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Show Summary:
Welcome to Job Insights Extra, part of the Job Insights Podcast with Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson, a podcast focused on the world of employment, career pathways and gainful and meaningful employment.
The Job Insights Extra podcasts are success stories, interviews and demos that enhance the experience of reaching that career you want.
On this Job Insights Extra we talk to Ivan Delgado, a Business Enterprise Program Operator from Las Vegas. How he got his start into the BEP and what being a business owner has done for him.
We hope you enjoy and if you have any questions for Ivan, you can send him an email.
If you are interested in becoming your own boss and want to run your own business, contact your state services, your Devision of Vocational Rehabilitation and see what opportunities they have for you.
Thank you for listening!
You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities
On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com
Send us an email
Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.
Full Transcript:
[Music]
Jeff: Welcome to a job insights extra where we will be talking to business enterprise program operator Ivan Delgado.
[Music]
He’s from Las Vegas and that’s where the Blind Abilities team went to get this interview at the Randolph Sheppard Vendors of America Sagebrush convention.
What is the business enterprise program?
It is a operation part of the Randolph Sheppard act that allows you to own an operate your own business.
Check out your State Services, your DVR, and find out more about the business enterprise program.
[Music]
Job Insights is a podcast that is helping you find careers and gainful employment through innovations and opportunities and you can find the Job Insights podcast on Blindabilities.com, part of the Blind Abilities network, and as part of the Job Insights podcast, we will be bringing you the job insights extra, consisting of interviews, demonstrations, and news surrounding employment, careers, and jobs, with hosts, Serina Gilbert, and myself Jeff Thompson, and you can contact us by email at jobinsights@blindabilities.com.
Leave us some feedback, or suggest some topics that we cover.
You can also follow us on Twitter at JobInsightsVIP.
Right now, please welcome Ivan Delgado.
Welcome to Blind Abilities, I’m Jeff Thompson, and I am at the Sagebrush convention in Las Vegas and I ran into a fairly new vendor here amongst the senior vendors.
I’m talking to Ivan Delgado.
How are you dong?
Ivan: Alright man, how about yourself?
Jeff: Good, good, just enjoying the convention and all of the busy lights and stuff, and noises I should say out there.
Ivan: Nice city huh?
Jeff: Yeah, and you’re from Vegas?
Ivan: Yeah man, welcome to Las Vegas, if anybody is listening, come and enjoy Vegas, we love your guy’s money.
[laughter]
Jeff: I noticed that!
[laughter]
So what got you interested the business enterprise program?
Ivan: So about 3 or 4 years ago man, finishing up, not finishing, taking a break from college for certain reasons, whether it was lack of assistive technology or books not being ready for me, I decided to take a break and my lady actually told me about this program.
She had a few friends that have done it in California and other states, and she told me, you like to boss me around so you might as well boss people around and try to make money.
Yep, a couple years later man, I have been fortunate enough to finally get my own site and I started, originally I started the program.
I got my BEP license about 2 years ago.
My first site opened February 1st of last year, we just had our one year anniversary, before that we had vending machines at the location I am in.
We just, it took a while for the location, the actual location to open up.
Jeff: Is there training involved when you first join?
Ivan: Yeah, when I first joined, now it’s a lot different man, but when I first joined it was pretty intense, what I think is intense man.
It was, I want to say 9 months man, and don’t quote me on that.
Classes started in March and the first three months were strictly just books and learning bi-laws, and how to do PNL’s, and marketing, it was pretty awesome man, for someone like me that, you know never had a business, don’t have an idea, i was just used to working 9 to 5s.
It was very helpful.
We did a couple of course through Hadley, Hadley School for the Blind online.
We did that and then we did a couple of ServSafe tests here, customer service exams that we had to get.
I am fortunate and I could brag about it man, because again, I am blessed man, and I think I am one of the only vendors here in Nevada that does his own profit and loss statement.
You have vendors that are paying 200 to 300 dollars to, for people to input simple numbers and again, thanks to those classes, thanks to those three months of actually putting in work man, and understanding PNL’s, and little Bi-laws, and stuff like that is definitely helpful man.
Jeff: You are your own accountant.
Ivan: Yes sir, thank God man!
Jeff: You gotta keep the profits up right?
Ivan: Right right, that is one way of doing it man, saving money man, all you gotta know is how to work.
We know how to work man, it doesn’t matter if you are disabled or not man, it’s ambition, as humans we hunger for that ambition man.
We have it, it is just a matter of if we want it or not man, and a lot of the times we don’t want it man, and that sucks, but we are our own worst enemies and our own best friends man, and only we can get what we want man.
Jeff: So what suggestions would you have for someone who is interested in getting into the business enterprise program?
Ivan: A lot of patience.
A lot of patience, hard work.
Here in Nevada the process is a little longer due to the lack of operators we have, you know we kind of have to prove ourselves and that is fair I think.
But a lot of patience and , just because you’re disabled doesn’t mean that stuff is going to be handed to us, especially here in the business world man, we have just as much of a responsibility as anybody else.
Just keep your head up and be strong.
That’s it, just stay positive and stuff could be worse and if we are here and you are listening to this podcast, obviously we have gotten this far and the sky is the limit after here.
Jeff: So what does Sagebrush bring to you?
Ivan: A lot of a lot of information.
A lot of people like Mr. Jeff, sorry if, I am bad at names, I think that’s your name [laughter] Jeff, but yeah, this man, that working, as a blind community we have to become close man and I’m, the best example man, I don’t go out a lot and I don’t network but it hasn’t changed man, I don’t believe in NFB’s, and NCB’s, and ACB’s, I wish there was only one.
I don’t see for this separation between organizations when really we’re all just one, and that’s blind.
We’re all blind so I would love for us to stick together and become one.
I think if we become one a lot of people would be aware of both our disabilities, of our business and the Randolph Sheppard Act, again if we advocate be strong, stay positive and network, go out to these kinds of meetings, kind of conferences, I think this could very well be accomplished.
There is a lot of older gentleman and ladies that are in the program and it’s time for younger generations to step up and I think this is the time.
Jeff: There is a lot of wealth of information, they have been in it, they have seen it change, and that is the bigger thing that things have changed and now here you are paving your way, you know, you’re two years in, pretty soon you’ll probably be leading the show here.
Ivan: Absolutely, and those are the plans man, and absolutely, we always have to be grateful to the people that have, that started this man you know, and we’ve gotten a long ways man, I mean from selling newspapers at Post Offices to you know, having places at Hoover Dam’s or at airports, you know that’s a huge accomplishment, and that couldn’t have been done without the people that you know, are moving on or retiring now.
And that is a huge gratitude to you guys, we thank you.
Jeff: Well, Ivan Delgado thank you very much for taking your time away from the karaoke.
You gonna sing out there?
Ivan: No we already did man, I need two more shots, I think these last two shots were on you.
[laughter]
Jeff: Do you have an email?
Ivan: Yeah man, that’s ivan.delvilla@gmail.com.
Jeff: Alright, well thank you very much for taking the time and just speaking on Blind Abilities.
Ivan: Yes sir, have a good day!
[Music]
Jeff: So if you are interested in the business enterprise program, becoming your own business owner, entrepreneur, check it out with your division of vocational rehab, your State Services for the Blind and see what they can do for you.
If you want to find out first hand from Ivan what it is like to be 2 years in, in the business enterprise program, shoot him an email, check it out.
Links are in the show notes.
So we hope you enjoyed this Job Insights extra, thanks for listening, and until next time, bye bye.
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When we share what we see through each other’s eyes, we can then begin to bridge the Gap between the limited expectations and the realities of Blind Abilities.
For more podcast with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter at BlindAbilities, download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that’s two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com, thanks for listening.