The power of connection: Brad and Dan: In business, in friendship 

It’s not everyone who can say they are in a business partnership with their best friend. 

Yet that is the case for Brad Heaven and Dan O’Connor from All Access Life. From winning awards like the 2018 OSEntreprendre regional business competition, and most recently, being chosen to be on the first ever Forbes Accessibility 100, and then invited to speak at Cannes Lions Festival in France on a Forbes panel discussion on accessibility, Heaven and O’Connor are an unstoppable team. 

The pair first met in 2010 when O’Connor applied to be an aide at John Rennie High School (Lester B. Pearson School Board). Though Heaven is non-verbal and has dyskinetic cerebral palsy, “I never let it hold me back,” he shared in the All Access Life promo video, communicating through an eye-tracking and speech-generating device. 

O’Connor said, “I’m always on the hunt for assistive technology options to help Brad live life to the fullest.” In realizing there was no one centralizing site, they decided to fill that niche - enter All Access Life. The non-profit “one-stop shop,” as described by Heaven was launched in 2019, featuring reviews of items ranging from adapted utensils to weighted vests for various forms of disability. 

They rigged up a system so that every time they got a new subscriber, a light would go off. At first, there was only the occasional flicker - until the day they reviewed the Xbox Adaptive Controller for gamers with limited mobility. “It was suddenly like a disco!” said O’Connor. 

When they are not strutting their stuff on the award red carpet (they also won Inspirations’ inaugural Simon Chang Difference Maker Award in 2020), Heaven and O’Connor promote their work through speaking engagements and running marathons, including one on World Cerebral Palsy Day. Sporting their “No Limits” merchandise, Heaven walks the final two kilometers in a gait trainer. 

“We bring out the best in each other,” reflected O’Connor. “Most people assume I’m helping Brad, but he helps me just as much, if not more.” They share the frustration of individuals only talking to O’Connor or speaking louder and slower to Heaven. “People think just because I’m not verbal that I can’t understand,” said Heaven. “I hate being treated like a child.” If someone asks O’Connor what Heaven would like to order, he requests that they ask him directly. 

Together, the All Access Life team is empowering others and shattering assumptions about abilities. “It’s us against the world!” said Heaven.