September 6, 2024 • 42 mins
What if losing your sight was the beginning of your greatest achievements? Join me, Maria Aponte, as I sit down with Dr. Charles Powell to uncover his incredible journey of resilience and purpose. From battling depression and alcoholism after being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa to earning a doctorate and founding Divine Visions Consultant and Paralegal Services LLC, Dr. Powell's story is a testament to the unyielding power of determination. Hear how the love for his daughter and the support of his fiancée, became the catalysts for a profound transformation.
Discover the educational triumphs of Dr. Powell, who navigated the challenging landscape of higher education as a blind student. We explore his academic journey from junior college to earning multiple advanced degrees, culminating in a doctorate in business administration from Salem University. Despite facing discrimination in the job market, Dr. Powell's perseverance led him to create his own path to success. Learn about Divine Visions, his company dedicated to providing affordable legal and business resources to the community, making complex systems accessible to those in need.
Through personal stories and heartfelt anecdotes, we delve into the importance of community support and the power of overcoming adversity. Dr. Powell and I discuss breaking stereotypes, embracing differabilities, and highlighting the resilience and capability of individuals living with disabilities. Be inspired by Dr. Powell's journey and the broader message that with the right mindset and support, physical limitations need not define one's destiny. Tune in for a powerful episode that will motivate you to believe in the boundless possibilities of positive determination.
Find Dr. Powell:
Facebook Page: Divine Vision Consulting & Paralegal Services, LLC
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to the Against All Odds the Less Than
1% Chance podcast with your host, Maria Aponte, where we will
hear stories of incrediblepeople thriving against all odds
, and my hope is that we can allsee how life is always
happening for us, even when weare the Less Than 1% Chance.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hey, hey, welcome back to Against All Odds, the
Less Than 1% Chance podcast withyour host, Maria Aponte.
I am so pumped for today.
You guys are in for a treat.
I have Dr Charles Powell herewith us today.
Wait till you hear this storyAbout 12 years ago, he lost his
sight due to a condition knownas retinitis pigmentosa.
(00:46):
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yay, I said it right.
Instead of feeling sorry forhimself and relying solely on
the disability benefits, hedecided to further his education
to enhance his employability.
He returned to school, obtaineda dual bachelor's degree in
criminal justice, withspecialization in crime scene
investigations and homelandsecurity.
(01:10):
He has a triple master degreein criminal justice
administration, cybersecurityand forensic science, and a
doctorate in businessadministration.
You guys, this incredible humanbeing is here with you today.
(01:30):
Please help me welcome DrCharles Powell to Against All
Odds.
Thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.
I'm proud to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I'm so excited.
Let's go back a little bit 12plus years ago.
What did you start experiencing?
How did this even come about?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Well, my whole life I knew that I had retinitis
pigmentosa because it was acondition on my mother's side.
So back in those days theywasn't really big on explaining
things to us.
I just knew that I had pooreyesight, so not knowing no
better.
As I got older, in my teenageyears, I wanted to be the cool
kid.
(02:09):
I didn't want to wear glasses,so I started getting the laser
surgeries and eye correctionsand things of that nature, not
knowing that it would affect melater on in life.
But about 12 years ago it wascrazy because everything was
going good.
I started to lose my nightvision and I had no idea what
was going on until one morning Iwoke up and couldn't see
(02:32):
anything.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Wow, how was that transition Did you?
Oh my gosh, I can't evenimagine my gosh, I can't even
imagine that.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Transition was crazy.
I first and foremost, it was awhirlwind of emotions.
I was scared, I was mad, I wasupset, I was just.
I can't even explain it.
I woke up and couldn't see.
First thing I did was yell formy fiance because I thought
something was really wrong.
And when I knew something waswrong, I couldn't see, but I was
just scared.
(03:12):
I can't explain it, no otherway.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, it's hard, even when you're walking in a room
that's dark and you feel so offbalance and I can't even imagine
what it is to wake up like that, and that's incredible.
It just it blows my mind.
So what were your next stepsgoing after?
(03:36):
Like, how long did it take youfor you to like process?
Because I hope that there wasobviously a process of emotions.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
It was way far a process.
I got really mad.
I started arguing with myfiance, pushing everyone away.
I went on a downward spiral forabout eight to nine months,
constantly drinking.
Every day I would wake up todrink.
I didn't care about nothing,didn't want to hear nothing.
My fiance and my daughter atthe time was only five years old
who she really couldn't graspthe concept of what was going on
(04:11):
.
She just knew that her daddywas different.
If I can drink all day, that'swhat I would do.
I didn't care about nothing, Ididn't want to do anything.
If you said hello to me, it wasan argument.
I give my fiance the mostcredit in the world because she
actually stayed with me.
I would have left myself atthat time and in a way, I
(04:32):
actually did, because I gave upon life.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, yeah, it's like an identity shift that you have
, like there's no easy way totransition from that and there's
no manual to it either.
So it's processing all thoseemotions, and when we don't want
to process, we lash out right.
And yeah, I feel like I've beenin those not same situation,
(04:58):
but circumstances of like notwanting to process emotions, and
then everyone else around me isthe bearer of those things, and
so how did you then make thetransition from not wanting to
deal with it to then saying, allright, well, these are the
(05:19):
circumstances I have, let's makethe most of it.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
I consciously.
I never came to that conclusionor that concept.
It was actually my daughter andmy fiance who actually brought
that around to me.
When you're doing so much andthe love of your life, like my
daughter, was my world.
And when she started askingquestions, why don't I play with
her no more, why don't I dothat?
And the first thing out of mymouth was daddy can't see, I
(05:51):
can't do this, I can't do that.
And after hearing it so muchand seeing and hearing the
disappointment in her, I knewthat it was time for a change.
So I stopped drinking.
I stopped drinking every day.
I stopped looking at the badpart of it and started looking
at the good.
And my fiance, deanna.
She did a lot of research andshe found different
organizations for the blind ordealing with the blind and
(06:11):
luckily in my community I had alocal chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind.
So we reached out to them.
I actually spoke to thepresident at that time and, just
being around other blind people, they invited me out to one of
their meetings and at that timewe showed up.
I had no idea what to expect.
(06:32):
Now, remind you, I still don'tknow these people.
I don't know who to beassociated with?
No one.
So I'm still on that skepticalweariness yeah that skeptical
weariness.
Yeah, but soon as we went intothe room and it's funny because
one of my biggest obstacles atthis time was the phone, I
didn't know I had a cell phonebefore I lost my sight and I
(06:55):
came depending on it.
Yeah, I was so mad that I gotfilled for the buttons that's
the dollar number I realizedthat there's no more text
messaging and nothing like that.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
I basically had a basic.
I was coming to the terms thatgo out and get me a flip phone,
so I could say hello, and let'stalk.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
When we went to this meeting at the National
Federation of the Blind, thefirst thing that Deanna noticed
my fiance was.
Everybody has smartphones.
I was like nah, that that'simpossible.
It just don't work that way.
And one of the individuals atthe meeting introduced me to the
Apple iPhone, and this was soincredible because the
(07:36):
accessibility yeah it was justamazing.
We left that meeting that dayand I went and got me an Apple
iPhone.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
That's awesome.
That is that's incrediblebecause, yeah, you don't even
think of what is possible, youdon't know that you're missing
it and it's so simple astechnology that you don't think
about in this circumstance.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Yes, that was my first.
That was my first introductionto technology as a blind person,
but it was by far not the last.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I left that meeting and it was like, okay, I have a
cell phone, I learned how to useit.
And then my biggest fear I havea fiance, I have a daughter and
disability.
That was not going to kick it.
So of course I got afraid thatI couldn't help contribute to my
family's financial stability.
(08:42):
I didn't want my fiance to haveto take care of me and it was
always a fear like, okay, maybeshe'll get tired of supporting a
grown man and leave me, and howam I going to live?
And that was a big fear and Ihad no idea what to do.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, what did you do before you were blind?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
before I was blind.
I was basically.
I did all physical work, I wasin construction, I was an
outdoors person.
All the jobs I had was laborjobs, because I was born and
raised in Plainfield, new Jersey, then moved to Brooklyn, new
York, so as a youngster I neverhad goals of doing much of
anything.
The neighborhood that I grew upin, survival was my main
(09:28):
purpose.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, we didn't, so you didn't go to college after
school or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
No, I barely made it through high school.
Yeah, I was that student whohigh school graduation was that
was the greatest thing in theworld.
Yeah, student whose high schoolgraduation was, that was the
greatest thing in the world.
I had, no, no even dreams aboutgoing to college.
Cause, again, I came from thatneighborhood that it was only
two ways out sports orentertainment.
(09:57):
Well, actually three you can besports, entertainment or
criminal.
So, by me getting out of highschool and just getting a job
back then it was fast foodrestaurants, and then I got into
like landscaping andconstruction.
So I was happy.
Yeah, I didn't see.
I never thought that I can bethat individual who can be more
(10:19):
because of the geographicallocation that I was brought up
in and at that time my parents.
A job was a job.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, exactly, and it's like the product of the
surroundings and when we're init, we don't know that there's
something, that we havesomething more inside of us.
Exactly yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
When your heroes are the football and basketball
players, the entertainers or theneighborhood drug dealer who
got the nice cars and all themoney.
That's all that we had.
That's all that I know, and I'mnot blaming that on anything,
that's just the base reality ofmy upbringing.
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
(11:15):
So then you are introduced tosome technology and you start
looking for differentopportunities after that.
Or how did going back to schoolcome about?
Organization, we met up everyweek.
They put me in contact withdifferent people who sent me off
to Baltimore, maryland to abusiness.
It was a program out there.
It was an 11 month program thatthey taught you how to get
around with a cane and how touse computers and stuff like
(11:36):
that.
But again, my daughter was inWest Virginia and I was in
Baltimore, maryland.
My daughter started goingthrough anxiety that's missing
me because she's used to mebeing home every day.
So I didn't complete thatprogram.
So I actually came back withinthe first two months because,
being away from home, theproblems was going on at home.
My daughter was missing me andme not being there to even help
(12:00):
out and like raising my daughter.
I came back home and at thatthat time when I was speaking to
the other individuals I knew inthe groups and in a blind
community they was justbasically they had already
accepted the fact that just takeyour disability check and be
happy and I was like I can't,because what they're giving me
(12:25):
every month is nothing.
Yeah, I couldn't survive onthat.
So it was actually my fiance andI.
We sat and we talked and it'scrazy because I like okay, I
want to go back to work.
What can I do?
I can't seem to do what I usedto do.
I have no skills.
I have a high school diplomaand I'm a grown man.
(12:45):
So, mind you, I'm not a youngchicken at this time.
I'm not like.
So I basically sat down andlike okay, I need to find
something that I can do that Idon't need sight for, and that
may sound crazy to people, butyou never know how hard that is
until you actually got to thinkabout things to do.
(13:06):
Yeah, so we was at a fair outhere.
It's a very popular fair, itwas the Blackberry Festival.
A young woman by the name ofKimberly Blair was the recruiter
for the West Virginia BusinessCollege, a local business
college, which was aneight-month program.
I sat there and I listened toher spill and I was like okay,
whatever, that's just in crate,that's crazy.
(13:28):
So I didn't do no thinking ofit.
But the following week, me andmy fiancee went down to the
school and she was theadmissions represent
representative and I told her Iwant to take your 18-month
paralegal program because Ifigured I'm like okay program.
Because I figured I'm like okay, this can kill two birds with
(13:48):
one stone.
I don't need to be a paralegaland by learning this skill I can
help bring justice that I seenso many people get deprived or
denied.
So I was like okay.
She looked at me and she waslike OK, you do realize you're
blonde.
I'm like yeah.
(14:09):
After we agreed to that, shelaughed and I laughed, she went
in there, she signed me up.
It's so funny because when shesigned me up, the next course
was starting like in a month anda half.
So now I'm all excited.
I'm enrolled in a juniorcollege.
Small college, I can get around, so I'm good.
The first day of classes, myprofessors each one of them came
(14:33):
to me like well, no disrespect,but I never taught a blind
person, so how do I teach you?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I like, just like you , teach everyone else.
At that time I went through aprogram called the Division of
Vocational Rehab.
They sponsored me, they paidfor me a sighted helper, which
was an individual who went withme to class every day and
anything that took sight hewould help me with.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Now, mind you, I've only been blind for like a
little over a year and a halfyeah so I mastered using the
cane getting around.
I pretty much can get through abuilding if I've been there
more than once or twice, but I'mstill learning the computers
and the software and stuff likethat, so I'm not a pro at that
(15:22):
yet.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
So I learned about digital books.
All of my books were digital.
Yep.
So I did that, and when Iturned in assignments, they let
me type them up in word form andemail them to them.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
So I did that and during those 18 months I was
like, okay, I get thiscertificate, I'll go out and get
me a job.
Okay, I get this certificate,I'll go out and get me a job.
And that was the whole key.
That was the.
My number one motivation wasgetting the job, helping provide
for my family.
Yeah, that was my only goal.
So I did that.
I started getting good at it andwhen the time was coming up for
(15:59):
me, about to complete, thelocal college near us was Salem
University they had arepresentative come down and
they was like okay, well, weinvite all of you to Salem
University campus to take a lookin case you want to further
your education, go further withit, besides just an associated
certificate in paralegal.
I went up there and I met thismet, the Cam Lounsbury.
(16:23):
He puts on the crime houseevery year which he will stage a
crime and his students have togo through and figure out what
happened.
Yeah, so I didn't know this wasgoing on at the time.
I was just going to see theschool.
But since I was in criminaljustice in paralegal, he asked
me did I want to go through thecrime house?
So me and my sighted assistant.
(16:45):
He said okay, I'll take youthrough and I'll tell you what's
going on.
So the professor was so he wasintrigued about my blindness and
how I would do this.
So he walked me through thehouse and he described
everything that was there and atthe time it was a triple
homicide with a lot of differentthings in it.
So when he described it, hesaid what do you think happened?
(17:07):
And I gave my theory of whathappened or what could happen or
what I would do if I wasinvestigating it.
I didn't get it 100% right, buthe said that I was in the top
percentile of being the closest,even with everyone else having
sight.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
So from there he took me from the crime house to the
dean's office, who I actuallyspoke to her.
I sat down and never met thesepeople in my life.
I spoke to him and the dean,the whole school, and she sat
there and she said well, is itan interest of coming to Salem
University?
Again, my answer I just wantedto get a certificate to make
(17:53):
myself more employable so I canhelp my provide for my family.
I have no intentions offollowing.
I never dreamed that I can goto college when I had sight.
Now I'm doing it without sight.
But they talked to me and theymade it sound very good, very
interesting.
So basically, I signed up for abachelor's degree and from
(18:17):
there I kept seeing that I wasgood at this learning thing,
this writing papers to school.
So, to make a long story short,I ended up with a dual
bachelor's, a triple master's incriminal justice and April 19th
of 2024, I just walked with mydoctor's degree in business
administration.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Oh my God, I got goosebumps.
That is so awesome.
That is perseverance, obviously, and tenacity and being
relentless in your pursuit ofsomething more.
That is incredible, soincredible.
Congratulations, because thatwas just last month.
(18:58):
It's been a month now.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
It's been a little over a month since I became Dr
Charles Powell and, honestly,I'm still actually getting used
to it yeah.
I would get a phone call ifsomebody can.
Can I speak to Dr Charles?
Can I speak to Dr Powell?
Like, oh, you got the wrongnumber.
Then it dawned on me, oh, thatis me.
And then I gotta apologize.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So I'm like, okay so where do you go from here?
Do you have a job lined up?
How does that work?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Okay, this goes back until let's rewind a little bit.
Yeah, after I got my dualbachelor's and I started my
master's, I sent out a resume toevery law firm or anything
dealing with the law in a 20mile radius and as long as I
sent out my resume, everyone wascalling me back.
(19:48):
But after the first interview Igo in there and I'm not a
hundred percent I'm not going tosay with discrimination or
anything like that, but I feellike once they noticed that I
was blind, they never called meback.
So I didn't stop there.
I did again.
The main goal was to help feedmy family, so I took a job as a
(20:09):
dishwasher at Chick-fil-A.
I went in, I took a job atChick-fil-A andI washed dishes
and I knew that wasn't for me,but it was providing a paycheck,
so I wasn't complaining and Iventured out.
In 2021, I ventured out andopened Divine Visions Consultant
and Paralegal Services LLC.
And at night I'm still washingdishes.
(20:32):
And Divine Visions is basicallya company who do freelance
paralegal services for law firms, lawyers and corporations and I
just provide legal research andtranslation for the general
public.
So I started that in 2021 and Iwas still washing dishes.
So at the end of 2021,beginning of three, 2022, I
(20:57):
figured that if I want to beserious about my business, I
can't just do part-time with it.
And I'm still in school, mindyou, going for finishing up my
last master's and pursuing mydoctorate.
So I quit dishwashing and I randivine visions and, as anyone
who know who did the doctoralprogram, that's not a part-time
gig, that's like full-time andit's like time consuming.
(21:20):
So I was basically doing alittle side work with divine
visions and focusing all on myschooling.
And now that I graduated, to getback to the question, what's
next?
I divine visions is still open.
I'm still working with divinevisions, but I'm actually trying
to reach out and do more.
I have my resumes out there todifferent corporations,
(21:43):
different companies, and I'mstill promoting Divine Vision.
So hopefully, within the nearfuture, I will make a
determinative decision what am Igoing to do?
Am I going to focus on DivineVisions full-time and still go
back in the public to work, ordo I want to be in the public
working and just do DivineVisions on the side?
(22:03):
I haven't really came up withthat because, again, it's barely
been a month since I had foodin school.
I'm just enjoying it right now.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah, that is so incredible and yeah, the
entrepreneurial rollercoaster isan interesting one, but I
definitely think that it's theway to go.
Like you put in what you wantto get out of it, and it's
definitely been a blessing in mylife and you know, being your
(22:34):
own boss, there's no way to beable to discriminate against
yourself.
So I think that it's likeproving everyone else wrong, and
not for the sole purpose ofthat, but just because you need
to prove yourself right, likeyou've got this and you can.
You can do anything you putyour mind to.
(22:54):
Obviously, you got yourdoctorate and masters and
there's so much, so much thatyou've been able to accomplish.
Why not Right?
Why not pursue your own thingin such a big way?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I'm really pushing farther to divine visions,
because divine visions is to meit's not only a financial
stability or it's not only aboutthe money.
I feel privileged and I feelblessed to be able to go back
and help other people, becauseour vision is we do legal and
business.
So on a legal aspect, it's somany times.
(23:34):
Growing up, I've seen so manypeople get caught up in things
that they didn't deserve to bein for being at the wrong place
at the wrong time and just notknowing.
Even if you now how can I putthis politically correct?
I've seen so many people theybroke their law and I know that
(23:54):
they knew they was doing wrong,but they were simply feeding
their family but you.
They ended up getting like 15to 20 years when they only
should have got like three tofive years or even probation
yeah so by not knowing they was,they became victimized by the
system and as an injustice.
So I feel privileged that I canbe able to help someone yeah
(24:16):
like I had someone call me andit was like well, my landlord is
evicting me for this reason orthat reason and I'm like well,
technically the law says hecan't.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
They don't know.
It's just like when it's noteven criminal law, you got like
administrative law disability.
If you're going for disabilityand you have no idea there's so
many people you can go to whocharge you an arm and a leg?
Now, mind you, you're going todisability because you can go to
who will charge you an arm anda leg?
Now, mind you, you're going todisability because you can't
work.
Yeah, so for you to file fordisability, someone is going to
(24:50):
take what 20 percent of whateveryou get back just for their
services, when a little bit ofresearch you can do it yourself
yeah, and that's where mycompany comes in at Divine
Visions is a legal resource forthe community to help with
things that they can dothemselves without taking them
to the poorhouse.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Yeah, yeah, that's really and it is.
It's tough.
For a very long time, I was asingle mom of three kids and my
oldest had been diagnosed withbipolar disorder, and I had to
look for resources to helpbecause there were so many
things, so many issues that wewere going through and sometimes
(25:31):
I just I didn't know what elseto do, and having resources that
can guide you in the rightdirection, that could be there
for you is it was probably oneof the most important things
that happened to us in that timeperiod, because it was
definitely not easy and Iunderstand that and that is why
(25:55):
I appreciate my company.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Like I said, when I started it off, it was just on
the legal and now is legal andbusiness.
We can reach out and helpbusinesses and even people like
yourself podcasters, managementstrategies, management guidance
paperwork, contracts and thingsof that nature is so much that
we can offer now.
Yeah, that is a blessing toothers and, like you said, being
(26:20):
your own boss is more than notbeing able to discriminate
against yourself or be able tofire yourself.
Yeah, I can set my own prices.
I know a individual who came tome who needed advice, who
needed help.
They said they done, called lawoffices and everywhere, and the
cheapest they'll do it for waslike 1500 to 2000, yeah, and
(26:42):
this person was barely makingtheir rent.
So if I can tell them, look, Ican do this paperwork and it's
not going to cost you that much,well, they're like well,
charles, we can't pay you.
I don't know what we're goingto do, and I know they was
famous for, let's say, applepies.
I can be like okay, okay, mybirthday is coming up baking an
(27:05):
apple pie yeah and it's nottaking nothing out of my pocket,
it's not taking food off of mytable.
I can still feed my family.
If I can help someone, I willdo it at a fraction of a cost,
if at any cost.
We are a business, so I have tomake money.
But yeah, I know that if I passon a blessing, because I
(27:26):
believe that God has put me in aposition, that he's put me in
for a reason and it wasn't justto get rich or to act like I'm
better than anyone else.
I feel that I have a passionfor helping people and that's
what I enjoy about DeJuanVisions we help people and we
still provide a resource and aservice that is much needed.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Yeah, I love that.
That's amazing and I think that, like, when we do things with
the best of intentions, that weare paying forward, you get
abundantly gifted coming to you.
God has a way of helping youbecause you're helping more
people.
So I think that sometimes, inthe most random ways, you are
(28:14):
getting those blessings inreturn.
So that's amazing and I agree,I feel like life happens for us
and not to us, and we just haveto learn how to find that
purpose in our story, in ourcircumstances, in the way life
happened, and it's really.
It's the reason I have thispodcast.
(28:36):
It's the reason that I am stillstanding here today is because
I figured out that thecircumstances that I went
through in my life all had apurpose and I have a voice to be
able to speak up about themGloria Hatt.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Yes, and I truly understand that when you say you
have a voice.
That is another thing that Itake pride in.
I have.
I pride myself in being a voicefor those who live with
disabilities.
I am here to solely destroy thestereotype that all blind
people are good for is standingon the corner begging for change
(29:16):
or living off a disability.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
I feel that I don't even call my blindness a
disability.
I call it a differability,because I just do things
different.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
And everyone.
It is so crazy that people willhear my story or see me going
to school or see me outsidecutting grass or just doing
stuff that everyone else does,and they think it's so amazing.
I'm like it's sad that youthink that way, because I am
still a man.
If you go outside and cut yourgrass, ain't nobody going to
(29:48):
look twice.
They're not going to go praiseyou, they're just going to be
like Maria's cutting grass.
But if I'm outside cutting mygrass, is it traffic jam?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah, seriously Ain't he blind.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
I'm like, okay, it's not that hard to do.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
I think, though, it's because and correct me if I'm
wrong but I think it's becauseyou are shining the light on the
things that they aren't willingto do, and they have.
They have all sentences, so youare shining the light on.
Listen, I have this, I'm lessone of the senses that I was
(30:30):
born with, and I am still doingthe things, and that, I think,
shines a light on the thingsthat people aren't, um, willing
to put in the work for.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Yes, I truly agree with you and basically I just
want them to see this is myreality.
I just want to be given theopportunity that everyone else
has given.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Okay, I can see, but that doesn't mean that I'm
irrelevant.
That doesn't mean that I cannotbe a productive member of
society.
That does not mean that I wantspecial treatments.
No, my fiance works all day.
She works at eight hours,sometimes 10 to 12 hour shifts.
Who am I to say, come home andcut the grass, where I can go
(31:16):
out there and do it.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
And if I use, I don't use my blindness for nothing.
I got so many people who I hearbe like oh, I can't do it
because I can't see.
That's crazy when I put in myresumes or I go out for a job or
I want to do something, I don'twant somebody saying, oh, you
can't do this because you'reblind.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
And I hear that a lot , but now I'm showing you.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, watch me.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
They said OK, you don't supposed to go back to
school, You'll never make it.
Okay, you said that when Istarted an 18 month program for
a certificate.
10 years later, I have adoctor's hanging on my wall so I
can do it.
People need to stop looking atone's circumstances and
(32:04):
classifying them.
Yeah, I hate it when someonesay who dressed you this morning
?
A blonde person, or did you getdressed in the dark?
This morning I get dressed by ablonde person and in the dark
every day.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
And I do not think that I do a bad job at it.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Yeah, yeah, you look all nasty.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
People say when they go to my fiance, be like, oh,
that suit look good on him, oryou pick out his clothes, very
good, she'd be like I don't pickhis clothes out, he dresses so.
And that's where technologycomes in at.
Everyone thinks every emailthat I send my fiance or my
daughter send it for me.
No, that's not the point.
I'm on the computer, I am doingthis.
(32:53):
People need to get past thestereotypes and realize that
technology has brought us to astage that we can do everything
that everyone else can do.
We just do it different.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think that's the beauty of it
too, that we get to learn as asociety that maybe we only think
that there's one way andthere's so many other ways to do
things.
And so many and tenacity, andI'm so proud of you.
(33:29):
I just met you and I'm just soproud of you.
This is such an incrediblestory and I honestly feel like
it is shining a light on thosethat choose to allow life to
happen to them.
And and you chose to, not onlydue to, obviously, necessity of
having a family that you neededto provide for as well, but to
(33:52):
choose to go against the odds ofpeople thinking that you were
going to be able to get adoctorate or any kind of upper
education, and that is soincredible.
That was what you were able todo, and you didn't allow the
naysayers and the doubters getto you, because look at you now
(34:17):
like how amazing.
What's an example to yourdaughter.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
I appreciate that and again, honestly, I have to stay
humble.
I got to speak honest.
I didn't do this to say, oh,look what I can do because I'm
blind.
I wasn't trying to make a pointAt that point.
I wasn't trying to make astatement that blind people
could do anything they put theirmind to.
I wasn't trying to overcome myblindness.
Honestly, I was just trying tokeep food on the table.
I was trying to contribute to myfamily, I just wanted to eat.
(34:43):
So a lot of people hear mystory or listen to my testimony
and be like, oh, he is doingthis.
Now I might be the voice of thedisability community, now I
might be shining a light on theresilience and the dedication to
wanting to be better.
But simple and plain.
I was just trying to eat, Ididn't care.
(35:05):
But simple and plain, I wasjust trying to eat, I didn't
care.
I never dreamed that I'd besitting on a podcast or sharing
this story, because that wasn'tthe intentions.
My main motivation was tocontribute to my family's
financial stability, to helpprovide for my daughter to keep
food on the table.
Now, everything else thepodcast, the testimony, the, the
(35:28):
stories I could tell now that'struly a blessing.
But that was never theintentions and I actually I
never even dreamed about it.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Sometimes I just feel like sometimes, though, you're
the, you're not gonna go out.
Starting with that intention, Ithink that it unfolds yes as
your story goes.
Because, again, people will beinspired by your story because,
(35:55):
yes, you had a motive that wasbig enough for you to take
action on, but that shows peoplethat there they have to find
that motive within themselves,whatever it may be, whether it's
the family needs to be fed or Ineed to lose 40 pounds, you
(36:16):
have to find the motive.
Mine was I needed to find a wayto get healthy because, if not,
cancer was going to take overand I may not have been here for
my kids.
And so, like it's that momentof deciding, okay, I can either
allow myself to succumb to allthese circumstances or I do what
(36:41):
I need to do to be here andprovide for my family.
And that's where I think thatpeople are in awe with the story
is because and I definitelyunderstand being humble with
your story However, I think youare that light, that the
lighthouse, if you will, forpeople to understand that, no
(37:03):
matter what circumstancesthey're put in, that you can
figure out a way.
And if you have the motive andyou make that decision, you can
make things happen, because youdid it with an additional
obstacle.
And that's where it shows thatit's so different from someone
(37:27):
that's fully able-bodied, thatthey have their sight, they have
that, they can do it and theychoose not to.
They make that decision and Iand that's where it becomes
inspirational, because noteveryone chooses that and you
did, chooses that and you didwhatever motive you had, you
(37:51):
chose that path so that, and inthat, you became the lighthouse
for others to say, well, ifCharles did it, then I can too.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
I would definitely.
That would be one of my goalsout of the two things, that,
even though I didn't start thisjourney for this reason, but if
any message that I can get out,it's just like you said
regardless of your circumstances, regardless of the situation,
know that life is not over.
(38:18):
I have a saying that I lost mysight and not my life, and it
took me a while to get to thispoint.
It's not going to happenovernight.
So, basically, regardless ifyou lose your sight, your
hearing or whatever, you got towant to be better and want to do
better.
And maybe now that so manypeople who's out there, blind,
(38:40):
saying I can't do it, if mystory can help them or inspire
them or motivate them to do more.
Yes, I would love to see theblind community raise up.
I would love to see society asa whole to take notice that,
okay, maybe this person is blind, but let's give him a chance
(39:01):
for opportunity.
And there's so many people outthere who see the blindness and
they will not give us theopportunity, whether it be for
employment or whether it be foranything.
Don't see us as a disabledindividual.
We're different.
I always say I may be the oneblind, but society is the one
(39:25):
who can't see the reality that Ican contribute, yes, and
there's so much more to me thanmy blindness.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Yes, absolutely, and I think that's a powerful
message right there.
That is such a powerful messageand I think that I am so
excited for people to listen toyour story because it is
something.
Sometimes we don't intend to bethe lighthouse, and sometimes
that's what God put in our path.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
And that is the key word.
Right there, god is thechoreographer, the master
designer of all things.
I tell everyone, with theinspiration of biblical stories,
some of the strongestinfluencers, people in the Bible
had the worst past, had theworst situations, had the worst
(40:19):
circumstances because theirstory didn't begin with their
past, because their story didn'tbegin with their past, it ended
with what they're doing now.
Yep.
So, regardless of what the pasthad or what you went through,
if you're going against all oddsand overcoming those odds, the
person you are at the end is theperson that you can motivate,
(40:42):
or the story or the testamentthat you can give to life.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Oh my gosh, this was so amazing.
Thank you so very much, drCharles Powell.
I don't think it'll ever getold for you.
I don't think it would ever getold for me if it were my
circumstances, but you workedhard for it.
So, dr Charles Powell, it wassuch a pleasure to have you on
(41:08):
Against All Odds podcast andlisteners.
I will put all of hisinformation in the show notes.
Thank you for listening and Ihope you got something out of it
.
I want to hear in the commentswhat your biggest takeaway was
with this, because I think itjust it has so much, and
sometimes we don't realize howpowerful our story is, and
(41:32):
sometimes that's the path thatGod does put in our way.
That is the path that we'resupposed to follow is having a
powerful story and showingpeople that if we can do it,
they can too, and I think that'shuge for Dr Charles Powell.
Oh my gosh.
Thank you so much.
I really hope that you enjoyedthis conversation as much as I
(41:52):
did, and I hope you have anamazing rest of your day.
Peace out, guys.
Love your life.
Bye-bye.
Welcome back to the Against All Odds the Less Than
1% Chance podcast with your host, Maria Aponte, where we will
hear stories of incrediblepeople thriving against all odds
, and my hope is that we can allsee how life is always
happening for us, even when weare the Less Than 1% Chance.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hey, hey, welcome back to Against All Odds, the
Less Than 1% Chance podcast withyour host, Maria Aponte.
I am so pumped for today.
You guys are in for a treat.
I have Dr Charles Powell herewith us today.
Wait till you hear this storyAbout 12 years ago, he lost his
sight due to a condition knownas retinitis pigmentosa.
(00:46):
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yay, I said it right.
Instead of feeling sorry forhimself and relying solely on
the disability benefits, hedecided to further his education
to enhance his employability.
He returned to school, obtaineda dual bachelor's degree in
criminal justice, withspecialization in crime scene
investigations and homelandsecurity.
(01:10):
He has a triple master degreein criminal justice
administration, cybersecurityand forensic science, and a
doctorate in businessadministration.
You guys, this incredible humanbeing is here with you today.
(01:30):
Please help me welcome DrCharles Powell to Against All
Odds.
Thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.
I'm proud to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I'm so excited.
Let's go back a little bit 12plus years ago.
What did you start experiencing?
How did this even come about?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Well, my whole life I knew that I had retinitis
pigmentosa because it was acondition on my mother's side.
So back in those days theywasn't really big on explaining
things to us.
I just knew that I had pooreyesight, so not knowing no
better.
As I got older, in my teenageyears, I wanted to be the cool
kid.
(02:09):
I didn't want to wear glasses,so I started getting the laser
surgeries and eye correctionsand things of that nature, not
knowing that it would affect melater on in life.
But about 12 years ago it wascrazy because everything was
going good.
I started to lose my nightvision and I had no idea what
was going on until one morning Iwoke up and couldn't see
(02:32):
anything.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Wow, how was that transition Did you?
Oh my gosh, I can't evenimagine my gosh, I can't even
imagine that.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Transition was crazy.
I first and foremost, it was awhirlwind of emotions.
I was scared, I was mad, I wasupset, I was just.
I can't even explain it.
I woke up and couldn't see.
First thing I did was yell formy fiance because I thought
something was really wrong.
And when I knew something waswrong, I couldn't see, but I was
just scared.
(03:12):
I can't explain it, no otherway.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, it's hard, even when you're walking in a room
that's dark and you feel so offbalance and I can't even imagine
what it is to wake up like that, and that's incredible.
It just it blows my mind.
So what were your next stepsgoing after?
(03:36):
Like, how long did it take youfor you to like process?
Because I hope that there wasobviously a process of emotions.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
It was way far a process.
I got really mad.
I started arguing with myfiance, pushing everyone away.
I went on a downward spiral forabout eight to nine months,
constantly drinking.
Every day I would wake up todrink.
I didn't care about nothing,didn't want to hear nothing.
My fiance and my daughter atthe time was only five years old
who she really couldn't graspthe concept of what was going on
(04:11):
.
She just knew that her daddywas different.
If I can drink all day, that'swhat I would do.
I didn't care about nothing, Ididn't want to do anything.
If you said hello to me, it wasan argument.
I give my fiance the mostcredit in the world because she
actually stayed with me.
I would have left myself atthat time and in a way, I
(04:32):
actually did, because I gave upon life.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, yeah, it's like an identity shift that you have
, like there's no easy way totransition from that and there's
no manual to it either.
So it's processing all thoseemotions, and when we don't want
to process, we lash out right.
And yeah, I feel like I've beenin those not same situation,
(04:58):
but circumstances of like notwanting to process emotions, and
then everyone else around me isthe bearer of those things, and
so how did you then make thetransition from not wanting to
deal with it to then saying, allright, well, these are the
(05:19):
circumstances I have, let's makethe most of it.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
I consciously.
I never came to that conclusionor that concept.
It was actually my daughter andmy fiance who actually brought
that around to me.
When you're doing so much andthe love of your life, like my
daughter, was my world.
And when she started askingquestions, why don't I play with
her no more, why don't I dothat?
And the first thing out of mymouth was daddy can't see, I
(05:51):
can't do this, I can't do that.
And after hearing it so muchand seeing and hearing the
disappointment in her, I knewthat it was time for a change.
So I stopped drinking.
I stopped drinking every day.
I stopped looking at the badpart of it and started looking
at the good.
And my fiance, deanna.
She did a lot of research andshe found different
organizations for the blind ordealing with the blind and
(06:11):
luckily in my community I had alocal chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind.
So we reached out to them.
I actually spoke to thepresident at that time and, just
being around other blind people, they invited me out to one of
their meetings and at that timewe showed up.
I had no idea what to expect.
(06:32):
Now, remind you, I still don'tknow these people.
I don't know who to beassociated with?
No one.
So I'm still on that skepticalweariness yeah that skeptical
weariness.
Yeah, but soon as we went intothe room and it's funny because
one of my biggest obstacles atthis time was the phone, I
didn't know I had a cell phonebefore I lost my sight and I
(06:55):
came depending on it.
Yeah, I was so mad that I gotfilled for the buttons that's
the dollar number I realizedthat there's no more text
messaging and nothing like that.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
I basically had a basic.
I was coming to the terms thatgo out and get me a flip phone,
so I could say hello, and let'stalk.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
When we went to this meeting at the National
Federation of the Blind, thefirst thing that Deanna noticed
my fiance was.
Everybody has smartphones.
I was like nah, that that'simpossible.
It just don't work that way.
And one of the individuals atthe meeting introduced me to the
Apple iPhone, and this was soincredible because the
(07:36):
accessibility yeah it was justamazing.
We left that meeting that dayand I went and got me an Apple
iPhone.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
That's awesome.
That is that's incrediblebecause, yeah, you don't even
think of what is possible, youdon't know that you're missing
it and it's so simple astechnology that you don't think
about in this circumstance.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Yes, that was my first.
That was my first introductionto technology as a blind person,
but it was by far not the last.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I left that meeting and it was like, okay, I have a
cell phone, I learned how to useit.
And then my biggest fear I havea fiance, I have a daughter and
disability.
That was not going to kick it.
So of course I got afraid thatI couldn't help contribute to my
family's financial stability.
(08:42):
I didn't want my fiance to haveto take care of me and it was
always a fear like, okay, maybeshe'll get tired of supporting a
grown man and leave me, and howam I going to live?
And that was a big fear and Ihad no idea what to do.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, what did you do before you were blind?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
before I was blind.
I was basically.
I did all physical work, I wasin construction, I was an
outdoors person.
All the jobs I had was laborjobs, because I was born and
raised in Plainfield, new Jersey, then moved to Brooklyn, new
York, so as a youngster I neverhad goals of doing much of
anything.
The neighborhood that I grew upin, survival was my main
(09:28):
purpose.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, we didn't, so you didn't go to college after
school or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
No, I barely made it through high school.
Yeah, I was that student whohigh school graduation was that
was the greatest thing in theworld.
Yeah, student whose high schoolgraduation was, that was the
greatest thing in the world.
I had, no, no even dreams aboutgoing to college.
Cause, again, I came from thatneighborhood that it was only
two ways out sports orentertainment.
(09:57):
Well, actually three you can besports, entertainment or
criminal.
So, by me getting out of highschool and just getting a job
back then it was fast foodrestaurants, and then I got into
like landscaping andconstruction.
So I was happy.
Yeah, I didn't see.
I never thought that I can bethat individual who can be more
(10:19):
because of the geographicallocation that I was brought up
in and at that time my parents.
A job was a job.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, exactly, and it's like the product of the
surroundings and when we're init, we don't know that there's
something, that we havesomething more inside of us.
Exactly yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
When your heroes are the football and basketball
players, the entertainers or theneighborhood drug dealer who
got the nice cars and all themoney.
That's all that we had.
That's all that I know, and I'mnot blaming that on anything,
that's just the base reality ofmy upbringing.
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
(11:15):
So then you are introduced tosome technology and you start
looking for differentopportunities after that.
Or how did going back to schoolcome about?
Organization, we met up everyweek.
They put me in contact withdifferent people who sent me off
to Baltimore, maryland to abusiness.
It was a program out there.
It was an 11 month program thatthey taught you how to get
around with a cane and how touse computers and stuff like
(11:36):
that.
But again, my daughter was inWest Virginia and I was in
Baltimore, maryland.
My daughter started goingthrough anxiety that's missing
me because she's used to mebeing home every day.
So I didn't complete thatprogram.
So I actually came back withinthe first two months because,
being away from home, theproblems was going on at home.
My daughter was missing me andme not being there to even help
(12:00):
out and like raising my daughter.
I came back home and at thatthat time when I was speaking to
the other individuals I knew inthe groups and in a blind
community they was justbasically they had already
accepted the fact that just takeyour disability check and be
happy and I was like I can't,because what they're giving me
(12:25):
every month is nothing.
Yeah, I couldn't survive onthat.
So it was actually my fiance andI.
We sat and we talked and it'scrazy because I like okay, I
want to go back to work.
What can I do?
I can't seem to do what I usedto do.
I have no skills.
I have a high school diplomaand I'm a grown man.
(12:45):
So, mind you, I'm not a youngchicken at this time.
I'm not like.
So I basically sat down andlike okay, I need to find
something that I can do that Idon't need sight for, and that
may sound crazy to people, butyou never know how hard that is
until you actually got to thinkabout things to do.
(13:06):
Yeah, so we was at a fair outhere.
It's a very popular fair, itwas the Blackberry Festival.
A young woman by the name ofKimberly Blair was the recruiter
for the West Virginia BusinessCollege, a local business
college, which was aneight-month program.
I sat there and I listened toher spill and I was like okay,
whatever, that's just in crate,that's crazy.
(13:28):
So I didn't do no thinking ofit.
But the following week, me andmy fiancee went down to the
school and she was theadmissions represent
representative and I told her Iwant to take your 18-month
paralegal program because Ifigured I'm like okay program.
Because I figured I'm like okay, this can kill two birds with
(13:48):
one stone.
I don't need to be a paralegaland by learning this skill I can
help bring justice that I seenso many people get deprived or
denied.
So I was like okay.
She looked at me and she waslike OK, you do realize you're
blonde.
I'm like yeah.
(14:09):
After we agreed to that, shelaughed and I laughed, she went
in there, she signed me up.
It's so funny because when shesigned me up, the next course
was starting like in a month anda half.
So now I'm all excited.
I'm enrolled in a juniorcollege.
Small college, I can get around, so I'm good.
The first day of classes, myprofessors each one of them came
(14:33):
to me like well, no disrespect,but I never taught a blind
person, so how do I teach you?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I like, just like you , teach everyone else.
At that time I went through aprogram called the Division of
Vocational Rehab.
They sponsored me, they paidfor me a sighted helper, which
was an individual who went withme to class every day and
anything that took sight hewould help me with.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Now, mind you, I've only been blind for like a
little over a year and a halfyeah so I mastered using the
cane getting around.
I pretty much can get through abuilding if I've been there
more than once or twice, but I'mstill learning the computers
and the software and stuff likethat, so I'm not a pro at that
(15:22):
yet.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
So I learned about digital books.
All of my books were digital.
Yep.
So I did that, and when Iturned in assignments, they let
me type them up in word form andemail them to them.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
So I did that and during those 18 months I was
like, okay, I get thiscertificate, I'll go out and get
me a job.
Okay, I get this certificate,I'll go out and get me a job.
And that was the whole key.
That was the.
My number one motivation wasgetting the job, helping provide
for my family.
Yeah, that was my only goal.
So I did that.
I started getting good at it andwhen the time was coming up for
(15:59):
me, about to complete, thelocal college near us was Salem
University they had arepresentative come down and
they was like okay, well, weinvite all of you to Salem
University campus to take a lookin case you want to further
your education, go further withit, besides just an associated
certificate in paralegal.
I went up there and I met thismet, the Cam Lounsbury.
(16:23):
He puts on the crime houseevery year which he will stage a
crime and his students have togo through and figure out what
happened.
Yeah, so I didn't know this wasgoing on at the time.
I was just going to see theschool.
But since I was in criminaljustice in paralegal, he asked
me did I want to go through thecrime house?
So me and my sighted assistant.
(16:45):
He said okay, I'll take youthrough and I'll tell you what's
going on.
So the professor was so he wasintrigued about my blindness and
how I would do this.
So he walked me through thehouse and he described
everything that was there and atthe time it was a triple
homicide with a lot of differentthings in it.
So when he described it, hesaid what do you think happened?
(17:07):
And I gave my theory of whathappened or what could happen or
what I would do if I wasinvestigating it.
I didn't get it 100% right, buthe said that I was in the top
percentile of being the closest,even with everyone else having
sight.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
So from there he took me from the crime house to the
dean's office, who I actuallyspoke to her.
I sat down and never met thesepeople in my life.
I spoke to him and the dean,the whole school, and she sat
there and she said well, is itan interest of coming to Salem
University?
Again, my answer I just wantedto get a certificate to make
(17:53):
myself more employable so I canhelp my provide for my family.
I have no intentions offollowing.
I never dreamed that I can goto college when I had sight.
Now I'm doing it without sight.
But they talked to me and theymade it sound very good, very
interesting.
So basically, I signed up for abachelor's degree and from
(18:17):
there I kept seeing that I wasgood at this learning thing,
this writing papers to school.
So, to make a long story short,I ended up with a dual
bachelor's, a triple master's incriminal justice and April 19th
of 2024, I just walked with mydoctor's degree in business
administration.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Oh my God, I got goosebumps.
That is so awesome.
That is perseverance, obviously, and tenacity and being
relentless in your pursuit ofsomething more.
That is incredible, soincredible.
Congratulations, because thatwas just last month.
(18:58):
It's been a month now.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
It's been a little over a month since I became Dr
Charles Powell and, honestly,I'm still actually getting used
to it yeah.
I would get a phone call ifsomebody can.
Can I speak to Dr Charles?
Can I speak to Dr Powell?
Like, oh, you got the wrongnumber.
Then it dawned on me, oh, thatis me.
And then I gotta apologize.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So I'm like, okay so where do you go from here?
Do you have a job lined up?
How does that work?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Okay, this goes back until let's rewind a little bit.
Yeah, after I got my dualbachelor's and I started my
master's, I sent out a resume toevery law firm or anything
dealing with the law in a 20mile radius and as long as I
sent out my resume, everyone wascalling me back.
(19:48):
But after the first interview Igo in there and I'm not a
hundred percent I'm not going tosay with discrimination or
anything like that, but I feellike once they noticed that I
was blind, they never called meback.
So I didn't stop there.
I did again.
The main goal was to help feedmy family, so I took a job as a
(20:09):
dishwasher at Chick-fil-A.
I went in, I took a job atChick-fil-A andI washed dishes
and I knew that wasn't for me,but it was providing a paycheck,
so I wasn't complaining and Iventured out.
In 2021, I ventured out andopened Divine Visions Consultant
and Paralegal Services LLC.
And at night I'm still washingdishes.
(20:32):
And Divine Visions is basicallya company who do freelance
paralegal services for law firms, lawyers and corporations and I
just provide legal research andtranslation for the general
public.
So I started that in 2021 and Iwas still washing dishes.
So at the end of 2021,beginning of three, 2022, I
(20:57):
figured that if I want to beserious about my business, I
can't just do part-time with it.
And I'm still in school, mindyou, going for finishing up my
last master's and pursuing mydoctorate.
So I quit dishwashing and I randivine visions and, as anyone
who know who did the doctoralprogram, that's not a part-time
gig, that's like full-time andit's like time consuming.
(21:20):
So I was basically doing alittle side work with divine
visions and focusing all on myschooling.
And now that I graduated, to getback to the question, what's
next?
I divine visions is still open.
I'm still working with divinevisions, but I'm actually trying
to reach out and do more.
I have my resumes out there todifferent corporations,
(21:43):
different companies, and I'mstill promoting Divine Vision.
So hopefully, within the nearfuture, I will make a
determinative decision what am Igoing to do?
Am I going to focus on DivineVisions full-time and still go
back in the public to work, ordo I want to be in the public
working and just do DivineVisions on the side?
(22:03):
I haven't really came up withthat because, again, it's barely
been a month since I had foodin school.
I'm just enjoying it right now.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah, that is so incredible and yeah, the
entrepreneurial rollercoaster isan interesting one, but I
definitely think that it's theway to go.
Like you put in what you wantto get out of it, and it's
definitely been a blessing in mylife and you know, being your
(22:34):
own boss, there's no way to beable to discriminate against
yourself.
So I think that it's likeproving everyone else wrong, and
not for the sole purpose ofthat, but just because you need
to prove yourself right, likeyou've got this and you can.
You can do anything you putyour mind to.
(22:54):
Obviously, you got yourdoctorate and masters and
there's so much, so much thatyou've been able to accomplish.
Why not Right?
Why not pursue your own thingin such a big way?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I'm really pushing farther to divine visions,
because divine visions is to meit's not only a financial
stability or it's not only aboutthe money.
I feel privileged and I feelblessed to be able to go back
and help other people, becauseour vision is we do legal and
business.
So on a legal aspect, it's somany times.
(23:34):
Growing up, I've seen so manypeople get caught up in things
that they didn't deserve to bein for being at the wrong place
at the wrong time and just notknowing.
Even if you now how can I putthis politically correct?
I've seen so many people theybroke their law and I know that
(23:54):
they knew they was doing wrong,but they were simply feeding
their family but you.
They ended up getting like 15to 20 years when they only
should have got like three tofive years or even probation
yeah so by not knowing they was,they became victimized by the
system and as an injustice.
So I feel privileged that I canbe able to help someone yeah
(24:16):
like I had someone call me andit was like well, my landlord is
evicting me for this reason orthat reason and I'm like well,
technically the law says hecan't.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
They don't know.
It's just like when it's noteven criminal law, you got like
administrative law disability.
If you're going for disabilityand you have no idea there's so
many people you can go to whocharge you an arm and a leg?
Now, mind you, you're going todisability because you can go to
who will charge you an arm anda leg?
Now, mind you, you're going todisability because you can't
work.
Yeah, so for you to file fordisability, someone is going to
(24:50):
take what 20 percent of whateveryou get back just for their
services, when a little bit ofresearch you can do it yourself
yeah, and that's where mycompany comes in at Divine
Visions is a legal resource forthe community to help with
things that they can dothemselves without taking them
to the poorhouse.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Yeah, yeah, that's really and it is.
It's tough.
For a very long time, I was asingle mom of three kids and my
oldest had been diagnosed withbipolar disorder, and I had to
look for resources to helpbecause there were so many
things, so many issues that wewere going through and sometimes
(25:31):
I just I didn't know what elseto do, and having resources that
can guide you in the rightdirection, that could be there
for you is it was probably oneof the most important things
that happened to us in that timeperiod, because it was
definitely not easy and Iunderstand that and that is why
(25:55):
I appreciate my company.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Like I said, when I started it off, it was just on
the legal and now is legal andbusiness.
We can reach out and helpbusinesses and even people like
yourself podcasters, managementstrategies, management guidance
paperwork, contracts and thingsof that nature is so much that
we can offer now.
Yeah, that is a blessing toothers and, like you said, being
(26:20):
your own boss is more than notbeing able to discriminate
against yourself or be able tofire yourself.
Yeah, I can set my own prices.
I know a individual who came tome who needed advice, who
needed help.
They said they done, called lawoffices and everywhere, and the
cheapest they'll do it for waslike 1500 to 2000, yeah, and
(26:42):
this person was barely makingtheir rent.
So if I can tell them, look, Ican do this paperwork and it's
not going to cost you that much,well, they're like well,
charles, we can't pay you.
I don't know what we're goingto do, and I know they was
famous for, let's say, applepies.
I can be like okay, okay, mybirthday is coming up baking an
(27:05):
apple pie yeah and it's nottaking nothing out of my pocket,
it's not taking food off of mytable.
I can still feed my family.
If I can help someone, I willdo it at a fraction of a cost,
if at any cost.
We are a business, so I have tomake money.
But yeah, I know that if I passon a blessing, because I
(27:26):
believe that God has put me in aposition, that he's put me in
for a reason and it wasn't justto get rich or to act like I'm
better than anyone else.
I feel that I have a passionfor helping people and that's
what I enjoy about DeJuanVisions we help people and we
still provide a resource and aservice that is much needed.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Yeah, I love that.
That's amazing and I think that, like, when we do things with
the best of intentions, that weare paying forward, you get
abundantly gifted coming to you.
God has a way of helping youbecause you're helping more
people.
So I think that sometimes, inthe most random ways, you are
(28:14):
getting those blessings inreturn.
So that's amazing and I agree,I feel like life happens for us
and not to us, and we just haveto learn how to find that
purpose in our story, in ourcircumstances, in the way life
happened, and it's really.
It's the reason I have thispodcast.
(28:36):
It's the reason that I am stillstanding here today is because
I figured out that thecircumstances that I went
through in my life all had apurpose and I have a voice to be
able to speak up about themGloria Hatt.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Yes, and I truly understand that when you say you
have a voice.
That is another thing that Itake pride in.
I have.
I pride myself in being a voicefor those who live with
disabilities.
I am here to solely destroy thestereotype that all blind
people are good for is standingon the corner begging for change
(29:16):
or living off a disability.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
I feel that I don't even call my blindness a
disability.
I call it a differability,because I just do things
different.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
And everyone.
It is so crazy that people willhear my story or see me going
to school or see me outsidecutting grass or just doing
stuff that everyone else does,and they think it's so amazing.
I'm like it's sad that youthink that way, because I am
still a man.
If you go outside and cut yourgrass, ain't nobody going to
(29:48):
look twice.
They're not going to go praiseyou, they're just going to be
like Maria's cutting grass.
But if I'm outside cutting mygrass, is it traffic jam?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah, seriously Ain't he blind.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
I'm like, okay, it's not that hard to do.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
I think, though, it's because and correct me if I'm
wrong but I think it's becauseyou are shining the light on the
things that they aren't willingto do, and they have.
They have all sentences, so youare shining the light on.
Listen, I have this, I'm lessone of the senses that I was
(30:30):
born with, and I am still doingthe things, and that, I think,
shines a light on the thingsthat people aren't, um, willing
to put in the work for.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Yes, I truly agree with you and basically I just
want them to see this is myreality.
I just want to be given theopportunity that everyone else
has given.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Okay, I can see, but that doesn't mean that I'm
irrelevant.
That doesn't mean that I cannotbe a productive member of
society.
That does not mean that I wantspecial treatments.
No, my fiance works all day.
She works at eight hours,sometimes 10 to 12 hour shifts.
Who am I to say, come home andcut the grass, where I can go
(31:16):
out there and do it.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
And if I use, I don't use my blindness for nothing.
I got so many people who I hearbe like oh, I can't do it
because I can't see.
That's crazy when I put in myresumes or I go out for a job or
I want to do something, I don'twant somebody saying, oh, you
can't do this because you'reblind.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
And I hear that a lot , but now I'm showing you.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, watch me.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
They said OK, you don't supposed to go back to
school, You'll never make it.
Okay, you said that when Istarted an 18 month program for
a certificate.
10 years later, I have adoctor's hanging on my wall so I
can do it.
People need to stop looking atone's circumstances and
(32:04):
classifying them.
Yeah, I hate it when someonesay who dressed you this morning
?
A blonde person, or did you getdressed in the dark?
This morning I get dressed by ablonde person and in the dark
every day.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
And I do not think that I do a bad job at it.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Yeah, yeah, you look all nasty.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
People say when they go to my fiance, be like, oh,
that suit look good on him, oryou pick out his clothes, very
good, she'd be like I don't pickhis clothes out, he dresses so.
And that's where technologycomes in at.
Everyone thinks every emailthat I send my fiance or my
daughter send it for me.
No, that's not the point.
I'm on the computer, I am doingthis.
(32:53):
People need to get past thestereotypes and realize that
technology has brought us to astage that we can do everything
that everyone else can do.
We just do it different.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think that's the beauty of it
too, that we get to learn as asociety that maybe we only think
that there's one way andthere's so many other ways to do
things.
And so many and tenacity, andI'm so proud of you.
(33:29):
I just met you and I'm just soproud of you.
This is such an incrediblestory and I honestly feel like
it is shining a light on thosethat choose to allow life to
happen to them.
And and you chose to, not onlydue to, obviously, necessity of
having a family that you neededto provide for as well, but to
(33:52):
choose to go against the odds ofpeople thinking that you were
going to be able to get adoctorate or any kind of upper
education, and that is soincredible.
That was what you were able todo, and you didn't allow the
naysayers and the doubters getto you, because look at you now
(34:17):
like how amazing.
What's an example to yourdaughter.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
I appreciate that and again, honestly, I have to stay
humble.
I got to speak honest.
I didn't do this to say, oh,look what I can do because I'm
blind.
I wasn't trying to make a pointAt that point.
I wasn't trying to make astatement that blind people
could do anything they put theirmind to.
I wasn't trying to overcome myblindness.
Honestly, I was just trying tokeep food on the table.
I was trying to contribute to myfamily, I just wanted to eat.
(34:43):
So a lot of people hear mystory or listen to my testimony
and be like, oh, he is doingthis.
Now I might be the voice of thedisability community, now I
might be shining a light on theresilience and the dedication to
wanting to be better.
But simple and plain.
I was just trying to eat, Ididn't care.
(35:05):
But simple and plain, I wasjust trying to eat, I didn't
care.
I never dreamed that I'd besitting on a podcast or sharing
this story, because that wasn'tthe intentions.
My main motivation was tocontribute to my family's
financial stability, to helpprovide for my daughter to keep
food on the table.
Now, everything else thepodcast, the testimony, the, the
(35:28):
stories I could tell now that'struly a blessing.
But that was never theintentions and I actually I
never even dreamed about it.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Sometimes I just feel like sometimes, though, you're
the, you're not gonna go out.
Starting with that intention, Ithink that it unfolds yes as
your story goes.
Because, again, people will beinspired by your story because,
(35:55):
yes, you had a motive that wasbig enough for you to take
action on, but that shows peoplethat there they have to find
that motive within themselves,whatever it may be, whether it's
the family needs to be fed or Ineed to lose 40 pounds, you
(36:16):
have to find the motive.
Mine was I needed to find a wayto get healthy because, if not,
cancer was going to take overand I may not have been here for
my kids.
And so, like it's that momentof deciding, okay, I can either
allow myself to succumb to allthese circumstances or I do what
(36:41):
I need to do to be here andprovide for my family.
And that's where I think thatpeople are in awe with the story
is because and I definitelyunderstand being humble with
your story However, I think youare that light, that the
lighthouse, if you will, forpeople to understand that, no
(37:03):
matter what circumstancesthey're put in, that you can
figure out a way.
And if you have the motive andyou make that decision, you can
make things happen, because youdid it with an additional
obstacle.
And that's where it shows thatit's so different from someone
(37:27):
that's fully able-bodied, thatthey have their sight, they have
that, they can do it and theychoose not to.
They make that decision and Iand that's where it becomes
inspirational, because noteveryone chooses that and you
did, chooses that and you didwhatever motive you had, you
(37:51):
chose that path so that, and inthat, you became the lighthouse
for others to say, well, ifCharles did it, then I can too.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
I would definitely.
That would be one of my goalsout of the two things, that,
even though I didn't start thisjourney for this reason, but if
any message that I can get out,it's just like you said
regardless of your circumstances, regardless of the situation,
know that life is not over.
(38:18):
I have a saying that I lost mysight and not my life, and it
took me a while to get to thispoint.
It's not going to happenovernight.
So, basically, regardless ifyou lose your sight, your
hearing or whatever, you got towant to be better and want to do
better.
And maybe now that so manypeople who's out there, blind,
(38:40):
saying I can't do it, if mystory can help them or inspire
them or motivate them to do more.
Yes, I would love to see theblind community raise up.
I would love to see society asa whole to take notice that,
okay, maybe this person is blind, but let's give him a chance
(39:01):
for opportunity.
And there's so many people outthere who see the blindness and
they will not give us theopportunity, whether it be for
employment or whether it be foranything.
Don't see us as a disabledindividual.
We're different.
I always say I may be the oneblind, but society is the one
(39:25):
who can't see the reality that Ican contribute, yes, and
there's so much more to me thanmy blindness.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Yes, absolutely, and I think that's a powerful
message right there.
That is such a powerful messageand I think that I am so
excited for people to listen toyour story because it is
something.
Sometimes we don't intend to bethe lighthouse, and sometimes
that's what God put in our path.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
And that is the key word.
Right there, god is thechoreographer, the master
designer of all things.
I tell everyone, with theinspiration of biblical stories,
some of the strongestinfluencers, people in the Bible
had the worst past, had theworst situations, had the worst
(40:19):
circumstances because theirstory didn't begin with their
past, because their story didn'tbegin with their past, it ended
with what they're doing now.
Yep.
So, regardless of what the pasthad or what you went through,
if you're going against all oddsand overcoming those odds, the
person you are at the end is theperson that you can motivate,
(40:42):
or the story or the testamentthat you can give to life.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Oh my gosh, this was so amazing.
Thank you so very much, drCharles Powell.
I don't think it'll ever getold for you.
I don't think it would ever getold for me if it were my
circumstances, but you workedhard for it.
So, dr Charles Powell, it wassuch a pleasure to have you on
(41:08):
Against All Odds podcast andlisteners.
I will put all of hisinformation in the show notes.
Thank you for listening and Ihope you got something out of it
.
I want to hear in the commentswhat your biggest takeaway was
with this, because I think itjust it has so much, and
sometimes we don't realize howpowerful our story is, and
(41:32):
sometimes that's the path thatGod does put in our way.
That is the path that we'resupposed to follow is having a
powerful story and showingpeople that if we can do it,
they can too, and I think that'shuge for Dr Charles Powell.
Oh my gosh.
Thank you so much.
I really hope that you enjoyedthis conversation as much as I
(41:52):
did, and I hope you have anamazing rest of your day.
Peace out, guys.
Love your life.
Bye-bye.
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