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I'm a sales manager for a television station. I manage a staff
of four people
the day-to-day operations of the sales organization at the TV station
I volunteer in my community and I do speak publicly about overcoming challenges
I've always wanted to be involved in media and television
it took me a good four years to find a job
it was discouraging at times sure... you know you want to be seen as the person that
you are in total that's just the this shell that you are on the outside
I knew in time the opportunities would come
the twenty or twenty five interviews that was over four years
that's hundreds of resumes
if I really want to give up I would have given up after the first ten or
twenty
that's not the person I am. I want to continue to grow no matter what I do
I interviewed with a (TV) station in Syracuse, (NY)
I hit it off with the local sales manager he was interested in how I sold not
who I was or what I looked like
{Bob} It was difficult
to get him hired
uh... upper management was not
totally thrilled with someone with his physical abilities. They were afraid that
you know he would demand that we put in special handicapped equipment around the
building that it was going to cost money... that he would might be a problem
he had a meeting with my boss and a typical
old-fashioned question
sales managers used to ask... they'd pick up something from the desk like a
coffee cup or staplers say sell me this coffee cup
and most people would hold up the coffee cup and say well it's blue it's gotta
handle
and John
did something that I'd never seen anyone do before... he did a customer needs
analysis. In other words, instead of just talking about the coffee cup he
questioned
the sales manager said what do you drink? Do you drink lot of coffee do you drink tea?
how much do you drink a day? Another words, he found out information
about how that
customer... potential customer would use the coffee cup
and that's one of the things that's very important in sales is you don't go
in and say here's our product. You go in and say
what do you need. I think he blew him away
at that point.
{Mike} He earns everything he gets it
in our business you know it's you're not being paid by the hour and they're
just throwing somebody a bone (handout)
you know just because he's a nice guy. In our business you make a living
by being paid on commission so you have to get the job done yourself.
there are not a lot of other people around to help you do that.
{John} If somebody hires me I want to make sure I do a good job
If I don't do a good job, I don't deserve the job
that's one of the nice things about being in sales that there's less of
do I deserve the job
am I employed because I'm disabled
"Andy -- John Robinson. Hi..."
"we are coming over today at 3pm?"
"Is that alright with you? I'll be there"
"see you then -- buy."
I am employed because I do what I do
and that's raise revenue for whom I'm working for
I've seen people fail in sales because they take rejection personally
but that just means you have not
looked for the right solutions to what the problems are...
being a person with disabilities my whole life
I realize that you have to have overcome whatever objection
you're dealt with...yourself first then others around you
it really comes down to
problem solving, introducing yourself the new
prospects, being able to have a good conversation, show the features and
benefits of whatever it is that we are talking about
then if it is a win-win for everybody then it should be a success
{greetings}
{Andy} I remember when John first came in
and he first introduced himself
I guess he made an impression on me for - you know - a few different reasons. He just
came across as just an average everyday guy. Most cases he comes in
and we talk about what we're going to do in the next quarter. It's pretty laid back.
I've gone out with him for lunch to dinner to drinks and he just moves along
just like anybody else. He gets it done. John is definitely a glass is half
full guy which i can say more people than not...they're not
that way and they have everything going for them
it's pretty inspirational I'd say
{Libby} John
is so comfortable with himself
that he doesn't see himself as being disabled
that he puts everybody else at ease you know the ability for him to walk into
a room
extend in his arms shake somebody's hand just totally normalize the situation and
takes all that
stuff
that people have around people with disabilities away
{Jivi} It's remarkably to me you know
somebody with no arms no legs
and uh, in a sport
that requires you to
you know - to make turns and you know you're holding a golf club
and how does somebody do that without any arms - you think about that
and actually to even strike the ball
and hit it
and John does it and every single time he does...
to this day
I sit there and say that -
that is unbelievable, unbelievable.
{John} I'm not going to win any golf tournaments!
but uh...
I really like to play and get out there
in my mind
I'm just a golfer with
the same issues that everybody else has you know
my putting stinks, my short-game stinks, I wish my drives were longer and
straighter. It's all the same as everybody else. 0:06:40.559,0:06:45.800 will challenge myself to make sure I go camping a few times a year
we do hike together
she has convinced me to do some mountains in the Adirondacks with the family.
Which have been great moments. Mount Jo is a seven hundred vertical climb. it's twenty
eight hundred feet above sea level
but to me it's the biggest mountain I'll ever do
and uh... I may not do it with a smile on my face necessarily
I may have a lot of dirt on me at the end of it
it is something that I'm proud that I do with them. Andrea can hike up and down
Mount Jo in
forty-five minutes -- up and down.
it takes me a good three and a half hours round trip to be able to do it. It's
probably
an hour and fifteen up
and then
two-plus hours to come down because it's much harder to fall down rocks than climb up rocks
"That hurt" - I'm not one that's necessarily to rest
like that If I'm going to go like that
the way my body works it's better if I
go at a steady pace
when I can lift my leg up like a would with a stair, I'll do that. More times
than not I'm really just trying to lift myself up like I would with a chair with
my arms
you know in a lot of cases in my life i have built strength in my back, neck and
arms because I'm using them like most people would use their legs
climbing is much the same way, it's dirtier, it's harder it's on a rock -- it hurts
I'm scraping myself but
I'm pulling myself up onto the next ledge
or into the next crevice
and if I can walk up that's great, if i can step up fine. More times than not
I'm flopping on my belly and trying to pull myself up
it is an uphill crawl. The first time I did it my shirt was mud -- caked mud!
I'm not going to do it every day, and I am certainly sore for a day or two after
but
i'm proud that i've done it. I'm gald that my kids get to see it
maybe my kids don't realize it now but
you know what -- Dad got out and hiked with us
with short legs
short arms
forty years old, climbing over boulders and falling down
getting completely muddy
doing it because it was good for my kids is good for me
and it was great for Andrea and I
{Ariel} - We are at the top!
you can get bogged down in your little world
but the greater importance is realize that
you have to be happy with what you have
I'm blessed with a good family, good career
that's what's important
Do I wish I was
different at times? Sure
But, not today, not right this moment
is it going to take me twice as long to get down this hill? Yea
do I wish it wasn't? Yes, but it is and I can suck it up and do it!
{Dennis Holland - Teacher} I just think that everybody could learn something
by seeing the fact that somebody who has an obvious reason
to be different
doesn't choose to be different
that you can succeed anyway
{Dad} He immeasurably enriched our lives
and I think he's a better person for what he's been through
it's not like it's not over for him
and he said once I have to get up every day and face the world and I have to
have the have this stubbornness and determination
or I wouldn't do it. He's absolutely right.
It's like
the cross in Christianity's the central thing
because
it's good the mystery of suffering leading to joy
{Uncle} -- I think about my own grandchildren
this is what I want. I want them to be like John
I want them to be happy, to be successful and to have
their own families
and you know to enjoy life
I think John does.
{Grandmother} I keep what I call hodgepodge notebooks
and anything that interests me I keep
and uh...
I pasted that in my notebook. I came across it the other day
It's something he wrote to me
and he said
we find our way
and John has found his way
whether it's the challenge of this
or the challenge of the mountain or the challenge of parenting or the challenge of a career
that's been what I'm about. I work hard
to be the person I am today -- and tomorrow!