- PNC is proud to support "Business Forward," where community leaders discuss the issues confronting business in Central Illinois.

(bright music) (bright music) - Welcome to "Business Forward."

I'm your host, Matt George.

Joining me tonight, Pierre Paul.

Pierre wears many hats and is the founder and CEO of We Hear You.

I am so fired up, he's here today.

Welcome, Pierre.

- Thank you so much, it's a pleasure to be here.

- Yeah, I typed this up because I wanted to make sure, this phrase is very important.

His company "Opens the doors to a more equitable world "through the creation of innovative technology."

- Absolutely.

- I couldn't memorize that because it was so important, that I needed to nail it.

- No, I appreciate it, and that's exactly what it is.

We are creating a world where everyone belongs, where everyone feels comfortable, and using innovation and the new developments in technology to give that to the world.

- Yeah, well, I can't wait to talk about it, but I wanna start with you, all right?

I heard you were born in Brazil, is that right?

- Yes.

- You may be the first person on this show that was born in Brazil.

That's pretty cool.

- There it is.

I like it.

- That's pretty cool.

So how did you get to Central Illinois?

- Yeah, so it's kind of an interesting way to look at it because it's not a logical move- - I wondered.

- Getting from South America to Central Illinois.

But I was born in Brazil because my parents were studying and getting their masters.

From there, we moved back to Guyana where my family had originated.

Guyana, the small third-world country on the top coast of South America, and that's really where my Caribbean roots stem from, that's where my family comes from.

And then my father came to the US to bring enough money to bring my siblings and I to the US.

So he knew that he wanted to get his PhD, gonna get his doctorate in plant pathology, and he really put the family on his back, and my mother was working hard to take care of us in Guyana.

So when he brought us here, we moved to Ohio.

Drastically different than kind of the Caribbean landscape in which we grew up.

- Man, interesting.

- Yep.

And then from there, was fortunate to get speech scholarship to attend Bradley University, and that's how I ended up in Peoria, Illinois.

- [Matt] And so where's your family now?

- So we're spread out.

Some of my siblings are in California, some in Ohio still.

My parents are in Ohio.

- Very nice.

- So all over the place.

- You know, so how we first met, and I know you remember this, but, you know, you were doing a thing, it was a multi-day series for our leadership team at Children's Home.

- Yup.

- And it was really on diversity, equity, and inclusion, I think that was the main topic but we talked to other things, leadership and some.

- Of course.

- Here's what it is.

I was blown away, and I told you that that day, I was blown away by how tight your message was, because the topic is always a hot button.

- Yep.

- But it could go a million different ways.

Right?

- Absolutely.

- I mean, you can just talk four hours just on definitions, right?

So I give you a lot of credit because I'll just call it a curriculum.

The curriculum was tight and I appreciated that, and it actually resonated with all of us.

Because I don't care whether you think you know things, right?

Every leader, no matter who you are, still can learn and this is the topic that needs to be learned.

- Exactly.

- And understood, I guess that's a better way of putting it.

- Yeah.

- So I wanted you to know that, but let's talk about, we're gonna get back to that in a second, but let's talk about We Hear You.

So I've been following you because I've been impressed with, I love speech.

So I always thought it was cool that, you know, you come to Bradley and to do that, you've gotta be darn good.

Like I'm a speaker, and then I watched you and I'm like, "Oh well, I mean, I'm 30 years older than this guy, "I'm not very good."

But that's impressive.

And then I'm thinking, "Okay, well he's just going to "have this one piece of the business "and it's gonna focus on DEI."

Next thing you know, there's Push.

- Yeah.

- Talk about that.

- Yeah.

So I would've never guessed that I would be an inventor.

As a kid I used to joke that I was born too late because I wanted to be born with the greatest inventors in the world.

And I used to think that in a modern sense, we don't have anything to invent, everything's already been done.

So if you go to a childhood version of me, I knew that I wanted to be a speaker, but I thought being an inventor just couldn't happen.

And then as luck would have it, as divine intervention would have it, here I am having a dream to create the sign language translator, and then also having a dream to create the Push device, and it's because of the environment that I was in.

I was on a campus that cared about its students, but accessibility could have been stronger.

So here I am having these visions, these premonitions of what the future could look like, and also having the resources to create.

Push was originally created to bring in revenue to help the sign language translator grow.

But once I realized that Push had a whole community attached and associated with what I built, I couldn't in good conscience use that funding for another invention so I made it a separate entity and watched it grow through the umbrella We Hear You.

- [Matt] So what is Push?

- So Push is a device that turns handicapped accessible doors into automatic doors, and put even simpler, it's like a garage door opener but for doors.

If you think about hitting that AA button, that push button on the wall and then maneuvering two and through the door, within about seven to 12 seconds, it's difficult.

And as a member of our team, Carden puts it, "There's nothing more embarrassing than being an adult "trapped between the door and the frame of the door "as you're simply just trying to maneuver through "like everyone else."

And when Carden put that into perspective for me, as a member of our team with muscular dystrophy, I was then able to step outside of myself and see the use case of this button that can be worn as a wristband, attached to wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, and for generation two, have Bluetooth capabilities so you can open it from your phone.

The use cases to making that ease of mobility so much better for people with the physical difficulty.

- My goodness.

Well, I have so many questions.

- [Pierre] I love it.

- It was formally called the hands-free door opener, but how does it interact with any door?

- Yes, so we made two parts to the Push device.

One being the piece that is pushed like the garage door opener.

- Okay.

- And the second being a receiver that goes in the door and attaches to the motor in less than 10 minutes.

So we decided to use radio frequencies to help our push device work because they've always been reliable.

Bluetooth is great, and I love the idea of Bluetooth capability, but we didn't jump to Bluetooth because imagine you're trying to walk in through a door and your phone has to connect to it, and now you're out in the cold, or it's just not connecting because the signal isn't pinging.

Whereas radio frequencies have always been reliable.

Now that we've showcased that the radio frequency can work and it's easy to install inside of these doors, we're now ready to take that second leap, not only providing radio frequencies in our receiver, but then also Bluetooth capability to give that autonomy to anybody.

- That is just crazy.

- Thank you.

- I like that.

So now we have the We Hear You sign language translator.

- Yes.

- So now what is that?

- Yep.

So we found a way to create software, and I say that because it's very important.

We're creating software that can translate sign language, and that software can go on virtually any device with a camera.

Currently, we see companies who are creating glove technology and who are creating very specific cameras that have to be used on those gloves.

While it is innovative and impressive, deaf scholars have articulated that that is not a real solution, it's done from a hearing centric perspective.

So through the use of software, we are not forcing or encouraging anybody to go out and buy anything that they don't already have.

Instead, we are leveraging the iPads, leveraging the phones, leveraging the laptops that people already have, giving them software that can turn sign language into spoken English, and then turn speech, that's spoken English, back into sign language and written text for a true fluid two-way communicator.

- Okay, that's a little over my head.

- That's all right, that's all right.

- So, but your goal, like, because there's a lot of sign language interpreters and you're not trying to- - Not at all.

- This is just an added.

- Exactly, exactly.

- Okay.

- We do not want to replace live signers.

The beauty and the importance of live signers cannot be overstated.

We are trying to be an aid because the FDA doesn't require that every single institution have a live signer.

So for hospitals, yes, have a live signer there, that is important.

For coffee shops, it would be great if we could always have a live signer, but if you can't, here's this tablet that when you say, "Hey, my name," it is verbalizing it for the individual who doesn't know sign.

And when the individual says, "It's so nice to meet you"- - I've never thought of that.

- It's signing back to you.

- Wow, so it actually, yeah, I mean, I can picture that in a thousand different businesses.

- Yeah.

- Huh, that's pretty cool.

I'll tell you a neat story, a personal story.

- Please.

- I have five kids, I talk about 'em on the show all the time.

My two oldest daughters are 28 and 26.

When they were in high school, they had the option, they had to take a language and they took sign language.

- I love it.

- And they would sit there in the car, I'm not gonna say they were masters, but they could sing songs, they could do, I mean it was crazy and I was always impressed by it.

And I've always thought, and they still remember, obviously, but I've always just thought it was really neat.

And so then my oldest daughter ended up being a licensed therapist, she's in a school where it's just a lot of poverty.

And I just thought, how neat is it that she actually has that in her toolbox?

- Yeah.

- Because most people don't.

- Yeah.

- But this here, this translator is pretty neat stuff.

- Thank you.

- That's cutting edge.

- I'm looking forward to when we can hit market with all of the words needed.

And as I mentioned earlier, the FCC does not demand that every place have that live signer.

So knowing that we can provide that signing capability is gonna be amazing.

- Yeah, and I think that would, I mean, you're talking about too, and I don't want to say it's about money, but it is, you know, like it's hard to have somebody, well, first of all, it's hard to find somebody, right.

But if you had your device, you would sit there and say, "we are," and you can, you can promote it, right?

It's a no-brainer to me.

- Thank you so much.

- Now, this next thing that you do- - Yeah.

- I love this.

And so I'm gonna hold up the book here.

And it's "Carden The Wheelchair Warrior."

And this is, you tell the story.

- Yeah.

- How did this come about?

Because this could be used in every children's school, library, daycare.

This blew me away.

- Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

So this one is an interesting roundabout way that it came about.

I grew up remembering my father reading to us.

No matter what we were going through, no matter how much they were working hard to make sure that we weren't bogged down by the struggles of being new to the United States, being foreign.

I remember my father reading to us, and I loved the stories.

And when we got to an age where we were old enough, he no longer was reading to us, he was helping us create our own stories so that we grew a passion for literature.

And so with that, I grew up with this passion.

So when I started working with my team and Carden, Carden Wykoff, the member of my team with muscular dystrophy, she's the inspiration for the book.

When I saw that she uses the alias Carden The Wheelchair Warrior as she goes out and advocates for her community, I was like, "Carden, I love that.

"What are the chances you let me write a story with that?"

And she was like, "I would love that.

"It'd be great if you could write a story."

So I got to work and I started doing research, and I started realizing that there was not enough literature in this space in the first place, and not enough mainstream literature.

A lot of times it was diverged to these corners, these pockets, as opposed to being in the limelight.

So we got to work, and it was first book I ever published, first book I ever wrote.

It was fun, it was challenging.

Being a self-published artist is definitely a difficult task and I give so much credit to anybody who has the passion and the drive to do this.

But for me, knowing how much children's books influenced my ability to believe in myself made this probably the most fun task that I've worked on thus far because I get to see children smile when they see themselves represented in a book.

- Where can you get book?

- You can get the book on Amazon, on Google Play, soon it's gonna be in Barnes and Nobles.

It'll be all over the place.

- Yeah, that is impressive.

So let's just go down the list here in the first, I don't know how long we've been talking.

But so far you're a speech expert.

- [Pierre] Thank you.

- You're a DEI expert, you're an inventor, and now you're an author.

- Yeah, sounds about right.

- All right, well, I don't think I've ever had that combo on the show, so thank you for coming on.

- Thanks for having me.

- That's pretty cool, man.

So this is special and I didn't know the piece that Carden actually you work with her?

- Yep, get to work with her every day.

- That's even better.

That's even better.

So I had Warren Anderson, do you know Warren- - Yes, I do.

- Bradley, and I had him on the show, and I had Andre Allen on the show and I'm not afraid to get into these discussions, I think some people are, which I find odd.

- Yeah.

- But when you start talking about diversity and inclusion and what does that mean, right?

There's so many different avenues, and we were talking before the show, there's just so many just different avenues you could go down.

But I think now that it is the hot topic that's just everywhere, right?

- Yeah.

- And it should be, but it's actually a conversation that needs to happen more- - I agree.

- Throughout our world, not just communities.

- Yeah.

- Just our world in general.

And you write, "Diversity and inclusion "should never be the afterthought of innovation, "instead it should be the foundation."

- Yeah.

- I'm gonna say that again, "it should be the foundation."

- Yeah.

- It's pretty cool stuff.

So when someone says access and equity, what does that mean to you if you're teaching the class?

- If I'm teaching the class, equity is providing everyone with the opportunity to achieve with the knowledge of where they come from.

To achieve equity, you have to actively listen to where people are coming from.

Because you can give everyone the equal resources, but if they don't have the knowledge to utilize that resource- - Oh, I know.

- You can't get equity.

I think equity is a concept that sometimes gets over people's heads, 'cause it is, it's a bigger thing.

But equity is just listening to where people are coming from and providing them with the resources that they need to then achieve equally with everyone else around them.

- Yeah.

Whenever I think of it I think of Children's Home and I think of all the situations that I've seen.

- Yeah.

- 30 years of just tough, tough stuff.

- Absolutely.

- And you're right, one community versus another community, or one area code, you know, you hear it all the time.

- Yeah.

- One neighborhood versus another neighborhood, they look at things different.

- Completely.

And if I gave you something and just gave it to you, it may not work.

- Yeah.

- But people don't understand that so they'll say, "Why don't we do that?"

You know, it doesn't work.

- It doesn't, you can give all you want, but are you also giving the resources?

Are you also understanding what they have and don't have?

The knowledge base that they're starting with?

- Yeah.

- That's the beauty of it.

- Yeah, I always say, a lot of people just don't even know what's right underneath their nose.

- That's true.

- They don't.

- That's true.

- You know.

I could tell you 500 stories of what I've seen.

- Yeah.

- And they don't know.

- That's true.

- So inclusive participation, what does that mean?

- Inclusive participation, providing an opportunity for everyone to be able to do a specific task in a way that is comfortable to them.

- To everyone.

- Right, exactly.

That comfortability factor is important because you can say, "Hey, we're playing dodge ball here."

Does here have a ramp for the individual who is in a wheelchair?

Does here have a step for X, Y, and Z?

Does here provide a door that is ADA compliant?

Does here have paraphernalia on the walls that would be offensive to X, Y, and Z?

It's understanding that inclusion comes with making sure that the people who you invite in know that they're comfortable and safe in that space.

- Yeah, you know, people actually their heads go to what they believe these things mean.

- Absolutely.

- Right.

So people don't think of when you go to the doctor's office and the pamphlets are all in English.

- [Pierre] Yep.

- And- - Yeah.

- That's what it is, that's what we're talking about too.

- Exactly.

- It's so broad.

- It's so broad.

- And you could give, I mean, you could give even probably more than me, you could give 50 to a hundred examples, just boom, boom, boom, boom, right?

And you use the wheelchair ramps is a great example.

- Thank you.

- Because most people don't think that.

- Yeah.

- And you know, like another thing is most people they don't understand, you can get outta your car, you don't need to park because you're in a hurry in a spot.

- Yep.

- You know, those are the things that actually tick me off.

- Yeah.

- To be honest with you.

- Absolutely.

- And so it's just such a broad scope of what falls under these definitions.

And the reason why I'm asking you what they mean, the definitions mean, is because I don't think people understand fully what they mean.

- I agree.

- And when I was talking to Andre I said to him I said, you know what should be required is for everybody just to have you come in, or Andre or Warren, somebody come in and say, "This is what it's about."

- Yep.

- Because it's not about one race or it's not about one- - [Pierre] It's so much more.

- It's so much more.

- So much more.

And I think you said something earlier that hits it right on the head.

It's about our lived experiences.

Our lived experiences decide how we perceive certain situations.

If you have never had to be concerned about something only being written in your language, it's a mind boggling thing when somebody's upset that it's only in English, or when they're upset that it's only in Spanish.

If your lived experiences do not allow you to empathize with the other people around you, it's gonna be difficult.

But that's why the first barrier that we can break through is saying, "Hey, your experiences are valid."

- [Matt] Yes.

- But your experiences do not encompass everyone else's experiences, and that's the beauty.

- Yeah.

- That's the beauty of getting the chat with everyone.

- Yeah, I mean, well said.

So let's talk about mentorship for a minute.

- Yeah.

- Because, you know, one question I have for you, the first question is how do you juggle everything that you do?

How do you prioritize as a leader?

- [Pierre] Yeah.

- Everything that you're doing?

- So, comedic answer, I don't sleep so I feel like I have more hours in the day to work on things.

But more seriously, I prioritize things based on the energy that I get from the people or like the organization that I'm working with.

- [Pierre] Okay.

- I've had organizations who've come to me and they said, "Hey, Pierre, like we really need this service."

And like, "We know you're busy "and we know you have all of these things, "but we need this service because our clientele, "our families, our X, Y, and Z "need to be stronger in this area "to be better at what we do."

That wins me every single time.

- Yeah.

- Because it's that intent.

It's that intent that says, "We know that you're busy, "we know that like we are busy, "but this is a priority "that goes beyond the simple excuses of, "we don't have time, or we can't do this."

Those always end up at the top of my priority list and then I work with these communities of amazing people.

I have a strong team that I'm like, "Hey, I need to go to Iowa today "because this organization needs to understand DE&I "in a way that is comfortable.

"Doesn't make anybody in their organization feel bad "for being a specific way.

"I need you guys to then help out here."

I always surround myself with a team that is stronger than I could ever be on my own.

And I think that's how I'm able to achieve what I do and prioritize.

- Good way of putting it.

Because you've talked about your team before and I think you don't have an ego.

- Thank you.

- And I think that's big for what you're doing.

So mentor wise, do you have, obviously your parents?

- Yes.

Oh absolutely my parents, I- - They raised you right.

- Thank you so much.

They worked hard, they worked so hard.

And my parents and my siblings are such good role models to look to.

Because they fought through, they worked hard, they achieved in ways that are conventional, in ways that aren't conventional, but they let us be our own people and let us know that they believed in us whatever we decided to do.

So in terms of my mentors, my parents and my siblings, absolutely.

And I have been blessed to have mentors all walks of life.

- [Pierre] Yeah.

- Because I value every interaction I have with every person.

- Right, right.

- So whether it's Andrew, or whether it's Becky, or whether it's Bill, or like, I really could spend time just naming, Bethany, whether it's a student that I worked with who said, "This is what I experience in my life "and this is why it's tough on me."

I'm learning from their experience, right.

Whether it's Nate saying, "Hey, I like the way that you're doing this, "but maybe you try it like this "because you're so accustomed to this way."

And I'm like, wow.

- That's cool.

- So, so many mentors.

- "Carden The Wheelchair Warrior."

That's very, very cool stuff.

- Thank you.

- Pierre Paul, I loved having you on this show, I'm gonna have you back.

- I can't wait.

Next time, we're gonna do a two-part series because I've got all kinds of questions to ask you.

I appreciate you coming on.

Pierre Paul, everybody.

Thank you, this wraps another show.

I'm Matt George and this is "Business Forward."

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