Creating Community at the So Much to Give Inclusive Cafe with Tyler Kammerle

What if there was a place where everyone, regardless of their abilities, was valued and had the opportunity to shine? This is the reality at the So Much To Give Inclusive Cafe in Skippak, Pennsylvania. Today's guest is the co-founder and General Manager of the cafe, Tyler Kammerle. Tyler started his career teaching followed by a move to directing a workforce development program for young adults with disabilities, and finally to his current role. He believes in the potential of every individual, and that everyone has something to contribute to society, a philosophy that is palpably present in our interview, Tyler's day to day life, and in the cafe's environment.

Tyler takes us through the inception of the cafe, borne out of a shared vision and a passion for bringing out the best in everyone around us. The Cafe is not just a place to eat and drink, but a thriving community where adults with disabilities and their families, have equal opportunities to work, dine, socialize, volunteer, and learn.  Through this, Tyler and his team have created a space that bridges the gap for all adults to take part in activities that can be difficult to access.

The So Much To Give Inclusive Cafe
3401 W Skippack Pike
Skippack , PA 19423
https://www.somuchtogivecafe.org/
https://www.instagram.com/somuchtogiveinclusivecafe/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/SoMuchtoGiveCafePa

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey everybody, I'm Kimberly Dobbs.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
And I'm Jacob Miller.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
And we'd like to welcome you to another episode
of Intuitive Choices.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Kim and I are mental health therapists working in
Philadelphia.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Each week, we invite a guest to speak about how their
own intuitive choices have ledthem to live a more meaningful
life.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
We hope that this conversation encourages you to
make meaningful choices in yourown life.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Alright, off we go.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Let's do it.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Hey everybody, this is Kim.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
And this is Jacob.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
And we'd like to welcome you to another episode
of Intuitive Choices.
Today we have with us, superpumped about it, tyler Camerley.
He is the co-founder of, quitehonestly, one of the most
incredible concepts in a cafeI've ever come across, and it's
called so Much to Give CafeCamer crosses, I think, the way

(00:56):
most of us come across things inthe world today on social media
.
It just so happened to come upon my feed and somebody posted
about it and I started clickingand reading all about it and I
couldn't believe it, because itis a cafe exclusively about

(01:18):
being inclusive.
That's all I'm going to sayabout it.
I'm just going to just say,tyler, jacob and I are so
excited to have you so welcome.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Thanks for being here .
Thank you, guys.
I'm equally excited.
I just haven't met you guys inthe last week.
I listened to a few of theepisodes.
I love what you guys are doinghere.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Thank you, it's a really cool part.
Thank you, I can't appreciatethat.
Alright, I'm glad you're a fan,and vice versa.
So let's just say Jacob, do youwant to start, or should I?

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, tyler, just let us know a little bit more about
so Much to Give Cafe, what themodel is, and then we'll learn a
little bit more how you gotthere.
Cool.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, so we've been open for almost a year now.
I think we're in the 10 monthsection getting there.
I think November is going to beour first year, which is
awesome because when we weregetting into this we were
looking at stats and none of ushad much prior experience in the
restaurant industry.
So we're going through andlooking at all the things that
could go right and go wrong andI think there's a stat out there
like 80 to 90% of restaurantsfail in the first year.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
So we're already like .
So you looked at all of thosestatistics before you started
this cafe.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
Whatever we could find.
So many different statisticsout there, and then you get
those iPoppers.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, and you said we .
Who are you referring to?

Speaker 3 (02:30):
So me and two other women, we kind of came together
about a year ago their names areMaureen Stanko and Kathy
Opperman and we had this sharedvision of kind of getting this
cafe off the ground and justbeing something in our community
that can help a lot of peopleand hopefully open a lot of eyes
.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
So where is that community and what community is
it we?

Speaker 3 (02:48):
are in Skiback.
It's kind of just outside ofPhiladelphia.
Where we are here.
It's kind of close to Narshtown, lansdale.
Yeah, it's the MontgomeryCounty area, sure.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
And what?
When you say, when I said youknow it's very inclusive, you
know, describe the mission ofthis cafe because it's really
unique.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah, I love what you said when you're opening up.
You said exclusively inclusive,which is exactly what we try to
be.
It's just about kind of showingthe entire community, anybody
that walks in that we have somany people with differing
abilities and skill sets andwe're just trying to show them
off to everybody that comes in.
We have, I'd say, like five orsix major positions just most

(03:30):
restaurants and cafes do and wetry to employ people with all
varying, different abilities inall the spots and the whole
model.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
When you say ability, you're not talking about like
this guy's a chef and this guy'sa painter and this you know the
clarification question.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Great question.
Yeah, so everybody.
There's so many people outthere with different skill sets,
as we all know, like we all gointo different fields and we
have these things aboutourselves that just make us
special and different.
So that is kind of what we tryto focus on in the cafe and in
the world that hopefullyeverybody exists in.
But a lot of our employees dohave diagnosed disabilities and
while we acknowledge that factand there are barriers that

(04:03):
everybody faces with differentdisabilities, we try to focus on
all these varying abilitiesthat these people have.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
And drawing the strength and turning it into
abilities.
Right Looking at it and going,oh no, no, no, this is an
ability yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah, exactly.
Everybody has so many different, unique strengths, and that's
what the focus should always beon in every walk of life.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
You know, when I first heard like so much to give
, cafe and do this was a cafethat was focusing on employing
and hosting individuals you know, with with autism spectrum
disorder diagnosis, downsyndrome diagnosis a slew of
things In my mind I was thinkinglike, oh, so much to give
because we're giving them anopportunity to work and then

(04:49):
shame.
Thank you, I appreciate that forbeing honest and open over here
and then I was watching thenews clip that you had posted on
your website and when I'm notsure if it was which are the two
women you work with mentionedit.
Maureen yeah, maureen said somuch to give is because these

(05:10):
individuals who are workingthere have so much to give, and
people marginalize them insociety and say you can't
contribute.
Oh my God, and it touched me sodeeply because one of my mission
statements as a therapist islike I firmly believe, almost as
an article of faith, that likeevery individual has a way that
they can improve themselves andcontribute to society, and I

(05:32):
literally believe that's everyindividual.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, yeah and a purpose.
You don't have to have religionor any of that to know for sure
it's just everybody was puthere for a reason and and there
are so many different avenuesthat you can take as that
individual.
But you are here and you'regoing to do something.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
And to do that by giving people work, you know,
allowing them to contribute.
That just touched me so deeply.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
Right, because here's the other thing.
Well, let's talk a little bitmore about this cafe, because it
the other thing that I findreally cool about it is you have
all kinds of really cool events, like you guys are always doing
something.
This really isn't just a placefor us to come and eat, you know

(06:15):
, or drink.
You do all kinds of things forthe, for the community, with the
community, right.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, that's, that's the whole purpose.
Sometimes I think we get alittle too far ahead of
ourselves.
We do a little bit too much.
We're still just trying tofigure out like how to, how to
correct the simple things of arestaurant.
But yeah, we do like bingo,trivia, karaoke, we have some
dances.
We're hoping to do a lot more,but the whole point, like you
said, is just to get everybodyinto one spot and be able to do
it together.

(06:41):
It's very difficult at timesfor I think, the adult
population who have disabilities, to kind of access these things
.
Sometimes, like I would go outto trivia nights all the time.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
That was my thing to do for myself and my friends and
it's like so easily accessible.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
You do it on a Monday , tuesday, wednesday, whenever
bars have in it, but it's notsomething that's very easy for
some of these people to get to,just for transportation reasons,
even just understanding likethe concept of what trivia night
is and how to participate in it.
So it's something that we'retrying to get people together
just just to participate andkind of like teach each other
how to do it as one.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
Oh my gosh, that's fantastic.
I just Tyler, Tell us a littlebit more about yourself, your
own story and how it merges withthe creation of so much to give
Cafe.

Speaker 3 (07:26):
Um, yeah, no, personally, uh, I guess grew up
in family of five.
I got two brothers, uh, theirtwins, one on to do all some
things, are you?

Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah, I didn't want to tell you before.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Because I didn't wait over the podcast yeah.
But also, okay, keep going.
Did you have another sibling?

Speaker 1 (07:40):
I have four.
I have I have three siblings,and one of them is a twin.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
It was always hard for me because they would always
bond together and group upagainst me, so I was like back
against the it is.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
It is in my, in my family.
It's like my two older siblings.
I mean, all four of us arereally close, but they're like
they pair up, and then my twinand I, so it's the kind of
natural how it fell.
But yeah, I'd imagine, if it'sa little triad, you're the one
that gets left out.
Yep, yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
We got past and now we're all friends, yeah, uh, so
group and family of five, uhkind of suburbs of Lake
landsdale, nars town area, uh,right across the street from a
farm.
So I actually worked on thatfor a while, um, through like
middle school and high school,love farms, kind of love the
quiet area.
What'd you do on the farm?
Um, it was a part like farm,part ice cream store.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
So, wait, wait, which one is it?
It's called Mary Mead Farm.
Of course, you have to namethese things because the people
who listen to it, you know theygot a huge fine.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
They do the fall fest to come up, oh my gosh, Mary
made yeah.
Yeah.
So I worked there for a whileUh kind of came to love that
environment Um, and growing up Ialways uh I was kind of naive
in the fact that there are somany different ways to help
people.
I think like everybody has waysto contribute to people's
growth.
But from a very early age Iwould go to uh go to schools on

(08:49):
my off day with my godmom, whowas a special ed teacher, um,
and I would get to like just goand interact with different kids
, um not fully understandinglike different uh disabilities,
like autism spectrum disorder,down syndrome, all that yeah, um
, and I would just go and likehang out.
It was cool, like I was hangingout with these really cool kids
that were my age on my off daysand Wait, let me.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
let me just stop you, cause I something that you're
set, that you said is alreadystriking me as, like you are a
little different.
Um, which is, you said you werenaive to this idea of, like,
helping people can lookdifferent ways, and I just want
to point out that.
How old were you?

Speaker 3 (09:26):
Probably middle school, I'd say like 12, 13.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Um, I don't know a lot of 12 and 13 year old kids
that even think about helpingother people on that, on that
level, like that that's evensomething, because even
developmentally we're veryegocentric at that age, right
Like your very age.
You're very much around, likeyou know yourself and kind of
learning who you are, and thosekinds of things that really

(09:50):
stands out to me about you thatyou were already from such a
young age like thinking aboutothers in a way that I think is
unique.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
Oh, thank you.
Yeah, my mama, my mom, dad,they definitely raised us right.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
Um, but yeah, no.
So I uh kind of always justwanted to be a teacher.
I saw what she was doing, I sawhow she helped kids and I got
to be a part of those classroomsfor like a day or two days in a
year.
I was like I knew I wanted todo that right there.
Um, but again, kind of early on, not thinking how many
different ways there are to helppeople out there, I was just
like right into that box ofteacher and I never really
explored anything outside ofthat all through high school and

(10:25):
then once I graduated, um, thatwas trying to emulate what you
saw.
Yeah, no, I just saw it.
I want to help people.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Teachers help people.
Yeah, I'm a teacher, exactly,it just made sense to me.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
So I went to Westchester uh got my degree in
special education and earlyeducation.
Okay, Um it's great, great,great.
Four years there, um and then.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
Do you feel like during college you it was
something that you still feltfelt passionate leaf about was
teaching throughout college, asyou were going for a degree in
teaching.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
Definitely, I think, the cool thing about college and
I'm hoping, most degrees forthis way.
I only experienced this onedegree, um, but it was kind of
like a slow buildup, like youslowly gather more information
that keeps you wanting to learnmore, um, and just getting to
then like apply it in differentsituations.
We had so many different fieldplacements, so many different
schools and grade levels and Iwas like cool, there's so many
options, I'm going to find theright one and I'm going to be a

(11:14):
teacher and that's going to bemy life.
Um.
So, yeah, no, it definitelykept me wanting more and wanting
to stay in the field.
Uh, and then graduated, um, andI worked in two classrooms as a
teacher.
Um, my first year I was in alife skills classroom, uh.
Second, I was an emotionalsupport classroom.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
What?
What does that mean?
What's life skills?
What's your most emotionalsupport?

Speaker 3 (11:32):
Great question Uh, life skills.
Um, it's primarily to help uhuh individuals with autism
spectrum disorder and differentum abilities, kind of learning
just to navigate life, uh in thesimple skills that maybe some
of us learned a little bitearlier, like cooking, um kind
of how to navigate a school.
Uh, the basics of education andjust learning like how to live

(11:52):
and be successful as aindividual uh in the world going
through the day to day motionSomebody people take for granted
.
Yes, exactly, that's a goodpoint.
It's a great point.
Um, and then emotional support,uh, similar stuff, but a lot
more based on, probably, stuffthat you guys work on very much
here, uh, and just kind of likeintrospective, reflecting on
yourself Maybe.

(12:12):
Why did I choose to do this?
What can I choose to do better?

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Um and those kinds of kids emotional support.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, that was middle school.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Wow, should offer that to the rest of the school,
not just you know, it's for anykid.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
Honestly, some of the classrooms I came to learn.
It's like you have so manydifferent names, but all these
lessons apply to everybody.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
So when, as a teacher , though um, being being a life
skills and emotional supportteacher, that is, you could say
maybe like a little bit of aniche in teaching, right, that,
like not all teachers, like mostteachers are, are not
necessarily working morespecifically with life skills
and emotional support, I mean,obviously those things come up

(12:52):
naturally in a classroom, but,like did did, is that what you
wanted to focus on?

Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yes, yeah, so those those specific rooms, those
specific rooms, those specificrooms, those are there for uh
kids with IEPs, which means youpretty much have some kind of
diagnosed disability.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Um, so that was my major, that's what I kind of
wanted to do, um, and had anexperience, and so it was.
It was everything I was lookingfor, um, and I guess into my
second year, uh, in thatemotional support room, I really
like started to reflect onmyself and I just I started to
learn.
I guess there are again so manydifferent ways to help people
that I never really explored andI never even thought about it.

(13:26):
And then I started to reallysecond guess if I wanted to just
continue teaching like, uh, atypical public school setting.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
What, what, what does it look like?
When you say, like you startedto reflect, I want to know what
did it look like for you.
What does self-reflection looklike?
And then, typically not foreverybody, but self-reflection
is usually prompted by somethingthat you might be experiencing
in life, right so?

Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, Um, I think I just knew that I wasn't.
I wasn't in the right spot, Idon't know.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
there wasn't like a really specific moment where I
like a slow build, like day today, like you weren't feeling as
fulfilled as you would havehoped.
To work would have made youyeah.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
I was like second guessing, I guess the impact I
was having that year, um, what Iwas doing for the kids, what it
was giving to me personallycause we're all on our own
journey too Um, and it justdidn't.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
It didn't necessarily feel like a hundred percent fit
Can you think of a moment orlike a specific, like thing that
was in your life, that like itfelt, like it wasn't right.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
I don't think there was an exact moment.
I think it was that whole year,Um cause I guess that was like
my culmination.
The first year it was a.
It was a long-term sub job, soyou don't really have that like
contract that most teachers workfor Um and then after my first
year in that other schooldistrict I got the contract.
I interviewed for this newposition and got it and that's
kind of like the trajectory Ithink most teachers take you get
your contract, you go back, youget your master's degree and

(14:49):
kind of move, move up.
So I was on that trajectorythat I knew I had wanted but it
just didn't, it wasn't clicking,it didn't feel like I was.
I was supposed to be going withthat trajectory.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
So maybe while you were subbing you're like this
doesn't feel fully right, butit's cause I don't have the
contract, that's cause I came inlate.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
Give me all kinds of reasons, right.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
So when you had the contract and everything like
quote unquote, like should havebeen the way you imagined and it
still didn't hit.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
That's when you checked in with yourself Exactly
, yep, it just it was supposedto be right and it just
something was off, yeah, andthen what did?

Speaker 1 (15:19):
what did checking in with yourself look like, was
there anything like you did,like rock climbing, climbing or
like I?

Speaker 3 (15:26):
don't know like went for rock climbing.
I don't know.
That just came to me.
I was like I don't know Like,did you like go?
I was actually thinking like arock gym.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
I don't even know it just like came to me, like maybe
you went like.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Little projection.
That's a little projection.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
This is when I know I was thinking maybe like on the
drive to work or, like you know,like heading home at the end of
the day.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
Maybe you needed like a life or death kind of
experience, okay, so, so allturns aside though.
Like was there, was there.
How did that look for you, likeyour process of self-reflection
?

Speaker 3 (15:59):
I probably kind of like what Jacob was saying, kind
of on the way in.
You're like oh, I'm not likesuper juice to go to work that
day.
You get there and some thingsare going right, some things are
going wrong, but you're focusedmore on the wrong and you know,
you should always be focused on, on what's going right or how
to correct the wrongs.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
So like not throwing anyone under the bus.
What things were wrong for you?
Like what wasn't.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
It was just me, it was my head.
I was like, did I make theright call there?
Like did I do the right thingfor that kid?
And you just, you know, whenyou second guess everything,
you're just not a hundredpercent.
Sure, it kind of it builds,like you said before, and you
start to really, um wonder if ifyou're in the right spot for
yourself.
But if you're not in the rightspot for yourself, are you
really in the right spot foranybody else?

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Um, you know, that's really an important point, at
least for me, and let me know ifI'm hearing this right.
But it's like I think, whenpeople feel that self-critical
voice, they dial in onthemselves and try to become
perfectionistic in their task.
So someone like I'm not gettingmy paperwork in at work on time
, or I don't feel totallycomfortable in this meeting,

(17:00):
they focus on themselves andthey think they're inadequate.
And how can I rise the occasionin this job?
And instead of?
I think what would have beeninappropriate is to try to force
yourself into a job that maynot been right for you.
You're open enough to find anew way.
Does that sound right?
That's exactly right.
Yeah, Wow, that's huge.
I don't know if you feel that'shuge.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Oh no, looking back it was everything Like.
I'm very happy.
I kind of like made the choiceto just move past teaching at
that point.
That was my last year.

Speaker 1 (17:29):
Especially being so self-critical, like being like,
almost like blaming yourself.
You know, going through thatprocess of blaming yourself like
is this my fault?
What am I doing wrong?
Blah, blah, blah.
At some point that shifted to arecognition that it wasn't a
good fit, not necessarilybecause you were doing something
wrong, and I do need to pointthat out to you.
I think that's important topoint out, that there was

(17:51):
ultimately a shift of likewithin you.
It sounds like it's not becauseI'm doing anything wrong.
You know what I mean In this.
It's that maybe the environment, maybe the whatever it is, the
leadership here, whatever it is,that it's something is not
aligning to like your own corevalues, you know.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
Oh, I firmly believe that.
I don't think there ever is areason necessarily to shift
blame or find something that wasthe wrong thing.
I think it's just like whenthings fit, they fit and when
they don't.
You kind of got to be aware andcognizant of that and you got
to choose to figure out eitherhow to fix it or where to go
from there.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah so had you.

Speaker 3 (18:28):
Where do you go from there?

Speaker 2 (18:28):
I guess.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
So I decided at the end of that school year I was
going to try something otherthan teaching and it was one of
the best decisions I ever made,probably up until this cafe
decision.
And I connected with a placethat I actually did one of my
placements for as a teacher incollege, like one of my field
work placements, and the placewas called the Variety Club and

(18:52):
it actually was like fiveminutes from where I grew up and
I'd never heard of it until Iwas like 19.
And one of my one of mycoursework things required me to
go volunteer for 20 to 30 hoursor something at a nonprofit or
somewhere where you can likepractice your educational skills
.
So I went there, fell in lovewith the place at 19.
What is the Variety Club Like?
What do they do?
Great question, it's this littlehidden gem, again, kind of

(19:14):
close to where we, where I grewup, and it's just a camp that
focuses on providing differentprograms for kids with different
abilities and disabilities, andit's kids, adults, and they do
different kinds of things likevocational skills, after school
programs, summer camps, and it'sjust.
It's probably the one of thosethings you call like your second

(19:36):
home for me.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
Nice Wow.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
Okay, yeah, I grew up I had, like friends in high
school, friends in college, kindof lost touch with them along
the way.
But the one core group that Ialways come back to is anybody
I've ever met there and that'slike it's my place with my
people Wow you find this.
you find this area where peoplejust see things the same way as
you.
And soon as I was there when Iwas 19, I kind of felt that and
then I would go back everysummer when I wasn't in school

(19:58):
and that's where I would do likesummer camps in our sweet Okay.
So I get past my like teachingrealization and I reach out to
somebody over there and her namewas Heather and she was my boss
for a couple years over thereand she she was getting ready to
start a workforce developmentprogram for young adults with
disabilities, okay, at Variety,which had they hadn't done prior

(20:20):
to that.
So she brought me in andthere's just like an entry level
job and we had a program modelthat she had created and there
was probably like four of us andwe all had our kind of own
piece of what we were working todevelop there.
So I was doing something calledsmall group programming and it
was just focused on liketeaching three different
individuals kind of like thoselife skills, like how to make

(20:43):
things, how to sell things, howto do this one aspect of like
working a job.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
Who are you working with?
Like when, when, just to likeso I can understand better, so
our listeners can understandbetter.
Like, like what.
What disabilities do theseindividuals have?
How old are they?
Like what, what's going on?

Speaker 3 (21:01):
Sure, yeah, so everybody was a young adult.
I think everybody was over 21at that point, probably between
21 and 30.
So very similar age to myself,okay, and my job was to kind of
teach the things that I waslearning about life.
It's like, hey, I'm goingthrough these like realizations
and trying to figure out where Iwant to go with my career and
learn how to work and beprofessional and appropriate and
all that, and I'm also teachingpeople how to do that through

(21:23):
the program we were running.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
That's great, so it was really cool.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
It was like this awesome self, self kind of
reflective thing for me to notonly be figuring it out but also
be passing the skills that I'mgoing through Because, like when
you're going through it, it'sprobably one of the best ways to
actually teach somebody,because it's right there in your
mind.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
It also allows you to be more reflective about the
process as it's going on,exactly Because wow, that's
really quite the opportunity.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
What I was going to say.
Gift like when you talk aboutlike those like magical moments
that you have in life, that'sthat just feels like one of them
.
I'm so grateful for that, yeah.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
So, yeah, we get into that.
That was definitely what I setmy mind to, and we had a cool
team.
We grew a few programs together.
Heather eventually moved on toanother job and I think she knew
we had a lot of talks, webecame very close.
It was one of my favoritementors of all time and
eventually, when she left, shelet me take over the program.
So I kind of became thedirector of it all, with all the

(22:18):
people that we had started itwith.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
How old were you?
I was like 24 at that point 24,being the director of program
like this.
That sounds like a quiteaccomplishment.
It was really cool.

Speaker 3 (22:27):
I was really excited.
We again we kind of we hadtalks before that and I think
she knew like I finally, Ifinally felt like I had found
what I wanted to do.
It just it all made sense.
I really enjoyed what I wasdoing, felt like I was making
great impact and I think whenshe was leaving, it was kind of
a program that she had built andshe she fortunately entrusted
it into me.
So yeah, it was.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
How did that feel oh?

Speaker 3 (22:49):
it was tremendous, it was so cool.

Speaker 1 (22:52):
You're smiling, yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
It was like I finally had like my big boy job that I
wanted, and it was all likegoing the right way.
I finally felt like thattrajectory was in the right spot
.
So, yeah, it was a greatheadspace.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
You don't work there anymore.

Speaker 3 (23:04):
I don't.
I had worked there when Istarted that year.
I worked there up until thispast year when we decided to go
for the cafe dream and what'sthe connection between the
variety club and the cafe.
Yeah they're very close,probably five minutes apart now.
I think a lot of people that Imet the last five years working
there now also work at the cafe.
Okay so I was able to build likea lot of strong relationships

(23:25):
with these young adults andtheir families and I think when
we started talking about thisopportunity with the cafe and
the community, a lot of thepeople were like, oh my God,
this is great.
We're going to do this togetheragain.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
I feel like I'm going to ask a Jacob question, I
don't know why.
I think it's like how do you gofrom the variety club to the,
to a cafe?
I think that's like a Jacobquestion.
It's such a Jacob question.
Yeah, it's like a question Iprobably don't fully comprehend
it.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
Back when I was I think it was my last year of
college me and a girlfriend atthe time, she actually was in
here in temple.
I think you went to temple tomy master's a temple.
Yeah, awesome spot, yeah.
But we were actually.
We were just like kind of bullin the dorm room one day and
we're just like talking aboutdreams in life and all that you
know that fun stuff to talkabout, yeah.

(24:10):
And we had this idea of likestarting something one day based
around a restaurant.
And she was really into likefarming too and she was like, oh
, cool, we'll get, we'll get ahorticultural aspect to it,
we'll start a preschool and weall kind of like put our little
dreams into it.
And it was just this pipe dreamat the time, but it's something
that I kind of held on to thewhole time.
It was like that would bereally cool.

(24:31):
And then I, as I learned, wewere just people like talk about
dreams.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah, just like, hang it like, like, like my whole
life with one of my best friends, gil, like we would just talk
about, like, oh, we can likestart this thing back home, we
can do this thing, and it's justlike what we say all the time
is like we're idea, guys, likenothing ever comes to fruition.
But?
But you went from being like anidea guy to actually carrying
it out.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
Yeah, it happened.
It was always there in the backof my head and there was like
so few times because that wasprobably seven, eight years
before this past year when westarted the cafe and it like it
resonates because it's somethingyou really care about, like an
idea, and when it's somethingthat you kind of like formed in
your head, it's just somethingthat doesn't go away, you know.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
But why a restaurant Like?
What about that, I think,appealed to you.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah, I think the piece of a restaurant is like at
least when I go out and I'mhoping most people to go out
that it's like you are going tokind of get a great meal but
also find yourself in a happyspot outside of your home, you
know, like home.
Home is where everybody feelscomfortable, at least where
you're supposed to.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
But when I go to a restaurant, like yeah, I'm
looking for good food, but I'malso looking for a place where I
just feel like I can go for acouple hours and be happy and
like enjoy my surroundings andand with the mission that we're
trying to accomplish andeverything that we wanted to
incorporate with these youngindividuals, it seems like, hey,
if I, if I am, like as acommunity member, looking for a

(25:55):
place to go where I can be happy, these people are looking for
the same thing, like let's bringit together.
So it kind of it starts around arestaurant, but then you put in
all these other pieces, likethese events and different fun
ways to engage people, and Ithink it all can center around
just the place that puts outgood food and happy vibes.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
You know, you said the word community a few times
so far Sure, dad, and not manypeople either have communities
or even know where to find.
I have a lot of clients who,like they, say again, again, I
wish I had a community, I wish Ihad a community.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
And you know, we, we felt a part of a community Right
.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
So can you this?
Maybe I didn't expect to gohere at all, but like when did
you get a sense that, like you,were part of a community?

Speaker 3 (26:36):
Personally, I think I got the sense back at Variety.
I met so many amazing youngpeople, so many parents, family
members and it almost is likeits own separate community of
kind of the special needs world.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
But why is it a?

Speaker 3 (26:49):
community and not a job, I think, because everybody
cares.
You know, like it's when I wastalking about Variety I talked
about like those are my coregroup of friends still, and we
just see things very similar.
Like it's a group of peoplewith similar visions, working to
accomplish goals and taskstogether, like being a team.
So it's almost like I thinkthat sounds like it.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
It sounds like the community is created by a group
of people with a common missionor goal.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
And passion, right, and I'm just.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
I'm thinking out loud and like trying to chew this up
for myself, but I think that'swhat a lot of people are missing
, like even if they have a, theymaybe don't have passion
themselves as individuals.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
Or For like anything in particular, right yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:31):
Or they don't have a group of people that share that
passion with them.
Yeah, and I think when you aresomeone with passion that is
shared with others, you can kindof like differentiate your job
and how to accomplish the goalsof that passion.
Like you differentiate, andthen you all feel part of the
same thing, even if you're doingdifferent jobs within that
group.
Exactly, wow.

Speaker 3 (27:52):
And it's something like as humans.
That's awesome.
I think we all like it's one ofthe biggest things I'm sure so
many people yearn and just want.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
And then when we when I have it or you have it, it's
something that we've come tolike, appreciate almost as
secondhand.
But then you see other peoplethat don't have it and you're
like, wow, we got to find a wayto become part of the same
community because, like, whyshould I have it, but somebody
else shouldn't?
And it's such, like a human, Ifeel like a need almost Just to
have like this outletting groupof people that you see things

(28:19):
the same way and you get tointeract with on a common basis.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
And joy is contagious .
And you brought something upabout the restaurant.
Happy vibes, right, and reallywhen you go to a restaurant,
it's like most people are reallyenjoying themselves.
They're happy and those vibes,as you say, and I say too, you
can feel that it's contagious.

(28:44):
And so you basically took howyou felt at the Variety Club,
feeling a part of this community, where you guys all had this
like collective passion and thislike sense of community, this
feeling of community, and thenyou basically like took this,
the restaurant concept of likebeing happy a part of this, you
know, like going to someplacethat makes you happy, brings joy

(29:05):
to people People love good food, you know and like you married
the two of them almost Well, notjust you but you and the
co-founder.
So much to give right.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yeah, no, that's exactly it.
That's the goal just bring alot of things that people love
together and hopefully it's moreenjoyable.

Speaker 1 (29:21):
Wow, this is great.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
All right, you have Variety.
You have in the back of yourhead the idea that one day you
want to start a restaurant withthis goal in mind, like an
include Well, because you hadthis business plan from college
Right, right, yeah.
So what were the steps totaking it from dream to reality?

Speaker 3 (29:42):
I think it was just good fortune.
Okay so yeah, we had the idea.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
I don't think it was just good fortune.
Like it was maybe like Go aheadtell your story.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, no, we kind of like again.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
it resonated in the back of my head and you make
these little steps, so how'd youmeet these two?

Speaker 3 (29:58):
gals.
So, maureen, we've known eachother since that first classroom
teaching she has a son withautism and he was in that
classroom that I was teacher for.
So that relationship startedway back when.
And then, after I moved to thatsecond classroom, I started
working for him as like aone-to-one through a different
company, because I wasn't histeacher anymore.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
So we just naturally so you guys must have had a
really good relationship.
Yeah, no, you trusted him.

Speaker 3 (30:23):
I got along with Nick really well.
That's her son, and then Ithink she just obviously
appreciated that and then we allgot close.
So, yeah, we just we workedtogether again for the next
eight years.
And that first year, after Imoved to the second the room, we
kind of made this deal like,hey, I'm gonna work with you
guys until 21,.
Nick turns 21.

(30:43):
And that's like a big milestonefor a lot of young adults with
IEP or disability, just becausethat's when you lose a lot of
your services that you've hadfor the last 21 years of your
life since entering the schoolsystem.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
It doesn't sound like a milestone, it sounds like a
terrifying moment.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
Very true.
A milestone is not the rightone.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
No, it's okay, I didn't mean to no, but that's a
really really importantdistinction, because it is a
scary moment I think I can'timagine Terrifying.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Like in the country at large you hear people talk
about like oh my God, I'm gonnaturn 26 and lose my health
insurance Exactly, except thisfeels like way more
consequential than that.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
It's like a kind of you've come to know a certain
way of life and receive theseservices that are just given to
you because you're a studentwith an IEP for about 18, 19
years of your life and then allof a sudden you turn a certain
age and they're essentially goneand you have to learn a whole
new system, because the twosystems don't really connect too
well and it's almost startingfrom scratch.
And for a lot of parents Ican't even imagine personally

(31:39):
being in that situation.
I've heard it from so many,including Maureen, but it's just
something that you kind of haveto come to grips with and you
learn how to move forward withwhatever stage is next.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
So yeah, we had known each other for eight years, and
what?

Speaker 1 (31:56):
an amazing commitment you made to Nick.
I just wanna like just pointthat out.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
Thank you.
No, that's one of my proudestthings I think Outside of like
professional stuff.
I really am so grateful that wekind of had that relationship
where they trusted me and Itrusted them and it was
something that we were able todo for this amazing young man
together and he's come so far inthe eight years that I've known
him.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
You know, your early 20s is such a transformative
time, right, and so much canhappen.
So many things like to even you, you know.
Like from one year to the nextyou're like I really wanna be a
teacher.
And then you're like, meh, youknow, and for you to it just
speaks to the bond it soundslike that you have with Nick.
For you to be like, okay, yougot eight years, like you're

(32:42):
this young guy and you don'tknow what life is gonna happen,
but you're like this issomething I'm going to.
I just you know this person,this is a really important
relationship.
Yeah, I just then.
That really is incredible.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
Definitely.
I think it was one of those.
I'm sure we'll get there moredown the road, but, like one of
those things that you just knowin your heart and your head, it
has to happen that way and whenI I'm gonna cry yeah first, I
actually don't wanna do it downthe road.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
I wanna tell her right now, right now.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
What's that moment like?
Because you know not that Iremember so well, but like I
think part of the likedefinition of diagnosis of
autism are people who have, like, difficulty connecting in
social situations or theythemselves miss social cues.
They don't know how to presentthis.
The themselves like physically,the way they're experiencing
something emotionally, and therecan be a disconnect there.
And so how did you know youwere connected with someone?

Speaker 1 (33:31):
who's like, who experiences?

Speaker 2 (33:33):
social interactions so much more differently than
than you and us yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:38):
That's a great question.
I think it was probably alittle mix of just Nick being a
really special young dude and mekind of being in my first
classroom and trying to figureit out, like I.
Like you said, I was in thatkind of like early 20s.
You're figuring yourself outand you, you see this young man
who has so much to give and he'salso figuring it out, and now
you kind of form this bondtogether where you're just gonna
do it and you're gonna figurestuff out together.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
But you could have had-, but that can bring tension
onto someone.
You know that can make someonefeel frustrated or alienated,
but it made you feel moreconnected.
So what were the moments likewhen you realized you were
connecting with Nick?

Speaker 3 (34:12):
Probably just progression throughout the year.
Nick would like accomplish thisgoal and it would be this big
thing.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
Like he would celebrate what's a goal?

Speaker 3 (34:20):
Something as simple as just walking through the
hallways.
My man used to run.
He was a track star and wewould go outside on the tennis
courts.
We would train for specialOlympics all the time.
He wouldn't run.
What would he do?
He would run through thehallways.
Like it was his job and we'd bechasing him just making sure he
didn't get into any trouble orhurt himself.

(34:40):
And then the one time we wantedhim to run and he could fly, he
just didn't wanna do it.
So we're trying to make thattransition Like stop running in
the hallways.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
We're not gonna get anybody.

Speaker 3 (34:50):
We're not gonna run anybody over, we're gonna save
the running for the tenniscourts.
And towards the end of the yearhe started to really focus on
just walking in the hallways.
It was just clicking.
And then at one time it was oneof our very last special
Olympics training sessions andhe booked it, ran, blew

(35:10):
everybody out of the water andit was just really cool to see
because it was like somethingthat we were working on the
whole year and that was just oneexample for him.
Like he made so much growth, Idon't wanna like marginalize it
with this one thing no, no, no.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
It's an example, it's an example.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (35:24):
And those are like the little victories, like
something as simple as walkingthrough a hallway and then
learning to like transfer, theact of running, which was
something he physically neededto do, and it's not something
that's very difficult for mostpeople, like you just learned,
like I gotta walk in thehallways you know, and you can
do it.
His body like it's justdifferent.
He kind of has this physicalinput, sensory input, where he

(35:44):
needs to move, and it wassomething he had to work really
hard on and he did it and it wascool and you got that.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
you know Like there was something about like again I
keep going back to this likerelationship and how you know
like how important therelationship or the bond was for
the two of you.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
What allows for you?

Speaker 3 (36:04):
to be so patient.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Yeah, that's a great question, that is a good
question.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
I don't know.
I don't know, I'm not likesuper, super great at anything,
like not a math whiz.
I was never a superstar athlete, but I think that was just one
thing that was ingrained in me.
I guess a little bit of biologyand then part like parenting,
nature, nurture debate, do youremember?

Speaker 2 (36:21):
anything from your parents of like teaching you
patience throughout yourchildhood.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
I don't know specifically patience, but I
would say more about viewingthings from like a Empathy
standpoint, just trying to learnhow to put yourself in other
people's shoes.
My mom would say that to me allthe time and then, once you
kind of focus on that, I thinkit gradually gives you like this
Skill of being patient, becauseyou are taking the time to

(36:48):
understand.
I guess how somebody is feelingand then when you take that time
, it's like okay, and maybe Iunderstand it, maybe I don't,
but either way I should be morepatient because if I'm
understanding it the way I mightbe perceiving it, maybe that's
something that person'sstruggling with and you know we
all have our own struggles.
What do your parents do for aliving?
My mom's a physical therapist.
There's other ways to helppeople.

(37:08):
Yeah, my dad, he, he works withcomputers, fixes like different
techy stuff that I don't knowanything about.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
So, so let's go back to.
Let's go back to so much togive cafe.
So you have this plan, this weyou shared how you met Maureen.
Okay, now we know, but keepgoing with the story.

Speaker 3 (37:31):
Yeah.
So this is kind of where it wasjust this Kind of almost divine
thing and it all fell together.
About a year ago Maureen hadmet this woman named Kathy who
owned her own nonprofit calledPillars of Light and Love, and
she started that probably eightyears ago and me and Maureen
first met and we didn't.
We didn't know Kathy then, andshe started that primarily just

(37:54):
to provide support groups forpeople going through different
things.
Kathy's whole goal behindPillars what I've come to learn
in the year that I've known herwas just when you see a need in
the community, she tries herbest to be a part of a solution.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
So yeah, she's amazing woman, very special kind
of person it was super special.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
Those two women.
I give so much credit to they.
They move mountains.
It's really an honor to knowthem.

Speaker 1 (38:18):
Do you feel like you move mountains?

Speaker 3 (38:20):
I feel like now, like Kind of getting to that place
where I can't wait till the time.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
I ask you this and you just say yes.

Speaker 3 (38:36):
So, yeah, maureen meets Kathy.
I honestly don't even know howand she was.
Kathy was talking aboutstarting a restaurant.
So Maureen's like hey, you gotto meet my friend Tyler.
How did Kathy get to do?

Speaker 1 (38:48):
it Totally so.
Where was it when she saw aneed then?
In the community or not?

Speaker 3 (38:52):
So her Maureen had started talking about so much to
give as a program.
Okay, that was just like once.
So we did this for a yearbefore the restaurant opened, so
two years back and once a monthwe would meet about ten kids in
one of Kathy's Locations at sheowns, where they held the
support groups, and we would gothere in a free session and Nick
would then get to Socializewith different friends because

(39:13):
Maureen was exploring what wasgonna happen when he graduated a
year from then.
So we were like startingstarting something.
We didn't know what it was.
I would go with Nick becausethat was my job, is his
one-to-one, and we were doing ittogether.
And then eventually, I guessMaureen and Kathy were talking
one day and Kathy was like Ireally want to start a
restaurant.
And that's when she, I think,brought me up.
It was like, hey, my friend Ty,he's told me about this

(39:36):
restaurant idea he had from awhile back.
Like you should meet him.
And then she came out to arestaurant that I was working at
because I was just trying tolearn the game, like I had never
worked in a restaurant.
I worked on the farm.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
So on your own, you're like already trying to.
So yeah, because we you didn'tmention that part yet that like.
So After the variety club, youthen took a job at a restaurant,
because it sounds like you weretrying to then cultivate that,
that, that that dream.

Speaker 3 (40:02):
This is it was a really weird spot for me,
because I was still at thevariety club, oh that was my job
.
I wasn't unhappy.
It was still like really,really impressed with the work
we were doing.
We were growing a program.
We got through COVID and Idon't know.
Something about me was like youknow what.
I still have this idea in theback of my head I'm gonna start
working at a restaurant part,get extra cash, part to learn

(40:22):
the game.
And I was doing that for aboutsix months before I met Kathy.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
Were you waiting tables?
Yeah, yeah, serving.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
I'm.
It's like a sports bar, soeventually I wanted to get to
bartending, but I'd learned howto do the other stuff.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
There's never got there.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
Okay.
But uh, yeah, and then all of asudden one day, maureen like
texts me and she's like yo, yougot to meet this Kathy lady and
I was like cool, like why.
She's like well, she wants tostart a restaurant and she
really likes the idea that youhave.
So she actually came the timeout one night with her husband
and that was the first time Imet her and they like requested
me and served their table andshe was like you want to start a

(40:56):
restaurant and I was like yeah,like who are you?
Yeah, I'm getting the chills.
It was so cool.
It was like this reallyinformal thing.
She's like we should talk more,like I want to do it.
I know, maureen, I know whatthey're doing over there.
And this is this awesome ideathat I think if the three of us
sit down, we can really likeformulate into something that
starts and that was the start ofit all.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
What did you do after you finished your shift that
night?

Speaker 3 (41:18):
I texted Maureen.
I said she's a little wild,she's just gonna do it.
I can see it like she.
There was not even a hesitation.
She.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
Like, though, like what was it like she has this
conversation?
She's wild.
Your texting, maureen, you getoff your shit.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
I say it's a while we're gonna say deeply
passionate.

Speaker 3 (41:37):
Oh, deeply passionate .
It like crosses the line, likeno she's not.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
The great, great, great clarification.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
Yeah, you guys got to meet Maureen and Kathy to
understand the way it justforces that almost don't make
sense, like you say, while, butit's like wild in this amazing
way.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
Wow, okay, so we can stick with wild.
Yeah, sounds like she's wild,okay so.
So what did it feel like whenyou got off your shift?
Like where you like, what theheck just happened.

Speaker 3 (42:07):
So I'm like feeling pure bliss.
I'm like this is, this is whatI've been waiting for.
I don't know how it happened, Idon't know what's gonna happen
next, but I know we have to talk.
So eventually we all sit downand we start like really mapping
it out.
I share everything I have.
Maureen gives her input and howit can relate to so much to
give.
Kathy tells us what she canbring and it was just all

(42:29):
meshing.
It was just there.
There wasn't like a questionunanswered, there wasn't a stone
unturned, and we just decidedin that moment we were gonna go
for it.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Did you shake hands?
Like what I don't understand.
Like what?
Like what does that look like?

Speaker 3 (42:41):
It looked like a happiness.
We didn't shake hands.
It wasn't professional, it's.
It's all of you.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Yeah, it's.
It sounds like all of you havehad the same drive and Similar
goals and it just meshedimmediately because it was like
an immediate community, like wespoke about community earlier.
Yeah, a group of people likepassionate about one thing.

Speaker 3 (42:58):
That's it.
That's that's what I've learnedmost about life.
Like everything that I'vetalked about personally and then
I've Shared with other peoplefrom their experiences, it comes
down to like a shared visionJust people coming together with
a goal, with a passion, andthen almost anything can happen.
You see these wild thingshappen, amazing things, and now
I get to be a part of it in myown life.

(43:18):
But you see it happeningeverywhere.
It just takes people comingtogether With that shared goal.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
It sounds like I'm just again just think about the
people who want to be part of acommunity.
They're like, yeah, really, Ithink a lot of that desire to be
part of community is like Idon't want to be lonely, I don't
want to feel alone, but itsounds like an answer to find
community is to just find thatpassion within yourself and then
join with the other people whohave a similar idea.
It's such a great point.
Yeah, oh, my god, I love thatyeah what is the cafe look like

(43:47):
on a day-to-day basis?
Can we?
Is it alright if we?
I don't know how many steps wewere jumping, but like you go
from this meeting, you'realigned Can we?
Can we jump like what the cafelooks like on a day-to-day?
Who's employed?
What does it look like?
Is that our icon?

Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, oh my god yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
I'm gonna re ask the questions I can like edit all
that mumbling out.
So so, tyler, let's skip fromthe, the meeting where you're
all aligned with one another.
This is where you're going.
You felt instant community withthese women.
How Does so much to give you afair look?
Today, based off of that,meeting Looks different every

(44:23):
day.

Speaker 3 (44:23):
Okay, great you.
It's very.
This is like the one constant Icarried over from teaching.
You never know what you'regonna get.
Some people might be havinggreat days, some people might be
having off days.
You might be busy, you might beslow.
Transferable skill yeah, yeah,it's just flexibility, nonstop
okay.
But we have about 60 to 70different employees Wow.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
That is way.
Oh, I thought I thought it wassix to seven.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
Yeah no 60 to 70s way more than I expected.

Speaker 3 (44:50):
One of the things we're most proud about.
Yeah, it it's kind of the.
The whole point of the missionis we wanted to immerse as many
people in this thing togetherand then bring the community to
it.
So, yeah, we have differentpeople pretty much work in every
day.
Some people work one shift aweek, some people work three or
four, totally depending on whenthey're at, what they are hoping

(45:13):
to accomplish.
Exactly their own dreams, andthat's that's what I really like
about it too.
Like there are a lot of placesyou go and you know they.
They want you to fit into themold of what their workplace
brings, and that's kind of howlife operates in different ways.
A job's looking to hiresomebody on a Friday, tuesday
and Saturday shift and that'swhat they need.
That's, that's the only thingthey're gonna acknowledge.

(45:34):
We're a little different inthat degree where somebody comes
to me in an interview.
They're like, hey, I can workone day a week, I just want two
hours.
I'm learning and that's what Idid it.
Right, I was all learning thoseskills together.
So we have kind of morphed therestaurant around, making sure
that we're fitting into theemployees coming in, and that's
probably one of the Things thatthat really separates us from a

(45:55):
lot of other Organizations andbusinesses.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
I know every day is different.
Yes, what Make make an image ofa composite day like?
What could a day, a normal day,look like?
Who's coming in, what are theydoing, what's?

Speaker 1 (46:09):
going on.
What are you yeah?

Speaker 3 (46:13):
I'm gonna get hungry.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
Who's last?

Speaker 3 (46:24):
But no, I think we've kind of learned our niche of
like, when we're busier, likewe're a really big brunch crowd,
okay, so I'd say, between about9, 30 and 1 o'clock on a
weekend, we'll be busy servealcohol.
We do not, we are BYOB so a lotof people bring that for
evenings and stuff, but we don'thave a alcohol permit.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (46:46):
So, yeah, we've kind of learned our niche for when we
should expect to be busy, so webring a little bit of extra
help.
But the whole thing I thinkyou'll see as a customer about
what the restaurant looks likeis just supporting people.
We're not Always like perfectObviously Nobody's perfect but
we are always looking to growtogether.
So, whereas we might mess thisone thing up about an order,

(47:09):
we'll fix it right away.
And the cool thing about therestaurant is all the tables are
very close.
It's almost like this homeykind of old-fashioned building.
You got tables next to eachother.
A lot of people are talkingkind of about what they're
seeing, talking about theirserver, what they learned
interacting with the servers orfood runners, the hosts, and
then they're seeing, like howwe're growing together.

(47:31):
We drop things, we, we forgetthings and people talk together.
It's not like when I go torestaurants again.
It's like this happy experiencebut it's more about like me,
the people I'm with theatmosphere and then my server.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
You know it's like this Like a little bit.
It's like a little insularright like it's sort of like
you're just at your own tableand you maybe you might look at
other tables and yeah, observe,but this sounds much more
communal.
Yes, like a cafeteria.

Speaker 3 (47:59):
Yes, yeah, kind of you have tables across talking
and you see people interactingand getting up and Discussing
the mission, discussing otherparts of life, discussing who
they met that day, and then yousee them come back and they kind
of get somebody else involvedbecause they experienced it and
that's probably my favoritething to see.
There is just everybodyinteracting around.
What the purpose of?

Speaker 2 (48:20):
being there is.
So I don't know the language toask my question like
Appropriately or directly, soI'm just gonna flub it and if
shooting give me terrible editit right now.
I want to leave it in onpurpose, but here's the thing.
I have never been to the cafe.
I Don't know what it's like to.
I watch some videos and stufflike that, but like, what are
the disabled individuals doingin at the cafe?

Speaker 1 (48:43):
the, the individuals who have different and varying
abilities.
Yes, yeah, that's right.
Everything person firstlanguage.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (48:53):
So we have five or six different positions, and we
have people who have told methat they do have a diagnosed
disability, and then I havepeople that haven't or don't
have a disability, sure, and weall work in the same position.
So I have hosts, I have foodrunners, dishwashers, servers
and prep cooks and line cooks,all of which either do have a
disability or don't have adisability but, every position

(49:13):
is filled with somebody fromboth sides of that coin and and
we're working together toaccomplish all those jobs.
So a food runner pretty muchyou're navigating the restaurant
and if your skill set is beingquick, getting upstairs, getting
food to the table on time,recognizing a ticket, you're
gonna be a food runner.
If your job or if your skillset is customer service and

(49:35):
you're somebody who lovestalking to people and I have so
many guys who love to meet newpeople yeah, they're gonna be a
server or host and they aregonna chat you up and you're
gonna learn a lot about them,and they're gonna learn a lot
about you, yeah my dishwashersPrimarily people who like being
more to themselves and likefocusing on on kind of
repetitive tasks.
They're gonna be back there andyou won't see them as much, but

(49:56):
they are gonna be doing theirjob, they're gonna be doing it
very well and they're gonna begetting those dishes clean.
So it's.
It's a little bit of everythingthat you would see in any
restaurant, just Geared towardeach person and their specific
abilities.
I don't know if I answered itAbsolutely gives you a glimpse.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
No, absolutely did what can I ask you a question?
What You're now?
I don't want this.
You know I don't want toemphasize your age too much.
You know you're 32 now.

Speaker 3 (50:24):
Oh, 30, 30.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
Why did I say 32?
Okay, sorry, what I want to?
I really want to know so far,because this is such a new
endeavor, right?
What have you learned aboutyourself in all of this?

Speaker 3 (50:41):
That's a great question.
I don't think I fully Processedeverything about myself since
we've started.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
I do right now Get into it.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
I have that.
Something that I know I'velearned is that while you're,
while you're kind ofaccomplishing this passion for
myself of Helping others andcontributing and impacting to
people outside of myself, I'velearned that there's also a way
to be helping yourself along theway.
I Was not as great at that.

(51:13):
Earlier on in my 20s, I wasreally focused on just my
passion was helping other people, and if I wasn't helping
somebody and I didn't see that Iwas helping Somebody it like
affected myself.
And that was kind of bouncingback to that second year of
teaching.
I was questioning my abilities,I didn't know if I was doing
the right thing and theneventually, like got out of
teaching and I think it waspartly like my own personal

(51:33):
Choice, like I knew it wasn'tthe right fit, but I was also
doubting myself.
And now I've kind of come tothis point where it's like, hey,
maybe I didn't do everythingcorrectly, even though I'm much
more we get that you couldn't doeverything correctly, right,
because life, you know, isn'tabout making every correct move.
Exactly, you're learning fromyeah, learning from your

(51:54):
mistakes.
So when I, when I mess up nowand and when I do something that
I necessarily wouldn't havechose to do again, I'm finding
ways to not only correct thatbut, like be comfortable and
help myself, I guess, grow anddo things that are more
important to me along the way.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
I'm not explaining this.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
Well, I guess, no, you're actually.
Give and receive simultaneous.

Speaker 3 (52:17):
That's what I was gonna say a lot, of, a lot of
what we talk about here.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
With a lot of our guests has, is it comes down to
a lot, you know, this idea ofgiving and receiving.
Giving and receiving have andstriking a harmony in that and I
think a lot of us, you know,part of Learning from life is
learning what that, what thatharmony feels like, and it
sounds like that's, that's a big.
That's kind of where you areright now on your on your own

(52:41):
path.

Speaker 3 (52:43):
Yeah, no, I feel like I've kind of checked that box
now.
On my own personal journey,I've learned how to navigate,
pursuing my passion of helpingpeople while also pursuing this
individual need to Get on theright path and keep going
towards your own goals andmaking sure that you're okay
with the choices that you'remaking.

Speaker 2 (53:01):
I mean, that's sustainability, like without
that it just can't.
You're not happy.
We can take this out if you'dlike, but I'm really interested
in the economics of therestaurant and how much are you
paying your employees?
Is the restaurant profitable,like are you able to make a
living, or the other individualsmay able to make a living, like
what's going on over there.

Speaker 3 (53:20):
Yeah, great question.
It's um, it's a nonprofit, soyou know nobody's making like
sure super great money.

Speaker 2 (53:25):
Sure, but just able to live like yeah, no I, I'm
happy with where I'm at.

Speaker 3 (53:28):
I know everybody else who's kind of Administrative
level, I guess is happy like weare all bought in and I don't
think money ever comes down toit.
Salary wise, all of ouremployees, which we're most
proud about, are getting paidabove minimum wage.
Wow, mostly, everybody, um,mostly everybody.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
What does that mean for someone who you know like
differently able, disabled?

Speaker 1 (53:49):
Yeah, who like graduates essentially from this,
you know, at 21.
There's like what's next?
And Typically it's not.
There's not a whole lot, of,whole lot of opportunity and now
there is, yeah, what, what?
What is that like for them?

Speaker 3 (54:03):
That's a great question and I I have these
conversations sometimes withindividuals and parents and I
don't without like getting intosomebody's own personal like
what they're trying to do orwhat they're trying to make.
At the end Of the day, I thinkthe important part is that we're
contributing towards somethingas a job value.
Yeah it's not always Um easy forfor some of these guys to go

(54:25):
find jobs that are sustainable,and you'll see different stories
about people like moving fromone job to the next or not being
happy at a job, um, but what Ihave seen here is everybody
loves coming to work.
Um, we have been here for almosta year and that's a good amount
of time for some people, um, soI'll just come out and say,
like everybody pretty muchaverages about $10 an hour Um,
which we hope to get higher asthe restaurant may becomes more

(54:48):
sustainable, but it's somethingthat I think people can take
home and be proud of and, youknow, even like getting that
paycheck where it is what it is,and you might be able to buy
this or save up over time andbuy something a Little larger.
I think being able to produceyour own money and then like go
buy yeah, maybe your mother orpresident or your brother, and
do that for yourself because youworked.

(55:09):
That is something that I know alot of these individuals, uh,
it doesn't get better for likeit's almost like you can feel
the pride.
Yes, in it.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
Wow.
And again this idea of likeSharing that experience.
It's like it just seems likethis is an environment where
everybody just is Getting toshare in one another's joys.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
You know it's.
I hear, you hear so many peoplesaying like no one wants to
work these days and like postcovid, there's like a big slump
and like there's jobopportunities in the oh and
especially, do you remember, inwithin the restaurant industry.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Actually there's like a you know, the tremendous
shortage of Of staffing in,especially in heat in the city
in restaurants.

Speaker 3 (55:48):
That's, um, that's something we probably won't ever
have a problem with.
There's, uh, so many differentrestaurants I've seen that are
always hiring, like differentservers, bartenders.

Speaker 1 (55:57):
Um, going into this, we knew guess who, guess who
these restaurants are not hiring?
Yeah and shame on them.

Speaker 3 (56:03):
Yeah, no there's a lot of people that you can, um
find willing to be amazingemployees with so much to give.
If you just maybe tweak a thinghere there, make it more
accessible, um, and we're we'resuper proud of that.
But we also we're veryPassionate about trying to get
more people in the door, and wewe almost have we not almost we
have a waiting list of peopleFor each position that we want

(56:25):
to eventually get in the door assoon as we can Produce a little
bit more income.

Speaker 1 (56:30):
Wow.
So you told you tell us yourstory of how, how you, how we,
how we got to so much to give,um, but what is interesting is
that, with how you got there,how you got to even just like
teaching, working with peoplewith special needs, all these
different things, like it's justsomething that just inspired

(56:51):
you.
It's not necessarily that like.
I mean, I guess I'm asking you,is there anybody that, like you
, grew up with or or anythinglike that, that like that, you
knew that had special needs, orthat inspired you, or is it just
something that you just foundlike a gravitational pull toward
?

Speaker 3 (57:08):
Yeah, I think it was just kind of natural Again that
early, like kind of high school,I knew I wanted to teach.
I would go with my godmom onthe off-school days and kind of
be in special ed classrooms.
So that was always something Iwas interested in.
And then I think when I got toVariety for the first time
during that like collegevolunteer work, that's when I

(57:29):
knew like this is something I'mpassionate about.
As I progressed through like1920, went back when I left
teaching I was in those early20s and what really stuck out to
me was, you know, like you're a21-22 year old kid and you're
working on your goals and beingprofessional and growing your
career path.

(57:49):
But I also was 22, like I wantedto go meet girls, I wanted to
go drink, I wanted to have funand I was doing that and it was
great for me.
And then I'd go and work atVariety for a summer or do an
overnight camp and I'd have akid or not a kid, like a young
adult who was 22-23, right therewith me and I'd be like what'd
you do this weekend?
And you would be like I playedon my laptop, I watched YouTube.
Like that sucks, like I know hewants to go meet a girl.

(58:12):
He told me he wants to go meeta girl but it's not accessible.
So that was kind of where itclicked for me, like I was going
through something and people myage were also trying to figure
it out.
But it was more accessible forme and I was like you know what?
We can fix this, we can find away, and that kind of always
propelled me to working withyoung adults.

Speaker 1 (58:31):
My mouth is like a gap, like just that dialogue
between you and this person oflike that sucks, dude, I know
you want to meet girl.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
That is so humanizing .

Speaker 1 (58:44):
So, like I just think , that is a quality about you
that is, I think, just amazing.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
That's what I want to learn from myself more.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
I strive for it.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
Me too, but what you helped me see is how there's so
much further to go of likereally what it means to look at
every, every person as a person.
You know, and I try to do that.
I'm not like I try to do thatas much as I can.
I don't think I'm like overlyprejudiced or bigoted or
anything like that, but just tosee the level that someone can
be on is like I'm gonna humanizeyou to the level of like.

(59:21):
You want literally the samethings as I do.

Speaker 1 (59:24):
Well, it's not.
It doesn't even sound.
I think what makes you sounique, tyler, is that it
doesn't even sound like it waseven that intentional of a
thought.
It was that there was a momentthat you had that's kind of
intangible, that you felt likehe and I, and I think that's
that is a version of empathy.
This person and I areexperiencing the exact same

(59:48):
thing.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:49):
And you could feel that and and it's then what,
what you, what you've done withthat is, you've turned that into
you, maureen and Kathy, just somuch to give cafe and I, just
that is talk about a slew ofintuitive choices.

Speaker 2 (01:00:06):
I just hope that all the the givers out there who
know that they are inherentlygivers to such a degree can
embody how you can give, evenmore so if you already know how
to set up a sustainable systemfor yourself, which is what you
you're doing.
That's a big that's a bigtakeaway for me.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24):
No, I really love what you guys are doing here,
this podcast, the idea behind itand just following kind of your
intuition and seeing how notonly it impacts yourself but
other people.
It's, it's everything like it's.
It's what we're trying to dohere.
It's again purpose and tryingto find that and take steps
towards that every day.
Part of what really really gotme excited after we had talked

(01:00:44):
originally and I listened toyour episode, kim is you are
inspiring too.

Speaker 1 (01:00:50):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:00:51):
Hearing about, like some of the choices you had to
make with I think it's RP.

Speaker 1 (01:00:54):
Yeah, yeah, right now , it is fantastic yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
Yeah, the personal choices you had to make behind
yourself and wanting, like yourgoals of a family.
It's.
It's what I strive to kind ofhelp people with every day, and
you've almost mastered it byyourself from from a young age.
So, just getting to have theseconversations with people who
are open to talking about it,it's awesome to just be a part
of something that hopefullyinspires other people.

(01:01:18):
So definitely give this thing alisten.
While you're doing it, drive tothe cafe.
Where is the cafe?

Speaker 1 (01:01:29):
Give us the address and give us all your social
media where everybody can findyou Awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:01:35):
So it's right in the heart of Skip Back.
It's a 3401 West Skip Back Pike.
We're on the corner of SkipBack and Bustard Road.
It's a little shopping center.
There's a pizza shop in there.
There's an antique barn, so alittle bit of shopping you can
do.
There's a spa, so it's thisnice little area.
Social medias you can follow uson Instagram or Facebook at so
much to give inclusive cafe.

(01:01:56):
We just started a TikTok, sohopefully we're gonna get some
cool content and you guys cansee a little bit of behind
scenes.

Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
What happens at the cafe.

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
A lot of bloopers, a lot of fun stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (01:02:06):
It's not all business and work.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
That's great.

Speaker 3 (01:02:08):
Yeah, no, it's been a pleasure guys.

Speaker 1 (01:02:10):
Oh my gosh, so, so grateful to have met you and
we're just gonna keep.
I want to be your friend.

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
Yeah, I was actually not the same.

Speaker 3 (01:02:21):
Yeah, okay, it doesn't come out the trivial
We'll play together.
I'm gonna actually remember mykids out.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
I live in yeah, I live local, so yeah, yeah, yeah,
alright, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:02:32):
Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
We want to thank you so muchfor listening to today's episode
.
If anything in today's episodespoke to you, please like,
subscribe, rate and review.
Also, don't forget to sharethis podcast with friends and
family.

Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
And if there's anybody that you know that you
think would be a great guest onintuitive choices, please email
us at intuitivechoicespodcast atgmailcom.
Finally, if you want to knowmore about our mental health
practice, intuitive counselingand wellness, please check us
out atintuitivecounselingofphillycom.