I am so proud of my blind parents

I’ve been invited to give a speech to the True Ability which is one of Dell’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) in which the focus is to empower employees impacted with a disability. Everything started when a member of this ERG in Brazil saw my recent career update in LinkedIn and she thought my career journey would inspire other people so a very good resource to launch their newest program called “Unlock Your Career”.

?I felt flattered by the invitation as one of my passions is to empower people on reaching their full potential to achieve their career goals so I immediately said yes to this invitation ??. What Ester Belem did not know at when she approached me was that I was raised by blind parents which become even more interesting to give this speech to this very important ERG.

?Well, as a result of that, as I was getting prepared and gathering material to share during the big day I asked my parents to send me a few of their old pictures and newspaper articles in which they appeared over 30 years ago when they were sharing their own careers paths and challenges that they had to overcome to raise us.

?Mom and Dad were spectacular and they built a beautiful foundation for me and my brother to succeed in their own careers. They are definitely our most important inspiration that made us to achieve our career goals and aspirations.

?What a lot of people don’t know is that my first Supply Chain lessons were learned at home as we had to organize the groceries of our home pantry in order of Old to New. Can you believe I was already applying First In First Out (FIFO) concept at the age of 5 years old? That is definitely not an issue or concern in families in which all members have normal vision, however in a home were you have blind people, it’s very important that things stays organized and that old groceries is in front so they are sure they are consumed the most old product as they can’t see/read when the actual expiration date is.

?A lot of people admire how my brother and I are so good with our Personal Finances and what most people don’t know is that this was learned at home as well. Every day we had to read the change to my parents or even to read their monthly paycheck as such all household bills. It was at a very young age that I learned that you should not spend more than what you earn ??.

?Anyways, the purpose of this article today is to inspire more companies to hire people with disability. That will give them the opportunity to raise their own family and more stories like that can become more and more present in the workplace.

?As my father said in the article over 30 years ago, "people with disability have their own limitations but they are not invalidated".?