1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,160
Rebecca Prejean, please, Rebecca, tell me about your vision.

2
00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,360
So my ultimate vision for business and life

3
00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:14,040
is that everybody has the right to learn without disclosing

4
00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,320
their actual disability or their challenges.

5
00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,720
As people, as humans, we all want to learn.

6
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:20,840
We all want to get better.

7
00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:22,520
We all want to succeed.

8
00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:24,880
But nobody should be forced to disclose

9
00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,400
that they have autism or ADHD or anything like that.

10
00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,200
We really should have a much more inclusive perspective

11
00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,960
and a much more open-minded perspective about the world

12
00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:35,720
that we live in.

13
00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,640
And that's in life and in business.

14
00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,120
So my vision for my business and everything else

15
00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:42,920
is to make sure that everyone is supported,

16
00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,840
no matter what you're coming to the table with.

17
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:46,840
That's incredible.

18
00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,800
So you're like subtly breaking down the walls inside

19
00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:51,640
of the workplace that are preventing somebody

20
00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,440
from being on the same level as the next person.

21
00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:55,040
Exactly.

22
00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:56,360
And sometimes it's subtle.

23
00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:58,400
And sometimes it's not.

24
00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,720
It just depends on the business and kind of where they're at.

25
00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,400
But ultimately, we encourage people

26
00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,320
to start building these things into their foundation.

27
00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:11,920
And it's not just good for the employees.

28
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:13,000
It's good for business.

29
00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,800
It's good business practice overall.

30
00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:16,720
Absolutely.

31
00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:18,200
That's great.

32
00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,400
So where did your vision come from?

33
00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:22,240
Where did that start?

34
00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,560
What was the originate?

35
00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,920
Honestly, it started for me becoming a mom.

36
00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,520
I have a seven-year-old, almost eight-year-old son

37
00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:32,360
at this point.

38
00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:34,400
And he is actually autistic.

39
00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:35,760
He's on the spectrum.

40
00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:36,800
He is verbal.

41
00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:38,640
He does struggle in social situations.

42
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,720
So there are a lot of the more common traits

43
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,080
and characteristics that people are aware of with autism

44
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:45,800
that he does deal with.

45
00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,520
For me, however, I was already working in L&D,

46
00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,680
learning in development, when I was pregnant with him

47
00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:53,120
and when I had him.

48
00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,240
And as he got older and things started to change

49
00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,800
and he was diagnosed at around the age of four,

50
00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,400
we started to see that it was hard for him to get services.

51
00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:03,840
It was hard for him to be supported.

52
00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,520
It was hard for him to really get the things

53
00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,960
that he needed to get from school

54
00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,160
and other kind of settings.

55
00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,960
And so what we wanted to do was try

56
00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,120
to create a world, a program through my business,

57
00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,360
where people who are adults who are experiencing

58
00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,520
these same things actually are supported

59
00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:27,080
and don't have to struggle.

60
00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,360
We had to call school districts

61
00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,560
and really, really rally to get him support.

62
00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:35,320
And that's not something that we'd want people

63
00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,520
to have to experience in their workplaces,

64
00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,800
where they go to make money and they go to be successful

65
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,800
and they go to take care of their families.

66
00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,560
It's already stressful enough sometimes at work.

67
00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,200
And so if you're not able to learn,

68
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,560
if you're not able to get what you need,

69
00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,680
it's almost an uphill battle that you can't really win.

70
00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:58,720
Right.

71
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,560
And to me, it sounds like you are playing a key role

72
00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,240
on making sure that everybody's on the same starting platform

73
00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,000
at least or getting there.

74
00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:07,920
Yeah, that is absolutely the goal,

75
00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:10,800
is to try to make sure that everybody is on

76
00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,720
as level of a playing field as possible

77
00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,520
when they get started.

78
00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:16,400
Absolutely.

79
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,440
So I know you talked about having your son

80
00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,120
and that kind of kickstarted you into the,

81
00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:23,600
you were already in the learning and development,

82
00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:25,560
but having your son kind of kickstarted you

83
00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:27,160
into this phase of it.

84
00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,040
What's your why for getting into it?

85
00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:32,640
Is it just your son or is there more to that?

86
00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:34,200
There is a little more to it.

87
00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,240
I was a facilitator at the time

88
00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:39,640
that I had him and everything.

89
00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:40,800
And like I said, he wasn't diagnosed

90
00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,040
until around the age of three or four.

91
00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,640
And I think my why was really more

92
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,640
of an introspective moment

93
00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,400
because ultimately what I started to realize

94
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,040
in the company was we would have people in training,

95
00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,560
they would struggle, they would leave,

96
00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:00,640
they would do all of these things.

97
00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:02,200
And at some point it became a,

98
00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,760
well, they just can't cut it kind of thing.

99
00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,840
And so we never really looked outside of that

100
00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,440
into a place of, you know,

101
00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:13,480
maybe it's something we're doing.

102
00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,040
And for me, it really became a moment

103
00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,840
when I had him and all the things were happening

104
00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:20,440
and he was not meeting milestones

105
00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,520
and we had some suspicions of autism

106
00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,520
that no, the problem is us.

107
00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:28,560
And in a lot of ways, the problem is me.

108
00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:33,560
And that was a very hard thing to really sit with.

109
00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,280
Like that is a difficult thing for anybody to sit with.

110
00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:38,960
No, the problem is me because I'm looking at it

111
00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,520
through a very neurotypical lens.

112
00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,440
I'm looking at it through almost a selfish lens

113
00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:45,560
in some ways.

114
00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:49,880
And for me, the why really became,

115
00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,880
or really was stemming from that moment of,

116
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,640
no, the problem is us and we should be better

117
00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:56,880
and we can do better.

118
00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:58,520
And in life, I was raised,

119
00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:00,640
if you know better, you do better.

120
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:02,480
I'm from an army family.

121
00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:04,800
So essentially it's,

122
00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:06,840
if you know that there's something that needs to be done,

123
00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:09,400
if you know you can do better, go do better.

124
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,600
And I mean, just all of that together

125
00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:13,480
really became my life.

126
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:14,320
Absolutely.

127
00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:16,680
It's a crazy jump to take.

128
00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:18,680
And I feel like everybody has that problem

129
00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,800
whenever it comes to seeing if what is the issue,

130
00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:23,300
if the problem is within yourself

131
00:05:23,300 --> 00:05:25,600
or if the problem is outside something you can work with

132
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:26,800
or try and work around.

133
00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:28,080
But if the problem is within yourself,

134
00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:30,320
a lot of times people will hit that mental wall

135
00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,620
and they're like, no, how am I the problem?

136
00:05:32,620 --> 00:05:34,160
I'm never the problem.

137
00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:35,800
I'm perfect in my own eyes.

138
00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:37,640
And people a lot of the times hit that.

139
00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,640
So congratulations on hitting that wall and saying, okay,

140
00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,440
we need to figure out a way to work around this

141
00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:43,800
because I am the problem here.

142
00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:45,640
I congratulate you on that.

143
00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:47,680
Yeah, it's a hard moment,

144
00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,480
but I think in business and in life,

145
00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,200
we've got to get past that if we can,

146
00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,160
because it really does hinder a lot of progress

147
00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,320
for ourselves and for others really.

148
00:05:58,320 --> 00:05:59,720
Thank you for being here today.

149
00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,200
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.

150
00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,840
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions

151
00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,120
as these episodes continue to move forward.

152
00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:08,840
This is gonna get more and more fun.

153
00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:10,640
We'll have more and more engagement as well.

154
00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:12,760
We'll invite people to participate in the show.

155
00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,120
And thank you for giving us your time and attention.

156
00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,840
Have an excellent time building out your vision

157
00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:36,840
and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.