May 16, 2025 • 35 mins
In this episode of the Beyond Normal Podcast, Kenny Groom sits down with Starr Clinton, founder of Nita’s Hands and Signing Starr, to discuss her journey from school interpreter to community changemaker. Starr shares how she turned advocacy into action—launching a nonprofit and consulting business to close the communication gap between the deaf and hearing worlds.
Learn how Starr is helping businesses become deaf-friendly, creating inclusive environments, and producing innovative content like The Deaf Culture Experience. From accessibility audits to sign language education and community outreach, Starr is redefining what it means to build impact-driven solutions.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kenny (00:38):
Hey, What's going on?
Good people.
This is your host of the BeyondNormal podcast, Kenny Groom.
I have a very special guest withus today.
incredible founder.
as many of you have beenfollowing my journey, I recently
moved, to Gastonia, NorthCarolina.
And so the, the startup, foundercommunity here has really been
(00:59):
embracing, me here as the, asone of the.
The, the lone podcasters that,that's quickly changing, in the,
the coworking space that we'rein.
but I met this incrediblefounder by the name of Starr
Clinton.
She is the founder of Nita'sHands.
I'm gonna give you all just aquick breakdown because, she
does a lot with this incredibleorganization, but she's
(01:21):
committed to, transforming ourworld by mending the gap between
the hearing and deaf community.
And so this is often aoverlooked, segment of the
population.
So I'm, I'm.
Pleased to have somebody such asStarr, putting the time and,
energy and the effort intobuilding out this org for that,
for that, that communityspecifically.
(01:43):
How are you doing today, Starr?
Starr (01:44):
I'm good.
Busy head spinning, but I'mhere.
Kenny (01:49):
Mm-hmm.
And.
Starr (01:51):
Keep going.
Yep.
Yeah.
So
Kenny (01:52):
all you can do as a founder, I, I wanna dig right
into things, and let folks knowjust a little bit about your
story.
Tell us a little bit about whatyou were doing start before
starting Nita's Hands, becauseyou were doing some incredible
work.
Yeah.
Starr (02:05):
So I started into the school system.
School system, had me in astechnically a teacher assistant,
but hired me to be theinterpreter for deaf students.
And so.
In that I found myselfadvocating for the students.
and the reason why I ended uphaving to advocate for the
(02:25):
students'cause they wanted me todo other things that technically
my role said I should be doing.
But I was hired for thisparticular
Kenny (02:36):
assignment,
Starr (02:37):
and that was talked about, you know, this is what
you should be doing.
This comes first before anythingelse.
And so in that, once my bosskind of left the scene and I'm
under somebody else'ssupervision, you know they
tried.
Mm-hmm.
And I was like, no, we have to.
(02:58):
I have to be here with thestudent.
I cannot just leave the studentin the classroom by themselves
and they don't have anyone inhere.
You're interpreting for them,you know?
So.
You go against the grain, theystart treating you different.
You know how that goes in thatworld.
But I really didn't care mm-hmm.
At that point.
but that led me to having thisvision of starting a class, a
(03:20):
solid witch class, and actuallystepping out on faith.
And what I end up doing is likeasking individuals like how they
felt about me doing this andseeking that validation.
I really wanted someone to talkme out of it.
That didn't happen.
Kenny (03:37):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (03:39):
That didn't happen, so I had no excuse.
I had to just do it because Ihad already been talking about
it and I'm like, oh my, what didI do?
And I ended up quitting my job,
Kenny (03:49):
cold Turkey all the way off the cliff,
Starr (03:51):
cold Turkey.
I do not recommend that you justdo that.
But that was my story.
That's what I needed to do.
and I end up having a packed outclass.
The first class that I end upoffering, it was about 40 or 50
people there, and I ran with it,you know, great feedback.
And not long after doing myclasses though, COVID hit.
(04:15):
So it made me really have tothink about how I was gonna
pivot this thing.
But that's really when the ideastarted to come about, like.
It's more than just teachingsign language.
The deaf community needsresources as well.
Mm-hmm.
How are you gonna do that?
How are you gonna make animpact?
What can you do in honor of yourmom?
Mm-hmm.
And yeah, bunch of thoughts andideas started happening.
(04:39):
I'm like, okay, I'm gettingoverwhelmed.
I don't know how I'm gonna dothis.
I don't know how this littletimid.
Little girl is gonna make thisbig impact.
That's how I felt.
but the, all I did was continueto talk to people every day,
asking questions.
(05:00):
And the idea of starting anonprofit came about and I was
like, I think I can do that.
But I, I tell people now, if youcan start a nonprofit, you can
start a business.
'cause the Lord knows
Kenny (05:13):
mm-hmm.
Starr (05:15):
A nonprofit world.
And just a regular business.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think I got your beat.
Kenny (05:23):
Definitely a, definitely a jungle.
I can imagine.
I got, I can imagine, I'm sorry.
Survival of the fittest,survival of the fit
Starr (05:28):
line.
It's
Kenny (05:29):
true.
It's
Starr (05:29):
non-profit world is not for the week.
Kenny (05:33):
Mm-hmm.
It's not.
So let's, let's dive, let's divea little bit.
I appreciate you kicking thingsoff there.
You said a lot in those in, in,you know, describing your story.
First of all, you had people whowere like pushing you off the
cliff.
I think there's, that's, that'snot the story we hear about all
(05:53):
the time, whereas people arelike, you know, like, Hey, you
need to have a nine to five.
Like, that's the language thatwe usually hear about from, from
founders.
And so I'm curious, like whenthese people were like kind of
pushing you off that cliff,like.
Is there something they wereseeing?
Like how passionate were youtalking about this?
(06:16):
Because I have to imagine youmust have been to the point
where you were talking about itso much they were like, you need
to do this.
Starr (06:22):
I don't even know if it was really me talking about it,
to be honest with you.
I really think it was just myactions.
Mm-hmm.
because I didn't say much.
I really didn't.
I just spoke up.
For them.
Okay.
And I really believe that myadvocacy and me just doing what
I have always done my whole,entire life.
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (06:42):
Even
Starr (06:42):
with my mom, like as I reflect, I realized that I was
advocating for my mom, even as achild going in and out, you
know, like my cousin andeverybody playing outside.
But I get called in and I needto interpret for my mom at
family gatherings and thingslike that.
So I was already an advocate anddidn't even realize that's what
(07:02):
I was doing.
I was bridging that world at ayoung age.
Kenny (07:05):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (07:06):
So I've been doing it all my life.
It just became second nature.
And so I believe that the workthat I was putting in and I
showed up daily, I didn't justkind of show up and just do.
What you would say a half assjob.
Kenny (07:20):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (07:20):
I didn't just not what I did.
You put
Kenny (07:23):
your all into it.
Starr (07:23):
So I really believe just the work and the work ethic that
I had, and they saw that, youknow, I truly cared for my
students.
I think that that spoke volesversus me really just saying a
lot.
Mm-hmm.
and I, I mean, honestly, just torandomly come out and just say,
I think I wanna start teaching,I think it was just like.
(07:47):
Think you should.
Mm-hmm.
Or it was just me saying it justclicked for someone.
It was just like, no, I thinkthat's, that's a true calling
for real.
Kenny (07:57):
Mm-hmm.
So
Starr (07:58):
it one or two, something happened.
Got
Kenny (08:00):
it.
Yeah.
Something happened there.
Starr (08:02):
Something happened there.
Kenny (08:03):
Got it.
And so you, you said, I'm goingback to what you said earlier as
well, where you said you had.
You had some people that toldyou yes, you did it.
And then you had that earlyvalidation, right?
Where 50 people signed up forthat first class.
Starr (08:16):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (08:17):
Now, COVID hits, like what type of, traction are we
talking about when Covid
Starr (08:24):
hits?
when Covid hit, it was acomplete halt.
Complete.
Like, I was like, why did I dothis?
Mm-hmm.
Why did I even think that thiswas even possible?
Like, I started doubting myself.
I literally had to stopeverything and I had just like
when I say just received mynonprofit status and everything
(08:45):
in the mail, like right inJanuary, I'm planning out like
we're about to do book bagdrive, we're about to do all
this other type of stuff.
Mm-hmm.
Get all that stoppedimmediately.
So that was a pivoting momentfor me.
But I will say that there was a.
(09:07):
A small fire in me thatunderstood like, wait, you can't
quit like you started this.
You can't just quit on it justbecause, you know, life happens.
You know?
'cause that's gonna happenthroughout life anyway.
It is gonna happen throughout mybusiness life.
Things are gonna happen andyou're gonna have to pivot no
matter what.
Kenny (09:25):
Mm-hmm.
So,
Starr (09:28):
as I think about this, and I, I wanna really kind of
put emphasis on like, I'mstarting to create a.
Write a book is talking aboutwalk in fear, because it's
literally my ha.
That has been my life.
I've been fearful to do things,but I didn't let it stop me.
Mm-hmm.
So that's kind of how I feltCovid did for me.
(09:49):
I was fearful of what was aboutto happen, but I had to have
faith that I was gonna be allright.
So it was a mindset thing.
Got it.
Strong mindset
Kenny (10:00):
thing.
Yeah.
Strong.
So with that, right, you havethis pause during the pandemic,
I would asse that during thepandemic there would be a, a
need for these types ofservices, even more so.
So I'm, I'm curious like.
(10:20):
What was the cause of that?
Because we all moved to adigital first experience and so
I would asse there needs to besome, like, there needs to be
even more focus on making sureeverybody can communicate in
these settings.
Starr (10:34):
I'm gonna tell you the thing that we came up against
that really bugged me is we allhad to wear masks.
Kenny (10:39):
Oh,
Starr (10:41):
we all had to wear mask around that time.
And I don't know if you noticedthere was.
The clear mask started to comeout because there was a big talk
about like, the deaf communityneeds to see your lips to move
got, so how are you going tocommunicate effectively to them
if you can't, even if they can'teven see your lips moving?
Kenny (11:01):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (11:02):
And so that was something that needed to be advocated for.
So I started, you know, reallytalking about that.
I started reaching out tocertain companies like, Hey,
have you thought about having.
Clear mask.
You know, we end up getting, asponsorship from a company that
gave us clear mask and we juststarted distributor'em out.
Mm.
(11:22):
Just because it was like, youneed to at least have your staff
doing these and having these on.
Kenny (11:27):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (11:29):
On, you know, at least on hand.
You can wear your regular maskif you're dealing with a deaf
person, at least have a clearmask on so they can see your
face.
So, I mean, there was littlethings that we were able to do
and contribute and to be ableto.
Partner and backup up otherinitiatives out there, which
gave me hope because I foundanother avenue that I could help
(11:50):
at
Kenny (11:50):
least.
Yeah, exactly.
And that's, that's still like,that's going towards your target
audience, making sure that thesebusinesses understand like you
have people within thiscommunity.
Yep.
and I think people.
Like, you even schooled me.
Like when we were just initiallytalking, we initially met about
just how vast this, thispopulation hit is even like here
(12:12):
in the States, right?
Yeah.
Like you're talking aboutmillions and millions of people.
I'm curious, like now we're at apoint now where I see, like, I
go, you know, we turn on the,the Grammys, or we turn, we go
like, I think the, the popularvideo is like Waka Flocka.
(12:33):
Yes.
You seen that, right?
Yes.
Where it's like even the artistsnow understand, like there's
people who wanna like, you know,engage, entertain, spend dollars
in the community.
Right.
Let me go ahead and like makesure like, you know, they can,
they can follow along.
Yeah.
Which I think is cool.
I'm curious like what yourthoughts are around the progress
(12:53):
that's been made since that,that shutdown in the pandemic
where we're at and then like,you know, where, where you see
there's still being someopportunities.
Starr (13:03):
There's a lot of opportunities out here.
there's been progress made.
I just don't think that there'sbeen big progress.
Being married right now.
and I can only speak when I, Ican look at things at a bigger
picture like what our presidentor what our government is doing,
right?
(13:23):
They're, they always have theinterpreters up there on the
screen.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and I'm grateful forthat.
But then when you look at what,we just had the Super Bowl, you
get a ten second clip of aninterpreter and then it goes
away.
They have to tune into a wholenother station just to even.
Have an interpreter present.
(13:44):
And that's not even necessarilywhat they're offering, it's
somebody else is offering it.
Okay.
Right.
So I think about those thingsand just not to shun like the
NFL or anything like that, butit's just like, I know other
countries and languages do havean interpreter on most of their
TV series.
Kenny (14:04):
Mm.
You
Starr (14:04):
know, so we can adopt that same thing.
We just not taking the time todo it.
Gotcha.
We're not being proactive.
Kenny (14:11):
We're
Starr (14:11):
kind of being reactive, which is not the way to be
inclusive,
Kenny (14:14):
right?
Mm-hmm.
Starr (14:16):
but if we wanna talk about, like locally, let's think
about we have what?
Concerts?
We have government meetings
Kenny (14:26):
mm-hmm.
Starr (14:28):
That are televise.
Kenny (14:31):
Yeah, for sure.
Starr (14:32):
Where's the interpreter?
Kenny (14:33):
Yeah.
Where's the interpreter at?
Wow.
Starr (14:36):
You, you want, you want them to be a part, but you're
not advertising that.
You're gonna allow it to beaccessible for them.
You are waiting for them to justshow up and say, I need an
interpreter.
That's not how it should be.
You want everybody to feelincluded.
You got to be proactive.
Hey, we want you out here.
We're gonna have an interpreter.
(14:56):
I'll give you a prime example.
I'm in, shout out to the colorpurple.
I am in the color purple.
That's coming up.
Kenny (15:04):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (15:05):
And all I did was just say, Hey, can we have a day that
the deaf community come out andsee the show?
Lemme get some interpreterslined up for you.
They interpret the whole entireshow.
Oh, that's all it takes.
Mm.
Now you can advertise, Hey,we're gonna have interpreters on
this day.
We would love to have our deafcommunity come out and be a
part.
Kenny (15:25):
Okay.
Starr (15:26):
That's all it takes.
That's all it takes.
Small changes.
Yeah.
It doesn't, and I understand,you know, a lot of times people
look at it like, oh my gosh, theinterpreter's gonna cost so
much, and we gotta add that intoour budget.
Okay.
But if they're coming and buyingtickets,
Kenny (15:43):
yeah.
Starr (15:44):
What does that matter?
Kenny (15:45):
Mm-hmm.
Hey, you're getting your moneyback.
Starr (15:47):
Like, what does that matter?
And it's not even, I don't wannalook at it as like a money
thing, but I mean, when you'retalking about business and
corporations, you gotta.
Think that way.
Mm-hmm.
Even though I hate that, but theROI of capitalism.
Yeah.
It is stupid, but yeah.
Understood.
Understood.
I hate to say that, but it's sostupid.
You should, you should want tojust do it outta your heart.
(16:09):
I wanna be inclusive, right?
Mm-hmm.
So,
Kenny (16:12):
yeah.
So, all right.
So say for.
'cause again, you're schoolingme on these topics for like
prerecorded medis like movietheaters.
Mm-hmm.
Prerecorded, you know, shows,podcasts, for example.
I don't know exactly how Appleor Spotify are supporting this
(16:41):
community.
Right.
I do.
All right.
So that's where my thinking is,where it's like, now that we
have this, and my question Iguess is now we have the
technology and the technologycompanies putting like layers on
this stuff.
Does the, do you feel likethey're able to close the gap a
little bit or they're still,they should, the owners be on me
(17:01):
as the creator,
Starr (17:02):
so I most definitely think it should be on the
creator still because I meanthese, these larger companies,
they have the ability to do it,but as.
As I look at smaller business,I, I most definitely have to put
the responsibility on thecreator to make, to make it more
accessible.
I'm gonna give you an example ofsomething that I just discovered
(17:25):
that I'm super excited to seebecause now as I am coaching
others or consulting others, I'mable to show them like, this is
what this company is doing.
And you can do the same exactthing in your business.
So Apple, you know, they have.
Fitness Plus.
Mm-hmm.
I think is what it's called.
(17:45):
All of their, fitnessinstructors no sign language.
Kenny (17:51):
Mm.
They have
Starr (17:52):
taken the time for them to study sound language, and at
the beginning of each segmentthey're signing.
Kenny (17:59):
Mm.
Starr (18:01):
And it is so powerful.
When I saw that, I was like,shut up.
If they're doing it, everybodyelse needs to be doing this.
Come on.
Like that was a movement for mewhen I saw that immediately.
I was like, I would never leaveApple.
I would never leave Apple.
(18:21):
I'm a Apple user, but I wouldnever leave them now because I
know that they supportinclusion.
Kenny (18:26):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (18:27):
I know their support and we're
Kenny (18:29):
seeing some of their actions.
Right.
And the, the meeting where theyare standing on business a
little bit.
Starr (18:34):
Right.
And so my thing is we havesmaller businesses that can do
the same
Kenny (18:38):
thing.
Mm.
Starr (18:39):
You're a yoga instructor.
Okay, fine.
You may not be able to sign, butjust put in a clip of someone
signing for you.
Right.
Kenny (18:49):
Okay.
Yeah.
Starr (18:50):
You can outsource an interpreter to interpret your
stuff.
Kenny (18:54):
Got it.
Starr (18:55):
And just incorporate them into your videos.
Kenny (18:57):
Got it.
Okay.
Starr (18:58):
Or you do a side by side shot.
Whatever works for yourbranding.
Mm-hmm.
It is easy for you to do.
The resources out there, or youcan just call me and I help you.
Kenny (19:07):
The way that you're explaining it too, it like the
asshole example is a really goodone because it almost comes
across like if you do this, itfeels a little bit more like a,
like whatever you're offering islike a premi product.
'cause you're doing that extra,
Starr (19:24):
you stand out, you stand out from the rest.
And that's my, that's what Ilike to show people.
I'm like.
If you can just stand out injust this one little aspect, do
you know the amount of peoplethat you're gonna reach that are
untapped
Kenny (19:39):
a ton?
Starr (19:40):
You know what I mean?
Like you're reaching a wholeuntapped market and I hate to
like make it like it's just amoney game, but you are truly
making an impact in thatcommunity by what you're doing.
So if you're a wellness coach
Kenny (19:54):
mm-hmm.
Starr (19:55):
You're making an impact in wellness.
If you are a businessconsultant.
You are making an impact insomebody else's life that needs
to start their business thatmaybe is deaf.
Mm-hmm.
You're making an impact, but youare gonna have to do what you
have to do to stand out for thatcommunity.
Yeah.
You can't just expect them tocome and you're not doing
(20:16):
anything to show that you're atleast trying to include them.
Right.
Your marketing has to reflectthat.
Kenny (20:21):
Yeah.
It's gotta cross the board.
Starr (20:23):
Yeah.
Kenny (20:25):
So.
In this business model thatyou're in, even though, like you
said, you started it from anonprofit perspective, there's a
really big focus on like B2B,right?
Yeah.
Like corporations, companies,small business owners, these
type of of businesses excite me,right?
I know we've talked about it alittle bit.
Yeah.
because there's just, there'stons of value to unlock, right?
(20:49):
Like if you think about, likeyou mentioned, the Apple, or
even like a small local businesshere in Gastonia.
You know, a lot of times they'regonna have, you know, a hundred,
200, 300 plus cu, they're gonnahave a lot of customers.
And, and so it's easier, noteasier, but I think they
understand that you have tospend money to make money a lot
(21:11):
of times in the, in the, in theB2B space.
and so when you come with thatvalue, that aligns with
unlocking.
You know, spend from theircustomers.
Like you said, it is just sucha, it is like a, it is a
marriage where everybody feelsgood.
Yeah.
Even though it's like, Hey,there's money involved.
It could, it may feel sleazy tosome people, right.
(21:31):
Doing stuff for money, but Ijust think there's so much power
in, in like B2B and then likeyou're, you're drilling down.
So like this is something whereI've gotta imagine like.
You're the first person I evermet who was focusing on this.
Like there's probably few andfar between the people that have
businesses that do what you do.
Starr (21:52):
Yeah, it is.
There's not a lot.
I've done my research andstudies on who my competitors
are and it doesn't worry me.
Mm-hmm.
Because we're, even if there isa competitor out there, kudos to
you.
Let me pound you up.
Let's go out here and make thisimpact together.
Kenny (22:08):
Got it.
Starr (22:09):
Because that's how I feel about it.
Kenny (22:11):
So when a business comes to you or they have an inquiry,
or they listen to some of yourcontent and then they start
going through the process, likewhat does it look like for them
to come in from day one and thenthey, you know, the final day
where they, they have thatproduct that they can add into
what they're already doing thatserves this community?
Starr (22:33):
So typically I do a one, I do a discovery call.
It is, it's important for me todo a discovery call because I'm
very picky on who I take on.
Kenny (22:44):
Mm.
Starr (22:45):
Very picky on who I take on.
Just because don't see the deafcommunity as a nber.
Sorry, but not, sorry.
I don't want the deaf communityto feel like a check box.
Everyone knows that we have thiswhole DEI issue going on.
(23:05):
Good.
Good, because it shouldn't be acheckbox.
It should be what's in here.
Kenny (23:11):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (23:12):
You should want to be a leader that wants to be
inclusive.
Right.
So I want leaders who want to beinclusive and who wants to go
get this community inside.
Either the workplace or havethem as a customer is gonna
treat them like they're justlike anybody else.
(23:32):
That's what I want.
So if you don't fit thatcriteria, I really don't wanna
work with you.
Mm-hmm.
It's not about the money for me,it's about the impact that
you're gonna make.
Hands down.
I, I just, I can't, but knowingthat my mother is out there, I
just can't have a company seeingher as a nber.
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (23:51):
Or as a
Starr (23:51):
checkbox.
I'm sorry, I just can't.
So I have a discovery call.
I see if you are a great fit forme, for the company, for us to
go through.
And we take you step by step.
We analyze, so we do what wecall a audit.
We audit your either yourbuilding, because first things
first.
If you have employees, I need tomake sure that your building is
(24:15):
safe for them to work in.
If a fire was to break out, doyou have places that they can.
Not because you can'tnecessarily hear it unless
they're hard of hearing, but isthere lights flashing that they
understand, oh, it's anemergency going on.
Have you trained up your staffto know how to deal with a deaf
person, an emergency situation,or just communication?
(24:38):
what type of policies do youhave in place?
Like I go through all of that.
Once I assess that, once I seewhat you're missing, I give you
that game plan.
These are the things that youneed to implement training wise.
I'm gonna come in and I'm gonnatrain your staff.
You let me know how many staffyou have.
(24:58):
I tell you how many workshops wecan do to break it up where it's
fitting for you right fromthere, after everything has been
implemented, after everybody hasbeen trained, after you have
went through our entire process,we then present you with your
officially death friendlybusiness, and we're gonna make
it a big deal, right?
(25:19):
Then from there you get theplaque.
The plaque lasts for about threeyears just because they're, we
gotta reevaluate to make sure,like new policies don't need to
be implemented.
Kenny (25:28):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (25:29):
Everybody has new staff that comes on.
We need to train up your newstaff.
Right.
So it's just a rolling cycle ofus just coming in just to make
sure that you check the boxes inyour business to make sure that
you're death friendly.
We have to make sure that youare a good fit to work with us.
Kenny (25:46):
Hmm.
That's powerful.
Yeah.
Being able to like, make sure,like I, I, I, I, I see the value
in.
Like, it's almost like whenpeople say, like, you go to a
job interview.
Yeah.
And it's like, well, both sidesare technically being
interviewed.
Right.
And it's like, people forgetthat sometimes.
Yeah.
It's like, all right, I, I getit.
(26:07):
Like, I'm here'cause I need acheck maybe or whatever.
Like, I need a job.
But then on the flip side ofthat, there's like, all right,
is this a place where I can.
I feel like I can add value andit checks it.
It does what I needed to do aswell.
Like right, we, we often forgetabout that.
Starr (26:22):
And I do wanna clear something up too, because I
wanna make sure that mymessaging is clear on this.
So even though I have neededsilent hands, that is
technically my give back.
My baby.
The consultant side of me istotally different from the
nonprofit.
Kenny (26:38):
Mm.
Starr (26:39):
Totally different from the nonprofit, my nonprofit.
Allows me to give back, doawareness events like the golf
tournament that we have comingup.
Mm-hmm.
Like that allows me to do thosetype of events that allows me to
really bring people in and justreally educate them about the
deaf community.
But my consulting piece, that'sa whole different ball game and
(27:00):
that's a whole nother side ofthe, a whole nother side of me
that I'm ready to really go intoand really go to that B2B.
Kenny (27:08):
All makes sense
Starr (27:09):
area.
And I think it's a,
Kenny (27:11):
it's a natural progression.
Starr (27:12):
Yeah.
Kenny (27:13):
Like from what you were doing.
Like needless hands is likesomething that's near and dear
to you.
And then you say, oh, there's aneed for this for like
businesses.
Why don't I do the consultingpiece as well?
And then that feeds what you,what you, exactly what you were
wanting to do anyway.
Exactly.
Rather would need his hand.
So like that.
That makes perfect sense to me.
And I appreciate you kind ofspecifying that as well because.
(27:39):
It's not often that we hearabout somebody focusing in our
community specifically, focusingon a non, like a, a nonprofit.
And then there's like, peopleare like, well, why do you just
have like a nonprofit?
Like, what are you doing?
It's like, no.
Like there's ways you can giveback and I feel like you.
You've leveraged this nonprofitto give back in the way that you
(28:00):
want, but you still havevaluable skills that businesses
are out here wanting to tapinto.
Starr (28:06):
Right.
Kenny (28:07):
It makes sense to me.
I love, I love hearing that.
Yeah.
I love hearing that.
Starr (28:11):
Appreciate it.
And
Kenny (28:11):
we don't, we don't often hear like both sides of that.
We just hear somebody as soon asin, in certain environments.
I know you can speak to this.
When somebody says nonprofit,people immediately like, turn
off.
'cause they're like, oh, that'ssomething else.
Starr (28:24):
Yeah.
Kenny (28:25):
In itself.
And it's like, no, not really.
Yeah.
Like there's a way youincorporate it into who you are,
Starr (28:30):
right.
Kenny (28:30):
And all the other things you do.
Starr (28:32):
Right.
Kenny (28:32):
And that's where it becomes cool.
Like that's what people need tohear a little bit more about
that.
Yeah.
So I, I like that distinction.
So what are, like you mentionedthe golf tournament.
I was gonna say like, what'snext and, and where do you plan
on building?
You wanna talk a little bitabout.
Coming up.
Yeah.
So I'm excited to be a part ofthat.
Starr (28:50):
Yes, shout out to you.
Shout out to you.
Now, the golf tournament, thisis near and dear to me because
it's going to really help uswith the next project that Nida,
Allen hence has coming up.
So we're doing a golf tournamentto raise funds for what we call
the deaf culture experience.
The deaf culture experience isgonna allow me to get five
(29:13):
families that are either deaf orhard of hearing.
Their families around them andfriends that are surrounded by
them.
We are actually gonna do adocentary on each family.
Mm-hmm.
To share their story.
For me, I can tell someone'sstory all day long.
I'm only one person.
Also, I can't tell someoneelse's story.
(29:33):
Like they can tell that story,
Kenny (29:35):
not at all.
Starr (29:36):
And so for you to feel it and see it.
Not only hear it, and we're alsotrying, we're trying to make it
like a simulation thing too,because everyone has different
levels of hearing loss.
So each episode is gonna betotally different in what you
hear and see.
Right.
(29:56):
so we're gonna do that and we'regonna take it and our first
platform is actually gonna putit up on scribe tv.
Oh, that's dope.
Once we get it on scribe tv,we're gonna take it to the next
level and see how far we can getit with Netflix.
So it's a big project.
Never thought in a million yearsthat I'll be putting on a TV
series, but.
(30:17):
That's the impact that NitaSilent Hands is looking to make.
Kenny (30:19):
Right.
That's awesome.
I think about like, as you wereexplaining it, I was like, oh,
like four D, like four D movies.
Mm-hmm.
But then that's taking it to alevel where like, imagine if you
could just have a glimpse intowhat somebody's life is like.
Like, right.
You can, like, you can notbreathe the, but you can have
all the senses kind of like inthat, in that mode.
(30:41):
Like that would be,
Starr (30:41):
yep.
That would be insane.
We are striving to make this thebiggest production that we, that
you would probably ever see whenit comes to the deaf community.
But the other aspect to it thatI'm proud of is we're not just
putting on this TV series justto have a TV series.
(31:03):
We're also wanting to inspiredeaf students.
That if you are wanting to go inthis realm or wanting to become
a filmmaker or a producer orwhatever the case may be, you
can do it.
Mm-hmm.
And so we're creating a programthat they're gonna go through at
the end of their project.
They're gonna be able to take,their skills and what they
(31:24):
learned and actually, produceone episode per season.
So they'll be responsible for atleast one of those episodes that
they will actually produce.
Kenny (31:33):
Mm.
Starr (31:33):
They will do the interviewing.
They will work on scouting anddoing all the shots and stuff
that I know nothing about, butI.
We have a production companythat will work closely Exactly.
To make sure that they geteverything done.
So I'm excited about that.
We are partnering with, Noah andNoel Productions to do the
(31:56):
workshop side for the students.
And then we're also product,partnering with round seven
production as well.
Kenny (32:01):
Yeah, I like it.
And those are, for those thatare listening in, those are
incredible.
Local companies, right.
That are doing some incrediblework, work, really just
nationally, right?
Not just in the local, the, thelocal sphere.
But it's exciting to see thattype of partnership.
And I know it'll, it'll beamazing.
Like, just the way you'reexplaining it is like, I got my
(32:23):
popcorn ready, Netflix.
Shout out to Netflix.
Let's get the deal done.
Starr (32:29):
Yes.
say it again so they can get
Kenny (32:31):
Netflix.
Let's get the deal done.
I got that.
Please get, get that deal done.
I like saying I'm okay withsaying those types of things.
this is, I mean, you sharedquite a bit, on your story, what
you're building now.
you're a real advocate for yourthis community.
And it's gonna be exciting tosee, like you said, there's some
(32:53):
opportunities, in the space oflike DEI that is such a hot
topic right now.
It will probably be a hot topicfor the next, I don't know how
many years or so, or it's gonnabe,
Starr (33:06):
it's gonna be
Kenny (33:07):
a while.
Oh, wow.
So I'm excited to have somebodylike you on the case and, and
like representing and, and doingsome amazing work there.
how do we want to close this?
Let's let, how can folks tapinto what's the best way for our
listeners to tap into whatyou're doing?
Starr (33:29):
Yeah, so one way that you can do it is you can always
follow a me on my social mediapage.
Every page and platform isalways gonna be at signing
Starr.
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.
Threads, whatever is all outthere.
LinkedIn.
Kenny (33:45):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (33:45):
Signing Starr.
If you just look that up, you'realways gonna find me.
But you're gonna always find meat my website as well.
www.signingstar.com.
I promise you.
Just search signing Starr.
You're gonna find me somewhere.
Kenny (33:57):
Right?
Okay.
Starr (33:58):
That is the name that I go by.
That's an
Kenny (34:00):
incredible name.
Nobody's.
Gonna not be able to find you.
Starr (34:04):
Yeah, you can find me by that name.
and just get connected.
It is gonna lead you to thenonprofit, it's gonna lead you
to, you know, the consultingside of things that I do.
Even if they're wanting to bookme as a speaker, I'm going into
the speaking realm as well.
So it's so many things that youcan see on that page and what
I'm doing, and just kind of staytuned.
Kenny (34:26):
Love, I love, there's many things.
I lastly, I'll pass it to you.
I want, we always have ourguests, close us out.
Like, what's that last thoughtyou want our viewers to take
away from this conversation?
Starr (34:39):
I want the viewers to take away this.
Don't let fear stop you becauseFear One faith enables
actionable resilience.
I go by that, I stand on that.
So don't let fear stop you.
Walk in it.
It's okay to be scared.
It's okay to feel like you'renot ready, but that's the moment
(35:03):
that you should be doing whatyou're doing.
So just go for it.
Just go for it.
I didn't trust me.
If I can do it, you can do it.
So
Kenny (35:10):
just go for it.
Appreciate it.
Way to close it out.
for our listeners, thanks fortuning into another great
episode of The Beyond NormalPodcast.
Peace.
Hey, What's going on?
Good people.
This is your host of the BeyondNormal podcast, Kenny Groom.
I have a very special guest withus today.
incredible founder.
as many of you have beenfollowing my journey, I recently
moved, to Gastonia, NorthCarolina.
And so the, the startup, foundercommunity here has really been
(00:59):
embracing, me here as the, asone of the.
The, the lone podcasters that,that's quickly changing, in the,
the coworking space that we'rein.
but I met this incrediblefounder by the name of Starr
Clinton.
She is the founder of Nita'sHands.
I'm gonna give you all just aquick breakdown because, she
does a lot with this incredibleorganization, but she's
(01:21):
committed to, transforming ourworld by mending the gap between
the hearing and deaf community.
And so this is often aoverlooked, segment of the
population.
So I'm, I'm.
Pleased to have somebody such asStarr, putting the time and,
energy and the effort intobuilding out this org for that,
for that, that communityspecifically.
(01:43):
How are you doing today, Starr?
Starr (01:44):
I'm good.
Busy head spinning, but I'mhere.
Kenny (01:49):
Mm-hmm.
And.
Starr (01:51):
Keep going.
Yep.
Yeah.
So
Kenny (01:52):
all you can do as a founder, I, I wanna dig right
into things, and let folks knowjust a little bit about your
story.
Tell us a little bit about whatyou were doing start before
starting Nita's Hands, becauseyou were doing some incredible
work.
Yeah.
Starr (02:05):
So I started into the school system.
School system, had me in astechnically a teacher assistant,
but hired me to be theinterpreter for deaf students.
And so.
In that I found myselfadvocating for the students.
and the reason why I ended uphaving to advocate for the
(02:25):
students'cause they wanted me todo other things that technically
my role said I should be doing.
But I was hired for thisparticular
Kenny (02:36):
assignment,
Starr (02:37):
and that was talked about, you know, this is what
you should be doing.
This comes first before anythingelse.
And so in that, once my bosskind of left the scene and I'm
under somebody else'ssupervision, you know they
tried.
Mm-hmm.
And I was like, no, we have to.
(02:58):
I have to be here with thestudent.
I cannot just leave the studentin the classroom by themselves
and they don't have anyone inhere.
You're interpreting for them,you know?
So.
You go against the grain, theystart treating you different.
You know how that goes in thatworld.
But I really didn't care mm-hmm.
At that point.
but that led me to having thisvision of starting a class, a
(03:20):
solid witch class, and actuallystepping out on faith.
And what I end up doing is likeasking individuals like how they
felt about me doing this andseeking that validation.
I really wanted someone to talkme out of it.
That didn't happen.
Kenny (03:37):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (03:39):
That didn't happen, so I had no excuse.
I had to just do it because Ihad already been talking about
it and I'm like, oh my, what didI do?
And I ended up quitting my job,
Kenny (03:49):
cold Turkey all the way off the cliff,
Starr (03:51):
cold Turkey.
I do not recommend that you justdo that.
But that was my story.
That's what I needed to do.
and I end up having a packed outclass.
The first class that I end upoffering, it was about 40 or 50
people there, and I ran with it,you know, great feedback.
And not long after doing myclasses though, COVID hit.
(04:15):
So it made me really have tothink about how I was gonna
pivot this thing.
But that's really when the ideastarted to come about, like.
It's more than just teachingsign language.
The deaf community needsresources as well.
Mm-hmm.
How are you gonna do that?
How are you gonna make animpact?
What can you do in honor of yourmom?
Mm-hmm.
And yeah, bunch of thoughts andideas started happening.
(04:39):
I'm like, okay, I'm gettingoverwhelmed.
I don't know how I'm gonna dothis.
I don't know how this littletimid.
Little girl is gonna make thisbig impact.
That's how I felt.
but the, all I did was continueto talk to people every day,
asking questions.
(05:00):
And the idea of starting anonprofit came about and I was
like, I think I can do that.
But I, I tell people now, if youcan start a nonprofit, you can
start a business.
'cause the Lord knows
Kenny (05:13):
mm-hmm.
Starr (05:15):
A nonprofit world.
And just a regular business.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think I got your beat.
Kenny (05:23):
Definitely a, definitely a jungle.
I can imagine.
I got, I can imagine, I'm sorry.
Survival of the fittest,survival of the fit
Starr (05:28):
line.
It's
Kenny (05:29):
true.
It's
Starr (05:29):
non-profit world is not for the week.
Kenny (05:33):
Mm-hmm.
It's not.
So let's, let's dive, let's divea little bit.
I appreciate you kicking thingsoff there.
You said a lot in those in, in,you know, describing your story.
First of all, you had people whowere like pushing you off the
cliff.
I think there's, that's, that'snot the story we hear about all
(05:53):
the time, whereas people arelike, you know, like, Hey, you
need to have a nine to five.
Like, that's the language thatwe usually hear about from, from
founders.
And so I'm curious, like whenthese people were like kind of
pushing you off that cliff,like.
Is there something they wereseeing?
Like how passionate were youtalking about this?
(06:16):
Because I have to imagine youmust have been to the point
where you were talking about itso much they were like, you need
to do this.
Starr (06:22):
I don't even know if it was really me talking about it,
to be honest with you.
I really think it was just myactions.
Mm-hmm.
because I didn't say much.
I really didn't.
I just spoke up.
For them.
Okay.
And I really believe that myadvocacy and me just doing what
I have always done my whole,entire life.
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (06:42):
Even
Starr (06:42):
with my mom, like as I reflect, I realized that I was
advocating for my mom, even as achild going in and out, you
know, like my cousin andeverybody playing outside.
But I get called in and I needto interpret for my mom at
family gatherings and thingslike that.
So I was already an advocate anddidn't even realize that's what
(07:02):
I was doing.
I was bridging that world at ayoung age.
Kenny (07:05):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (07:06):
So I've been doing it all my life.
It just became second nature.
And so I believe that the workthat I was putting in and I
showed up daily, I didn't justkind of show up and just do.
What you would say a half assjob.
Kenny (07:20):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (07:20):
I didn't just not what I did.
You put
Kenny (07:23):
your all into it.
Starr (07:23):
So I really believe just the work and the work ethic that
I had, and they saw that, youknow, I truly cared for my
students.
I think that that spoke volesversus me really just saying a
lot.
Mm-hmm.
and I, I mean, honestly, just torandomly come out and just say,
I think I wanna start teaching,I think it was just like.
(07:47):
Think you should.
Mm-hmm.
Or it was just me saying it justclicked for someone.
It was just like, no, I thinkthat's, that's a true calling
for real.
Kenny (07:57):
Mm-hmm.
So
Starr (07:58):
it one or two, something happened.
Got
Kenny (08:00):
it.
Yeah.
Something happened there.
Starr (08:02):
Something happened there.
Kenny (08:03):
Got it.
And so you, you said, I'm goingback to what you said earlier as
well, where you said you had.
You had some people that toldyou yes, you did it.
And then you had that earlyvalidation, right?
Where 50 people signed up forthat first class.
Starr (08:16):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (08:17):
Now, COVID hits, like what type of, traction are we
talking about when Covid
Starr (08:24):
hits?
when Covid hit, it was acomplete halt.
Complete.
Like, I was like, why did I dothis?
Mm-hmm.
Why did I even think that thiswas even possible?
Like, I started doubting myself.
I literally had to stopeverything and I had just like
when I say just received mynonprofit status and everything
(08:45):
in the mail, like right inJanuary, I'm planning out like
we're about to do book bagdrive, we're about to do all
this other type of stuff.
Mm-hmm.
Get all that stoppedimmediately.
So that was a pivoting momentfor me.
But I will say that there was a.
(09:07):
A small fire in me thatunderstood like, wait, you can't
quit like you started this.
You can't just quit on it justbecause, you know, life happens.
You know?
'cause that's gonna happenthroughout life anyway.
It is gonna happen throughout mybusiness life.
Things are gonna happen andyou're gonna have to pivot no
matter what.
Kenny (09:25):
Mm-hmm.
So,
Starr (09:28):
as I think about this, and I, I wanna really kind of
put emphasis on like, I'mstarting to create a.
Write a book is talking aboutwalk in fear, because it's
literally my ha.
That has been my life.
I've been fearful to do things,but I didn't let it stop me.
Mm-hmm.
So that's kind of how I feltCovid did for me.
(09:49):
I was fearful of what was aboutto happen, but I had to have
faith that I was gonna be allright.
So it was a mindset thing.
Got it.
Strong mindset
Kenny (10:00):
thing.
Yeah.
Strong.
So with that, right, you havethis pause during the pandemic,
I would asse that during thepandemic there would be a, a
need for these types ofservices, even more so.
So I'm, I'm curious like.
(10:20):
What was the cause of that?
Because we all moved to adigital first experience and so
I would asse there needs to besome, like, there needs to be
even more focus on making sureeverybody can communicate in
these settings.
Starr (10:34):
I'm gonna tell you the thing that we came up against
that really bugged me is we allhad to wear masks.
Kenny (10:39):
Oh,
Starr (10:41):
we all had to wear mask around that time.
And I don't know if you noticedthere was.
The clear mask started to comeout because there was a big talk
about like, the deaf communityneeds to see your lips to move
got, so how are you going tocommunicate effectively to them
if you can't, even if they can'teven see your lips moving?
Kenny (11:01):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (11:02):
And so that was something that needed to be advocated for.
So I started, you know, reallytalking about that.
I started reaching out tocertain companies like, Hey,
have you thought about having.
Clear mask.
You know, we end up getting, asponsorship from a company that
gave us clear mask and we juststarted distributor'em out.
Mm.
(11:22):
Just because it was like, youneed to at least have your staff
doing these and having these on.
Kenny (11:27):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (11:29):
On, you know, at least on hand.
You can wear your regular maskif you're dealing with a deaf
person, at least have a clearmask on so they can see your
face.
So, I mean, there was littlethings that we were able to do
and contribute and to be ableto.
Partner and backup up otherinitiatives out there, which
gave me hope because I foundanother avenue that I could help
(11:50):
at
Kenny (11:50):
least.
Yeah, exactly.
And that's, that's still like,that's going towards your target
audience, making sure that thesebusinesses understand like you
have people within thiscommunity.
Yep.
and I think people.
Like, you even schooled me.
Like when we were just initiallytalking, we initially met about
just how vast this, thispopulation hit is even like here
(12:12):
in the States, right?
Yeah.
Like you're talking aboutmillions and millions of people.
I'm curious, like now we're at apoint now where I see, like, I
go, you know, we turn on the,the Grammys, or we turn, we go
like, I think the, the popularvideo is like Waka Flocka.
(12:33):
Yes.
You seen that, right?
Yes.
Where it's like even the artistsnow understand, like there's
people who wanna like, you know,engage, entertain, spend dollars
in the community.
Right.
Let me go ahead and like makesure like, you know, they can,
they can follow along.
Yeah.
Which I think is cool.
I'm curious like what yourthoughts are around the progress
(12:53):
that's been made since that,that shutdown in the pandemic
where we're at and then like,you know, where, where you see
there's still being someopportunities.
Starr (13:03):
There's a lot of opportunities out here.
there's been progress made.
I just don't think that there'sbeen big progress.
Being married right now.
and I can only speak when I, Ican look at things at a bigger
picture like what our presidentor what our government is doing,
right?
(13:23):
They're, they always have theinterpreters up there on the
screen.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and I'm grateful forthat.
But then when you look at what,we just had the Super Bowl, you
get a ten second clip of aninterpreter and then it goes
away.
They have to tune into a wholenother station just to even.
Have an interpreter present.
(13:44):
And that's not even necessarilywhat they're offering, it's
somebody else is offering it.
Okay.
Right.
So I think about those thingsand just not to shun like the
NFL or anything like that, butit's just like, I know other
countries and languages do havean interpreter on most of their
TV series.
Kenny (14:04):
Mm.
You
Starr (14:04):
know, so we can adopt that same thing.
We just not taking the time todo it.
Gotcha.
We're not being proactive.
Kenny (14:11):
We're
Starr (14:11):
kind of being reactive, which is not the way to be
inclusive,
Kenny (14:14):
right?
Mm-hmm.
Starr (14:16):
but if we wanna talk about, like locally, let's think
about we have what?
Concerts?
We have government meetings
Kenny (14:26):
mm-hmm.
Starr (14:28):
That are televise.
Kenny (14:31):
Yeah, for sure.
Starr (14:32):
Where's the interpreter?
Kenny (14:33):
Yeah.
Where's the interpreter at?
Wow.
Starr (14:36):
You, you want, you want them to be a part, but you're
not advertising that.
You're gonna allow it to beaccessible for them.
You are waiting for them to justshow up and say, I need an
interpreter.
That's not how it should be.
You want everybody to feelincluded.
You got to be proactive.
Hey, we want you out here.
We're gonna have an interpreter.
(14:56):
I'll give you a prime example.
I'm in, shout out to the colorpurple.
I am in the color purple.
That's coming up.
Kenny (15:04):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (15:05):
And all I did was just say, Hey, can we have a day that
the deaf community come out andsee the show?
Lemme get some interpreterslined up for you.
They interpret the whole entireshow.
Oh, that's all it takes.
Mm.
Now you can advertise, Hey,we're gonna have interpreters on
this day.
We would love to have our deafcommunity come out and be a
part.
Kenny (15:25):
Okay.
Starr (15:26):
That's all it takes.
That's all it takes.
Small changes.
Yeah.
It doesn't, and I understand,you know, a lot of times people
look at it like, oh my gosh, theinterpreter's gonna cost so
much, and we gotta add that intoour budget.
Okay.
But if they're coming and buyingtickets,
Kenny (15:43):
yeah.
Starr (15:44):
What does that matter?
Kenny (15:45):
Mm-hmm.
Hey, you're getting your moneyback.
Starr (15:47):
Like, what does that matter?
And it's not even, I don't wannalook at it as like a money
thing, but I mean, when you'retalking about business and
corporations, you gotta.
Think that way.
Mm-hmm.
Even though I hate that, but theROI of capitalism.
Yeah.
It is stupid, but yeah.
Understood.
Understood.
I hate to say that, but it's sostupid.
You should, you should want tojust do it outta your heart.
(16:09):
I wanna be inclusive, right?
Mm-hmm.
So,
Kenny (16:12):
yeah.
So, all right.
So say for.
'cause again, you're schoolingme on these topics for like
prerecorded medis like movietheaters.
Mm-hmm.
Prerecorded, you know, shows,podcasts, for example.
I don't know exactly how Appleor Spotify are supporting this
(16:41):
community.
Right.
I do.
All right.
So that's where my thinking is,where it's like, now that we
have this, and my question Iguess is now we have the
technology and the technologycompanies putting like layers on
this stuff.
Does the, do you feel likethey're able to close the gap a
little bit or they're still,they should, the owners be on me
(17:01):
as the creator,
Starr (17:02):
so I most definitely think it should be on the
creator still because I meanthese, these larger companies,
they have the ability to do it,but as.
As I look at smaller business,I, I most definitely have to put
the responsibility on thecreator to make, to make it more
accessible.
I'm gonna give you an example ofsomething that I just discovered
(17:25):
that I'm super excited to seebecause now as I am coaching
others or consulting others, I'mable to show them like, this is
what this company is doing.
And you can do the same exactthing in your business.
So Apple, you know, they have.
Fitness Plus.
Mm-hmm.
I think is what it's called.
(17:45):
All of their, fitnessinstructors no sign language.
Kenny (17:51):
Mm.
They have
Starr (17:52):
taken the time for them to study sound language, and at
the beginning of each segmentthey're signing.
Kenny (17:59):
Mm.
Starr (18:01):
And it is so powerful.
When I saw that, I was like,shut up.
If they're doing it, everybodyelse needs to be doing this.
Come on.
Like that was a movement for mewhen I saw that immediately.
I was like, I would never leaveApple.
I would never leave Apple.
(18:21):
I'm a Apple user, but I wouldnever leave them now because I
know that they supportinclusion.
Kenny (18:26):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (18:27):
I know their support and we're
Kenny (18:29):
seeing some of their actions.
Right.
And the, the meeting where theyare standing on business a
little bit.
Starr (18:34):
Right.
And so my thing is we havesmaller businesses that can do
the same
Kenny (18:38):
thing.
Mm.
Starr (18:39):
You're a yoga instructor.
Okay, fine.
You may not be able to sign, butjust put in a clip of someone
signing for you.
Right.
Kenny (18:49):
Okay.
Yeah.
Starr (18:50):
You can outsource an interpreter to interpret your
stuff.
Kenny (18:54):
Got it.
Starr (18:55):
And just incorporate them into your videos.
Kenny (18:57):
Got it.
Okay.
Starr (18:58):
Or you do a side by side shot.
Whatever works for yourbranding.
Mm-hmm.
It is easy for you to do.
The resources out there, or youcan just call me and I help you.
Kenny (19:07):
The way that you're explaining it too, it like the
asshole example is a really goodone because it almost comes
across like if you do this, itfeels a little bit more like a,
like whatever you're offering islike a premi product.
'cause you're doing that extra,
Starr (19:24):
you stand out, you stand out from the rest.
And that's my, that's what Ilike to show people.
I'm like.
If you can just stand out injust this one little aspect, do
you know the amount of peoplethat you're gonna reach that are
untapped
Kenny (19:39):
a ton?
Starr (19:40):
You know what I mean?
Like you're reaching a wholeuntapped market and I hate to
like make it like it's just amoney game, but you are truly
making an impact in thatcommunity by what you're doing.
So if you're a wellness coach
Kenny (19:54):
mm-hmm.
Starr (19:55):
You're making an impact in wellness.
If you are a businessconsultant.
You are making an impact insomebody else's life that needs
to start their business thatmaybe is deaf.
Mm-hmm.
You're making an impact, but youare gonna have to do what you
have to do to stand out for thatcommunity.
Yeah.
You can't just expect them tocome and you're not doing
(20:16):
anything to show that you're atleast trying to include them.
Right.
Your marketing has to reflectthat.
Kenny (20:21):
Yeah.
It's gotta cross the board.
Starr (20:23):
Yeah.
Kenny (20:25):
So.
In this business model thatyou're in, even though, like you
said, you started it from anonprofit perspective, there's a
really big focus on like B2B,right?
Yeah.
Like corporations, companies,small business owners, these
type of of businesses excite me,right?
I know we've talked about it alittle bit.
Yeah.
because there's just, there'stons of value to unlock, right?
(20:49):
Like if you think about, likeyou mentioned, the Apple, or
even like a small local businesshere in Gastonia.
You know, a lot of times they'regonna have, you know, a hundred,
200, 300 plus cu, they're gonnahave a lot of customers.
And, and so it's easier, noteasier, but I think they
understand that you have tospend money to make money a lot
(21:11):
of times in the, in the, in theB2B space.
and so when you come with thatvalue, that aligns with
unlocking.
You know, spend from theircustomers.
Like you said, it is just sucha, it is like a, it is a
marriage where everybody feelsgood.
Yeah.
Even though it's like, Hey,there's money involved.
It could, it may feel sleazy tosome people, right.
(21:31):
Doing stuff for money, but Ijust think there's so much power
in, in like B2B and then likeyou're, you're drilling down.
So like this is something whereI've gotta imagine like.
You're the first person I evermet who was focusing on this.
Like there's probably few andfar between the people that have
businesses that do what you do.
Starr (21:52):
Yeah, it is.
There's not a lot.
I've done my research andstudies on who my competitors
are and it doesn't worry me.
Mm-hmm.
Because we're, even if there isa competitor out there, kudos to
you.
Let me pound you up.
Let's go out here and make thisimpact together.
Kenny (22:08):
Got it.
Starr (22:09):
Because that's how I feel about it.
Kenny (22:11):
So when a business comes to you or they have an inquiry,
or they listen to some of yourcontent and then they start
going through the process, likewhat does it look like for them
to come in from day one and thenthey, you know, the final day
where they, they have thatproduct that they can add into
what they're already doing thatserves this community?
Starr (22:33):
So typically I do a one, I do a discovery call.
It is, it's important for me todo a discovery call because I'm
very picky on who I take on.
Kenny (22:44):
Mm.
Starr (22:45):
Very picky on who I take on.
Just because don't see the deafcommunity as a nber.
Sorry, but not, sorry.
I don't want the deaf communityto feel like a check box.
Everyone knows that we have thiswhole DEI issue going on.
(23:05):
Good.
Good, because it shouldn't be acheckbox.
It should be what's in here.
Kenny (23:11):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (23:12):
You should want to be a leader that wants to be
inclusive.
Right.
So I want leaders who want to beinclusive and who wants to go
get this community inside.
Either the workplace or havethem as a customer is gonna
treat them like they're justlike anybody else.
(23:32):
That's what I want.
So if you don't fit thatcriteria, I really don't wanna
work with you.
Mm-hmm.
It's not about the money for me,it's about the impact that
you're gonna make.
Hands down.
I, I just, I can't, but knowingthat my mother is out there, I
just can't have a company seeingher as a nber.
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (23:51):
Or as a
Starr (23:51):
checkbox.
I'm sorry, I just can't.
So I have a discovery call.
I see if you are a great fit forme, for the company, for us to
go through.
And we take you step by step.
We analyze, so we do what wecall a audit.
We audit your either yourbuilding, because first things
first.
If you have employees, I need tomake sure that your building is
(24:15):
safe for them to work in.
If a fire was to break out, doyou have places that they can.
Not because you can'tnecessarily hear it unless
they're hard of hearing, but isthere lights flashing that they
understand, oh, it's anemergency going on.
Have you trained up your staffto know how to deal with a deaf
person, an emergency situation,or just communication?
(24:38):
what type of policies do youhave in place?
Like I go through all of that.
Once I assess that, once I seewhat you're missing, I give you
that game plan.
These are the things that youneed to implement training wise.
I'm gonna come in and I'm gonnatrain your staff.
You let me know how many staffyou have.
(24:58):
I tell you how many workshops wecan do to break it up where it's
fitting for you right fromthere, after everything has been
implemented, after everybody hasbeen trained, after you have
went through our entire process,we then present you with your
officially death friendlybusiness, and we're gonna make
it a big deal, right?
(25:19):
Then from there you get theplaque.
The plaque lasts for about threeyears just because they're, we
gotta reevaluate to make sure,like new policies don't need to
be implemented.
Kenny (25:28):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (25:29):
Everybody has new staff that comes on.
We need to train up your newstaff.
Right.
So it's just a rolling cycle ofus just coming in just to make
sure that you check the boxes inyour business to make sure that
you're death friendly.
We have to make sure that youare a good fit to work with us.
Kenny (25:46):
Hmm.
That's powerful.
Yeah.
Being able to like, make sure,like I, I, I, I, I see the value
in.
Like, it's almost like whenpeople say, like, you go to a
job interview.
Yeah.
And it's like, well, both sidesare technically being
interviewed.
Right.
And it's like, people forgetthat sometimes.
Yeah.
It's like, all right, I, I getit.
(26:07):
Like, I'm here'cause I need acheck maybe or whatever.
Like, I need a job.
But then on the flip side ofthat, there's like, all right,
is this a place where I can.
I feel like I can add value andit checks it.
It does what I needed to do aswell.
Like right, we, we often forgetabout that.
Starr (26:22):
And I do wanna clear something up too, because I
wanna make sure that mymessaging is clear on this.
So even though I have neededsilent hands, that is
technically my give back.
My baby.
The consultant side of me istotally different from the
nonprofit.
Kenny (26:38):
Mm.
Starr (26:39):
Totally different from the nonprofit, my nonprofit.
Allows me to give back, doawareness events like the golf
tournament that we have comingup.
Mm-hmm.
Like that allows me to do thosetype of events that allows me to
really bring people in and justreally educate them about the
deaf community.
But my consulting piece, that'sa whole different ball game and
(27:00):
that's a whole nother side ofthe, a whole nother side of me
that I'm ready to really go intoand really go to that B2B.
Kenny (27:08):
All makes sense
Starr (27:09):
area.
And I think it's a,
Kenny (27:11):
it's a natural progression.
Starr (27:12):
Yeah.
Kenny (27:13):
Like from what you were doing.
Like needless hands is likesomething that's near and dear
to you.
And then you say, oh, there's aneed for this for like
businesses.
Why don't I do the consultingpiece as well?
And then that feeds what you,what you, exactly what you were
wanting to do anyway.
Exactly.
Rather would need his hand.
So like that.
That makes perfect sense to me.
And I appreciate you kind ofspecifying that as well because.
(27:39):
It's not often that we hearabout somebody focusing in our
community specifically, focusingon a non, like a, a nonprofit.
And then there's like, peopleare like, well, why do you just
have like a nonprofit?
Like, what are you doing?
It's like, no.
Like there's ways you can giveback and I feel like you.
You've leveraged this nonprofitto give back in the way that you
(28:00):
want, but you still havevaluable skills that businesses
are out here wanting to tapinto.
Starr (28:06):
Right.
Kenny (28:07):
It makes sense to me.
I love, I love hearing that.
Yeah.
I love hearing that.
Starr (28:11):
Appreciate it.
And
Kenny (28:11):
we don't, we don't often hear like both sides of that.
We just hear somebody as soon asin, in certain environments.
I know you can speak to this.
When somebody says nonprofit,people immediately like, turn
off.
'cause they're like, oh, that'ssomething else.
Starr (28:24):
Yeah.
Kenny (28:25):
In itself.
And it's like, no, not really.
Yeah.
Like there's a way youincorporate it into who you are,
Starr (28:30):
right.
Kenny (28:30):
And all the other things you do.
Starr (28:32):
Right.
Kenny (28:32):
And that's where it becomes cool.
Like that's what people need tohear a little bit more about
that.
Yeah.
So I, I like that distinction.
So what are, like you mentionedthe golf tournament.
I was gonna say like, what'snext and, and where do you plan
on building?
You wanna talk a little bitabout.
Coming up.
Yeah.
So I'm excited to be a part ofthat.
Starr (28:50):
Yes, shout out to you.
Shout out to you.
Now, the golf tournament, thisis near and dear to me because
it's going to really help uswith the next project that Nida,
Allen hence has coming up.
So we're doing a golf tournamentto raise funds for what we call
the deaf culture experience.
The deaf culture experience isgonna allow me to get five
(29:13):
families that are either deaf orhard of hearing.
Their families around them andfriends that are surrounded by
them.
We are actually gonna do adocentary on each family.
Mm-hmm.
To share their story.
For me, I can tell someone'sstory all day long.
I'm only one person.
Also, I can't tell someoneelse's story.
(29:33):
Like they can tell that story,
Kenny (29:35):
not at all.
Starr (29:36):
And so for you to feel it and see it.
Not only hear it, and we're alsotrying, we're trying to make it
like a simulation thing too,because everyone has different
levels of hearing loss.
So each episode is gonna betotally different in what you
hear and see.
Right.
(29:56):
so we're gonna do that and we'regonna take it and our first
platform is actually gonna putit up on scribe tv.
Oh, that's dope.
Once we get it on scribe tv,we're gonna take it to the next
level and see how far we can getit with Netflix.
So it's a big project.
Never thought in a million yearsthat I'll be putting on a TV
series, but.
(30:17):
That's the impact that NitaSilent Hands is looking to make.
Kenny (30:19):
Right.
That's awesome.
I think about like, as you wereexplaining it, I was like, oh,
like four D, like four D movies.
Mm-hmm.
But then that's taking it to alevel where like, imagine if you
could just have a glimpse intowhat somebody's life is like.
Like, right.
You can, like, you can notbreathe the, but you can have
all the senses kind of like inthat, in that mode.
(30:41):
Like that would be,
Starr (30:41):
yep.
That would be insane.
We are striving to make this thebiggest production that we, that
you would probably ever see whenit comes to the deaf community.
But the other aspect to it thatI'm proud of is we're not just
putting on this TV series justto have a TV series.
(31:03):
We're also wanting to inspiredeaf students.
That if you are wanting to go inthis realm or wanting to become
a filmmaker or a producer orwhatever the case may be, you
can do it.
Mm-hmm.
And so we're creating a programthat they're gonna go through at
the end of their project.
They're gonna be able to take,their skills and what they
(31:24):
learned and actually, produceone episode per season.
So they'll be responsible for atleast one of those episodes that
they will actually produce.
Kenny (31:33):
Mm.
Starr (31:33):
They will do the interviewing.
They will work on scouting anddoing all the shots and stuff
that I know nothing about, butI.
We have a production companythat will work closely Exactly.
To make sure that they geteverything done.
So I'm excited about that.
We are partnering with, Noah andNoel Productions to do the
(31:56):
workshop side for the students.
And then we're also product,partnering with round seven
production as well.
Kenny (32:01):
Yeah, I like it.
And those are, for those thatare listening in, those are
incredible.
Local companies, right.
That are doing some incrediblework, work, really just
nationally, right?
Not just in the local, the, thelocal sphere.
But it's exciting to see thattype of partnership.
And I know it'll, it'll beamazing.
Like, just the way you'reexplaining it is like, I got my
(32:23):
popcorn ready, Netflix.
Shout out to Netflix.
Let's get the deal done.
Starr (32:29):
Yes.
say it again so they can get
Kenny (32:31):
Netflix.
Let's get the deal done.
I got that.
Please get, get that deal done.
I like saying I'm okay withsaying those types of things.
this is, I mean, you sharedquite a bit, on your story, what
you're building now.
you're a real advocate for yourthis community.
And it's gonna be exciting tosee, like you said, there's some
(32:53):
opportunities, in the space oflike DEI that is such a hot
topic right now.
It will probably be a hot topicfor the next, I don't know how
many years or so, or it's gonnabe,
Starr (33:06):
it's gonna be
Kenny (33:07):
a while.
Oh, wow.
So I'm excited to have somebodylike you on the case and, and
like representing and, and doingsome amazing work there.
how do we want to close this?
Let's let, how can folks tapinto what's the best way for our
listeners to tap into whatyou're doing?
Starr (33:29):
Yeah, so one way that you can do it is you can always
follow a me on my social mediapage.
Every page and platform isalways gonna be at signing
Starr.
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.
Threads, whatever is all outthere.
LinkedIn.
Kenny (33:45):
Mm-hmm.
Starr (33:45):
Signing Starr.
If you just look that up, you'realways gonna find me.
But you're gonna always find meat my website as well.
www.signingstar.com.
I promise you.
Just search signing Starr.
You're gonna find me somewhere.
Kenny (33:57):
Right?
Okay.
Starr (33:58):
That is the name that I go by.
That's an
Kenny (34:00):
incredible name.
Nobody's.
Gonna not be able to find you.
Starr (34:04):
Yeah, you can find me by that name.
and just get connected.
It is gonna lead you to thenonprofit, it's gonna lead you
to, you know, the consultingside of things that I do.
Even if they're wanting to bookme as a speaker, I'm going into
the speaking realm as well.
So it's so many things that youcan see on that page and what
I'm doing, and just kind of staytuned.
Kenny (34:26):
Love, I love, there's many things.
I lastly, I'll pass it to you.
I want, we always have ourguests, close us out.
Like, what's that last thoughtyou want our viewers to take
away from this conversation?
Starr (34:39):
I want the viewers to take away this.
Don't let fear stop you becauseFear One faith enables
actionable resilience.
I go by that, I stand on that.
So don't let fear stop you.
Walk in it.
It's okay to be scared.
It's okay to feel like you'renot ready, but that's the moment
(35:03):
that you should be doing whatyou're doing.
So just go for it.
Just go for it.
I didn't trust me.
If I can do it, you can do it.
So
Kenny (35:10):
just go for it.
Appreciate it.
Way to close it out.
for our listeners, thanks fortuning into another great
episode of The Beyond NormalPodcast.
Peace.
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