NDEAM Profile: Ricky Bouley – Former Chef Pivots to Retail with Help from SPINALpedia

Injured after a long career in the food industry, Ricky Bouley, an incomplete quadriplegic with a TBI, had to find a new career post-injury, but that’s not easy when you love your old career. But Bouley set off and found a new job within the Sam Walton brand at WalMart, and discovered he absolutely thrives in the retail world.

But his employment transition had some bumps along the way. After making too much money and receiving a scary letter from Social Security saying he owed over $20,000, he connected with SPINALpedia and was able to get the payment request rescinded. Read on for his successful disability employment story.

Chef Career + Injury

Bouley had an outdoorsy Minnesota childhood from pulling trees with a John Deere tractor off his parent’s property to riding motocross while trapping gophers. “I was 12 years old when I first rode my YZ80 Motocross bike with a backpack completely full of traps,” he says. “I trapped gophers in the sand dunes area of Sherburne County, Minnesota for $0.50 cents.” “I was motivated to earn money to help pay for parts for my motorcycle every time I crashed.”

By the time he was in 10th grade, he knew what he wanted his future career to be, and it wasn’t outdoors. “I had to write a paper in my Careers Class. Anyone who knew me then knew I was determined to be an Executive Chef. I was 22 years old when I became an Executive Chef at a very expensive seafood restaurant. This was definitely the start of an amazing career pattern,” says Bouley.

“Next, I crossed the country from the north to the south and landed in Greenville, South Carolina, where I was the Executive Chef for the Greenville Hilton and Tower’s Hotel.” Bouley’s career over the following 35 years went on to be a huge success.

“I spent 13 of those 35 years employed in Minnesota at two well established casinos.” “I truly enjoyed, but was not phased over, meeting famous performers (at the summer shows) and I found cooking for many of them enjoyable. I have signed autograph pictures from the Doobie Brothers to Chef Rick, and I’ve met Howie Mandell five times in three different states.”

Bouley also remained active outdoors. “No matter the season I made time for some form of recreation, such as downhill skiing and slalom water skiing. My female partner and I ended up in Princeton, Minnesota where we raised horses. This is where I lived when tragedy changed my life forever.’”

Chores on a farm can often lead to injury, which was the case with Bouley. He was injured while moving hay with his four-wheeler in 2018. “I had put out roughly 500 bales of hay in a semi-trailer storage. The next day I crashed my 700cc four-wheeler. I was found by someone who had gotten lost on our gravel road. That someone, Karen Lood, just happened to be knowledgeable in the medical field and acted quickly. She called 911 to request a helicopter and held my scalp together.”

After his injury he spent up to two years at various rehabilitation institutes and finally found his own apartment in 2020, which had an accessible gym and led to him discovering a new passion – Adaptive CrossFit. He soon found a CrossFit gym with inclusive coaches and before he knew it he was competing in North Carolina at the Wheelwod Games for adaptive CrossFit where he placed 2nd in 2022 and 3rd in 2023.

Bumpy Start to New Job Post-Injury, But Helped by SPINALpedia

Finding a new career however was something Bouley still wanted to do as well, and CrossFit gave him the confidence to take a chance and apply at WalMart, where he was hired as a Hardlines Associate. “This includes sporting goods, hardware, automotive, toys, and fabrics. I love my job,” he says.

Unfortunately after working there, Bouley received a letter stating he owed the government $22,500. “Before working, I was told I could make as much money as I could as I was on some type of trial basis. I didn’t know exactly what that meant,” he says. “Fortunately, while at a CrossFit competition in Raleigh, NC, I met Jesi Stracham.” “We were talking when I told her about the mess I was in and she said that she had gone through the same thing and told me I needed to contact a couple people and sent me the link to Josh and Heather.”

“And they went into action for me,” says Bouley. “I was close to 6 months without a Social Security check and I had to pay my health insurance out of pocket. Josh and Heather were able to get everything straightened out. I am grateful, for it ended up getting me reimbursed for the months that I did not receive a Social Security payment. They also coached me on how many hours I could work along with the other services that they provide.”

“I have learned a lot of things in life the hard way. But please, you do not have to. This is definitely a saving grace guide on my voyage helping me financially. Truly, the word needs to get out to all of the recovery programs throughout all of the 50 states. We have enough to deal with through our trials from the spinal cord injury (and with me a brain injury). Josh and Heather definitely took a lot of my worries away. People definitely need to know about the services that SPINALpedia provides so they can catch it early enough.”

Now financially settled, Bouley is thinking about taking on another job – helping others with spinal cord injuries. “I have been told many times that I am an inspiration to others. Most of the people in my gym have seen me struggle a lot at first and now I am in pretty good health.” “Susan and Glenn, my CrossFit coaches, have pushed me which continues to strengthen me every day.”