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Thomas Wilson, tell me about your vision.

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So my vision is really to make sure

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that the community has access to high quality events,

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high quality stories that don't just entertain

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and enlighten, but to also emphasize the understanding

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that if you have sensory needs

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or you want to experience something outside the norm,

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or if you have a family member who is not gonna do well

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in a big social setting, that they can go to a space,

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they can experience the world of stories

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through a variety of means from public speak

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to Dungeons and Dragons and so much more

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in a space that's gonna honor them,

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that's gonna respect them and is going to treat them

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not as if they're just their diagnosis or their need,

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that they're a person that is a part of the community

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that deserves to be treated as a whole person.

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That's a beautiful vision.

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So let's see here, there's a couple of questions

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I wanna segue to on that.

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One of them is where did your vision come from?

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My vision came from my own experiences

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with sensory needs, with mental health, their diversity.

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I've got a whole long list, we don't have time for me

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to dive into all of my diagnosis,

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but it really comes from living in those communities

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and experiencing a lot of systems that were quote unquote,

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supposed to work that were designed to help people like me,

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but ultimately failed me from the school system,

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from friends to even state-run organizations.

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And it really, from those moments,

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I learned that there are a lot of systems

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in place that don't work,

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but they also don't honor all of who a person is.

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So as I grew older, as I really started sharing my story,

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I knew a big part of my life is that I wanted to be able

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to deliver the care, the compassion and the empathy

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that my community deserves, but also in a creative,

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unique and empowering way that mixes multiple genres,

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multiple forms of media into a world

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that I knew that I deserved.

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I knew my friends that were struggling deserved,

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and it really comes from those moments of pain,

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but also those moments of resounding joy

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where I found things that really impacted

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and worked well for me.

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Wow.

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Thomas, what is the story behind your why?

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So I grew up as a young kid.

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I had various mental health needs.

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I wasn't diagnosed until I was eight.

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And I often say that diagnosis in the United States

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is a very rocky journey.

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It's something that is not definitive for a lot of people.

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They think they have an answer.

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It turns out it could be wrong.

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But I grew up in that.

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I've had a lot of loss in my life as well.

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So as a kid struggling with mental health

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and not really knowing how to understand it,

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not really knowing how to advocate for myself,

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I spent a lot of my time when I was about four or five,

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I was told I was a prodigy.

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By the time I was 10, my teachers hated me

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and I was viewed as a problem in my school system.

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That carried out through a lot of different programs.

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And I learned really quickly as a kid

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with mental health needs and diversity, a variety of things,

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it's really hard to advocate for yourself

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when people aren't just telling you

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you're a monster or you're a problem,

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but when you're experiencing those complicated emotions,

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we often tell a lot of youth and a lot of families,

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people are trying to tell you one thing,

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but when you're fighting your brain,

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it won't be able to be communicated

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the way a lot of people want it to.

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So I spent a lot of time dealing with

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structures that didn't work.

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I spent a lot of time being ostracized

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based on my behavior.

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And as I grew older, I learned something really powerful,

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which was that I have a unique ability to communicate

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when I really put the effort in.

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And I have a story that resonates with a lot of people.

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So I went into college, something schools told me

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I would never be able to achieve.

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I ended up in as a reading tutor for school

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in the Wilmington school system, which was amazing,

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but through the program I was in,

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there were some complications with my manager.

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That actually sparked a deep introspective dive

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into how broken the United States employment structure in.

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And even now to this day, I do a lot of work in that.

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I've had a lot of experiences with someone

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with mental health needs and how broken

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the American mindset of work is.

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And throughout a variety of processes

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that we don't have time to get into fully right now,

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I was able to discover that my unique way of communicating,

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my unique story is something that people

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really resonate with.

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And so I've been in healthcare for about 10 years now,

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working with communities,

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trying to help people gain the skills

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they need so that they don't have to be alone,

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so they don't have to be ostracized.

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But I also opened my own business in 2021, late 2021,

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at a point where I needed some change.

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That's when I opened my own business.

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And since then it's been a blur,

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but I keep learning each day that I have this power,

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I have this technique and I need to use it

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in order to help my community,

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because so often we are kept down, we are ostracized,

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we're told not to ask questions.

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And in my work, I'm able to help people

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and really make sure that my community has access to events,

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but is also empowered to not go through the experiences

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that I did, which no kid ever should.

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Wow.

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That's very profound.

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Do you mind if I ask what is your secret

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to improving communication?

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So there's a couple of things.

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The first thing is listening.

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We live in a world today that I feel like

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doesn't respect the act of listening as much as it should.

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So I often ask people questions,

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but I put more effort into understanding

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and appreciating what the person tells me.

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I work with a lot of adults, I've worked with a lot of youth,

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but when they're asked questions,

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they're not treated with respect,

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or their opinions have been seen as this mentality

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that somehow they're just gonna be childish or immature,

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which is something I work very hard to challenge.

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The other thing is the mutual usage of empathy and respect.

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I touched on those a little bit,

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but part of what I do is work to make sure that,

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even if something is dark or people are hurting,

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making sure that they have a right to feel those emotions,

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a right to share their story

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or communicate without judgment or pain

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or skepticism, and within that realm of empathy,

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I also work, no matter who the individual is,

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I work to make sure that they feel respected,

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truly and fully as a person,

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so that they do not have this idea

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that they need to be shamed for having emotions,

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that if they're a youth,

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that they're not gonna be disrespected

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because they don't understand something

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in the school system or what they're going through,

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and in all of those, I also work to make sure

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that my voice is not always the only one talking.

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It's making sure to ask questions,

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making sure to step back in the sense of empathy

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and respect and listening,

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so that people have that time

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to share their true voice with the community.

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Okay, and Thomas, where are you going with your vision?

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Where do you see it ending up on the horizon?

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That's a great question.

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I'm constantly kind of surprised by how fast

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things are moving.

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I know a big thing that I wanna do.

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I'm currently gonna be running some camps,

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potentially classes in the fall, a couple of big hopes.

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I would love to someday have a storytelling

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like international storytelling camp on the Scottish Isles,

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helping people develop their voice and all of these things.

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But I think for, in the smaller sense right now,

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I wanna continue to grow my community.

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I want to continue to get out there doing the work.

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I wanna keep my passion for it.

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And I really wanna help people on larger scales

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and more and more organizations

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be able to build this mindset and this power of,

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collective, respectful, empathy-based listening

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and help to help the community.

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It's gonna be a long, arduous road,

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but it's something that I'm dedicated to doing.

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Thank you for being here today.

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I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.

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I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions

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as these episodes continue to move forward.

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This is gonna get more and more fun.

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We'll have more and more engagement as well.

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We'll invite people to participate in the show.

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And thank you for giving us your time and attention.

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Have an excellent time building out your vision

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and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.