We were lucky to catch up with Welby Broaddus recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Welby, thanks for joining us today. Do you have any thoughts about how to create a more inclusive workplace?

Employers can partner with community and Government agencies that supports the blind and visually impaired to obtain qualified job seekers who are blind and visually impaired to fill their open positions. I have experienced being discriminated from employment because of my vision.

I had been working as a Career Specialist for Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) for about eight years. At the time I felt the company was going in a different direction from what our core mission was, so I decided to start looking for another job. There was a job opening with a national organization doing the same job I was already performing for JOG. I do not want to mention the organization. I went into the interview really confident because I have been doing this work for eight years. The interview went very well. The interviewer was sitting on the edge of her seat excited about my responses to her questions. She was taking down notes on how I would perform different activities to engage the youth they serve. You could not tell me that I was not getting this job. It all went down hill when she asked the question. You know the question every interviewer ask you towards the end of the interview. She asked “Tell me something about you that I do not know.” I informed her that I was visually impaired and I am unable to obtain a drivers license. I went on to let her know my condition has never affected me work. At that point, her entire demeanor changed. She was no longer sitting at the edge of her seat with excitement. It was like the sound of the game Pacman when you get caught by the ghost. After the interview, I received a rejection letter from the organization informing me they filled the position with someone else.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I decided to write my book, Leading Blind without Vision, to educate human resource professionals, executives, and business owners on the benefits of employing job seekers who are blind and visually impaired based on my experience as an individual who is visually impaired trying to obtain employment and being discriminated against because of my disability.

I was diagnosed at birth with optic atrophy and nystagmus. This caused me to be severely nearsighted in both of my eyes, and I cannot control the muscle in my left eye. I am considered to be legally blind. My eye doctors informed my parents that I should attend a specialized school for kids who are blind and visually impaired, but my parents could not afford to send me to such a school. I had to attend traditional public schools. When I was in junior high school, I really go a lot of support from my counselor to assist me as a student who was visually impaired. High school was a different story. My counselor did not help me at all. During the first semester of my senior year, I met with my counselor, and I told her that I wanted to go to college to major in computer science, and she told me with no hesitation that I was not college material. She went on to say that I should just go and find a job. This fueled me to go to college and become the person I am today.

I went to college and earned two degrees, BS in Technical Education, and an Associate’s Degree in Business Management Technology. I worked over ten years as a Career Specialist for the Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) program as a career specialist. I currently work for the Summit County Juvenile Court as a Case Manager, and I have worked here over ten years. On top of all that I am also a small business owner. The name of my business is Broaddus Business Solutions, and I assist individuals in starting a business, creating business and marketing plans. I also offer seminars to organizations and HR professionals to educate them on how to onboard individuals who are blind and visually impaired into their companies. I also do public speaking to advocate for the blind and visually impaired community. I enjoy writing, so I wrote a Kindle Vella on Amazon titled Memoir of a Person who has a Visual Impairment: My Story through My Lens. This story is about me growing up visually impaired and the struggles I went through to become the successful person I am today.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Ever since I wrote my book, I love writing now. I have not done much of it lately since I am working on a few new projects, but I look forward to getting back at it. As a published author, I really enjoy knowing that I am able to help others through my writing. I know my message is getting through, because people will ask me to come give a talk after reading my book. This is the outcome I was hoping for. This means my book is being read and message is getting out.

How did you build your audience on social media?

One thing I had to teach myself as a self-published author is how to market myself and book. I went through the publishing program through the Creators Institute, and they want you to market your book right away, so I had to develop a market strategy for my book. The first thing I decided to do is identify the same time each week that I would create marketing material for my book. Sunday was my day. I taught myself how to use Canva to create social media post for my book.

Using Canva, I created content documenting my author journey. The first thing I did was add the title of author to all of my social media posts. After that I would post content about my author journey every Tuesday and Thursday between 11 am and 2 pm. In the beginning I would have post explaining the topic of my book and why I was writing it. I had to create a presale campaign to raise money to publish my book, so I create post informing everyone on how the presale campaign was going. I would even show the names of everyone that contributed to the campaign thus far.

After the presale campaign was over, I continued to post. I would share what phase of the publishing process I was in at that moment. I would describe the ups and downs I was going through as a first time author. This type of marketing really helped me create the audience and support I have today. People approach now informing me how they enjoyed my transparency during my writing journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: broaddusbizsol.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057658381613
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broaddusbizsol/
• Other: Other Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/welby.broaddus/