Empowerment for the Disabled with Vashaun Jones

0:02Who's ready to rock today, Fire Nation? JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Talking Too Loud. Today, we'll be breaking down how to double your income as a person living with a disability. To drop these value bombs, I have brought Vashon Jones into EO Fire Studios, blind entrepreneur of Fedora Outlier LLC. Empowerment for the blind by the blind is his game, Fire Nation. And today, we'll talk about how being underestimated can work in your favor. We'll talk about how to avoid legal trouble.

0:38We're going to talk about technology, quick tips and tools, and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Vashon and our sponsors. DTC Pod, hosted by Ramon Berrios and Blaine Bolas, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. DTC Pod is a podcast about all things direct to consumer. Ramon and Blaine cover everything from starting, growing, and optimizing e-commerce stores in DTC brands. If you're interested in the stories behind your favorite consumer brands, this podcast is for you. One recent episode on how the best brands are built is a must listen.

1:14Listen to DTC pod wherever you get your podcasts. Are you looking to start or grow a successful business? Attend the world's highest rated and most reviewed business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and football great Tim Tebow at Thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire. Again, request life-changing tickets today at Thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire. Vishan, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Ah, what's up, Fire Fire Nation, I think probably the number one thing that most people will disagree with because they're afraid to actually do it is putting in the 10 ,000 hours for most things that you want to be super successful at.

2:06Fire Nation, put in the flipping reps. Be willing to grind your face off on the number one solution to a real problem in this world. and believe me, on some level, you will win. And today we're talking about empowerment for the disabled and Vashon, the reality is so many people have so many reasons why they're not successful. They have a million excuses, a million complaints, a million woe is me's, but listen, let's burst their bubbles. I wanna talk about the trials of running a business as someone who is blind. Absolutely. A lot of the trials is needing sight to do things, needing to fill out paperwork and having to work around it, needing to get from one place to the other and not have an accessible way of doing it.

3:01Being in meetings and not seeing the facial expressions and not being able to read the room in a normal fashion. So that's just some of the challenges just on the day to day. As far as running a business, it's a lot of trust because checks have to be signed. payroll has to be done, everything that is ran and is done in a normal business, but you can't really see. So you have to be able to trust individuals to make sure that they're doing the right thing and it's done to the standards that, you know, you would want in your business. And Fire Nation, obviously blindness is a disability and there are many other forms and types of disabilities that are out there.

3:51And your focus, Vashon, is on empowering disabled individuals to find work, but not just to find work, to find work that's meaningful and profitable, key combination there. So tell us more. The biggest thing is what Dave Ramsey calls social insecurity, and I definitely believe in that. And the willingness to get off of that $800 a month check and realize that there is a whole world out there of income that can be made and that you were born as a person that has a disability, but more importantly, you was born with a uniqueness to yourself that if you can just tap into that, find out your passion, find out what you love to do and bring that to the world, you can be successful.

4:47I always tell them that there is 30, 40 great books on love, but it's all from one person's perspective. It's all from that person who wrote it perspective and there's nothing new. So you just have to bring your uniqueness to whatever it is that you're doing and allow that passion to drive the income that you want to make. Now, Vishan, one thing that I find really interesting is that you believe that being underestimated can actually work in our favor. So let's talk about that statement and give us a couple examples. A lot of times when you are blind, people have sympathy for you. People have empathy for you.

5:35They have a wildness, especially when you're in business and it works in your favor because they're disarmed. They feel like they need to assist you in some form or fashion. And the fact that you're in this meeting clearly means that you have the right to be there. So yeah, I mean, in the meeting, it's just a way of having individuals to be able to relate to you in a manner that is easy and it's approachable and they can really feel like they're assisting and it's disarming for them, but you're able to get your point across. You're able to get your agenda seen after just by having that disability.

6:34Now, give us one clear-cut example of this in real life. One day I was at a government meeting on a contract that was being bidded on, and it was between me and my company and another individual and their company. And all of the paperwork looked the same. We had the same credentials, same criteria, the same pretty much everything experience. but the mere fact that I was disabled and could hold up to and exceed the standard, they gave the contract to me and my company. And so that's one clear cut where being visually impaired, being disabled was disarming, and it was something that they were able to approach and feel good about giving us the contract.

7:32Fire Nation, we have a lot more to talk about around the topic of empowerment for the disabled when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Marketers have never been spread so thin. Trust me, I feel it too. Between creating content, launching campaigns, generating leads, nurturing your prospects, and more, you barely have a second to breathe, let alone do your best marketing. But I've got some great news. There's a better way to do things, and it's with the help of HubSpot and Breeze. It's new, built-in AI. When you combine the power of HubSpot's marketing hub and content hub, you can have your best quarter every quarter.

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9:52Vashon, our web content must be accessible to everyone because if it's not, you could actually land in legal trouble. So give us some details about this. Give us an example that you've seen in real life about this as well. Oh my gosh, so many examples, but I'll tell you a little bit about it. Not having an accessible website will definitely land you in legal trouble. Even if you settle, it's going to cost you more than what it would cost you to fix it. And so what do I mean by an accessible website? So it looks pretty to the sighted, the person that can see it. But when you have images on the website and they're not labeled with alternative text, basically a description of the image, and it just says whatever it says, image or JPEG or whatever the case may be, it's inaccessible.

10:45I don't know as a blind person and nor would anyone else that's blind or visually impaired know what that image is depicting. Headings, headers on the website that are improperly labeled and they skip numbers, they start in level three and move to level five. We're like, what happened to one and two and four and so on. And so what happens is you get sued and you would either settle or take it to court. You would lose because it's just like the saying, there's no half pregnancy that's accessible or it's not. And so I actually serve as an expert witness traveling around the United States, testifying either for or against accessible websites, whether I'm working for a firm or whether I'm working for a company on their behalf as their expert witness.

11:45And so, yeah, I see it all the time, excuse the pun, of a website not being accessible and them having to spend tons of money to defend it. And like I said, if it's not accessible, it's just not accessible. There's nothing to defend. So you actually share both quick tips for technology and tools that you know are very helpful for free. What's the strategy behind this? Why do you do this? It's marketing. Most people, they want something quick, especially in today's time. And it's something that would be helpful. number two. And just for the mere fact that it's content that's easily able to be created and it gets out to the masses, it keeps our firm top of mind when it comes to accessibility.

12:41And it's something that I definitely enjoy doing. So give us an example of how this has actually worked, like as far as the lead generation to getting a client in the door and to everything in between. I might listen to a podcast. I might hear something that's sedated and a need that that person may have had. And I would think of a quick and easy way to solve it. I would generate the video, either demonstrating it and or talking about it. And I would put it out on all of our social media channels. someone would look at it, like it, and say, hey, I need to learn more about technology and how it will work and help me.

13:31And I say, great. Well, we have, you know, whatever our service offerings are at the time, whether it's instructor-led teaching or online course, coming to them or working with their company to help them to get the training. And so that happens in one of those forms, you know, almost every day. We've been in business for about 12 years. And, you know, it's how I've always marketed. Now, one thing that I'm really interested to dive deeper on is the next topic of style, scent, demeanor, because you really believe strongly in the importance of making a strong first impression through those things, through your scent, how you smell, through your style, how you're dressing, and just overall through your demeanor.

14:22Like, how are you walking into a room? How are you presenting yourself? How confident are you? Give us some examples of these three things individually. Like, why are they so important as a whole and individually? Looking good, feeling good, and smelling good is my motto for anything thing that I do, especially when it's public facing. So, of course, being disabled, the first thing that they're going to notice is the cane, the white cane, and they're going to make an immediate judgment off of that. The next thing they're going to look at is your outward appearance, whether you're groomed, everything is in order, you match, your clothes are presentable.

15:06So, So that's the looking good piece. Feeling good is making sure that you have the right energy, that you're smiling, that you feel confident in yourself. Because if you don't feel confident in yourself, no one else will as well. No one else is going to provide you the confidence that you need to be out there in the public, whether you're winning business or shaking hands and, you know, influencing people. So you need the confidence and you need to feel it and other people will resonate from what you are exuding. Smelling good. Now I'm a cologne, a frag head, literally 400 plus bottles of fragrances.

15:49And it's because not what most people would think. Well, he has a heightened sense of smell. No, it's just that I absolutely love fragrances for all types of occasions. And so I do believe that the right fragrance leaves a subconscious, if not impression, on a person. So they'll smell you and, you know, just remember, wow, that guy actually smelled good. And it's just something in those three components, you know, always say when they ask me, how are you doing? I'm better than excellent, you know. And so that is going to allow me to exude the confidence that's going to disarm them, as we talked about earlier, and then that looking good, you know.

16:42So then they're going to say, wow, looks good. You feel good. It smells good. Let's hear what he has to say. And so I think that's very important. Now, how it has worked for me, all three of those things have always, you know, landed me business. And, you know, from the meetings to the boardrooms to whether it's online or anything. So looking good, feeling good and smelling good. Definitely. Fire Nation, ask yourself the question. How are you smelling? How's your demeanor? How's your style? Is one of those three great? Is two of those three great? Are any of them lacking? Where can you step it up?

17:25Where do you want to step it up? Think about the impressions you want to give. And Vashon, take us home, brother. What's the one key takeaway you want to make sure Fire Nation gets from our conversation today? I think the number one thing that I would want individuals to get from our conversation today is basically if you are disabled, If you are going through something, if you are a person that has been overlooked in society, know that there is a uniqueness to you. Know that there's a specialty to you. Know that you have a purpose. You have passion. And if you bring that to the world, there's a market out there and you will be able to sell your services and sell yourself and be profitable.

18:20Vashon, if Fire Nation wants to connect with you, wants to learn more from you, what is your call to action for our listeners today? Call to action. Check out FedoraOutlier.com. F as in Frank, E-D-O-R-A Outlier, Malcolm Gladwell's book. Outliers, O-U-T-L-I-E-R.com. Everything is there. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with Vijay and JLD today. So let's keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Just type Vashon in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up. And Vashon, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, and value with Fire Nation.

19:02For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Sounds like a plan. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Vashon for sponsoring today's episode and Fire Nation. Over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 4 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, and I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment. I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams.

19:40Visit UncommonSuccessBook.com and I'll catch you there or on the flip side. DTC Pod, hosted by Ramon Berrios and Blaine Bolas, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. DTC Pod is a podcast about all things direct to consumer. Ramon and Blaine cover everything from starting, growing, and optimizing e-commerce stores and DTC brands. If you're interested in the stories behind your favorite consumer brands, this podcast is for you. One recent episode on how the best brands are built is a must listen. Listen to DTC Pod wherever you get your podcasts.

20:17Are you looking to start or grow a successful business? Attend the world's highest rated and most reviewed business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and football great Tim Tebow at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Again, request life-changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire.