Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: Marketing

  • Michael Janger, Business Consultant

    Tell me about your job. How did you get into this line of work?

    I am a strategy consultant who provides finance, strategy and marketing advisory services to clients in the assistive technology industry, including nonprofits that serve people with disabilities. A finance industry veteran, I worked at American Express, Thomson Reuters, and IBM, and was the second profoundly deaf student to receive an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to my work, I write about disability issues and business at michaeljanger.com.

    I was born profoundly deaf, and not having the sense of hearing in a world full of hearing people presented me with challenges on an almost daily basis. Socially, academically and professionally, it was very difficult to communicate on a functionally equivalent level with my peers. The saving grace for me were innovations in technology that have enabled me to prosper in my career and my personal life. So, it is a passion for me to work with companies to better market products that make a difference for people with disabilities.

    With my finance and strategy experience in Fortune 500 companies, it was a natural progression to a line of work where I could offer my skills in a market I know well, as a person with a disability.

    What is the best part of your job?

    I enjoy working with clients to solve their business problems. It feels good to know I am helping them perform better, and more importantly, provide consumers with disabilities with better choices when evaluating products that enable them to function in a non-disabled world.


    What are some of the challenges of your job?

    This is my first entrepreneurial role. It was not by choice that I left American Express in 2009 — the Lehman collapse and credit crunch resulted in major layoffs at American Express. In a difficult job market in finance, I decided to lay the groundwork for a consulting career where I could provide my substantial finance and strategy experience to companies in a market that I know intimately. But it is a lot of work. You have to be disciplined day in and day out, and network as much as possible to build your business and get to know the major players in the amazingly diverse world of people with disabilities.

    What was it like growing up deaf?

    An important starting point — especially for those who are hearing — is that as someone who was born profoundly deaf, I did not lose anything. I have no memory or knowledge of what it is like to be fully hearing — to speak easily on the phone, listen to a podcast, or appreciate the finer points of music. The experience I have every day is of someone with a limited sense of hearing growing up in a world dominated by people who can hear perfectly well.

    This meant adapting to situations where the odds are always stacked against you. In high school, I did not have a real social life in a day and age when there were no cell phones, e-mail, or Internet. My hearing classmates called each other by landline phone, and I could not use the phone on my own. Sometimes I had to ask my parents to make the calls for me — which was very awkward to do in the image-conscious world of adolescence. It was not until college, where people see each other constantly in dormitory halls and campus greens, that my social life flourished.

    My childhood experiences have given me a strong desire to be connected to everything, to have access to as much information as possible. Which might be too much of a good thing today, in the age of information overload. But it has come in handy for me in my work, as I tend to be pretty good at collecting and analyzing data, and doing exhaustive research on the various business issues I face in my work.

    What advice would you give a deaf/HH person who is looking for a career like yours?

    As a finance industry veteran, it is important to build up substantial credentials in your field of expertise before venturing into a business of your own. Unlike marketing or creative writing, finance tends to be a pretty conservative industry where intelligence, trust, and solid academic credentials are key success factors. To shift from finance into a business of your own requires a strong network of people who can help you make your business work, and a vastly different approach to work that relies less on analyzing numbers and more on creative, team-oriented problem-solving.

    In whatever you do, it is important to follow your passion. A friend of mine, who is also deaf, put it very succinctly: “The best job is one where I can work for free.” And when it comes with a paycheck, it’s even better.

  • Mary-Beth Robie, Advertising Coordinator

    Last year, I met Mary-Beth Robie at the Illinois Hands & Voices Mom’s Night Inn event.  Mary-Beth grew up with Cued Speech and she currently works as an Advertising Coordinator.  I asked her to share a bit about herself and her job:

    I grew up in a rural area in northern Vermont and was the only known deaf cuer for most of my elementary and high school years. My parents learned how to cue through an audiotape narrated by Dr. Cornett, the inventor of Cued Speech. My two older sisters learned how to cue through osmosis as did I. To this day they still cue well even though they  hardly ever practice cueing. My oldest sister would teach her friends some basic cues so they could communicate to each other in the classroom or around the school without anyone else understanding what they were saying. Since my parents cued all the time, I was able to access the same level of language as my siblings. My sisters also provided me with more language exposure through their cueing.

    Cued speech requires lip movement when in use and I believe that has enhanced my ability to lip read people when I interact with random people in the real world on an occasional basis. While I had a hearing neighbor who learned how to cue at a young age, I didn’t meet any otherdeaf cuers until I went to college which inspired me to learn more about Cued Speech and how to give back to the community. I’ve become more involved by joining the National Cued Speech Association Board as regional representative of the Great Lakes region. I also serve as the
    layout editor for the On Cue newsletter, a publication of the NCSA.

    Tell me about your educational background growing up and going to college.

    I was raised in a rural area in Northern Vermont. From K-12, I was mainstreamed with a Cued Language Transliterator (CLT). I attended SUNY Plattsburgh in New York for my first year of college, but discovered that the accommodations they promised me were not being provided so I decided to transfer to Rochester Institute of Technology. Again, once I arrived at RIT, I was not provided with a CLT so had to learn how to sign and be able to understand the sign language interpreters. Times
    have changed since I left RIT and they have provided CLT’s for fellow students. So progress has been made on that end which is exciting for me.

    What is your degree/s in?

    My degree is in Digital Imaging Publishing and Technology, which is basically a Graphic Design degree.

    Tell me about some of the jobs you have held prior to your current job.

    I’ve been working since I was 13 years old, but through and after college I worked as a cashier at Target while searching for a full time job in the printing industry. I finally landed a job as a Production
    Artist with a small printing company in Syracuse, NY. I worked there for three years before deciding I needed to move on in order to move up the ladder. I decided to accept a job in Oak Brook, Illinois starting out as a Photo Coordinator for an international printing company, RR Donnelley.
    In my almost 2 years of working there, I have been promoted to Lead Photo Coordinator and was recently promoted to Advertising Coordinator.

    What company do you work for and what is your position?

    I work for RR Donnelley’s Facilities Management site at our customer location in Oak Brook, Illinois. I am currently making the transition into my new position as an Advertising Coordinator. As Lead Photo
    Coordinator, I had to depend on a lot of internal communication to be able to coordinate digital images and the central database repository.

    As Advertising Coordinator I will work closely with the Print, Merchandising and Advertising departments to ensure all information provided produced accurate retail content, required deadlines are met, and final client proofs and files to printers are provided.

    Can you share a typical day on the job?

    Before it used to be a lot of email communication and little interaction with co-workers, but they saw I had the potential to work with customers one on one, so with my new position there will be a lot more verbal communication going on. I have to ensure I meet the retailers needs as to what they want advertised in their store circular, posters, postcards, or any other type of print out. I enter a lot of information into the databases in which the artists depend on for accurate information in order to design to the retailers needs.

    What are some of the challenges you’ve faced on the job?

    Meetings are a big challenge for me. I always have to make sure I understand everything that was said.  I personally don’t like to rely much on other people for assistance especially since we work in a fast paced environment, but I always realize at the end that teamwork is important and I am there to please the clients and the only way that can happen is if I step up to the plate and ensure I ask for repeats or for a handout or summary of what was discussed in the meeting. Our meetings are rarely scheduled in advance. They usually are a spur of the moment type where it’s impossible for me to request for a CLT or CART to be present within minutes.

    What are some ways you’ve overcome any communication challenges?

    I am now a big fan of follow-up emails. Usually after I meet with a client, my boss or someone important, I will ask them to kindly send me a follow up email with what was discussed in the meeting. I have built up the confidence to email people back especially if I feel I have missed something that was included in the follow-up email. I do take an extra minute after a meeting has come to an end to warn them that I may ask questions about what was discussed. I think that helps lighten up the situation before it happens. Before I would spend too much time trying to figure out what they may or may not have said. I can tell you that method doesn’t produce much success.

    What advice would you share with a deaf/hard of hearing person who is considering career choices?

    Be confident and honest. Tell human resources or your boss-to-be what accommodations you need and be willing to negotiate with them to a point where it works for both of you. Don’t come off too demanding or you will scare them away.

  • Chris Wagner–Vice President of Marketing

    Photobucket
    Chris at the WSAD Picnic

    Chris Wagner is the Vice President of Marketing for CSDVRS, a video relay company based in Florida.  Chris is the company spokesperson and his job is to oversee media relations, marketing strategies and marketing materials.

    Chris graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a social work degree and for twelve years, he worked in the field of mental health.  In 1996, Chris developed the first nursing home in Florida to serve primarily deaf and hard of hearing consumers.  The 60-bed facility was initially designed specifically for deaf and hard of hearing residents but is now open to other residents as well.

    “I love what I do,” said Chris, about his job at CSDVRS.  “We have fun together and the company is growing very fast.”

    Chris also serves as the Vice President of the National Association of the Deaf.  From their website:

    With a background in healthcare administration, Wagner was responsible for the implementation of the first Deaf assisted living facility and a nursing facility for the deaf and hard of hearing in Florida.  Largely responsible for the creation of the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (FCCDHH), he was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush as the first member and chairperson of the Coordinating Council.  He also serves on numerous boards, which include stints as President of Florida Association of the Deaf, Inc. (FAD), Vice Chair of the Governor’s American with Disabilities Act Working Group (ADAWG), and most recent, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.  Prior to his election as FAD President, Wagner served as the first president of the Florida Coalition for Disability Rights. 

    In 2004, Chris received several awards for his outstanding leadership and advocacy on both state and national levels, including the first Claude Seale Advocate Award from the Florida Independent Living Council ( <http://www.flailc.org> FILC), the Robert Greenmun Award for State Leadership Excellence, and the Knights of the Flying Fingers Award from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD).