John Lestina Jr. is a CODA, Child of Deaf Adults and is the founder of Heritage Interpreting. John has honored us by talking about his journey as a CODA and how he decided to work as a professional interpreter. John's agency has been in full force for 3 years, and successfully survived the pandemic. Listen to John's stories and great words of wisdom. Thank you for listening/reading.
John Lestina Jr. is a CODA, Child of Deaf Adults and is the founder of Heritage Interpreting. John has honored us by talking about his journey as a CODA and how he decided to work as a professional interpreter. John's agency has been in full force for 3 years, and successfully survived the pandemic. Listen to John's stories and great words of wisdom. Thank you for listening/reading.
Hello and welcome to Tina's Corner Podcast. We are a group of like minded sign language interpreters set out to improve the field of sign language interpreting. We have Deaf, hearing, and Deaf/Blind consumers and both hearing and deaf interpreters. And the focus of this podcast is to strengthen the bond between those groups of individuals. All persons regardless of years of experience, experience will benefit. I am Tina Perry, and I welcome you. Today I have invited John Lestina to share his insights and experiences so that others can see that interpreters travel different roads on their journey, only to arrive at the same destination, equality of information for all consumers. Welcome, John. HI TINA. I'm so glad you took the time out to be here with us. I know you have an extremely busy schedule. But I know that our audience, our viewing audience is going to benefit from your words of wisdom today. Let me introduce (WELL THANKS FOR HAVING ME) absolutely let me introduce everybody to John. Now. I know the show is only about 25 minutes. This is pretty lengthy, because John is quite accomplished, but this is John Lestina Jr. and he is the president and founder of Heritage Interpreting. John has a master's degree in entertainment business from Full Sail University. He is a nationally RID certified interpreter and also is a legally qualified interpreter in Ohio and Indiana. Now both John's parents are deaf and as a native user of ASL in English. Now John was born in Illinois outside of Joliet, Illinois, outside of Chicago, but he grew up in Fishers Indiana. He's also lived in Orlando, Washingto, DC and Boston for several years before settling in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Now, John travels quite a bit from New England, Washington, DC, Florida, Chicago and most places in between. John has a beautiful family, a beautiful little girl that we love watching on Facebook, how she's grown so quickly already. His wife is Kristy, and they have a daughter, Junifer. Now here's the awesome thing about John John is a CODA a Child of Deaf Adults. For those who may not know, he is a CODA, but so is John's wife. And now they have a daughter who is a GODA granddaughter, a grandchild of deaf adults as well. So they are a bilingual household using both ASL and English day daily. One nice thing also about John has four cats. There's Newman, Oscar, Leo and Sabrina. Boy, John, that's quite the list there. You have quite the household. That's awesome.
John:We've got a zoo over here.
Tina:As I was walking this morning, I was thinking about you and your wife both being CODAs. And I thought, Gosh, I don't know very many CODA, you know, husband and wives. And then that was I was blogging. I said, "Wait a minute, Tina, your first husband is a CODA". And I thought, why did I not associate that before? And so you and I talked a little bit about this than I. Now to my you know, I don't know if this is it isn't a correct, it is not a correct way of thinking that CODA usually is related related to the fact that whether or not they interpret, and it's definitely not, but it was just like, How did I miss that? I can't believe I did that.
John:Yeah, yeah. I, I actually know several other couples who are both CODAs. It seems to be more and more popular these days, I suppose. And it's funny, you mentioned your first husband not being involved in interpreting and that influenced the way you perceived him at the CODA. I went to a CODA party once. And there were several people there who were not working as interpreters, and they would often introduce themselves as "not working in the family business. That that was really funny. I really liked that. They went, they said that.
Tina:That's, yeah, I've never done that. But I understand. I definitely understand that. John, can you? I just like for you to take us back on how you how you met your wife?
John:How I met my wife? Sure. Yeah. So we were both in college at the time, I was at Full Sail University studying. I have an undergrad in recording arts and music business. And so I'm a trained audio engineer in that regard. And then I got my master's degree in entertainment business, which is just a business degree focused on the entertainment industry. And my wife was at UCF University of Central Florida, which happens to be like five miles down the street from Full Sail, and she was studying speech and language pathology. She was also the president of the ASL Club at UCF. And they hosted a Deaf tailgate party during one of the UCF football games. Me and my friends who happen to be deaf, I should clarify my everywhere I go, I always end up meeting best friends. So I grew up in Indianapolis. And when I moved to Florida, immediately I found my deaf friends, my community, my people, and we used to party and hang out and everything during college. And so me and my deaf friends wanted to go to this deaf tailgate that was being hosted by the ASL Club at UCF. So we went, and that's where my wife and I met, was there at that tailgate. It's kind of neat, because there's a photo of us together in a group. And that's the first day we met, and we have a photograph of the day we met. And then we, we hit it off right away. We stayed friends for about four years. She had a boyfriend, I had a girlfriend. And so we stayed friends for about four years. And then we started started dating after that. We started dating long distance. By the time we started dating, we had left Florida. She was living in Boston, and I was living in Washington, DC. So yeah, it was, it was a it's been a fun journey for sure.
Tina:How long was that between the time you met to the time you started dating?
John:Just over four years. Just over four years, Yeah. We started, we started dating. And then after six months of the doing the long distance thing, I moved on up to Boston, and the rest is history.
Tina:Well, we knew it was serious, then. That's great. And isn't it a bet it was really great that both of your families could communicate with each other. Nobody had to play the interpreter between the two families. YEAH THAT'S IDEAL. You know, what I wish I would have done for this interview was to ask your wife to join us. I would have loved maybe we can do that another time where I would kind of like to hear your stories to see what the similarities or the differences are. And of course there are. But that would have been, I wish I would have done that. So maybe we can do another interview with the both of you together.
John:Now that would have been fun.
Tina:So John, tell me as a CODA and you fit so many different things. As a CODA, you own your own business. There's so many things that you can talk about, today we're going to try to rein it in on being a CODA. And then we'll get into a little bit about your agency as well, if we have time. First of all, John, tell me you growing up as an as a CODA in the household. Where are you in, or are there other brothers and sisters?
John:Where am I in the pecking order?
Tina:That's right.
John:Yeah, I'm the oldest, I have a little brother, we're 19 months apart. I think we're pretty close in age. But I'm the oldest. And it's just the two of us, my brother and I, his name is Jason so just the two of us. And growing up as the oldest, I'm sure as most other people have. I've shared, I did the the heavy load of the interpreting.
Tina:Okay. And so, in, you know, I'm the "ring finger". That's what I tell people. I'm the ring finger. There's five of us, and I'm the ring finger and my sister she did the heavy load, like what you're talking about. Social security, you know, all the important stuff. And I was the funerals and wedding girl. That was my job. So it's kind of funny that and here's the ironic with five people in my family, brothers and sisters, just my sister, my older sister and myself pursued a career and the rest of them did not. So did did your brother?
John:No, no, he did not. He worked for a short time as an interpreter while he was still trying to, you know, get on its feet fresh out of college kind of thing. But he's got a very successful career of his own. He's a software engineer. Well, as at this moment, he's working for Salesforce as a Senior Software Engineer, and he's doing very well. So no, he's not working in the family business.
Tina:So, so we just kind of talked about your certain tasks. How did you feel about that? I mean, now looking at it might be different. But growing up, considering, I don't know what you considered it as the family interpreter or whatever. How did you feel about that responsibility?
John:Yeah, good question. So and you're absolutely right, how I felt about it then versus how I feel about it now very different. Looking back on it now. You know, it's an experience I'm very grateful for, I feel very bonded to my family, and to my community. I feel like I've learned a lot from it. That experience taught me a lot helped me grow into the man I am today. But (laughs) in the moment, you know, while I'm growing up, especially in those teenage years, of course, I hated it. Oh my god, I hated it, hated it, hated it. I couldn't stand to be asked to be in to interpret. And I was very clear with my family that when I grew up, I would never be an interpreter. Yeah, definitely definitely I felt very strongly about that. I felt almost I felt like I was being used almost right? Yeah. But that, you know, that was that was my feeling when I was a kid when I was a teenager. As I grew up, and as my brother grew up, and parents got, you know, got back to being just the two of them without kids around. They made it very clear to me that they're beyond a full taking care of themselves, don't need my brother or I they can navigate the world just fine, right? Like we'd like, you know, like most people do. I still find myself doing this older CODA protective thing whenever I'm around them. And I'll give you an example. We we took a family trip to Cancun a few years ago. And on the flight back, well, the day before we flew back, my dad got really sick. And so that day that we were flying back home, he was very sick. I mean, he couldn't hardly walk. So we had to get him a wheelchair or pushing them to the airport. And then you know, we got to go through not just security, but the customs and all that. And so I was, I was very anxious. And I was high strung, and I was attached to my parents the whole time. And I was "Mr. interpreter"and "Mr. Guaranteeing" my parents have the right access all throughout this entire experience. Well, my wife, my brother, and his wife just kind of lagged behind like,"Oh, brother there goes John". You know what I mean? So I still, I still have that. I wish I could turn it off. My parents certainly don't need it. They're fine. But it's it lives within me, I suppose.
Tina:Yes, I know. Exactly. It does and I know when my father was in the nursing home, there were issues would come up and I I can hear his voice. "Tina, leave it alone. Don't worry, I'm fine". And it's like No, Dad. This is not right. And he's like, oh, you know, it's like, that is hard to turn off. I agree. I think it's just a part of who we are.
John:For sure, for sure.
Tina:I hear you say you were just a little bit rebellious, rebellious. And I think that's a common I've heard that before a common thing. I don't think we should feel guilty or upset about that. I think that's just a natural part of of growing up.(John) I GLAD TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT. Absolutely. Absolutely. Can you tell me John, you know, we look at the world today, technology, and all the things that deaf people have access to. What do you think the benefits? I think there are, benefits with us as being older CODAs compared to the younger CODAs today. Do you see things that we had more, I don't know if we want to say benefits? I don't know. What I'm trying to get at is what differences do you see between current CODAs and CODAs of our time?
John:Absolutely. Great question. So for me, at this moment, I just turned 34 years old. So in my experience growing up growing up in Fishers, Indiana, which is just a suburb outside of Indianapolis, we have in Indianapolis, you know a very strong School for the Deaf. We have a Deaf Club, which is still there. Why you know, deaf clubs have been shutting down all over the country for a long time now and Indianapolis still has a strong deaf club. So growing up in that community, I and my parents worked at the School for the Deaf. So for me growing up, you know, every every school year, I was at the Indiana School for the Deaf homecoming events. My mom was a teacher there. So I was there for all kinds of the events at the school. I grew up going to a summer camp called "Camp Willard". As the only hearing kid there. It was, it was a summer camp for the Deaf for the deaf kids at the school at ISD. So I grew up going to that. I also grew up going to the desfl the time. You know, once a week we would go to the desk. Every month, there was an organization called the Hoosier people who live in Indiana, Hoosiers outdoor club for the Deaf HOCD. And every month, a big group of maybe sometimes only 15. And sometimes upwards of 60 Deaf people would all get together at a campground and spend three, four or five days camping. So we you know, I did all these different things within my community growing up, right? And I was, I mean, that was my life I was what I was used to, I didn't know any other anything else. And with that being my experience, I've always felt very grateful about having deaf parents, you know, my experience of having a deaf family has been very, has been very positive. And it's something I'm very grateful for. In my experience going to CODA conference or different meetings and getting to know a variety of CODA with different life experiences. And as you mentioned from different generations, one thing I've noticed is that feeling of having deaf family being a positive experience and something to be grateful for. I didn't see a lot of that in some of the older generation. A lot of a lot some of not, I don't say all or even a lot but some of the older generation of CODAs which would show that their experiences are negative, that they experienced a lot of oppression directly themselves. And not to say that the oppression doesn't still happen. But just that it was it was it was more profound than their experience. So I think I think that's an interesting shift. So perhaps that's a benefit for the younger, the younger CODAs coming up. But I would say something that they're missing out on is that, that social engagement, the deaf clubs, going to large events at the deaf school these days, like I said, I went to the Hoosier outdoor club for the deaf, I think they still do that. And I think it's a group of four people who go these days, I don't know, it's not very big like it used to be. And you know, of course, social media and technology has its role in why these events are, are not as popular, the deaf community used to get together in person on a regular basis, because it was the only time they would have linguistic and cultural access in a large group of people like them. So, of course, I mean, we all desire that. But with social media, you can have that access without leaving your living room, you have it right there on your phone. So that's the benefit. I mean, that is a good thing for the for the desf community to have that type of access readily available. But the downside, the draw of it is that you start to miss out on some of the motivation to, to host these types of large events. But I think Deaf Expo out in Las Vegas, that's still happening. And you know, there'll be 1000s and 1000s of deaf people there. And that's happening this summer. So it's not like there's no opportunities. You just might have to look a little bit harder and be willing to travel a little farther to get to them.
Tina:Yeah. Did you ever remember your parents going to a friend's house? And, of course, we didn't call we couldn't call. So we go call.
John:You don't call you don't knock go and you show up. You walk right in the front door.
Tina:OR Sometimes you get there and they're not home. Okay, let's go back home. One hour later, we're gonna try again. Are you kidding? ABSOLUTELY, ABSOLUTELY. And I remember when I was, go ahead,
John:You please, you please Tina go ahead.
Tina:No, I would just go to go to another one. I'm at the deaf
club. And it's 2:30am. You know, the Deaf goodbyes. Finally, I'm like, pull two of the big red chairs. We have red cushioned chairs, we put them together and use them as a bed and cover up our coat cover up with a coat. I'm talking 2:30am
John:We had the same kind of thing. We'd be at the deaf club and our parents say Alright, go get your coat that's ready to send from time to time to leave, we're ready to go. So we'd go and get our coats to get ready to go. We're all bundled up. And here they are over there talking. It's like, let's goooo and ever take hours and hours.
Tina:You're sweating inside your coat. I interrupted you when you were saying about going to a deaf person's house when they weren't there. Where you going to add to that?
John:Yeah, I think so. I'm trying to remember what that's okay.
Tina:That's okay. Yeah, I think one day, we need to get together and all a bunch of CODAs, let's do a Zoom call. Of course, I don't know how that's gonna be I know, we are competing with each other but maybe doing a Zoom call, we're just tell our crazies crazy stories. And sometimes they were just like,
it's 2:30. Or, you know, I'm not want to go to your friend's house again, or you're right. So there's just so many.
John:I've really gotten that experience, you know, it's connecting and sharing with other CODAs, at CODA conference. I don't know if you've ever been. But you know, there, there isn't international CODA conference. And as of now from what I understand every other year in the United States, so there'll be a gathering in the United States, and in the following year, it will be somewhere else in the world. And the last one that was hosted was hosted right before the pandemic broke out. And that was in France, and my wife and I were lucky enough to be able to attend. And so we have to travel to France and be with our CODA brothers and sisters from all over the world. It was such a rich experience, and we're all sharing our unique experiences, which are unique, but then there's also a lot of shared experience, which helps, you know, we ALL BOND We just met today, but we're all we all feel connected. It was great. Yeah. And there's even there's what we kind of call the "sunrise", they call it the "sunrise club". There's an event, I guess at the conference where it's like entertainment night, and then there's a there's like a bar and people can hang out and everything else. And on. And on that night, it's very common to have a large group of CODAs who just don't go to bed and you stay up all night and watch the sunrise sunrise club. And, you know, it's a fun, it's party, but a lot of that time that's spent, like you said, like reminiscing, sharing CODA experience and connecting and making making bonds with each other. So it's, it's a cool experience. And if you have a chance to go to international CODA conference, highly recommended.
Tina:Well, you know, Ron, Opatich? OF COURSE. Yeah, so he's been. HE WAS THERE AS WELL. Gotta go, you gotta go. And he said the next one is in what? North? South Korea? Am I Am I right about that?
John:It's in South Korea. Yeah. It was in North. Yeah, that would be a problem.
Tina:Yeah, that's why I said North or South, because I wasn't sure. But yeah, and then he said the next one will be back in the United States and he's talks so highly of the CODA clubs, and he's like, "I can't believe believe you haven't gone yet". And I said, "Yeah, I can't either". So You sound very encouraging. I'm probably good. Yeah, very good.
John:It's rich, it's rich. So you enjoyed your time growing up at the Deaf Club, you'll this will be the closest thing.
Tina:Exactly. And and, oh, just the things that we did at the deaf club. You know, it was so funny. And I'm digressing here, because now you're bringing this all up in me as well. But, you know, on Friday, we as kids were allowed to go to the deaf club on Fridays, but not on Saturday. And they did nothing different, INTERESTING. Nothing happened differently on Saturday than it did on Friday. And it was so
John:No, no extra responsibility. No kids allowed.
Tina:Exactly. But it was every Friday, we were allowed to go and you can count we were there every single Friday, and so many things that happened there. And again, I think it just added to who I am today. OH OF COURSE, YEAH. So John, you interpreted for your family? Was Were there any other deaf family members that you interpreted for? Or was it just parents?
John:Yeah good question. Only my parents are deaf, the rest of my family on both sides of my family are all hearing. And nobody knows sign language outside of my nuclear family, my brother and me and my parents. There are a few family members who have learned the alphabet, or a few family members who have learned a few signs here and there. As of course, there's a couple of "home" signs and things like that. But they do not know ASL, they don't know the language, they just have some kind of way to communicate with their brother or sister or whatever that gets by in a pinch for them. So I've spent a lot of time I don't like family reunions, or any type of family gatherings. Yeah, yeah. So that's, that's the dynamic there.
Tina:So I guess I should have rephrased my question to, "were there any other deaf people that you had to interpret for"? Because I'm sure you interpreted for many of the hearing family members. Yeah, yeah, that was, yeah, in my mom's side, family, I know, you're gonna think this is crazy. There's 14, one, four kids. . And of those 14, six are deaf, and THAT'S AMAZING. That is amazing. So there was a lot whenever they would all get together, they were just entertaining. So I didn't really get that, you know, with grandma, we would interpret for her and but yeah, anyway, I don't mean to get off on that. You're just making all this come back to me. I'm maybe you should be interviewing me as well. John, can you give me a, like one interpreting assignment that you did as a kid that really stands out something vivid that you just can't seem to get out of your memory bank?
John:Yeah. So that's a good question. I have a hard time thinking of it. Because it's such an ingrained part of my experience. I don't know if there's any one thing that stands out, I will say there's, there's an experience of I must have been 13, 14, maybe. And a man came to the house. That is what was going on, of course. And he wanted to talk to my parents about money. I didn't know what the heck was going on. And I interpreted the entire interaction. He was from the bank. And my parents were talking about getting a refinance on the home, which, of course, now I understand what that's all about. But I had no idea, equity, what the heck is equity to a 13 year old kid? Yeah. And our escrow accounts, like I had no idea. So I had, so of course, I had, you know, I interpreted that whole exchange, and I had no idea what was going on. And, you know, when my when my grandmother passed away, I was 15. And the house phone rang. And I got, I answered the phone with my uncle. And he tells me, and then so now I have to go outside, where my dad's working and tell dad that his mom passed away. So that, you know, and I think that's a common CODA experience, where we're the ones who break the news to our parents, or I think in most, in most families, it's the other way around, the parents break the news to the kids. So there was that an I interpreted grandma's funeral. So there's that, you know,
Tina:Do you know, isn't it amazing? Looking back, like, as kids, people relied on us to carry on adult conversations with our like to interpret adult conversations. My cousin, she was the court interpreter for her parents divorce.
John:That's insane, that's traumatic.
Tina:She was like 11 or 12. And she talks about it. She I interviewed her and she talks about it. Can you imagine that? Interpreting THE COURTS ALLOWED IT. Yeah, And they you know what, I'm not even surprised that today that still I mean, I know your legal interpreter and I get that but if they could get by with it, people still try to get by with that stuff. I'm just saying,
John:Oh, gosh yeah. You know, I manage an interpreting agency Heritage Interpreting and we see it people will try to skate by getting getting out of paying for access anytime they can doing whatever they can.
Tina:It's amazing when they I have to interpret, "don't you have a son or daughter or family member that come with that can come with you" and I, and it's all I can do to interpret that, it was like, "you really are asking this question, aren't you"? So it's just amazing to me how that happened and can still happen if it's allowed.
John:I used to let it really frustrate me and anger me and I've had, and in, in working with Heritage Interpreting and seeing it, as you know, much more often now, because of my role. I have to remind myself that people are doing the best they can, right, those types of questions are rooted in ignorance and ignorance in the best sense, right? Ignorance, strictly meaning that they just don't know what they don't know. And, and that we, we can choose a positive reaction, response and and help them learn. And once they've been exposed to the proper way of thinking about it, if they still continue, then it's no longer ignorant, it's stupidity, because now they know and they're still choosing it. But But, yeah, I think most people just have to choose my positive response.
Tina:Exactly yeah, I think that's great advice. That is great advice. So you kind of already talked a little bit about some of your characteristics that you have developed from being a CODA being within the Deaf community, I heard you say, you know, you're you're over protective. Are there any other things that you think you still carry on?
John:Good question. One thing, so I don't know if this is about being a CODA, or this is just something my mother instilled in me. But um, I would say one of my core values is stewardship. Being of service, that, I know, that's something my mother has always been very clear is an important value to have. And so it's definitely been one of my core values. I don't know if that's to do with being a CODA or not. But I think being a CODA with a core value of stewardship, they go well together, because I have an entire community that I that I can be a steward of. And when I say stewardship, to me, that is like one step beyond service, right? There is service, and then there's service with love. And that is stewardship, that's that's how I always look at it. So I don't know if that's a CODA characteristic, or if it's something my mom has given to me, but I know that my my core value of stewardship mixed with being a CODA has definitely has definitely given me a leg up.
Tina:A great combination. YEAH. So you decided one day, I'm going to do this for a living? When do you think that happened?
John:That happened while I was in college. All right, so Well, mom, kind of so let me be clear. So I was at Full Sail in Orlando, studying, recording arts, music, business and entertainment business, because I had been very clear, I didn't want to be an interpreter. But while I was living in Orlando, I had made a lot of deaf friends, because these are my people. That's my community. This is who I enjoy spending time with. So I made a lot of deaf friends and we would gather and do things and then they would ask me, "oh, I have a thing. Can you interpret it for me?", you know how that goes. And so I started doing, I started doing that I would interpret a little bit for my friends when I was in college and things like that. So I started branching out from only interpreting for my parents and direct close adults, family members of my friends of my parents, I'm switching out to my own friends and interpreting for them. And then while I was in school, I got my first job interpreting it was just a part time job for I don't even remember the name of the organization that was so brief. I think it was only with them for like six months, and they paid I think I got paid like $11 an hour, they definitely were taking advantage. They're definitely taking advantage of the CODA kid who didn't know better, you know what I mean? But but it was it was like a workforce management type of organization where deaf people who needed help, it wasn't vocational rehabilitation, but it was an organization that work alongside behind and they would help deaf people find employment opportunities and things like that. And so I was interpreting for that organization for like six months while I was in school. I graduated school and I started working full time in my in my degree and so I was working at BB King blues club running lights and sound there for those different musicians and
Tina:It was called? Blues...
John:BB King's blues club in Orlando. And that was awesome. I got this I got to see BB King come and perform twice and WOW, some other some other well known blues musicians. I got to be in charge of mixing their performances, the audio side. And then I also worked at a television studio and we would produce a TV a The Morning Show and every morning we were live, for three hours a day. Some people may have heard the shows that was called the Daily Buzz. It was mostly on the CW Network nationwide, but it was on a few other affiliates. And I was the audio operator there. And we would have a lot of musicians come on. So that was really cool. I got to work with a lot of famous musicians. And I really liked it. But I missed, I started feeling I was like getting away from that community. And from doing those jobs, I got my new job, which brought me to Washington, DC. And so I started doing live event production, for large conferences for a company called Swank Audio visuals, which got bought out by PSAV (sp). So I was working for this large audio visuals company, doing live event production for you know, for the President, for Congress and for Senators. And for large CEOs of corporations that would come into these huge corporate meetings at these big basement ballrooms of this huge hotels in Washington, DC. I was doing it all the time. And while I was doing that, I was living at a frat house off campus a Gallaudet, because these are my people. This is who I enjoyed spending my time with. I was the one hearing guy at the at the deaf, frat house. And I did that for like two years, and I got burnt out and I did not enjoy my job. And I was living in Washington, DC at a Gallaudet frat house. I was I was dating an interpreting student at Gallaudet University at the time. And, and so I was I was definitely involved in the community, but I was not working as an interpreter. And then I decided, like, you know what, I've got this, I've got this skill. I've got this community, it's right here at my doorstep. So I just decided to screen, do a skills assessment with every single interpreting agency in Washington, DC that I could think of, and they all accepted me except one. And so I quit my job. And I started freelancing right there. Yeah, just like that. And then I worked in DC as a freelance interpreter for two years. And then I got my cert my NIC. And then shortly after that is when I moved up to Boston, and then the rest is history, I suppose. So that's kind of how I got into it. I started down one path, I realized it really wasn't for me, I had this other opportunity right in front of me, you know, I was living in DC. And for those who don't know, DC is kind of like the the Deaf mecca of the world. People do move the deaf community from around the world comfort to go to Gallaudet University. And before they so the ADA was passed, right in 1990, or 1991. And so before that, there were no requirements at all, for any place ever to provide accommodation, whether it's a state, local, you know, corporate, any of it and that nobody had to provide any access at all, except for the federal government. And they had that requirement in place since 1973. There's a Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is the law that the ADA was modeled after, but then was made to apply to a wider gamut, right. So the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, only applied to the federal government. And so people would, the deaf community would graduate from Gallaudet and stay in DC, because there was jobs offered job opportunities, that would provide interpreters. And so you have a very strong deaf community in Washington, DC in the surrounding area. And so it took for me to be young, and struggling with money at the time, and having, you know, very limited options, interpreting was very enticing. You know, I was in DC, where you can get paid very well as an interpreter compared to the rest of the country. And the amount of opportunities that are available. I mean, if you wanted to, you could work 40 or 50 hours a week, if that was what you wanted to do. There's just so much volume of work available there. So I, you know, I took the opportunity, and I ran with it and haven't looked back.
Tina:That brings us to today. So you are now a have an successful interpreting agency. Tell us about it.
John:Thank you. So I started Heritage Interpreting. It's been just over three years now. It had been something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I studied entertainment business in school, which was, like I said, a business degree focused on the entertainment industry. But it's still a business degree. You know, we develop business plans, and we did pro formas and marketing plans and all the things and competitive market analysis and all those things. And so I was familiar with business, and I was in love with interpreting and so I started to play with the two all the time in my head and I started writing business plans just for fun, and it was always about an interpreting agency. So for years, I had been toying with it. And then January, three years ago, so January 2019. I decided I'm not I'm not playing waiting around or waiting any longer it's time. So I just, I just, I just kind of flipped the switch and went public with all of the stuff that I had been creating in private for the last several years. And I just did it. I just kind of, I just launched a website and I opened up my social media and I started sharing with the community what my intentions were and why I wanted to start an agency, you know, I wanted to, I wanted to lead, I wanted to be a leader in our field, I wanted to help to improve the sign language interpreting experience for everyone. So when I say that, what that means is that the Deaf communities experience of working with interpreters will be improved, because we're going to work with interpreters who meet our core values, not just have the linguistic skills, but also have the ethical understanding. We there's a book called "The ideal Team Player". And in that book, it talks about people who are hungry, humble, and smart. So these are characteristics of interpreters that we look for, people who are hungry, humble and smart, in addition to having the linguistic and cultural capacity to provide appropriate access. So that is what it means for improving the experience of sign language interpreting for the deaf community. Improving the experience for the interpreters, means that when you work with a team interpreter, when you get assigned to a team, that your team is going to be competent. Well, you know, they know what they're doing. A lot of times, in my experience, when I was working in Washington DC, I would get teamed with an interpreter who was not well qualified for that particular assignment. And I felt like I had to carry the team, where I was doing all the work, and they were, you know, they were there. And then at the end of the day, we just get paid the same amount. And that really felt wrong. It felt it felt really wrong. If you know the the agency would send two interpreters because the job needs two interpreters. But the reason a job needs two interpreters is because it needs a team of interpreters, not just two interpreters, there's a difference. So we when we when we, when we talk about Heritage Interpreting, providing an experience, that's better for interpreters, it means that you're working with a team and not just another interpreter next to you. It also means business practices for the interpreters, we make a point of it to try to pay our interpreters early. You know, our contract states net 30, which I think is pretty common. But for the most part, were able to get checked out the door on a weekly they. So we tried to do that. And you know, it's not always possible, especially when there's any type of a conflict, we have to do some kind of reviews of invoices that always happens. So things are delayed a week or two. But it's very rare that we push things out to the net 30, which is what it's you know, the contract says net 30. But most of the time, we're getting checks out the door in a week. And so for an interpreter, you know, especially people who are working freelance, on 1099, that's a that's a big deal to be able to get paid quickly. It can be it can be a challenge, I think for a lot of interpreters, and for and for and for the experience for our hearing customers, the way that we approach improving the experience for working for our customers, you know, not the Deaf consumers, but the hearing customers, the people who are paying for the service, it's ensuring that what they're paying for is exceeding compliance standards. Right. So we have to understand why are hearing people paying for our service. You know, it's most of the time, it's because they have to because there's a law that says that. And so we want to make sure that because they're making that commitment to paying that we're giving them something that exceeds compliance standards, and it gives them the peace of mind to know that they are more than just in compliance, but they are exceeding compliance requirements, that they are well beyond any type of a limitation. And that when they work with Heritage Interpreting, they're going to have quality interpreters. And everybody says you're going to have quality interpreters when you work with us. And so that's why we like to frame it as your compliance requirements are going to be exceeded when you work with us. So that's, that was the onus behind wanting to start Heritage is being able to improve the interpreting experience for everyone. And we started in January 2019. And then just over a year later, the pandemic hit. And so before the pandemic hit, about 90% of our work was on site. We were not doing VRI work at all, hardly. We were doing pretty much everything on site. And then the pandemic hit and we had to pivot quickly. And I think a lot of other interpreting agencies were not prepared to make changes quickly and they and that hurt them. Fortunately for us, we were able to make changes we were able to partner with an organization that we are now able to provide on demand services. So we have, we have access 24 hours a day to on demand VRI interpreters, as well as spoken language interpreters on demand for over 240 languages. So you can just you can make a phone call and have an have a spoken language interpreter on the phone and just a matter of seconds. So we have, we have, we made the strategic partnerships when the pandemic hit to make sure that we were still able to meet the access the access needs of our customers, because things changed quickly. And you know, not everybody was was keeping up with the changes, and we needed to find a way to keep to keep up. And so it was it was scary for that first, like six months of the pandemic. I didn't know if we would, if we would make it through, you know, but I think by making those pivots and making those partnerships, not only did we make it through, but we have thrived through it. And it's been it's been a great experience. Yeah. I've definitely learned a lot.
Tina:You know, what I think all of us have, we all the face of interpreting changed overnight, you know, no more having , well not no more, I'm sure we're getting back into it. But having that live person beside us as how do we maneuver, seeing the interpreter also on the screen? And we're trying to team with them. And how do I make that look so that we're not really team? You know, just that whole look, was a whole new set of rules for all of us. So I'm going to I'm going to finish with one more question for you, John. Tell me "I'm new I just graduated, and I love to work for Heritage"? What? What are you going to look for in me as somebody who just really doesn't quite have all the experience that sounds like your agency has, but I want to get there? How can you help me so that I can work for your agency?
John:That's an excellent question. So I've been lucky enough to be able to work with some amazing people. We have a team now. We have a team now that's helping me obviously run the company. And whenever we get new applicants, they will sit down with one of our team members who will do an interview. And in that interview, we are looking for more than just you telling me what's on your resume. We really want to get to know who you are, but not just who you are, but who you think the deaf community is. And so what I mean by that is the deaf community is in historically oppressed population of people, right?, and they are facing oppression every day. And as interpreters myself included, you know, I'm a CODA, you're a CODA, but we are hearing we can hear, and hearing people are the oppressor class, okay. And so as interpreters, we come into the deaf community with the best of intentions, we want to help. But we have to remember that we are from the oppressor class, and we're entering an oppressed group of people, and that everything we do, has an impact on their lives. Right? When I was born, there was an interpreter there, there's a photo of me that day I was born, my mom and dad holding me in the hospital room and the interpreter off to the side. Okay. And when and when I die at my funeral, there will be a lot of Deaf people there. And there will be an interpreter there. And it's the same in my life. And it's because of my association with the deaf community, and in the deaf community as well, from cradle to grave, interpreters are within your life. Wow. So the deaf community makes this decision every time they have to be consciously vulnerable, to allow another person into their lives, so that they can have access, that is already putting them into that is that is an oppressive life experience. And so us being the interpreters, we show up, and we make it all about us. We have to do this, we have to do that. And I call it interpreter entitlements. And it's not just and so when I say interpret entitlement, people take it at face value to think that people are acting entitled. And it's a lot more than that. You agree there's a model, I'll give you an example. There's a model of interpreting that's very popular, and it's called the demand control scheme. The demand control schema is a good model, it helps a lot of interpreters figure out how they can approach different situations. But my, my problem with the demand control schema is that it puts the interpreter at the center of the model. It's all about the interpreter. There's another model of interpreting that's not as popular, but I like it a lot more. And it's called the Deaf Centered Model of Interpreting. And that was developed by Marlene Elliot,
Tina:You know I just did you see her interview?
John:I did not, know she's a good friend of mine. I had no idea you interviewed her.
Tina:I interviewed her, look for her. I just met her myself.
John:She's great. And she developed a Deaf Centered Model of Interpreting. And so all of that to say, when you're coming into Heritage, we are looking for interpreters who understand that dynamic and not just like,"Oh, I understand it, because I read about it once". But people who have internalized the dynamics, understand the actual impact that it has on real people. It makes a difference. And when you when you understood it at that level, and then at then you go out into the community, and you're practicing your professional and it's a practice profession, because every day you're learning, yes. Beyond it's beyond the linguistic and cultural competency, linguistic and cultural competencies are the foundation of what we do, but they are not all we do. So we're looking for people who have the linguistic and cultural competency as a baseline. Right? If you don't have that, then you're you're not in, then you're not qualified to work with Heritage. But if you do have that, that's just the baseline. We're looking for people who, we're looking for people who get it.
Tina:Wow. Wow, that sounds Yeah. I mean, I can't agree with you even more, and all all the things that you said I was sitting here shaking my head"Yes". I don't know if you could hear. But yes, and you know, what I think this is, I think we need to do another interview based just on that, that topic in itself. I, you know, I, you know, I'm an educator. And I think our students, that that the first thing, they just give me a job, just give me out there, give me a job. And, and, you know, we encourage them to, you know, get in the Deaf community immerse yourself. Every interview I have done, everybody has said the same thing. I was part of the deaf community. The fortunate thing for you and I, John, is we were we were born into it. So the effort kind of looks like it's not as hard for us because we're born into it. Yep, you're right. But I made the also made the decision to continue to be in the deaf community. And I have to say that my my father just passed away in April.
John:I'm sorry to hear that.
Tina:I felt an extreme loss, not because my father died. Because I did. I'm not I'm not saying that. The loss I felt, and I shared this with other friends, is my connection. Yeah, in and I know that I have, I'm 63 years old, I have a 63 year old connection. But I still feel like I still feel like I lost a little bit. Because that Deaf community and you said this, this is my people, this is my community. And I totally agree with that. John, thank you so much. I'm sorry, I, I, I got a little teary eyed there, you really hit upon a lot of things for me. I don't know if this interview is gonna be for me or for our listening audience. But I think it is. You have been a delight. And you're, and you've been so enlightening. And I thank you very, very much. I'd love to do another interview with you. And I'd love to invite your wife as well. I'm sorry, I don't remember her name. And I don't mean to give her that light label, just your wife. KRISTY. I would love to invite both of you again. You have been a blessing to me, I cannot tell you enough. And to our, and to our listening audience. I'm not finished any of my interviews this way. (emotional) But this really brought out some things in me that, I miss. I miss my family. Of course my mom and dad, I still have aunts and uncles, but I missed that. I don't know if I've lost that connection. It could just be my own belief. I don't think I have but I think I miss it. And John, you. Just gosh you sound so enthused, and I'm so glad to hear that Heritage is doing well. There are so many good interpreting community agencies in Columbus, they're they're really a blessed community to have all of the different agencies and to have somebody at the helm of so many interpreters and helping them I thank you for that. And for our listening and reading audience. Thank you for joining us today. And I will also include John's information, if you want to contact contact him, especially if you're somebody who thinks you know, one day I want to work for an agency like that. I think there's nothing wrong with contacting an interpreting agency and saying maybe I'm not ready right now, but help me help me to get there. And I feel like John would be a great person to help you get to that place where you would love to be. Again John thank you
John:That'd be great!
Tina:Thank you so very much and again thank you to our viewing audience have a great day