A job at a thrift store

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Brian Begin

Welcome to the Job Matchmakers podcast, where we share stories from employment consultants about supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to find employment in their communities. One person, one job at a time.

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Sherry Healey

This podcast is produced by the Minnesota Transformation Initiative, a technical assistance center focused on expanding capacity for competitive, integrated employment across Minnesota. We are your hosts, Sherry Healey and Brian Begin, and we work at the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. Thanks for joining us.

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Sherry Healey

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Sherry Healey

Welcome to another episode of the Job Matchmakers podcast. In this episode, we're talking with Danny Brady, an employment specialist with reach for resources.

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Brian Begin

Danny is the second guest we have had on the show from reach for resources. Reach is a provider here in the Twin Cities that offers employment services and other supports for people with disabilities.

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Sherry Healey

Welcome, Danny. Thank you for joining us today. Can you tell us how you got into this work?

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Danny Brady

Sure. I got into this work because of my older brother, who, is blind and has cognitive disabilities. During my time out of college, I was looking for something that wasn't tied to a desk. And being able to be my brother's PCA, which is how I started off in this work. B gave me that opportunity to look for other jobs in this field.

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Danny Brady

And during that time, my brother got a job at Pizza Hut, and he was in desperate need of a job coach. And reach for resources reached out to me and said, hey, we'd love to have you. So that's why I'm here today.

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Brian Begin

So the story you're sharing today is about a person who was fresh out of transition school when you started working with them. Can you tell us about the job seeker and how you helped them identify jobs that might be a good fit?

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Danny Brady

Sure. I work with up to 14 individuals, all requiring the same needs, all requiring the same services. The same amount of time and the same amount of brainpower. And being able to, being able to work through all of that. It's almost like having 14 different people in your brain all at once. Right. And, and working with individuals is incredibly gratifying because you get to learn who they are as a person, but also their their interests, their likes, their dislikes, all of that kind of stuff.

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Danny Brady

And being able to take all of that information. I mean, it's the easiest way to translate into a possible integrated employment opportunity for someone is just getting to know them. Getting to know what makes them tick and what makes them, want to wake up each day. You know, and being able to take that, translating that into a possible job.

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Brian Begin

Yeah, definitely important components of this work. As you say, is, is getting to know the person and developing that relationship. And so what are some of the techniques that you use to build that relationship with the individual? I mean, first and foremost, gaining their trust and the trust of, any team members, you know, parent guardian that may be involved as well.

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Danny Brady

Sure. I think the number one aspect to that is being competent, right, is having the ability to do what you're what you say is having the ability to work with individuals that you understand. This case might be tricky, but you're not going to give up, right? And, and being able to have that confidence of knowing what you're doing and having the proper training helps out immensely.

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Danny Brady

I think with the individuals that I work with, the number one aspect that helps me grow, trust is just being real is just being honest and just being a person to another person rather than using that moment to downplay abilities or using that moment to talk about what you can't do rather than what you could do.

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Danny Brady

Right. And I think people respond to that in a way that genuinely makes a massive difference. And the way that they receive services and the way that they have input towards services, rather than just feeling like it's work to them. Right?

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Brian Begin

Yeah. Research has shown that a strengths based approach to the work is yields positive results over the old mindset. That that was common not too many years ago in this in this sector, which was the the sort of the deficits approach. One of the things that the, MTI project is really focusing on at the Department of Human Services, here in Minnesota, is supports or pushes.

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Brian Begin

Is that like having staff who have the training, right, to, to do the work is really key to get those quality outcomes.

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Danny Brady

Yeah. Here at reach, we are required to complete customized employment training through the state of Minnesota. Not everyone has been able to go through that, because it does cost a lot of money to send people through those programs. And depending on, funding and stuff like that, some people might not even have the training. Thankfully, I was able to get the training.

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Danny Brady

Outside of that, I mean, it's really it's really dependent on what you want for yourself and what you see yourself doing in the future. Personally, I attend as many seminars as I can. I attend all of the ABC meetings as well to make sure that I'm I'm up to date with whatever policies we're trying to push through in the state of Minnesota.

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Danny Brady

I mean, I just try to stay up to date with anything that I can and any opportunity to take free trainings, like, you know, if I can get a certificate added to my name, there.

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Sherry Healey

There is one particular individual that you're going to talk to us about today that, you help to find a job. And he was interested in antiquing, thrifting, collecting items. Tell us a little bit about this individual that you assisted in their job search.

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Danny Brady

Yeah. So this individual like you were saying, has an incredible passion for collecting items, going to thrift stores and finding odds and ends that he's able to resell. Which I think is a really fun hobby, being able to assist with that and, and witness as he goes to these, these toy shows and, and all of these different like, state sales and stuff like that, looking for the items he thinks that are worth something.

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Danny Brady

And then being able to take those skills and translate it into a job where, right by where I live, it's pretty tricky, to say the least. I mean, there's not a lot of cool antique shops or, or places that offer thrifting. A lot of the places in the metro area, you actually don't get paid to work there.

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Danny Brady

A lot of these antique shops, they rent out space and people will live there and they work during the day. I had no idea that was a thing. So being able to learn all of that with my person and then and and having him feel like, oh gosh, there's just not anything out there for me. We stumble upon the goodwill.

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Danny Brady

And again, that's an incredible location that gives him that opportunity to look at old items. And being able to thrift around even after his shift is done. And when we went into that store to discuss possible employment, the manager that we spoke with was, I would say, less than, less than friendly. Less than inviting, I would also say, and that feeling not only carries over like, not only do I feel that, but the person I support feels that tenfold.

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Danny Brady

Right? That feeling of inadequacy, of why? Why do they feel like I can't do this job right? And that just didn't sit well with me. So I took it upon myself to work above the ladder and climb up and try to find someone who was able to answer a few of my questions. I knew from other employment specialists who have worked with goodwill in the past, and who have had other, people who have worked there as well.

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Danny Brady

And they said that there was no issue. It's been an incredible place because, again, goodwill touted itself on on having a, fully integrated workspace. Right. And to walk in and to have a manager say, no, that's not allowed. No, we can't have you in the building. Job coaches aren't allowed during training. This, that and the other.

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Danny Brady

It didn't feel right and understanding their policies. I had to speak to somebody. So my my climb up the ladder ended up leading me to the head of the HR department for all of Minnesota Easterseals, which is the conglomerate that owns goodwill here in Minnesota. And with those conversations explaining what happened and explaining how it made my person feel.

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Danny Brady

It was very obvious that there was something that needed to be done, and the person that I spoke to ensured me that she would move this to the place that it needs to be. And within a week, I was told that every single manager and every single goodwill and all of Minnesota would have to be retrained on hiring.

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Danny Brady

So because of that fact, that manager, again, I'm not here to get anyone in trouble. I'm not here to, to judge anybody or anything like that. Of course, he could have been having a bad day, you know? But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter when you are, you know, the leader of a business, and you're you're supposed to be the face of that business.

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Danny Brady

And, you know, at once everything was said and done. We went back to the gal that I was speaking with an HR, and then we were given a go ahead to apply to any location he wanted. Thankfully, my person, you know, with the bad taste in his mouth, left up the last location, we did find another location and he was hired on the spot.

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Danny Brady

And he absolutely loved the job. It gave him everything that he was looking for, with the fact that he was able to look at old items, thrift around, play around with the clothes, break glass in the back room, all of that kind of stuff. It just gave him an outlet to to live his hobby. Right. And I think he was he was very thankful for that.

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Danny Brady

And yeah, I mean, again, it takes a little bit of a push, a little bit of initiative. It's not something that I technically had to do. But the fact that I understood what Goodwill's policies were. It just didn't sit right. You know, I couldn't let that slide. Who knows how many other people were told no before my person.

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Sherry Healey

And was this his first job out of school?

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Danny Brady

Yes. This was his very first job. He he was never in any formal transition program or anything like that. So I didn't have anything to go off of. No paperwork, no discovery, nothing like that. And we we took it from just two guys hanging out and getting to know each other and to being able to, you know, find him that perfect job that really relates to him and his personality, his hobbies, all of that kind of stuff.

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Danny Brady

I think the main goal is finding somebody a job that they're not going to dread when they wake up. You know?

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Brian Begin

Yeah. No, I well said. And, you know, I would argue this person is pretty lucky for their first job to to match with so many of the, of their hobbies and skills and interests. You know, I, I feel like what at least for me. Right. You know, my first job in food service. I mean, I like eating food, but that doesn't mean I was, like, interested in doing dishes and whatnot.

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Brian Begin

And it was just explained to me by, like, my dad and my mom, like, yeah, your first job. I mean, honestly, you got you got to pay for a gas for your car and your cell phone bill, you know, and it's not going to be your perfect favorite job. And that's just the way it is. So, so this person is really, really sort of.

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Brian Begin

I hit the hit, the grand slam, and also the the tenacity that you showed as a job coach, I think really, highlights the importance of like, job coaches, not only, you know, having the proper training to, to be able to support people with different diagnoses and whatnot, having the skills to like, build rapport with people and earn their trust.

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Brian Begin

And then also like some, some higher level understandings of just like legality, right. Like what protections are allowed under the Ada, the Americans with Disabilities Act? What job accommodations are legally protected? It it's a lot for for job coaches to know. But to folks that we work with are really counting on us to be those subject matter experts as much as possible.

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Danny Brady

Yeah. And I think with my background, in business, it gives me a little bit of a better understanding on how to communicate with some of these corporations, giving them the understanding that, again, that I'm not here to poopoo on anyone. I just want the best for my people. And I think being able to get that message across, finding the right person to speak to you, can you can get just about anything that.

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Sherry Healey

Well and and doing it with a level of respect and a level of collaboration and partnership and, and coming at it from the perspective of, you know, like you said, I'm not here to get anybody in trouble. I'm not, you know, I'm not trying to make it difficult. I'm really just looking for a win win and an opportunity for the individual that I'm supporting to be successful.

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Sherry Healey

And, and knowing that goodwill, you know, has a philosophy of support, individuals with disabilities, then you know, that that that didn't align with, you know, with who they are as a company. So, you know, I think, your approach to it, you know, in a way that could lead to a win win for everybody that was really important in in how you did it.

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Sherry Healey

Because you could have just walked out and said, okay, well, you know, that that didn't seem right. But, you know, it is what it is, and we'll move on and try something else. But for that individual, it being his first job opportunity, that could have had a lasting impact on him in terms of his interest in in working in the community.

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Sherry Healey

And you know, that if it if you had let it go at that, it might, really have had some pretty significant consequences for him. And, you know, his self-confidence and his, you know, interest in being, an employee with any company. So I think, you know, what what a what a great way to really search for that, successful outcome.

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Sherry Healey

So. Well done.

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Danny Brady

Thank you. I appreciate it.

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Brian Begin

And, when you started working with this person, you'd mentioned that they, didn't have any work experience in, in high school. Were they excited about work? Were they ambivalent? Or was it one of those things where like, well, I don't really want to do it, but, you know, my, my parents or whomever or like, this is the next thing.

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Brian Begin

So here I am.

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Danny Brady

I think I've gotten very lucky with the folks that I've been working with, and the fact that a lot of them, if not most of them, are 100%. They have great input. They want a job. They they they want that aspect of a more independent lifestyle. But, you know, there are folks who struggle to find that meaning in work or, or even just want to get up and do something in general.

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Danny Brady

Thankfully, my my fellow who, works at goodwill, I mean, he his dream was to have a job so that he could buy gifts for his family members so that he could go to Disney, all of those kind of things, and making sure that the job that he had wasn't too grueling was very important. As well, making sure that all of his accommodations were met were very important as well.

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Danny Brady

And I think the reason he was so comfortable going from no experience to a full on part time job is because of the aspect that we prepared him beforehand, right? Rather than, let's just walk in and see how it goes, right? Sometimes it feels like you're throwing someone like into the water, right? And hoping that they swim. But at the end of the day, as long as you prepare them enough, they're going to be just fine.

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Danny Brady

And I think I've, I've been very, very lucky with the folks that I've worked with and the fact that they, they all love what they do. And if they don't have a job, they're still interested in looking for one. I haven't run into too many people who are, you know, forced by their parents or anything like that.

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Danny Brady

So I think that's very beneficial to my work in general.

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Sherry Healey

Yeah. That's great. And, and, and really, thinking about the reasons why we, why work is important. You know, we want to be able to buy gifts and, and buy things that we're, you know, saving money for specific things that we're interested in. And, you know, all of all of that is important, as well as just the, ability to contribute to society.

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Sherry Healey

And there's a lot of pride in that. And, it's a component of, of an individual's life that is, is a really big part of, you know, of being a member of society. Right? So it's it's an important thing, you know, not to leave out. I think.

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Danny Brady

Right? I mean, again, it's a great way for for the folks that I work with to meet new people, make new friends, and create lasting long relationships that if they didn't have that job, they probably would have never had. Right. And, you know, it's it's very transformative to be able to watch these people become independent. And, you know, there are folks who completely bump off of Social Security because they're just they're good, you know, and it's it's phenomenal to watch, especially with the folks that might need a little bit more help when you push and you push and you give them the support that they need, you'll be amazed at what anyone is

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Danny Brady

capable of.

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Sherry Healey

One hundred percent.

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Brian Begin

And how did you what did, fading jobs coaching supports look like for this individual? I mean, given that there is, you know, a bit of a rocky start. I guess not only how did that play into how you fade a job? Coaching supports, but also, did that change at all, how you would support the person through the onboarding process?

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Danny Brady

Yeah, sure. I mean, again, starting off, I think I was told I wasn't allowed to do onboarding with him. I was told I wasn't allowed to do any training. And then that was incredibly discouraging to my person who felt that they needed me there for that specific type of support. So once he understood that he was going to get that support, he was he was thrilled.

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Danny Brady

He was happy. He was ready to go because he knew that I'd be there to help him. I think when it comes to weaning off on support, especially for a job in retail, it can take some time depending on the person and depending on on their clerks and their their what makes them tick and stuff like that. But with this specific individual, I, I genuinely believe just being a real down to earth person is all it takes is just I'm not going to help you with this today.

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Danny Brady

I'm going to watch you do it. You're going to do it. If you need help, reach out. Okay. And just having those conversations, tons of I know you can do these things. I know you're capable. And then supporting them to make sure that they believe that they're capable. Like, yeah, you can do just about anything, but you have to have the confidence to keep going with it.

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Danny Brady

And I think the person that I'm speaking of specifically lacked a lot of that confidence. And it took building that confidence before he was even able to be on his own.

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Brian Begin

That's a great point. Job coaching is not just like I'm going to be here to walk through completing process A, B, and C, and I'll be here until you really understand the instructions and get it. A big part of job coaching are those more like intangible things like, encouraging and fostering self-confidence and, helping folks realize that they, they got this.

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Brian Begin

They can do it. Sure. It's going to be a little bit scary, but everything's going to be okay. And, and even as you know, you're fading the job coaching supports reassuring folks like, hey, I'm just a text away or, you know, a phone call away. It's certainly one of the benefits, I would say, of all the technology that we have is that, you know, maybe I'm not seeing you in person every shift, but like if something comes up, we can FaceTime and you can you can show me, you know, what you're working on or what some, you know, some you're running into.

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Brian Begin

And we can we can talk it through.

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Danny Brady

Yeah. And to quickly add to that as well, I think another incredibly important aspect to facing off, support, one that can't be forgotten is, is having proper and and functional natural supports within their environment, whether that be people or the accommodations that they have specifically for them. With the person that I, that I had working at goodwill, he had an incredible crew around him.

00;24;09;17 - 00;24;37;03

Danny Brady

He had two managers that were just the kindest people. This part is that's not everywhere, you know, and depending on, the industry, people are busy, you know, they might not be able to come check in every so often. So having him in a place where those natural supports could really be there to support him, I think gave him again another boost of confidence, saying, hey, I can do this on my own.

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Danny Brady

And even if I feel like I can't, I've got someone here right here to help me out, right. Yeah. I think again, the natural support's incredibly important.

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Sherry Healey

Yeah. I think one of the strategies that job coaches use is, whether or not it's, you know, sometimes you you might manufacture a situation so that you give the person an opportunity to work independently for a short period of time. So just even saying, hey, I gotta make a phone call real quick. I'll be right back, you know, and, and starting with, you know, okay, I'm gone for ten minutes and being able to watch from the other side of the store, you know, how does the person do when there isn't somebody right by their side?

00;25;27;27 - 00;26;01;22

Sherry Healey

And how do the how did the coworkers handle it when you're not standing right there next to him, you know, you have to give the coworkers an opportunity to build those relationships. And sometimes it is out of necessity. You have another individual you need to support, and you can't be there for the full shift at that time. And sometimes you have to create those opportunities so that they have that chance to build those relationships with their coworkers and their supervisors without being in the middle all the time.

00;26;01;22 - 00;26;32;00

Sherry Healey

So it sounds to me like you really, fostered those natural supports and, and helped that to happen. And then, you know, in boosting his confidence when he did well, when you weren't right there by his side. So I think that's a really important component of, coaching is the feeding process and helping to, you know, build those natural supports.

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Sherry Healey

So, Danny, one final question. We ask all of our guests, what do you want people in your community to know about employment for people with disabilities?

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Danny Brady

I would say I would want people to believe that it's not impossible. Right? I want people to understand that no matter your limitations, whether that be physically or mentally, no matter no matter your confidence level, whatever it may be, if if I'm able to support you, I can help you find a job. Right. And there are people there are plenty of other, employment specialists who do an incredible job, who do incredible work throughout the entire metro.

00;27;21;12 - 00;27;44;14

Danny Brady

And the fact that we still see people saying like, oh, that's not possible. Oh, like, how do you see that working? It's like, we'll make it work. We we've always made it work. And being able to get that message out of this job isn't easy, you know? I mean, it is it is a job that requires a degree, like a lot of other jobs.

00;27;44;14 - 00;28;10;14

Danny Brady

And it's a very thankless job, depending on who you're working with. Right. And the corporations that you're meeting with and building relationships with, it is a jack of all trades type of job, and I think it needs to be treated as such. I would say that not everyone could do this job, nor and I don't think anyone should specifically do this job if they if they don't know that this is what they want to do.

00;28;10;19 - 00;28;31;16

Danny Brady

Right. Just because again, it takes it takes an incredibly special mind to be able to go through this process to have, again, 14 other people's lives swimming in your brain all at once. Right. Yeah. I mean, this job is not impossible, but it's not easy.

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Sherry Healey

Well said.

00;28;34;01 - 00;28;53;22

Brian Begin

Well, thank you, Danny, for joining us today and sharing some of your experiences doing the work. And thank you, listeners for tuning in to this episode. We hope you join us next time to hear another compelling story of one person finding one job in the community.

00;28;53;24 - 00;29;11;17

Sherry Healey

Thank you for joining us for the Job Matchmakers podcast, funded by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. This podcast is a partnership between the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration and UMass Boston's Institute for Community Inclusion.

00;29;11;19 - 00;29;28;03

Brian Begin

For more information on the Minnesota Transformation Initiative, visit our website. Linked in the show notes. We're glad you joined us, and we'll see you next time.