Welcome to the Autism Advantage podcast! I’m your host, Tom D’Eri, the COO and co-founder of Rising Tide Car Wash. In case you’re not familiar with what we do, we employ a fantastic team of individuals with autism, allowing us to empower our staff while offering a fantastic experience to customers. We believe that individuals with autism are an incredible untapped resource for many business, and this show is dedicated to proving that employing these people can create real competitive advantages.
I’m honored to introduce today’s guest, Randy Lewis, who is a true legend in the autism employment world. Randy is the visionary behind the Walgreens Disability Employment Program, which is one of the most well-established disability employment programs in the corporate world. He’s also the father of a young man with autism.
Unlike every previous guest on the show, Randy didn’t create a new organization to employ people with autism. Instead, he created change within an existing company. Doing so involved navigating the systems in place that weren’t designed for people with autism and other disabilities. In our conversation, he’ll explain how he did this and offer recommendations for others who might be in a similar position.
Randy points out that parents have all had the same experience of having been taught by their children. One of the things Randy’s son taught him was to confront his unknown biases and look past disabilities to see the person. He also learned how easy it is to underestimate people, which he applied to the concept of employment. This was his inspiration to hire people with autism at Walgreens.
One of the differences between managing neurotypical employees and employees with autism is that in the latter case, managers need to actually manage. This means that managers need to treat everyone as individuals, understand them, and figure out what motivates them. This practice ends up making these managers stronger in managing typically abled employees as well. Randy digs into this in depth, and we talk about how many ways it benefits managers to have employees with autism.
In our conversation today, we’ll also cover lots of other topics including what talent is (hint: it’s not just about going to an Ivy League school and landing a high-powered job), what advantages Randy has seen from hiring people with autism, and how things have progressed for his son, for whom Walgreens wasn’t the perfect fit. Tune in to hear all this and much more!
In This Episode:
[01:35] - Randy talks about his inspiration for trying to hire people with autism at Walgreens.
[03:57] - At Walgreens, there were established processes in hiring new employees. Randy knew that hiring people with autism would involve changing those processes, and reveals the secret magic word that makes people get past their block of resisting change.
[06:03] - Tom reiterates what Randy has been saying: instead of challenging the establishment, you create a side door.
[06:26] - What was the reaction of the typical employees who were working at the pilot site? After the first reaction of fear, there was complete acceptance, Randy explains.
[08:20] - Randy points out that working with people with autism requires that managers manage. This ends up making them better managers all around.
[09:51] - Tom has found something similar at his car wash, where it’s clear that the need to treating all of your employees as individuals creates managers who are better listeners and clear communicators.
[11:22] - Randy talks about a study that explored the culture at Walgreens, and mentions his website, which you can find at this link!
[12:34] - Many of the people who are affected by autism hold a huge variety of roles, Tom points out, explaining that one of the beautiful things about autism is that it’s completely indiscriminate in terms of who it affects.
[13:36] - What would Randy say to someone at a relatively high position in an existing company who is interested in hiring people with autism?
[15:17] - Tom digs into the topic of what, exactly, talent is.
[17:14] - We hear about what business Randy has seen by employing people with autism at Walgreens.
[19:00] - Randy addresses the topic of the impact he has been describing on his son specifically, and explains that his son worked at Walgreens for several years.
[20:52] - Has Randy seen any changes in his son? In his answer, he shares an entertaining way that his son has been making money.
[23:14] - Randy discusses whether Meijer has other employees with disabilities, and whether his son has made any relationships with the people he’s working with.
[25:06] - Randy talks about his vision for the future and what his plan is now that he has moved on from Walgreens.
[27:53] - How can listeners get involved with Randy’s organization, or find out more about his speaking engagements or workshops?
Links and Resources:
No Greatness Without Goodness by Randy Lewis
University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities
Welcome to the Autism Advantage podcast! I’m your host, Tom D’Eri, the COO and co-founder of Rising Tide Car Wash. In case you’re not familiar with what we do, we employ a fantastic team of individuals with autism, allowing us to empower our staff while offering a fantastic experience to customers. We believe that individuals with autism are an incredible untapped resource for many business, and this show is dedicated to proving that employing these people can create real competitive advantages.
Paige Morrow, this episode’s inspirational and informative guest, is the managing director of Extraordinary Ventures. She has managed college students in the past, and explains in our conversation that people with autism are a far more dedicated workforce because they want to work and appreciate the opportunity.
Extraordinary Ventures, or EV, was started in 2007 by a group of parents who all had kids on the autism spectrum who were aging out of high school. These parents were all concerned about the fact that their kids would soon age out of having a structured environment and enter the real world, facing a harsh reality with limited opportunities. Together, they came up with EV as a meaningful solution.
Extraordinary Ventures is fascinatingly different than the other companies we’ve featured on the show so far, because it isn’t just one business. Instead, it’s a nonprofit organization that currently operates six small businesses in diverse fields ranging from laundry to dog walking to candle-making.
Paige and I agree that structuring the work environment is vitally important when you’re running a business employing people with autism. At EV, you’ll see lots of tools to reinforce this structure. Paige offers the example of their laundry business, where they have a folding board with two hinged wings that employees can use to fold a shirt perfectly every time.
You’ll hear in this episode that Paige considers two questions about potential businesses: does the business model fit the skills of the individuals with autism who need employment, and does the business fit the local market? She offers the example of how they tested their dog-walking company to explain how she answers these questions, and why they’re so important. Tune in to learn more so you can figure out how to apply these concepts to your own potential business! You’ll also hear about various ways in which employees with autism are an asset, and how quickly EV has grown.
In This Episode:
[00:56] - Paige talks about Extraordinary Ventures’ mission, how it operates, and how it got started.
[03:22] - We hear more about lean startup principles, what they are, and how EV has leveraged them to build successful entities.
[05:01] - Tom draws out some of the fascinating things that Paige has been talking about regarding the two questions they need to look at.
[05:37] - Paige talks about some of the specific tests they ran, and mentions the various different businesses that EV has. She goes into depth on this topic with an example using their most recent business, which is dog walking, and explains how they tested the potential of the business before committing to it.
[09:15] - Tom shares his thoughts on what Paige has been saying about the dog-walking business and pulls out some important advice for listeners.
[10:23] - What are some of the advantages that Paige has seen in employing people with autism?
[11:38] - Everybody has a natural inclination to focus on their deficits and those of the people around them, rather than focusing on their strengths, Tom points out.
[12:35] - One of the things that Tom has found at Rising Tide is that structuring the work environment is a critical part of building a successful autism-based social enterprise.
[13:15] - Paige responds by discussing how EV has gone about structuring the work environment, and what the benefits of that have been.
[15:25] - Does Paige have any thoughts on how one could go about testing different structures and supports, or build a system of them from the ground up?
[17:18] - Tom points out that one of Paige’s concepts was that building structures and processes leads to a consistent, high-quality service.
[18:05] - Paige uses Tom as an example, pointing out that he probably hasn’t ever made a candle before but would be able to make one on his first day using their existing structures.
[19:17] - How has EV been growing? Paige’s answer reveals just how impressive the company is, and how fast it has grown.
[20:59] - Paige offers some various ways that listeners can contribute to and support Extraordinary Ventures.
Links and Resources:
University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities
Welcome to the Autism Advantage podcast! I’m your host, Tom D’Eri, the COO and co-founder of Rising Tide Car Wash. In case you’re not familiar with what we do, we employ a fantastic team of individuals with autism, allowing us to empower our staff while offering a fantastic experience to customers. We believe that individuals with autism are an incredible untapped resource for many business, and this show is dedicated to proving that employing these people can create real competitive advantages.
Today I’m joined by the remarkable Bill Morris. Bill founded Blue Star Recyclers, which employs people with autism and was named Colorado’s 2016 Social Venture of the Year.
After he was laid off from his job when he was in his 50s, Bill began working at a disability services center with no relevant experience other than having a developmentally disabled older brother. There, he encountered four young men with incredible innate skill for electronics. Each of them turned out to have autism.
Seeing the potential, Bill wrote a business plan for an electronics recycling organization (something else he had no prior experience in) to create an employment opportunity for these men and put their talents to use. When Bill brought his now-employees from their dayhab setting into an employment setting, he saw remarkable changes in them. Two non-verbal men, for example, became verbal in the workplace setting.
After beginning as a for-profit company, Blue Star Recyclers became a nonprofit to be able to fund the gap between earned income and expenses. Now, they’ve almost completely closed that gap. Once they do, they’ll use grants to buy equipment and grow. The current goal is to become fully self-sustaining, then to be profitable for a year, and then to give the company back to the employees and become 100% employee-owned. In this conversation, you’ll learn about the company’s transition into a nonprofit, and what the benefits have been.
In the past, Bill has tried to start businesses with other motives, such as making money. In those cases, he ran into lots of obstacles. When he opened this one, though, everything seemed to come together in remarkable ways. “It’s the universe’s way of giving you the nod of approval,” he explains.
For example, trying to buy a truck led to finding investors who did an incredible amount to turn the company from a vision into a reality. Bill’s story will inspire you to believe in the good in people, and motivate you to get out there and find your own kind-hearted investors who believe in your social enterprise.
In This Episode:
[01:03] - Why did Bill start Blue Star Recyclers, and what has the journey been like so far?
[03:39] - Bill talks more about learning the recycling industry, which he was completely unfamiliar with before he started researching it to create his company.
[05:12] - Tom points out the importance of being honest about the things you don’t know, which is similar to what Bill has been talking about.
[05:52] - How did Bill find people who helped fill his knowledge gaps, and build his team? In his answer, Bill reveals how much of an impact his quest to find a truck had on the business.
[07:40] - We hear about a couple of the people who Bill has hired so far.
[09:36] - The motive for both Blue Star Recyclers and Rising Tide Car Wash was to do good and put people to work, not to make heaps of money, Bill points out.
[11:22] - Bill talks more about the mentors who helped him figure out how to build the business from a technical perspective.
[13:21] - We learn about the process of going from for-profit to non-profit, and what Bill’s plan is for the future of the organization.
[16:11] - Tom draws out some of the statistics and business advantages that Bill had mentioned related to employing individuals with disabilities. Bill then talks about how he takes advantage of those benefits, as well as how remarkable the impact of the work has been for several of his employees.
[19:45] - Bill has learned that people on the spectrum are inherently safe employees because they don’t deviate from the procedure that you give them.
[20:22] - Bill thinks that he and Tom may end up saving their respective industries, and explains why.
[21:53] - Other employers who employ the entry-level workforce have problems that Bill doesn’t experience at all with his employees.
[24:35] - Tom points out that you need to be able to take the long view if you’re planning to stay in business for a long time.
[25:20] - What advice would Tom give to people who are looking to start social enterprises and hire individuals with autism?
[27:47] - Tom lists some ways for listeners to find his company and help them out.
Links and Resources:
Blue Star Recyclers on Facebook
University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities
Welcome to the Autism Advantage podcast! I’m your host, Tom D’Eri, the COO and co-founder of Rising Tide Car Wash. In case you’re not familiar with what we do, we employ a fantastic team of individuals with autism, allowing us to empower our staff while offering a fantastic experience to customers. We believe that individuals with autism are an incredible untapped resource for many business, and this show is dedicated to proving that employing these people can create real competitive advantages.
Tiffany Fixter is the founder of Brewability Lab. At the time we recorded this conversation, it was still in the preparation phases and wasn’t yet up and running thanks to bureaucratic and governmental red tape. Now, though, I’m thrilled to say that Brewability Lab is fully operational and you can visit them (and enjoy some great beers) in Denver, Colorado!
A special education teacher by trade, Tiffany has an incredible entrepreneurial spirit. She moved to Denver for a job opportunity to run a nonprofit day program with about 135 adults with developmental disabilities, about a third of whom had autism. Tiffany was surprised and disappointed to find that only one or two of these people had jobs, so she decided to do something about it!
Opening a brewery started as a playful joke, but ended up being a seriously good idea. Many aspects of running a brewery are ideal for those with autism and developmental disabilities, as you’ll hear in our conversation. Tiffany will also talk about how she raised the funds to start the business largely through crowdfunding campaigns, which definitely had lots of cons to go along with the pros.
After the successful crowdfunding efforts, Tiffany and her dad were lucky enough to find a rare opportunity: a turnkey brewery. She put the Kickstarter money down as a deposit with just ten minutes to spare. Despite this stroke of luck, her #1 recommendation is to borrow double the money that you think you’ll need for your social enterprise, because it always costs more than you expect.
Listen to the episode to hear more of Tiffany’s thoughts on crowdfunding, her advice for entrepreneurs considering getting into a social venture, how much work it takes to get started (and the reason she’s been cleaning toilets all summer instead of teaching), and why it’s so important to have people around to help even when you’re trying to do everything yourself.
In This Episode:
[00:56] - What was Tiffany’s inspiration for starting Brewability Lab?
[02:34] - Tiffany talks more about the details of how Brewability Lab will operate once it opens, and discusses why the brewery is ideal for people with autism and other developmental disabilities.
[03:50] - Right now, they only have a few employees in training for when the brewery opens. They don’t want to hire too many people before they’re closer to opening, which is slowed down by governmental red tape.
[05:12] - Tiffany acknowledges that there’s frustration with them for not being open yet, and goes into more detail about the amazing amounts of time, money, and patience it takes to open a brewery.
[07:08] - Starting any business is tough, Tom agrees, and points out that it’s even harder for a retail setting with a lot of regulatory issues.
[08:58] - We hear more about Tiffany’s campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, as well as their fundraising events. She discusses some of the pros and cons of crowdfunding this way.
[12:58] - Tiffany wasn’t working during the time of the crowdfunding projects, and needed to treat them as a more-than-full-time job.
[14:02] - The woman who gave Tiffany the final $3,000 donation to meet the goal came through the Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association.
[14:32] - One of the greatest strengths of crowdfunding, Tom points out, is that you get to see whether people really want something.
[15:13] - We hear more about what Tiffany learned through the course of the process of crowdfunding and opening Brewability Lab.
[17:25] - Tom explains that when they were starting Rising Tide Car Wash, they realized that the business had an impact not only in employing individuals, but also in communicating the message of how capable people with autism and other disabilities are.
[18:30] - Now that Tiffany has done the crowdfunding process, would she recommend it to others as a fundraising method?
[20:25] - The entrepreneurial journey is not an easy road, Tom explains. He and Tiffany then talk about the costs of a crowdfunding campaign, which often costs around $10,000 to do well.
[22:46] - What are the most important things that Tiffany has learned about starting a social enterprise?
[25:35] - Tiffany lists some ways that people can help her with the brewery, whether that’s through advice, money, or help with electrical issues!
[27:17] - Tiffany has gotten some pretty nasty emails from people who don’t like her concept, including one from someone she used to work for who accused her of taking advantage of people with disabilities. Tom responds with advice to listen to these people, but not remember what they say.
Links and Resources:
Brewability Lab on Kickstarter
Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association
University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities
Welcome to the Autism Advantage podcast! I’m your host, Tom D’Eri, the COO and co-founder of Rising Tide Car Wash. In case you’re not familiar with what we do, we employ a fantastic team of individuals with autism, allowing us to empower our staff while offering a fantastic experience to customers. We believe that individuals with autism are an incredible untapped resource for many business, and this show is dedicated to proving that employing these people can create real competitive advantages.
My fantastic guest today is James Emmett, who is one of the world’s leading disability employment consultants. James is and has been the driving force behind many large corporate programs for people with autism and other disabilities at major companies such as TIAA-CREF, Best Buy, Walgreens, Pepsi, and Office Depot. He was also instrumental in helping us at Rising Tide Car Wash get off the ground.
In 2004, James met Randy Lewis, the senior vice president at Walgreens. Randy invited James the opportunity to help plan out the Walgreen outreach initiative that focused on people with autism. This experience helped James realize how much potential there was within corporate situations for people with autism. Since having learned about this incredible potential, he has taken that awareness to other companies and created opportunities there.
There are so many benefits for a company when it comes to hiring people with autism. James has seen an increase in morale among the incoming employees with autism, but also the current employees at a company that launches an autism-related initiative. Companies also experience their cultures changing to be positive and forward-thinking. These are just a few of the many great benefits that James describes.
I’m excited to have James on the show because he offers such a different perspective than many of our previous guests. Instead of having opened a new business geared toward employing people with autism, James’ extensive experience is with working within existing organizations to create employment opportunities for individuals with autism.
Don’t miss this great episode, in which we also talk about some of the specific advantages of employing people with autism, why hiring these people can help create systems that turn out to be better than the existing ones for neurotypical employees, how important it is to have community support, and much more.
In This Episode:
[01:37] - What inspired James to work with large companies and help them harness the advantages of employing people with autism and other disabilities?
[03:18] - James describes what it’s like to work with these companies and create programs for employing people with autism.
[04:44] - We hear about the realizations that people come to in terms of the specific advantages of employing people with autism.
[06:53] - Tom draws out something unique about what James have said: that individuals with autism and other disabilities have faced barriers their whole lives, and have needed to learn to break through them. They bring this grit and resilience to their employers.
[07:23] - James talks more about how this familiarity with breaking through obstacles translates to the work environment. Tom then relates what James has said to the way that they hire people at Rising Tide Car Wash.
[10:28] - When James is talking to a new client, how does he communicate the specific benefits that he and Tom have been discussing?
[13:18] - James talks about how translating what happens at a few sites to the broader organization works.
[15:19] - Tom digs into how the ripple effect from making changes at one distribution center can change things for many more people.
[16:24] - We hear more about how James has convinced people that this will positively affect the daily operations of a business.
[19:38] - How would James recommend that someone who works at an organization that doesn’t currently have a disability employment program go about starting something and creating change at their company?
[21:42] - Tom elaborates on the advice James has been giving about getting support from the community.
[22:43] - James hopes that within the next ten years is that every Fortune 500 company will have a disability inclusion strategy.
[25:24] - How can listeners get in touch with James or hire him as a consultant to help them navigate their disability employment strategy?
Links and Resources:
Disability inclusion at Walgreens
University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities
FAU Center for Autism & Related Disabilities
Welcome to the Autism Advantage podcast! I’m your host, Tom D’Eri, the COO and co-founder of Rising Tide Car Wash. In case you’re not familiar with what we do, we employ a fantastic team of individuals with autism, allowing us to empower our staff while offering a fantastic experience to customers. We believe that individuals with autism are an incredible untapped resource for many business, and this show is dedicated to proving that employing these people can create real competitive advantages.
Valerie Herskowitz is one of my fellow South Florida autism entrepreneurs and the founder of The Chocolate Spectrum Cafe and Academy. So far, the cafe only employs adults with autism or developmental disabilities, and Val has been learning to do just about every aspect of running the business herself. While this is complicated in the early stages, it’s a strength in that she’ll be intimately familiar with every facet of the business.
Val had been involved in pastry and chocolates as a hobby, never thinking she would turn it into anything more. After semi-retiring, though, she had the time to expand this sweet hobby into a full business. Coincidentally, this timing worked out just as she was looking into post-high-school resources for her son Blake, who has autism.
After Blake graduated from high school, he got more and more involved in the kitchen. Val realized that a hobby of making chocolates wasn’t going to be enough to keep Blake busy, so after getting some great reviews from friends and family, they expanded into an online venture and started selling locally. The business grew organically, until Val saw it as an employment opportunity for individuals with autism and other differently-abled employees. Now, they’ve opened a brick-and-mortar cafe.
In this conversation that took place just two months after the cafe opened, Val and I talk about her experience with turning a hobby into a full-time business and social enterprise. The best and biggest piece of advice she can give to listeners considering opening a retail location is to expect the unexpected, but she has many, many other gems of wisdom that anyone working with people with autism or considering opening a business will benefit from hearing.
Tune into this episode to hear about topics including how Blake and other employees have reacted to the opening of the retail location, her advice to people who are considering opening a business staffed by people with autism, what financial considerations you should have in mind when opening a business, and why the food business is one of the hardest areas to be in.
In This Episode:
[00:58] - Val takes us back to the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey, and explains why she started The Chocolate Spectrum. She walks us through the process all the way from the beginning ideas through the opening of their retail location.
[05:09] - We hear more about the moment when Val realized that this could be a full-time business, not just a hobby anymore.
[07:12] - Tom draws out an important point that Val has made regarding the responsibility business owners have to their employees.
[08:40] - The brick-and-mortar location has only been open for two months, and Val’s biggest piece of advice so far is to expect the unexpected.
[11:24] - Val explains that even her little shop seems overwhelming, but expects it to become easier as it becomes more familiar.
[14:07] - How have Blake and the rest of the team responded to the opening of the new location? Val describes how Blake has reacted, and the sorts of things that she has needed to teach and work on with the other employees.
[17:33] - Tom talks about the scripting and training for people with autism for interacting with the public, which is part of Rising Tide Car Wash as well.
[19:01] - Val takes a moment to rave about their local community in Florida, which is relatively autism-aware. She then mentions things she adds to the script, such as recommendations to visit the dry cleaners next door who consistently promote the cafe.
[22:33] - What advice would Val give someone who’s looking to start a business and employ people with autism?
[23:58] - When Tom gives workshops and reaches the part about funding, he needs to point out that there really aren’t very many grants out there for this subject and that grants probably won’t be your primary source of funding.
[25:10] - Val didn’t decide to start an autism-focused business and then settle on one that fits that criterion well. Instead, she opened a business in something she was already doing. In hindsight, she might have done things differently.
[28:02] - Tom points out that every social enterprise has its own path.
[30:20] - Val passes along one other piece of advice that she has found invaluable, which is to find people who know what to do who are willing to help you.
[32:04] - How can listeners get involved with The Chocolate Spectrum? She recommends visiting the cafe, but if you don’t live locally, you can shop online too!
Links and Resources:
The Chocolate Spectrum Cafe and Academy
The Chocolate Spectrum: shop online
Valerie Herksowitz on LinkedIn
University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities