Shannon: You can do anything that a sighted person can and be successful at it in the work environment. You may have to do it a little different, but you can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t be scared to try. And if you’re looking for a job, call me, I’m always looking for new candidates.

Welcome to the Heard & Empowered podcast presented by National Industries for the Blind. You’re not just a listener here, you’re a catalyst for change. Whether you’re blind, visually impaired or an ally, this is your ultimate resource for building a fulfilling career and an enriching life. We’re on a mission to shift perceptions, open hearts and minds and unlock unparalleled job opportunities for the BVI community. Ready to be heard and empowered? Let’s welcome our host, Dr. Hoby Wedler.

Hoby: Hello and welcome back to the Heard & Empowered podcast. I am so excited to have you all here today. I just want to thank our listener base and all of you subscribers. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for continuing the amazing reviews and commenting on our episodes and just being there with us as we do our thing.

And as we like to say, if you have friends who you think could benefit from this show, please encourage them to subscribe. Once they subscribe we spread the love, we spread the message of what blind people can do and what opportunities are out there in the world because it is so important to get excited about and really think about what the possibilities are there for folks who are blind and visually impaired.

Now, folks, this week you are in for a treat because I’ve got my good friend, Shannon Satterfield on the line. Shannon, how are you, man? Welcome to Heard & Empowered.

Shannon: Good morning, everyone. Happy to be here.

Hoby: Well, we’re happy to have you. So, Shannon, tell us just before we get started, you work for one of NIB’s amazing, they’re all amazing, but you work for one of NIB’s amazing nonprofit agencies. What’s your agency?

Shannon: IFB Solutions. We’re based out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Hoby: Fantastic. And what is your current position there?

Shannon: I’m the director of professional services at IFB Solutions, I’ve been there almost eight years now. It’s hard to believe, time goes by so fast.

Hoby: That’s incredible. And we’ll talk about what that means, what your job title means in a minute. We’ll break it down.

But before we do that, I like to get to know the person behind the mission. I want to know who Shannon is. So if you don’t mind just taking a second here and telling me about your background, maybe your childhood and growing up and about your story with vision loss, were you born blind? Did you lose your vision over time? But just tell me about Shannon. Tell all of us about Shannon.

Shannon: I was born with a condition called achromatopsia, which is a cone deficiency in your optic nerve. I’m low vision, I’ve never known any different. I was very fortunate, I had a mom that was a huge advocate for me so I was brought up in a sighted world. And just to be honest with you, I ran from the low vision, you know, from that world for a long time. Tried to live in the sighted world, tried to work in the sighted world till it got to the point I couldn’t anymore.

And ever since I have found my way to IFB and found a home, I have realized how huge the opportunity is to help blind or visually impaired people. And I’m so passionate about that. To have the opportunity to create jobs for people like myself, it’s just such a big reward. I see people every day and interview people every day that have, you know, it’s been years since they’ve had a job or if they’ve ever had a job.

My last work experience in the sighted world, I was in the car business for a long time, even though I couldn’t drive. And I got laid off in ’08 and decided to go back to school with, in the back of my mind thinking, “If I go back to school and I get an MBA, I’m not going to struggle finding a job.” And I live in a small rural town in North Carolina called Asheboro. It’s the home of the big zoo, that’s our claim to fame. And I struggled. I mean, I’m just like every other blind or visually impaired person. Because I don’t drive, they look at you like, “Well, how are you going to get back and forth to work?” And you go in on interviews, and I’m upfront and honest with people, I am low vision. And you could just see the reaction on their face that they weren’t going to hire you, even entry-level positions.

And even with my degree, I still couldn’t find a job. It took me about two and a half years to find IFB. And it’s just been such a blessing to go into work every day and be supported and not be a negative that you can’t see good, and that you have a visual impairment. And to have the opportunity to help others like yourself. I’m such an advocate for that and get so excited. You know, I do a lot of our own business development on the workforce services side. We’re trying to find new contracts, and every opportunity that you get the chance to be in front of somebody to teach them about, you know, a blind or visually impaired person can do as much or more than a sighted person. And people just don’t realize that.

Hoby: No, it’s true. It’s true. It’s just incredible what our possibilities are and what we can do and how we can embrace the world. And really because we have to work a little bit harder living in a sighted world as blind folks, the ways that we come at the world, the ways that we embrace great opportunities that we might have is just amazing.

So tell me a little bit about – One of the things that I find with everyone I talk to who’s done so well in this world, they had great, usually, not always, but usually they’ve had great parents who never lowered expectations. I’ll say for a fact, I was born totally blind and my parents never lowered the bar, ever. I was always expected to do maybe different chores, but ever since I was as young as I can remember I was expected to work for my keep, just like my sighted brother who’s two years older. And it’s so important to keep those expectations high because then if we’re treated like we belong and like we need to do well, we don’t know any different, right?

So you’ve mentioned that your mom was a great advocate and tell me a little bit about her and your parents. It sounds like they never lowered the bar either.

Shannon: And I was very fortunate, my mom was, like I said, was such a huge advocate. My dad always struggled with the fact that I couldn’t see good. So that relationship was strained a little because of that. Some people always have trouble accepting what they don’t understand. But my mom, you know, I always went to – Like I said I lived in a sighted world. I went to normal school. I went to a private Christian school through the eighth grade and then went to a normal public high school.

Yes, there were challenges. Years ago you didn’t have orientation and mobility specialists, you didn’t have instructors for the blind or visually impaired community. So you were just lumped in with all the other students. And I would have to sit at the front of the room and still really couldn’t see the board. Didn’t have large print materials for tests and stuff. But I mean, you did the best you could.

When I first went to college in the early 90s, I was supposed to be a music major. I figured out very quickly, you either need to be in that 1% and play professionally, or you’re going to have to teach. And I didn’t want to teach. And back then, I hate to say it, but the college systems weren’t as supportive for the blind or visually impaired community with accommodations as they are now. So I decided, “I’m going to go into the car business.”

I had some friends of mine that I grew up in church with, it had been my youth director that owned the dealership, and spent about 12 or 13 years doing that.

Hoby: And were in the sales department?

Shannon: Well, I started out in sales. I ended up being a parts manager. My last position, I was the internet manager at our local Ford dealership. And that was back when that was kind of in its infancy stages. And in ’07, ’08, the economy had a downturn and I got laid off. And with the support of my wife, and I have a great wife and I have four boys who are super supportive. We had the discussion, if you can ever afford to go back to school with four kids at home, we made it through it somehow, got my master’s. And still, even with my master’s, it took me a while to find a job.

Thank goodness for IFB. I tell my boss every day, I hope I can stay there till I retire.

Hoby: I just love that. I just love that. Now, your career in the car business, has that always been with Ford?

Shannon: No, it started out with Chevrolet. I was with Chevrolet for several years. I was with Honda in different roles, you know, different management roles. But you had to have a friend in the business that could get you in the door because they don’t typically hire somebody that’s blind or visually impaired to work in the car business.

And it was difficult at times to find a job, there would be years between. But when I got laid off the last time, I’m like, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to face these struggles to find a job anymore.” And that’s why I went back to school thinking I wouldn’t face those struggles anymore. But you know what? Guess what? You did.

Hoby: It’s so interesting, I have a graduate degree as well and one of the things I found as a blind guy is that folks didn’t believe what I could do. And in order to solve that problem, I actually took a slightly different route and went off and started my own business because that was easier than trying to convince folks that they should hire me. I could work on a contract basis and do my own thing and that’s what I still do, I’m an entrepreneur. I love it.

I can’t say that it wouldn’t be different if I was sighted, I don’t know. And I, by the way, consider my blindness a gift every day because there’s so many things that I wouldn’t do, so many opportunities that I would not have seen had I not been born blind. And I’m so internally and innately grateful for that.

But that’s what I love about NIB and the nonprofit agencies like IFB Solutions, is that if you’ve listened to some of these shows, you mentioned you listened to my good friend, Ray Villarreal’s episode last night. Ray and I had a great conversation a few weeks back. And one of the things that we say in our intro is that blindness is not only accepted, but it’s celebrated, or something to the tune of that, basically implying that at agencies we are who we are and we’re championed for who we are.

And you’ve hinted at this so many times here as you’ve just given your intro, which is just basically, you’re so grateful to have an agency to go to work. And you are able to basically demonstrate your biggest gifts, intelligent, you know, in terms of your intelligence and your management ability and everything you can do. And I just think it’s awesome, man. I think it’s fantastic.

Shannon: Yeah, and every opportunity I get to, you know, we change lives. I mean, we really do. When we get the opportunity to place somebody on a new contract, it gives them the ability to have independence, to change their life. And to me, that’s the biggest reward in the world, is to be able to help somebody like myself.

I run my team like a family and I tell them all the time, I say, “You guys are my extended family because I know the challenges you face. I live them every day and I’m here for you, whatever you need.” And I found out a long time ago, if you treat your team like a family and you run it like an extended family, if you need something out of them, they feel like they can count on you, you’re more apt to get something out of them if you need it.

Hoby: If you treat people like they deserve to be treated, indeed including like a family, people are more willing to help you out. And that’s what I always say in my life as a blind person studying science and just living life and doing whatever I do, you’ve got to make yourself the person, not make yourself the person, but you just have to be the person that people want to hang out with, that people want to help out. Because when it’s fun to work with us and help us do whatever we’re trying to do, people step up and deliver. It’s as simple as that. So I think that’s so powerful.

How did you end up finding – I want to hear the story of how you ended up finding IFB Solutions.

Shannon: IFB Solutions has had the Workforce Services Division for several years, even before I came along. And I had talked to the lady that was the manager over it at that time about some positions, call center positions. And nothing just seemed to ever fall in place. And she called me one day, she’s like, we’ve got a supervisor position open for our Workforce Services Department. And it just worked out great.

I did that for about three and a half years. Then I moved up to manager over the Workforce Services Division. And last year I was able to move up to the Director of Professional Services. And it’s a great feeling to go into work and to be able to help people.

Hoby: Yeah, so incredibly important. And this is an environment where upward mobility is so incredibly encouraged. Like if you’re good at what you do, they want to see you move up, frankly, to CEO level at some point. It’s just their thing. So I think it’s absolutely awesome.

And look at your trajectory, and I’ve talked to several others with similar trajectories where you start somewhere, just learn more about the organization and show your skills and deliver and you climb the ladder step by step by step.

Shannon: Yeah. And it’s all about tenacity and not giving up. A lot of people can just sit down and give up, and I’m not that type of person. And like I say, it’s just so rewarding to help others. And I never thought I would be in this role. My mom always said that she felt like God had something in store for me. She said, “I don’t think it’s in the pulpit, but I think it’s helping people.”

Hoby: What a beautiful thing to say. What a compliment.

Shannon: And you know, with my job today, I get to do that. I get to help people every day.

Hoby: I love it. So with that said, tell us a little bit about your job. So you work now as Director of Professional Services. You say you get to help people every day, which I 1,000% believe. Tell me a little bit about what you do. What does your job entail?

Shannon: In that position I’m over three divisions. I’m over our low vision department where we do low vision exams, we sell low vision aids. I’m over our programs department where we do after school programs for kids. We do summer camps for kids. We do blindsides out in the community. And then I’m over –

Hoby: What are blindsides?

Shannon: Blindsides is where you go into a school where they have a blind or visually impaired kid and you make the focus on them. And you kind of show their classmates what it’s like to live life as a blind or visually impaired person to give them a little more insight into what these people are, you know, how they live their everyday lives.

Hoby: And how rewarding is that? How rewarding is doing summer camps for blind or visually impaired kids? I just love that.

Shannon: We did a Braille challenge a few weeks back and it was just amazing to watch these kids how talented they were with Braille. I mean, we had about 15 kids and it was just a great experience just to watch and see how smart these kids are and how talented they are.

Hoby: Right. And how much they just flourish, right?

Shannon: And in the Workforce Services Division side, like I say, we’re basically a staffing agency for the blind or visually impaired. And we’re always looking for new contracts to place people on and create new employment opportunities for people.

Hoby: And you mentioned something before we started on this show, just in our little conversation chit chat beforehand. You mentioned a big number of states that you guys serve. How many states does IFB Solutions have folks in?

Shannon: We have people in about 17 states at the moment.

Hoby: 17 states. So you’re almost half of the United States, y’all employ blind folks.

Shannon: We have a lot of people in the state of Texas, but we’re spread out all over the country.

Hoby: And are you guys, tell us a little bit about what IFB Solutions does. So you guys, obviously, your division is not only hiring folks for actual work, but helping folks get the training they need to do the work that they do, right?

Shannon: Yes, we have an excellent accessibility department. And when we’re looking at a new contract, we go in, we make sure everything is accessible for our people before we even start placing people. And then we’re in training with them as they’re getting ready to start with the company and making sure they have exactly what they need.

And as you know, anytime there’s a computer update, it can mess with your software, especially JAWS. And we go in, our accessibility person is awesome, and he goes in and he fixes that. And we’ve created some good partnerships through the years.

Hoby: And then from a work perspective, from an employment perspective, what are the types of jobs y’all offer?

Shannon: It’s predominantly call center work but it’s also, these days it’s all remote work. All of our agents at the moment work remotely at home, which eliminates that barrier of transportation. And we all know that one of the biggest barriers for a blind or visually impaired person is transportation.

Hoby: That’s so true. Not being able to necessarily drive ourselves yet, that’s the operative word there. Transportation is a tough thing. So I love that, Shannon. And being able to offer folks in other states remote jobs is just incredible. Just truly awesome.

And so you mentioned that you guys have employees in 18 states. How many folks do you serve overall? Like how many employees do y’all have?

Shannon: At the moment we’re right around 50 employees, but that’s growing very quickly. We partnered with a very large call center company. Honestly, it took me about two and a half years to put that contract together, but we partnered with them. We started our first class a year ago in October, and we typically do one a quarter with them starting 10 to 15 people. We’ve got another class starting in May. And I’m working on another big contract that we’re hoping to place 30 people on starting in September or October.

And we have a huge expansion plan for Workforce Services at IFB. The goal is to expand Workforce Services to 300 employees over the next three years.

Hoby: Wow, that’s incredible. That’s a big goal, but I know if Shannon is overseeing it, it’s going to be possible. That’s the way I look at that.

Shannon: It is a huge goal. And to me, it’s a win if I just get to place one person.

Hoby: Exactly.

Shannon: I interview people every day that have, you know, some of these people haven’t worked in years. Some of these people have a high level education and still can’t find jobs. I have people that are in their thirties or forties that have never had a job, they’ve only done work experiences through their VR counselors and nobody’s willing to give them a chance.

And that’s what it’s all about is I get the opportunity to help change their lives. And to me, I’m very passionate about it, as you can tell.

Hoby: Which I love.

Shannon: Yeah. I like to say I work for the best company in the world. I love what I do.

Hoby: This is amazing. This is absolutely incredible. So you love what you do and you get to change lives every day. And, boy, that makes us feel good. And when we can take someone who has been having such a hard time finding employment, give them a job that allows them to buy their own house, support their kids, support their families. Man, how good does that feel?

Shannon: Well, and you know, a blind or visually impaired person just wants a chance. I mean, they want a chance to show what they can do. And most of the time they will get in there and they will work harder than a sighted person to try to prove that they can do that. They just need that opportunity. And that’s what we’re there for, to try to create those opportunities.

Hoby: It’s true. And boy, watch out world if you give us a chance.

Shannon: Amen to that. You’re 100% correct.

Hoby: Because we’re going to get out there and we’re going to get it done as well as we can.

So I mentioned the topic of today’s show is, of course, your story, which we’ve chatted a little bit about, but it’s also advocacy. And when I asked NIB, who’s the biggest advocate of the work that I ought to talk to? Who’s someone who’s just been there and knows it and does it so well? Everybody said, you got to talk to Shannon Satterfield. So tell me a little bit about –  I’ve chatted with Rick Webster, who runs advocacy for NIB and a little bit with Vivian Fridas as well, who works right alongside Rick. But I want to hear about the advocacy experience, the journey from the perspective of an advocate who goes to the hill, who has these conversations.

How did you get into this work in the first place with IFB Solutions?

Shannon: Two years ago they asked me to join the advocacy program at NIB, and Rick Webster and Vivian are just awesome. I’ll just say that. I think the world of Rick. And yeah, they asked me to join the advocacy program. I love the opportunity. It was just an honor to have that opportunity to go through that program. And it’s an honor every year to be able to go on the Hill with our CEO, Danny Kelly, and speak to powers that be on the Hill that are making decisions because they have the power to make change and help us create opportunities. And that’s such a need out there.

That 70% unemployment rate for the blind or visually impaired community in 2024 is just, that’s not acceptable.

Hoby: No, it’s not.

Shannon: And we need to, you know, it takes an effort from them as well as us to be able to move that needle. And my thing is, if I can move that needle just a little with the people I employ, you know, if we can get to 300 people or every new contract I get, that’s an opportunity to move that needle just a little.

Hoby: But just a little bit is so far as well.

Shannon: It is, it is. And to me, it’s such a need out there and such an important thing. I love going on Capitol Hill. I love going up there and speaking, going with Danny and speaking to people. As you can tell, I’m not shy at all. I don’t mind speaking.

Hoby: I love it. Neither am I.

Shannon: Yeah, I do not mind speaking in front of people. That’s probably my music background and my performing background and being an only child probably didn’t hurt either.

Hoby: Didn’t hurt either, right?

Shannon: I say all the time that I didn’t get that shy gene. So I don’t mind talking to people. I don’t mind being in front of people.

Hoby: Amen to that. And so you walked me through this a little bit. So you went through the training program over the past couple of years, and now you are officially an advocate for NIB and also for IFB Solutions. So tell me about the feeling that you get when you go to the Hill every year and just being there, being able to talk to the people, the men and women who you know are able to make a big difference for our country.

Shannon: When you go on the Hill for that week, it’s just you can feel the excitement in the air. I mean, it’s almost like your hair stands up on your skin. It’s just a sense of excitement. And when you get in to speak to your senators or your congressmen and you get to tell them about the issues that we’re discussing, a lot of times we talk about the 70% unemployment ratio. We talk about informed choice, giving people the opportunity to decide if they want to work for an agency like ourselves.

It’s just a wonderful thing because they have the opportunity to make changes with laws and different things. And that’s so much needed.

Hoby: It’s so important. And when you go as an advocate for IFB Solutions, do you tend to meet with senators and folks from the House of Representatives that represent North Carolina or are you meeting with all of them?

Shannon: Yes, typically North Carolina.

Hoby: Incredible. Incredible. And do y’all ever invite folks back to IFB Solutions?

Shannon: Oh yes.

Hoby: During a recess?

Hoby: Yes, we love to do tours of IFB.

Hoby: That’s incredible.

Shannon: And man, when you walk through the doors of IFB and you walk out there on the floor and you see what these people are doing, you know they’re making combat uniforms, they’re making all kinds of stuff for the military. Sewing, doing all kinds of stuff. And it’s just amazing to walk through and see what they do that a sighted person would struggle doing.

Hoby: Right. So you guys also, and this wasn’t mentioned before, you do a lot of manufacturing work.

Shannon: Yes, we do. We do.

Hoby: Are all the manufacturing employees included in the number that you said, the 50?

Shannon: No, the 50 is just Workforce Services. No.

Hoby: Oh, okay. Okay. So how many employees total does IFB solutions have?

Shannon: We have somewhere around 300 plus blind or visually impaired employees at the moment.

Hoby: So once Workforce Solutions brings it up to 300, you’re going to be over 600 overall as an organization.

Shannon: That’s the plan.

Hoby: Wow. So you all do manufacturing for the military and for the US government as well?

Shannon: Yes, and we do base supply centers. You know, we have base supply centers on military bases. We do a lot of that. So we have a lot of different product lines and Workforce Services is one of the ones that is really expanding at the moment.

Hoby: Wow. Wow. I just, I love it. So when you bring folks in from, you know, anyone, anyone, but particularly House of Representative folks and senators and they see this, they’re proud of the work they’re doing on the Hill, right?

Shannon: Yes, they are.

Hoby: Tell me a story about tours that you’ve given or been on with folks from Congress.

Shannon: I’ve actually not been on any of our tours with senators and congressmen. Like I say, I work remotely from home. So I’m in the office about four, five days a month. The rest of the time I work remote from home. So I’m not involved with a lot of the tours. I am some, but I haven’t been involved with many of the senators or congressmen.

Hoby: But you try to bring people in every recess?

Shannon: We do, yes.

Hoby: Yeah, that’s incredible. You guys do so much national advocacy work and work on the Hill and this sort of thing. Do y’all do some state and local work as well, trying to get the community and the state legislature as well to rally around you and do great work?

Shannon: Yes. One thing I’m very excited about, we have our first, we’ve had it a year now, a little over a year now, we have our first state use contract with the department of health and human services with our vital statistics department doing call center work for them. We have 10 people on that contract. Like I say, it’s our first state use contract. The State Use Law was put in effect a little over two years ago. We’re super excited about that. We’re looking at some other agencies to try to get in with them. Working with the state is great, there’s a lot of opportunity there.

Hoby: Absolutely. No, that’s incredible. And any laws that you guys sometimes advocate for with the state? Like saying, hey, as blind folks we really need X. Maybe a little bit of that?

Shannon: Yeah. I mean, and since they passed the State Use Law, you know, trying to get employment, trying to get preferential, you know, to get to where they need to work with us.

Hoby: Perfect. No, I love that. This is so exciting. I mean, there’s so much good stuff here and you guys are doing so much good work every day at IFB Solutions and you’re just such a big part of it. You know what I love hearing from you, Shannon, is your passion for the work that you do and the way that you like to see it through to the next level. I can just hear it in your voice.

Shannon: Well, and you know, doing business development, because for Workforce Services, I do my own business development, or a lot of it, as well as looking after the employees and the contracts. And I’m the type of person that if I can get a contact, I’m not going to let it go till they just pretty much tell me, “Hey, we’re going to get a restraining order if you don’t quit calling us.” Because it’s so important and if you don’t stay in front of people, they’re going to forget you.

Like I say this one large, very large call center company we partnered with – And I can say their name, it’s Maximus.

Hoby: That’s amazing.

Shannon: They put out some press releases about working with us in the State of Texas. They’re super excited about it. They have a TV spot about working with us. They put out a lot of internal press releases. And they had never worked for the blind or visually impaired organization before. And to have the ability to, you know, to partner with them, it’s just a huge call center environment, there’s endless opportunities there to place people.

Hoby: Incredible. And you said that you actually built that contract.

Shannon: I did. It took me a little over two years to get that contract together.

Hoby: Man, what is life if we’re not persistent, right?

Shannon: That’s exactly right, you’ve got to be persistent.

Hoby: And by getting that contract, look how many jobs you created and look at the potential for the future.

Shannon: That’s exactly right. And I’m working on another one now. We’re hoping to start placing people in September, October. That’s going to be somewhere around 30 people, and that’s a huge deal too. Just to have the opportunity to employ 30 people is huge. I mean, you just don’t get those opportunities every day. And this is another company that’s never worked with a blind or visually impaired organization before. And it’s breaking barriers down and it’s all about talking to the right person, finding the right person to talk to and being passionate about it and just not giving up.

Hoby: Amen. Amen to that. Boy, Shannon, I love it. And the other thing that I think is so important that you said is without being forceful and saying, “Look at what we can do, we’re able to teach so many people just by doing.”

Shannon: Amen. Like we talked about a while ago, a blind or visually impaired in person is going to, most of the time, work harder to prove what they can do when they do get a job. And they’re going to work hard to try to hold on to that job because they don’t know when they’re going to be able to find another one. And we all face that. I mean that’s always in the back of everybody’s mind that’s blind or visually impaired. If I lost my job, what would I do?

Hoby: Amen. And it makes us work that much harder and it makes us work that much more efficiently and diligently because we cherish the jobs that we have. And when I look at some folks out there that just, “Oh, I got a job. I can’t stand it.” I’m like, dude, just be lucky you have a job.

Shannon: That’s exactly right. And when you can get up every day and be so glad to go to work, and I have such a supportive team behind me at IFB from Danny Kelly, our CEO, is just phenomenal to work with. Ken Edwards has been my boss for about five years, who’s our chief revenue officer. Just to have their support and know if you need something, they’re always there, it means something. I mean, you don’t get that everywhere. You don’t get that everywhere if you’re a sighted person, let alone if you’re a blind or visually impaired person.

Hoby: You don’t get that everywhere, period. And there’s a difference between, and we can feel it, right? It’s palpable between genuine support and sort of fake support, right? And what I love about all the agencies that we work with is that the support is genuine and the care is genuine and they want us to not survive, but thrive.

Shannon: Yeah, and working with the other agencies, we created some partnerships with some of the other agencies that have call centers and we help them staff their call centers. And most of them are great to work with. And in business, it’s all about creating relationships. Without creating a good relationship, you’re probably not going to be successful working with them.

Hoby: Amen. So true. So incredibly important. Create those successful relationships, make them powerful and make everything just thrive.

So Shannon, our time, unfortunately, is running short and I’m so excited to meet you in person up on the Hill, we’re going to have a great time. But I’ve got a couple of questions for you. What would you tell someone who is either a friend or family member of a blind or visually impaired person or someone who’s blind themselves and is looking at making that transition from either the sighted world or the blind world or from not working to stepping out there and working, but they’re nervous about it. What would you tell them?

Shannon: To take a chance. As a blind or visually impaired person, you can do anything that a sighted person can and be successful at it in the work environment. You may have to do it a little different, but you can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t be scared to try. And if you’re looking for a job, call me. I’m always looking for new candidates.

Hoby: Call Shannon and take a chance. I love it.

Shannon: That’s exactly right.

Hoby: I love it. Or in a different order, take a chance and call Shannon. You led me right into my last question for you, which is how can people get ahold of you?

Shannon: They can reach me through my email address, which is sSatterfield@ifbsolutions.org, or they can reach me through my personal and work cell phone, which is 336-618-0115. They can log on to our ifbsolutions.org website and see what careers we have available and learn more about us as a company. I love talking to people. People call me all the time.

I’m not part of our talent acquisition department, but I still do a lot of interviews and a lot of people get my name through our website or through word of mouth and call me. And I still love talking to people. I did an interview the other night and I was on the phone with the guy for 45 minutes and we talked about all kinds of stuff. And at the end of the day, hopefully I can find him a job. And to me, every job I find for somebody is a win. You know, it’s somebody giving them their independence. It’s a win, one win at a time and we can make a difference.

Hoby: I love it. I love your attitude. I love your positivity. This is exactly what we need in this world. Shannon, the reason I asked that question about how people can get ahold of you is because you have been so inspiring to me. People are going to listen and they’re going to be inspired. And I’ll tell you, you’re probably going to get a few phone calls.

Shannon: Hey, I’m always looking for new people to talk to. I’m always looking for new companies to talk to. Who knows, from this maybe a company will hear it and say, hey, I didn’t know they did that kind of work. Maybe we need to reach out to them and talk to them and see if they can help us.

So either way, that’s a win. Whether it’s a client that calls us that needs a job or it’s a company that needs some employees, it’s a win.

Hoby: It’s a win. It’s a win because it does the thing that we want to do, the end goal, which is finding more jobs for more amazing talent.

Shannon: Exactly.

Hoby: Shannon, thank you for your time today, my friend, you’re awesome. I can’t wait to talk to you again very soon.

Shannon: I look forward to seeing you on Capitol Hill and hopefully get to spend a little time with you.

Hoby: I can’t wait. And I love talking to people too, as you can tell, so I’ve made a new friend today and I hope you feel the same way and we’re going to keep this –

Shannon: I do.

Hoby: We’re going to keep this going.

Shannon: Yes. Amen.

Hoby: Amen. Have a good day.

Shannon: You too.

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