Disney’s Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul honored at the Race to Erase MS Gala

Disney CEO Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul opened up about her extraordinary journey to come to grips with multiple sclerosis on Friday evening as she was honored at the annual Race to Erase MS gala on Friday.

Bulochnikov-Paul spoke from the heart when she described the surprise of receiving the diagnosis. As a senior executive at Disney and a mother of three young sons, she was overwhelmed and concerned that her life was about to radically change. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects approximately 1 million Americans.

“I decided I wasn’t going to let MS define me. I’ve spent my entire career in communications. I know how to own a story. And I was definitely going to own mine,” Bulochnikov-Paul told the crowd at the Fairmont Century Plaza.

Bulochnikov-Paul, executive VP of communications at Disney, credited the support of her colleagues at Disney as key to her perseverance. She credited her boss, Dana Walden, Disney President and Chief Creative Officer, for going above and beyond and even attending a doctor’s appointment with her early on.

“Even though Dana is one of the busiest people in Hollywood, she showed up to my first doctor’s appointment with a notebook and a pen, like it was the most important meeting of her day,” Bulochnikov-Paul recalls. “After the appointment, she asked if I wanted to take some time off. I said, ‘No.’ Because what I needed at that moment was normalcy. And what she said next set me on the path that brought me here tonight.
She said, ‘MS don’t know what comes next.’ ”

Race to Erase MS is led by philanthropist Nancy Davis, who was diagnosed with the disease more than 30 years ago. Davis told it Variety that Bulochnikov-Paul’s experience is a sign of how much progress has been made in researching and understanding how to fight diseases, which affect different people in different ways.

In its extreme form, MS can severely limit a person’s mobility. Bulochnikov-Paul recalled telling her husband that one day she might have to walk with a cane, to which he responded, “Honey, your family will be your cane,” she said.

In the 1990s, there was very little information or medical research on the disease. Today, Bulochnikov-Paul is a shining example of how the condition is manageable for those fortunate enough to have a strong family and medical support systems around them, Davis said.

“It’s a disease that seems invisible to most people. I was told to go home and go to bed,” Davis said Variety. “It’s very important to educate people. Naomi has a demanding 24/7 job and is a mother of three. She just wanted to find a cure.”

Davis’ Race to Erase MS gala has raised more than $57 million for MS research since its launch in 1994. The nonprofit has supported research into drugs to control the disease, as well as long-term work on potential cures. Bulochnikov-Paul has been enriched by being involved in efforts to support MS research and care.

“In the end, none of us knows what will happen tomorrow. All we can do is choose how we live. You can live in fear or you can live in power,” she said. “Every day I choose the latter.”