Podcast Summary:
Career Climb is more than a weekend workshop—it’s a launchpad for blind and low vision students to explore careers, strengthen independence, and build confidence for the future. Through hands-on activities in self-discovery, budgeting, resumes, LinkedIn, interviewing, networking, and self-advocacy, students learn not just how to find a job, but how to build a life with purpose. What makes Career Climb unique is its focus on process: students develop tools they can return to throughout their lives whenever they face a new opportunity or transition. Parents will appreciate seeing their students grow in confidence and leadership. Teachers will value the practical career-readiness and self-determination skills reinforced throughout the weekend. Students gain peer support, individualized coaching, and a roadmap for turning aspirations into action. From elevator pitches to mock interviews and follow-up coaching, Career Climb plants seeds of ambition, preparation, and possibility for a stronger future.
Related Links:
Penny forward – Penny Forward empowers individuals with vision loss to navigate the complicated landscape of personal finance through education, mentoring, and mutual support. Our commitment extends to every facet of personal finance, encompassing activities related to earning, managing, and growing one’s finances.
Jeremy W. Grandstaff on LinkedIn – Senior Learning & Organization Development Strategist
Links of interests:
To find out more about the services provided at State Services for the Blind, and what they can do for you, contact Shane DeSantis at shane.desantis@state.mn.us or call Shane at 651-385-5205.
Thanks for listening!
Full Transcript
{Music}
Jeremy: What we’re going to be learning this weekend. It’s going to be something that you can use immediately, but it’s also teaching you a process that throughout the next 50 years of your career, you can keep going back to and keep using every time you want to take the next step.
Jeff: Welcome to Blind Abilities, I’m Jeff Thompson. Today in the studio we have Jeremy Grandstaff and he’s heading up an event called Career Climb. This is being held at State Services for the Blind of Minnesota and put on by Penny Ford. Jeremy, welcome to Blind Abilities.
Jeremy: Oh my goodness, Jeff, it’s so great to be with you and I appreciate you reaching out. Very excited to be talking with you.
Jeff: Well Jeremy, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the Blind Abilities. When I heard about Career Climb, I dug into the pamphlet and I really liked the pitch right up front. Unlock your leadership, build your career, strengthen your Independence. Those are some pretty good directives, especially for students at that young age.
Jeremy: I think they are. And what’s really amazing is when you say that to them on day one, right? And you’re like, okay, kids, this is what we’re gonna do. Many of them are not even sure what we’re talking, right? And so part of what we started with on Friday, when we originally got them in, I began by saying, you know, this is the purpose of the workshop. This is going to be what’s different because you were here, you’re gaining clarity on your career, you’re gaining a fuller understanding of your potential and what you can do. And then you’re going to build some type of, I call it a career search strategy. What I explained to them was, some of you are going to be looking at what your next step is in your career. Some of you are going to be trying to figure out what is my career to begin with. What do I want to get out of my life? Right? And so we used the word career to really talk about what are our aspirations and what do we want to achieve in our life. And so it was really amazing that first day, Jeff is really where they got to look at their personality types and their strengths and weaknesses, how they work, right? And what really makes them tick, understanding their likes and passions and what are those? We’re talking about a young age, right? Defining what do I want my purpose to be in life? And what I told them again on day one, and when we wrapped up on day three, is this isn’t about coming out of this and saying, well, this is exactly what I’m going to do. It’s about learning a process that you can use when you need to examine yourself. And so now these students have walked away from a weekend where they got to learn the process of what they need to do every time they want to have the conversation of, okay, what’s next for me? Right? And just to watch some of the aha moments. I’m using the word watch as a blind guy, figuratively, but to realize some of those aha moments that came from the students, that’s actually such a driver for me in why we do this particular program, because you see that confidence build even on day two, and especially when they come back for day three.
Jeff: So important, especially since they’re probably taking ownership of their career journey for the first time.
Jeremy: Oh yeah. And you may have a student who’s in college where they’re thinking about this a little bit more. You might have a student who’s in high school and they’re like, what career? I just want to get a job, right? And so what we do is we meet them where they’re at. And just like I said to them on day one, my goal is to help them act strategically and proactively instead of just reacting, oh, I found this great job. Oh, I hope I can make enough money. Let’s not use the word hope. Let’s find out. What would you make? What do you want to make? What’s your budget? How would that look? And that’s actually something that we got into with them on Saturday. Right. So Friday was about let’s come together and learn about ourselves and then how we’re going to talk about ourselves. We call that the elevator pitch on Saturday morning. Then they came in with their proposed elevator pitches. They got to get feedback from each other. And then Chris actually took them through before we even started talking about what you want to achieve with your career, what kind of budget do you want? And so we actually taught them in the morning on Saturday about this is how you create a budget, and this is how you find out how much jobs pay and how you do research on that. That way we’re really talking about. Yeah. I mean, a budget’s made up numbers. You and I know that, but it’s how do you make those numbers up and make sure that they’re correct. And that was a big moment for some of them, where money may not seem like money to them until they actually start talking about, well, my goodness, this is what I need in order to be able to feed myself. And this is what I need in order to be able to have an apartment or whatever it may be. Right? So that was Saturday morning, right? And really getting into the financial aspects of it all.
Jeff: Like how you put that, it seems like we’re taking luck out of the equation here. And you’re learning and gathering information so you can determine what you want for a career instead of, like you said, just trying to find a job.
Jeremy: I think you’re right about that. And one of the things that you heard me probably say on Friday is if we don’t define what our purpose is, then we’re never going to know if we’ve achieved it. There’s a quote that we use when I’m talking about this, which is if we have not defined where there is, how will we ever know that we have arrived there? And furthermore, if we haven’t defined how we’re going to get there, we’ll never get there at all. Right. And we’re setting goals. For example, on Friday night.
Jeremy: What do you want to get out of this weekend?
Participant: I have already taken some like. Transition classes in my school, but it has been a while and I haven’t practiced things like interviewing in a bit since. I’ll be graduating from high school soon and doing transitions. I’m hoping to reestablish these preparing work skills like preparing a LinkedIn and preparing interviews. That’s all going to be good practice.
Jeremy: Then Saturday, we’re talking more about the financial goals. And then Saturday afternoon and Sunday was really spent taking all that goal talk, right? Oh well, this is what I want to achieve and talking about how they’re going to get there. So Saturday afternoon we talked with him about resumes and LinkedIn and social media Sunday. Then we brought him in and they actually got to practice interviewing, right? They can choose one of two exercises. So it was really interesting to watch how the class decided, right? Oh, I want to do an exercise where I can interview somebody and find out more about the job that I like, versus I can practice being in a job interview and what that looks like. And then of course, it’s always very fun to watch the change in dynamic that we saw on Sunday when they started presenting their revised elevator pitches and saying, now I’m more clear, this is what I want to do. I think kind of going back to what you’re saying, there’s always a timing piece that comes to looking for a job. And in addition to my work with Penny forward, I’m the full time executive director of the Inspiration Foundation. I got that job because I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and they happen to be hiring at the right time.
Jeremy: Right? So there’s always a timing piece to it. Some people call it luck. I call it timing networking at the right time, but I think the goal to have given this weekend them a process that they can use when they are thinking about what’s next in my career. Maybe I want a better job. Maybe I want to get a job. Maybe I want to retire. There’s a guy that I actually was coaching for a little bit last year. I think he was like 58 years old, and he said, I’ve made enough money that I can retire, but I don’t want to just quit working. What’s my next step? Right. And he went through a very similar process to each one of these students this weekend, just at a different level. I do think it is about taking the luck out of it, but it’s doing it in a strategic way. It’s doing it in a process driven way so that they’re using their current situation as an example. But five years from now, when they need to do it again, they can do it again. And they’ve got the workbook that, you know, they can just order another workbook and say, hey, I want to start filling this out. Right? So.
Jeff: Mhm. Well, I think being prepared when opportunities knock, you can answer because when the stars do align, you want to be prepared so you can jump on it. That’s not luck.
Jeremy: That’s right. Right. And the reason we started on Friday with the purpose is because if I’m trying to make a decision between two jobs and one meets my purpose and the other makes me feel like I’m delaying meeting my purpose, I’m going to go for the one that meets my purpose, because that’s going to be the one that I will be most happy in.
Jeff: Mhm.
Jeremy: I think it’s really neat to watch them. I think they came in thinking, oh, we have to define what this is right away. Oh, we have to make sure that we know all the steps. But really the first question we asked was, what do you want to do? What does that look like to you? What’s the difference that you’re making in the world? So it’s really neat.
{Live}
Jeremy: What is the difference that you want to make in the world? Please tell us.
Participant: I think how I would like to make a difference is I would like to make the field of sciences accessible for the blind.
Participant: a difference I want in world is to create a blind car.
Participant: I want to create it for every blind. They can write in their own book.
Participant: The difference I want to make it a wall is to build my village, the blind school.
Participant: The difference I want to make in the world is to feed people who are hungry.
Participant: The difference I want to make in the world is the world to accept unique people.
Participant: The difference I want to make in the world is to help people who are dealing with difficult situations in life.
Participant: The difference I want to make in the world is up to me in my decision. Nobody can stop me from doing what I want to do.
Participant: The difference I want to make in the world is to go into politics and advocate for people with disabilities, advocate for people who typically are marginalized and do not have a voice, and advocate for people like me with low vision and other disabilities.
Jeremy: Great job. Yeah.
{Applause}
Jeff: It’s really nice to see all the topics that we’re going to be discussing are in the workbook, you know, like resume building your LinkedIn profile. What’s really interesting is having so many different students and their different personalities and different goals, but they all have experiences of some sort and having some with more and some with less. They get to learn from each other, but to see it happening right there in the room as they learn from their peers. That was really neat.
Jeremy: One of the most fascinating things for me, when I have the opportunity to work with kids is their understanding of technology. And social media is very different than even from my own right. And so ways to really think about how that’s working and what we do with that and how we employ those things. Like, one of the things that we talk about is when should you be on TikTok? When should you not? One of the things that I love saying to them, and we didn’t get an opportunity to cover LinkedIn in its full capacity just because we ran out of time. And so I only got to do the resume portion, but the workbook actually gives them a lot of stuff on LinkedIn. And one of the things that I actually did say during the workshop, even though we didn’t get to cover LinkedIn and social media, is please remember that social media is permanent. If you think you’re posting it and nobody’s going to see it, you can just take it down. It’s there, it’s always there. And to remember that, right, that I may go on a rant and I’ll use my current job as a really great example when I open my mouth, Jeff. And I think you’ve probably find this, you’re a podcaster, so you know, your job is to open your mouth. I think sometimes, but as the executive director of a foundation and even as the director of learning initiatives for Penny forward, when I opened my mouth, I’m not just Jeremy, I am Jeremy that is part of Penny forward or I’m Jeremy that is the executive director of the Inspiration Foundation. And what I say is always going to be reflected in those areas. And so we use that. And you would have heard me this weekend using that with them that, you know, keep in mind that this is your brand. You can always reset your brand if you need to, but don’t make it so off brand that there’s no walking it back. And that is definitely something that we work with them on.
Jeff: I like how the agenda worked out the elevator pitch from Friday to Saturday to Sunday. So as they worked on it, they could compare and watch each other, how they grow and develop and how they’re speaking in front of others, you know, standing up and giving their speech. That was awesome. Jeremy, for our listeners, can you describe what an elevator pitch is?
Jeremy: The first piece on the elevator pitch is to recognize that depending on where I’m at and the group that I’m working with. Sometimes you will actually hear me call it the stair speech or the quick hit speech. You’ve only got a little bit of time to talk to somebody. And so we center this around getting them like we did on Friday. So we got them to brainstorm a little bit. What are the key strengths and skills that you have? What passions or interests drive you? That was another question that they answered on Friday night. What are some significant achievements that they’ve been able to do? And there’s a question that you would have heard me ask them on Friday night that I absolutely love, and sometimes it’s just actually fun to watch them answer the question. It’s picture it. You’re using your unique qualities to contribute positively to a team or community. What do you envision yourself doing? What do you hear people saying about you?
{Live}
Participant: Do more teamwork. Goal oriented.
Jeremy: Goal oriented, I love it. Okay.
Participant: Compassionate.
Jeremy: compassionate.
Participant: And like expertise in their field.
Jeremy: Part of the reason that we asked that question, I know I got a little pushback the first time I did this with a group of blind people. And I said, what do you envision yourself doing? But it’s a very key word. Just because we don’t have vision doesn’t mean we can’t vision or envision things. And so we get them to brainstorm around those questions and then we say, okay, now that you’ve got those three things, come up with 3 to 4 sentences that describe that. It’s a very loose exercise because in the beginning, we’re really wanting them to take it where they want to take it, and then they actually give feedback to each other. Oh, I like this. Oh no, don’t talk about that. That sounded kind of down. What we also did on Saturday morning is yes, they got to give feedback to each other, but they also had to present it to the whole group. And when they did that, we do what’s called quick hit feedback. So it’s one thing that was great, One thing that needs improvement, right? And it’s very quick fire. It’s very inclusive. And we give people the opportunity to really hear from their peers. Like we weren’t quiet either. Right. You heard from me and from Chris and probably Shane, if I remember correctly, with a comment. So and I think it’s invigorating for them since I really love that piece of it.
Jeff: I really like that the participants get the opportunity to speak in public, to stand up and present. I mean, it’s a safe environment there amongst their peers. They get to hear the others get up and do it. Some are nervous and some are a little more experienced at it, but they all get to do it and all get to participate. It’s such a great opportunity all the way from Friday, Saturday to Sunday in front of the parents.
Jeremy: Yeah, and I think that’s the critical piece, right? Is getting them to practice, getting them to feel more comfortable. You know, we talked on Friday about safety. If you feel like you’re going. I think this is the phrase that I used, but if you feel like you’re going to make someone feel terrible about themselves, then try to say it in a more helpful way. Right? And one of the examples that I actually told the story of is I used to have a boss that every time he gave feedback, he’d be like, I just want to let you know your version of that sucked and here’s why. Right. And obviously I have to change that wording when I’m in front of students. But like I, you know, the concept being that like talking to people and giving that feedback is so helpful when it comes from a place of curiosity and a genuine desire to help people.
Jeff: I just have to say, there’s so many opportunities that were made available to them, whether it be the speeches or the presentations, but to be asked of their opinion at such a young age. These students, these participants are growing.
Jeremy: That’s right.
Jeff: And for the parents to see their child give a presentation like maybe they haven’t seen it before, but that was awesome.
Jeremy: That’s one of the things that I actually paid attention to on Sunday, when the parents were able to watch the revised elevator speech. But some of the other things that they’re allowed to talk about is what’s their overall goal with their next step, right? Who are three people that they might want to interview in their field? And so one of the things that I tried to do was ask them to give us a little bit more insight into what they need help with and where they feel that they’re struggling. Part of this is not just saying, oh, I’m great. Oh, I learned it all. It’s perfect to me. But each of these students are going to get five additional coaching sessions. And so one of the things that I asked them before they left is tell us one thing that you really feel coaching would help you with. And so that’s showing vulnerability to everybody. But you’ll also remember that I asked them to not just say one thing they needed help with, but one a moment that they were taking away from our dialogue throughout the weekend. And those are extremely powerful statements. That last activity that we closed with was, what’s one thing you’re taking away? What’s one thing you could use some help with? And what’s one thing you’re going to do over the next week because of what you learned this week?
Jeff: Yeah.
Jeremy: And actually what I did with them is I because, you know, we’re in front of our computers and so forth as blind people, you know, I want them to have that technology and that ability to fully engage with stuff. When we closed out the end, though, we did that in a circle and we actually do it. Um, uh, the, the last part, uh, when people were feeling comfortable holding each other’s hand and what you’re doing with that is helping them see that it’s not just them who is making these commitments, but they’ve got a group of people that can help them, from me to Shane to Chris Peterson to themselves. Right. And being able to help each other as a group. It’s really neat to kind of see that come to fruition and to see that confidence that gets built.
Jeff: Another thing that was great for them to experience, even the conversation, just to experience that is about interviews, role playing, like mock interviews, but to actually ask questions of someone and to have those questions asked of them, you know, because there’s situations that, you know, catch you off guard in an interview. Like, what if they ask you, what is the quality that you really need to work at? You know, that vulnerability.
Jeremy: It is. I think that one of the challenges that we have with the workforce that is coming into the workforce over the next eight years is they are taught to be extremely good at talking about themselves in a public way and in a very positive way. And one of the things that we talked about this weekend was vulnerability. And vulnerability is one of those very tricky things, right? I happen to be a person who’s really good at engaging my vulnerability and bringing that into conversations. It also means that people can take advantage of that. And for me, I had to make a choice. If I am doing my job really well, I’m bringing vulnerability into conversations. And it also means I have to watch for when that’s going to get used against me. At the same time, Jeff, I have to bring it into the conversation because if I’m not vulnerable, I’m not my best. I try to be, but you can tell I’m holding back, right? It’s just there. And I think learning that balance, learning how to stand up for ourselves, to advocate for ourselves. Ironically, this is stuff that my parents, when I was a very young man, taught me how to do. From day one. When I was in sixth grade, I came up to public school, and I distinctly remember that I was the one who was ordering my books from the publisher. This is back in, by the way, 1986. So we’re. It was a different world back then, right? Um, but I was the first to come up to my school that was blind. And so the IEPI sat in the I p when I was in fifth grade because they were having a conversation about what did I need to succeed and nobody really knew but me, right? And so trying to figure that out and trying to advocate and learn how to advocate for myself was huge in that aspect. But what I’m actually noticing today, and both as a person who served as a recruiter for a while, as a person who’s now running a foundation as a leader and executive coach for 25 years, it is really important to understand what our weaknesses are, what our strengths are, and how we can talk about those and the most effective way in a way that helps. I actually talk about this in my in my current job a lot. My, my full time job in a way that shows corporate or small businesses or organizations that want to hire us, that as a person with a disability, we are the next competitive advantage because there’s so many things that we need to do well based on our disability and the limitations that come with that, or opportunities, depending on how you want to phrase it. But these are things problem solving. That’s something that we want in the corporate world, being able to advocate for oneself and stand up for oneself. That’s something that we want. And it’s not just people with disabilities who don’t do that well. And so figuring out what is that balance, right? I don’t want to be the squeaky wheel. Everybody always says the squeaky wheel gets greased. Well, I don’t want people to be a squeaky wheel. I want them to know how to strategically bring their expertise into a conversation in a way that people say, wow, I need you on my team. Right? That’s very different than the squeaky wheel.
Jeff: Yeah, self-advocacy is quite an art. I mean, there’s a big difference between complaining and advocacy. And once someone understands that and realizes the benefits of being your own advocate can be the difference between succeeding and not succeeding.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Jeff: At first I remember getting complaining and advocacy confused because I thought they were one of the same. But self-advocacy is a skill that like, like you developed at a young age. I’m glad that these participants are getting the opportunity to see how advocacy is a tool, and something they want to become more familiar with.
Jeremy: Right.
Jeff: I want to go back to when you mentioned the weekend, because at first I thought three days. Wow, that’s pretty long. But how the progression happens, how the confidence starts building over those three days is just awesome. And the workbook that’s provided with them, they can refer to that about something that they have a question about, the links that they have in there that they can search. They can develop skills and find out more about their personality through those tests that are linked right there. A great resource for them to have. Plus, they can use that, especially when they have, what is it, five individual coaching sessions that come with this? That’s awesome.
Jeremy: They do, right. By the way, the workbook just regular print is 43 pages, right? So they’re walking away after this weekend. With such a plethora of information, it’s probably even a little overwhelming. I will own that. There’s a lot of stuff in this book, but it doesn’t mean that we have to go through every single thing line by line. There’s other things that they can go through, and what we’re offering now is, okay, you went through the weekend, you’ve got your momentum, you know what you want to do. And now we’re going to get like Chris does one follow up session on financials. What do you need help with on the financial side? Budgeting, figuring out your compensation, that type of thing. I usually then have four sessions. Ideally, it’s a session on them as a person and their personality and strengths and things. It’s a session on materials, a session on interviewing. And then usually there’s like a catch all, what have we not covered yet that you want? Now each of them can use that to their advantage. We may have a student that says, wow, you guys did so good on resumes. I just need a quick hit. Is my resume okay? And I’d rather focus on talking about my interviewing skills more, right? And so it really gives them as a student the ability to tap into that coaching in a way that’s going to work for them.
Jeff: Wow.
Participant: I would like to learn how to find a job.
Participant: Like to get more interview skills in my business, man.
Participant: He loved to be the businessman and to learn some skills or find a job.
Jeff: You know, Jeremy, I’m flashing back to when I went to college. I didn’t have this opportunity to get this much resources about the roadmap up ahead. So if they’re further down the road a little bit, they have questions. They got the workbook, they got this experience, but they can also reach out to Jeremy and find out what more you can do for them.
Jeremy: I love that. That’s so amazing. Yeah, I’m, I mean, I’m on LinkedIn. I’m sure you have all that stuff. It’s, it’s in my bio and They’re welcome to.
Jeff: Oh, yeah. I looked at your bio and I said, Holy cow. You’ve been involved in quite a few things and, you know, self determination, all sorts of stuff. I was really looking forward to having this conversation with you.
Jeremy: Well, it’s been such a great conversation and I did actually send you a revised two pager, so hopefully that’ll be a little bit easier. But I always tell people 25 years ago when I did my master’s, I guess it was 23 years ago when I did my master’s in Organization Development. One of the things that I had to do as part of my thesis was to create this model of who I wanted to be in the world. And as I think about like the weekend that I just took them through, there’s lots of similarities. Like obviously after 23 years, my process has gotten better. Right? But I distinctly remember identifying 23 years ago that my ultimate purpose wasn’t to fix people, but it was to give them the tools, the technology, and the process that they need in order to be able to achieve their dreams, whatever those dreams may be for them. And there’s an irony that every job I’ve had has played into that purpose in some way. Right. When I was a recruiter, the purpose was, I want to get you a better job where you’re working for a great company. When I was in business development person for accessibility, well, I want to help companies be able to get the tools and the process that they need in order to make their stuff accessible for people with disabilities. Now, with what we’re doing with Penny Forward, we’re really creating a more informed and a more educated workforce that has the ability to build their careers for what they want and to go after the advancement that they want. And there’s an irony, by the way, that in my new job as the Executive Director of the Inspiration Foundation, my charge is to raise the employment rate of people with disabilities by 10% in five years. So this is just part of that, getting people the tools and the opportunities that they need to be most successful. That’s still just at the center of everything that I want to do in my life. I’m very privileged to be on this journey, and I’m so glad that I was able to share a little bit of what Penny forward is doing with you, and hopefully it’s been something that’s been helpful to your listeners as well.
Jeff: Yes, yes. There’s so much to be learned. I remember a teacher pulling me aside one time and talking to me about a paper I wrote, and they talked about the word but, and how I was using it. And they said, try switching it to the word and, and be inclusive. And that really changed the way I wrote my papers. I still remember that to this day, you don’t get to pick and choose everything you get to remember, but that stands out. And Jeremy, you’re doing a job here. You’re doing a great job. And, you’re planting the seed in these participants head that they’ll reflect back and they’ll remember this, this experience, they’ll remember these stepping stones that you’re giving them. You’re helping their journey.
Jeremy: I’ll tell you, Jeff, it’s so funny that you brought that up. So that whole change, but to, and, it’s actually based off of something called. And many people don’t know this. It’s called polarity theory. And the concept of polarity theory is that something does not have to be an either or. It can be an. And there’s an irony that one of the things that I find myself doing when I’m talking to people and even like I. I’ve noticed myself doing it even when I talk to my husband Jerry. Right. Instead of saying, well, yeah, you could do that, but blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Which makes it seem like I’m saying you really shouldn’t write. But if instead I say, well, you could do that and you could do this and it makes it not, I have to do one or the other. It makes it, well, I could do both. How would that look? What would that look like? And there’s an irony, my friend, that when we work in corporate or in teams or no matter what we’re doing, if we can look at situations not as a but situation, but an and situation, it changes the way our brain processes our option. And I think that that’s fascinating. And so to your point, one of the most like exciting things for me from this weekend was hearing a student say, well, you know what? I could do that, too. Or I could do it this way, too. And that shows that they’re really looking holistically for a solution that’s going to meet as many needs as possible, and they’re able to start thinking in that concept. And that’s something that in this world we need to be doing more of in general, no matter where people fall in the spectrum of politics or education or even the spectrum in general. Right? That it’s so critical to always be thinking about, I don’t have to do this or this, but I could do both. And what would it look like if I did both? And how could I make that a reality for me? Usually, by the way, it means balancing both and figuring out how to do that, which is a whole different podcast.
Jeff: You know, Jeremy, this Career Climb event was a great opportunity for participants for the students and the parents to grow. And it’s exciting for me to see this happening, because I’ve been to many events at state services for the blind of Minnesota, and they never stopped reinventing themselves. The next one, the next one, and this one was really good. So great job, Jeremy.
Jeremy: Well, I couldn’t agree more. And it’s been really exciting to be working with them as well. So I’m just excited to see where the students go from here. They’ve had a great weekend and we built that momentum and now they gotta actually do something with it. And by the way, that’s why we give the coaching because it gives you the ability to make sure they’re doing something with it.
Jeff: Like I said, you did a great job and I’m glad you realized that you have this ability to do what you do and you’re doing it. So thank you so much for the Career Climb, event and experience.
Jeremy: Well, that’s very kind of you and I really appreciate it.
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Jeff: Be sure to check out and subscribe to the spectacle newsletter and learn about all the upcoming events and opportunities. And be sure to check out the numerous podcasts on the news for teens page, and you’ll find the links right in the show notes.
{Music}
Jeff: To find out more about all the programs at State Services for the Blind, contact Shane.DeSantis@State.Mn.us
That’s Shane dot d-e-s-a-n-t-i-s at state.mn .us.
Be sure to contact your State Services for the Blind, your Voc Rehab and find out what they can do for you.
Live, work, read, succeed.
[Music] [Transition noise] –
When we share-
What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.