You don’t earn partnerships with companies like Google, Toyota and Clinique and build a base of 2 million followers across social media by taking it easy, but one of the top lessons Marcela Marañon has learned working as a lifestyle and travel content creator is that it’s all for naught if you don’t take care of your body. 

So instead of waking up at the break of dawn to work on editing content, when I spoke with her, she was enjoying a late breakfast of avocado toast and matcha tea and letting her body recover from a bad case of jet lag in the kitchen of her Dallas home.  

“I am always traveling, and my body is always tired,” she says. “I have learned that I have to listen to my body and give it the time for rest. When I’m traveling, that’s when I’m working. When I am home, it’s my recovery time. I do things that are going to benefit me.” 

Whatever regimen Marañon adheres to is working for her. Thanks to her savvy marketing and entertaining editing, she has established herself as one of the leading lifestyle and travel content creators who uses a wheelchair. Her content, under the moniker of @thejourneyofabravewoman, reaches millions of viewers every month and has provided a comfortable life for her and her daughter.  

Among her many accomplishments, she has traveled to all seven wonders of the world, is the first Latina wheelchair user to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, and has won numerous awards for her content, including an Emmy. As much as she enjoys being a creator, she values her advocacy work even more. 

“What inspired me to create content was the desire to empower others, share diverse perspectives and show that everyone, no matter their circumstances, has a valuable story to tell,” she says. 

Marañon’s story as a wheelchair user began when was paralyzed in a car accident at age 20 in 2002. Her story as a content creator started in 2014 when she was studying communications at Austin Peay State University. Her professor encouraged her to come up with a brand name to market herself. She instantly knew what to choose. 

“I always wanted to make a book and call it, ‘The Journey of a Brave Woman,’” she says. “I have always considered myself untamed and brave. Whether it’s traveling internationally on my own or succeeding as a single mom, I just go and do it. You have to be fearless, especially with a disability. Even if something bad happens, I will always learn from that.” 

She started posting on Instagram in 2017. Her initial content mostly focused on lifestyle brands, but she slowly shifted to creating more travel content as she saw the need and desire for more accessibility information. While she occasionally partners with travel brands and destinations and has her accommodations comped, she usually foots the bill herself. “It’s very important to stay true to myself and not just sell myself because they pay me a check,” she says. “Accessible travel isn’t cheap, and it’s important to show people how I can travel without breaking the bank.” 

Between destinations, brand events and other public opportunities, Marañon is constantly on the go. Keeping ahead of the demand for content is critical. 

“I have so much content uploaded that people haven’t even seen on social media,” she says. “So if something happened to me for a year and I cannot work or I cannot travel, I have enough all ready.” 

Marañon still finds time to engage with her online followers and says she has been fortunate to have a mostly positive and supportive community. “I want to be surrounded by people that really like my work and really love who Marcela, is” she says. “I don’t care if I only have 10 followers, as long as these 10 followers wish me well, because that’s good energy for me.” 

Marañon draws more support from her college-age daughter and credits being a disabled mom with getting her where she is today. 

“Being a disabled mom helped me to just wake up every morning, breathe in, and be appreciative of what I have — my daughter and my health. Every time I woke up and I felt healthy, I was able to go outside and work and do the things that I wanted to do and take care of my daughter.” 

Five years of heavy traveling have taken a toll on Marañon’s body, but she’s not ready to retire the luggage just yet. She didn’t want to reveal exactly what she has planned but said she is looking forward to spending more time in Europe and upping her advocacy involvement. 

“I have to pay my bills,” she says, “but I am not desperate anymore to get anybody’s attention or to try to get a trophy or something like that. I feel like I have matured and I am a place in my life where I do what I want to do. Nobody’s telling me what to do.” 

Clockwise from top left: Marañon was 20 when she was paralyzed in a car accident. Some of her earliest online content focused on her usage of a ReWalk exoskeleton. No matter how busy her schedule is, Marañon finds time to advocate, shown here at United Spinal’s Roll on Capitol Hill. Raising her daughter as a disabled mom has been a source of strength and inspiration for Marañon.