck and a helicopter stand by’. That immediately made me realize that it was a very bad accident, because for a normal torn ligament or maybe a collarbone, they have a ski patrol that takes you away.
I skied down right away and Jamie was convulsing on the snow, her eyes were completely rolled back in her head. She was almost seizing, and she already had all the color drained from her body. She had blood coming out of her mouth and she just looked like a zombie, like it was completely out of a horror movie. There was no humanity in her body at that point. They were able to intubate and IV her before moving her because at that time, Whistler Blackcomb had doctors on the hill, which is actually quite rare for ski resorts. Actually, the new ownership has stopped that practice because it was a more expensive practice. However, it literally was the first step in saving Jamie’s life — to be able to keep her breathing before moving her at all and stop her body from seizing.
Then the ski patrol manually pumped her breath and put her in a helicopter and brought her down to the Whistler Clinic. I wasn’t able to go into the helicopter, there wasn’t space. A volunteer took the coach and I down the chair lift.
I saw Jamie for about five minutes in the Whistler Clinic before they were putting her into the helicopter to take her to the Vancouver Hospital. We had to get some of our stuff, like our passports and clothes because it was apparent this was a very serious accident which had a high chance of claiming her life. I knew that I wasn’t coming back up to Whistler; I was going to the hospital.
During that car ride down, I got a phone call from the hospital from the social worker. She was really insistent on getting the contact for our parents and making sure that she was in contact with them. I thought that she was going to tell them that Jamie had died in the helicopter. She said the helicopter was just landing and she did not have an update yet. She needed to contact my parents because of the severity of the situation.
I have written a memoir that is currently unpublished about the occurrence. It goes really deep into that whole journey.
Comment on that please — what has the journey been like?
The journey has had its challenges. At the beginning, it was really tough. Once Jamie started to wake up and was more alert, it became enjoyable. Although she was not fully recovered yet, she was fun to be around — funny and giggly. She fixated on Taylor Swift’s song “Style,” and we even created a choreographed routine to it. We had visitors at the hospital, and I decorated Jamie’s room with photos. She had a stuffed animal Hammock, and our service dog came in for pet therapy with her. When Jamie was finally released from the hospital, things got a bit harder again. She thought she was fine, but she wasn’t fully recovered.
That first winter, our grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, and my mom had to travel between the two of them. When my mom wasn’t there, I, as a 19-year-old, ended up taking care of Jamie, who is actually my older sister. The roles were reversed.
I was also going back to competing, taking care of our pets, and managing the whole family. Things progressively got better as time went on. We stayed involved in the brain injury community, and we heard a lot of long-term depressing stories from others who had experienced concussions in their youth but were never advised to do anything about it. Now they were in their forties or fifties, suffering from daily migraines and losing their jobs — it’s really sad. We didn’t want that to be Jamie’s outcome. We were determined to keep pushing for her recovery until she was fully recovered.
We stayed in touch with her doctor in Vancouver and started helping other families there. We also worked with the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah, where we currently live. Every year, Jamie got better, and we wanted to stay involved in the brain injury community to share our story and how we used integrative medicine alongside Western medicine to support Jamie’s recovery. We also wanted to provide support to other families who may just need someone to talk to or vent about their experiences.
Caregiving for someone with a brain injury can become a full-time job overnight, and it’s important for caregivers to take care of themselves too — to eat well, sleep enough, and do things they love. For me, I am a well-rounded creative person, so I still made sure to focus on things I love and enjoy. In fact, I love fashion and designing, so I designed and sewed all of my dresses for our screening. Tomorrow night, I will be wearing a custom dress that I designed and sewed, and it’s probably my favorite one so far. I’m really excited about it!
You mentioned a couple of projects you are working on. You have the foundation, your project, and your book. Anything else you want to comment on?
Yes, I was definitely raised with a sense of responsibility. My grandmother was a journalist, and my mother was a teacher. I was raised to fix the problems I can’t accept in the world.
I also do climate activism work and work with a small country, named Vanuatu, in the South Pacific. They have an initiative being voted on this month at the United Nations to have the International Court of Justice provide an advisory opinion on the humanitarian effects of climate change. I got to go with their delegation to the start of the United Nations in September, as well as Climate Week in New York.
I also work as a licensed foster parent and advocate for putting the children first.
You briefly brought up the topic of self-care for caregivers, which I think is so important nowadays. Sadly, there’s a lot of disease out there, including cognitive diseases and physical disabilities. As a caregiver, what are a few tips you can give to other caregivers to make sure they stay wholesome so that they can take care of those they love?
It is kind of like they always say on the airplane, “Put on your oxygen mask first.” I know that I have struggled with that, but you can’t take care of others if you can’t function yourself. For example, if you like to paint, try to carve out half an hour, maybe starting with just once a week. If you notice that it’s fun to put on a movie and have the whole family watch it, then do that. That creating a positive memory, even if you are like, “Oh wow, screen time and all this.” With brain injury, there is a certain period when screen time can be very bad for brain development. However, it’s ok when you get past that timeframe.
It is appreciating the little things, like sitting on the grass with the sun shining and being able to take that moment, “Oh, this feels good.”
I like taking a breath, eating, and exercising is a big one as well. Our mom is getting her doctorate in mind-body medicine with a focus on brain injury recovery. As a family caregiver, you can end up with chronic illnesses from the stress of being that support person.
Therapy is also great. I see a therapist, Jamie sees a therapist, a lot of our family sees a therapist. Being involved in therapy can be really helpful, and just talking about it, being able to have people in life where you’re like, “Today was bad. Today was good.”
What is a word or a quote of wisdom that you want to share and leave our audience with?
I would say that so much more of the impossible is possible if you go out and work for it and fight for it. I like to say we shouldn’t be just anything we want. We should be everything we want because you can be a professional athlete and a clothing designer. You can be a parent; you can be a business person. We are in a really interesting part of history where with technology, with travel, there are a lot of things you can do and there are also a lot of things that need to be improved and we need people to stand up and make a difference in the world.
Where can people follow your journey?
My Instagram is JeaneeCraneMauzy, It is the same on Facebook, and our website is mocrazystrong.org. I love it when people reach out.
I appreciate your time, Jeanee. I wish you continued success with everything that you do, and I look forward to celebrating and making history with you.
Thank you. I’m so excited as well.
Thank you for your time. I wish you continued success — keep moving forward and always so positive.
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Jeanee Crane Mauzy Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.