Our Story
Everyone has a story. This one started when our son got kicked in the head.
He was 13 and at school, lying on the carpet watching a video. He has Tourette's Syndrome, so his body regularly twitches. Another kid in class was aggravated by the movements and tried to put a stop to them.
Through the years, our son has been held down, sat on, and restrained by various other kids “testing” to see if he can control his tics. (Spoiler alert: he can’t.) He’s learned to live with his Tourette’s but it’s a challenge he faces every day. Like many others who face different forms of prejudice, he is judged for his physical appearance and actions before he ever opens his mouth. People decide what he can and can’t do. What he is and isn’t like. He’s constantly underestimated because of a hardship he was born with.
He doesn’t let it slow him down, though. He overperforms and forgives and makes friends. He laughs along with the jokes and makes his own. He’s kind and empathetic and loves pretty much everyone.
His greatest struggle is getting others to understand his journey. Every time he enters a new classroom (or team or club or new situation), he has to explain his condition and hope others are willing to listen.
He’s not a huge fan of teachers asking him to give a speech at the front of the classroom, so he started making notecards to hand out. One day, while playing the card game War at our kitchen table, he had the idea to mix teachable information into the game, and BRAVER was born.
We know that everyone has a unique journey, so we created BRAVER as a way for people to talk with each other and express theirs. Our hope is that by sharing experiences, players will gain more understanding about the difficulties we all face moving through life.
Of course, the questions in BRAVER can’t address everything (although with Expansion Packs, we’ll try!). Aside from Tourette’s, our family’s lived experiences include living with anxiety and depression, OCD, traumatic brain injury, and body issues, as well as poverty, sexism, classism, a not-so-smooth immigration experience, an unmistakable accent, divorce, suicide, and LGBT+ challenges. We’ve been blessed, however, to not have first-hand experience with sexual assault, racism, homelessness, addiction, cancer, religious persecution, ageism, or a thousand other obstacles. As such, we spent 5 years before we printed a single card consulting with experts and assembling an amazing Advisory Board to ensure our products are as universal and intersectional as possible.
It’s not easy to open up to others about our own experiences or open our heart to theirs, but if we’re all a little more patient, a little more willing to listen, and a little BRAVER, we can come together and realize we’re all on the same team. And when we do that, we’ll all win.
