Fatima Bey: 0:02

This is Mind Shift Power Podcast, the number one critically acclaimed podcast where we have raw, unfiltered conversations that shape tomorrow. I'm your host, Fatima Bay, the Mind Shifter. And welcome everyone. Today we have with us Angela Calzone, and she is out of New Jersey in the USA. She is the president and CEO of Inroads for Opportunities. And we're going to talk at length about that today. How are you today, Angela? I'm very good. How are you? I'm great. So tell us, what is Inroads for Opportunities?

Angela Calzone: 0:43

So Inroads is located, as you said, in New Jersey. And we are a nonprofit organization, been around for about 67 years, and we support individuals with disabilities to achieve their most success and live their best lives, whether it is through work, whether it is through life enrichment and socializing, whether it's through mental health supports. We are here for ages 14 and up, right through retirement, and we meet them where they are, and we are here in terms of training and vocational services. Um we just, you know, we want people to live their best lives. So what kind of people do you help again? We help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We also assist people who have uh mental health challenges. Um that could be anyone from those who have autism to Down syndrome to physical challenges like cerebral palsy, um, folks that are um schizophrenic, who have bipolar disorder, other mental health challenges. We are an open campus, we are open minds, and if someone has a disability that they need support in terms of living their best lives, that's what we're here for. Oh, so you help those other people, those other people in society, right? Unfortunately, that's that's how it's viewed a lot of times, you know, those people. But I'm here to tell you that we are not those people. We are all people. And we are as much a part of the community as anybody else.

Fatima Bey: 2:34

So what did you do before uh becoming the president and CEO of Inroads?

Angela Calzone: 2:40

I actually haven't worked for a nonprofit organization before. I actually worked as a serial entrepreneur. I have owned several different types of businesses. I um worked in financial services and accounting firms and law firms and um what I like to say as selling intangibles. And those are, you know, doing a lot of marketing for uh services as opposed to products. So I always had my eye on all the things that I would learn uh in my volunteer life, I would try and apply the business acumen. Uh so you know, I learned about marketing and advertising and organization development and human resources and technology. And, you know, I had a wonderful, amazing career. In fact, at some point I even opened up my own consultancy, uh, which was an extraordinary experience. So I learned how to really help businesses be all that they can be, even businesses that needed to be turned around, that were facing um, you know, bankruptcy or or challenges within their market. And every bit of knowledge and education and experience that I garnered, I knew at some point in my life was going to be used for a greater good. I just didn't think my entire career was going to be spent making rich people richer. Um, I always had a volunteer life. I was involved with uh battered women, uh homeless, animal rights and advocacy. So I always had that part of me that was giving back and being there to support uh underserved or marginalized, um, worked a lot in women's rights. So uh when I had my consultancy, I guess it was about 10 or 15 years ago, you know, we would do things like strategic planning and workforce development training and um leadership development. And my business partner at the time came from social services. I didn't have any exposure to that. So I took a lot of our for-profit clients and I worked with them, and he worked with a number of the nonprofit clients that we had. And there was a day that he couldn't make an appointment because he was sick. So he sent me to this place in Roselle, New Jersey, and I was gonna be meeting with their leadership team. And have you ever walked into a place and you've never been there before, but it felt so much like home, and it felt like I was gonna have a relationship with this place or these people or something for the rest of my life. Well, over the next 10 to 12 years I did. I uh saw the transition of two different CEOs here. I helped them change the name from the occupational center of Union County to Inroads to Opportunities. I was here for every strategic plan. I served on the board for a short time. This place became my second home in a lot of ways. It just felt so right being here. Um and then I was speaking with the previous CEO. She talked about her pending retirement and that this position was going to be open. And there wasn't a thought in anybody's mind, including mine, that it should be anybody else but me. We made that transition. It was like I was always meant to be here. And so here I am, and God willing, I will see out the rest of my career here. And um I'm home. I'm finally home.

Fatima Bey: 6:41

So I'm gonna extract some of some certain points from from the story that you just gave. So you started off very successful in what I would just generally in general terms call corporate America. And uh for that's just an easier term for everyone to understand. But then you found that you had some transferable skills with a passion that you didn't know you had until you encountered it. Would that be a correct way to describe it? Most definitely. And the reason I say it that way is because many, this so this shows for teens. Many teens out there think that they have to have it, they have to go at one thing. And sometimes the adults are teaching them that. So they think that they have to get it right and just do one thing for the rest of your life. And that is almost never true. And sometimes you find your passion, you know, by accident or not even on purpose, or just walking into it. And you realize, oh my God, I actually really enjoy this. And there's so many skills that are transferable because everything you just said you were doing, you're actually doing now, just in a very different way. Um let's talk about now. I just I very abruptly, you know, intentionally said, oh, those other people. And obviously that's a very obnoxious and rude way to think of people, but that is a reality of how some people actually think when they think of people with disabilities. So, what do you think society still gets wrong about the word disability? I I think a few things.

Angela Calzone: 8:12

I think first, when we uh encounter anyone, I I think the way our brains operate is we're surveying and summing that person up. And we are looking at their differences and we are identifying the things about them that are not like us. So when you have an individual who has a disability, uh, I think that's the first thing that comes to mind is that they are so different from us. Um and then all of those biases and prejudices and preconceived notions just sort of come to bear. Those are all the things that we've just sort of systemically learned from society about those people. Um and I and I think that really sort of hurts the fact that we are all an integrated community, um, but we still, after all this time and all this talk, still don't see each other like that.

Fatima Bey: 9:15

Yes. Let me ask you I want to ask you a very particular question, because I think this is something people still don't get. So a person has a mental disability, they're autistic, or one of the other categories where we just consider them with a mental uh mental processing disability. Does that mean that that person still doesn't have feelings, that they don't still, that they can't still have uh be sarcastic or be a smart aleck or uh ha you know have hurt feelings just like the rest of us?

Angela Calzone: 9:47

Right. Absolutely right. No, that doesn't preclude them from anything human. You know, we we force the language uh in our education of people that we are people with disabilities. And the emphasis is not on the disability, it's on the fact that we are people with disabilities. Just like we are people who have blonde hair, we are people who are African American, we are people who identify as male. So we are people first, and that's I think what is the point that gets missed the most is by being a person, by being people with, right, we still have all of those attributes and characteristics of a human being. We have feelings, we have emotions, we have likes and dislikes, we have desires and dreams and goals. And we all go about achieving those desires and dreams and goals differently. We all we all go about engaging in relationships differently. So we we really have to do a better job of not not tolerating each other. It's not about tolerance, it's really about embracing each other. Because as people with blonde hair, as people with brown eyes, as people with schizophrenia, we all have something to contribute. We just happen to have these specific characteristics, these specific uh challenges, maybe a physical disability, maybe a mental disability, maybe a learning or processing disability. Yes. But you know, the truth of the matter is the way we're composed as human beings, we're not perfect in every way. So all of us have something that we've got to overcome. All of us have some kind of a challenge that we need to, you know, hone that skill or, you know, just do a better job at the way we express our emotions. So everybody has something. I think when we start to recognize that we can we can kind of let that arm's length, those people mentality finally be put to rest.

Fatima Bey: 12:15

Yes, and I completely agree. I'm gonna tell just a small little story here that um that really just goes with this. So I I've taught I've taught sewing, used to teach sewing, and there was this, and I would do private lessons, and there's this one woman, uh, she calls herself mentally retarded because that is what she grew up being called because she was older. That's not the word we use now, but that and I don't know what her diagnosis was. I never asked. But um, but you know, she would it, I it's hard to teach someone like that sewing. I have zero training on working with people with disabilities at all. But I do not care. Work with you, whatever. I've always been that way. So at my old job, they used to give me anybody that was difficult, they would give them to me because I knew I could handle it. So this woman was uh, you know, you'd have to repeat yourself a lot, and I would just slow it down. I just the same thing I do with anybody, whether they have disability or not. I figure out how you think and I work with that. And the thing is, this woman was, I liked her because she was spunky, spicy, and she had an attitude. And see, what most people would do is they would, I would address her attitude and I would call her out on her BS as well. Because I'm like, now you have you you're you have a mental disability as far as slower to process certain things, but you know what you're doing, girl. So and I would, you know, and and she was uh she would be sarcastic and stuff, and and that's what it kind of was her sense of humor. And I like that about her because she didn't allow that to stop her from having a personality. And I hate that, I hate it, I can't stand it, that once people have the term disability labeled to them or attached to them, oh, now that means that they just they don't have a personality, they don't have dreams, they don't have goals, they're just a person who's existing and breathing. And that's never true. They're still just as human as the rest of us. They may process things differently because of stuff going on in their brains, but that doesn't make them any less than the rest of us when it comes to everything else. And I I'm off my soapbox, I just wanted to add that. So that's great.

Angela Calzone: 14:22

Because I know to your point, though, you know, that's how that's the best teachers and the best trainers, right? And the best facilitators and mentors and coaches meet you where you are. Absolutely. Really, that's that's what we do. We that's what we do at Inroads. We meet you where you are. We talk about your life goals, we talk about whether or not you want to be employed, if that's a part of your goal plan for your life. We talk about what kind of living you want to do. Do you want to live independently? Do you feel more secure living in a group environment? You know, we just we just want to be here to facilitate what your plan for your life is.

Fatima Bey: 15:07

And I love that. Now, when it comes to people with disabilities, the reason I keep talking about this mindset with people with disabilities is because it is, even though we've done, you know, at least in the US, we've we've really come a long way with how we think of people with disabilities. But just because we've started on the road doesn't mean we've arrived yet. And I think that this conversation is still so absolutely necessary because if we don't change our mindsets, then we're not really changing anything. So let me ask you this: what is the invisible cost to communities, to workplaces, to humanity when people with disabilities are left out of the workforce?

Angela Calzone: 15:41

I I think it's multifaceted. I think, just from the basics of a workforce, that you are, as an employer or a business owner, you're missing out on a population that statistically has great loyalty and commitment uh to the workplace. Um these are folks that are motivated and very desirous of being a part of a work community. And so, as such, they often go above and beyond, you know, to show their value, to show their participation and and loyalty and commitment to a job and doing a job well. Um and I think when people with disabilities or any uh marginalized population is overlooked in the workplace or um, you know, uh not invited uh into a into an environment where we're doing, you know, work, um, I think it has an economic impact. I think it has a cultural impact as well. Because, you know, missing out on a certain population because there's a a disability, uh, it ends up costing the workplace in terms of ideation, creativity. Um I I I just, you know, it is sort of endless. The things that you miss out when you don't give a person or a group of people an opportunity to have a seat at the table, um, there's a whole lot of conversation that doesn't take place. There's a whole lot of creativity that's missed, a whole lot of productivity that your business won't realize. So um, you know, I think it behooves business owners and and uh hiring managers to consider this population.

Fatima Bey: 17:38

I want to add on top of that, we variety is a spice of life. I know we've all heard that, but it really is actually true. And the key thing that you just said, we miss out on conversations we could have had. Everybody comes in seeing something you don't, period. Right, period, including people with disabilities. They they see and notice things that the rest of us maybe aren't seeing because we're looking at other stuff. You know, just the same way a short person sees stuff that a tall person doesn't, you know, different viewpoints. Right. And um and and no matter what category you put somebody in or where they're from, they're always gonna see something you don't. And I I to me, to me, that's what I think of when I think of the biggest value is you don't know what you're actually missing that they may point out that you need to see, because you don't see everything. None of us do. Um let me ask you this. So if we were to change, what is the what let me ask you this? What does the world look like? If we were to go ahead and upgrade our thinking to see people with disabilities as more than just that label, but see them as people and see what they can bring to the table versus what they don't, how would that change our society and our schools, our workplaces, the culture itself? What would that look like?

Angela Calzone: 18:58

Right. I I I think it starts with um we'd see a lot more compassion. I think we would see a lot more peace, uh a lot more intelligent and meaningful conversations that would be taking place, um empathy, sympathy. Um I I I think it would be a gentle, wonderful world. You know, starting right with within families, starting with, you know, young people in school, I think we would eliminate bullying because, you know, bullying is based on fear of differences. I think that has been researched uh to to an to ad nausea. And, you know, bullying typically you're picking on someone who is different from you. And it's usually because, you know, you fear that person or uh you can't seem to tolerate the difference, or you see something in them that you know about in yourself that you really dislike about yourself. So I think if we were to learn how to embrace our similarities and our differences, regardless of what the exterior looks like, regardless of how well we see or hear, regardless of what um, you know, the how slow we speak, how quickly we speak, or how quickly we learn. If we can set all of that aside and just appreciate what each person brings to the table, because there's plenty that each person brings to the table regardless, um, I think we would be living really almost nirvana. It would be heaven on earth.

Fatima Bey: 20:52

I I you know, I I completely agree with what you're saying in that it kind of goes back to what I was just uh saying before. If when you I want to uh point out one thing that you said about the deep conversations, that's not the way you said it, but that's the way I'm wording it right now. The deeper, more intelligent conversations that we're not having are causing more problems than they would solve. And and you know, go back, listeners, and hear what I said twice, because I worded it that way on purpose. When we don't have those deep conversations, there's bigger problems that are not being solved. Um, and the other key thing I think is patience. We don't like patience because we have to wait for it. But patience, when we work with people that are different than us, patience is something that is developed and strengthened. And patience is what wise people use to get ahead in life. It's one of the tools of a wise person is patience. And when we just want Everything quick, and we don't want to work with anybody. We don't want to take the time when we have to explain something slower because someone's um their mental development is slower, so you have to explain it differently. That requires patience. And sometimes it's I know I've watched people work with uh people with disabilities of all kinds and communities, and Angela, I I know you can speak to this. I think one of the key things that I see amongst all of them is patience. Am I right?

Angela Calzone: 22:29

Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, it's interesting because when you work with individuals with disabilities, and to your point, you may have to break something that you're teaching them down into very bite-sized pieces, or, you know, maybe you have to use pictures and drawings because of their inability to learn how to read. Um I think as we learn patience with others, we learn patience with ourselves too. Yes.

Fatima Bey: 23:07

Key thing, Angela. You are so right. And that was very deep statement. You're a thousand percent right. That's the biggest thing that we can get out of having working with people that are different than us. And this goes beyond just people with disabilities, actually. It requires patience to work with someone who is from Russia and has a different cultural mindset when it comes to dealing with work situations or Vietnam or whatever. And and and I I've actually done that. I've actually done all of that. Um, and you have to have a certain type of patience in order to take the time to try to understand people versus you don't fit into this box that I want right now, so get out my face, which is sometimes the attitude that people have. It's wrong, but it it's it's reality. Um, but when you're right and that patience with ourselves, oh my God, does that have gigantic implications in our personal lives when we get to the point where we can be patient with others and then we learn how to be patient with ourselves? Because sometimes people don't realize that that that's part of the problem, is that you're impatient with yourself. Um that was that was a deep statement. And I want I want your listeners to really think about what she just said with that. So, Angela, what advice do you have? Because this is an international podcast for youth. What advice do you have for all of the youth in the world today?

Angela Calzone: 24:29

I think I would I would advise young people to be mindful. And we throw that word around a lot, and I don't know that everybody really understands what it means. It means sometimes to just sit quiet. It means sometimes not to be addicted to the next big thing, the next trend, the next whatever's on TikTok. And it's sometimes it just, you know, I'm a lot older. And in the 1970s, we used to say, uh, turn off and tune in. And what that basically means is just take a step away from everything and be alone with your thoughts. And you'd be surprised how well you connect to the rest of the world when you're just quiet for a moment. And when you're quiet for a moment and your computer's not running, and your eyes aren't looking at all of these uh quick flicks and reels and things like that, you're you're listening. Your mouth isn't going, your eyes aren't distracted, there isn't noise all around you. It's peaceful, it's quiet. Be mindful and listen.

Fatima Bey: 25:46

You're absolutely right. Unfortunately, I think sometimes that's the very thing that many of them are scared of. And not just our youth. Right, right. But you're 100% right. Um, being mindful is very the true meaning of mindful, not the way people throw it around. Because the true meaning mindful is what you is is what you just said. Um and and yeah, that's so important. So I love what you do. Uh, you could probably hear my passion in some of it. Um, but how can people support you?

Angela Calzone: 26:18

Well, the best way is to visit our website, which is inroads2to.org, and uh you will see all of the programs and services we provide. There's a ton of great photographs of all the activities and events that we have. And of course, as a nonprofit, we rely on donations. Um there is a donate button, and you can support us in any way possible. We certainly appreciate that.

Fatima Bey: 26:48

And the uh the link will be in the description. Now, for everyone listening, Angela won't say this, but I'm gonna say it for her because I've we've we've had a lot of conversation off air. And this woman is genuine, she's really genuine in what she's doing. She's not just doing it because she needs a paycheck, she really genuinely cares about the people that she that she watches over. I've watched her interact with her staff. She you actually cares about people and not just has a title. So if you can, and I when I see that I respect it because it's not as common as it should be. So uh I'm asking all of you listeners if you could please go to inroads.org and and support uh because I want you to I want to leave you with this mind shift audience. If there was a group like this, what if it was your brother or sister? Would you want to support it? Thank you, Angela. Thank you, Fatima. Thank you. And now for a mind shifting moment. I want to take a moment to focus on one of the underlying principles throughout this entire episode, and that is how do you treat people who are different than you? This goes way beyond a conversation about people with disabilities. People with disabilities are different than you. So are people who are black and you're white, so are people who are Chinese and you're Ukrainian. Whatever the differences are. Let me ask you this. Is there difference their entire definition? Is that all that they are? You're black and they're white. Is that all they are is black? You're Chinese and they're Japanese. Is that all they are is Japanese? Whatever your differences are, I want you to flip the switch. And next time you see someone who's drastically different than you, I want you to look for the commonalities. Take your focus from what's different to what's shared. Just think about it. You've been listening to Mind Shift Power Podcast for complete show notes on this episode, and to join our global movement, find us at fatimabay.com. Until next time, always remember there's power in shifting your thinking.