Latest / Marci talks money (and life) / Living, Working, and Thriving with Autism: A Conversation with Sam Mitchell
Transcript
- Marci Grossman (00:16) Hello, I am MoneyMarci. Welcome. Today's guest is Sam Mitchell. Sam is a high functioning human being on the autism spectrum with a mission to show people that he is not broken and does not need to be fixed. There is no normal in this world and he is successful with autism. His goal is to celebrate the successes of all people, embracing who he is and sharing that support with the world. Sam is a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, merchandiser, writer, and blogger, and loves to promote his podcast and business. He also has a published TED Talk called, Souled Structure. Sam runs a successful podcast called Autism Rocks and Rolls. His mission is to spread autism education via his podcast and nonprofit organization. Sam has had some big names on his show so far, including Armani Williams, first NASCAR driver open about having autism, American Idol rocker James Durbin, who has autism and Tourette's, and WWE legend Mick Foley, whose son is on the spectrum. His biggest guest so far has been Dr. Temple Grandin, professor in animal science at Colorado State University and a well-known autism activist. His pod. Sam (01:24) Right? Thank I'm Mark, I'm the leader. Marci Grossman (01:40) Autism Rocks and Rolls made it to the top 10 in the People's Choice Podcast Awards, placed second in the state of Indiana for the JAG Entrepreneurship Project, was selected as the best business at the CEO Trade Show in Indiana, and is in the top 200 podcasts in all of Canada. And he is a current Davey Award winner. By the way, Sam is 23 years old. What have you done this morning? Welcome Sam. Sam (02:13) Hey, thanks for having me on buddy, I appreciate it. Marci Grossman (02:15) I am thrilled to have you. Tell us, I guess, what made you start your podcast and how old were you at the time? Sam (02:22) Well, started during my high school's media club and I fell in love with the podcasting so much I didn't wait till college to expand my skills. And that was really when Autism Rocks and Rolls was born. Marci Grossman (02:31) And you've been having guests. I mean, people don't even know where to meet guests for podcasts and you're having guests from all over. I don't know if it's the right thing to say the spectrum of guests, but just a wide variety of guests professionally and personally. How do you find your guests? Sam (02:53) I do a lot of research and asking their publicist while also sometimes asking them directly via social media or convention centers slash events we do. Marci Grossman (03:05) Okay, and are you a speaker at these events? Sam (03:08) Yeah, I've spoken before. I've spoken in all over places, including like places like Canada and Orlando. Marci Grossman (03:16) Growing up, would you have expected this is where you were going to end up? Sam (03:19) No, no ma'am. I've expected to be in the basement playing video games because I didn't think I was worthy enough to even understand society. Marci Grossman (03:30) now you've graduated college, you have a degree in media and entrepreneurship. That's impressive in this day and age for anyone and you've obviously had additional challenges. What advice do you have for people, for young people trying to move forward and find their calling? Sam (03:51) I would say for advice for young people moving forward is to find your niche, but also make it separate from others. I have a podcast called Autism Rocks and Rolls. There's a lot of other podcasts out there about autism. But what separates me is I talk about the emotional side of autism and why we do this behavior. Doctors really can't do that, can they? Marci Grossman (04:13) No, no, I mean you're coming at it from the inside. So that's a unique and I don't want to say educated, but it's a lived experience that doctors can't have. Sam (04:27) It really is, man. Marci Grossman (04:27) . so do you do other things other than your podcast and your speaking and everything else? Do you have a day job that supports you or are those your full-time gig? Sam (04:41) Well, I also do events. We have, hopefully if the rain calms down, special needs night tonight. And hopefully this weekend we'll be also selling food at our local pumpkin patch to get some funds. Marci Grossman (04:55) Okay. Have you ever worked for anyone else? Sam (04:57) Yeah, I've done some work here and there. They just were college jobs or just working to get experience. I worked for a dog boarding retreat and I also, trying to think what else I did, Oh, and I worked for Blazer Vision, which is our local college basketball game basketball games. I did camera operating. And I got a bite yesterday on hopefully becoming a medical receptionist from a chiropractor's office. Marci Grossman (05:26) nice. Nice. So do you think that people who have autism, is that the correct way to say it? People who have autism? Okay. Do you think people who have autism have unique challenges in the workplace or getting jobs? Are there things that employers or coworkers should know to better support? ⁓ Sam (05:34) Yes, ma'am. Oh, maybe I have no idea. There's 85 % of people on the spectrum who have no jobs because of, I think, the boss being afraid to hire them or having to tolerate their challenges or the person on the spectrum being afraid to get a job and not wanting it because of the fear dealing with other people. Marci Grossman (06:05) Okay. Have you advice for those people? Because you seem to have circumvented all of that. Sam (06:12) Well, I would say it's a part of life. You have to go for it if you can and understand it too. If you can't, then you need to do something. Maybe it's not working at a chiropractor's office. It might be working for your father, working for your mother. It might be clean the house for your grandmother once a week. That is something. And I think the advice I have is for the parents. Is you gotta get them out period no matter what they have to do something to be a productive member of society but It doesn't have to be what you were Said it to think it to be Marci Grossman (06:55) Okay. Growing up, you had support from your parents, from your mother, from who else supported you? Sam (07:03) family, lot of family, mother, father. I also had a lot of support through school and a staff-wise, the students were terrible. I had one friend through high school, but as I got older when I was a sophomore I made more friends and I lean on them a lot for support. Marci Grossman (07:24) What are your future work, podcast, education goals long-term? Sam (07:30) I work on the educational modules and I'm hoping to make Autism Rocks and Rolls a full time gig instead of a side time gig. I mean I wish I didn't have to go be a medical receptionist, not that I don't mind to, it's just I'd rather be doing Autism Rocks and Rolls full time. Marci Grossman (07:44) For that, what would you need? You need more sponsors and... Okay. Understood. Money kind of starts everything. I looked at the list of topics that you discuss on your website. I love that you talk about... Sam (07:50) More sponsors and a lot of more money. Marci Grossman (08:04) abilities and disabilities and being unique because those are all the same in some ways. We all have abilities and we all have disabilities. We all have strengths and weaknesses. What advice do you have for people to help them manage their own strengths and weaknesses? Sam (08:22) I think advice would be for others to manage the world is no matter what you do, do it to the best of your ability. You do everything at a hundred percent. Marci Grossman (08:36) Okay. What do you think made it different for you, that made it possible for you to do all these things to graduate high school, to go to college, to have this podcast, have these guests, have everything that you've got going? It's impressive. Sam (08:53) Thank you. The way I was raised, I was raised in polite manners. Take initiative. If you want something, go for it. And to self advocate. I mean, apply yourself is what I heard a lot in my childhood. If you need something, speak up. Don't be afraid to use your IEP or your resources to be successful. Marci Grossman (09:17) do you have a team for your podcast and your work or is that mostly something you do on your own? Sam (09:22) Board of six. Board of six. They work on a nonprofit side though. I mainly do the podcast. Marci Grossman (09:28) Okay. How did you end up on a TED Talk? Sam (09:32) Well, I got nominated a couple of times. Yeah, I do it virtually because of COVID, but still qualified as a TED Talk. Marci Grossman (09:38) Would you like to do another TED Talk? Sam (09:40) If I was invited, sure. Marci Grossman (09:42) Is most of your speaking virtual or have you been speaking in public as well? Sam (09:47) It's public and virtual. Marci Grossman (09:52) Are there unique challenges for you when you when you go in person or because of all the preparation and everything you've done, it's just another day at the office. Sam (10:00) It's dealing with the freaking airport. Marci Grossman (10:04) I hate airports. Sam (10:06) I do too man. I do too buddy. It's just that their process is overwhelming and I just try to Get in the airport and get on the plane. That's my strategy for that Marci Grossman (10:18) Yeah, I'm waiting for the transporters from from Star Trek to come real so I can get everywhere I want to go without having to deal with airports. Sam (10:27) Fair enough. Marci Grossman (10:30) How long has your nonprofit been in existence? Sam (10:34) Well, since 2020, but because of the pandemic, we really didn't do much. So I like to say technically 2020, but realistically 2021. Marci Grossman (10:44) Okay. And they do mostly fundraising and outreach? Sam (10:49) Yep, fundraising, outreach, the events, handle the speaking, pretty much all of it but the podcast and the media content. That's where I come in. Marci Grossman (11:00) Okay. All right. But you sit on the board and participate. Sam (11:03) Yeah, I sit on the board and listen and give advice. Marci Grossman (11:08) is anyone else on the board people who have autism, or you are the only? Sam (11:13) Nope. are on the spectrum. We felt that it was a need to put them on the board. We felt like we had to put someone with autism on the board. Marci Grossman (11:18) Okay. in addition to you. Well, I have so many questions. I know a few people with autism. Everybody is so different. Everybody is so unique in their challenges and in their abilities and their gifts. But no one that I know is a public speaker like you are. None of the people that I know personally. They are various professions, various situations, but not... not as outspoken about it. So I'm thrilled to have you here to get more information, the things that you're able to talk about that Marci Grossman (11:59) just isn't the way that they communicate with the world and other people. So thank you. Sam (12:06) it came from my family. We're all outspoken and can be very pitbullish. Marci Grossman (12:11) Yeah, I listen to some of the episode where you talk to your uncle and he's like, okay, so I love Sam. Now he has, turns out he has autism. I still love Sam and it just, it's just that's the way it is. So that must have been nice to be in a family that was so accepting even in the greater family. Sam (12:32) Right. They are both different. They are both extremely different. When I say different, mean the dynamics of the family are extremely different. But the one thing they both have in common, both sides, is the foundation of love is there. Marci Grossman (12:48) And that makes a huge difference to anybody's success in any situation is having having the support of family. And I'm glad to hear you were able to eventually build up a group of friends in that was in high school. When you transition to college, you had support and friends there as well, I assume. Sam (13:10) Right. You are correct. Marci Grossman (13:13) What are things that you wish everyone knew? Sam (13:17) I wish everyone knew that people with autism were not what everyone on the spectrum is. And I'll explain what I mean by this. So when a lot of people think autism, they think they had the mindset of a Different type of person like a three-year-old and that is some with autism. I'll be 100 % honest with you But that's not everybody with autism I mean, that's not me for sure Marci Grossman (13:49) Right, well that's why it's a spectrum disorder. There are unfortunately people who really cannot participate in society very much and there are people that have to make different efforts or need different supports and it goes up to, you know, now they talk about all the famous and historical people that may have had autism. Sam (14:12) Right. And people always think though, that it's that one population. Then you remember it's a spectrum disorder. It's not ADHD and one set of it. It's literally one population of ADHD. That's not the same with autism. There's a spectrum. Half the people have this mindset, half the people have this mindset, and half the people have this mindset too. Marci Grossman (14:41) Okay, you got more than 100 % when you have three halves. But there's probably overlap and all of that. There are the people who are considered higher functioning. There are people that are profoundly gifted and people who have significant other challenges going on. Sam (14:44) Yeah, I know. Mr. right and I hate those terms too because high functioning to me means you're taking away their weakness but lower functioning means you're taking away their strengths or being lower functioning means you're ignoring the weaknesses and higher functioning means you're ignoring their strengths or something like that can't remember how it goes and had a hard time this morning Marci Grossman (15:12) Okay. I'm sorry, I'd get you some coffee, but ⁓ you're probably not close enough for coffee. Sam (15:28) Don't worry about it. I got breakfast waiting for me, so. Marci Grossman (15:31) ⁓ It's hard to keep attention when there's breakfast. Sam (15:33) My grandma made me breakfast. I'm at my grandmother's house today because my bandwidth at my house is a complete crap house. Not the house itself is crap. It's just the bandwidth there is crap. Marci Grossman (15:47) Well, and if you remember, I had trouble logging in because my internet wasn't sure if it wanted to play this morning. Everything was fine, and then just as you logged in, it went sideways. Sam (15:57) it's brutal. We had to move my studio from a different room. We had to go from my studio to the living room of my basement because the internet wasn't connecting there for some reason. Marci Grossman (16:15) So when you podcast, well I know I use Riverside and you must use something else. Sam (16:20) I do zoom because Riverside because of the bandwidth it takes forever to upload. I mean I get with Riverside it should take some time but the maximum 30 minutes two days two days. Marci Grossman (16:34) Wow. Sam (16:39) It was still there loading. And I think, okay, Riverside's not going to work for me. Don't get me wrong, Riverside is probably great. I've watched some interviews from it. Probably works splendidly. But for me to use Riverside, I got to have better bandwidth. Marci Grossman (16:55) And that's not an option where you live. Sam (16:58) Not at the moment. Now, hopefully if I get a job and I move to town in Bloomington I'll cross that bridge when we get there but for now, no Marci Grossman (17:10) Okay. Anyway, so you were talking about you didn't like the terminology of high functioning and low functioning. Is there more appropriate terminology people should think in terms of? Sam (17:21) I always say the mindset of. So maybe, okay, this person named Johnny has the mindset of a three year old. Maybe person B named Timmy has a mindset of an eight year old or this person who is Sam Mitchell has a mindset of a 19 year old. Marci Grossman (17:41) Okay. Sam (17:42) Because biologically I'm 23, but if I had to guess my mental capacity, I would say it's 19 or 20. Marci Grossman (17:50) Okay. And I assume that as you age and continue to grow and learn, as we all do, that your mindset will continue to grow as well. Maybe it will always be a few years behind. Maybe it will fully catch up. Whatever it will be, you're not stuck at 19 or 20. Sam (18:09) Now no it matures very Efficient, but it's just slower But I don't I don't mind that I mean if I had a guess I would definitely, No offense to people who have the mindset of a three-year-olds love them to death. I have friends are like that But if I had a choice, I'd rather be a little bit behind then so far off the thermometer Marci Grossman (18:17) Okay. Yeah, well my problem is I am, ⁓ well I'm a little bit older but in my mind sometimes I still think I'm 19 and then my back feels that the next morning. Sam (18:49) That's my problem with my mother. She's a teacher and she teaches eighth grade Sometimes she likes to act like the eighth graders Not thinking ⁓ god, mom you can't do that Marci Grossman (18:56) Exactly. You're gonna feel that the next day. Sam (19:03) Right, but she's great at her job. She does love teaching. I think she's ready for something different though, but. She's in it for the kids. She really is. Marci Grossman (19:14) Well, it says it says that you're a creative writer also. What kind of writing do you do? Sam (19:19) I like to do blogs. I can't do as much of it just because of busyness, but here and there I'll write something and post the story about it Marci Grossman (19:29) Okay, any particular topics? Sam (19:33) A lot of mental health, but it's through stories. Marci Grossman (19:37) okay. Stories are a great way to learn. I love sharing stories when I talk about financial literacy and stuff because people learn and can relate from stories in ways they can't with just basic facts. Can you share with us any of your potential future guests? Sam (19:56) I don't have any big coming up, but I did have I could spoil this one because it's my next episode, but it's already edited and saved in the hard drive. It's just a matter of when to publish it. It's Bill DeMott a former WWE wrestler. He now runs a nonprofit organization. They'll call the Keri Anne DeMott Foundation for his daughter he lost unfortunately due to a drunk driver. And then I also had Muhammad Hassan Who was a former wrestler. It's funny. He went from basically play a WWE, he went from WWE to being a WWE terrorist, not really a terrorist. I promise. But he played a terrorist and felt like he was in a story, the hero in his story after 9/11. And again, that's a character. Not the same person that you see today or when he was outside of the arena that was Mark Copani. But basically after Mohammed Hassan was released in 2005, he went from playing a terrorist now being a teacher. Yeah, I found that hilarious. Sam (21:07) ⁓ he went from being a WWE terrorists, which he wasn't really a terrorist, promise. So now being a human resources department for a school district. But back then though, before the human resources, he went from teacher to principal. Marci Grossman (21:27) That's a lot of jobs, but I bet his students listened to him when he talked. Sam (21:32) yeah. But again, not Mohammed Hassan. That's just a wrestling character. The guy behind it though is now a teacher and a principal and the human resources employee. yeah, but he loves it though. I can tell he's a great guy. Really nice guy. Marci Grossman (21:49) Are all of your guests on your podcast have some connection to autism? Sam (21:54) No, I connected to really some story or disability or mental health. I've had guests who've had alcoholism. I've had alcoholism in my family so I get the issue. Bipolar disorder. I had one guest who was left paralyzed from the waist down after a truck accident And I also have had a guest with a speech impediment and I'm going to butcher the name probably. Arthrogryposis Marci Grossman (22:29) Arthrogryposis is the term used for multiple different disorders that include muscle joint contracture that can affect the arms, the legs, the hands, as well as muscle weakness. So it is not the disease itself, but a term used for the condition that results from different disorders. Marci Grossman (22:59) At least that's my understanding. Sam (23:02) Well, the speech impairment that was separate, but I had another guest who was in a wheelchair, but he couldn't move his arm like it was like this. Marci Grossman (23:06) ⁓ right. Sam (23:11) And he can't move it. Marci Grossman (23:12) my. Sam (23:14) He can move his other arm just fine, but he just can't with his other arm. Marci Grossman (23:17) And yet he's moving forward and he's doing things and even guesting on podcasts. Sam (23:24) and appeared on , America's Got Talent. Marci Grossman (23:27) really? Sam (23:28) He did appear on AGT unfortunately got cut after the deliberations, but his audition is still online today. Marci Grossman (23:37) What did he do? Sam (23:38) He was a singer, a gospel singer. Marci Grossman (23:41) wow, nice! Yeah, it's amazing all the things that people can do that are not what you would expect, And we have to remember to look past that, that there's opportunities, both for them and for people to be around them, to work with them, to be a part of whatever, that there's opportunities for everybody by including more people, by not excluding people. into whatever is going on. Well, before we wrap up, have you got anything you'd like to share that we have? Sam (24:12) Well, guess I could finally say some words of wisdom. I don't think it is words of wisdom. I think it's truth of life. If the world could be nice and not so stupid, I think it'll get so much better. Don't you think? Marci Grossman (24:24) absolutely, think we have to figure out a way to connect with people and to support people and to accept people. There's so much out there that we miss when we limit ourselves and limit others. Sam (24:40) Right. Yes ma'am. Marci Grossman (24:43) I absolutely agree. Sam, thank you so much for joining us. I was so glad to have you on here. I will be sharing a link to your website in the show notes and well your podcast is linked on your website so when I share your website everyone will be able to find you, find out more information about your podcast, about your nonprofit, about your speaking engagements Sam (25:08) Right, and I'm looking forward to it. Thank you all for checking it out in advance. Marci Grossman (25:14) Well, to my listeners, you'll find those links in the show notes and please check out Sam and Autism Rocks and Rolls. Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review and stay tuned. I'll see you next time. This has been MoneyMarci on Marci Talks Money (and Life). You got this. See ya.