Award winning deaf actress, author and activist Marlee Matlin has a message for everyone: Be courageous.

It is something she has had to practice her whole life.

The youngest woman to win a Best Actress Academy Award at 19 for her performance in the 1986 movie Children of A Lesser God and the only deaf person to ever win one, Matlin has taken her success from Hollywood, Broadway and television on the road in hopes of inspiring others to overcome obstacles.

Matlin has been almost totally deaf since she was 18 months old. But she said her parents -- in particular her mother -- refused to let her be handicapped. She attended mainstream schools, while enduring the taunts of hearing children.

But at the same time, she learned to overcome all the obstacles set in her path.

Matlin and her long-time interpreter Jack Jason spoke at the 4th Annual Invest In Women conference, sponsored by Financial Advisor and ETF Advisor magazines, recently in Houston.

“I know it seems unusual for me to speak to an audience like this,” she said of the more than 300 financial advisors, mostly women, who attended the conference, “but my story is universal. I’m proof that anything is possible if you set your minds to it.”

After she lost her hearing, Matlin said her parents “got busy, and asked questions, and refused to take no for an answer.” As she was growing up she was told it would be impossible for her to be a successful actress. After Children of A Lesser God came out, critics said she didn't deserve her Oscar for her lead role because it was her first movie. Then she was criticized by the deaf community for talking.

Her mentor, TV and movie star Henry Winkler, supported her every step of the way from early in her career, including taking her into his home for a couple of years.

“I was the houseguest who came for a weekend and never left,” Matlin said.

Winkler, who is dyslexic, understands overcoming obstacles, she said. Matlin and Burbank police officer Kevin Grandalski married in 1993 in Winkler's home. They have four children.

“I was facing barriers, but the real barriers were in my head,” Matlin said. “Henry helped me realize dreams come true if you believe in yourself,” adding her personal journey to enliven what could otherwise sound like a cliché. “Nothing happens unless you make it happen for yourself.”

Matlin related an experience in which she wrote to newspaper columnist Ann Landers. Landers had printed a letter from someone who said the loss of sight cuts you off from things, but the loss of hearing is worse because it cuts you off from people. Matlin wrote to Landers to tell her -- and the world -- that loss of hearing only cuts you off if you let it.

Matlin is an advocate for the deaf and for people with disabilities. She helped in the successful effort to get closed captioning on television, which she says helped level the field for the deaf. She also interpreted through American Sign Language the National Anthem at two Super Bowls.

In addition to her stage and movie work, she has had numerous recurring roles on television shows, including Seinfeld, The West Wing, and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

She is the author of fiction, Deaf Child Crossing, and of her autobiography, I’ll Scream Later.

Before her funny and irreverent talk at Invest In Women was finished, Matlin had the audience signing “courage, dreams, success,” which is sort of her motto.

“Disabilities are such a big part of everyday life” that everybody has to learn to overcome them, she said. “My life will always be about being an example.”