Life, Love, and Inclusion

Learn more about Lisa Anderson Media: https://www.lisaandersonmedia.com/

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00:00:00:22 - 00:00:16:17

J.V. Featherstone

And I feel like once you attend an event where you see over 100 deaf people in the room, you're like, Oh. Where have you been all this time? [Yeah.] And I'm like, We're here. We just go places where we know we're welcome.

00:00:16:17 - 00:00:41:02

Lisa Anderson

Welcome, everybody, to the Locala podcast. This is Lisa Anderson, your host and publisher of Locala magazine. I'm super excited today because we have a JV Featherstone who is the owner of Hands Up Communications. And we also have his interpreter, who is Bill Ross, the V.P. of Hands Up Communications. And Bill is sitting next to me here interpreting for JV.

00:00:41:17 - 00:00:48:16

Lisa Anderson

So I'm super excited to have him and get this conversation rolling. So welcome to the podcast, JV.

00:00:49:23 - 00:00:51:08

J.V. Featherstone

Thank you. I'm very excited to be here.

00:00:51:18 - 00:01:11:22

Lisa Anderson

Well, I'm certainly excited to have you. So I usually like to start everybody off with just asking about your business and all that because it kind of relaxes you before we dive into your childhood and all of that good stuff. So how long have you been the owner of Hands Up because you recently took over, is that correct?

00:01:12:18 - 00:01:16:02

J.V. Featherstone

Yes, actually, I acquired the company four weeks ago.

00:01:16:13 - 00:01:18:02

Lisa Anderson

Four weeks ago. Oh, wow.

00:01:18:06 - 00:01:28:21

J.V. Featherstone

Yeah. January 1st. [Okay.] A brand new baby owner. I'm very excited. We're a multi-lingual interpreting company and that's what I've acquired.

00:01:29:09 - 00:01:36:08

Lisa Anderson

Oh, fantastic. So what gave you the desire to acquire a company like this?

00:01:37:23 - 00:01:58:23

J.V. Featherstone

Well, there are several reasons, actually. I would say that I have always worked with interpreters my entire life. Obviously, that's something that's important to me. It's been my experience being around interpreters, and I understood the interpreting profession very well. I have a personal connection, obviously, and I thought it'd be fun to own my own interpreting agency.

00:01:59:16 - 00:02:12:17

J.V. Featherstone

I do think that the experience that I've had has really helped what I liked and disliked. I would bring to that table and figure out what I wanted to do. I've helped three other interpreter agencies actually get off the ground to get going.

00:02:13:07 - 00:02:13:19

Lisa Anderson

Really?

00:02:15:14 - 00:02:35:18

J.V. Featherstone

And I thought to myself, I think it's my turn. I think I can do this. I have my own desires. I want to make my own agency. And so and that was another one of my reasons. And I've always wanted to be big at my own company, be my own businessman. My father has this company and my brothers have their own companies.

00:02:36:02 - 00:02:47:10

J.V. Featherstone

And I've seen there are ups and downs. I know this, but the ability to work with people, you know, the ideas, the brainstorming. I like all of that.

00:02:47:14 - 00:02:58:09

Lisa Anderson

Yeah, that's fantastic. And you're right, the business does have its many ups and downs for sure. So. So what kind of companies do do your father and brother own?

00:03:01:22 - 00:03:14:22

J.V. Featherstone

My dad, he runs an advertising company. Well, maybe that's not the right word. So companies will contact him and ask him or say, ‘Can you make a commercial for us?’

00:03:15:00 - 00:03:20:04

Lisa Anderson

Okay. So, like a commercial marketing company? Mm hmm. Yeah. Kind of.

00:03:20:09 - 00:03:41:02

J.V. Featherstone

Typically, companies that are kind of not as exciting, like insurance companies. And it's different because today Facebook is. Is there. [Yeah.] My dad predates Facebook and all of that. [Okay.] So he would do all the filming in the directoring and then give them all of the finished products that they would use for their own TV spots.

00:03:41:03 - 00:03:41:11

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:03:41:12 - 00:04:04:10

J.V. Featherstone

So he's made several movies as well. [Oh, wow.] He's written a book. So that was his area of expertise. That was his company. [Okay.] My brother, on the other hand, brothers. One is a modern advertising company, advertisement company, utilizing social media at Facebook, etc.. [Mm hmm.] But the other one does more more direction directing and production like my father did.

00:04:04:13 - 00:04:13:03

Lisa Anderson

Okay. Okay. So they kind of both branched off in their own way from your father's company. Yeah. And you went way the other way.

00:04:13:23 - 00:04:15:18

J.V. Featherstone

Opposite direction. [Opposite. Yup.]

00:04:16:10 - 00:04:23:08

Lisa Anderson

Perfect. Well, tell me about a little bit about where you grew up. And are you originally from the Ocala area?

00:04:24:00 - 00:04:48:04

J.V. Featherstone

No. I'm not. So I was born in Utah. [Okay.] I was raised in Salt Lake City, right next to the mountains. Like, literally, my house is, you know, at the mouth of a canyon. So, like, I grew up with the mountains every day, playing in the mountains, running in the mountains, doing that. I was born deaf, though, so.

00:04:48:04 - 00:05:11:04

J.V. Featherstone

And I have five brothers, so I'm the second of six boys. Wow. My mom tried six times, have a girl. And I think at some point they finally, just after six, we are done with this. But but the interesting thing is, is that three of the boys are deaf and three us can hear. And it's like a coin toss, honestly, because it like, oh, this one's deaf.

00:05:11:04 - 00:05:23:00

J.V. Featherstone

This one’s hearing. It wasn't like alternating like the first one was hearing. And the next two were deaf and then the last two you could hear. And then the very last one is deaf.

00:05:23:09 - 00:05:23:22

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:05:24:23 - 00:05:30:08

J.V. Featherstone

And so there's no history of deafness in our family. And genetically, it just.

00:05:30:08 - 00:05:32:04

Lisa Anderson

That was my next question, you know.

00:05:32:22 - 00:05:57:15

J.V. Featherstone

And in a way, that's kind of fun because it helped us to be more inclusive of signing and have a much greater awareness about what deafness means. [Yeah.] I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Then I moved to New York for a couple of years for service mission that I did. And then I came back, graduated from BYU and are you familiar with BYU?

00:05:58:15 - 00:06:15:18

J.V. Featherstone

It's a small private university. [Okay.] And after I graduated with my bachelor's degree, I met my wife. I love my life and my wife and we have two kids and we both decided to go that I should go on to get my master's degree. So I went to the University of Florida in Jacksonville.

00:06:16:01 - 00:06:16:12

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:06:16:19 - 00:06:20:09

J.V. Featherstone

And I got the degree in interpreting pedagogy.

00:06:21:19 - 00:06:24:13

Lisa Anderson

What is that?

00:06:24:13 - 00:06:27:11

J.V. Featherstone

I can teach interpreters how to become interpreters or.

00:06:27:13 - 00:06:27:18

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:06:27:20 - 00:06:29:03

J.V. Featherstone

I can teach People, how to become an interpreter.

00:06:29:06 - 00:06:29:13

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:06:30:06 - 00:06:54:08

J.V. Featherstone

And that was my degree. And then I began working as a teacher in the beginning, and then I switched, became more focused in sales, marketing, that kind of thing. So software product, product production companies. And then I started working with interpreter agencies, and then I'm finally here and my two kids are nine and seven.

00:06:54:10 - 00:07:12:09

Lisa Anderson

Okay, okay, fantastic. So what would you say your biggest challenges growing up? Because if you lived in a family that had multiple deaf relatives in it, that must have made it much easier at home. However, what was it like for you out…? Yes and no?

00:07:12:09 - 00:07:18:01

J.V. Featherstone

In the family it was tough because English is the natural language of my family.

00:07:18:03 - 00:07:18:11

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:07:20:01 - 00:07:41:06

J.V. Featherstone

It's the easiest language that they use and sometimes they just talk without signing. And I'm not faulting anyone of my family. Yeah, it's just the natural outcome. When you tell a joke in English, it's easy just to say the joke. For example, like at the dinner table we'd all be talking and they would all start signing at the beginning, of course.

00:07:42:02 - 00:07:54:16

J.V. Featherstone

But as the meal progressed, someone would make a comment in English and then someone would respond to that comment. And then before you know, it spirals out of control and it's an English dialog.

00:07:55:00 - 00:07:55:10

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:07:56:09 - 00:08:18:01

J.V. Featherstone

And we’re the three deaf brothers are going, what's going on? What's so funny? Why is everybody laughing? That was a frustration and something that we experience in my own home. But in the real world, I think it's just access, access to everything. I have always felt like I was behind the news or the information that was going on for …

00:08:18:08 - 00:08:45:13

J.V. Featherstone

For example, I attended what we call a mainstream program where you learn to have to speak and listen and you really focus on watching what people say and how they say it. But in seventh grade, I went to a mainstream program, a general regular public school, just like for any other kid. [Yeah.] I obviously had special accommodations that were meant for me and my family thought, you know, I'll be okay, I'll be great.

00:08:45:13 - 00:09:04:23

J.V. Featherstone

You know, I was thinking to myself, I could do this. You know, I can do this. And then I started getting in classes, into classes, and my grades just went downhill from there. I was getting D's, C’s F's, and they were like, Well, he's deaf. It's not his fault. And so they would accommodate me in ways that I shouldn't have been accommodated on to raise my grades.

00:09:05:05 - 00:09:15:16

J.V. Featherstone

[Yeah] And I couldn't show people that I was capable. But in ninth grade I had my first experience with the sign language interpreter and beginning that year I started getting A's.

00:09:15:22 - 00:09:18:18

Lisa Anderson

Oh, fantastic. Yeah.

00:09:18:18 - 00:09:21:13

J.V. Featherstone

And so again, it was all about having access to information.

00:09:21:13 - 00:09:22:16

Lisa Anderson

Yeah, absolutely.

00:09:23:05 - 00:09:47:12

J.V. Featherstone

And that's what I was missing. And so now when I go out into the world, as you call it, when people say no to me, I will always be behind. And I don't mean like I'm not able to do it. It's about an access situation. [Right.] I don't have access, so I'm already at a disadvantage. And sometimes I go, uh, it's not worth the fight and work in the working world was very difficult.

00:09:47:12 - 00:10:07:14

J.V. Featherstone

I've worked in two different jobs where I tried to work really hard to get promoted and move up. But it's really about who you know and not based on what you know. And communication is a part of who you know. [Yeah.] And I didn't have those relationships again because inaccessible environments. So I didn't have an opportunity to grow in that way.

00:10:07:19 - 00:10:17:20

J.V. Featherstone

[Yeah.] I didn't really get it at first. And then I began to realize that this is what all that people go through because we can't interact and converse. We face that same barrier. It's tough. [Yeah.]

00:10:18:06 - 00:10:35:03

Lisa Anderson

Yeah. I think people misunderstand to what access is for you because we see shows like if you say The West Wing where they had the deaf woman on there, but she always had an interpreter wherever she went. But that's not the case usually.

00:10:35:03 - 00:10:45:05

J.V. Featherstone

No, I wish. I wish we had the money to do that. I was like was, [Yeah] a millionaire. I would hire my personal chief interpreter, you know, and they would be with me all the time. But that's not the real world.

00:10:45:06 - 00:10:53:07

Lisa Anderson

Yeah, that's not the real world. So how long did it take you to get your master's degree?

00:10:53:07 - 00:10:55:15

J.V. Featherstone

I was done two years.

00:10:55:15 - 00:10:56:01

Lisa Anderson

Yeah.

00:10:56:23 - 00:11:09:14

J.V. Featherstone

But my program, when I first entered the program, they were not ready for a deaf person. But all the person's teaching knew sign language. So we were being ASL became the primary language of instruction.

00:11:09:19 - 00:11:10:18

Lisa Anderson

Okay. Okay.

00:11:11:11 - 00:11:37:02

J.V. Featherstone

So they were immediately I mean, it's funny because my colleagues, all of them were interpreters already. [Yeah] but their primary language was still English. [Yeah] American Sign Language was their second language. And so we did a lot of reading in English, but the instruction dialog was in American Sign Language, and I could tell that many of them were struggling with that because it's not their primary language.

00:11:37:05 - 00:11:37:13

Lisa Anderson

Yeah.

00:11:38:01 - 00:11:53:03

J.V. Featherstone

But I was like, okay, let's go. I'm feeling great. [Yeah!] And that's what I've gone through my whole life. [Yes] that's what I talk about. [Yeah.] Finally had it. I mean, you were only doing this for two years. I've gone eight years. I think we're fair.

00:11:53:08 - 00:12:13:00

Lisa Anderson

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. When you said that they provided you some accommodations in primary school or elementary school, did what was that? What were the accommodations before they actually got you into an interpreter?

00:12:13:00 - 00:12:28:10

J.V. Featherstone

Actually, preschool to sixth grade it was more I think the the official term is oralism—oral education—where they teach you how to lip read.

00:12:28:22 - 00:12:29:04

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:12:29:04 - 00:12:30:11

J.V. Featherstone

And how to speak.

00:12:30:17 - 00:12:32:01

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:12:32:01 - 00:12:57:06

J.V. Featherstone

But all of the teachers had experience working with deaf kids who they were learning how to talk and how to attend to sound. And so they would annunciate, talk very clowly, close, slowly and clearly, and our class sizes were very small, usually no more than ten students. [K] So those accommodations were complete. [Okay.} They were…It was complete in that in that sense.

00:12:58:19 - 00:13:21:14

J.V. Featherstone

But there are still many children who that is just not their first language. English is not their first language. They can't hear. But I'm being taught to focus and communicate with people who can hear rather than meeting me halfway and allowing me to use some sign language to be able to communicate with people who are deaf. [Yeah] I'm an American.

00:13:21:14 - 00:13:25:20

J.V. Featherstone

You're an American. Why don't you learn sign language? I'll learn English and we can meet halfway.

00:13:26:02 - 00:13:26:10

Lisa Anderson

Yes.

00:13:26:10 - 00:13:35:03

J.V. Featherstone

That way that we have access to the entire society. Whole communities. [Yeah.] But instead of looking at deaf people as the broken one, I'm not broken.

00:13:35:03 - 00:13:36:05

Lisa Anderson

Right. No.

00:13:37:00 - 00:14:07:11

J.V. Featherstone

And I think it's more about let's work together. Let's collaborate on this so that we can actually have a relationship. So I think my K-12 experience was learning how to make it in that world of people who could hear. [Yeah] And by seventh grade, my language classes had met my school classes had 20 to 30 students, and they talked and math teacher would write on the board and talk, and sometimes they would be writing on board and talking.

00:14:07:11 - 00:14:11:12

J.V. Featherstone

And I had I could see through his head and I would have to go home and say, Dad, you have to help me.

00:14:11:12 - 00:14:12:08

Lisa Anderson

Yeah.

00:14:12:14 - 00:14:19:09

J.V. Featherstone

So he would guide me through math, but he had five other boys to take care of too. So [Yeah] it wasn’t an easy journey for all of us.

00:14:19:10 - 00:14:20:01

Lisa Anderson

No.

00:14:20:14 - 00:14:22:15

J.V. Featherstone

So it was ugly, to be honest with you.

00:14:22:17 - 00:14:41:20

Lisa Anderson

Yeah, I can imagine. I mean. Well, no, I can't imagine because I can hear perfectly well, but, you know. Did you feel isolated? Like, did your three brothers, did you guys get pretty close to try to have more human connection that way? Yeah? [Oh, yeah, yeah.]

00:14:41:20 - 00:15:04:01

J.V. Featherstone

I did feel isolated and but the three of us really understood each other very well. And it's kind of ironic because I didn't really learn American Sign Language as a language. It was more like English, you know that. Or sign language that was following English. It wasn't really an American sign language. It wasn't a language per se. [Yeah.]

00:15:05:09 - 00:15:20:14

J.V. Featherstone

So me and my brothers, we learned that kind of language. We could talk and sign at the same time. And I became really good at talking and signing at the same time. So that's what I did really well, to communicate with my brothers. [Okay.] It's fun to have someone who is like me.

00:15:20:20 - 00:15:21:08

Lisa Anderson

Yeah.

00:15:22:10 - 00:15:24:21

J.V. Featherstone

Sometimes we had our differences, obviously because brothers.

00:15:24:21 - 00:15:28:09

Lisa Anderson

Well brothers. Yeah, [boys.]

00:15:29:04 - 00:15:46:18

J.V. Featherstone

But we had a great life. I had a great childhood. My parents tried their best to put me in a program or programs. For example, I was on the luge, you know, the sports in the Olympics. [Yeah.] Where they lay down.

00:15:46:18 - 00:15:47:16

Lisa Anderson

Yes, Yes.

00:15:48:18 - 00:16:00:06

J.V. Featherstone

My parents, they had a deaf day. And my said my parents were like that. And I [oh fantastic] started to get well at it. So I started doing that. So those were confidence builders for me.

00:16:00:06 - 00:16:01:11

Lisa Anderson

Absolutely.

00:16:01:11 - 00:16:19:12

J.V. Featherstone

Um, so a lot of those programs that my parents really pushed us to get involved in, and so that really helped me not become very invisible. And in the background and isolated, I began to realize that I could, you know, I'd have to work at it, but I could do anything.

00:16:19:12 - 00:16:40:08

Lisa Anderson

Yeah, absolutely can do anything. What would you what…what would you want People that can hear to really understand so that they don't treat you as different or inferior?

00:16:40:08 - 00:16:46:03

J.V. Featherstone

I feel like don't immediately judge me.

00:16:46:15 - 00:16:47:00

Lisa Anderson

No.

00:16:47:12 - 00:17:08:15

J.V. Featherstone

You know, I think that most people, once they meet me and they interact with me and talk with me, all of their assumptions go away. [Yeah] Because they realize, oh, you could talk about Star Wars with me. Oh, you're you're kind of normal, you know, that kind of things. [Yeah] I can talk about sports. There are some things that I would probably like to talk about that you probably wouldn't like to talk about.

00:17:09:03 - 00:17:11:21

J.V. Featherstone

And, you know, just like any other person.

00:17:11:22 - 00:17:12:05

Lisa Anderson

Yeah.

00:17:12:17 - 00:17:31:19

J.V. Featherstone

And so I don't think the thing that I, the thing I would like to really emphasize is don't be afraid to talk to us. Don't and try to let go of some of the assumptions. Like, for example, one of the things that I find rather annoying is, you know, when someone says the word deaf, like I'm deaf, people think, oh, here's a list of things that I can't do.

00:17:32:01 - 00:17:37:21

J.V. Featherstone

So you can't hear the bird sing, you can't hear this, you can't do that. And I'm like, What about all those things I can do?

00:17:37:23 - 00:17:38:15

Lisa Anderson

Yes.

00:17:39:04 - 00:18:07:10

J.V. Featherstone

So sometimes, for example, job interviews, their first question is, or how do you work on the phones? You're going to even you're going to bypass all of the qualification questions. [Yeah.] And ask me the phone capability. [Yeah.] I'm not really interested in this job. Yeah. Because if your focus is about a part of the job rather than something that I can do because I think.

00:18:08:02 - 00:18:10:05

J.V. Featherstone

Get to know me. [Yeah.] Know who I am.

00:18:10:08 - 00:18:11:09

Lisa Anderson

Yeah, absolutely.

00:18:11:09 - 00:18:23:01

J.V. Featherstone

Community. Instead of being focused on my inability to hear, once we get along, you'll be able to determine whether I'm capable of something or not, because deafness does not disqualify me.

00:18:23:12 - 00:18:29:08

Lisa Anderson

Well, perfect. That's an excellent segway because I was going to start asking about one of the some of the things that you love to do.

00:18:30:04 - 00:19:05:23

J.V. Featherstone

So things that I love to do, I love outdoor stuff. I'm an outdoorsman. I during college, I was a whitewater rafting rapids guide. uh, I...up in Idaho. It's it's so much fun. I would guide people who could hear and every time they be like my guide’s deaf. How will he save me if I you know, if And then after they were like, oh, he's the best guide.

00:19:06:04 - 00:19:29:13

J.V. Featherstone

I want to be on his boat now. [Yeah.] So I was like, When you're in the waves, you're not hearing anything because it's so loud. The water is so loud anyway. [Yeah.] So it's about what I can see. And I remember one time give you a brief story. I remember I made the decision not to tell everyone that I was deaf and we were on a one week, water a guided draft trip.

00:19:30:00 - 00:19:36:15

J.V. Featherstone

And so that we had 20 people there and I was working to work with them for six days.

00:19:38:17 - 00:20:06:01

J.V. Featherstone

And I would just I made the decision not to tell them that I was deaf and I would just act like every other person. And I can talk fairly clear. [Okay.] And everybody just thought I had like a speech impediment or something, right? A funny accent. [Yeah] But everything went fine. And then the third or fourth day, someone actually was talking to another guide because there were five of us and they said, I don't get it with JV.

00:20:06:17 - 00:20:21:03

J.V. Featherstone

I didn't I don't understand him. And, you know, and they asked him, What are you talking about? He is so nice and so friendly, but every time I call his name, he doesn't look at me. He just refuses to.

00:20:21:03 - 00:20:21:13

J.V. Featherstone

Look at me.

00:20:22:21 - 00:20:42:01

J.V. Featherstone

And I'm like, I'll call him again and again and again and again. And when I actually tap him or something and he looks at me, he's all friendly and sweet again, I'm like, I don't get it. And they were completely like, he's completely oblivious to the fact that I'm calling his name. What's the deal? [sigh] oh. And they were like, ‘Oh, he's deaf.’

00:20:43:09 - 00:20:58:08

J.V. Featherstone

And they were like, And, and all of a sudden everything clicked. Oh, oh, what? I get it. So that was a fun experience. [Yeah.] And they were like, Oh, okay. It's just like he's just like everybody else.

00:20:58:09 - 00:20:58:17

Lisa Anderson

Yeah.

00:20:59:08 - 00:21:07:16

J.V. Featherstone

But you have to make some accommodations like, [yeah] pat me on the shoulder. So that was a real fun experience for me to watch people who could hear assumed that I could also hear.

00:21:07:21 - 00:21:23:03

Lisa Anderson

Oh, that's, that's an awesome story. I love that a lot. Yeah. So what is it been like? What do you do down here now that you've been in the Florida area? Because I grew up in the Midwest, it's much different down here.

00:21:23:03 - 00:21:24:05

J.V. Featherstone

What was the question again? I'm sorry.

00:21:24:10 - 00:21:28:04

Lisa Anderson

That's okay. What is it that you do down here now in the Florida area?

00:21:29:00 - 00:21:46:21

J.V. Featherstone

I, I, I'm just starting so I don't even know, but I actually moved up to Iowa. [Oh!] So I am now in the Midwest like you. [Okay.] And and I can I come to Florida pretty often. Pretty often because our office has two bases, one in Iowa, one here.

00:21:46:21 - 00:21:49:14

Lisa Anderson

Okay.

00:21:49:14 - 00:22:11:14

J.V. Featherstone

And I'm relatively new to Ocala Ocala. And I assume I'm going to be going to the ocean all the time. [Yeah] Probably go to the Springs, of course. Kayaking. I love water sports. That's one of my favorite things. And I'm still trying to figure out getting over the weird like the alligators that are in the springs and you're just kayaking along.

00:22:11:17 - 00:22:13:18

J.V. Featherstone

[Yeah,] Obviously I need to get over that.

00:22:13:18 - 00:22:17:01

Lisa Anderson

I don’t do that. I grew up on a.

00:22:17:22 - 00:22:19:02

J.V. Featherstone

I want to swim, too.

00:22:20:06 - 00:22:30:07

Lisa Anderson

Yeah, I grew up in Wisconsin, so I had all the freshwater lakes. I grew up on a farm, so I ran around barefoot everywhere. [Just like me!] Yes, yes. I don't do any of that anymore.

00:22:31:19 - 00:22:47:04

J.V. Featherstone

I'm willing to take a risk of getting bitten by an alligator because I love water, But that I just have to be like, okay, do we understand each other? [Yeah] Do we understand each other?

00:22:48:06 - 00:22:54:14

Lisa Anderson

Fantastic. Does your family travel back and forth with you? [No] No?

00:22:54:14 - 00:23:02:12

J.V. Featherstone

No, right now, they're actually staying in Utah. [Okay.] So I fly home quite often to see them. [Yeah.] They miss me and I miss them. So it's good.

00:23:02:15 - 00:23:03:08

Lisa Anderson

Yeah.

00:23:03:17 - 00:23:15:03

J.V. Featherstone

But my kids want to finish school there. [Okay.] One’s in third grade. One’s in first grade. So we'll stay and I'll just go back and forth between the companies. So I'm doing a lot of traveling.

00:23:15:06 - 00:23:16:20

Lisa Anderson

I was going to say, you're doing [It’s fine.]

00:23:16:20 - 00:23:24:21

J.V. Featherstone

I'm meeting new people. I'm going new places. I getting here and getting some sun is amazing. I love it.

00:23:25:12 - 00:23:32:00

Lisa Anderson

Yeah. Yeah. It's especially this time of year, I imagine the shock to your system going.

00:23:33:16 - 00:23:38:18

J.V. Featherstone

In Iowa is like negative 17. And I'm like, I'm here. I'm like, Oh, this is so much nicer.

00:23:38:18 - 00:23:53:22

Lisa Anderson

Yeah, yes, much better. So we are nearing the end of our time. And so I usually like to ask everybody towards the end, is there anything that you wanted to talk about that I did not ask you.

00:23:55:17 - 00:24:20:14

J.V. Featherstone

I feel like we people who are deaf, we're here. And and I think because I ask people how many deaf people have you met and they’re all like, oh, one, you know, maybe, you know, I have a brother whose friend was deaf or my brother's friend's brother, son, cousin was deaf, but they're like when they actually see a deaf person at the store signing or something.

00:24:21:10 - 00:24:42:21

J.V. Featherstone

But it's like we're we're, I feel like we're like at the zoo and they're looking in at the window. Oh, look, there are deaf people. But when you actually take the time, like go to a deaf night out event which we host, we have a deaf night event tomorrow night at Mojo on 17th. If anybody wants to be there.

00:24:43:20 - 00:25:01:14

J.V. Featherstone

Um. And I feel like once you attend an event where you see over 100 deaf people in the room, you're like, Oh wow, where have you been all this time? [Yeah.] And I'm like, We're here. We just go places where we know where we're welcome.

00:25:02:05 - 00:25:02:16

Lisa Anderson

Yeah.

00:25:03:00 - 00:25:24:02

J.V. Featherstone

And I think when companies start to make the effort to put on their advertisements, if you want an interpreter, please let us know if even having a sign saying it we’ll accommodate you because we know where you are, when we know we're welcome and we have access to information, we're going to go there. We're going to frequent those places.

00:25:24:02 - 00:25:48:12

J.V. Featherstone

[Yeah] companies in places that are deaf friendly. We also want you to feel welcome in our community, and I think that's what makes the biggest difference. You know, deaf people knowing where your company is, because deaf people don't just bring themselves. They bring their community. [Yeah.] So when you invite us and we feel welcome, we'll be like, we'll be there because that's how we are.

00:25:48:14 - 00:26:11:05

Lisa Anderson

Oh, that's fantastic. Well, thank you so much, JV for being a part of this podcast, sharing your life, sharing all the things that everybody needs to know to understand access. So I truly appreciate your time and you're welcome. And thank you, Bill, for interpreting for us. I do appreciate that very much. And thank you, everybody for joining us here on the Locala podcast.

00:26:11:11 - 00:26:26:19

Lisa Anderson

Once again, I'm Lisa Anderson, your host and publisher of Locala magazine. Please remember to subscribe and like our channel to get more wonderful content like this. And we hope to see you next time here on the podcast where we focus on connections through stories.

00:26:28:09 - 00:26:34:22

R.J. Jenkins

What had changed for you about your thoughts about school? Were you still kind of nervous about school, or did you suddenly rethink what that was going to be like?

00:26:34:22 - 00:26:46:17

Manny Cortes

I was kind of still nervous about school because of the thought of like school, the teachers was like, If I need to get my GED, I need to go to the boss I said I need to change my mentality over it.