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So there's a lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises.
So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need.
Now, a global workforce of 300,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94% of common questions. Not noise, proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create Smarter Business, IBM. And we continue with our American stories. And up next, we have the story of Chloe Howard.
Chloe has written two books and has spoken internationally. all before graduating high school. Here's Chloe. with her story. Uh I've had nine surgeries or nine main girl surgeries.
I. For the past 20 years, I have lived with a very severe congenital foot deformity.
So when I was born, my foot was upside down and backwards. I had my first surgery when I was six months old, and then my most recent surgery in December of 2018. And a large part of my identity was being. The girl that's different, you know, the one that Shows up to school in a bright pink cast, the one that has to ask older classmen in high school to like hold the door open for me so I can wheel myself through on a wheelchair. Crutches were something that I was very used to.
Was just used to being the person that was different, but my parents. because of their faith. The minute I was born, it just was this foundation of gratitude. It was like, wow, like she's here. I wasn't supposed to be born alive.
Wow, Chloe's here. And the foot, okay, interesting, a really cool curveball. We will get through this. Wow, how beautiful is this thing that we get to celebrate? How cool is this difference that we get to experience now?
I remember being very young, probably three or four, and looking out at my feet outstretched in front of me and being so. in awe of Just the way my feet looked, my growing collection of scars, and all the points on my toes where toenails should be but weren't. Consistently, I just. was proud of my feet and what they were going through and I do have these memories of going on daddy-daughter dates to see my surgeon and having kids in my classes want to always sign my casts. And it was kind of exciting having surgery sometimes because it was going back to this place that Felt familiar to me, which feels so strange to say, but as someone who spent so much time, like, With nurses and goofing around with surgeons and being in those physically compromising states.
It was this gentle familiarity, this very strange but acceptable rhythm of okay, this is different, and this is me living out this difference. As I got older, there were moments of me interacting with societal norms. I remember going to the pools in the summer and seeing all the little girls with like their colorful little toenail polish and being like, Okay, interesting. I don't have toenails to pay in colorful little shades, and so I would take Colored sharpies and make little dots on the end of my toes to like give the illusion that I had little colorful toenails. And then I'd have moments of clarity where I was like, oh, these are dots of colored Sharpie on my feet.
This looks very strange. I guess I'll just be toenail this for reals. as I've gotten older, very much recognize that Many aspects of my childhood looked different because my foot looked different. But also, there was so much love that I was surrounded by. I mean, I think it's very easy to play like the what-if game, you know?
I want to believe that I'm a very different Chloe because of the foot that I have. And who knows, I could be like... Super incredible soccer player, or something. If I didn't have a foot that functioned like a golf club, but that's not the case. My foot is very interesting, and the anatomy is very strange, and I will never be a fantastic soccer player, but my childhood was very full.
And it wasn't until something happened when I was 14 that those main ideas about myself shifted. When I was 14, I was the victim of assault hate crime because of my foot deformity. November twentieth, twenty fourteen. I was attending a private Christian high school. I was very excited to be at.
I had never been to like a big private school like that. I was eating lunch with some of my friends in the big outdoor quad area and was approached by two individuals who said like Chloe come here. And I was like, okay, because they were like cool kids, you know. I was like, so excited. I thought they would ask me a question about school or something.
And I was like, okay, this is like my social inn. And so I walked over to the table right next to mine where they and their friends had been sitting. And one of the people said, Chloe, take off your shoe. I was so confused, I couldn't really process the question. I was like...
Oh. What? And again, the person said, Chloe, take off your shoe. And then they turned to their friends and said, She doesn't have any toenails. And I remember thinking like Oh, this is not a normal social interaction that I'm having right now.
This doesn't Feel right, I don't like this feeling in me. You know, later I look back and recognize that that was one of my first experiences with the concept of consent. What happens when someone else tries to tell your story for you? I felt naked and it felt strange. I'd never been ashamed of my foot before.
I'd always been okay with telling that story, but in that moment, someone else was telling it for me and it didn't feel good. Again, the person said, Chloe, take off your shoe. And I said, no, you know, I'm okay. Take off your shoe. No, thanks, I'm good.
Take off your shoe. No, I don't want to. And then another person said, okay, fine. I'll come help and so The two people, one was knelt on the ground untying my shoe, and the other came from behind me and wrapped their arms around me. I froze.
I didn't know that I was allowed to lash out. I didn't know that I was allowed to just walk away. I. I thought only about what people would think of me, and I didn't want to be the girl that kicked and screamed. I didn't want to be the girl that walked away.
And on the security footage, you can see me just standing there. This person. Knelt beside me, untying my shoe, removing the laces completely. You can see this other person standing behind me, their arms around me. And then you can see them squat and lift me up off the ground.
So the first person can remove my shoe and then my sock, and then they pull my leg up. And hold it out. All their friends lean in, and I'm just there. Not moving. I remember sitting on the stand in trial.
In the middle of testifying, like watching this clip from the security footage, and I look so rigid. and all these heads lean in and Then they release me and I grab my shoe and I grab my sock and I stuff my foot and my sock and my sock in my shoe and I walk back to my table that's five feet away and sit down. All the emotional weight that this foot has carried for me and will continue to carry for me throughout my life. All of that was revealed. Following that day in November of 2014, I became someone that I didn't recognize.
I quickly became depressed. My anxiety became very large, very pronounced. Couldn't sleep. I had a hard time eating. I began struggling with suicidal ideation.
This Thing that existed, my feet, they used to be this thing that I was so proud of. And all of a sudden, There was this Big, huge gaping Hole where that like love and acceptance and pride for those feet had been. I looked down at my feet every day when I was putting on socks and shoes, and I was reminded that my feet caused this incident to happen. And we're listening to Chloe Howard share her story. She had gone through life right up to the age of 14 with a remarkable attitude about her foot.
deformity. until of course that day of hate. After that day, she said I became someone I couldn't recognize. When we come back, what happens next with Chloe Howard? Here.
on our American story. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high-free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work.
It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the SP 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com/slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash podcast, paid for by Public Investing.
Brokerage services by Open to the Public Investing Inc., member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory Services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com/slash disclosures.
It's tax season, and by now, I know we're all a bit tired of numbers. But here's an important one you need to hear. $16 billion. That's how much money and refunds the IRS flagged for possible identity fraud. Here's another one.
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Using Zumo to stream music from iHeart90s radio is easy. Or play iHeart Country Classics radio or hip-hop beats. Your choice, all for free. Stream easy with Zumo Play. Get live and on-demand entertainment with no logins, no signups, no accounts, no hassle.
Get cozy on the couch and binge your favorite movies like The Cable Guy starring Jim Carrey, The Bounty Hunters starring Jennifer Aniston, and more all streaming free on Zumo Play. Go to play.zumo.com now. Life is hard. Zumo is easy. And we return to Our American Stories and Chloe Howard's story.
She'd been a victim of a hate crime due to her foot deformity. she had begun withdrawing into herself. She was filled with shame. and anxiety. We return now to Chloe.
for the rest of her story. The case just appeared on the DA's desk one morning and 'Cause she Met with my family initially. and said This to me reads like a rape case. But then she said, you know You were touched when you didn't want to be touched. Articles of clothing were removed when you didn't want them to be removed.
You said no, and those no's weren't heard. Then, looking at your behavior following the event, you You withdrew within yourself. You began to doubt your own story. You started to struggle with PTSD, and that manifested itself in a very physical way. You were nauseous.
You were sweaty whenever you saw these people. Your body was shaking. You couldn't eat. You couldn't sleep. This reads like a rape case, Chloe.
And I mean these were very large statements to hear. at 14 and It just wrote this narrative that then followed me for the next two years through the Court case and the trial. Several months after my assault, my dad, apparently on his Facebook feed, he had entered to win this random contest. He had donated to an organization called Red because he really likes the band U2. And then, randomly, several months after this assault, he got an email that he had.
won this event and he was brought onto a FaceTime call. And it was this representative from a company called Omaze that had partnered with Red to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS and also to sponsor an event that could enable someone to meet Bono. My dad had won out of like thousands and thousands of people that had won, and we're not a family that wins anything ever. It seems very weird to say that as something that's significant, but. In this time where I felt so lost, I didn't understand what my God was doing with.
my story i just didn't get it there was this like bright exciting thing that happened and so about six months after my assault was like the time when the event my dad had won happened and so he and i because he decided to take me flew out to denver colorado and met bono the lead singer of the band youtube backstage we started talking and i ended up telling him my story about my clubfoot and about my assault and about how one of his songs had been really influential to me during this time and he looked at me this like incredible short irish man wearing all leather just exuding energy and passion he looked at me and he was like chloe your voice matters chloe he quoted martin luther king jr he said the arc of the universe bends towards justice and love and when you speak chloe you speak for those who cannot speak for themselves And I now, at age 15, I was like, oh, okay. I guess when Bono says something like that, you like. Have to do something about it.
So that was like. This very random, very crazy, weird kickstart event where an Irish rock star was like, Chloe, maybe you should start speaking about this. Growing up, I was super shy. I was 10 out of 10 an introvert. I was like the kid that sat on the edge of the playground and watched everyone else play.
But I felt this thing inside of me that was like. I don't like how I feel right now. I don't like sitting in this hole. I don't. Like feeling lost and separate from myself.
I don't like it. I need to do something about it. I don't want to feel stuck like this forever.
So, one night when I was supposed to be doing homework, I applied to give a TED talk. Definitely one of the most reckless things I've ever done in my entire life. I applied without telling my parents and Four months later, I got an email saying I had been accepted to give a TED talk and I Panicked immediately. I was like, oh, this is not good. I am not prepared for this.
I should not have done this.
Now I have to give a TED Talk. And so the next eight weeks I spent Writing 16 minutes of material and completely memorizing it, and falling in love with this developing message of self-acceptance and love and anti-bullying. And it became this idea that I named Stand Beautiful. For me, Stand Beautiful meant that you were standing on a beautiful foundation and you were. Actively and continually redefining beauty for yourself because of who you are.
And ooh. not like what others said that you were.
So on August 20th, 2016, I walked out. Onto this TED stage, having never spoken in front of an audience ever, and I stood there barefoot on that like iconic red circle-shaped carpet and Spoke, and for the first time in those two years since the assault, I felt all the power that was taken from me in my assault was given right back. From that initial TED Talk, I started getting a lot of feedback, a lot of like, Chloe, come speak at my event. Come speak at my church. Can I interview you on my show?
And all of a sudden, it was. me realizing that this was so much larger than myself. Mm. During this time, still, I, a California district attorney, had decided to prosecute the perpetrators and try them for a felony hate crime. And so I was.
Going through trial, I was sitting on the stand and having to testify while watching security footage of my assault play on repeat and. in trial, my truth being questioned by like Very old professional men. I mean, it was terrifying. I was. Taught, I think, in those moments where I was sitting there fighting to get these defense attorneys to just recognize that I was telling the truth.
I realized how important it is for us as people to just trust that our experience is our reality, to say words and believe their power. It wasn't until I was sitting there on the stand. Having people try and find holes in my story, trying to assign a timeline and say, well, it couldn't have been assault, it couldn't have ripping off your shoe if the video says that it took more seconds than the term ripped would allow. All these little things that made me feel less than worth it. It was in those moments that I.
decided that I wanted to exist as someone who contained power. And I remember walking out of the The juvenile hall that the Trial was held in, and feeling so beaten down, but also alive, like this energy was racing through me. They were ultimately sentenced with a misdemeanor battery, which is an unlawful touching. I carried the weight of the assault for many years. And it wasn't until the last perpetrator was finally sentenced that that I felt like It was right for me to let go.
I think that forgiveness is one of the most divine things we as people have access to. And because it's this sacred Interaction of grace and justice, I believe that forgiveness should not be rushed. When it's rushed, it risks being Ingenuine. But when the perpetrators were sentenced, I felt finally at peace enough with the situation to forgive my perpetrators. I've learned and the past couple years of sharing this story that Vulnerability is met with vulnerability.
And whenever I show up and Share the story. people do come up to me and they Share a story similar, or that reminded them of it, or something they're currently going through, and I. It feels so Humbled and honored, and grateful to be a part of that journey. And the fact that they trust me with these stories doesn't make sense to me because this life, again, like it isn't easy, but when we talk about it and are able to share the harder things we're going through, it becomes that much easier. One of my most favorite things to come out of this is.
finding this community of people with club feet. Growing up was super Isolating having a clubfoot because I didn't know anyone else that had a clubfoot, especially one as severe as mine.
Now, I know people all around the world that have feet that look like mine and have had the same surgeries as mine. The same scars that I do, and I think it's this powerful, like, illustration of this metaphorical truth that, like, we all have scars. But when we become okay with the fact that scars are just these really special manifestations of pain that we've overcome, that's when crazy cool things happen. But I do know that. Even though It's My name on the spines of those books, and it is my face that.
has been seen on T V like it's not about me. It just happened to be me and my foot. We all have scars, she said. and their special manifestations of pain overcome. The story of Chloe Howard.
Here. on our American story. This is Julian Edelman from Games with Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time.
And one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete my identity is something I am proud of. But I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words.
And sometimes standing next to someone is enough. And you can show support by sharing the blue square. It's tax season, and by now, we're all a bit tired of numbers. But here's an important one you need to hear: $16 billion. That's how much money and refunds the IRS flagged for possible identity fraud.
But it's not all grim news. LifeLock monitors millions of data points per second and alerts you to threats you could easily miss on your own. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it. Guaranteed. Save up to 40% your first year.
Visit lifelock.com/slash iHeart. Terms apply. Secrets, lies, infidelity, deceit. What happens when the person you love the most turns out not to be who you think they are? Your Sunday nights just got a lot more interesting because the number one hit podcast Betrayal is now a primetime TV show.
I implore you to watch Betrayal, Secrets and Lies, Sundays at 10 p.m. 9 Central on ABC and stream on Disney Plus and Hulu. Every Sunday, a new story of staggering betrayal. Life gets messy. Spills, stains, head accidents, and kid chaos.
But with Anibay, cleaning up is easy. Our sofas are fully machine washable, inside and out, so you never have to stress about messes again. Made with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics, that means fewer stains and more peace of mind. Designed for real life, our sofas feature changeable fabric covers, allowing you to refresh your style anytime. Need flexibility?
Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa effortlessly. Perfect for cozy apartments or spacious homes. Plus, they're earth-friendly and built to last. That's why over 200,000 happy customers have made the switch. Upgrade your space today.
Sofas start at just $699. Visit washablefas.com now and bring home a sofa made for life. That's washablesofas.com. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Okay.
