Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hoeppner with my co-host Leslie Hoskins and Timothy Kun. Timothy, do you have an update for us on how Glacier has been doing?
Timothy: Well, we saw the vet about, uh, three weeks ago and, uh, so she's out of immediate danger.
That's the good important thing. That's fantastic. Yeah. So what we're doing is we're gonna do another test this coming Wednesday and I'll take 24 to 48 hours to get the results. And we're hoping and praying that the crossing our fingers that the blood work looks okay. Um, what the problem is, issues they're having is the blood ising.
Oh, before they can get it to the test, and so they can't give a really good read on it, so they're gonna put it on the slide. And then they're gonna read her blood. So I think she's gonna be in the clear and uh, and, uh, she's been acting normal. We just got back from a trip and, uh, she's just fabulous. Like usual, clay.
She has [00:01:00] never shown any signs of anything, so we'll find out.
Christina: Yeah. Fingers crossed. We're thinking about you and her. 'cause I know that's, I mean, it's been ongoing for a while. Yeah. The back and forth, so,
Timothy: uh, since February. Yeah, since February. So it's been, it's an, been an ordeal in this house. And, uh, you know, these dogs do so much for all of us, and they're like a child.
And when you, your child can't speak to you, what something's wrong with me and mm-hmm. You're just relying on the test results and stuff. Your dog can't say, my tummy hurts. Yeah. It, it's, it, it's, and you feel a little bit outta control some, something else is going on and you have no control over it. Yeah, that's true.
You feel you wanna take that away and put it in me, lemme deal with
Leslie: it. And do you mind Timothy, just giving us a quick recap exactly what happened for the, anybody who missed that episode when you shared about glacier?
Timothy: Yeah. Glacier somehow got bit by a tick last year and it had dropped her, uh, her blood platelet count down to [00:02:00] a kind of a dangerous level.
Down to 82,000, you're supposed to have at least 200,000. And so if she got cut. She would not clock. And so it was a dangerous situation with her being a traveling dog as much as she does, and it's just a little cut. Could be dangerous. So we're trying to raise those points back up. So we're, that's what we've been doing.
Leslie: Well, good. Well thank you for the update and we're so happy to hear that she is doing better. And on the mend, uh, keep us posted and just another reminder why those visits are so important to keep up with, um, to take care of your animals. So yeah. Thank you Timothy. Please give Glacier a big snuggle from us.
We miss her.
Timothy: She just walked up to me. She can hear our voices.
Leslie: She knew. Well, thank you. Alright, to get us started today, our guest has been instrumental in helping making Leader Dog a more accessible place.
Christina: Yes, Chelsea. No one starred their journey in the low vision field after being inspired by a book they received in fifth grade.
Since then, they've raised eight puppies for guiding Eyes for the [00:03:00] blind. I worked as a teacher of students with visual impairments and are currently working as an apprentice guide dog mobility instructor. Chelsea now serves on the deaf-blind and adaptive services team using their American sign language skills in combining their passions for teaching, working with dogs, and providing equal access.
Timothy: Chelsea, welcome to the podcast. We glad you here this morning. Do you mind telling us a little yourself?
Inspired you to be in this field.
Chelsea: Yes. Well, thank you so much for having me here today. This is a very, uh, surreal experience. Um, so yeah, in uh, fifth grade, I was leaving for the school year and, uh, my teacher had a, a book on the bookshelf and the bell had just rang. And so I had to hurry up and pick a book.
And there was this book that looked old and I was like, old things are cool, right? Mm-hmm. And so I pulled it off and there was a picture of a German Shepherd on it. And, uh, I was like, all right, cool. So I took it and I read it home and, uh, [00:04:00] I read it so quickly and it was about, um, this young boy who lost his sight, uh, with a firecracker accident.
And it was about his journey to kind of regain his independence. And he learned braille and, you know, ends up with a guide dog and all that good stuff. And, um, and then, uh, in high school I was walking to lunch and there was a. A poster on the bulletin board that said, do you wanna raise a puppy? And I was like, oh my gosh.
I love puppies. Absolutely. Um, and I'm gonna, um, out myself a little bit here for being a really big nerd, but I took the little pull tab that had the website on it. Yeah. And, um, I ate my lunch very quickly and I like sprinted to study hall. Right. To make a PowerPoint for my parents. Oh my God. As to why I should get to raise a puppy.
Right. And so I went home and I presented this to my parents and, and I said, I, I'd like to do this. And they were like, are you sure you have to give it back? And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that'll be fine. I'll give it back. No worries. And uh, so we went to a puppy class, and that was in November of 2007. Oh my gosh.
Um, and [00:05:00] then, you know, here I am, eight dogs later, so
Leslie: Oh my gosh.
Chelsea: Yeah.
Leslie: You're like the target marketing audience. Yeah. You see a puppy and you're like, pull that tab. I need more, more information. Literally. Yes. Yes. Sign me up. Yeah,
Chelsea: no, I mean that was, that was it Pull taps? Pull taps. I mean, it was, it was old school.
No, I can still, no, I can still like picture the logo. It was like, so, so old school. It was like the web address probably doesn't even work anymore. Like it was, you know, whatever. But, uh, yeah, that was that.
Leslie: Okay, so you started with raising puppies and then, so reading the book, did you know you just wanted to get involved, right?
Not necessarily how, because then your whole professional world. Yeah, yeah. The, oh my gosh, I wanna do everything turn.
Chelsea: Yeah. I think I just read the book and I was like, wow, that's super cool. I don't, and I, I tell this story a lot and I still don't have like a great like. Moment of like enlightenment or Yeah, sure.
You know, whatever. But I was just like, I don't know. That's pretty cool. And then I saw the puppy and I was like, I love puppies. And remember when I read that book, that was kind of cool. [00:06:00] Yeah. It just stuck with you. Yeah. I don't know. I listen. I also think the world works in
Leslie: crazy ways sometimes and it was meant to be and that it was kind of like your destiny, right?
Yeah. It was giving it to you in little pieces and then finally like,
Chelsea: yes,
Leslie: we need you.
Chelsea: Yes. I think that's exactly what happened, because when I went, so then the college that I ended up going to right us everything, I was time to time to pick colleges and I was like, man, I'm so stressed about this. And so my friend handed me this brochure for the University of Toledo and there was a dog on the back of it, and I was like, done.
That's the only college I applied to that. That's it. I was like, there's a dog in the brochure. I'm going, that's so funny. Right. That's So I went, and then they had, um, the teacher for students with visual impairments program. Yeah. But I started pre-vet. Oh. Because I was like, do, oh, yes, that makes sense.
Right, that makes sense. So then I started taking science classes and I was like, oh, this is actually really hard. Now I don't think I wanna do this, so I'm gonna switch to this teaching thing. Right. Yeah. Um, and then I switched after whatever spring semester, I [00:07:00] switched spring semester. And over the winter break I got this email saying that those courses were only gonna be offered one more time.
So there were six courses you had to take to graduate. Oh, wow. Geez. With that licensure and, uh, so no pressure, but if you don't pass them. You can't have, you can't graduate with that. Yeah. Right. So I was like, very cool. Um, and they were the six courses, you know, braille, assistive tech, o and m, all that stuff.
And, um, so then I graduated and it was like the, it was the best, but, so like, that's kind of been my life, right? I'm like, oh, I'll try this thing, and then something else falls into place. You get inspired elsewhere. I feel dogs
Christina: have been a theme. So if you want. Chelsea to go down a certain path. You need a dog.
Chelsea: Yeah,
Leslie: yeah. No, this is good to know. Anytime we need Chelsea somewhere, we're just gonna be like, there's a dog. There's a dog a, it'll be
Chelsea: a I'm there. Bet there's a dog. I'm there. Yes.
Leslie: Okay, so first of all, I have to ask, what did you name your first puppy that you raised? Or did you name?
Chelsea: I didn't name them.
You didn't get to name? No, it Guiding Eyes. They come named. Okay. Um, so his name was Ralston. Ralston. Ralston Tonton. R-A-L-S-T-O-N. And then I had m [00:08:00] Tish, M-C-T-A-V-I-S-H, who was the absolute light of my life. Um, he was the first puppy that I ever had. And, uh, he was a medical release. So Ralston was medical release for hip dysplasia.
Okay. M Tish was medical release for allergies. Mm-hmm. These are some like strong names. Strong, yeah. Yeah. See resonating with you. Christina Hoeppner. Um, and then I had Sabrina. I'm not gonna spell that one. No, but Sabrina, she was a guide dog for 10 years. She, she retired around the time of the. Started the pandemic.
Okay. Cecil, um, who was a guide dog for a really short amount of time, his handler unfortunately passed away. Oh. So then he came back and got trained as an autism service dog. Oh my gosh. Love that. Um, so yeah, so he worked for a long time and then when I met my wife and I converted her to the dark side.
Sure. We started, we raised four puppies together, so we. Raised Everett, um, who became a stud for Guiding Eyes, and he has 83 beautiful babies out there. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. [00:09:00] Yes. Wow. Um, and we had the, the esteemed pleasure of raising two of his babies. But, so we had Everett and then we had Elmo, who's the new light of my life.
I have a thing for Black labs, I think. Um, he's a medical release for a lot of reasons. And then Zest, um, who's also a medical release. It's a very elite career to be a guide dog. Yeah. If you can make it. Uh, and then finally hanky who just graduated and now he's out there living his very best life in South Carolina and he's a, a very lucky boy, so,
Leslie: yay.
Think of the huge impact you Yeah. And Amber have both made raising all of these puppies and all the lives that they have touched. That's amazing. Yeah.
Chelsea: Yeah, it's pretty, it's definitely really wild to think about. Especially from Everett's point of view, because he had 83 babies. Yeah. And some of those babies are guide dogs and some of those babies have joined to the breeding colony.
Oh my, my gosh. So actually a couple of weeks before I got here. Mm-hmm. Benny. Arrived who was a, is a leader dog. Um, and he is a, he's a grand baby. He's from Everett [00:10:00] Line. Oh my gosh. As part of the IWDR
Yeah.
Chelsea: Co-op situation that we have. So yeah,
Timothy: that gives you a feeling of connection with all those dogs, doesn't it?
Yes,
Chelsea: very, very much so. I am definitely a little bit crazy of a, a Grammy and know everybody's lines and who are you related to and where did you come from? And.
Leslie: Yeah, which is very cool and happens here also as it does in every other guide dog organization. You know, people who are puppy raisers are into the break making everybody's following and knows who's who.
And it is very, very cool to be a part of. And even just listen, you know who's connected to who, right? It is a small world yet. Huge. Yeah.
Christina: When I first got here and people would say, oh, like I have this dog, and they would say two other dogs names after I'd be like. Why are they saying, people assume we know a mom.
Yeah. And I was like, and they're like, no, that's the mom and the dad. And I'm like, oh, so it's a thing you say, yes, this is my dog. And then Yeah. From this litter. Yes. And I'm like, oh my gosh. So it is. It is. And people get so attached, they're like, Ooh, I want one of that [00:11:00] dog needs to raise or whatever. It's Oh yeah.
Which
Leslie: is
Christina: crazy.
Leslie: Okay. So we have to, we have to go back because we could really go on all of this for so long. Okay. But you went to college. Yep. You then, uh, decided that you wanted to be a teacher for students who are blind or low vision. Sure did. Okay. Then what happened? How did we, how did we get here?
How did, 'cause you also added
Chelsea: a whole bunch of other credentials. I did. I had, I just really love letters. Um, so after I did my student teaching, um, I got my, uh, orientation mobility specialist certification from the Ohio State University. Oh, wow. Um, go box. Wow. And, um, and so I did that and then I worked in central Ohio for like five ish years.
Um, and then the pandemic happened and it was really hard to teach braille over Zoom. Yeah. And, uh Oh, wow. Yeah. And I said I would like to pivot. Um, and so I had always. You know, this was like guide dog, mobility instructor was the job of like, when you're younger and they're like, what do you wanna be when you grow up?
And like kids say, an astronaut. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's a job like you think you're never gonna get to do. Sure. This was my astronaut, right. And [00:12:00] so I was like, I'm just gonna take a chance. And so Guiding Eyes, which is where I had done all my puppy raising. Mm-hmm. They had a posting and I said. I should, you should let me come do this.
Mm-hmm. Um, and they said, okay. And so we moved, uh, my wife and I, we moved to Connecticut and I worked there for like two and a half-ish years. Um, and then the thing about me, which I didn't realize until I left, was that I really love the Midwest. Um, and, and it was just, it was far. It was so far. Yeah. So, um.
I had met one of, uh, my now colleagues at a conference in Houston, and, um, he was like, you should come visit. And so Amber had a work trip. Mm-hmm. So we did. And um, and then that's when I met the deaf blind adaptive services team. Um, I. And it was funny because they were actually hoping to hire my wife Amber, who's an American sign language interpreter.
Mm-hmm.
Chelsea: Yeah. Um, but this really cool thing that she's my biggest hype man, so she started reading off my resume and we very quickly turned to looking at me as a potential hire. [00:13:00]
Um,
Chelsea: so she's the reason I have the job really. 'cause I wasn't gonna talk about that stuff. Um, and then I was like, there's nowhere else that I wanna be.
So, um. You know, wow, this is it. This is how, and we gained a
Leslie: huge asset by you joining the team. Yeah. So when did you do the a SL? Like had you always been studying a SL American sign language?
Chelsea: Um, I took a SL as my foreign language in college.
Leslie: Okay.
Chelsea: Um, and I just thought I was, I don't know. I was like, this is cool.
Let me do this. Cool. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, and then I got involved with the, the deaf community up there in Toledo. And then when I moved here. I met Amber, she's an interpreter. Mm-hmm. So then I stayed in the community and a lot of my friends are interpreters and stuff, and so I just kept signing. I never stopped signing.
And then they were like, you wanna do this? And I was like, yeah, sure.
Christina: That's awesome. Your life path has truly just been one path. Yeah. You know, like, it's amazing how all these different things, like even your wife being an interpreter [00:14:00] mm-hmm. All these things are like, this is where you're meant to be in life and we are so grateful you came.
I remember when you were hired, everyone was talking about
Leslie: Oh yeah. It was like big height. What? Why the, again, the alphabet soup after your name of all of your credentials.
Christina: Goodness. Everyone was like, the things that are coming. Oh my gosh. Yeah, you guys are, was nice. So the expertise,
Chelsea: I think that's the thing though, is like, this is just my life, right?
Like this is just fun. This is fun for me. This is,
Leslie: but you also have a desire, right? In the end to help people. Yes. And you keep wanting to further educate yourself so that you can help others more and be a better resource for them. Yes. So
Chelsea: whenever I would apply for teaching jobs, we always would have to say, what's your, um.
What's your pH philosophy of education or whatever your, like your mantra sort of thing. And it was, mine was always about leveling the playing field. That was always, and I don't know why. Right. I don't have like a, I don't know, like I don't have a vision loss myself. I don't have like a family member.
Sure. You know, any of that stuff. It's just [00:15:00] like, that's just what you do. You just try and make it equal for, for everybody. And, and you know, when I was teaching kids, they would, whenever they'd be like, oh, I can't do that. And. But you can. Mm-hmm. Right. It's just gonna look differently. Yeah. And what's something you think you can't do?
Well, I can't drive, and I was like, well, legally, no. So please, everybody hear me say legally? Yeah. Legally. No, you can, I'm not condoning this, however, maybe I was in a large field one time and I let somebody who had no vision drive my truck around the field. Mm-hmm. You know, maybe that happened, I don't know.
But the thing was, is like. He did it himself, hypothetically Yeah. Of, um, all, all I did was just tell him which way to go. Sure. Right. So it's, it's. You can do everything. It just might look a little different. And I think getting people to get to that point, we're, we're okay with it looking different. Mm-hmm.
Um, that's equal access.
Leslie: I love that. That makes me so emotional.
Timothy: I mean, we all look different when we got a cane or if we [00:16:00] got a guide dog. We don't look, you know, we do look different. So it's nice that you've done this all because of a book back in your fifth grade,
Chelsea: all because of a book. Follow My Leader by James b Garfield.
I still have my original copy. It's on my bookshelf. Also, fun fact about that book, because it had done so much for me that when I was raising Elmo and Everett, I was still teaching. And so they would come in to school with me every day, and on Fridays we would go read and we had book club with a third grade classroom down the hall in the school that I was based out of.
Oh my gosh. And. So I would have kids that would like see me in the hall, not on book club day. Yeah. Oh, I'm so excited for a book club. And so the boys would come and they would lay at my feet while I read this book. I did it two years in a row. It was very wholesome. I mean, you had a dog get excited named
Christina: Elmo with you.
Oh my gosh. With yes children. That is, I mean, yes. Yeah. I wanna sign up for that. Book club. Big fans.
Chelsea: Big fans.
Christina: I
Chelsea: think I'm gonna read this book. You should. It's definitely, I mean, it's old too, is it was written in the, oh, I probably shouldn't have said it that way. It is a classic. That's not any better. I think it was written in the fifties.
I [00:17:00] don't, so
Leslie: I feel like. There was another book that like Oakland University was reading and we talked about it. Yeah. And I can't remember if that was the book or not, but anyways, definitely uh, check it out. I can't remember if that's also the book I read. Anyways. Not important. Lots of questions. Not lots of questions.
I'm like internally trying to figure out and navigate a lot of d different things that are not important. Yeah. Nonetheless. So here we are. So you then finally you get to Leader Dog. Mm-hmm. We are. Thrilled to have you and all of your expertise. You also joined the accessibility committee, so we have an internal accessibility committee.
Yeah. Uh, which we frantically were like, please come help us. Right. Because while we are super excited about accessibility on our internal accessibility committee, how many times can you say accessibility in one, in one podcast anyways? Uh, we actually don't know anything. I shouldn't say we don't know anything, but we're not the experts.
In that category, right? So like we're talking about how can we make our facility, our organization, more accessible to not only our clients, but our team members [00:18:00] to volunteers, to anybody in the public, what can we do? And so we've had been having meetings and brainstorming, but you really brought that level of expertise to the committee to actually be able to say, Hey, this is how we could execute it.
Oh, and reminder, let's do this, this, and this. And we can make things, you know, accessible for everybody. Right?
Chelsea: Um, so thank you for, um, for thinking that highly of me. I do. Um, I thank you. Um. And I am gonna challenge your statement a little bit. Mm-hmm. You called me an expert and my favorite, not my favorite thing to say, but one of my favorite things to say is that I am not an expert.
You're right. Right. The people who are experts in accessibility are the folks who are using it every single day. And I can tell you about my experience, um, and I can tell you about the things that I have done and the systems that I've made, but, um. I can make the best system that I think possible. Right.
And, uh, if it's for somebody and that they don't get the use out of it, then it's not accessible. Mm-hmm. Right. And so that's something that we have to, we have to think about and we have to talk [00:19:00] about And, um. I, I really enjoy that we have some of those perspectives here on campus. I enjoy when we, uh, you know, include our clients in discussions at the table and things like that because there's a million ways to make something accessible and it really comes down to what that end user, you know, needs now.
All of that to say the accessibility committee is incredible and I'm so glad that we have it because it is a place to start, right? And you have to start somewhere. And I think that our commitment to. Making things more accessible to making everything more accessible says a lot about the organization that we are.
And so it is okay if we don't get it right the first time, but it is not okay not to try.
Leslie: Yeah, absolutely. And you have brought so much experience in that, in that perspective, which has been incredibly helpful. But for example, you know, we have these all team meetings. We, we bring all of our team members together, I think quarterly and just get an update overall of what the organization is doing.
And you know, we had made some moves forward of making sure it. When anybody's presenting that they're describing any pictures on the screen [00:20:00] or anything that's happening. And so we had done those types of things. Mm-hmm. But then we hadn't necessarily been Braille documents. Sure. Or making them available in large print.
Or even just sending them ahead of time electronically, right. So that people can preview it ahead of time. So it's things like that. That helped us kind of elevate and take it to the next level. Yes. That you were able to really help us execute and bring that conversation to the table of then, okay, where else can we apply this?
How else can we make this better? So it's been wonderful having you. We also, I'm being silly about the accessibility committee. Mm-hmm. We have a lot of experts on that committee. Yes, yes we do. That are bringing different experience. To the table in perspectives. Yeah. And I am incredibly proud of the committee and the growth that we are making.
I mean, it's not surprising, Leslie, you're being a little dramatic
me. Oh my gosh. You guys, we all, we just had a
Leslie: discussion on the front end of who was the Golden retriever and the Labrador and the, um, German Shepherd on our logo again. And Chelsea brought a whole new perspective. So now we're reevaluating everything that maybe I'm the golden.
Yeah. There's something wrong with being a golden No, not at all. I. [00:21:00] You know what? We'll get into that another time. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, so what, what is next for you, Chelsea? Because I feel like what could you possibly add on. As far as, you know, experience or increased knowledge, I mean, you're wrapping up as the, as an apprentice guide, dog mobility instructor.
Chelsea: Yep. First of all, Leslie, don't threaten me with a good time. You know, I, I've got, I don't know what is next, but I've got, I've got stuff to do, right. So, yeah, this is, um, I will be finished with my level three this year, and then I will be a qualified. Um, guide dog mobility instructor, so that'll be fun.
Mm-hmm. I know. What's next? Oh boy.
Christina: Uh, I had Chelsea on a marketing panel. Oh boy. Oh, that's great. Oh boy. Great. That's great. And uh, so I am the president-elect of the American Marketing Association in the Detroit area, and we had, uh, a panel. And I asked Chelsea to be a part of that channel and they [00:22:00] killed it and they had so many people in the room being like, oh my gosh, we need to be more accessible.
So that was a good time. That's what's next. That was a really good time. Is speaking to other organizations Wow. About the work that they're not thinking about. I agree. Yeah. I mean, you got a lot of brain spinning and a lot of people going, wow.
Chelsea: Yeah, it's, I don't know too, like a lot of people are like, where did you learn that?
And I'm like, I don't know. I just did. You know? And it was like, you know, Leslie, you were talking about the having materials at, at the same time or ahead of time or what have you. And that, that piece came from, you know, my work, particularly at the University of Toledo, I worked in their student disability services as the, oh, what was the title?
Um, braille and Tactile graphic Coordinator. It was a. Title that I made for myself. I
Christina: really like
Chelsea: that. Um, right. And it's got a good ring to it. And you know, that job was all about taking course materials from professors and, and adapting it for the students that were gonna be in that class that [00:23:00] semester.
Mm-hmm. And I would have some professors that would be great, and they'd be like, yeah, sure, here you go. Here's the textbook, here's the notes, here's the test. All that stuff at the beginning. And then I have other ones that were like, no, I just. Make it up as I go along. Right. That's not super helpful when I have to turn that into braille.
Right, sir or ma'am. Um, but that was, I mean, that was all I did. That was all. How to work with people and how to get, how to make people understand accessibility and why it's important and that it's at the same time. And, you know, that's a, that's a big piece of it. So maybe, Christina, maybe you're right.
Maybe. Yeah,
Christina: I knew it.
Chelsea: Maybe we can take it on the road. Yeah. Yeah.
Timothy: So ch Chelsea, an answer this question. Uh, what's it like to be a guide dog, mobility instructor apprentice? What is your role and what do you do during that training?
Chelsea: Oh my gosh, Timothy, it is a blast. Um, first of all, um, I have the best job and I say that all the time, even on the days when it's like pouring down rain.
Um, so as an apprentice here, it is structured, um, with three levels. So your first level, you have a, a ton of [00:24:00] support. You are really working with, you know, a mentor and the, um, the apprentice. A manager, um, and you're learning all about how to train dogs. And then, um, kind of all of the behind the scenes stuff that we do, and then professional development of what it's like to work with clients and, you know, crash courses and o and m and, and all that stuff.
And then after that, you take a test and then you're in level two and you kind of, some of that support kind of fades a little bit. Um, and you're still, you know, training the dogs and you still have support and things like that. Um, and then you take another test and now you're level three. And that's where you're really expected to kind of do the things on your own.
Mm-hmm. Um, you have more responsibilities in class. Um, this year I will have to do a capstone project. Oh. Um, can't wait
Leslie: to hear about
Chelsea: that. Well, you probably will. 'cause I think I'm gonna do it on tactile maps. Oh, great. Pretty excited about it. I love that. And you have to lead a workshop as well, so I might just put those together please.
And, uh, there's a couple other requirements and whatnot that you have to do. But one of the [00:25:00] really, um, one of the really interesting things that I did when I first got here, um, that usually happens in level one, um, is the blindfold experience where I wore a sleep shade for five days and I go into class and I get issued a dog and all of that stuff.
And man, oh man, does that give you a very unique perspective? Um, and it gave me a very valuable perspective of. I'm never gonna know what that feels like. Mm-hmm. Right. To come into class and, and get a guide dog. But there are definitely some things that I learned that I, that I took with me. And I, I actually, at the end of that, I wrote myself a letter.
Um, so each time I go into class, I can read that letter again so that I can know exactly what I was thinking about, you know, at that moment. And remind myself those little things of like when you walk into the dining room, you always say hello.
Mm-hmm.
Chelsea: Right. And even if I'm just passing through, I'm just gonna say hello.
Mm-hmm. I'm gonna make sure I let you know where I am and, and all those things. And those are things that I know, right? I've been doing this for a long time, but like, just how that feels to be in that space and [00:26:00] remember how stressful it is and you know, we have the best accommodations here, but also. When you're sleeping away from home.
Yeah. You know, you're not operating on all cylinders. Yeah. And just kind of having that sort of empathy and stuff. So when I go into class again, but I have the best job. Um, the dogs are the best. I go into class soon and I, it's the best. It's all the best.
Leslie: I love that. Yeah. Chelsea, I think you should encourage, hopefully, all apprentices to do that during their experience.
I just, they Right. In your own words, the impact it had on you. That's, there's nothing, oops. That's gonna be as powerful. Right, right. Yeah. To an individual. That's really, really cool. I love that.
Christina: Yeah. Thank you. I love that because I love journaling and that like is what that reminds me of. Oh my goodness.
Yeah. Where to go? It's like a journal that just makes me so
Leslie: happy. No, I think you bring just such a wealth of knowledge and experience and your whole perspective on everything is just made leader dog continuously better at in the. Experience that you're providing for our clients is phenomenal. [00:27:00] So, um, anybody that has the opportunity to work with you is lucky.
Um, so thank you for being here. Of course. And thank you for joining us on this podcast. It's been absolutely lovely. Yes. I feel like we could talk for hours on all things because we didn't even really touch on o and m. I, I know, I know. Here she, she goes' Waiting for that. Here she goes.
Christina: I literally thought about that 'cause I was looking at other questions and I was like, Leslie's gonna put out.
Leslie: I just, I know we're getting to time, but I just, I didn't hog the whole conversation about om So listen, om is.
Christina: Then you are the
Chelsea: golden,
Leslie: I, my gosh,
Chelsea: Christina. Um, o and m is, I, you know, I, I would be remiss if we didn't talk about it, but o and m is, um, probably, you know, one of, one of the bigger passions of my life, and that's why I love this job so much is 'cause I get to combine the dogs and the o and m.
Yeah. You know, and it, and it is so, so, so important. And I, I love the perspective that it gives me as a, as an apprentice. Um. Getting to work with clients and, and get to speak with them in their, you know, the [00:28:00] language that they've heard before. Um, you know, and I, I always have to remind myself to give people a heads up though, when I first meet a client, I start talking to them.
I did a, a test walk last week and I'm, you know, asking the client, okay, which one's your parallel in perpendicular traffic? And, you know, they're kind of staring at me and I was like, I'm so sorry. I should have let you know that I, you know, I'm using these words 'cause, you know, whatever. But, uh, it's, it's the best.
I love it very much, much, I mean, wouldn't be able to do my job without it, that's for sure.
Leslie: Right? Mm-hmm. I just let you. Come with such a knowledge and background and then with, anyways, it's too much. It's too much. Too much. Chelsea. Sounds like
Timothy: I need to refresh her.
Leslie: Right? Come on up. Timothy up. Can you even imagine up, I mean, Chelsea and Sarah Dyke on the team, right?
It's like the o and m. It's the guide Dog Mobility instructor. It's the a SL. It's the, I mean, really I
Chelsea: just wanted to be Sarah when I grew up. I, that's really what it's, don't we all? Yes. Yes. I
Leslie: mean, it's, you guys are incredible. It's an incredible team. We're so fortunate to have you and everybody else.
That is here. Um, but thank you seriously for joining us today. Of course. Course. I know you're incredibly busy keeping up with all of those things. [00:29:00] Um, so we appreciate your time. Of course. Thank you so much for having me, guys, and thank you so much to our listeners for listening to the Taking the Lead podcast.
I'm Leslie Hoskins with host Timothy Kyo and Christina Hepner. We hope you enjoyed learning about Chelsea and all the incredible knowledge they're bringing to Leader Dog. Please join us next time as we continue to dive into the world of blindness.
Christina: If you'd like to learn more about applying to our free services at Leader Dog, you can head to leader dog.org or call us at (888) 777-5332.
Don't forget you can reach us at taking the lead@leaderdog.org with any questions or ideas. If you like today's podcast, make sure to hit subscribe and check us out wherever Podcast Stream.