1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,340 All right, welcome to the AdaptX podcast where we have conversations with individuals who are building accessible businesses 2 00:00:05,620 --> 00:00:08,900 Advocating for inclusion or excelling in adaptive sports today 3 00:00:08,900 --> 00:00:10,240 We are joined by Dustin Giannelli 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:16,620 Dustin is a profoundly deaf diversity and inclusion motivational speaker who has shared his story with corporations large universities and organizations 5 00:00:16,860 --> 00:00:21,900 Around the country and we'll get into some of those as one of the 48 million deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans 6 00:00:21,900 --> 00:00:27,220 Dustin is able to share his story and strategies to create a more accessible world. Dustin. Thank you for joining me today 7 00:00:27,220 --> 00:00:31,540 Thank you for having me. It's so good to see you again. I'm glad the kids are doing well 8 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:36,840 Yeah, Dustin was the keynote speaker at our first Adaptexpo last year 9 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:42,160 We learned a bunch about organizing event. The audience loved Dustin's 10 00:00:43,340 --> 00:00:49,080 Speech and presentation but so Dustin as a as a motivational speaker, you're clearly comfortable in your own skin 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,500 But was it always that way growing up? 12 00:00:51,500 --> 00:00:58,120 Yeah, you know ever since I was young I had always been advocating for myself and others 13 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:05,680 I give a lot of credit especially nowadays to my late grandfather who was a double amputee and 14 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,400 you know he 15 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,400 Really normalized disability in my household 16 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,760 So when I was diagnosed with a hearing loss when I was five years old 17 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,400 I was already familiar with what it was like to need a hearing loss 18 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:22,400 I liked to need help and 19 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,300 accept differences, so 20 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:27,960 Yeah, you know I've been advocating for myself 21 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,320 For a long time and it's been mostly a positive experience 22 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:38,800 That's been one of the things that we've been trying to figure out how to navigate because it seems like 23 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,040 barriers to inclusion and accessibility are often an 24 00:01:43,780 --> 00:01:45,780 education and an exposure issue 25 00:01:45,780 --> 00:01:51,220 Like people just don't have experiences interacting with people with disabilities and so then 26 00:01:51,620 --> 00:01:55,540 These stigmas are kind of reinforced. So I feel like through 27 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:05,220 commonalities whether it's sports or recreation and like you said normalizing disability that appears to be the best path forward towards 28 00:02:05,700 --> 00:02:09,360 creating in a more accessible world do you have any any like 29 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:16,080 Strategies or suggestions as to not just fitness industries, but other businesses and organizations 30 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:21,400 What they can do to create a more inclusive environment and accessible environment 31 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,080 Absolutely, you know 32 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:26,440 historically 33 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,400 People almost shy away from the conversation 34 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,680 The conversation about learning about different types of disabilities and you see somebody 35 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,400 Whether they're in a wheelchair, they're blind with a cane or they're 36 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:45,840 You have an amputation or they're deaf with hearing aids or cochlear implant. They're almost scared 37 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:48,160 to 38 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,160 offend right and 39 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,600 It's okay, but we just need to educate ourselves and be 40 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,680 as educated as we can you know because 41 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,480 Some day down the road you may work 42 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,800 With someone with a disability you may be part of a team 43 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,480 With somebody with a disability and the earlier we can 44 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:19,000 Familiarize ourselves with those different types of disabilities the better will be you know at a young age for me 45 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,200 during recess 46 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:28,840 Basketball was the sport right and I grew up playing basketball my whole life with my older brother 47 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,080 and I did very very well and 48 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,080 at recess I 49 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:40,360 As the team captain picked the kids that didn't get picked first. I picked them first 50 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:42,520 because 51 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:49,240 It helped me push myself to be the best I can be and it gave me the sense of 52 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,360 inclusion 53 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:58,600 Because I always wanted to be included they wanted to be included, but they got picked last not on my team 54 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,200 They got picked first 55 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,200 Yeah, I made sure they got the ball 56 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:09,200 How do you suggest that people have those conversations? You said that one of the best ways to 57 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,760 Familiarize yourself with disability is for people to 58 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:18,600 To talk to you about it so but like you mentioned people are afraid of offending and saying the wrong thing so 59 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,240 Maybe even putting it in like a fitness 60 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,800 Environment standpoint if you were coming to me. I was your personal trainer 61 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,280 What would you want me to ask you about? 62 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:35,240 What needs you like what accommodations you need what you want to get out of it kind of how would you want that conversation to go? 63 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,240 Yeah, you know the key to 64 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,240 The key to life is communication 65 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:48,400 The key to success in life is communication the key to communication is access 66 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:54,200 So when you and I are building a relationship for the first time and I'm attending your gym 67 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,360 And I'm attending your gym, and we're creating a plan together 68 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:04,460 Resignate with one another right you notice my hearing aids, or maybe you don't at first most people don't 69 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,960 But they see that I'm very attentive and lip-reading so it's already okay 70 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:14,040 I see a lip reading is there anything I can do to make this even more comfortable 71 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:20,280 Or what if I'm over here, and you're over there. This is you asking me, and I feel I love that me personally 72 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:22,760 right 73 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:29,740 How can we make this a smooth process and innovate as we go there'll be situations? 74 00:05:29,740 --> 00:05:32,920 I'm working out. I can't see the trainer hear them 75 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,000 There's no live captions, so how do we navigate that? 76 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:41,160 Scenario and that's all you know important to talk about 77 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,160 What we can do is as a almost workaround is 78 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,460 What preparation method is write everything down? 79 00:05:51,460 --> 00:05:56,860 review that before and after the workout and 80 00:05:58,460 --> 00:06:01,580 Really study the workouts before we attack 81 00:06:02,220 --> 00:06:04,780 Yeah, that's a really simple solution 82 00:06:04,780 --> 00:06:11,340 It's basically just universal design making sure the way you're sharing information is presented in a variety of ways 83 00:06:11,340 --> 00:06:13,340 And I know from 84 00:06:13,540 --> 00:06:18,580 Running hundreds of classes here writing down the workouts wouldn't just benefit you it 85 00:06:18,580 --> 00:06:24,500 Benefits everyone who comes to the gym because they need reminders music's going maybe they can't hear 86 00:06:25,220 --> 00:06:27,140 some people just 87 00:06:27,140 --> 00:06:30,480 Retain information better when they read it as opposed to hear it so 88 00:06:31,060 --> 00:06:37,060 That's I guess one way that accessibility really benefits everyone not just the one user that it might be intended for 89 00:06:37,940 --> 00:06:41,840 Exactly what you said is is a prime example is closed captioning 90 00:06:42,020 --> 00:06:46,640 Yeah, right when you're watching Netflix, so your favorite movie TV shows 91 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:55,360 80 plus percent of people that use closed captions are not deaf or hard of hearing and 92 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,840 Captions were created for the deaf and hard of hearing community 93 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:08,200 The same way that Siri on the iPhone was actually created as an adaptive solution for people who are blind 94 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:15,200 Now everybody uses Siri everybody uses captions everybody is starting to adapt and use things that were made 95 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,400 for the disability community and that's why it's so important for 96 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,040 All of us to be aware especially at a young age 97 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:28,080 you know get your kids acquainted to different groups and communities and 98 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:30,680 You know, that's the beautiful thing about life is 99 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,880 You can join different communities at any point in your life 100 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,760 And you're not trapped or stuck in that one community 101 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:45,520 You know you go to high school. There's all sorts of clubs and you name it go to college same thing 102 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:51,840 So I'm on the other thing about diversity and inclusion. We're thinking about community 103 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:59,680 Absolutely on the topic of captions. I sometimes see in social media now. It's been kind of like aesthetically 104 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,560 Ramped up where you have flashing different colors and are there 105 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,040 Just just for people that might not have any experience 106 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:10,800 Using captions as someone who's hard of hearing 107 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:18,000 Are those as accessible as just regular black and white captions 108 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:25,960 It depends on who you ask yeah, you know it's what it came down to is 109 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,680 more and more people are using captions and 110 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,160 Whether they're deaf or not they saw an opportunity for innovation 111 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:36,600 and 112 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:38,600 they saw and 113 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:41,320 people liked 114 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:48,440 The individual words highlighted right with color maybe with different font or 115 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:51,160 emojis instead of the word or 116 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:56,360 An emoji after the word that's innovation you know and as I mentioned before it 117 00:08:56,680 --> 00:09:01,320 It depends on who you ask a lot of people that are deaf or hard of hearing 118 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:03,160 especially 119 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,160 Perhaps older folks they 120 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:07,800 prefer that standard 121 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,120 black background white text 122 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,160 three different fonts 123 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,200 to choose from but mainly times new Roman 124 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:22,360 So you know it's all about innovation and preference. Yeah, that's that's tough because I feel like 125 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,920 I was even reading a LinkedIn post last night where it was 126 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:34,760 Critiquing someone who said that they're fully accessible because you can't necessarily be accessible for everyone at all times 127 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,600 So that's I think that's one of the things that might prevent people 128 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:41,480 From making the effort to do so 129 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:47,880 Is that they know that it's hard to accommodate every person's every need 130 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:53,720 So what do you think are when you're speaking to a company or when you're speaking to an organization? 131 00:09:54,360 --> 00:10:01,480 What actions do you hope they take after your presentation to kind of work towards that more accessible or inclusive? 132 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:03,880 environment 133 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:05,560 Great question, you know 134 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:10,840 When I do corporate engagements and workshops and trainings 135 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:17,000 It's a little bit of everything and what I mean by that is it's education around the hearing loss community 136 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,880 I show an audiogram 137 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,840 So that they understand the different levels of hearing loss 138 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:30,600 And show my audiogram which dips immediately to the profound 139 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:35,960 Um and show my audiogram which dips immediately to the profound levels 140 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:38,680 And so what does that mean? 141 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:41,400 What are the sounds I can't hear? 142 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:44,760 And how does that relate to? 143 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:47,800 things like mental health 144 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,120 right, so 145 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:52,680 There's so many different sub topics 146 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,640 That come out of my my conversation 147 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:57,480 that 148 00:10:57,480 --> 00:10:59,480 bring awareness 149 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,840 to people with disabilities and abilities 150 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:05,000 to think 151 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,000 How can I 152 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:09,800 Be the best I can be 153 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:16,600 In work at home with my friends in social settings. How can I accommodate for others the best I can? 154 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,480 right, um 155 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,640 And and that's it, you know, I start my talks with 156 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,340 The key to success in life is communication 157 00:11:27,340 --> 00:11:30,540 And the key to communication is access 158 00:11:31,500 --> 00:11:37,740 Accessibility so when we think about that from a workplace standpoint, you could be working for a fortune 500 159 00:11:37,740 --> 00:11:41,340 You're in marketing or you're in sales. You're in it. You're in 160 00:11:41,900 --> 00:11:43,900 Hr. It doesn't matter what 161 00:11:44,140 --> 00:11:44,860 what 162 00:11:44,860 --> 00:11:49,100 Department you're in it's it's it's the common denominator is 163 00:11:49,660 --> 00:11:51,100 communication 164 00:11:51,100 --> 00:11:56,140 Absolutely. Yeah, maybe you mentioned education. So maybe we can just kind of 165 00:11:56,140 --> 00:11:58,620 Talk about deaf and and some various 166 00:11:59,740 --> 00:12:03,420 Subtypes and different terminology and stuff within the 167 00:12:03,980 --> 00:12:08,220 Within that world because I think the audience may or may not be exposed to it. So maybe 168 00:12:08,780 --> 00:12:14,460 A few rapid-fire questions. What's the difference between capital D deaf and lowercase D deaf? 169 00:12:15,820 --> 00:12:21,500 Great question. So I identify as lowercase D deaf profoundly deaf and 170 00:12:22,220 --> 00:12:24,620 You know because I'm a verbal communicator 171 00:12:24,620 --> 00:12:26,620 I can hear 172 00:12:26,780 --> 00:12:30,380 Not very well, but the hearing aids amplify sound 173 00:12:31,180 --> 00:12:33,180 right, so 174 00:12:33,740 --> 00:12:39,100 That helps me and capital D deaf is really all about deaf culture 175 00:12:39,660 --> 00:12:41,660 their primary 176 00:12:42,220 --> 00:12:43,180 language 177 00:12:43,180 --> 00:12:46,540 primarily is sign language and 178 00:12:47,100 --> 00:12:49,100 Whether they're verbal or nonverbal 179 00:12:49,100 --> 00:12:55,740 Capital D deaf is a very tight community within the overall deaf and hard of hearing community 180 00:12:56,300 --> 00:12:57,420 so 181 00:12:57,420 --> 00:12:59,420 Then there's hard of hearing 182 00:13:00,540 --> 00:13:03,100 Who whether you have a mild or moderate 183 00:13:03,980 --> 00:13:06,220 less significant hearing loss 184 00:13:07,020 --> 00:13:13,500 There's all different, you know spectrums of loss, but you you can kind of sense that i'm in the middle 185 00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:19,420 right of the hearing world and the capital D deaf world, so 186 00:13:20,700 --> 00:13:22,940 My goal is to bridge it all together 187 00:13:23,740 --> 00:13:27,420 A lot of people with perhaps my degree of loss 188 00:13:28,460 --> 00:13:35,660 We're all part of this community together. We have different stories and differences and different ways of communicating 189 00:13:36,620 --> 00:13:40,860 But the deaf and hard of hearing community of 48 million people 190 00:13:40,860 --> 00:13:45,900 The deaf and hard of hearing community of 48 million strong in the u.s. Alone 191 00:13:46,780 --> 00:13:51,740 Is only growing in the world. It's 432 million people 192 00:13:52,380 --> 00:13:55,760 And it's going up to 700 million people by 2050 193 00:13:56,860 --> 00:14:00,380 So we're not going anywhere and we need to keep advocating for each other 194 00:14:00,380 --> 00:14:09,580 But was sign language ever on your radar? Is there a reason why you chose lip reading and verbalizing as opposed to asl? 195 00:14:11,740 --> 00:14:14,780 I was the only one in my family that that is deaf 196 00:14:16,300 --> 00:14:21,360 And so growing up in a verbal family as a verbal communicator 197 00:14:23,260 --> 00:14:24,380 I 198 00:14:24,380 --> 00:14:26,380 went to mainstream school and 199 00:14:26,380 --> 00:14:33,340 You know did what I had to do to succeed. And by the way, it wasn't until the school nurses hearing exam that they identified 200 00:14:34,460 --> 00:14:36,220 That I was deaf 201 00:14:36,220 --> 00:14:43,180 One year I passed no problem the second year the school nurse put a board up in between the nurse and the student 202 00:14:43,900 --> 00:14:50,460 And I remember standing in line watching the student not be able to see the nurse's lips 203 00:14:51,260 --> 00:14:53,740 And i'm saying to myself this isn't going to work 204 00:14:53,740 --> 00:14:55,740 Right, so that's how we identified it 205 00:14:56,780 --> 00:15:03,020 But yeah, you know I I did end up going to summer camps schools for the deaf 206 00:15:04,060 --> 00:15:09,980 And you know associated myself with capital d culture and and others 207 00:15:10,780 --> 00:15:12,060 my 208 00:15:12,060 --> 00:15:17,180 My biggest passion growing up with that was basketball and especially during the summer 209 00:15:17,180 --> 00:15:21,900 I wanted to play all day every day and I finally told my mother I said mom 210 00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:23,900 you know I I 211 00:15:23,900 --> 00:15:25,900 Don't think this is the community I 212 00:15:26,460 --> 00:15:30,380 Resonate with the most I would like to also play basketball. I said 213 00:15:31,020 --> 00:15:32,060 Okay 214 00:15:32,060 --> 00:15:34,620 That's fine. But I want you to just know 215 00:15:35,180 --> 00:15:38,780 They're always there for you and they're an amazing community 216 00:15:40,300 --> 00:15:45,020 Maybe speaking about basketball were there advantages to your hearing loss 217 00:15:45,740 --> 00:15:48,860 When you were playing basketball and maybe what were the disadvantages as well? 218 00:15:48,860 --> 00:15:50,860 So well 219 00:15:51,740 --> 00:15:55,420 A lot of times I would get you know be boxing out a shot or 220 00:15:56,220 --> 00:15:59,420 You know going for a rebound and my hearing aid be knocked out 221 00:16:00,780 --> 00:16:06,780 So I would be then boxing out my own teammates at times say don't step on it my hearing aid, you know 222 00:16:08,060 --> 00:16:10,860 But advantages was lip reading 223 00:16:12,540 --> 00:16:14,540 Being able to look over at my coach 224 00:16:14,540 --> 00:16:17,740 Sometimes in town basketball, right? 225 00:16:18,220 --> 00:16:24,940 My brother was my coach for a couple years and he knew all the the ins and outs and i'd be able to glance over 226 00:16:25,820 --> 00:16:32,540 And he'd lip read something to me and boom someone who was wide open if I did this and I passed and they hit the shot 227 00:16:33,660 --> 00:16:35,980 Plays even in football 228 00:16:37,740 --> 00:16:39,740 Flag football I should add 229 00:16:39,740 --> 00:16:46,940 See at a young age the doctor told my mom, um, no contact sports such as football or hockey 230 00:16:47,580 --> 00:16:52,380 because it could damage my cochlear even more and 231 00:16:53,180 --> 00:16:55,180 I would lose more hearing 232 00:16:55,660 --> 00:16:59,740 And so I didn't play football or hockey in high school 233 00:17:00,220 --> 00:17:05,260 But in college, I played flag football and one of my best friends bailey clement was our 234 00:17:05,260 --> 00:17:09,820 player uh quarterback and coach and uh, he would lip read 235 00:17:10,540 --> 00:17:17,020 Numbers to me and we he taught us the tree one through nine every number has a different route 236 00:17:17,820 --> 00:17:22,540 And the other team had no idea what we were doing and I would be open 237 00:17:23,340 --> 00:17:30,380 90 of the time kind of on that topic. I was reading a interesting article a couple weeks ago about uh, gallaudet university 238 00:17:30,380 --> 00:17:35,980 partnership with at&t and they have a um, basically the play gets 239 00:17:36,700 --> 00:17:40,300 Projected onto the quarterbacks helmet on like a visual field 240 00:17:40,300 --> 00:17:47,900 But it was interesting to also read about the history of the huddle actually came from a deaf quarterback at gallaudet and 241 00:17:48,620 --> 00:17:52,300 He quote unquote invented the huddle so he could share his plays 242 00:17:53,020 --> 00:17:55,740 With his teammates and he was able to do that 243 00:17:55,740 --> 00:18:01,100 I guess another interesting example of how innovation often comes from 244 00:18:02,140 --> 00:18:04,780 The need for accommodation and inclusion 245 00:18:06,620 --> 00:18:09,980 Absolutely, it's an amazing fun fact, you know, I I 246 00:18:10,940 --> 00:18:16,540 I love that fun fact about sports and how the huddle was created with the deaf community 247 00:18:16,540 --> 00:18:19,740 Yeah, you also coach right? So you've been coaching youth basketball 248 00:18:19,740 --> 00:18:26,140 Over the years as well? Yes. Yeah, how how would you say that your hearing loss? 249 00:18:27,020 --> 00:18:29,020 Has made you a better coach 250 00:18:30,780 --> 00:18:32,300 Well, it's 251 00:18:32,300 --> 00:18:37,740 This was such a great group of kids. It was sixth grade a you boys basketball 252 00:18:39,420 --> 00:18:42,620 I didn't know them. They didn't know me. They didn't know each other 253 00:18:42,620 --> 00:18:51,020 And that's the beauty of a you and sports in general, but I brought everybody together in our first practice 254 00:18:52,380 --> 00:18:59,420 I said, all right guys, what's the key to the game of basketball? What's the most important part of basketball? 255 00:19:00,380 --> 00:19:03,660 Defense. Yeah, but keep going. That's not the one i'm looking for 256 00:19:04,380 --> 00:19:06,860 Dribble is the key to the game of basketball 257 00:19:06,860 --> 00:19:13,900 Defense. Yeah, but keep going. That's not the one i'm looking for. Um dribbling ball handling. Yeah, keep going 258 00:19:14,700 --> 00:19:16,700 Communication. What was that? 259 00:19:17,580 --> 00:19:21,100 Communication louder everybody communicate right? 260 00:19:21,900 --> 00:19:27,900 And it really brought awareness to all of us to celebrate 261 00:19:29,020 --> 00:19:30,700 That's the key 262 00:19:30,700 --> 00:19:32,700 We just unlocked the key 263 00:19:32,700 --> 00:19:37,500 The key to winning games no matter what the scoreboard says 264 00:19:38,940 --> 00:19:40,940 Because we won one game 265 00:19:42,380 --> 00:19:44,380 And it was awesome 266 00:19:45,100 --> 00:19:51,260 And you know, it just brought us all together a tight group never gave up from start to finish 267 00:19:52,700 --> 00:19:54,620 We even had 268 00:19:54,620 --> 00:20:00,860 Five players one game. We were short-handed and one got fouled out. We played the last five minutes 269 00:20:00,860 --> 00:20:03,500 in a tie up and down game 270 00:20:04,060 --> 00:20:07,100 With four players and we lost by one in overtime 271 00:20:08,060 --> 00:20:12,220 I mean it was unbelievable. So, you know, it's just it's a 272 00:20:13,020 --> 00:20:15,020 important lesson for all of us 273 00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,020 to celebrate 274 00:20:17,020 --> 00:20:20,540 Yeah, sports definitely have a power to normalize differences for sure 275 00:20:20,540 --> 00:20:25,020 That's obviously a huge part of what you can gain from participating in sports 276 00:20:25,980 --> 00:20:27,980 What led you to 277 00:20:27,980 --> 00:20:36,060 Pursue a career in speaking as opposed to maybe working within an accessibility department at a company 278 00:20:37,740 --> 00:20:39,740 I've always admired 279 00:20:39,900 --> 00:20:41,900 different professional speakers 280 00:20:43,100 --> 00:20:45,100 You know throughout my career 281 00:20:45,340 --> 00:20:47,340 in school 282 00:20:47,980 --> 00:20:50,940 When you see the passion unleashed 283 00:20:51,980 --> 00:20:55,500 By a speaker on a stage and they own it 284 00:20:55,500 --> 00:20:57,500 No matter what their differences 285 00:20:58,140 --> 00:21:00,540 No matter what their challenges are 286 00:21:01,820 --> 00:21:03,820 When you own it 287 00:21:03,820 --> 00:21:05,020 I mean 288 00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:07,580 It's contagious. It's admirable 289 00:21:08,220 --> 00:21:11,260 And i've always advocated for myself 290 00:21:12,300 --> 00:21:21,020 Since I was five years old right which allowed me to advocate for others and that's ultimately what the goal here is and 291 00:21:21,020 --> 00:21:27,980 When the pandemic hit I was actually in a completely different industry. I was in the commercial architecture and interior design world 292 00:21:28,860 --> 00:21:33,420 I was working for idea paint which was a really cool dry race whiteboard paint company and 293 00:21:33,740 --> 00:21:40,060 Turned your big conference room wall into a giant canvas or your kids playroom into a giant canvas 294 00:21:41,020 --> 00:21:43,020 What that meant to me was 295 00:21:43,660 --> 00:21:49,020 See in a conference room. It's very difficult for me to hear everybody and read lips and 296 00:21:49,020 --> 00:21:54,460 Cross the room on the right side and the left side and then they crisscross and people in boston everywhere talk fast 297 00:21:55,340 --> 00:22:00,460 It's fatiguing, you know, um, but at least I can read what's on the wall 298 00:22:01,740 --> 00:22:06,380 So it was a fun meaningful sell and when I presented that to architects 299 00:22:06,940 --> 00:22:10,060 And designers who specify the product it was just fun 300 00:22:11,420 --> 00:22:14,460 fast forward, you know the pandemic hit and 301 00:22:15,740 --> 00:22:17,740 I needed help 302 00:22:17,740 --> 00:22:20,940 I needed help the world went virtual overnight 303 00:22:22,300 --> 00:22:23,340 and 304 00:22:23,340 --> 00:22:24,300 my 305 00:22:24,300 --> 00:22:31,500 Deaf and hard of hearing community needed help. So I jumped I learned everything there was to learn about closed captioning 306 00:22:31,980 --> 00:22:33,980 I joined a live 307 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,360 captioning closed caption video accessibility 308 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:41,660 technology company here in boston and 309 00:22:41,660 --> 00:22:46,720 That was just a great segue for me to start here's dustin.com 310 00:22:47,420 --> 00:22:48,620 and 311 00:22:48,620 --> 00:22:56,140 My own personal brand, you know, I studied marketing and sales and management entrepreneurship at university of new hampshire business school 312 00:22:56,140 --> 00:22:58,140 I never learned about 313 00:22:58,940 --> 00:23:00,940 personal branding I 314 00:23:01,100 --> 00:23:07,100 Was always marketing and branding for another organization until I realized I can do this 315 00:23:07,100 --> 00:23:11,420 I can do this for me to impact the greater good 316 00:23:12,220 --> 00:23:14,220 Yeah, there's something powerful about 317 00:23:15,020 --> 00:23:21,500 Promoting and advocating for yourself and seeing what you can build personally as opposed to build for someone else 318 00:23:21,580 --> 00:23:23,420 but I find that's 319 00:23:23,420 --> 00:23:25,420 it's tough sometimes to uh, 320 00:23:25,660 --> 00:23:27,660 to market yourself it feels 321 00:23:28,380 --> 00:23:30,380 do you ever feel like it's kind of like 322 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,240 self-consuming or 323 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:38,280 Do you ever do you ever have a hard time I guess sharing your accomplishments and kind of promoting yourself 324 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:46,120 You know it's at the beginning yes a little bit, but I never looked at it as 325 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:48,840 Promoting myself 326 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:50,840 the same way that i'm not 327 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:53,400 fighting for 328 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:57,160 x y and z rights i'm not fighting for rights I am 329 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,800 advocating 330 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:01,880 So i'm not promoting myself 331 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:03,880 I'm not promoting myself 332 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:06,520 I'm advocating myself 333 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,560 Right and so that's a very big realization. I think 334 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,840 For me for others other speakers other 335 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:22,760 Influencers if you will, you know, it's it's not about just me 336 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,160 My story is a vessel to the overall message 337 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,320 And it's not about just the deaf community 338 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:39,720 It's about the disability community and the ability community the word ability is in disability for a reason 339 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,760 right and 340 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:44,760 as soon as we 341 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:45,720 all 342 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:46,680 you know 343 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,640 You build your own communities, especially over linkedin 344 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:53,960 And you know, i've created such an amazing 345 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:55,960 group of 346 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:57,960 group of professionals 347 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,640 accessibility experts diversity inclusion champions 348 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:04,600 it who event planners 349 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,000 and 350 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,600 We're helping each other again. It's not just about me, you know 351 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:15,160 So I put out as much information as I can events that i'm going to 352 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:20,040 put together a cool little video with music and closed captions and 353 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,280 Just make sure that we learn something from everything 354 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:31,640 I think what is your process of preparing for a presentation because as of you'll be now episode 30 and 355 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,440 It's definitely become 356 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:41,240 somewhat of a skill I guess to host these podcasts and something I need to refine and improve and I find myself reading 357 00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:48,120 Biographies to try to learn how authors portray their guests or their subjects of their stories 358 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:55,340 Uh, so i'm always interested to learn from other speakers in terms of kind of how they lock in how they prepare for presentations 359 00:25:56,360 --> 00:25:58,360 So if a company reaches out to you 360 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,560 What is that back and forth and what is that process kind of like? 361 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:09,640 Well, you know, there's so many podcasts out there i've got another one next week two and 362 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:16,520 The ultimate goal is yes to have a great conversation and bring awareness to their audience 363 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,160 But also what else can we do together? 364 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:27,000 Right. What is going to really build our relationship and help bring more accessibility to your 365 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:28,760 every day 366 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,760 And so that initial conversation is really to identify 367 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:34,840 other 368 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,120 engagements or you know social media opportunities or 369 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:44,680 What events do you go into what conferences you're attending this year? Can I be part of it? Right and it's 370 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,180 right and it's 371 00:26:46,180 --> 00:26:50,520 continuously building a relationship and that's one of my other keynotes is 372 00:26:51,220 --> 00:26:55,100 Uh relationship building and the art of selling yourself 373 00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:03,640 Because again, you might be in marketing or hr it event planning, but everybody is in sales 374 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,200 You're selling yourself 375 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:07,800 and your abilities 376 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:09,640 and so 377 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:16,360 You know, it's just very important to build a relationship more than just have a conversation on a podcast and that's why 378 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:18,760 You and I have stayed in touch since 379 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:24,120 Last may last year. Yeah about a year ready. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah 380 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,680 No, I I think you're definitely right and that everything 381 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,280 Uh kind of revolves around sales. It almost makes you think that 382 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:36,040 It should be a mandatory part of of really any industry or any curriculum or education 383 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,320 Everything becomes kind of sales and marketing. It doesn't matter 384 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:46,920 How good the adapt X courses or how good the podcast is if it never reaches a big enough audience? 385 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,840 So it always kind of revolves around growing an audience 386 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,400 Growing a brand sharing a message 387 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:58,280 but i'm also interested in like how a speech goes from 388 00:27:59,140 --> 00:28:01,800 motivational to actionable like 389 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:07,560 What you want the companies to then do after your speech is done? 390 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:14,280 It's a great question, you know, there's when you understand 391 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,760 The why 392 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,560 first 393 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,080 For example in the in the speaking engagement itself 394 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,280 You learn in 30 minutes 45 minutes 395 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,000 all about the why 396 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:36,440 Why and then it's the what and the who what where right when how? 397 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,960 When we start to come together as a team and you go back 398 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,240 and you 399 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:52,040 Back to that project you were just working on and then you hear someone like my speech. It's like, okay 400 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:54,680 We didn't really 401 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:56,840 Think about this design 402 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:02,280 with disabilities in mind at all and 403 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:09,080 Then the conversation the product the evolution of creating it evolves 404 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:11,640 so 405 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:17,720 you know, we also keep in touch by doing different workshops later on to make sure that 406 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:24,760 disability inclusion and accessibility is top in mind and we do different updates 407 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,920 companies are always changing especially nowadays layoffs and 408 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,480 you know 409 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:33,000 unforeseeable 410 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,000 things within the organization, but 411 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,920 It's important to 412 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:44,440 Continue to talk about these things and and share one another's progress 413 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:49,560 So that's the actionable item that we're looking for is to share that progress 414 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,600 Yeah, it doesn't happen overnight, right? 415 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:55,560 Yeah. Yeah, I like the mention of 416 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:58,440 reconsidering the design process 417 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:06,120 From a disability standpoint as well making sure that accommodations and accessibility needs are 418 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:12,200 Prioritized from the beginning can't always be like retroactively resolved 419 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:17,000 Sometimes it has to be often times it has to be considered from the get-go 420 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,680 One of the biggest barriers that you face due to your deafness either 421 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:27,400 Professionally or personally whatever you're comfortable sharing just so maybe people can take away and kind of better understand 422 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,640 I guess what that life is like 423 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:39,400 So, you know, I think the biggest challenges early on too in being a solopreneur 424 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:42,120 Is 425 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:44,120 Overlays to mental health 426 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,920 right and focus and 427 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:49,240 the grind 428 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:50,360 it's 429 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:52,360 Certainly not easy 430 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:57,480 But your passion does a lot of the work for you. You just got to keep following the passion 431 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,280 and the work will come 432 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:01,720 and 433 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,720 What comes along with that is 434 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:06,280 failure 435 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,360 Quote failure, right and the word no 436 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,400 Someone needs to know 437 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:21,180 Someone recently told me an old mentor of mine the word no actually stands for right and oh next opportunity 438 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,560 And that's how we succeed 439 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:34,360 Is we take no and we turn it into a yes 440 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:40,600 And this dates back all the way to my grandfather's mentality. He didn't take no for an answer 441 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:42,600 You know and 442 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:51,080 He always advocated for himself himself and had what he would say a positive mental attitude pma 443 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:58,360 Right and you know, that's just such important life lessons, but being okay to fail is 444 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:01,080 Extremely important in this journey 445 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:03,640 You learn so much about yourself 446 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:09,640 How you pitch your services how you engage in a partnership 447 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:11,640 pricing 448 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,200 different social media type of opportunities 449 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:16,280 and 450 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,800 The more you can feel included from the beginning 451 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:25,880 Literally that sense of inclusion the sense of belonging the more you can feel that from the start 452 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:28,600 The better the relationship would be 453 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,680 You might not have any strong opinions one way or the other but 454 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,680 It's just kind of a topic that came to mind as you were speaking 455 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:41,000 with disability simulations, um, or just with the term of 456 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,680 helping people better understand disability by 457 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,600 Simulating a specific impairment. Do you have any strong feelings? 458 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:54,040 towards that like do you think that's a beneficial activity if maybe 459 00:32:55,160 --> 00:33:01,480 Employees were put in your shoes quote-unquote and they were unable to hear each other and they had to go through a workshop 460 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,600 Of how they would communicate do you i've also read a book called 461 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,960 on the other side of the spectrum where people with disabilities are 462 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:13,320 kind of offended by that type of thing because they make it seem like it's transient and then 463 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:19,400 They take the headphones off and they're able to go back to their life and it makes it seem like disability is just kind of 464 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,400 Something to be played with do you have any strong feelings one way or the other? 465 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:28,760 It's 466 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,440 That's an interesting question 467 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:37,960 You know and in fact the museum of science boston is doing a very cool 468 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,600 They're creating a new exhibit that's all about the science of hearing 469 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:47,160 what you might hear versus what i might hear and 470 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,320 That's fascinating to me 471 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:57,640 To others it might be quote offensive but it's important because 472 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:04,440 That is reality people don't know what it's like to live as a profoundly deaf individual or 473 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:11,000 A blind individual or someone with autism or dyslexia. We don't know what we don't know and the more that we can 474 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:13,000 learn 475 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:18,760 Because life is a journey you need to continue to learn about as much as you can in life 476 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:21,000 and 477 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,000 I'm all for it personally 478 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:29,400 You know and I think that you can sense that yeah in that same vein. I think it's interesting to maybe have 479 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:37,720 People try out wheelchair basketball try out different different sports because it's that's essentially it's not really a simulation 480 00:34:37,720 --> 00:34:40,200 But you're you're trying out different things you're 481 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:44,360 Gathering different experiences you're understanding different perspectives 482 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,200 So yeah, it's just something where it seems like 483 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:53,000 Seems like when you have people that are polarized one side or like one way or the other it almost 484 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:56,600 discourages you from even trying because you don't want to be 485 00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:58,520 critiqued 486 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:00,520 By either end if that makes sense 487 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:05,720 So then it sometimes prevents people from even becoming invested in the topic. So 488 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,480 Yeah, I think if kind of finding a common ground 489 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:13,320 But so that's where it's good to hear from you saying like oh no, I think that's a good thing 490 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:18,440 That's a great approach to education. And I will add 491 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,360 You know when you see somebody with a visible disability 492 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:30,600 Your strangers, but you feel like I want to help that person. There's ways to go about that and approach it 493 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:33,560 appropriately from both sides 494 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,560 Say someone's walking with a 495 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:43,800 White cane in the streets and you're a visible person you want to help them across the street safely 496 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,120 Your intentions are great 497 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:47,880 How do you do that? 498 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:54,920 Well, you never want to grab their arm. You never want to invade their space and assume that they need help 499 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,360 People with disabilities can also live very independently 500 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:02,520 successfully 501 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:07,960 And unless they're showing that they need help 502 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:09,960 You don't have to offer it 503 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:11,960 Again, your intentions are there but 504 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:19,400 This is an independent life as well. And so uh, you don't want to uh approach it in the wrong way 505 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,120 But you know, it's important to 506 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:25,800 Be aware of all of it all of it 507 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:28,840 The more you know, the more you know 508 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:33,880 Let's see what else I feel like we touched on most of the topics. I like maybe like does the 509 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:38,120 Regarding etiquette and communication does does the term disabled? 510 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,080 Does that have a negative connotation to you? 511 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,720 Or are you comfortable being referred to as a disabled individual? 512 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:50,600 Yeah, you know personally i'm i'm okay with it 513 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:53,400 I'm okay with it 514 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:59,160 I'm part of the disability community. Um, but again the word ability is in disability 515 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:04,360 So I talk about my ability before anything else and you know a lot of times especially at a loud convention or a networking event 516 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:06,760 restaurants 517 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:08,440 People don't realize i'm 518 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:14,440 Deaf and they don't see my hearing aids because they're beige and they kind of blend in and they're not 519 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:18,200 They're not deaf and they don't see my hearing aids because they're 520 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:23,400 and they don't see my hearing aids because they're beige and they kind of blend in and 521 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:29,800 Uh, you see my charismatic personality and you just don't realize he must be deaf 522 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:32,360 and so 523 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:34,360 You know, it's uh 524 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:36,360 it's just 525 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:41,880 In those settings, especially that's where I my motto comes in called be on offense 526 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:45,960 Uh is is what do I need to do to succeed? 527 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:47,960 in those loud environments 528 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:50,120 and how can I 529 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:51,960 turn the negative of 530 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:56,280 Too much loud noise not being a bit of lip read perfectly into a positive 531 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:03,720 I'm on offense. I drive the conversation first. I'm almost able to sense what they might say next 532 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:11,720 I'm getting used to their voice and the way their lips move at the same time because i'm letting them talk first 533 00:38:11,720 --> 00:38:18,220 First that's helping me be on offense to understand them down the line and build a relationship 534 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:23,160 Little things like that, you know, it's tricks that i've learned over the years 535 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,480 um 536 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,480 and be on offense came from 537 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:29,960 When I was 11 years old 538 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:34,840 I know I told you this story, but in short for the audience. I went to Michael Jordan's basketball camp 539 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:37,800 When I was 11, my brother was 14 540 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:43,080 And we got to meet him every day and one day he gave an audit auditorium speech 541 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:49,160 And I was about 50 60 feet away from the stage as soon as he came out. I very quickly realized 542 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:51,640 I couldn't hear anything he was saying 543 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:58,280 In those days, there were no live captions. There was not a screen projected on his face so I could lip read 544 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:03,560 And it was up to me in that moment to ask the counselor in the i.o 545 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:07,080 Well, hi, i'm deaf. I lip read may I sit up front? 546 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:13,880 but instead because I was embarrassed sitting next to my new teammate from all over the world and 547 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:16,200 Didn't want that 548 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:18,040 to be a barrier 549 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:19,960 I pretended to laugh 550 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:25,080 And pretended to smile for a full hour and missed everything my idol was saying 551 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:30,680 So I created a pun to basketball be on offense get the help you need 552 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,960 Because others aren't always going to get it for you 553 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,360 Yeah, and it's not just like others don't want to get it for you 554 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:43,080 It's that others might not understand how to get it for you unless you do advocate for yourself 555 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:47,640 They don't know what they don't know either and that's okay, right and so 556 00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:50,680 That's why it's so important. It's a two-way street 557 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:58,600 What are the coolest opportunities that have come about over the last couple years for you since you kind of transitioned into this new career? 558 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:00,600 transitioned into this new career 559 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:09,160 Well being able to speak in front of you know hundreds of people uh at a time both in person and virtual it's it's 560 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:11,240 it's 561 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:13,240 The feeling of inclusion 562 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:15,560 You know you you feel 563 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:24,200 Empowered and and you know, you're doing important work. And so that itself is probably the coolest 564 00:40:25,060 --> 00:40:26,120 um 565 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:31,820 Accomplishment, I guess I could say but you know speaking to companies like converse headquarters 566 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:33,640 hubspot 567 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:41,000 uh the td garden and and staples corporate and university of michigan and university of new hampshire and 568 00:40:41,540 --> 00:40:45,820 Princeton and you know all these amazing amazing prestigious organizations 569 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,000 I learned so much from them 570 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:55,400 Right and again, it's not all about me and my story and the deaf community and the disability community. It's about all of us 571 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:59,640 and so part of what here's dustin is all about is 572 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:06,700 Learning and spotlighting other companies and organization dei and accessibility initiatives 573 00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:13,560 Yeah, absolutely. I thought you were gonna maybe mention. Yeah, I thought you maybe mentioned your model and career as well 574 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:17,640 Yes 575 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:19,640 Uh, thank you for bringing that up 576 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:25,800 I did participate in runway of dreams in new york fashion week in september 577 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,920 this uh organization runway of dreams is amazing they 578 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:38,040 Showcase adaptive clothing so all the brands that participate you have tommy hill figure gap 579 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,360 You know adidas victoria secret coles target 580 00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:44,200 You know 581 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,120 They showcase adaptive 582 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:49,560 equipment and and clothing and all the different models 583 00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,400 Have a variety of disabilities and abilities, so 584 00:41:54,040 --> 00:42:02,940 It's really an amazing way to bring together differences and celebrate one another that was in september and just an amazing opportunity 585 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:08,200 um, maybe to wrap up most of these episodes we talk or I just ask a 586 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:10,440 question that's uh 587 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:14,280 That's common across kind of like all the different guests and their different experiences 588 00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:20,920 But um, what do you think needs to be done or what could be done to make fitness more accessible? 589 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:30,780 I would say you know, uh live captioning and clean audio 590 00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:35,000 Especially in the different types of 591 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:38,840 Studios that are dark red lit 592 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:43,480 Very uh, you know people are moving around everywhere music is 593 00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:46,200 craziness 594 00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:47,720 um 595 00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:52,200 I'm lost in those environments and I think even people that are hearing are lost 596 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:56,200 You know, they're just kind of looking at each other and following along the best you can 597 00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:02,360 But yeah, you might be getting a good workout in but there's a way to get a better workout in 598 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:05,320 And it comes down to feeling more included 599 00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:09,160 And if you have live captions and better audio and 600 00:43:09,720 --> 00:43:15,880 Visuals, you know f45 does a good job with visuals. They put up a screen that has a quad 601 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,440 Of four different workouts 602 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:22,600 And you're able to kind of see it first and then you know, which 603 00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:25,640 Workout you're doing based on which quad you're in 604 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,600 You know, it's all about 605 00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:30,840 thinking about the senses 606 00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:36,200 And what if as a gym owner you lack one or two of those senses? 607 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:39,000 How would you need access? 608 00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:47,080 Yeah, I remember seeing f45s and and immediately thinking like oh this this might not have been intended to be 609 00:43:47,720 --> 00:43:49,160 inaccessible 610 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:51,480 Accessibility thing but it's a super 611 00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:54,040 impressive uh and effective way 612 00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:58,040 To uh to display the information. So I do remember seeing that 613 00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:03,480 And being really impressed with it. It's definitely a probably an easy thing that really any gym that does group classes 614 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:05,720 could use 615 00:44:05,720 --> 00:44:08,120 Just some sort of display screen that shows 616 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:13,560 What clients are doing so they have those things to refer back to we've started using some mobile apps 617 00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:19,480 for some of our adaptive athletes that have videos and pictures and they just scroll down on the ipad at the gym and 618 00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:25,160 They check off their boxes as they finish their exercises and it's just a just an easy way for them to 619 00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:32,520 stay on task and uh kind of refer back to information that they need if if it's not being presented auditorily by a coach, so 620 00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:35,960 Well, dustin, I think um 621 00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:38,040 I'm glad I was able to have you on again 622 00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:43,080 I always appreciate talking to you feel like some of our conversations when we just meet on zoom like 623 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:51,320 We we talk about these topics and i've always thought like I should probably be sharing these conversations because I think they're super worthwhile 624 00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:55,720 So that's kind of where the podcast came about. I was like i'm meeting with all these incredible people 625 00:44:56,120 --> 00:45:01,800 I'm having all these conversations. I wish I could share and now the podcast gives me the opportunity to do so 626 00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:05,320 So really appreciate the work you're doing really appreciate your friendship and your support 627 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:11,720 We'll make sure we include here's dustin here's as an hears 628 00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:16,680 Dot com and the show notes will share any material where people can find you 629 00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:20,680 Uh social media handles, etc. But dustin. Thanks again 630 00:45:21,640 --> 00:45:25,960 Thank you for having me and I look forward to all of your continued success 631 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:28,600 Thank you for listening to the adaptx podcast 632 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:35,640 Our effort to amplify the ideas of our guests and create more inclusive and accessible industries is futile unless these episodes reach a larger audience 633 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:40,520 If you enjoyed our discussion today, please leave us a rating or review on whichever platform you use 634 00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:42,760 And if you would like to learn more about adaptx 635 00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:49,800 The course that we teach to health and fitness professionals and the projects that our organization is working on you can subscribe to our newsletter through our website 636 00:45:49,800 --> 00:46:13,020 Www.adaptex.org until next monday