We recently connected with Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH, CPACC and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Catarina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is to create a more inclusive world. How did I come to align with this mission? While I’ve been disabled my whole life, I haven’t always felt pride in my disability identity. In 2016, I started using a white cane for blindness and had to adjust to being publicly disabled. This turned into an empowering experience for me as I owned my disability and started self-advocating in all situations, which made my life better. Once I reached this place, I wanted to do more with my voice and help create a more inclusive world. In 2020, I started an Instagram account called @BlindishLatina as a place where I could share stories and raise awareness. After seeing how my content was resonating with others, I realized I could turn this into a business and that’s when I began creating a personal brand as a public speaker, DEI consultant, and content creator.

I’m continually inspired by my mission. I have a particular focus on the workplace – creating workplaces that are inclusive for disabled employees and customers and that prioritize accessibility from the beginning.

What keeps me going is I know I’m making a difference. I save messages and DMs that I get from people, and I treasure them.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Cuban and Puerto Rican. I was born and raised in Maryland in the United States. I’ve been disabled my whole life. My first disability was being hard of hearing and I’ve worn hearing aids since I was a toddler. When I was 17, I was diagnosed with a progressive vision disability called Usher Syndrome. Today, I have a small window of central vision and I use a white cane to help me navigate the world.

I started my career as an elementary school teacher. I then moved into nutrition and public health, earning my MPH degree and transitioning into roles in different nonprofit organizations. I did food justice and capacity building work.

In 2020, I started my Instagram account @BlindishLatina to share my story as a proud disabled Latine woman. I turned it into a business in 2021 and started working as a public speaker, DEI consultant, and content creator.

While many companies and organizations have DEI plans, many of them don’t include disability. Oftentimes, companies and organizations haven’t understood that disabled people are the largest minority group. According to 2018 data from the CDC, 1 in 4 adults in the United States reports being disabled. Disabled people are in the workforce, plus we’re customers and clients. My business helps companies begin or continue their disability inclusion journeys to create better workplaces for everyone.

I offer keynotes, fireside chats, workshops, and presentations. Topics include disability awareness, disability inclusion, accessibility, intersectionality, avoiding microaggressions, and inclusive management. Because I started my career as an educator, I’m trained in how to create real learning. My sessions have a clear objectives and they’re interactive and engaging. I’m not talking at people for an hour. There is always time for Q&A and they’re always interaction moments at reasonable time points within the session, whether that’s a chat box engagement or an interactive activity. This interaction really helps people to have a good experience, to be able to process the material, and feel that they have a space to ask questions.

Another thing that’s important to know about my approach is that I create a welcoming space for everyone. Disability can be an uncomfortable topic. So, it is incredibly important to me to show up authentically, to share my story, and to create a space where people feel comfortable. I’m not positioning myself as an unapproachable expert. I’m a real human. I mess up, and if I mess up in the session, I will correct myself and I will model that for participants because none of us are perfect. We’re always learning.

I customize my sessions to my client’s specific goals and industry. It’s great when I have context from my clients on how they interact with the world. Are they working B2B? Do they have clients that they’re interacting with? Are they interacting with consumers? Are they designing products? Do they have retail spaces? Having this information means that I can provide really relevant examples in my sessions that are speaking to the context, the daily context, of their employees and leaders. I can also do sessions that are customized for specific audiences. For example, if a client wants their entire executive leadership team to attend a session with me, I will make sure to customize the session to what they care about and what their focus areas are. This customization makes the material more relatable and relevant to the participants.

I also offer consulting support to my clients and can advise on strategic disability inclusion initiatives.

I’m proud to say that I work consistently with global brands and industry leaders. I care deeply about providing a seamless experience for my clients and delivering high-quality sessions. The positive feedback I consistently receive from my clients and their participants makes it very worthwhile to do what I do.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My career history has been in education and public health, so I had to intentionally build my authority in this new area of disability inclusion.

I’m proud of myself and my journey. In January 2021, when I began the journey to create a business out of Blindish Latina, I had to summon lots of belief in myself and my voice. I visualized every day. I had an affirmation that I would say. One line goes: “I will be free of full-time work and focus on entrepreneurship.” I said that every day and now I get to say “I am free of full-time work and focused on entrepreneurship.” That’s powerful.

I created a strategic plan to launch a new business. For the first 4-5 months of 2021, I focused on creating consistent social media content on Instagram and LinkedIn that added value to my audience. I clearly defined my content categories and posted consistently. I shared 5 posts a week on Instagram. I also built relationships and connected with others. Clubhouse was actually a very beneficial platform for me because I got to meet disabled leaders and advocates. I always took the time to respond to each comment on my posts. I invested in a speaker reel. I learned so many skills. I created my own website, I edited my own videos.

I truly believed that I could do it but at the same time, I wasn’t sure the market would receive me well. Would companies hire me to speak for them even though I had only worked in educational institutions and nonprofits?
I remember speaking with an established Latina public speaker who did a lot of diversity programs. She told me what she charged and she encouraged me not to undercharge as it would do everyone in the field a disservice. When she told me her rate, I thought, Wow, that’s a lot. I started with rates lower than hers and raised my rates over time. Now, I’ve consistently booked clients at a rate higher than the rate she told me.

This year, I was named one of LinkedIn’s Top 12 Voices in Disability Advocacy. I gave a TEDx talk on workplace disability inclusion. I’ve now definitely established my reputation in this space.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As a full-time traveler, I have a lot of stories about challenges with adjusting to different environments and continuing to grow my business. One place where I spent some time was Barbados. There was a volcanic eruption on a nearby island and Barbados was covered in ash and dust. I was living in an apartment that was fairly open to the air with slats in the windows. When the ash came, my partner covered all the openings with towels to block the ash from coming in. We were wearing masks indoors at all times to protect ourselves and to avoid inhaling the ash. We didn’t go outside for days. I was scheduled to speak at an event where I was going to share a very personal story about my experience as a disabled woman. I prepared for the speaking engagement, set up my computer, and let the team know I would be off camera until it was my turn to speak. Setting this boundary helped me conserve my energy. When it was my turn, I passionately shared my story. I’m sure no one who was listening to me could have imagined what I was dealing with. I showed up despite the challenges, and that’s resilience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.catarinarivera.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BlindishLatina
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlindishLatina
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catarinarivera
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/catarinarivera

Image Credits
Nikki Rumph of Shots by Nik