hello hello hello this is Tama Peters president
and CEO of grow your nonprofit will we help startup small and stagnant nonprofits grow through
fundraising strategy strategic planning and so much more guys today you're in for treat I have
my special guest here Kate she is with the sensory safe set Salon we will talk about how she started
her nonprofit and how she's growing it and the impact she's making in the community but before
we get started i' like to thank the sponsors of my podcast Tr
inity life Foundation Naples helping
atrisk youth through their enrichment program Avid that stands for the associations of Haitians
living abroad they just open an amazing support center right here in the beautiful Fort Meyers
where they will help you with immigration support utility bilding and English as a second language
vac Tru they just received a grant from the CDC to raise awareness of covid-19 and vaccine resources
in the black and brown communities best insurance USA a Florida blu
e provider helping you navigate
all the Waters of Health Care and health insurance last but not least Premier mobile Health Services
your route to Better Health so guys like I said my special guest here Kate how are you doing Kate
Hi I'm doing so great thank you for having me today thank you for joining us thank you for your
amazing attitude and just the moment you walked into the podcast Studio I knew we were going to
have a lot of fun with this podcast you bet we are yes so would you plea
se start by telling our
audience a little bit about yourself and then how you founded your nonprofit and why why did you
found it what was the need there you got it so I have been behind the chair as a hairdresser for
23 years wow and a salon owner for 12.5 years oh 12.5 I like that 12.5 um and I built my business
I started it with a $5,000 income tax check wow five bottles of shampoo oh wow two chairs and
who's counting me no that's right every baby step that took me to where I am now I'm
in uh
6,000 square ft unit we have about 30 providers under our roof estheticians hairdressers nail
text you name it we have it and I've grown my business you know in the past 12.5 years um you
know to that size yeah during that time in 2013 I had my fifth baby a a yes my last and final
fifth baby I had four boys before him I was you know fingers crossed it was going to be a girl uh
didn't happen nope didn't happen we had another boy and um I almost immediately thought something
was differ
ent H when you were pregnant no when he after he was oh after he was born after he was
born I um you know this was supposed to be the baby okay you know my my business is great my
life is great I'm in my 30s yeah I got it you know um this was it and I noticed it was so hard
um something was different something just wasn't I hate to say it something wasn't right right right
I said something to my mom I said something to my ex-husband I said something to the pediatrician
MH said something to
the the preschool owner and everybody told me I was crazy interesting so what
does that mean when something wasn't right what I guess signs did you see or how did you feel that
you made you knew that something wasn't right I noticed little things like as soon as he could
sit up he was rocking H and he did have some slight language and then it was gone and I had
never seen like I can make a baby laugh I can typically make anybody yeah you can't you can you
wa up the room when you walk in any
room thank you but I couldn't it took a lot to get a smile out
of him he was very stoic eye contact I felt was good but it was just this distance between us
where I felt we were connected we were we were connected on that mother child level but there was
something about it that was that was disconnected and I noticed he was very unhappy very unhappy
just almost fussing from the time he woke up until the time he closed his eyes at night and
I had mentioned it to all the you know people I tr
usted and um they all said no you're crazy
I did and and I remember him being tested and negotiating with myself like if it's autism it'll
only be a little autism whatever that means and you know we'll figure it out and they said Miss
Owens um we have your results will you please sit down oh and anytime someone tells you to sit
down yeah don't run and I sat down and they said your son has right under severe autism and they
kept saying do you understand what we're saying your son is consider
ed disabled for the rest of
his life do you understand what we're saying go to Social Security your son is disabled for
the rest of his life I know you refused to accept that I just I didn't even know what I was
accepting it felt like and I say this every time I'm interviewed and anytime I speak I felt like
the world had fallen out from under me I didn't know about disabilities I didn't know about
special needs I knew about hair mhm I knew about fashion and I knew about business business
a
nd raising boys yeah yeah but disabilities and special needs I had no clue I spent a lot
of nights thinking um what did I do to cause it why God why me yeah and you know what
why not me right why not me MH and I was angry and I was resentful and I couldn't
imagine what the future looked like and you know it's those lat night talks MH with
God that I always you know hear what I need to hear yeah and I decided it's not about
why it happened how it happened what am I going to do about it mhm s
o my son had a 10%
quality of life he was living like an animal what does that mean it means that he couldn't
communicate okay like if you and I work at 100% quality of life 95% quality of life we can
ask for what we need we can you know utilize utilize the world around us he was living with
no communication and like an animal nonverbal couldn't leave the house um 70 headbangs an hour
AG attacking me um it was I was living in hell and when I decided that it was about what am
I going to do
about it I put everything else on the side my husband my boys my business and
I asked these doctors what do I do give me the referral and if it said therapy at the end of
the name we were signed up if it was behavior therapy occupation ational therapy music therapy
speech therapy equestrian therapy art therapy pet therapy swimming lessons they said if you do these
interventions then your life would be different they didn't make me any promises they said it
would be different and anything is
better than hell right I thought right and we did them and
some of them um one therapy alone was 30 hours a week in home and they said we're not teaching
you I mean we're not teaching your baby we're teaching you wow so you can learn how to work
with your baby makes sense and within one year his 10% quality of life went to 80 oh% quality of
life you try you're trying to make me cry I prayed so hard I just want to hear my son say Mom yes or
I love you or anything dog ball anything any word
and now I want to tell you that that child doesn't
hush he talks a lot talks a lot yes he I bet you he asks a lot of questions he they call him the
mayor at school I have to put my phone on do not disturb because he will FaceTime me 18 times and
say what are you doing and can I meet your friends oh who are you with can I say hi one year of
interventions wow I saw him go from a world that he didn't he was in a cage I felt like of autism
yeah yeah to stepping into a place where he had a voice
he could asked for what he needed and I
saw the chains break that we're holding on to my baby then I meet all these moms I meet Mom oh
you're you that that that was the that was the the path ah without a doubt I meet moms I meet dads I
meet kids I meet they just started coming out of nowhere and well I find my people I will find my
people I I call I text I show up I will find you know what I'm looking for and I found my people
and I meet these moms and dads and they say to me um they know
I'm a salon owner uhhuh so I'm like
and I'm seeing these children that have haircuts that I could not believe they were awful because
they couldn't get the the child I didn't know I'm like this little guy looks like Tarzan his hair
is all the way down to his backside this one I'm looking all right he's rocking a mullet before it
came back around because the mullet's back but it hadn't come back yet and it was real crude and
you know The Fringe was crooked and I was like oh gosh what's happe
ning you know hair that was
uncombed like it was and then I look at my baby and my baby has a nasty skin fade a hard part and
a pomor oh and I'm wondering why yeah they don't have that too wow so I'm immediately seeing these
parents that are insecure because they know I do hair and they said oh we um we can't get haircuts
and I said what they said oh we were kicked out because of behaviors wow out of salons kicked out
of salon and not welcomed back I said what no no come on and I'm thinking
of my industry cuz this
industry has fed my family yeah yeah for 20 years for you know 18 years at the time what do you
mean we kick you guys out um another woman we I cannot do that to him again I had to hold him
down and now he won't go near blonde ladies and cries every time we go drive near that Salon wow
and I'm thinking what the heck is happening in my industry so I talk to people but the real thing
that did it for me is that little guy that I saw that looked like Tarzan um gorgeous
little guy
hair down his backside I see him again and his head is shaved shaved number one shaved to the
skin and I said to the the therapist that was with us I said what happened what happened
she said you didn't know that's the official haircut of autism wow heck no to shave it low so
we don't have to cut it for a long time from hair to your backside to shaving someone's head no no
unacceptable to me unacceptable to me unacceptable that my industry is telling people they can't
come into
their spaces unacceptable to me so I opened up my salon 5 years ago for sensory safe
Sundays I say to my hair just as y'all want to cut hair for kids on the Spectrum or sensory
processing they say sure we start rocking and rolling no guidance and Beautiful Things begin
to happen so tell us about that Sundays yeah it it's open to all kids uh all on the spectrum of
au any disability any any disability yes ma'am how does how does that work do you do you work
with each stylist on how to best wo
rk with that child and did you get those skills because you
were trained in all these therapies right so the the original idea came from my therapies yeah cuz
we got my son to talk we got my son to be able to go to Publix you know which is a miracle in it
in itself those little things are so huge for a family of an individual with autism going to
public to if you're watching this podcast know every word that is spoken from these children are
a miracle know that going to Publix is a miracle
and knowing that getting something as simple
as a haircut is a miracle I took those tools I said let's let's try let's see if it works
with patience kindness and understanding and it just grew and grew and grew and I was invited
to Tallahassee no Jacksonville to the capital for National developmental disability day of 2023 MH
and I only got invited because I have a big mouth for autism MH and I have a voice for those that
don't and that voice got me up to the capital and I got up there and
I'm seeing all these people
that are you know lobbying and like making real big change within the world of disabilities and
I was like oh that's where I want to be MH and on the drive home from Jacksonville I heard
you know I heard a voice and the voice said have you done enough in your lane and the answer
is no the answer at that time was no no I have not done enough in my lane cuz it in you know
Tallahassee in Jacksonville my voice is little yeah up at the House of Representatives in the
Senate my voice is little but the Hair World I have 23 years and I have a louder voice yes yes
so I found that families were driving 3 hours one way just to get a haircut with our salon so no I
hadn't done enough so a woman that I met at the capital I said hey she's an Autism expert I said
you want to teach a class with me I'm going to be at uh Paul Mitchell School teaching let's
teach a sensory class she said great then we meet another girl that went to hair school just
to cut individuals
on the Spectrum wow she had been working as a behavior technician for like
s years our world's collided we took the girl that had been working at my shop had a thousand
hours worth of sensory cutting and we said oh we should write a curriculum yeah we should start
educating everybody oh wait let's make a nonprofit yeah yeah so and that was 6 months ago waa wow
what an amazing Story 6 months ago we created the sensory safe solution nonprofit MH and we wrote
the curriculum with a bunch of pr
ofessionals an RN people with master's degrees in special
ed education um speech therapists looked at this bcbas looked at this you know people in
the autism world and we said what did we miss what did we forget they give it back to us we'd
send it to another professional what did we miss and um we began educating stylists and Barbers
all around the country and as of now 6 months we have 148 providers wow those are sensory safe
certified providers we list them on our website so families can
find them M uh we're in 14 States
two countries wow which two countries United States and Canada very nice but this is just the
beginning yes it is and we have 19 National and Regional Educators wow that's amazing spreading
message that's amazing so what was your strategy to once you you you you asked yourself can you do
more and it was obvious yes how did you I know I know you you you're a connector so how did you
connect to get the partners and and um to bring it all together did you com
e up with like a plan
and a checklist and you just kind of um went that way or you just just sort of happened or it was
absolute divine intervention the the behav uh the autism specialist that I met at the Capital divine
intervention Divine the RBT that is leaving you know behavior therapy to just cut individuals on
the Spectrum to buy an intervention the young lady with a thousand hours worth of sensory cutting
it just all came together it just jelled and then we just said hey we got on so
cial media we
want to train Educators that are passionate for this because obviously I've learned in business
if you want to do great multiply yourself oh yeah definitely so I needed a bunch more individuals
passionate kind caring and down for the mission MH and I've found 19 so far wow that are all
over the country so I'm teaching classes they're teaching classes and every time we teach a class
mhm I will send a follow-up email if you love this Mission then come join ours and teach for us
wow
all of this in six months yes ma'am wow yes ma'am wow you definitely understood the assignment how
could I not it was the assignment all those hard years mhm you were training for for for this
without a doubt and and and it's amazing how you know how God works it's just amazing you you
don't understand what you're going through and why but it's all for a purpose can I share with you
I was the thirstiest hairdresser what does that mean oh well you know what thirsty means right I
know wh
at thirsty means but what do you mean by you were the thirstiest hairdresser so there's
big shots in the Hair World okay that that are big time and these brands that are big time and
was like Notice Me hi I'm Kate please notice me I'm Different never once did those big shots ever
give me a second look actually I was passed over as an educator for one of those big Brands and it
broke my heart and Little Nail for you little did I know that those hard years of autism diagnosis
of interventions
of learning all these strategies that Not only was going to help my son but help
other individuals be able to get a haircut with dignity yeah give these families victories create
trust not trauma if I had known I would have taken it much easier if God had just said sit listen
will you just sit down for a minute sit down I got you and I remember one of my mentors had said to
me I think you're going to do something with the autism World wow and I was offended oh I didn't
want yeah I didn't w
ant that I wanted to be like she was on these stages where people thought the
hair she did was just so beautiful little did I know God was going to take what I thought was the
most terrible thing to happen to me and make it the best thing that's ever happened to me I feel
so blessed that I've gotten to be whan's mother and so proud that God entrusted me myself my board
members with such an important Mission yes yeah and to give families hope cuz if you're watching
this and you know you're M
or a dad and you can't get a haircut please yes you can and it can be
dignified and we'll blow your mind we will blow your mind that these individuals can be treated
with respect dignity and they can have victories yeah that's very important so if someone wanted
to reach out to you because they have a a child or an adult uh child with autism and they want
to perhaps come to your salon or see your website and see if a salon is in their area um please tell
us your website and telephone numbe
r to reach you absolutely our website is the sensory saav salon.
org um on that website is a national locator list of everyone that is a provider in all the states
uh there's a spot on that website if you want to sponsor a haircut for a family we offer that
too a lot of um families of individuals with disabilities one of the parents will usually step
away from the workforce to provide the care that's necessary for having a child um with disabilities
so sponsor a haircut is on there um you c
an also find us on the sensory safe Solution on Instagram
and on Facebook and uh the cell number to get a hold of us is 239 333 9732 and you can reach
out to me any time if you're a hairdresser or you're a salon owner you're a barber shop owner
you're a barber cosmetologist aesthetician Nail Tech massage therapist any service that provides
um individual any individuals with services in the cosmetology or in field we want to teach you
how to be inclusive so you can happily take any individua
l that walks through your door and you
can do it with knowledge and you can do it with strategy and you can uh you can get it done and
we're here to support that so please reach out if we can help you make that happen well thank you so
much Kate your your story was very powerful very impactful and I I'll let you in on a little little
secret right out of high school in '93 I um didn't know what I wanted to do and I decided I decided
to be a a cosmetologist so I was a colle I went to cosmetol
ogy school I think I did about 1,600
hours love it and um I I did it for three years and I just decided it wasn't for me so and then
when I moved to the State of Florida I continue um renewing my license and you know took the
continuing education HIV and I said I'm I'll never do this again so I just let it go I just
wanted to let you in the on the little secret I used to be a cosmetologist you didn't keep your
license so you can get discounted products I I actually still do I I still have m
y card you
bet you do you don't let that go no no you put in600 hours for that a year and a half it was
a lot you bet you bet yeah and there are a lot of people that try cosmetology and I think to um
it's a really hard business it is I don't think we're told that enough in school how how hard
it is to truly build a book right and how long it takes right it is a grind yeah well just like
entrepreneurship you know when I first started my business I think I started with one client and
then it
just sort of built from there but that's where're you know learning to walk by faith not
by and going basically obsessing with the clients you have because that's how my business has grown
I'm sure yours through referral out absolutely and you know what I got to be honest with you you know
being the owner of my salon for 12.5 years I love 12.5 years 12.5 um I was spoiled so when I opened
this new nonprofit and people aren't swarming to me like oh I I forgot I forgot about that grind
yeah a
nd it it's been very humbling to start at the bottom again and be you know humble and yes
we're you know going to these big Brands asking for meetings and saying there's um we have 10
providers we've certified 10 people you know like that beginning yeah it's very humbling but I got
to tell you it's been so there's been something so refreshing about it that fight again to create
something so great yeah oh it's been wonderful yeah well Kate something tells me that this is
only the beginning o
h heck yeah this is only the beginning I see so much so much from you books
and podcasts and yeah big on big stages and just all of it all of it do want a reality show I'm
just going to put that oh yeah I'm just going to speak it it's coming it's coming guys stay tuned
you'll see Kate with her reality show and tell me about this reality show oh I don't know yet oh you
okay God is going to decide but I've been told for a long time yeah and that's one of the things I
said when you first walke
d in I know you're not the only one cuz I have some fun and I feel like
I've created a almost a reality show character on my social media okay so I'm actually working I did
some videos on my husband because I really want a fendy pair of shoes oh and he keeps saying no so
I'm videoing him saying no yeah just so I can show you guys that we are going to make Eric Hines buy
me fendy shoes it's going to happen it's just a matter of time fendy shoes Eric yeah fendy shoes
so again Kate thank you s
o much we could talk all day we'll definitely have you back on the grow
your nonprofit because I would like to follow you and uh so you could share with our audience
the strategies you continue to use to grow your nonprofit absolutely I would love that yes yes so
guys I hope you were inspired by Kate and how she started how God actually put this nonprofit in
her hand the impact she made in her son's life how she decided just to stop and halt everything
and just focus on therapy for her son
from a 10% quality of life to a over 90% quality of life and
then the impact she's making with other salons and other uh estheticians and other services to help
people not only with autism but with disabilities to raise awareness about diversity equity and
inclusion because everyone deserves a good haircut everybody cuz mullets are out as we know well
they're back now they're back now they're back but you but you know how to cut a better mullet
better believe it not crooked mullet you bette
r believe it but everybody everyone deserves
deserves to to look and feel cool look and feel good right who doesn't deserve that exactly
because it it makes you feel great and everybody deserves that and that's our mission yes yes so I
hope you would visit Kate's website and sponsor a haircut grow your nonprofit will be sponsoring
some haircuts so I hope you would get involved to help make an impact um don't forget to like
And subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more grow yo
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Comments
Wow. This podcast is amazing!