We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lynn Wehrman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lynn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I grew up on a farm, outside of a small Wisconsin town in the 1960’s and 70’s. I, and each of my four sisters, were born with different forms of Epilepsy. I also had a second diagnosis of a major mental illness.
As you can imagine it was impossible to keep our disabilities private in such a small community; especially when my older sister’s absence seizures occurred at school and my mental illness meant I was in the hospital for most of my 8th grade year.
In those days, and in small towns, there was no such thing as “neurodiverse” there was only “different” and “strange.” This is a concept I’m happy to say that younger generations find hard to believe existed. But for my family, it meant that we were held at arms-length by school mates and members of the community.
Because it was easier for me to hide by two cognitive disabilities, I became a master at it. I also became a dedicated over-achiever, hoping that would make up for what the people in my community knew about me. Good grades, dance line captain, qualifying for top honors in state vocal and speech competitions. I was even crowned hometown queen during my senior year of high school.
Late in life, my career path in communications turned into state government work. I then found myself working on the first digital accessibility projects for my department, Part of that work was to interface directly with stakeholders and taxpayers who lived with disabilities, who were there as advisors.
It was then I felt I had found a place in the world. To be alongside other people who knew what it was like be considered outsiders, helped me find myself in many respects.
My communication work for the Americans with Disabilities Act committee we worked on together, gave us the idea that the work I was doing, could be a paid profession for other professionals with disabilities.
Because I had hid my disability away most of my life, I didn’t have the life experience many of these committee members had in making their way in an “abled” world. I learned from them many things, but most of all, not be ashamed of who I am and how I approach life. That there was space for me, just as I was. I didn’t need to prove anything or earn it.
Lynn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Digital Accessibility by WeCo s a mission-based consulting group founded and staffed entirely by digital technologists who live with disabilities. The company works to make government, private and nonprofit organization’s websites accessible to people who live with disabilities in accordance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and US and international legislation.
WeCo is not only blazing an employment trail to engage people living with disabilities as subject matter experts in digital communication accessibility, but also putting organizations in direct contact with professionals who can help them make their website and software truly accessible to customers who live with disabilities.
Digital Accessibility by WeCo has been named a Leading Disability Employer by the National Organization on Disability in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
We are just about to announce our 2022 award.
We are the only digital accessibility company in the world that requires staff servicing in technical accessibility roles are required to live with one or more disability, as part of their job description.
Services:
Manual Accessibility Audits
Accessibility Remediation and Awareness Consulting
Disability-Focused Usability Testing
Accessibility and Disability Awareness Training
Coming in January 2023: WeCollege E-Learning Portal
Free mission-based services:
Live and recorded webinars
Online community awareness events
Free Accessibility Library
Accessibility Blog
Learn more at: https://theweco.com
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
WeCo was founded through a bootstrap approach. In the first five years, everyone at WeCo worked without a paycheck. I personally took great financial risks to make that happen.
Because business funding for entrepreneurs with disabilities is nearly entirely unheard of, our initial funding sources were expensive loans and credit lines. Yet we were able to leverage those resources well and secured an SBA 7a Loan through the Community Reinvestment Fund USA.
CRF USA has been a wonderful partner not only for lending, but also on helping us find next steps resources, to enable our growth. That is the stage we are at currently.
One key thing we learned in the funds-seeking process, is that there is no appetite for angel investors to work with entrepreneurs with disabilities. While we would love to see that change, the expert advice we’ve been told is not to attempt to die on that hill. It’s far better to focus on checking the box regarding what investors are more comfortable investing in, such as a woman-owned, or BIPOC-owned business venture. I hope this advice is helpful for other entrepreneurs with disabilities.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
In our industry, it’s easy for companies to take a hard line regarding the legal requirements for digital accessibility and attempt to “should” potential clients into relationships with them.
From the beginning, we knew we had to be part of the solution, and a safe haven for our potential clients.
Within the first year, we developed our own “Ethics in Business” policy that each of our Testers and Staff are trained on annually. We teach our people where the professional and ethical boundaries are. We then clearly convey that to our clients. This goes a long way in gaining both Staff and Client trust and keeping them with us over time.
We also insist upon excellence in our work. It is communicated clearly to everyone who works with/for us in a myriad of ways, from clear position descriptions and consulting contracts down to our choice in accessible project management software, and how we apply it.
Finally, I believe that being mission-based, and willing to take a stand on what we will and will not do to be profitable, is a very important part of our reputation.
For instance, we are often asked to provide expert testimony in website inaccessibility prosecution cases. We have made working only on the side of defense part and parcel of our work. Our clients can be assured that we are there to help them always, without sending any confusing messages about appearing in court to assist in prosecuting another company in their industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theweco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wecoaccessibility/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWeCo
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weco-the-wehrman-collaborative-
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeCo5
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpbaqXan4_t4nmfWLjGMKSQ
- Other: See our video on our Servcies and our People: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7jxz0l6Yc0
Image Credits
We emailed over 5 other images of our team and also 2 additional images of Lynn for you to consider for your article. All WeCo images submitted were taken by us and we have complete rights for use. Thank you for being conscientious of this.