1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,440 Alright, 2 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:03,350 welcome to the Adapt X Podcast where we have conversations with individuals 3 00:00:03,530 --> 00:00:04,680 building accessible businesses, 4 00:00:04,700 --> 00:00:07,490 advocating for inclusion or excelling in adaptive sports. 5 00:00:07,870 --> 00:00:10,410 Our intention is never to speak on behalf of those with disabilities, 6 00:00:10,410 --> 00:00:14,050 but to provide a platform to amplify their voice and share their ideas to a more 7 00:00:14,050 --> 00:00:17,730 accessible world. Today I am joined by Aaron Gob. Thank you for joining me. 8 00:00:18,270 --> 00:00:18,570 Yeah. 9 00:00:18,570 --> 00:00:19,570 Excited to be here with you. 10 00:00:20,700 --> 00:00:25,130 Aaron. So maybe let's start in childhood and adolescence. 11 00:00:25,700 --> 00:00:29,770 You're most notably known for your collegiate athletic career, 12 00:00:30,070 --> 00:00:31,690 but maybe let's take it back to childhood. 13 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:37,530 What initially got you into sports and what were the biggest barriers that you 14 00:00:37,770 --> 00:00:39,920 faced as an individual who's legally blind? 15 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,650 Yeah, growing up I tried every sport out there. 16 00:00:44,730 --> 00:00:46,770 I was always interested in sports, I always loved sports, 17 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,570 from baseball to basketball, to, I tried lacrosse, I tried soccer, 18 00:00:51,570 --> 00:00:55,330 hockey, everything that you can imagine. And I wasn't very good at them. 19 00:00:55,650 --> 00:00:59,050 I did individual sports and things of that I snowboard and that type of stuff, 20 00:00:59,070 --> 00:01:02,610 but I wanted to play a team sport and be able to actually compete and 21 00:01:04,350 --> 00:01:07,690 wasn't very good at those, didn't find the right position, the right fit. 22 00:01:07,710 --> 00:01:11,290 And in seventh grade is when I really started playing football and was able to 23 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,530 compete. Wasn't necessarily good. I wasn't athletic at the time, wasn't big, 24 00:01:15,530 --> 00:01:16,170 fast or strong, 25 00:01:16,170 --> 00:01:19,850 but I was able to be on the team and actually have a position where I could play 26 00:01:19,850 --> 00:01:20,810 and contribute a little bit. 27 00:01:22,830 --> 00:01:24,930 We know that blindness exists along a continuum. 28 00:01:25,310 --> 00:01:28,810 So what is your usable degree of vision like? 29 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,610 Yeah, so my right eye is totally blind. My left eye seat of a really tiny hole. 30 00:01:34,070 --> 00:01:37,530 And that has been the case since you were born or was it acquired? 31 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:39,170 Correct. I was born with it. 32 00:01:40,310 --> 00:01:42,210 So you were trying out different sports. 33 00:01:42,710 --> 00:01:46,930 Did you gravitate towards any of the para or adaptive sports or were you always 34 00:01:46,930 --> 00:01:50,010 adamant on participating among your peers? I. 35 00:01:50,010 --> 00:01:51,890 Didn't gravitate towards them. 36 00:01:52,610 --> 00:01:54,690 I mean there's nothing wrong with them by any means, 37 00:01:54,750 --> 00:01:59,490 but I wanted to play more of team sport. I wanted to play, 38 00:02:01,970 --> 00:02:03,570 I guess it sounds bad depending on the context, 39 00:02:03,670 --> 00:02:07,210 but I wanted to play one of more of the mainstream sports and that was my kind 40 00:02:07,210 --> 00:02:09,010 of goal and vision at the time. 41 00:02:10,070 --> 00:02:12,040 Yeah, I wouldn't say it sounds bad, 42 00:02:12,790 --> 00:02:16,570 it just sounds ambitious and that you want to participate among your peers, 43 00:02:16,700 --> 00:02:19,040 which feels perfectly realistic to me. 44 00:02:19,430 --> 00:02:22,730 But I would imagine obviously with minimal usable vision, 45 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,570 something like baseball becomes next to impossible. 46 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,290 Yeah, I mean I definitely played baseball as a kid, 47 00:02:29,390 --> 00:02:33,370 but at a certain age when parents are no longer pitching, 48 00:02:33,650 --> 00:02:36,600 I knew that I'd never going to be able to hit a 90 mile an hour fastball. 49 00:02:37,540 --> 00:02:38,760 You learn that pretty early on. 50 00:02:40,070 --> 00:02:40,903 So at what age, 51 00:02:40,970 --> 00:02:43,490 I guess did you gravitate towards football and then find your specialty? 52 00:02:44,370 --> 00:02:47,410 I started playing football in seventh grade, so I dunno, 11, 53 00:02:47,410 --> 00:02:49,410 12 years old is when I started playing football. 54 00:02:49,410 --> 00:02:53,170 And then I at the time was an offensive defensive lineman for a few years. 55 00:02:53,290 --> 00:02:56,450 I wasn't very big, fast or strong, wasn't athletic, wasn't really playing much. 56 00:02:56,990 --> 00:03:00,210 And sophomore year of high school I was a third string junior varsity athlete, 57 00:03:00,220 --> 00:03:03,450 never really touching the field and I decided to switch to long snapping, 58 00:03:03,510 --> 00:03:07,410 but not even just switching positions was good enough and I'm sure we'll get 59 00:03:07,410 --> 00:03:07,730 into it, 60 00:03:07,730 --> 00:03:12,130 but I had to do a lot of other things to work harder and smarter to be able to 61 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:13,593 actually start playing. 62 00:03:14,430 --> 00:03:15,730 How did that idea 63 00:03:17,390 --> 00:03:21,570 become something that you wanted to pursue? This idea of long snapping? 64 00:03:21,570 --> 00:03:25,930 Was there someone else that influenced you in any way or did you just determine 65 00:03:25,930 --> 00:03:27,650 that you thought that was your best path forward? 66 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,010 Look, I wanted to find a way to get in the field. 67 00:03:30,130 --> 00:03:33,330 I knew I couldn't be a quarterback or receiver. I also knew I wasn't 300 pounds, 68 00:03:33,490 --> 00:03:36,770 I wasn't going to be a successful offensive tackle or defensive tackle in the 69 00:03:36,770 --> 00:03:37,110 long run. 70 00:03:37,110 --> 00:03:41,890 And so I had to figure out what position would be a good fit and I found 71 00:03:41,890 --> 00:03:45,210 long snapping and realized that this niche position might give an opportunity 72 00:03:45,230 --> 00:03:47,850 for me to play and then play at a high level if I got good enough. 73 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,290 Yeah, and what was the process like of getting good enough I guess? 74 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:54,630 Yeah, 75 00:03:54,630 --> 00:03:59,130 so I realized that my skill level was down here and everyone else's was up here. 76 00:03:59,310 --> 00:04:02,970 And so going to practice every day and doing what everyone else was doing was 77 00:04:02,970 --> 00:04:06,090 not going to cut it. And so for me, for the next several years in high school, 78 00:04:06,210 --> 00:04:09,250 I woke up 5:00 AM every day, went to school, got there at five 30, 79 00:04:09,250 --> 00:04:11,890 started practicing long snapping for an hour in the mornings before school, 80 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,210 went to school, went to practice with the team, lifted weights for an hour, 81 00:04:15,210 --> 00:04:18,850 hour and a half every evening. And that was my focus, 82 00:04:18,900 --> 00:04:21,080 my routine most of the time. No one was there in the mornings, 83 00:04:21,150 --> 00:04:24,210 no one was there in the evenings with me. It was lifting weights, 84 00:04:24,210 --> 00:04:25,450 practicing long snapping, 85 00:04:25,450 --> 00:04:27,890 doing that maybe one person was there to catch my snaps or something, 86 00:04:27,900 --> 00:04:31,930 but no one was around. And understanding that didn't matter if it was dark, 87 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:33,080 didn't matter if it was cold, 88 00:04:33,670 --> 00:04:36,730 if you want to get a result that nobody else is able to get, 89 00:04:36,730 --> 00:04:40,010 you need to do the work nobody else is able to do and nobody else is willing to 90 00:04:40,010 --> 00:04:41,170 do and there's no way around it. 91 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:46,580 And at what point did you start realizing that you had a future in this and you 92 00:04:46,580 --> 00:04:48,330 start seeing success? 93 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:51,330 My senior year of high school I was ranked, 94 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:53,820 not only was I starting obviously in high school, 95 00:04:53,830 --> 00:04:56,460 but I was ranked as one of the top long snappers in the country and one of the 96 00:04:56,460 --> 00:04:58,650 top overall football players of any position in Massachusetts. 97 00:04:59,570 --> 00:05:03,380 Okay. What's the metric for determining the efficacy of long snapping. 98 00:05:04,550 --> 00:05:08,700 Going to camps and being judged and compared based on competitions and those 99 00:05:08,700 --> 00:05:12,020 types of things based on how fast, how accurate the snaps are, 100 00:05:12,020 --> 00:05:15,060 those types of things. And for football players in Massachusetts, 101 00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:16,620 I don't know how they come up with that stuff. 102 00:05:16,620 --> 00:05:19,980 That's based on 2 47 or ESPN rankings. 103 00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:23,980 I don't know the criteria, but I dunno, I was in the top 20 in the state. 104 00:05:24,060 --> 00:05:25,650 I knew that. Yeah. 105 00:05:26,180 --> 00:05:29,860 Absolutely. And were your coaches in high school receptive? 106 00:05:30,420 --> 00:05:34,210 I guess obviously it was a foreign experience for them having an athlete who was 107 00:05:34,230 --> 00:05:39,060 blind. So I guess what made your coaches effective 108 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:41,740 and I guess what was that experience like? 109 00:05:42,810 --> 00:05:45,860 They were nervous for sure, and they didn't know what to think in the beginning. 110 00:05:46,210 --> 00:05:47,740 They had never worked with someone like me, 111 00:05:47,740 --> 00:05:49,620 someone who had disability playing football. 112 00:05:49,710 --> 00:05:52,180 But even though they were concerned, 113 00:05:52,260 --> 00:05:55,300 I think that they looked at it as they're willing to give me a shot. 114 00:05:55,460 --> 00:05:56,293 I think in the beginning, 115 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:01,060 and they probably treated me a little different in the sense of being more 116 00:06:01,300 --> 00:06:04,340 cautious, but the second they saw that I was going to outwork everyone, 117 00:06:04,420 --> 00:06:05,500 I was going to do whatever it took, 118 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,300 they started to be harder on me and be tough on me and that's what I wanted. 119 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:12,860 One of my favorite things, I know we're not at college yet, 120 00:06:12,860 --> 00:06:16,460 but in college whenever we needed a scout team, wide receiver, 121 00:06:16,580 --> 00:06:18,650 a quarterback or a linebacker, I was all for it. 122 00:06:18,900 --> 00:06:20,980 I was always having fun doing that stuff. I mean, 123 00:06:20,980 --> 00:06:23,940 obviously I wouldn't be a receiver, a linebacker in games, 124 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,700 it wouldn't go well for us, but in practice, if we're having fun, 125 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,900 of course I wanted to do that stuff. I wanted to compete, 126 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:30,700 I wanted to push myself and try new things. 127 00:06:32,490 --> 00:06:36,860 When you were reaching out to colleges and publishing tape, 128 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,700 do you think they knew that you were blind? 129 00:06:40,250 --> 00:06:42,210 Were you discreet with that at all or? 130 00:06:45,180 --> 00:06:49,100 I think some knew, some didn't. Any coaches that I got serious talking to about, 131 00:06:49,340 --> 00:06:50,500 I told if someone, 132 00:06:50,650 --> 00:06:53,380 there's no way that someone could give me an offer and an opportunity without 133 00:06:53,380 --> 00:06:55,420 knowing it would've been unfair to them. 134 00:06:55,420 --> 00:06:59,500 They had to know it's something that you can't just hide in that sense. 135 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:04,460 And I think I'm sure a lot of them did know from stuff online. 136 00:07:05,050 --> 00:07:06,620 Once I was getting fairly good, 137 00:07:06,700 --> 00:07:09,860 I think it was definitely out there in different websites and stuff like that. 138 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,100 And so obviously once I committed to Tula it was all over the place, 139 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,500 but coaches definitely knew and the ones that I was actually talking with, 140 00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:18,940 I always told. 141 00:07:19,570 --> 00:07:20,780 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 142 00:07:21,580 --> 00:07:25,420 I just wonder if the not element of surprise, 143 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:27,260 but kind of keeping that initial 144 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,500 characteristic hidden to a degree would allow you at least to have those 145 00:07:33,500 --> 00:07:36,940 conversations. Whereas if you led with that, 146 00:07:36,940 --> 00:07:41,220 whether people would automatically dismiss your ability without giving you a 147 00:07:41,220 --> 00:07:42,053 fair chance. 148 00:07:43,460 --> 00:07:44,940 I mean definitely people did dismiss it, 149 00:07:44,940 --> 00:07:47,820 but at the end of the day I knew that someone would give me a shot. I mean, 150 00:07:47,860 --> 00:07:51,020 I have recruiting visits at Penn State, at Rutgers, at Maryland, 151 00:07:51,690 --> 00:07:56,340 tons of big schools like that, and I had opportunities to talk to coaches. 152 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:57,300 Now don't get me wrong, 153 00:07:57,300 --> 00:08:01,940 most of them obviously didn't give me offers and the chances and maybe some of 154 00:08:01,940 --> 00:08:04,100 them didn't know in the beginning and once I told them, 155 00:08:04,100 --> 00:08:06,940 maybe lost a little bit more entry of their interests. 156 00:08:06,940 --> 00:08:11,540 But I definitely had a lot of opportunities in the beginning and 157 00:08:11,540 --> 00:08:13,860 whether it was because of my vision or some other reason, 158 00:08:14,130 --> 00:08:15,700 obviously started to lose some of them, 159 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:17,940 but I was able to eventually find a place at. 160 00:08:18,100 --> 00:08:22,940 Tulane. And how'd you land on Tulane and what attracted you to that school? 161 00:08:23,690 --> 00:08:25,860 Yeah, so I had a few offers, 162 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,740 but the offers were mostly you can walk on the school, you can come try out, 163 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,780 and that wasn't something I wanted. Tulane was obviously a guaranteed spot, 164 00:08:33,820 --> 00:08:37,620 a guaranteed opportunity, and that's the number one thing I wanted. Number two, 165 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:39,380 and it just happened to work out with Tulane, 166 00:08:39,380 --> 00:08:42,900 is I got really good advice from a coach that God forbid you get hurt or you 167 00:08:42,900 --> 00:08:45,740 can't play, go to a school that you'd enjoy being at. 168 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,140 And Chile was a perfect fit for me. It was size wise, like 8,000 students, 169 00:08:50,230 --> 00:08:53,220 which was phenomenal. Not too small, not 40,000 kids either. 170 00:08:53,450 --> 00:08:57,850 Like some of the schools I was talking to, incredible city, 171 00:08:57,850 --> 00:09:02,290 incredible culture in New Orleans, food, nightlife, everything is amazing there. 172 00:09:02,290 --> 00:09:06,490 And so I just had a perfect fit there between the campus, the football team, 173 00:09:06,510 --> 00:09:07,970 the school, the city, 174 00:09:08,270 --> 00:09:11,680 and I really think it was a phenomenal fit because if something had happened, 175 00:09:11,750 --> 00:09:12,970 if I couldn't have played anymore, 176 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:14,680 I would've still enjoyed being a student there. 177 00:09:15,900 --> 00:09:19,080 And what was student life like? I know we'll talk about athletics, 178 00:09:19,140 --> 00:09:20,760 but what did you study? 179 00:09:20,910 --> 00:09:25,790 What were you interested in and how was it navigating campus as a student 180 00:09:25,790 --> 00:09:26,623 who was blind? 181 00:09:27,340 --> 00:09:30,640 It was fun. I studied finance. I mean, looking back I can't believe I passed. 182 00:09:30,700 --> 00:09:33,120 All my classes came well on all my classes. 183 00:09:33,260 --> 00:09:37,790 If you live in New Orleans and you're 18 to 22, you graduated school there, 184 00:09:37,830 --> 00:09:39,880 good for you. You deserve some props, let's be honest. 185 00:09:42,100 --> 00:09:45,480 But I did well in school. I did fairly good. I enjoyed it. 186 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,360 I learned a lot from that. I enjoyed the campus, I enjoyed the classmates, 187 00:09:49,380 --> 00:09:50,213 the teammates, 188 00:09:50,430 --> 00:09:54,880 everyone there both in classes on the field and going out and hanging out with 189 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:58,920 friends and doing different things. So overall it was really a good experience. 190 00:09:59,450 --> 00:10:02,160 Again, I think it was definitely for me personally, in great size campus, 191 00:10:02,260 --> 00:10:03,000 it wasn't too small, 192 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,430 which I didn't want and it wasn't this huge massive campus that was spread 193 00:10:07,430 --> 00:10:12,120 across the entire city, so it was a really nice. 194 00:10:14,540 --> 00:10:15,420 Yeah. Yeah. 195 00:10:15,730 --> 00:10:20,510 We talk on the show a bit about assisted technology and modifications and 196 00:10:20,980 --> 00:10:24,870 what did you find to be most useful in your academic experience? 197 00:10:25,370 --> 00:10:29,990 Taking classes and studying and really. 198 00:10:29,990 --> 00:10:30,823 Just my laptop, 199 00:10:30,950 --> 00:10:35,470 I mean I get my laptop and phone are the two things that allow me to succeed in 200 00:10:35,470 --> 00:10:38,510 everything. Professors would send me all the PowerPoints before class. 201 00:10:38,790 --> 00:10:39,623 I would take tests, 202 00:10:39,950 --> 00:10:43,790 a separate room on my laptop or on a computer and things of that nature. 203 00:10:43,970 --> 00:10:47,910 My laptop obviously reads things out loud to me if it's long or I can zoom in if 204 00:10:47,910 --> 00:10:49,270 it's not as long, 205 00:10:49,370 --> 00:10:54,300 and so my laptop is what allowed me to do school and participate and 206 00:10:54,300 --> 00:10:58,860 be successful in that. But I think 10 years ago, well yeah, 207 00:10:58,900 --> 00:11:03,260 I mean I graduated college in 2018, so let's just say 15 years ago maybe. 208 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,380 The technology was different and I think people had to have more different 209 00:11:06,620 --> 00:11:09,100 assisted devices and you are more ingrained in that world, 210 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,780 so maybe you know better than me, but to be completely honest with you, 211 00:11:11,780 --> 00:11:14,380 at least someone with my level of vision. If you have a laptop and a phone, 212 00:11:14,550 --> 00:11:17,820 maybe you need something else, but that's 98% of it in my opinion. 213 00:11:18,370 --> 00:11:19,203 Yeah, well that's great. 214 00:11:19,420 --> 00:11:23,860 Those technology pieces of technology are obviously so accessible and readily 215 00:11:24,090 --> 00:11:29,020 used by everyone. It's great that it doesn't always require a complex solution. 216 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,820 We had a focus group with a group of individuals with varying levels of visual 217 00:11:33,820 --> 00:11:38,740 impairment just about how they navigate gyms a couple of weeks ago and it 218 00:11:38,740 --> 00:11:42,740 was great just to hear 'em talk about the technology that they use on their 219 00:11:42,740 --> 00:11:47,300 iPhone. It makes it complex. Solutions are harder to adopt, 220 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:52,220 so when they're simple and when they're already part of your everyday fabric 221 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:52,700 of life, 222 00:11:52,700 --> 00:11:56,850 then it's a lot easier to integrate them within businesses and within recreation 223 00:11:56,850 --> 00:11:57,683 and stuff. 224 00:11:58,030 --> 00:12:02,170 So that's great to hear that there weren't complex solutions needed for you to 225 00:12:02,170 --> 00:12:03,003 experience those things, 226 00:12:03,150 --> 00:12:07,490 but what gave you the confidence to I guess pursue something that 227 00:12:07,950 --> 00:12:11,530 no one had ever done before? Being a division one football player who was blind. 228 00:12:12,510 --> 00:12:15,610 My focus wasn't pursuing something that no one had done before. 229 00:12:15,750 --> 00:12:18,800 My focus was I want to be really good at football, 230 00:12:19,130 --> 00:12:20,410 I want to be really good at football. 231 00:12:20,650 --> 00:12:22,570 I want to play because I love playing football. 232 00:12:22,570 --> 00:12:25,730 And I think that was really important to me, especially in the beginning. 233 00:12:25,890 --> 00:12:28,090 I didn't want to do interviews, I didn't want to go on TV shows. 234 00:12:28,130 --> 00:12:31,970 I didn't want to do things like that and be known as this legally blind football 235 00:12:31,970 --> 00:12:32,410 player. 236 00:12:32,410 --> 00:12:35,050 I wanted to play and I wanted to play at the highest level possible because I 237 00:12:35,050 --> 00:12:38,050 was good enough and I was athletic enough and I could compete with anyone in the 238 00:12:38,050 --> 00:12:40,370 country. It wasn't about me being legally blind. 239 00:12:40,390 --> 00:12:44,730 And so I think my passion was how I could be the best possible football player 240 00:12:44,730 --> 00:12:46,530 and play at the highest possible level I could, 241 00:12:47,300 --> 00:12:50,800 and that's what I always looked at. My vision had nothing to do with it. I mean, 242 00:12:50,830 --> 00:12:53,210 yes, that was part of me and who I am, 243 00:12:53,300 --> 00:12:55,650 but my focus was being an incredible football player, 244 00:12:55,750 --> 00:12:57,490 not being the first legally blind athlete. 245 00:12:59,370 --> 00:13:02,220 Yeah. How do you balance, I guess that juxtaposition between 246 00:13:03,970 --> 00:13:08,540 your disability garnering a lot of attention and press and 247 00:13:08,540 --> 00:13:09,580 opportunities for you, 248 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:14,620 but at the same time articulating that that's not how you want to be 249 00:13:14,620 --> 00:13:18,050 known, that you don't want preferential treatment, 250 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,820 you don't want to be known as the long snapper who's blind, 251 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,260 you just want to be known as Aaron Gob who's a division one football player. 252 00:13:24,340 --> 00:13:29,340 I guess how do you balance leaning into your diagnosis but also directing 253 00:13:29,340 --> 00:13:30,780 people towards you as an individual? 254 00:13:31,730 --> 00:13:34,660 Yeah, look, I mean I think I'll answer that in two ways. 255 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,660 The first way is when I was senior in high school, I committed play at Tulane. 256 00:13:38,900 --> 00:13:40,460 I got an opportunity to go on Good Morning America. 257 00:13:40,900 --> 00:13:41,900 I didn't want to do it in the beginning. 258 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,860 One of my coaches talked to me and he said, look, Aaron, it's your choice, 259 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,820 but if you can go on, you can help one other person, you should do it. 260 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,380 And that kind of convinced me to do that and then do other engagements where my 261 00:13:51,380 --> 00:13:55,620 coaches or whoever would ask me to do it. And now using my vision is phenomenal. 262 00:13:55,900 --> 00:13:57,780 It helps me. I've run a couple businesses, 263 00:13:57,780 --> 00:14:00,380 but it helps me in one of them obviously land speaking engagements and get my 264 00:14:00,380 --> 00:14:02,020 foot in the door at different places. 265 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:07,420 Now how you personally get treated is also how you represent yourself. My 266 00:14:07,420 --> 00:14:09,380 coaches knew pretty early on in the beginning, 267 00:14:09,380 --> 00:14:10,620 they might treat me a little different, 268 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,260 but they learned pretty early on that I was trying to run with what provide 269 00:14:14,420 --> 00:14:15,900 receivers. I was trying to lift with the lineman, 270 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,380 if you're yelling at someone else, you better be yelling at me. 271 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:25,020 It was how you present yourself in the attitude and are you going to 272 00:14:25,020 --> 00:14:28,300 toughen up and figure it out or are you going to sit there and ask for help with 273 00:14:28,300 --> 00:14:30,260 everything and there's no harm in asking for help. 274 00:14:30,420 --> 00:14:33,460 I don't want to make it seem like you can't ask for help because in a lot of 275 00:14:33,460 --> 00:14:35,620 circumstances I need to ask for help and others do. 276 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,260 And asking for help isn't a sign of weaknesses, a sign of strength, 277 00:14:38,260 --> 00:14:40,900 it shows you know what you need. It shows your confident in yourself. 278 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,980 It shows you know what you need help with, but also in some situations, 279 00:14:44,980 --> 00:14:46,020 especially in football, 280 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:50,260 you need to sometimes just toughen up and do what you don't want to do and 281 00:14:50,260 --> 00:14:53,050 figure it out. We talked about gyms and we'll probably get into that. 282 00:14:53,590 --> 00:14:56,090 My coaches understood I'm going to trip on things, 283 00:14:56,110 --> 00:14:58,370 I'm going to trip on dumbbells, I'm going to trip on things, but guess what, 284 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,090 they're not going to walk me around the gym the whole time. If I trip, 285 00:15:01,210 --> 00:15:02,570 I better get up and figure it out. 286 00:15:02,830 --> 00:15:06,410 And that was my mentality and to get from station to station when we were 287 00:15:06,410 --> 00:15:07,243 lifting as a team. 288 00:15:08,090 --> 00:15:08,780 Yeah, 289 00:15:08,780 --> 00:15:11,500 the first part of that answer I guess was the first thing that came to mind. 290 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,740 You didn't have someone to emulate, 291 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:19,660 but by you having a public facing persona, 292 00:15:19,730 --> 00:15:24,140 then there's other people who might have needed that, 293 00:15:24,260 --> 00:15:26,780 I guess to have the confidence to pursue a goal like this. 294 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:30,180 So for you to be an influential figure, 295 00:15:32,300 --> 00:15:36,660 I believe is obviously the right way to approach that so you can influence the 296 00:15:36,660 --> 00:15:37,700 next generation of people. 297 00:15:39,010 --> 00:15:43,740 Have you had conversations with people with a similar condition or a similar 298 00:15:44,180 --> 00:15:48,660 diagnosis that saw your publicity and kind of reached out? 299 00:15:49,310 --> 00:15:51,020 Definitely. There's definitely been a handful. 300 00:15:52,100 --> 00:15:56,340 I remember one time my sophomore year, a mother reached out to my coaches. 301 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:01,260 Her son I think had something he was going blind and we brought them in and we 302 00:16:01,260 --> 00:16:03,740 walked him around the stadium in the locker room and in the weight room, 303 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,380 and I spent some time with him and talk to them, 304 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,220 and that was a phenomenal experience, 305 00:16:08,220 --> 00:16:11,300 being able to give back and help someone and use my position on the football 306 00:16:11,300 --> 00:16:15,740 team of where someone might look up to me to be able to share that and help 307 00:16:15,740 --> 00:16:18,180 someone else. And so definitely had some experiences like that, 308 00:16:18,180 --> 00:16:20,060 which is always great to be able to help others. 309 00:16:20,890 --> 00:16:22,620 Yeah. I've read a bit 310 00:16:24,370 --> 00:16:29,300 that you've shared online about this idea of inspirational, motivational, 311 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:30,633 et cetera. 312 00:16:31,540 --> 00:16:35,700 I think it's easy to say that your story is inspirational and rightfully, 313 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,740 but less so because of your diagnosis and more so because of the habits and the 314 00:16:40,740 --> 00:16:44,540 work that you put in to get there and the fact that it had to be 10 times more 315 00:16:44,540 --> 00:16:45,373 than your peers. 316 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,820 But we talk about the inspiration narrative with a lot of our guests here. 317 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:52,460 Do you want to be considered inspirational? 318 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,980 Of course, my story is inspirational. I'm not oblivious to that. 319 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,460 Of course I am as a human being, 320 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,140 but at the end of the day, 321 00:17:05,460 --> 00:17:09,260 I think that inspiration only gets you so far. I think, yeah, 322 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,580 I'm happy to have my story be inspirational and help you, 323 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,380 but I think that a lot of people look at these external people, 324 00:17:16,380 --> 00:17:17,340 these external things. 325 00:17:17,460 --> 00:17:20,420 I talk sometimes about what I consider the difference between internal and 326 00:17:20,580 --> 00:17:21,413 external motivation. 327 00:17:22,020 --> 00:17:24,780 External is when you look at someone else for that motivation or when you look 328 00:17:24,780 --> 00:17:27,620 at what someone says you can or can't do, and don't get me wrong, 329 00:17:27,620 --> 00:17:30,420 that might help you for a certain time period. If I'm going to go to the gym, 330 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:31,353 I'm going to go squat. 331 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:33,940 I'm going to the gym later today when I have a set heavy set of squats, 332 00:17:34,580 --> 00:17:37,260 I am going to think of something that pisses me off or something that will 333 00:17:37,420 --> 00:17:38,540 motivate me for that one minute, 334 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:43,460 but that's not going to get me very far. If you want to have internal 335 00:17:43,460 --> 00:17:48,100 motivation, if you want to succeed about finding that internal motivation, 336 00:17:48,100 --> 00:17:49,960 that internal why of why do you want to do something? 337 00:17:50,300 --> 00:17:53,850 Going back to why I wanted to play football, I wanted to play because I love it. 338 00:17:54,170 --> 00:17:55,850 I wanted to play because I wanted to be good at it. 339 00:17:56,150 --> 00:17:59,170 Why do I want to succeed in business and what I use today? Because I enjoy it, 340 00:17:59,170 --> 00:18:01,530 because I have a passion for it, because I want to be successful. 341 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:03,130 It's not focusing on anyone else, 342 00:18:03,220 --> 00:18:07,340 and I think that that's the biggest shift that people have to make. 343 00:18:07,340 --> 00:18:09,180 It's not that you can't look at other people for inspiration. 344 00:18:09,180 --> 00:18:12,620 You absolutely can, but if you want to be successful long-term yourself, 345 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,780 you need to find that within yourself of why do you want to do something? 346 00:18:15,810 --> 00:18:18,660 Because that is the thing that's going to drive you forever. 347 00:18:19,380 --> 00:18:21,490 I didn't want to wait with five M every day and practice, 348 00:18:21,490 --> 00:18:26,020 but I had that why within inside me that pushed me to do it. 349 00:18:27,610 --> 00:18:31,280 We're grateful for the support of our fair show sponsor Resolution Fitness 350 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,640 offers leading brand health club equipment and accessories for residential and 351 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,920 commercial use. In addition to traditional exercise equipment. 352 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:40,840 They specialize in adaptive fitness products and wheelchair accessible machines. 353 00:18:41,300 --> 00:18:44,800 If you're interested in outfitting your fitness facility or home gym to be more 354 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:45,530 accessible, 355 00:18:45,530 --> 00:18:50,400 visit www.resolutionfitness.ca or the link in the show notes below. 356 00:18:52,670 --> 00:18:56,710 Yeah, that's well articulated and it segues nicely into one of the other talking 357 00:18:56,710 --> 00:19:01,520 points I was hoping to address. Is your business, educational speaking, 358 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:03,960 motivational speaking, however you want to label it, 359 00:19:06,180 --> 00:19:11,160 how can you ensure that the effects of your speaking aren't 360 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:12,280 transient? Like you said, 361 00:19:12,650 --> 00:19:16,360 motivation or external motivators might be temporary. 362 00:19:17,340 --> 00:19:20,990 It needs to come from within and within your own goals. I sometimes wonder, 363 00:19:21,980 --> 00:19:25,520 with motivational speaking, it might have an impact for several hours, 364 00:19:25,780 --> 00:19:30,470 but how can it have an impact for several months and into perpetuity, I guess. 365 00:19:30,540 --> 00:19:34,800 So I guess how do you approach that knowing that you want to leave Elastic 366 00:19:34,900 --> 00:19:35,733 Impact? 367 00:19:35,970 --> 00:19:38,560 So let's start here. I don't consider myself a motivational speaker. 368 00:19:39,060 --> 00:19:41,040 I'm a professional keynote speaker, 369 00:19:41,140 --> 00:19:45,210 and the biggest difference is a motivational speaker is, in my opinion, 370 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:49,780 the biggest waste of money you can ever spend. They don't live give results. 371 00:19:50,210 --> 00:19:53,700 They motivate you for an hour, and then there's nothing. Also, 372 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:55,820 if you are trying to get into speaking, 373 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:57,700 if you brand yourself as a motivational speaker, 374 00:19:57,700 --> 00:19:59,380 you're going to get capped out in fees. 375 00:20:00,140 --> 00:20:01,460 If a company's going to spend a lot of money, 376 00:20:01,690 --> 00:20:04,780 they want someone who's going to give results and long lasting results. 377 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:06,700 And so there's a whole process to it. 378 00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:09,730 When I go in to speak at a company or an association or a sports team, 379 00:20:10,210 --> 00:20:11,300 it's doing a needs assessment, 380 00:20:11,300 --> 00:20:14,300 understanding what they're looking to get out of it, what their goals are, 381 00:20:14,300 --> 00:20:15,210 what their challenges are, 382 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:20,340 how I can help bridge that gap and curate and customize a portion of my speeches 383 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,660 to help ensure I'm hitting their goals, setting up pre-event calls, 384 00:20:23,790 --> 00:20:26,100 post-event calls, taking them through this process. 385 00:20:26,230 --> 00:20:28,620 And sometimes that also leads to longer term consulting, 386 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,420 but how they can actually implement what I'm talking about. 387 00:20:31,930 --> 00:20:35,660 Because when they can do that, that's when they see long lasting results. Now, 388 00:20:35,660 --> 00:20:38,460 don't get me wrong, if someone's like, Hey, we just want a motivational speaker, 389 00:20:38,470 --> 00:20:41,700 we want you to come and share your story, we will pay you for that. Sure, 390 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:43,660 not a problem at all. That's totally fine. 391 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:48,370 But most of the time I brand myself as a professional keynote speaker because 392 00:20:48,380 --> 00:20:51,530 those are the individuals that can actually help transform and leave long 393 00:20:51,530 --> 00:20:52,363 lasting results. 394 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:58,900 And you're not just speaking about DEI topics for the audience who aren't 395 00:20:59,060 --> 00:21:00,700 familiar with your presentations, I guess, 396 00:21:00,890 --> 00:21:03,180 what are the main learning objectives? 397 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:05,660 So there's three kind of main topics. 398 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,180 The first one is around overcoming adversity and perseverance. 399 00:21:08,180 --> 00:21:10,140 Talking a lot about my background, my story, 400 00:21:10,140 --> 00:21:13,540 talking about gratitude and how I'm thankful and grateful I was born legally 401 00:21:13,630 --> 00:21:16,940 blind, but also how you can overcome challenges and obstacles. 402 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:18,780 The second one is around leadership, 403 00:21:18,780 --> 00:21:22,490 leadership development and teamwork and how you can develop yourself and the 404 00:21:22,490 --> 00:21:25,420 people around you into better leaders, better teammates. 405 00:21:25,710 --> 00:21:28,140 And the third is what I call thinking differently about disabilities. 406 00:21:28,140 --> 00:21:30,020 And so I'm very clear I do not talk on DE, 407 00:21:30,100 --> 00:21:34,100 I know nothing about DEI except for disabilities, disability awareness, 408 00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:36,620 perception of disabilities, accessibility, those types of stuff. 409 00:21:36,970 --> 00:21:39,580 I only fall into that bucket and I'm very clear about that because I don't want 410 00:21:39,580 --> 00:21:43,580 anyone to mix it up and hire me and then not get what they were looking for. 411 00:21:44,470 --> 00:21:48,940 And so it's how we can work with individuals with disabilities to succeed, 412 00:21:48,940 --> 00:21:51,220 what we can do as companies to allow them to succeed, 413 00:21:51,230 --> 00:21:54,220 how people with disabilities can do things themselves to succeed, 414 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,140 what we can do to create a better perception or a more accessible environment. 415 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,140 And I think all of that's really important. 416 00:22:00,140 --> 00:22:03,180 And so those are kind of the three main topics. Of course, 417 00:22:03,180 --> 00:22:06,380 they're always shifts and changes, and that's why I do those needs assessments. 418 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:10,210 Sometimes people will say, can you combine two of them? Sometimes people, 419 00:22:10,980 --> 00:22:14,370 we also want to talk somewhat on goal setting. Totally fine, 420 00:22:14,370 --> 00:22:17,770 and that's why I go through that needs assessment process to make sure I'm 421 00:22:17,890 --> 00:22:22,170 actually delivering what the client or the company wants when I'm being broadly 422 00:22:22,190 --> 00:22:23,023 to speak. 423 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,330 Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. 424 00:22:26,530 --> 00:22:30,210 I was hoping to learn a little bit about how you prepare for a speech just as I 425 00:22:30,210 --> 00:22:34,730 have the opportunity to do a few more later this fall and want to make sure that 426 00:22:35,050 --> 00:22:37,210 I really, I guess deliver, like you said, 427 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:42,330 what they want out of it and having a very clear vision of what their 428 00:22:42,330 --> 00:22:46,240 expectation is and how their employees can benefit from the presentation, 429 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,090 I guess is the first and most important step. 430 00:22:49,510 --> 00:22:53,170 And one of the things I'll just say there for you and for anyone else listening 431 00:22:53,170 --> 00:22:57,010 is the biggest thing that I think one of the biggest things that sets good and 432 00:22:57,090 --> 00:23:01,850 great speakers apart is a great speaker goes into bunch of needs assessment, 433 00:23:01,850 --> 00:23:03,770 pre-event calls, really listens, 434 00:23:03,780 --> 00:23:07,530 comes to them with a handful of questions of identifying what they're looking 435 00:23:07,590 --> 00:23:09,650 for and then integrates that into their speech. 436 00:23:09,870 --> 00:23:12,530 You're never going to write a new speech from scratch unless someone's paying 437 00:23:12,530 --> 00:23:16,730 you an absurd amount of money. However, you can tailor 30% of it, 438 00:23:16,980 --> 00:23:20,810 you can make sure that it is relevant to their audience and you understand what 439 00:23:20,810 --> 00:23:21,643 they're looking for. 440 00:23:21,830 --> 00:23:24,570 If you go into a speech and you don't understand who's attending it, 441 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,690 what the audience looks like, what their goals are, what their challenges are, 442 00:23:28,390 --> 00:23:31,240 what's worked well in the past, what hasn't worked well in the past for them, 443 00:23:31,790 --> 00:23:34,050 you're doing yourself and the company a disservice. 444 00:23:34,630 --> 00:23:36,480 If you prepare and you go through all of that, 445 00:23:36,830 --> 00:23:39,290 the chances of you getting testimonials, referrals, 446 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:41,810 more business and ongoing business out of it 447 00:23:43,690 --> 00:23:44,610 dramatically increases. 448 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,090 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's a great framework. You had mentioned 449 00:23:50,710 --> 00:23:55,130 the three criteria and the second one you talked about leadership. 450 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:00,610 What do you think makes an effective leader and how can every employee 451 00:24:00,610 --> 00:24:03,290 within a company exhibit leadership qualities, 452 00:24:03,290 --> 00:24:04,890 even if they aren't in a higher position? 453 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:10,890 Someone who shows through their actions instead of tells someone who helps and 454 00:24:10,890 --> 00:24:13,650 supports the people around them, I think are some of the biggest ones. 455 00:24:14,230 --> 00:24:17,900 So many people say they're going to do something, you don't follow through. 456 00:24:18,650 --> 00:24:21,340 When you do that, you're not only lying to yourself, 457 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,020 but you're lying to your team and your team, your company, 458 00:24:25,020 --> 00:24:27,730 your organization is going to start to lose trust in you. 459 00:24:28,530 --> 00:24:30,820 There's very few people in this world, unfortunately, 460 00:24:30,820 --> 00:24:33,540 that keep the commitments and keep the word that they say they're going to do, 461 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:38,180 and the people that do are the ones who set themselves apart and actually make 462 00:24:38,180 --> 00:24:39,900 an impact and people remember them. 463 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:43,780 I also think the people who are focused on the greater good of the team and not 464 00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:45,420 always just the success on themselves, 465 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,300 the people who are willing to help and support and pick people up when they're 466 00:24:49,300 --> 00:24:53,380 down is so important because a leader isn't always focused on themselves. 467 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,620 So often you've seen high school, the star quarterback, they're the captain, 468 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,260 but they might be a terrible leader, they might be a great leader, 469 00:24:58,260 --> 00:24:59,093 you never know, 470 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:04,380 but what I'm saying is the best leaders are the ones who are able to communicate 471 00:25:04,380 --> 00:25:07,340 well, be a good teammate and help the people around them. 472 00:25:09,730 --> 00:25:13,140 Absolutely. And then in your first outcome, you mentioned gratitude, 473 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,700 and I've read that you've said that you're grateful for your blindness and that 474 00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:19,460 if you had the opportunity to change it, 475 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,180 you wouldn't because it's molded you into the person that you are today. 476 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,700 So if a medical breakthrough or technology was developed that gave 477 00:25:28,700 --> 00:25:33,420 you your site back, are you saying that you wouldn't? 478 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:34,480 Of course I would. 479 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:35,420 Of course, of course I would. 480 00:25:36,090 --> 00:25:39,460 It's more of the lived experiences that it's given me up till this point. 481 00:25:39,620 --> 00:25:42,380 I wouldn't change the fact that 28 years ago, 482 00:25:42,570 --> 00:25:44,380 legally I would keep that the same, 483 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,060 but if there was some medical breakthrough tomorrow, of course I would do it, 484 00:25:47,230 --> 00:25:51,580 and then I would probably go back and try and redo my career and become a 485 00:25:51,580 --> 00:25:54,820 professional athlete again and whether it be football or a different sport, 486 00:25:54,820 --> 00:25:59,820 because it would change a lot for me, but I absolutely 487 00:26:01,670 --> 00:26:03,700 would take that opportunity if that ever presents. 488 00:26:03,700 --> 00:26:06,380 Itself. I understand the premise, 489 00:26:06,620 --> 00:26:11,180 I guess the idea that your blindness has been a key contributor towards molding 490 00:26:11,180 --> 00:26:14,540 you into the person that you are today and the qualities that you developed, 491 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:17,100 but it's an interesting, I guess, 492 00:26:17,690 --> 00:26:21,220 idea of being grateful for something that most people would assume that you 493 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:22,113 resent, 494 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,020 or have there been periods of time where you think your diagnosis 495 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:33,940 has created challenges for you that have been hard to cope with or deal with? 496 00:26:34,100 --> 00:26:37,300 I guess, can you reflect on any periods of time when it was most frustrating? 497 00:26:37,980 --> 00:26:39,060 I mean, definitely when I was younger, 498 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:43,450 things like not being able to get my license and drive that was challenging and 499 00:26:43,450 --> 00:26:46,290 hard when everyone else was. But looking at it today, 500 00:26:48,370 --> 00:26:51,650 I was actually just talking to a driver this morning in Boston who was taking me 501 00:26:51,650 --> 00:26:55,240 to the speaking engagement and bringing me home, and I was like, look, 502 00:26:56,210 --> 00:26:57,370 I built a good relationship with the guy, 503 00:26:57,370 --> 00:26:59,850 and I was saying sewing people look at it, it's like, oh, 504 00:26:59,850 --> 00:27:02,170 you can't drive them as fuck. Well look, at the end of the day, 505 00:27:02,290 --> 00:27:04,650 I can take calls, I can do work, I can make more money, 506 00:27:04,970 --> 00:27:07,570 I can build a relationship, I can do so many other things while I'm in the car. 507 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,570 Well, I can't be on a Zoom call if I'm driving, 508 00:27:10,950 --> 00:27:14,370 and it gives me the opportunity to be more productive and do other things, 509 00:27:14,370 --> 00:27:16,290 which is really great because I can't drive. 510 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:18,890 Yeah, absolutely. 511 00:27:19,730 --> 00:27:24,690 Let's talk a bit about your experience with fitness because that's a 512 00:27:24,690 --> 00:27:26,930 main area of our podcast as a whole. 513 00:27:27,110 --> 00:27:32,010 So can you recall the first time you went into a gym 514 00:27:32,150 --> 00:27:34,810 and maybe what the biggest challenges were, 515 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:39,480 what the emotions you felt were and what made it more 516 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:40,570 successful over time? 517 00:27:41,830 --> 00:27:43,650 Middle school definitely was the first time, 518 00:27:43,870 --> 00:27:47,370 and I think it was the same challenge as every other middle school boys learning 519 00:27:47,470 --> 00:27:49,730 how to get stronger, put on muscle, those types of things. 520 00:27:49,740 --> 00:27:50,650 It wasn't any different, 521 00:27:50,650 --> 00:27:54,480 and I'm sure we'll talk about navigating a gym in a bit, but at that time, 522 00:27:54,930 --> 00:27:57,130 starting it was just the same things as everybody else is, 523 00:27:57,130 --> 00:27:59,410 how do I actually do this? How do you lift weights? How do you not get hurt? 524 00:27:59,410 --> 00:28:01,290 How do you build muscle and get stronger? 525 00:28:02,620 --> 00:28:03,453 Yeah, and 526 00:28:05,070 --> 00:28:08,150 I guess what were the biggest challenges that you initially faced? 527 00:28:08,310 --> 00:28:12,790 I guess navigating the gym for someone who maybe can't envision how someone 528 00:28:12,790 --> 00:28:15,270 without sight would have to difficulty in the gym, 529 00:28:15,980 --> 00:28:17,870 what were the challenges that you faced there? 530 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,030 So kind of two sides to that. The first one is anytime ever in a new gym, 531 00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:24,310 it's always challenging in the beginning, I need to walk around, 532 00:28:24,390 --> 00:28:25,710 I need to know where different things are, 533 00:28:26,220 --> 00:28:30,110 otherwise I won't be able to find my way to the bench or the squat or the leg 534 00:28:30,110 --> 00:28:31,470 press or whatever I'm doing that day. 535 00:28:31,810 --> 00:28:34,830 And so understanding where the equipment is kind of the first thing. 536 00:28:34,830 --> 00:28:36,150 Once I'm familiar with a gym, 537 00:28:36,590 --> 00:28:39,750 I understand where everything is and I can navigate it pretty easily in that 538 00:28:39,750 --> 00:28:43,230 sense. That said, one of the biggest things that, 539 00:28:43,290 --> 00:28:46,390 and I know you talk a lot about gym accessibilities, not even the biggest thing. 540 00:28:46,430 --> 00:28:49,670 I think the number one thing that would make gyms accessible for people who are 541 00:28:49,870 --> 00:28:53,630 visually impaired is not making the dumbbells block and the floor block and 542 00:28:53,630 --> 00:28:58,630 99.9% of gyms in the world are floors are black and the dumbbells are black. 543 00:28:58,730 --> 00:29:02,430 If the gyms that have a gray floor or the gyms that have a red dumbbells or 544 00:29:02,630 --> 00:29:05,150 whatever and there's different colors, make it a lot easier. 545 00:29:06,310 --> 00:29:08,550 I trip on dumbbells, barbells, all that stuff all the time. 546 00:29:08,660 --> 00:29:11,630 I've gone really good at catching myself. It's not the end of the world, 547 00:29:12,210 --> 00:29:16,520 but I think that is growing up and to this day, 548 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,000 probably the biggest challenge I face when I'm in the gym, when I'm working out. 549 00:29:22,110 --> 00:29:22,943 In the focus group, 550 00:29:22,950 --> 00:29:27,530 we did talk about the contrast of black on black and everything with dumbbells 551 00:29:27,530 --> 00:29:32,330 and even maybe painting the numbers on a dumbbell white just so 552 00:29:32,330 --> 00:29:37,290 there's a more distinct contrast between the rubber and 553 00:29:37,290 --> 00:29:41,930 the numbers that are on it. So those are low hanging fruit, 554 00:29:42,170 --> 00:29:46,330 I guess, to making a space more accessible. You think low hanging fruit. 555 00:29:46,430 --> 00:29:49,610 But if most gyms in the country don't do that, then it's clearly not. 556 00:29:49,820 --> 00:29:50,610 Right. 557 00:29:50,610 --> 00:29:54,650 I guess I say low hanging fruit in the sense that it's not a very expensive 558 00:29:54,650 --> 00:29:55,690 accessibility renovation. 559 00:29:55,770 --> 00:30:00,010 I think a lot of people think that becoming accessible or becoming a more 560 00:30:00,730 --> 00:30:04,290 adaptive fitness center comes with a significant price tag. 561 00:30:04,730 --> 00:30:09,730 They compare it to a physical therapy rehabilitation center when in reality 562 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:14,370 there's some small steps that could be made that have a low cost, 563 00:30:14,470 --> 00:30:15,330 but a high impact. 564 00:30:15,430 --> 00:30:19,810 So I guess that's how I categorize it as low hanging fruit where it wouldn't be 565 00:30:19,850 --> 00:30:23,770 a significant burden for the gym owner to make that adjustment and it wouldn't 566 00:30:24,030 --> 00:30:25,770 affect the experience for anyone else. 567 00:30:29,990 --> 00:30:30,690 Can you think, I guess, 568 00:30:30,690 --> 00:30:35,610 of any modifications that you make for common exercises to account 569 00:30:35,610 --> 00:30:38,770 for your vision when you're squatting or benching or doing pull-ups? 570 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,650 Yeah, the biggest thing for me is checking the weights every time. 571 00:30:42,810 --> 00:30:45,850 I had one instance in college where we'd load the bar and then we were supposed 572 00:30:45,850 --> 00:30:48,890 to check it. I think I had 1 45 pound plate on one side and two on the other. 573 00:30:49,090 --> 00:30:51,050 I didn't notice spotter wasn't paying attention. 574 00:30:51,070 --> 00:30:55,570 He got ripped a new one by my strength coach, but which he rightfully, 575 00:30:55,950 --> 00:30:59,570 but I noticed the second I took the weight off the bar, 576 00:30:59,630 --> 00:31:03,250 and so now it's just a habit in me. Anytime I load the bar, I check it then, 577 00:31:03,250 --> 00:31:04,650 and then right before I go and lift, 578 00:31:04,970 --> 00:31:07,330 I also check it one more time and feel it and understand, okay, 579 00:31:07,330 --> 00:31:11,370 I have this many plates on or I have this going on here to make sure that I know 580 00:31:11,370 --> 00:31:12,370 it. Whereas most people, 581 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,810 they put the weights up and they just look at it and they can tell that way. 582 00:31:15,830 --> 00:31:17,850 And so that's probably the number one. 583 00:31:17,870 --> 00:31:22,010 The first thing that comes to mind is I always double check a squat or a bench 584 00:31:22,010 --> 00:31:25,810 because I don't want to unrack something and then have it be unbalanced. 585 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:27,070 Yeah. 586 00:31:27,070 --> 00:31:31,850 Do you think there's any exercises that you would deem safer than others or do 587 00:31:31,850 --> 00:31:35,450 you gravitate towards any specific machines versus free weights? 588 00:31:37,370 --> 00:31:39,690 I don't think anything is necessarily safer than others. 589 00:31:40,090 --> 00:31:43,370 I think it's learning how to do the right form and stuff. 590 00:31:43,470 --> 00:31:46,530 And I'll give you an example. When I was younger in the beginning, 591 00:31:46,610 --> 00:31:49,490 I think I veered away from exercises like squatting because I think then the 592 00:31:49,490 --> 00:31:52,650 beginning I was concerned about the balance issue, but you know what? 593 00:31:53,410 --> 00:31:55,090 Learning how to get better balance is really important. 594 00:31:55,570 --> 00:31:56,730 Learning how to squat is really important. 595 00:31:56,730 --> 00:31:59,770 Squatting is probably the number one best exercise in the gym, in my opinion, 596 00:32:00,190 --> 00:32:01,530 for any athlete out there. 597 00:32:02,030 --> 00:32:04,450 And being able to squat effectively and do that is important. 598 00:32:04,450 --> 00:32:07,330 And so I had to figure it out and learn it. I think that's really important. 599 00:32:07,330 --> 00:32:09,810 Now there's a time and place for free weights. 600 00:32:09,810 --> 00:32:12,090 There's time and place for machines, 601 00:32:12,150 --> 00:32:15,770 but I think having a mix of both is really important, 602 00:32:16,310 --> 00:32:20,490 and being able to use them in the right and effective ways 603 00:32:21,230 --> 00:32:24,570 can be very beneficial because if you only said, Hey, 604 00:32:24,590 --> 00:32:27,370 I'm only going to bench press on a Smith machine, which don't get me wrong, 605 00:32:27,370 --> 00:32:30,450 there's times and places right now, one of my days in my workout, 606 00:32:30,510 --> 00:32:33,490 use a Smith machine, but if you don't ever use a barbell, 607 00:32:33,490 --> 00:32:36,130 you're not going to build those muscles that stabilize it. 608 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,640 Yeah, absolutely. And you mentioned even that tripping over dumbbells, 609 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,800 barbells are able to catch yourself and recover, 610 00:32:43,980 --> 00:32:47,200 and I would assume that lower body strength, 611 00:32:47,260 --> 00:32:51,240 things like that are really important for your ability to do so. 612 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:52,313 I shouldn't say assume. 613 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:57,040 I know that decreasing fall risk often comes from 614 00:32:57,570 --> 00:33:00,600 being stronger, being a more explosive athlete. And I mean, 615 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:04,760 falls are a common issue for people with visual impairment. Absolutely. 616 00:33:04,780 --> 00:33:09,280 So having the bone mineral density to tolerate a fall or the strength 617 00:33:09,780 --> 00:33:13,440 to catch yourself and the balance to catch yourself is essential. Yeah. 618 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:14,273 It's important. 619 00:33:14,870 --> 00:33:19,040 When you engage, so say you were walking into a gym for the first time, 620 00:33:19,730 --> 00:33:23,560 would you ask someone at the front desk to show you around the gym? 621 00:33:24,450 --> 00:33:26,440 Oftentimes, if I'm going to a new one, yeah, 622 00:33:26,620 --> 00:33:28,640 it obviously depends if I'm with someone else or not, 623 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,080 but if I'm walking to a new gym for the first time, yeah, absolutely. 624 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:36,600 I live in Los Angeles now, and so when I went to the gym I go to often now, 625 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,640 the first time it was went there and asked if, Hey, 626 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,800 could you get someone or the manager to walk me around for 10 minutes? 627 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:44,080 I just want visually impaired. 628 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,600 I need to know where the different machines and stuff are. 629 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:48,640 And we walked around the gym, we talked for 10 minutes. It was great. 630 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,340 So you might not have a personal trainer now, 631 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,340 but maybe even thinking back to your collegiate strength coaches, 632 00:33:55,890 --> 00:34:00,340 what would you want a trainer to ask you about your diagnosis? 633 00:34:02,060 --> 00:34:02,893 I think 634 00:34:06,620 --> 00:34:08,710 understanding, the first thing is everyone's different. 635 00:34:08,710 --> 00:34:11,860 And so understanding if there are certain exercise that someone can't do or 636 00:34:11,860 --> 00:34:15,230 can't do as well, and so everyone's different. Everyone's goals are different. 637 00:34:15,740 --> 00:34:19,750 When I lift, I lift for size and for strength. And so it's funny you say that. 638 00:34:19,790 --> 00:34:23,340 I do a friend of mine who's a very successful trainer here in Boston, 639 00:34:23,450 --> 00:34:25,750 and whenever I'm in town, I do go lift with him. 640 00:34:25,750 --> 00:34:30,710 It's more a day where I go push myself very heavy and I'll squat very heavy 641 00:34:30,860 --> 00:34:34,390 where I don't trust most people to spot me when I squat. 642 00:34:34,510 --> 00:34:36,630 I think that's a whole other can of worms. 643 00:34:36,630 --> 00:34:39,150 People know how to spot when they bench. Actually, that's not really true. 644 00:34:39,270 --> 00:34:40,910 A lot of people in the gym don't know how to do that either, 645 00:34:41,090 --> 00:34:44,990 but most people don't know how to spot a squat. And I think one of the things 646 00:34:44,990 --> 00:34:48,430 that we do is we make sure we design the workout effectively for me when we're 647 00:34:48,630 --> 00:34:48,730 together. 648 00:34:48,730 --> 00:34:51,630 Or sometimes I'll write a workout and I'll pay him and I'll send it to him to 649 00:34:51,630 --> 00:34:51,930 look at, 650 00:34:51,930 --> 00:34:55,670 but maybe it's him grouping things together where there's certain machines, 651 00:34:55,670 --> 00:34:58,750 certain stuff nearby versus doing something. 652 00:34:58,750 --> 00:35:00,670 If I have a super set and then something across the gym, 653 00:35:00,780 --> 00:35:03,790 that might be a pain for me. And so finding someone from doing a super set, 654 00:35:03,930 --> 00:35:07,390 how can I super set two things that are right near each other so I don't need to 655 00:35:07,390 --> 00:35:08,710 run back and forth across the gym, 656 00:35:08,730 --> 00:35:11,230 and it might be a little bit easier and more accessible for myself. 657 00:35:12,970 --> 00:35:16,340 The logistics of supersets are incredibly important, 658 00:35:16,460 --> 00:35:19,790 both for our athletes here at the gym who are blind, 659 00:35:20,010 --> 00:35:24,750 as well as our athletes who use mobility devices like wheelchairs and crutches, 660 00:35:24,770 --> 00:35:27,950 so they're not transferring their chair transferring back into the chair. 661 00:35:27,970 --> 00:35:31,990 And if you just think of how much work you want to get done and within an hour 662 00:35:31,990 --> 00:35:33,270 within a given workout, 663 00:35:33,770 --> 00:35:38,250 the logistical pairing of super sets becomes really important for coaches 664 00:35:39,150 --> 00:35:40,690 to acknowledge and be aware of. 665 00:35:41,090 --> 00:35:41,923 Definitely. 666 00:35:43,550 --> 00:35:43,840 Yeah. 667 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:48,570 So that's all good insight into how gyms can take small steps 668 00:35:48,570 --> 00:35:52,490 towards being more accessible. Have you had any negative experiences in the gym, 669 00:35:52,530 --> 00:35:55,770 I guess to maybe give people the foresight to avoid those things? 670 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,130 From an accessibility standpoint, I don't really think so. 671 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:06,130 I think that obviously there's times that I trip on things and that's going to 672 00:36:06,130 --> 00:36:09,210 happen in every gym, but I don't think there's ever been really 673 00:36:10,790 --> 00:36:14,270 negative experiences, at least from a accessibility standpoint. 674 00:36:14,470 --> 00:36:16,820 Definitely a negative experiences in different gyms for different reasons, 675 00:36:16,970 --> 00:36:19,630 but I don't think from an accessibility standpoint. 676 00:36:21,030 --> 00:36:24,800 And you're a little bit of a fringe case in that you're an elite athlete and 677 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,170 that you really want to be in the gym as opposed to, 678 00:36:27,210 --> 00:36:29,840 I think a lot of people with visual impairment might have more hesitancy to go 679 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:33,530 to a gym, and it's a completely different social emotional consideration, 680 00:36:33,650 --> 00:36:34,483 I guess. 681 00:36:34,550 --> 00:36:35,383 Oh, a hundred percent. 682 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,650 Yeah. So I guess creating a welcoming space, 683 00:36:40,230 --> 00:36:44,450 you're going to seek out a gym, but a lot of people aren't. So inviting them, 684 00:36:44,890 --> 00:36:47,650 demonstrating how you're going to make it a more inclusive and accessible 685 00:36:47,650 --> 00:36:48,410 experience for people, 686 00:36:48,410 --> 00:36:50,970 I would imagine is important for people at visual impairment. 687 00:36:51,030 --> 00:36:51,970 The other thing I'll say, 688 00:36:51,970 --> 00:36:54,730 and I think it's important whether you have a visual impairment disability or 689 00:36:54,730 --> 00:36:54,950 not, 690 00:36:54,950 --> 00:36:59,890 is I think a lot of people are afraid in the gym to go up to ask someone for 691 00:36:59,890 --> 00:37:00,050 help, 692 00:37:00,050 --> 00:37:03,360 especially if you see someone who maybe they're lifting heavy weight and you 693 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,210 want to ask them about that and learn how to do it. 694 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:09,530 Whereas the people I find who lift heavy weight, I'll look at myself. 695 00:37:09,550 --> 00:37:12,490 I'm not the strongest person in the gym, but I'm pretty strong in the gym. 696 00:37:13,860 --> 00:37:15,930 If someone comes up to me and I'm dead lifting a lot of weight, 697 00:37:16,430 --> 00:37:19,530 I'm always happy to talk. I've been in the gym for a long time. 698 00:37:20,670 --> 00:37:22,930 I'm always there to help if someone wants to come and ask. 699 00:37:22,930 --> 00:37:26,130 And I think people don't realize that if someone's lifting really heavy weight, 700 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:28,410 they've probably asked tons of people for help, 701 00:37:28,410 --> 00:37:31,130 and people have helped them over time, and they honestly, 702 00:37:31,290 --> 00:37:34,930 I find most of the time are the people who are more willing to help people. 703 00:37:35,110 --> 00:37:37,840 But people get intimidated because it looks like they have a lot of weight on 704 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:38,340 the bar. 705 00:37:38,340 --> 00:37:41,290 And so if someone from this ever sees me in the gym and sees 'em squatting or 706 00:37:41,290 --> 00:37:43,360 benching or whatever, you have a question come up and ask. 707 00:37:43,510 --> 00:37:44,610 I'm always happy to help. 708 00:37:46,110 --> 00:37:46,510 Yeah, 709 00:37:46,510 --> 00:37:51,450 that's great insight and definitely I think I can relate to that idea, 710 00:37:51,550 --> 00:37:54,530 just that people that have been in the gym for a long time, 711 00:37:54,530 --> 00:37:57,250 obviously people who are very strong have been in the gym for a long time, 712 00:37:57,750 --> 00:38:00,800 and they can kind of appreciate that everyone starts at a different point 713 00:38:02,300 --> 00:38:02,910 for sure. 714 00:38:02,910 --> 00:38:07,770 So what are you most excited about that you're working on over the next few 715 00:38:07,770 --> 00:38:10,690 years, maybe any projects specifically that excite you the most? 716 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:14,130 I think just, I love the world of business. 717 00:38:14,210 --> 00:38:18,250 I love the world of entrepreneurship, and so everything I do is always fun. 718 00:38:18,690 --> 00:38:22,090 I think if I'm not enjoying it, it's not necessarily worth doing, 719 00:38:22,270 --> 00:38:25,410 but my goals are to help a lot of people, make a lot of money, 720 00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:28,290 have a lot of fun. It's a great time. 721 00:38:28,410 --> 00:38:32,490 I really enjoy what I do and being able to travel to different places, 722 00:38:32,750 --> 00:38:36,570 do a lot of work with some really cool organizations and companies, 723 00:38:36,860 --> 00:38:38,490 and I think just right now, 724 00:38:38,750 --> 00:38:42,690 I'm pretty happy with the trajectory of where my business is going and what I've 725 00:38:42,690 --> 00:38:44,840 been able to accomplish, and I have a lot more to do. 726 00:38:44,930 --> 00:38:46,800 I have a lot more to accomplish. I have very high goals, 727 00:38:46,950 --> 00:38:51,930 but it's been a really fun ride to go through a lot of periods of 728 00:38:51,930 --> 00:38:54,770 not knowing what to do of getting punched in the face in business. 729 00:38:55,210 --> 00:38:57,170 I still get punched in the face in business every single day, 730 00:38:57,470 --> 00:39:01,010 but learning from those scenarios and figuring out how you can get better, 731 00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:02,113 it's a lot of fun. 732 00:39:03,270 --> 00:39:05,990 I can appreciate that for sure. After starring a couple companies, 733 00:39:08,220 --> 00:39:12,790 what type of companies or organizations should reach out to you or what is your 734 00:39:12,820 --> 00:39:14,710 target market there in case anyone's listening? 735 00:39:16,150 --> 00:39:19,950 I run two businesses. I'll explain. The first one is my speaking engagements. 736 00:39:20,030 --> 00:39:24,070 I work with large companies like Deloitte, Pepsi. I work with sports teams. 737 00:39:24,090 --> 00:39:27,790 I've worked with, actually can't say it, I almost slipped up. 738 00:39:28,140 --> 00:39:29,670 I've worked with a major league baseball team, 739 00:39:29,930 --> 00:39:34,190 so I worked with different sports teams. I've worked with colleges, 740 00:39:34,190 --> 00:39:38,150 universities, I've worked with schools, conferences, associations. 741 00:39:38,220 --> 00:39:39,270 It's all across the board. 742 00:39:40,270 --> 00:39:44,150 I also run a business where I do lead generation and we help grow and scale 743 00:39:44,150 --> 00:39:48,070 other businesses. Sometimes it's speakers, sometimes it's other organizations. 744 00:39:48,610 --> 00:39:51,860 I've gotten really good at lead generation and the marketing side of things from 745 00:39:51,860 --> 00:39:52,410 my business, 746 00:39:52,410 --> 00:39:56,750 and so it's fun to be able to do that and do that into other businesses as well. 747 00:39:58,110 --> 00:39:59,110 I would assume those two, 748 00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:03,550 those two are definitely synergistic in that I'm sure you refined your lead gen 749 00:40:03,550 --> 00:40:07,910 and your marketing through your own publicizing yourself as a speaker. 750 00:40:08,470 --> 00:40:09,140 Absolutely. 751 00:40:09,140 --> 00:40:11,550 Yeah. But it's not exclusive to speaking. 752 00:40:12,260 --> 00:40:14,430 That has applicability to other industries too, right? 753 00:40:14,430 --> 00:40:17,790 Yeah, and definitely it's a handful of speakers we work with, 754 00:40:17,790 --> 00:40:21,430 but I have someone right now who runs a conversion rate optimization company and 755 00:40:21,430 --> 00:40:22,910 works with e-commerce brands and stuff, 756 00:40:22,910 --> 00:40:26,910 and so it definitely is a mix of different people. 757 00:40:27,420 --> 00:40:31,860 Yeah. That's great to know. If you were speaking, 758 00:40:32,230 --> 00:40:37,230 I guess to yourself as a child who might be concerned about how you're going to 759 00:40:37,230 --> 00:40:40,630 fit in and how you're going to excel at sports and how you're going to develop a 760 00:40:40,630 --> 00:40:45,430 career, I guess, what would you tell yourself or what would you do differently? 761 00:40:46,550 --> 00:40:48,910 I think just try things. Try things. It's okay to fail. 762 00:40:49,050 --> 00:40:52,750 So many people are afraid of failing, and they don't want to look bad. 763 00:40:52,750 --> 00:40:55,820 They don't want to fail, I mean, transparently. 764 00:40:55,820 --> 00:41:00,390 And so understanding that failure, it's not a bad thing. It's a good thing. 765 00:41:00,390 --> 00:41:02,510 If you learn from it, it can teach you how to succeed. 766 00:41:03,230 --> 00:41:04,510 I think the earlier you try, 767 00:41:04,570 --> 00:41:06,860 the earlier you can learn and the earlier you can grow, 768 00:41:06,930 --> 00:41:10,230 and I think that's the biggest thing is understanding that things will work out 769 00:41:10,230 --> 00:41:13,230 how they're supposed to. And if you work hard, if you work smart, 770 00:41:13,250 --> 00:41:16,950 if you just try and it's okay to fail, I think it'll work out in your favor. 771 00:41:17,910 --> 00:41:18,743 Awesome. 772 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,720 We'll include the links to your websites and the show notes as well as social 773 00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:25,360 media channels that people can find you. But Aaron, 774 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:26,720 thanks so much for joining me today, 775 00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:30,320 sharing your insights into a more accessible world and the projects that you're 776 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,320 working on. Really looking forward to sharing this. 777 00:41:32,750 --> 00:41:34,010 Yeah, thank you for having me. 778 00:41:34,980 --> 00:41:36,800 Thank you for listening to the Adapt X Podcast. 779 00:41:37,430 --> 00:41:40,450 Our effort to amplify the ideas of our guests and create more inclusive and 780 00:41:40,450 --> 00:41:44,010 accessible industries is futile unless these episodes reach a larger audience. 781 00:41:44,390 --> 00:41:45,840 If you enjoyed our discussion today, 782 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:48,730 please leave us a rating or a review on whichever platform you use, 783 00:41:49,190 --> 00:41:52,490 and if you would like to learn more about X the course that we teach to health 784 00:41:52,490 --> 00:41:55,650 and fitness professionals in the projects that our organization is working on, 785 00:41:56,030 --> 00:42:00,210 you can subscribe to our newsletter through our website, www.adaptx.org. 786 00:42:00,570 --> 00:42:01,410 Until next Monday.