"People Don't Want Charity" - Arc CEO Donald Mullin on True Disability Services Leadership

[0:16]  Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart and Hustle podcast. Our next guest says, "People don't want charity. They want independence. They want the chance to live their life to their fullest potential." Mr. Donald, I appreciate you coming, man. from accountant to CEO. 30 years in one organization, my brother.

[0:32]  It was a long time. I had a little more black hair back then than I do now. It's been a long time.

[0:38]  It's pretty rare, man. Wh Why has Arc of New York been your life's work for so long?

[0:44]  I think I connect with the mission that people should be included in society. Um and uh the organization has invested in me. I'm a very loyal person. Uh and I feel uh like I'm giving back to them. uh by continuing the mission and the work we do.

[1:02]  I love it, man. What What first drew you back in 19 what 95 if I'm not mistaken? That's 30 years ago, right?

[1:08]  What brought you to the Ark?

[1:10]  Well, it was a weird situation. I was working with the United Jewish Federation at the time. And I was almost needing to move from the Albany area to New Jersey because they were relocating. And I saw this job at the Ark uh and I went in and at the time in the 90s there was about a hundred applicants if you can picture that now. Um and we had a great conversation and it was more talking about people. Um and then when I started uh I felt like instantly like I could make a difference by uh processing my my ability to do numbers uh help people in their lives and it just connected and it's resonated for me uh even now. Uh it's pretty humbling

[1:48]  and and you know those 30 years really went through some growth, right? We started in finance, you go to COO, now you're CEO. What what did all these roles teach you about leadership in general?

[1:59]  Yeah, it's an interesting question. So I view things as being on a bus. Uh so you know and and I got on the ARC bus and I've been staying on it. Some people get on and off uh at various times. Um as a director of finance, my role was kind of this is the dashboard. I needed to make sure there was gas every day, you know, and I did reports and would report out. And then when I moved into the CFO role, it was more let's find out better ways to get gas. Maybe there's strategies we can use to help people better in their lives. And not only uh and then when I moved into the chief operating officer role, it kind of blended a lot of those. I mean, I was only in that for a short period of time and sometimes uh it was kind of unofficial because I was the CFO and I kind of like saw a need for the organization to get people together uh to you know people we support people that were working for us to help us revenue help change their lives. Uh and then when I became CEO it it's kind of just you know put the focus more on the employees both side too and say you know we really need to take care of our employees for them to be taking care of the individuals we support. You know, you mentioned something which is sometimes I was playing different uh roles, wearing different hats and that's just what happens in the nonprofit world. Sometimes I think it's actually the most exciting part is that we get to be very creative. We get to be ourselves. We get to bring all our talents. And in the corporate world, I always say you hired for a position, that's what they want you to do for the most part. But the nonprofit world is a bit little different. Um, but I also did want to talk about because when you think about this nonprofit, you say it isn't just about charity, it's really about inclusion, especially in the space that you're in. Can you tell us what that actually means when you talk about uh in action?

[3:36]  Yeah. So, the people we support and even the way our management team forever has been trying to do it is, you know, we're not here just to take money from society. We're here actually to help society uh improve it. And the first thing is we're recognizing that, you know, I'm not hired by the ArchaNL County Board of Directors, which I am, but I'm really working for the individuals. You know, the organization is here to support individuals live their lives better. We're not making sure our buses the best seats. It's all about their experience on the bus. Um, and trying to, you know, bring that to like, you know, decision making is, you know, a we always try to say, well, all right, it's about the individuals. what can we do for the individuals? And B, we tried and we I think we've been pretty successful at making the least impact on on Rener County. We we rent a lot of our homes. We run our main office. So, all those things stayed on the tax roles. We try to do business locally with with local vendors as much as possible, even buying vehicles from local dealers and things like that. And it's that partnership where we go into the community, we we assist, we provide volunteer time. Um, and also the individuals we support, they don't want charity either. They want to be included in society. They don't want to be uh, you know, getting people secondhand things and everything like that. They want to be included. They want to work. They want to bring their skills uh, to uh, our community uh, and the greater Capital Region. I sit here and I see the kids behind you and and I'm a father myself and in the line of work that we do, man, we just hope to inspire the next generation, not only the people that we work with, but those that are in in our world, right, with our families, our kids. What were your kids thinking about? I mean, 30 years, man, they seen dad go at it. What are their thoughts seeing dad do this for so long? I

[5:23]  I think they're humbled by it. I I think they actually joke with me like I'm the mayor because I've been doing this so long. every time I go somewhere that I run into someone I know. And sometimes it's funny. I was even in like New York City and my my son and we're walking on the street and one of my colleagues from another chapter like, "Hey, Don." He's like, "Do you not know someone everywhere?" Like

[5:42]  that is funny.

[5:43]  I think also what they've learned is to to kind of live with more kindness in their life. And I hopefully that that's like I wish that's a lesson I can give everybody. You know, we never know what someone's going through and just be kind and humble. Doesn't mean it's pushover. Um, but just be kind and humble to people and meet them where they're at is a blessing.

[6:03]  Simple things in life, man. Like you just said, just be kind to hello, you know, wave at somebody, right?

[6:10]  Hold the door open for someone,

[6:12]  right? Right. Right.

[6:13]  Typical things

[6:14]  or someone, you know, like we we just had a waitress and she like messed up our complete order. She's like, "Oh, I'm so sorry." I'm like, "It's my eggs." Like I I'll get over it. I'll let

[6:23]  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that it's not the end of life. and and and as you mentioned, just be kind because you don't know what someone's going through. It could really be the difference between life and death for someone. Um, you know, so I love that you're in the space of giving, man. When you think about 30 years ago, I know that's a long ways, man. You know, I'm 35 years old. So, if I think about 30 years ago, Donald, I was 5 years old. You know what I mean? So, for me, it felt like a long time ago. Um, but did you always want to be in this space? Like you you leaving high school, did you always think I'm in the nonprofit world, I'm a CEO to an organization, or who did Donald want to be?

[6:58]  I wanted to be the CFO of IBM. But

[7:01]  really,

[7:03]  wow, you had that locked in.

[7:05]  My dad was an accountant. Um, and uh, I wanted to kind of work with that corporation. And just then, you know, computers were just starting or, you know, kind of in their infancy. Uh, and I was like, "Yeah, I wish someday I can do that and get all the riches of, you know, being a corporate CEO, but I never made it."

[7:25]  Hey, you got something better. You know, I big believer and I I can imagine you are as well, is that we have these beautiful plans for our lives and God said, "Well, this is the plan that I have for you." And, you know, you followed the plan and here you are 30 years later. I can imagine that there's been a lot of growth, which is what I would love to talk about. When you look at the organization 30 years ago, that's a I mean, that's a long time. How long has this organization been around? Actually,

[7:47]  we've been around since uh we're 1965 is kind of our initial for ours. Although the chapter started in 1952, part of another or you know a couple different chapters in in New York.

[7:59]  Wow.

[7:59]  So that's been a long time. And actually this organization I believe is blessed on some level. Um Jim Flanagan was before me was the CEO from 74 to 2009 and then Hans Meiser from 2009 to 2018 and then myself and we all work together for you know 20 years at least.

[8:16]  So it's kind of like a continu kind of a passing of the baton type of thing which is humbling and and and I still interact with those guys and call them. We're we were probably um $5 million then. Uh we're approaching $40 million now uh annually. Um so that's changed. We didn't have an HR department. Uh we didn't have uh nurses. We didn't have PTs. All those things have been added. It's kind of humbling. And actually, I was just thinking about this the other day because Windows just turned 30.

[8:51]  And you think of Microsoft, you know, they're they're kind of like the innovators.

[8:55]  They've had 11 different operating systems in my lifetime here.

[8:59]  And just think I think the Arna County has probably changed over, you know, 800 times. You know, we get different funding. We get different rates. We don't even notice our rate sometimes at the end of the year. Um, and the ability to be able to support people and staff I I believe has increased, you know, hundfold since I've been here. I mean, when we started, I was kind of, you know, orientation was here's your desk. Uh, figure out what you need to do and now hopefully we're getting a little bit better than that.

[9:28]  So, let's talk about it, man. Digitally, nonprofits usually fall a little bit behind. That seems like you're within the times, right? Where do we see ourselves innovation wise? um especially with a little bit of AI being the hot topic everyone's talking about. Are there some things that you guys have already maybe in stone that's going to set you up for more 30 more years or things that you guys working on?

[9:49]  Definitely we have to look at things and one of the things that I want to try to do which we're in the infancy of doing now is trying to figure out how do we help the people we support interact with AI. M

[10:00]  you know, how do we make AI a ramp to the future for them as opposed to a wall that's going to close them off because they're not in it. Uh and I think there's a lot of things we do. We need AI companies to engage with the nonprofit community, especially people with disabilities, and try to figure out lead them where they're at. We're also doing some cool things. I recently had a a great experience of talking to Simon Synynic, who wrote the book of why. Uh and uh me and him were interchanging about, you know, kind of different ideas what to do about that. you know, a brief five 10 minute question or conversation, but we talked about inviting with my thought has always been how do we get the individual? It's about the individual. I can't force things on them or or keep them out because I think I'm keeping them safe. So, one of the things we're doing is we're inviting a team of five people, you know, that individual will identify who those five people are and sit down and say, "All right, you know, let's look at options for AI. you know, we'll probably need some technology assistance come in and try to say to someone, "Help me figure out what's the best way to do this, but also help the individual figure out what they want and how they want to be involved in where we're not just saying, "Oh, you can't do that because you have a disability or or we're going to put this in place because you have a disability where they get to make that decision for themselves and kind of help them empower them to be part of the solution." And maybe it won't, maybe it will. I I think there will be things that will help. Um, we have some things now where we have an individual who time isn't his best thing. So, he has an app that tells him every day, you know, you go to work this time, you go to lunch this time, you go to the doctors this time, and that that's empowering because he doesn't need someone to call him every day. He can just look at his app, right?

[11:39]  Yeah. Sometime we just need a little bit of convenience. So, if it's an app, let's do it. If it's a little bit of software, I mean, that's just the life that we live in. We need a little bit of convenience to make our day just that much better.

[11:48]  Yeah. And then other uses of AI we're doing is just kind of helping us, you know, source data. Data is important for everybody, including nonprofits. You know, nonprofit is just a a tax code. We're still a business. We still got to operate like a business. Uh, and I'm excited to try to use the numbers to try to help us provide better supports.

[12:10]  I'm glad that you said it. You know, a lot of leaders don't realize it, but when it comes to AI, before the after go look into AI,

[12:16]  data is so important because it's what you're putting into this AI that's going to give you the output. And you know that you've been in this space clearly. You talk about IBM, you're talking about Microsoft, I can tell you in this world of technology. Um to even think Microsoft is 30 years old is kind of crazy. Do you remember Donald actually, do you remember um I remember in elementary all the color I think it may have been Apple all the color computers. Was it Apple or was it

[12:40]  Might have been Apple.

[12:42]  Oh my god. I remember those see-through computers. There was a red, there was a green. And how cool it was. You walk into this computer room back in the days. We had computer rooms. How crazy. And it was just all these different color computers, man. I uh missed those days.

[12:54]  Now our computer sits right here, right?

[12:56]  Yeah. I tell that because, you know, teachers used to always say that you'll never have a a a calculator in your pocket. They forgot to tell us, but we'll have a computer in our pockets as you mentioned.

[13:06]  You know what I found the other day, man? Look what I found. There you go.

[13:11]  If you if you showed the young kids these like, "What is this?"

[13:16]  I would love to see what's in it.

[13:17]  I I had an opportunity to talk to a local high school class about that and it was crazy. It was something like 1,400 versions of the phone has been out since their birth and know they were like 14 years old.

[13:30]  That is wow. Insane. Yeah. I My first phone

[13:34]  My first phone was the Motorola flip phone. I think that's what it was. Um, man, yeah, time times have definitely changed

[13:42]  all these years. What are you most proud of, Donald?

[13:45]  That's a good question. I I I think probably the connections I have with the community where I I kind of know uh our employees. I know our folks that we that we support. Uh, and and I use that kind of as a driving force because it gets tough. You know, that it's a it's a nonprofits are complex. Funding is always a challenge. We wish we could pay our staff more. Uh, and I think it's that ability to kind of stay in the fray and come back every day. You know, it's it's you know, that you get knocked down. Uh, and what's that song go? I get knocked down, I get up again.

[14:18]  Yeah. There you go, Donald. There you go.

[14:22]  That play sometimes on my little iPhone. I I use music sometimes to kind of bring me back into uh into the fold. So,

[14:30]  hey, real quick. If you're enjoying the podcast, we first want to say thank you. And we also just want to give you a little insight of what we're up to at Francis. Some don't even realize that we're working with organizations to help them use AI to create that real human communication experiences. Whether that's actually supporting your your families, those patients or the entire community. We're actually creating tech that connects. Check it out. Francis.ai. Oh man. there at home there was this radio station that um went away you know and now comes back same radio station but all they do is just play all the old school hits and I'm like in the car with the kids and I'm just like wow high music has changed in general okay music is just not the same I love that you

[15:17]  good

[15:18]  yeah now it is um I want to talk about you mentioned a little bit about business mindset in the nonprofit leadership

[15:24]  as you mentioned and I'm a big believer that yeah a nonprofit is a business. Um, one when it comes to for-profit and nonprofit, one we caters to, you know, uh, stock to their board and the other one to to what shareholders, right? But they're both businesses in a sense. Why do people underestimate the business side of nonprofit leadership? Do you think it's just this myth that goes around? Like what are your thoughts on that?

[15:46]  I think it's a myth. I think they think we're a charity. I I think they truly think we're not supposed to run a profit. Really, the nonprofit is just a tax code. Uh it's nothing more than a tax code. Uh you know, we still have to have the same financial metrics that everyone else has to have. You know, in 2002, I remember putting in talking with Hans, my boss, and and we put in, you know, current ratio metrics and all kinds of targets for metrics. Now, it's like the rage, and it's like, well, we've been doing these for like 25 years. Like, what? Uh it's really kind of having that mindset when when you have to be fiscally responsible as well, like you you giving public money. Um, and you have to use it for the purpose that you're supposed to use it for. Um, and you try to do that the best you can. And at the end of the day, what's more humbling than having a great product, which is impacting someone's life. So that kind of sets the the frame. You know, at the end of the day, you always got to look at the end of what we do is people's lives, both our people we support and our employees. Um, so we have to be diligent. We have to make sure we have all the right financial. You you talked earlier about data and numbers. They're only good if you can use it to tell a story, right? Like, you know, we get data and data and data, but if we can't pull it together to tell a story, it it's really not going to help us. And I got my people in. So, I got the storytelling from my mom. So, um it helps.

[17:11]  Looks like life set you up to be here. You're talking about the the storytelling. You have to be a storyteller in the nonprofit space. And then when you have good data, you allow people to realize what they're actually buying into. Um, right, that it it really clarifies where their dollars are going. And if you have that information, yeah, you're you're you're winning for sure. Uh, and I think you're also winning, man. You have some great business principles, just this business mindset. What what do you when you think about these principles? Um, which principles do you live by that make the arc a little stronger?

[17:41]  I think I incorporate a lot of them into the gather. It's, you know, really putting the people first and it's le leaning on my math uh first and then going by heart and emotions second. Um, and I was kind of smart in school. Uh, you know, everyone was looking for the best GPA. I paid for my college education myself because my my my father passed away when I was young. And I'm like, I'm taking every single accounting class. I don't care if I and I got all I know is I want to walk out with a B. and I was a little bit better than a bee, but I gained all the knowledge of every one of those little, you know, classes. And then when I came to the ark, one of the things I had to do is do this report that they have. It's called a consolidated fiscal report. And I had two years to do because they were behind. Uh that was back in the day. We're not behind now. And by doing those, it kind of opened the light to me. I was like, "Ah, that's how this all works." And I've used that lens and that frame for the last 30 years of saying, "All right, well, we need, you know, if someone go tell me, you know, something happened and now I can, yeah, that's going to impact us on our rates in three years from now." And it's just kind of ingrained in me. Um, and I think it's kind of all that, you know, using all your tools that you can to help people be better.

[19:01]  When we talk about looking at numbers, I think you mentioned to me that you've doubled staff salaries since 2018. Um that's that's a business mission win man. How did you do it? Is it is it that is looking at the data and just seeing the future?

[19:13]  Some of it was data, some of it was helping with storytelling by advocating. But we went years in New York without increases. Uh and you know right now the current administration has been helping us and we've been blessed and we've been taking all those funds that they give us and put it right back to where it's supposed to go. Um and it is uh awesome for me. I wish I could go even more and we're trying to do even cool things. uh with housing for people that we that we support our people that work for us. Um yeah, it was kind of a combination of math and tweaking and like looking at like everything that came in and say, "All right, we need to do this. If we get more units here," and really that's how it is. You know, if we can provide units of service, that's how we get paid. We can then spend that money into staff salaries and pay staff a living wage. Um,

[19:59]  what do you think is a ripple effect when you invest in in employees who support the vulnerable population?

[20:06]  I think it's rewarding for the employee because they get better, you know, better living situation. I think it's equally rewarding from the individuals because people, you know, how can we ask staff to take care of someone if we can't take care of them,

[20:19]  right? I mean, their job is to take care of someone, you know, to meet their daily needs, you know, help them grow in society, help them build in their lives. And if we can't do that ourselves, then how can we ask them for that every day and keep coming back every day? And and I'm a tireless advocate. People will tell you, you know, I may not always hit the right lane, but I I will anytime I get an opportunity to speak on behalf of the staff. Uh I will. And uh I always use this frame. You know, 100% of our employees are people and we need to treat them like that.

[20:53]  That's it, man. I think that's what we all have to remember is that we're all people. I was talking to my neighbor and he was talking about his uncle and he always likes to say and you know he's a doctor so I listen to him or he's a cop so I and I was like he's a human at the end of the day like it's not that he's a doctor it's not that he's you know he did uh he was in law enforcement he's human so that's how he thinks and I think you know so many times we think the doctor is so much better and this person's so much better and it's like they're not you know that just happened to be the career they chose we all chose our career Um, but there's electricians that are so much further than than a doctor. Why? Because of the mindset, the way that we think, the way, you know, our values. Um, so I love that you mentioned that we are just people, you know. Um, even those in the space that you're in, they're just people

[21:41]  and Yeah, that that's that's great frame to keep. We need more people like this to just keep pushing that. you know that the the janitor is just as important as you know the CFO or CEO if not more important someday especially during co they might have been more important than than

[21:56]  and you'd be surprised man that person that's being janitor has a whole another job this might be his part-time I spoke to one time I was in the airline industry and at night time that's when he would usually come and I would always just talk to him and just very personal conversation with him like over time

[22:12]  and you just don't see that and people's like hey how did you get this and I'm like well I was just talking to the janitor. I was like, "What?" And I'm like, "Yeah, it's that easy. Just have conversations with people. Do not look down on them." But this man was like, "No, man. This is just my nighttime job. I have a whole daytime job."

[22:26]  You know, he he just had to provide for his kids.

[22:29]  And even even if it is their job, that that's what they're that's what their goal. That's what they're doing.

[22:33]  Sometimes providing for kids, Donald.

[22:35]  Right.

[22:35]  I know I know a man. He was actually one of my um managers when I was in the sub shop business. And um he's still in, you know, a general manager and he says at nighttime, two, three times a week, he works at another sub shop, but just as a shift manager cuz he he takes that money and that's how he travels with his family.

[22:53]  Sometimes people just do what it is best for them and their family, you know. So don't look at them any type of way. If anything, look what he's doing.

[23:00]  We shouldn't judge anybody. It's not our job. And when we think about the kids um or adults now or children with disabilities and the autism spectrum, the amazing things that you're doing, I think I mentioned this last time to you and I would always remember it was the um Lighthouse of Louisiana or something like that that they've created a manufacturing company where everyone that works there has a disability. Um whether it's blind, whe whatever they may look like, they figured out how to get these individuals to work just like everybody else. working on highowered equipment that me and you are probably scared of doing and they're doing it, you know. So, they're we're just people. We got to figure out how to just maneuver and how to help them

[23:39]  live life at their fullest, right? Um

[23:43]  what are some of the special things you can say, Donald, when you think about you've been in this space for 30 years. What story comes to mind that you're like, man, I'm happy that I get to do this because of And give me a story.

[23:54]  I'll give you a couple if I can. So, uh, there was a gentleman that I actually, so I I wor I worked in a restaurant as a kid. And when I was 15 years old, I took the wrong bus. And back in those days, there wasn't cell phones. I mean, I I don't I think the phones are the dime. I had no dime. I had no idea what to do. There was no I I So, I stumbled on this guy, John, and he was at the bus stop, and he's like, "Where you trying to go?" And I told him, you know, east side. He's like, "Ah, my sister has a restaurant up there." goes, "Get on this bus with me." So me and him got on that bus together and then from time to time I worked for that restaurant all through high school. I would run into him and we would joke. Fast forward like 20 years after he's living one of our residential programs and I meet him and John comes and you know we we hang out, we go to a few things um together, you know, you know, eat lunch together one day, walk in the parking lot and then uh he kept telling me he wanted a job. I want a job. I want a job. And then I come to find out John's like 70 years old and he wanted to stock shelves in a restaurant or a store like a Hess or something like that. And uh I'm like, "Well, no one's really gonna hire him." Like, you always get that second interview and then it' be like, "Ah, they hired someone else."

[25:10]  Yeah.

[25:10]  So, we at the same time had a job opening for a coffee cart specialist. Um, and I went, you know, me and the HR person Alyssa talked and we're like, "Well, maybe John could apply." So, John applied. He nailed the interview. Like, like he had them like laughing and then he joined the business, you know, our off our office. He came in two days a week. Then, he pushed it up to three days a week. He changed the whole office because he would bring his kindness. People were buying coffee and they're like, I don't even drink coffee, but I just want to interact with John and it went from a guy who was like didn't really want a job or couldn't find a job to like he was like this the all-star or of the of the place like and if I needed help, you know, we we're running a special event. He was there to, you know, end of the event like sometimes 11 12 o'clock me and them would be the last ones cleaning up and they'd be like you go. And he's like 75 years old. So that was a great one. Uh, and he would always like would help me um by, you know, like he sold coffee and he would know like on Tuesdays and we'd have a card and he would know that I wanted a cup and he would have it waiting on my desk when I came out of office meetings and stuff. It was it fixed the way I want it. It was kind of fun.

[26:16]  I love it. I do not have I have a story very similar to you getting uh on the wrong Is you say you got on the wrong bus? Is that what it was?

[26:23]  Yep.

[26:24]  Yeah, that happened to me too. So, let me tell you I was a young kid. I was in high school. So I my I was bust out to a different high school. So in reality there was like I couldn't walk to school. I I mean I could it would take hours to get there.

[26:37]  Wow.

[26:38]  And um so one morning my mom was very strict. You're not missing school. Do not miss the bus. So this morning I missed the bus. I'm also blind as hell, Donald. Okay. Without my glasses I can't see anything.

[26:49]  So I I go to the bus stop and what happens in that really really early in the morning. I live in Orlando. So really really early in the morning, we got these buses that go end up going to like Downtown Disney.

[26:59]  I didn't know the difference between a Downtown Disney and Downtown Orlando yet.

[27:03]  So I get on this bus and I it looked a little different. You know, I see everybody kind of in their housemade outfits. I realize the bus is on the highway. It usually is not on the highway. So I end up in Downtown Disney and all I see is like these numbers, you know, like one through maybe 30.

[27:18]  So I stand at the number that I thought was my bus. So I'm standing here. There's no one there. Donald. cold.

[27:24]  So, I'm like, "What the heck?" So, I end up walking around Downtown Disney, a young kid with a backpack, probably 15 years old. No one's saying anything to me. I'm scared for my life at this point, right, Donald?

[27:34]  So, I did have a cell phone though, so I I called the uh taxi company. I told them I was downtown Orlando

[27:40]  and nothing nobody came.

[27:42]  So, then I see a I see a taxi pull up in the Downtown Disney area. I was like, "Hey, man. I called I called the taxi a long time ago. Like, what's going on?" He said, "Jump in." I said, "All right, I'm on this taxi." And then he tells him it's going to be like $30 something dollars. And I'm like, I don't have that money. I said, but when I called the taxi, they told me it was going to be this much. But the reason was is I wasn't saying Downtown Disney. I was saying downtown Orlando.

[28:03]  So he pulls he was trying to pull off in the middle of the highway. I'm like, I cannot get off here.

[28:07]  Listen, you know, schools have like sixth period. I didn't show up to school until fifth period.

[28:12]  Wow.

[28:13]  My mom never believed me. She says this is not like I don't know what your the fake story you're telling me. I never called my mom. The way she found out was attendance and all the other stuff.

[28:22]  But uh yeah, man. Being blind is also not a good thing, Donald. Because if I had my glasses, I would have known the bus number was not the one I should have been on. I, you know, I ended up having to go to one bus and switch to another bus to end up in downtown Orlando to then. And it was so many bus rides. I should have just stayed home.

[28:40]  Oh man. You said you had another story. You want to share this story?

[28:42]  Another lesson, right? You learned another You learned a lesson from that, right?

[28:46]  Oh, 100%. Make sure I make make sure I make my school bus and stop missing it.

[28:52]  You said you had another story.

[28:54]  Sure. The other story I have is, you know, like I was saying, you know, we we have a lot of people with a lot of different needs. Um and some unfortunately, you know, have more needs than others. And um we also have short staff. So I I was required I was on admin beeper. I I visual I'm visually blind, too. I I actually don't even drive. Um really I made it to the CEO without being able to drive. Uh and there was a particular occurrence where I was on Beeper and what we made a decision is whoever's on Bieber has to go to the has to go to the ER if someone has to go to the ER because we didn't have enough staff.

[29:31]  So I also have a finance background. I'm a human person but I have a finance background. So, I uh go to the ER and meet one of our individuals who we had to take by ambulance because I couldn't drive the organization vehicle uh to get there. Uh so, I got in uh and uh the individual was in in the room at the time. Um and he's like going like this and and like this and I'm like, "Oh, he must be cold." So, silly me. I like go to the front desk and I'm like, you know, do we have like a warm blanket or something? Um, my individual I'm working with is is cold and uh I go in with the blanket and uh I put it on him and of course he looks at it like this and he like throws it right back at me and I'm like ah that's weird like all right well maybe he's not cold. So then you know we interchange it you know the the doctors come in they were waiting for a script for like his eyes or something like I think he had a pink eye and we're waiting and waiting and waiting forever. So then finally like he like points and he's like oh I'm like oh maybe he wants his jacket. So I he puts his jacket on and next thing you know he's got a jacket on. He starts wheeling out the door. I'm like, "Wait, wait, no, no." So it taught me a lot to to be humble that even though I may be the CEO, like I may not be able to put myself in every situation.

[30:46]  That is so cool.

[30:48]  So you've been CEO and you said uh you don't drive. Is that life? Like that's what life

[30:55]  That's life. Yeah. I've been visually impaired. I I can't really judge distances and things. I mean, they would probably give me a license if I if I can memorize the uh you know, the the the words and things like that. Um and God bless my wife and my kids and my co-workers uh in the community. And one of the things that resulted that is because I don't drive, you couldn't be a direct support professional with us if you didn't have a driver's license. And one day I challenged the team. I'm like, well, I can make it to CEO and I have a license. we got to figure this out and we have we opened that up. Um we have some great plans to be able to help people get their license. Now they don't have their license for a different reason than I don't have my license. Unfortunately, some of those individuals don't have the license because of economics

[31:42]  and their families never owned a vehicle or they never had the opportunity to drive a vehicle. So our whole plan and co kind of threw a wrench in it but we're getting there is bring someone on without a license. Help them figure out how to get a license and then help them support them get that first car because transportation is so vital to individuals. Right.

[32:01]  It is. It is. My sister, she is 33 years old and doesn't drive yet. And it was an incident when we were young kids. I had a I had bought a car uh maybe 16 years old. It just sat in my driveway. So we should pull it out the driveway, put in the driveway and then one day she just hit the garage door and um you know that's kind of scared her for life. So now she is 33 years old. She got three kids and we tell her like you have to learn how to drive because it is very crucial.

[32:27]  But you know what what an amazing story for you as well Donald to say that you got to the CEO uh seat without a license. Like people will look at you like

[32:35]  what? But you are a representation to others saying hey you can do it because look what I've been able to do. Yeah.

[32:41]  Wow. What a story, D. You still even get better.

[32:44]  Face the fears and and just try to push through. And I'm blessed. I'm blessed with a lot of people that have been very great to me. Uh it helped me pick me up in the morning, bring me to meetings. Uh the organization also helped me with like Uber and Lift now. So, it makes it a lot easier if there's something I have to get to and I can't find another way.

[33:03]  What an amazing story, Don. Like, you just became even more amazing. like you were already amazing, but now to just know that like that's a story in itself to tell because

[33:12]  people probably feel that not being able to drive holds them back, right?

[33:16]  And it doesn't. You are a true testament to say it does not.

[33:20]  Like do not let that stop you from going and achieve. Wow, Donald,

[33:25]  keep pushing forward.

[33:26]  Hell yeah. Hell yeah. No, that that's actually really cool, man. Because now it also shows how much uh why you have such a big heart

[33:35]  because as you mentioned there was people that helped me get to the space. I didn't do this on my own, right? There was people that helped me that, you know, brought me where I needed to be that motivated me that that poured into you. Who, matter of fact, who are those people outside of your your wife and children? Who's the individuals pouring into you all these years?

[33:53]  I think the biggest one first was Mr. Manoring. So I I was very young when I started working at the restaurant. Um and uh he actually kind of gave me confidence and and things like that. I mean my my dad died when I was 14 so he's like you're struggling like what's this all about type of stuff. Um he was probably one of the first ones because he gave me hope and and and and a job. Um, and then when I was at college, to reward him, I would come home one weekend a month. I would leave at 10:00 at night, take the bus, get into Albany at 5:00 a.m. Sometimes I would shower, sometimes I wouldn't. Sorry, folks. I would run right to the restaurant and work all weekend because it gave him the opportunity to be off at the weekend, catch the bus on Sunday night, and be back to class on Monday. And, uh, he, you know, he would pay me, he would buy my bus ticket. He was great. Um, I think actually Hans was a great mentor. Me and him worked together for for 20ome years. Uh, he was a former he was my CEO, chief operating officer and CEO here. I think there's a whole host of them. I I don't know if I can even start rattling.

[35:06]  I love I love your work ethic that you mentioned like you don't see that work ethic enough, right? That I'm going to go and help my boss. I'm going to go on the weekend. I'm going to do that. And that that was me too, man. I I just love to um I love to work. I'd love to help,

[35:22]  you know? So, and it's like we don't see that enough, right? And as leaders, we definitely tried to pour that into others. It's like um don't think that it's just going to happen overnight. This takes a lot of dedication, a lot of work, a lot of confidence that you mentioned. That's one of the biggest things. First things you mentioned was confidence, confident in who you are. Um understanding it's not going to happen overnight. It does take those baby steps, right? uh crawl uh walk run and that's what we've had to do in these industries and look where it led you to Donald. This is truly amazing. I love the story. The story just got

[35:52]  no task is beneath us. You know, I I'll you know

[35:57]  we got to take the garbage out. I'll be in the rotation. Yeah.

[36:00]  Listen, I was a general manager still cleaning bathrooms. Like letting my staff know like, hey, if I take clean the bathroom, it's because we all clean the bathroom. Okay? There's not one better than the other here. If I'm cleaning the bathrooms, that means you can clean the bathrooms as well.

[36:13]  Exactly. Um, I love this. I love this conversation. And I ask you, how can listeners continue to support ARC's mission locally or even nationally?

[36:20]  I think it's very important to advocate for individuals. We get a lot of our funding, unfortunately, from Medicaid. I know it's a dirty word, uh, in some circles, um, but there's a lot of good that comes out of Medicaid and what we do, but also opening up job opportunities. So, we can't shut off the faucets of Medicaid if we're not going to then hire someone with a disability and give them a shot. um or you know being open to you know people with disabilities to come into your communities and work and do other things. Um advocating and and listening to our stories, you know, it's all just about money and fundraising. Sometimes I'll hold events and just talk to CEOs and other business partners just to talk, not even really ask for anything, just to kind of learn about each other. Like, you know, we really should learn more about what's going on in our community. Uh, and there's empowering ways that we can help. There's, you were talking earlier about companies. We we deal with a group here locally and they do document scanning. Um, and 70% of their individuals they hire with disabilities and it's like a perfect job for them because it's, you know, they're focused on what they can do and they and they and they do it. So, it's finding that task that someone can do uh that would allow them to have a better life and a better future and give. They they don't want to be taken from society either, you know. I I always tell a story that John, the same individual I talked with, when he became an employee, he started making money now, right? And we're having a fundraiser and uh he came to me, he's like, "I don't want a free ticket. I want to buy my ticket." He goes, "Whatever the prices, whatever everyone else pays." And and then he that night he was going around telling everyone, a couple people come up. He's like, "He's telling everyone what he paid." I said, "Yeah, because he wants you to know he's got a freebie tonight. He's one of you."

[38:06]  I love it. I love it. Um, where's the website? Are you guys on website? I would love for people to really see what's going on. Are you guys on social media? What's the website?

[38:16]  Social media. Facebook is probably more popular in Instagram. We're aren't county. Our website is renarch.org. You could probably find the link from there. Um, we're doing a lot with social media these days to kind of highlight different stories and different things what people are doing. Uh there's probably an arc in every county uh in New York and across the state and uh it's a great organization that was started by parents uh that wanted their kids included in society uh and we still push that mission today.

[38:47]  I love it. Well, Donald, listen, we got to start wrapping it up, but I do have a question that I just curated in my head after you told me some life stories. So I'm you said your your father passed away at an early age but I can imagine that you are a big believer that your dad has been with you still this whole time looking down on you. What do you what do you think your dad is most proud of?

[39:07]  I think probably the way I carry myself. He was humble and kind as well. He actually worked three jobs. Um he was an accountant, a bookkeeper. Um I I think it's probably he was very religious man. It's it's probably being humble and kind to people. um working hard. I know he always buried hard work.

[39:29]  So listen, you're still you're still what's the beautiful part is I feel like you're still um carrying your dad's legacy.

[39:35]  Thank you.

[39:36]  In a way, right? Uh the hardworking, the never giving up, providing for his family no matter what the obstacles were. You've overcame adversity. you know, even losing a parent so early on, we all have a choice in life to to to make and some make different decisions. You know, I I am one that been sexually abused, adopted, bological mom has um 10 kids, bological father has eight kids, and statistically I probably shouldn't be across the table from Donald, right? Statistically, you probably shouldn't be across the table from from Ephrain. But that we've made the best decisions in our lives to not only better ourselves, but to better people. And I think that's the beauty of of of life. You know, I'll tell you uh what my wife did. A lot of times when we have um we got two young kids, so of course the kids start growing older, you start getting rid of toys to get more toys, unfortunately. But um we will normally just take it to Goodwill and that's easy, right? However, Goodwill takes these belongings, they resell them sometimes at prices that are outrageous. So my wife was like, "Hey, should I just take it to like Goodwill or should I take a consignment shop?" And I was like, "How about we just donate it to like a woman shelter?"

[40:40]  And she we drove. Well, she drove. I was with her, but she drove 40 minutes away and she took like all these books and all these clothes

[40:47]  and the kids were in the car. So, she asked the ladies outside, "Hey, can you help me take these? My kids are in the car and I would, you know, it's kind of hard." So, it was mothers that were in this program that helped her. And as they're looking at it, the response was like, "Oh my god, thank you. I hope that my kid gets to, you know, read some of these books."

[41:03]  Wow. And it's like, man, like

[41:06]  to know that everyone's in a situation

[41:09]  life, when life is lifing, it doesn't matter the skin color, the the race, the sex, it doesn't matter all that.

[41:16]  When life is lifing, a lot of us will see rock bottom. And no matter where you're at, and I've seen people with a master's degree hit rock bottom, pick themselves back up, and go into an organization, that same organization that helped them get back on their feet and become directors of those organizations. So, I love that you always pushed the limit and still pushing the limit

[41:39]  because it's not about us, Donald, and you know that. It's about the people that we serve. It's about the time that we have here on this earth that God has blessed us with

[41:47]  to just make a difference. And I you you've heard this before. I can only imagine if we leave here and we just change one person's life, we left life better than what we found it.

[41:56]  That's right. Absolutely.

[41:58]  So, I love it. I love I love Donald who you are as as a human, as a man more important than anything. Um, and just thank you. Thank you for being so honest and so real in this conversation.

[42:08]  Thanks for having me on here. Appreciate.

[42:10]  Yeah. Well, Donald, do you have a blind question for the next leader that you would like to share?

[42:14]  Uh, so, uh, as I told throughout my thing, storytelling is very important. And uh it kind of gets to our what, you know, so when the path gets dark uh and you need a light, what story do you turn back on?

[42:30]  That's a hell of a That's Yeah, you're definitely a storyteller. That's a good one, Donald. That's a good question. I love it. I can't wait to ask that. Well, Donald, thank you so much, guys. If you guys are still watching, make sure you guys do like, subscribe, and comment. Also, check out what Donald is doing. Are you on LinkedIn, Donald?

[42:44]  I am. I am on LinkedIn. Yeah.

[42:46]  All right. All right, if you guys want to connect with him directly, make sure you guys check out his LinkedIn. If not, you guys just want to know what the organization is doing, check out the website. Make sure you guys check out the social medias. As he's mentioned, Facebook is probably where they're sharing a lot of the insights that's happening on the back end and how maybe how you can continue to stay engaged. There's so many people I can imagine are watching from New York City. Um, Donald is in New York. Okay, so make sure you guys show some love. My name is Era. This is Donald. We'll catch you guys on the next one. Lers.

[43:12]  Thanks a lot. Have a good night.