Latest / The Bridges and Beacons Podcast / Impact and Inclusion with Gabby Mendoca

Transcript

Impact and Inclusion with Gabby Mendoca · The Bridges and Beacons Podcast

• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Mystic Nerd Squad Podcast.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: I am your host, Kelly Meyerson, and today I'm joined by my friend Gabby, who has an incredible story.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: She is a motivational speaker, content creator, and podcaster who also happens to be blind.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Based in New York City, she strives to be able to make an impact through storytelling and content.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Gabby, I'm so excited to have you here today because you have such a cool vibe, a cool story, and you're doing some amazing stuff in the world.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so, so much for bringing me onto your podcast.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is really exciting.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm really looking forward to chatting with you and, you know, just having a great convo.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love this.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that you lead with the things that you're up to in the world.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: You're a motivational speaker, a content creator, and a podcaster.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Love that you're a podcaster too.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I got a chance to speak with you on your podcast now.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: You're speaking online.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I I love that.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: And also that you're creating really cool content.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um let's start with how how did you get into motivational speaking?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: What was that that start to the journey for you?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um funny enough, this wasn't really something I pictured myself doing um growing up.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but my freshman year of college, I got asked to be the keynote speaker at our charter awards dinner where they give like awards to emerging student leaders, emerging student leaders.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I actually got one of those awards while I was also being the keynote speak speaker.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so when I did that, it was really, really like so, so much, just so much fun.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: I loved the energy throughout the room.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: I just loved being on stage.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: I loved being able to capture my, you know, experience and story and you know, send that out into the world for other people that were there that were like our sponsors and the founders of all these things, right?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: The big, the big names that were in charge of like giving money and scholarships to people to students like myself.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I I like to say it started then, but I didn't really notice it until I was graduating because, you know, I've had a love for radio since I was four or five years old.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that's still something I'm super passionate about.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, and so I thought that I was going to just go into radio, which is something I'd still love to do.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: But eventually I started thinking about how I wanted to build a business, essentially, right?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so I sat down with family, like my brother, who's, you know, a CEO of his own company.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And um I had a conversation with him, and I was like, hey, like, I don't know what else there is for me to do.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: I thought radio and music was the only thing, but he's like, You're really good at communicating, you know how to have a good conversation and hold a conversation.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: You're really good at, you know, making an impact on people.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Why don't you look into uh speaking and consulting?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, hmm, okay.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it really started with you know the seed kind of being planted in my head of like that that keynote speech I did um as a little 18-year-old, 17-year-old actually, because I had just graduated high school.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that was such an amazing experience.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I love being able to go speak on panels and you know do all these really amazing talks.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so yeah, it all kind of started with that.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And um, it's it's definitely been a journey um going through how to do it, but I'm loving the process, right?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's the most important part is to love the process.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I I think it's so cool that you were into radio because I can remember being a little kid and having a cassette recorder and recording my voice, like I was creating a radio station.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that we have that in common, that bug, like early on.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like this is this is like a thing for me.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh I've listened to your podcast, and you have a really great style of interviewing your guests.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how did the podcast come about?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: How did you decide?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: I know you were like geared for radio and then had a little bit of a pivot into something different.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Where did that journey start for you?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it all started in college.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: I I remember my freshman year, we did this event.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And at that event, they kind of show you all the clubs that they have available.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember seeing like radio station, and I was like, hmm, that looks really cool.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: That seems really interesting.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so by like my second semester of my sophomore year, that's really when I got super involved with radio.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I ended up becoming the vice president for two semesters until I graduated.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and during my time as VP, I actually put together a talent hour for our radio station where we had um, you know, up-and-coming artists that were in the school perform in the cafeteria.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: We set it up really nicely.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: We had mics, we had, you know, recording equipment.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it gave these students a chance to showcase their talents because some of them, like there was a lot of talented people.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I guess to really answer your question, it all started with the radio station.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, being surrounded by like-minded individuals who were developing podcasts, who were into audio engineering, who were, you know, and then we had a really great faculty advisor who was also my professor, and um, he was super supportive of the idea of having like the first ever and only ever blind student in that station come in and kind of put my own twist on things, which was really cool.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: So um I actually developed the podcast that you listen to.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: I developed that while I was in college.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when I was graduating, I asked my faculty advisor, I was like, hey, like I really love this thing that I'm doing.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm loving this, you know, cranking out all these cool ideas for the podcast.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, Well, you know, you have the option to continue it when you graduate.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, okay.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: So then of course the pandemic hit, and I was like, Well, what am I gonna do except make content and you know, make podcasts that were focused on mental health, which the world really needed at that time?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so it all started with just the radio station and being surrounded by amazing people that were super supportive and super helpful.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And um it's been almost, I want to say close to six years now that I've been podcasting.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I have friends now that are, you know, also podcasting, and they were like, I need some advice.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: How do I do X, Y, and Z?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been really fun to go on that journey.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I that's so cool.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that you said you were surrounded by like-minded individuals, and I think that's such a great, um, a great way to get into something like podcasting and and all of the you know behind the scene technical pieces of it, which you know, I'm sure you've gone on that journey too, of how to figure out how to how do I do all this?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: How do I connect to the platforms?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: How do I, you know?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really cool.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, what about content creation?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: I I um I definitely checked out your YouTube channel.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Very impressive, so many great videos on there.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me, like, what really inspired you to create content, um, video content.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I was going through a period of time where I was very isolated in school.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, the school wasn't super accessible coming in, and there was just all these moving parts as there is when you're transitioning to a new chapter in your life.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember growing up that there wasn't anybody that I could look up to in media or in my own life in terms of, you know, being in the blind community that was out here, you know, posting content about how they overcome discrimination or posting content about fashion and beauty, which is something that I love.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so I thought to myself one day, actually, like right before the pandemic, um, funny enough, in like 2019, I was like, well, I want to make, I want to make an impact.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: I love helping people, I love being able to create community.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so I created a YouTube channel and I just started posting.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't care what it was, I would post.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was featured on a radio station uh 955 PLJ back when they were um, you know, up and running.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I I just remember like posting all these things, and at the time, like I wasn't like I had an audience right off the bat.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I was just like sharing it to family members and sharing it to friends.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so it really kind of came into fruition because I wanted to help to be one of the many voices in my community to help uplift little girls that are coming up that are looking for inspiration and looking for someone that you know is just like them that they can say, Oh, I relate to this person.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And it took a long time, Kelly, it it took a long time for me to start to realize that my content is impactful.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because I would go through these periods where I was like, Well, I'm quitting the YouTube thing.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't care about this anymore.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And family would tell me, like, listen, people, people are gonna come to you because you have something different than what other people are are, you know, showing.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And um it's been super fun.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: I've had a lot of people reach out to me and say, thank you for sharing that story about how you were bullied as a kid.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: I needed to hear that because I went through a situation like that.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just love to, you know, be proactive and be one of the many voices advocating for impact and inspiration and inclusion and um helping these younger, you know, individuals that are coming up into the blind community to say, I don't have to feel alone in this journey.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, to let them know like you are not alone, even if it feels like crap in many situations.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so yeah, that's really that's really like my long-winded story about content creation.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think I I I feel like that last couple minutes of what you talked about, we could just play on loop for kids who would absolutely relate to what you're talking about, to you know, anything from discrimination to just feeling like there's nobody like me that I can look up to and be like.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the really cool thing about the fact that you kept making content is now people will start to find you.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: Young kids will start to find you, girls, like you said, who are looking for beauty and fashion advice and can get that from someone who is like them if they're visually impaired, you know, to that representation is so important.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I can tell you that, you know, as an occupational therapist, and I work with children with a variety of disabilities, but definitely many of them visually impaired.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and them being able to see someone.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: I can tell you a story of we had a gentleman um who played uh for Rutgers and had an injury and came to our school to visit, and he um was in a power chair.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And many of the children that I work with are learning power mobility.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so they had this really cool guy come in and they like literally flooded him with their power chairs.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you make it go forward?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: How do you make it go backward?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, tell me more about how you use it.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, like so I've seen firsthand the importance of having someone to look to who has been through a journey that's similar to yours and can give you the advice that is life-changing for you, you know, even if that life-changing thing is makeup or hair or fashion, because let's let's be honest, those things are important, you know, and part of our identity and how we express ourselves.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think that's that's a very true thing.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, there's been children that have come up to me when I've done panels.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: There's been parents that have come crying to me after panels because, you know, they they have, you know, kids that are have multiple disabilities, more than just, you know, visual impairments, but even the ones that have visual impairments that are now learning about the resources, you know, that's why I make such a variety of content.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't just focus on, you know, one or two things.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's about how you deal with, you know, learning what assistive technology you might need to enter into high school or to enter into college.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's about all those things.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's about showcasing vlogs because I think that oftentimes there's this idea that if you're blind, then you know, you you only do one thing.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: You're only just the blind girl.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: And my goal is just to show people that that's that's far from the truth.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's so like like you read in my bio, I rather say all these things before I mention that I'm blind because yes, it's a part of me and it's always gonna be a part of my life, but that's not, I don't want that to be the first thing people notice about me.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that, you know, I have friends and that I'm adventurous and that, you know, blind people can do all the things sighted people can do, you know, except for drive.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but aside from all of that, like we can do so many things.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we we constantly get uh this idea of, oh, you're not capable enough.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: You get turned down from jobs because they don't think you can do it.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I I just love being able to speak to the parents because I um quick story.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: I had one mom that came up to me after a panel one time, and uh, you know, she was super emotional about what I talked about.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: And um, she was just like, I love seeing you up there with everybody else that was on that panel because it showed me that as a parent, I know that I can continue giving my kid the resources that you've mentioned to then allow them to grow up to become a successful blind adult who thrives in the world, even though the world is very cruel from time to time.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so that really like that was the moment where I was like, okay, I think I'm doing a good thing here.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think this is actually, you know, it's working out, you know.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, oh my gosh, you're doing such a good thing.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a good thing.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think anytime we can challenge those preconceived notions about what individuals are capable of, no matter what their disability, challenge, presumed disadvantage, I mean, you're just smashing that all to pieces.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, this is like that, I can do all the things except drive.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: And even in that, I mean, there's you drive for the purpose of getting from point A to point B.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: So if you can find an a different way to get from point A to point B, you can still get yourself places, which is the function of driving.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: So um I love that.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: I love that you're doing all of that.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's so huge.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I want to stay on this topic because I think ableism is such a huge issue.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure you know better than anybody in your own experiences.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: But what advice do you have?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm gonna ask for two parts of advice.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: First, advice for um kids like like you that are middle school, high school age, that are looking towards their future in terms of what what do they need to know and what would be helpful for them?
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: And then the second part, and I'll ask you again, we can come back to that, is what can the people in their lives do better?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Their parents, their family, their friends, their teachers, their therapists, what can they do better and have you learned over the course of the way?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, first, um what what would be your advice for those kids who are looking towards college?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely love these questions um because you know, it's crucial to um for the kids to start learning about advocacy and proactiveness and what that looks like in their lives.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'll be honest, there's been a lot of situations that I've been in throughout college and just entering into the, you know, what they call the real world.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I feel like there's all these stigmas that surround blindness and disability as a whole.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: And the world, like I said, is cold sometimes.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: You don't always get really kind people that are helpful and accommodating.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think at a young age, middle school and high school especially, start learning and educating yourself on, you know, what what advocacy looks like to you.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: What is something that you want to speak up and speak out about?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it might just be the things that you need, you know, the the basic accommodations that you need for school.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: It might be, you know, trying to reach a goal for a career, any of those things.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is why I stress the importance of educating these kids because that is such a crucial thing because they really are the future.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: They really, really are the future.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that through that, the education doesn't just happen in school.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: It also happens outside of school.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: It happens at home with their parents or their guardians, it happens with, you know, friends.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest, you're gonna be faced with with a lot of misconceptions.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: But through that, you know, you have to you have to be open-minded about how to approach those situations when people say to your friend when you're, you know, in high school or whatever, oh, well, aren't you supposed to be helping them?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's something I've been asked before.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, no, this is my friend.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're spending time with me because they want to spend time with me, they're not here to be my aid.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think there's a very thin line between ignorance and just uneducated individuals.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: And some people will ask you questions to be ignorant, and some will just ask you because they genuinely don't know.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so, either way, if you can approach it being kind, of course, you know, respectfully disagreeing with something that they've said, that's also really important to learn.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um and also remembering that you are educating these people, you're educating your professors, even though they're educating you, you're educating your friends, even though, you know, you're just like, oh, well, that's my friend.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: No, if they really care about you, then it's important to show them and tell them, like, listen, this is how I do X, Y, and Z.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you don't have to pity me because I don't pity myself.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think those are the biggest things I will say because, you know, when you're little, it doesn't honestly it doesn't matter, but like I said, I was bullied a lot growing up and I didn't know how to defend myself.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think just having that armor of, you know, knowledge and learning and educating and educating yourself and educating others is so crucial for these kids to start, you know, understanding as they're growing up and and getting into careers in college.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say that for that first half of the question.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think all of that is so vital.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that you talked about you become an educator for for people who are with you.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: And that just because people are with you doesn't mean that they're taking care of you.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: That that that's like just challenging ableism at like a very tiny basic level, that you're responsible for yourself.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're with your friends, they're they're your friends, they're not your caregiver or caretaker.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I think those those are some important points.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the point about um helping, like, for example, in college, helping your professors understand, because one of the things that I found so interesting in my own education as I've grown, because I work with children from zero to 21.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: So for those students who go into college setting, I'm not typically in that setting.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: But spending time learning, when you're in high school, through high school through 21, you are educated and supported potentially through either an IEP or the IDA or 504.
• 23:41
  unknown: Yeah.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: But when you go to college, it then is your responsibility as the individual who requires um help and accommodations to ask for the things that you need, which I think is something that um I didn't realize in the beginning.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's not, it doesn't go the same way.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: So if you've been used to your parents advocating for you, for example, in in high school, when you go to college, you have to be able to advocate for yourself.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that advocacy and being able to ask for the things you need for yourself are just like one of the, if not the most important thing.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's why I love like when I meet these kids at, you know, when I do panels and things, like I always stress the importance of like even talking to their parents, like, hey, you know, start, you know, helping them to understand advocacy and independence and you know what that looks like.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'll say one more thing before I answer your second question.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, blindness is a spectrum, and you're not going to encounter the same type of person within the blind community.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: We might have similar stories, similar experiences, but we all approach life differently.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that, you know, what works for me might not work for a 10th grader in in high school, but it's about the the building blocks, right?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: And and giving them that foundation to succeed and what that looks like.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's very crucial information that I would I would suggest.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, agreed.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: Totally agree.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I if I may just interject, like I think as a therapist, the place that it starts with us working with even preschoolers, is they have that control of themselves.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: And we ask for permission to help them, permission to enter their space, give them communication.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like you talked about assistive technology, being able to just say yes, no, or even nod or shake their head if they're not yet verbal.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: But there are so many ways for us to provide children the opportunity to self-advocate, even though it looks very different on a preschooler versus a high school or college and beyond.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: But starting that very young with them learning that they are their own person and they get to make their own decisions and have control like any other child would.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: So the second part of my question was your advice for parents, families, um, teachers, therapists, um, even friends, like about how to be supportive of um a friend, a child who is existing in life with uh varying degrees, like you said, blindness is a spectrum, to help them to be their best in the world and to um advocate for them.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: What is your best advice there?
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: I would just say overall, besides you know, the support that you can give them, don't you know, allow them to discover what it is that their independence looks like.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I would say don't baby them, don't petty them.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: If, you know, start small.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a young child that's maybe five years old, you can start with something simple like how do they do chores around the house?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something you can work on with them and make it accessible for them.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, if you have an older kid that's maybe 12 or 13, like, you know, starting to discover how they maybe wash their clothes by themselves, or there's little things that I think parents, I'm specifically talking to the parents for this, that I think that can look like at home because it does all start with, you know, that environment and how you create the environment for them to thrive and explore.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest, make the mistakes that they need to make at that age because as they grow up, you know, it's gonna be so crucial that they have those tools and that they can then turn around and be like, okay, well, you know, my mom, my dad, my whoever didn't baby me when I was five years old.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: They, you know, let me let me figure out how to do all these things around the house by myself.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: They let me figure out how to do X, Y, and Z by myself.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna become super grateful for that too, because that is truly what helps your kid to thrive and become the best that they can possibly be.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: The more that you baby them, the more that you kind of say, okay, no, I'll take care of it.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's fine, of course, you're the parent, but I think there still needs to be a kind of give and take of, hey, I'm gonna let you do this thing by yourself and I'm here if you need me.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think also saying, like, I'm here when and if you need me is crucial in every situation as a teacher, a friend, a sibling, a mom, a dad.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, because it's helping them to learn, it's helping them to grow, and it's giving them the tools that they're gonna need when they're older to then say, okay, I know when to ask for help.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: I know how to ask for help, but I want to figure this out before I go and I ask for help because this is the tools that my parents or my whoever instilled in me at a young age.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what my my family did a lot of the time.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when I was growing up, they they taught me the importance of advocacy at a young age.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: They taught me the importance of being independent and giving me those tools.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, the older I got, like I, you know, I travel by myself.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: I do a lot of stuff independently that, you know, there's there are a lot of people that maybe don't do that because, and it's no fault of their own or their parents, but they never had the resources or the tools to help them to become the best that they can become and to, you know, come into the world and offer the world their most authentic selves.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: So that would that would be like the top things I would say is just continue to foster that level of independence, create something that is, you know, meaningful to you and your kid.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, for the friends, just be supportive and be open-minded and be kind and respectful and have conversations and ask questions.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: And because that is how you're learning how to be a better friend to that individual.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how you're learning how to become a better teacher, a better therapist, a better sibling is just asking questions and approaching their just approaching them with an open mind, never mind their disability.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Cause like I said at the end of the day, they are still a person and they still deserve the chance to be able to, you know, grow and learn and all those amazing things.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I I hope that that's you know, like a good answer for that question.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Gabby, that's a fantastic answer for that question.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I completely 100% agree.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think giving choices, um, I do a lot of activities of daily living skills training um with my kids.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, even in preschool, we're having them learn how to put their bowl in the sink and their smock in the basket and pack their backpack.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, and it's sometimes surprising to people.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, why, why are you working on that now?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because it takes a long time sometimes to learn those skills, but they're learning ownership of their things and how to manage their day and move through the day.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they're not just like, okay, poof, this backpack is all packed in in front of me.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: They're participating in the steps to understand what goes into that.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Not that they necessarily get it 100% the first time or even the fifth or the hundredth, but that that becomes the expectation for them.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's not about um, is their backpack packed?
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's is my backpack ready to go?
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: And what do I need to do to get it ready to go?
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just a very small fraction, but um yeah, I think it's it's so vital.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that you shared your story.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's incredible to hear that your parents were so supportive and kind of understood at the beginning that they needed to provide you with as much independence and self-advocacy as possible.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously it really works, Gabby, because you're you're doing some amazing stuff in the world.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, to second what you just said about the kids that you're working with, like, yeah, they may not understand it the fifth or the tenth time or the whatever time that you're, you know, going through that.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: But like I recently did a video where I showed people how I organize my space.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that is different from person to person, but it's even little things like that that in the home, when they're at school, they're gonna figure out their own setup and layout that works for them.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that is just so important because yeah, they they they might, it might take them a little bit of time to figure out what it looks like and how it works, but eventually they're gonna be like, oh, okay, I got this.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: I know how to do it now.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and so I I really do believe in just the strength of support and community and the strength of allowing those kids to to just be able to thrive in the environment that you know the parents or the teachers create, and then creating a safe environment for them to be able to say, oops, I made a mistake.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: How do I, you know, turn this around is really important too.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so yeah, I just I love that question so so much because it's really important and it's and it's truly, truly something so so like necessary.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 100%.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're on the same page there.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: So Gabby, I I want you to let everybody know how do they connect with you, follow you?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if they want to hear what you have to say, what is the best way for them to find you in the world?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm on Instagram at g.d-o-n-z-a underscore.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm on YouTube at my vision, the number for the letter U.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what else?
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: I have TikTok.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Is this uh is it the same as my Instagram?
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'm wrong about that.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um okay, we'll find it.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we can put it in the show notes.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no problem.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, YouTube, Instagram, and then um that's mainly the two that I'm that I'm on right now, um, to be honest.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I love that.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then of course, uh everybody can check out episodes on the Tea Diaries um available on Apple.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so while we have a last couple minutes, um, what kind of interviews do you like to do on the Tea Diaries?
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I've created a series called Visionary Voices where I highlight individuals that are making impacts within their communities, whether they're disabled or not.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I want to speak to people that are, you know, CEOs of their of their own companies.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: I want to speak to people that are, you know, blind and business women or businessmen.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's all about those types of stories and having those individuals come on and share their own experiences, similar like how you did with me, like giving people advice and um and just kind of building up uh another platform aside from YouTube and and Instagram for them to for them to share their their own uh experiences.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: I really encourage everybody.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have everything linked in the show notes for the ways that you can connect with Gabby.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: Gabby, it has been such a pleasure having you on the podcast and knowing you.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I look so forward to future collaborations and to following your journey.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think you're one of those really remarkable and special people in the world.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel lucky to have stumbled across your post and accepted the opportunity to uh connect with you on podcasting.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Likewise.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so, so much, Kelly.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was great getting to chat with you.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I'm also looking forward to future collabs as well.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks everybody for listening in, and we'll see you next time.