WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.759 Tell me about your vision. What was your vision? 00:00:03.899 --> 00:00:07.900 Well, I'll tell you, my vision was something 00:00:07.900 --> 00:00:12.359 similar because I'll tell you, when I was a young 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:17.039 guy, I spent seven and a half years in speech 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:23.179 language therapy because sometimes my words didn't 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:26.620 catch up to how fast my brain was thinking them. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:30.809 And, you know, my T's and my S's worked. uh jumbled 00:00:30.809 --> 00:00:34.109 together so i spent uh seven and a half years 00:00:34.109 --> 00:00:37.530 in speech language therapy and my vision as a 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:41.770 speaker is to break down barriers towards inclusive 00:00:41.770 --> 00:00:47.490 employment future and the way that i look to 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:50.909 tell organizations that i tell them that your 00:00:50.909 --> 00:00:55.390 life is your victory lap and when i talk to organizations 00:00:55.390 --> 00:00:59.479 i tell them that they hold the key the possibilities 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.039 for both innovation and inclusion because if 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.780 you embrace a diversity you also embrace things 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:11.579 like innovation inclusion and new perspectives 00:01:11.579 --> 00:01:15.219 which provides you a winning edge so my vision 00:01:15.219 --> 00:01:18.340 as a speaker is very simple it's to break down 00:01:18.340 --> 00:01:21.680 barriers towards inclusion and to tell people 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:24.769 that their lives is their victory laugh and that 00:01:24.769 --> 00:01:28.150 they hold the key to possibilities for advancement. 00:01:29.230 --> 00:01:32.049 Absolutely. Absolutely. I love that vision and 00:01:32.049 --> 00:01:35.450 it's a very strong vision and it's all inclusive 00:01:35.450 --> 00:01:39.530 to everyone. You know, it's a change and it's 00:01:39.530 --> 00:01:42.829 a change that needs to happen and should happen. 00:01:43.069 --> 00:01:46.849 And in regarding to overcoming challenges, how 00:01:46.849 --> 00:01:49.930 do you turn your physical restrictions into opportunities 00:01:49.930 --> 00:01:54.489 for growth? Well, I'll tell you that I have a 00:01:54.489 --> 00:01:57.269 saying that I live my life by. And I say that 00:01:57.269 --> 00:02:00.230 inclusion is the gateway to independence. And 00:02:00.230 --> 00:02:03.849 I believe that everyone's portrait of success 00:02:03.849 --> 00:02:06.969 looks differently. And that's the thing about 00:02:06.969 --> 00:02:10.810 life is that I always say that the only standard 00:02:10.810 --> 00:02:13.569 of expectations that you have to meet are your 00:02:13.569 --> 00:02:16.289 own. Because if you can't rise to the level of 00:02:16.289 --> 00:02:20.000 your own expectations, it's hard to rise to the 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:25.419 level of anybody else so the way that i um i 00:02:25.419 --> 00:02:28.840 get through obstacles and overcome barriers is 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:33.659 saying that i'm the author of my own story narrative 00:02:33.659 --> 00:02:38.280 and i am in control of the way um chapters of 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:41.960 my best book of life is written and i always 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:46.599 say that my vision of success will contribute 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:52.219 to a prosperous future for future generations 00:02:52.219 --> 00:02:56.060 so i look at life as a vision board of success 00:02:56.060 --> 00:02:59.990 and everybody's vision board is different Absolutely. 00:03:00.210 --> 00:03:03.389 Absolutely. It just reminds me of, you know, 00:03:03.409 --> 00:03:05.270 at the beginning of the year, everybody makes 00:03:05.270 --> 00:03:08.689 vision boards and we are all usually sitting 00:03:08.689 --> 00:03:11.770 side by side. And I tell you, no matter how many 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:15.110 magazines that we pick out of, our picture for 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:18.810 our vision is always different. So you are absolutely 00:03:18.810 --> 00:03:23.349 correct. You mentioned success. So I have a question 00:03:23.349 --> 00:03:27.430 for you. What is success to you? A success to 00:03:27.430 --> 00:03:32.310 me is, you know, I look at success as an ever 00:03:32.310 --> 00:03:35.509 -evolving market. And what I mean by that is 00:03:35.509 --> 00:03:41.050 I tell businesses and job seekers with disabilities 00:03:41.050 --> 00:03:44.469 or anyone that I meet is that life is a constant 00:03:44.469 --> 00:03:47.990 game of networking, you know. It's the lifeblood 00:03:47.990 --> 00:03:50.610 or heartbreak of everything you do, no matter 00:03:50.610 --> 00:03:55.949 what line of work you're in. part of life to 00:03:55.949 --> 00:04:00.270 come from. So success for me is always networking 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:07.550 to uncover or cultivate new opportunities for 00:04:07.550 --> 00:04:10.789 advancement because it's my belief that no matter 00:04:10.789 --> 00:04:13.169 how many degrees you have at all or how many 00:04:13.169 --> 00:04:16.089 years you went to school, you could learn something 00:04:16.089 --> 00:04:19.689 from the janitor to the president of a company. 00:04:19.889 --> 00:04:23.329 So my vision of success is always learning and 00:04:25.069 --> 00:04:29.449 applying those lessons to our own vision of prosperity 00:04:29.449 --> 00:04:35.009 because leaders who want to lead have a vision 00:04:35.009 --> 00:04:40.829 of how they want to advance forward and not stay 00:04:40.829 --> 00:04:45.790 behind a vision of their life for somebody else. 00:04:45.889 --> 00:04:49.870 So I always believe that life success starts 00:04:49.870 --> 00:04:56.439 with who you want to network with. what is your 00:04:56.439 --> 00:05:00.660 vision and what is your timeframe for getting 00:05:00.660 --> 00:05:04.980 that vision accomplished. Everyone's vision or 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:08.160 timeframe of success will be different, but it 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:10.959 starts with what are your resources, who do you 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:16.480 know to get your vision in motion, and what's 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:19.439 your timeframe to get that accomplished. So that's 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:23.399 sort of my... free vision of my three -legged 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:26.939 stool of success what are your resources who 00:05:26.939 --> 00:05:30.819 do you know and what is your time frame after 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:34.879 getting that done and if you have concrete answers 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.579 to those four questions then you can achieve 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:41.139 success because then you've uh created your own 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:44.579 definition of the world absolutely how long have 00:05:44.579 --> 00:05:48.300 you been speaking kevin So I have been speaking 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:52.000 professionally since 2013. So I've been at this 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:57.379 a lot. Nice, nice. And I have one favorite question 00:05:57.379 --> 00:06:01.480 for all my guests. What are the greatest joys 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:06.899 of what you do? The greatest joys of what I do 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:11.779 is helping others see the value in themselves. 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:16.939 You know, I shared with you. uh when i graduated 00:06:16.939 --> 00:06:21.420 college so i graduated college in june of 2010 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:24.920 and i didn't get my first uh paying job until 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:32.360 uh february 1st of 2016 because when i uh went 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:36.860 on job interviews when i graduated college i 00:06:36.860 --> 00:06:40.620 was told some version of they're qualified but 00:06:40.620 --> 00:06:44.220 our news uh department staff is kind of small 00:06:44.220 --> 00:06:48.000 and we don't think we have the resources to support 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.120 in the newsroom so i personally became a speaker 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:55.699 by accident because no one else was hiring me 00:06:55.699 --> 00:06:59.759 so out of college when i did was was i volunteered 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:03.579 for four straight years at a local uh television 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:06.959 station in my hometown without a paycheck and 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:10.149 i covered a total of 50 stories in those for 00:07:10.149 --> 00:07:14.490 years and i work alongside the ontario government 00:07:14.490 --> 00:07:18.810 to appoint a special master and advisor to look 00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:23.089 at hiring folks with disabilities within our 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:27.069 provincial government for those watching or listening 00:07:27.069 --> 00:07:29.509 to this in the states it would be the equivalent 00:07:29.509 --> 00:07:32.709 of a state government in the state so i work 00:07:32.709 --> 00:07:36.360 with our provincial governments break down the 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.740 barriers towards inclusion and that's how I got 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:44.920 my first paying job in February of 2016. So my 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:50.120 vision for the future would be to work with people 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:55.360 to realize their own value because for me to 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:58.939 discover mine was a journey and I want to help 00:07:58.939 --> 00:08:03.449 others do the same. Absolutely. And I love that. 00:08:03.629 --> 00:08:06.449 I mean, you said you worked for free for four 00:08:06.449 --> 00:08:09.850 years. Without a paycheck. Not a lot of people 00:08:09.850 --> 00:08:12.990 would do that. Absolutely not. And I believe 00:08:12.990 --> 00:08:16.949 that that's where your level of success and those 00:08:16.949 --> 00:08:19.069 three questions that you have to ask yourself, 00:08:19.250 --> 00:08:21.550 right? Because even though you did not get a 00:08:21.550 --> 00:08:24.209 paycheck, you were still networking, right? Because 00:08:24.209 --> 00:08:26.829 that was the key to figuring out who you know 00:08:26.829 --> 00:08:29.420 and who could get you there. also you mentioned 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:32.799 you started speaking pretty much on an accident 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.580 it wasn't something that you were you know thriving 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:38.779 to do you just fell into it and i feel like you're 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:41.279 doing exceptionally well so many years later 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:46.159 what's next for you kevin well yeah so what what's 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:50.899 best for me is to elevate the audience that i 00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:56.039 speak to And I also host a podcast called Let's 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:59.279 Have This Conversation on YouTube. So I have 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:03.899 two fundamental goals. It's to grow the audience 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:07.960 or the level of audience that I speak to. And 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:12.279 it's also to turn my YouTube podcast into a national 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:15.620 talk show. So those are my two professional goals, 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:19.950 for sure. Absolutely. That is so amazing. And 00:09:19.950 --> 00:09:22.570 I tell you, Kevin, whatever it is that I could 00:09:22.570 --> 00:09:25.210 do to be able to assist you, you please let me 00:09:25.210 --> 00:09:29.139 know. I don't have the tools to get you any further. 00:09:29.299 --> 00:09:31.600 However, I know many, many, many, many people. 00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:34.220 So I love that you've chosen to come on here 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:37.299 and talk about this. And I cannot wait to see 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:40.179 the feedback of audiences and what you're discussing 00:09:40.179 --> 00:09:44.100 because it's exceptionally important. With that 00:09:44.100 --> 00:09:47.360 being said, can you please tell everyone where 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:51.299 they can get a hold of you at or watch your podcast 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:54.139 and speaking and then also your social media 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:59.200 handles? Yeah, so you can find everything about 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:04.879 me at KevinMcKenzieSpeaks .com. And you can subscribe 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.980 to my podcast by going to Let's Have This Conversation 00:10:08.980 --> 00:10:13.460 on YouTube and just typing my name after Let's 00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:16.179 Have This Conversation. And you can watch all 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:19.120 of the interviews that I've done. I started the 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:22.500 podcast about five years ago and about two weeks 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:26.110 ago. we surpassed a thousand episodes for the 00:10:26.110 --> 00:10:29.269 endeavors so a lot a lot of people have been 00:10:29.269 --> 00:10:32.830 uh taking to the endeavors so they can find me 00:10:32.830 --> 00:10:36.789 at kevinmcchanspeaks .com or on youtube at let's 00:10:36.789 --> 00:10:39.259 have this conversation Thank you for being here 00:10:39.259 --> 00:10:41.159 today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:43.600 Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.659 your reactions as these episodes continue to 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:48.360 move forward. This is going to get more and more 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:50.679 fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:52.620 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:54.799 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 00:10:55.059 --> 00:10:57.720 Have an excellent time building out your vision 00:10:57.720 --> 00:10:59.100 and becoming a vision pro yourself.