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Hey. Welcome to the Stephanie Stevens show where

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I help you discover the power of communication

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and the keys that unlock the doors to

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freedom

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in every area of your life. Well, hi

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friend, I hope that you are having a

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beautiful day so far. And I hope that

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if your day is not beautiful, and it's

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kinda dr dreary right now that something delightful

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strikes your heart, and it turns around quickly.

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Know what it's like to be in those

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little places. I was there just a few

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minutes ago, honestly,

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because I got off the phone with my

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daughter and she sent me pick shirts and

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my heart started to ache, and I realized

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how much I missed her. She's away at

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college and

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oh mh. I'm just trying to recover. Because

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as a mom, I am loving that my

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kids are out doing life and adventures and

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on their specific path and yet the mom

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in me just just want them all really

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call us like all the time. I want

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them to be super independent and successful, but

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I want them to be Alright? Next to

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me while they do it. Does that sound

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weird? I think they call that helicopter parenting,

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guilty. Guilty is charged but I was never

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1 of those parents who was super excited,

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like, oh, I can't wait to throw all

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a lot of the house. I remember having

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friends that would always, like, count the the

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years down. I almost felt like they were

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counting down the days until their kids were

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going to be leaving for college or turning

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18 or leaving the house because they were

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gonna have this newfound sense of freedom.

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I never felt that way. I always was

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excited at their growth and their expansion

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but literally

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dreaded having to make that transition of having

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them

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under my roof in my little nest

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and watching them fly the nest and then

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having to watch them do life

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somewhat from afar. Who we're all still very

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close. We see each other as often as

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we can. But, yeah, I was not 1

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of the yay, hurry up and turn 18

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and get out now that wasn't me. I

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was the opposite. I'm like, come back. Everybody

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just come back. It'll be fun.

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Alright. Well, that's

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actually

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not what I wanted to chat with you

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about today what I wanted to talk to

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you about as a young man by the

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name of Michael. I met him as I

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was shopping for garlic cro coupons.

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Let me explain. I have a bit of

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a spiritual mentor who has fallen ill, and

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I am committed to seeing her visiting with

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her weekly and bringing her a little something

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that she really enjoys to eat. So I

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was looking for a specific type of cro

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on to go in the soup that I

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was making her. And so I went into

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this gross store to go, pounding up and

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down the aisle frantically searching for cro coupons,

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I noticed a young man stocking shelves And

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as I stopped in the seasoning aisle next

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to the salad dressing and stuff, he was

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there. And I glanced over at him, and

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he glanced over at me a notice, and

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immediately said, is there something I can help

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you find. And as soon as he said

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that it became clear to me that this

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young man was different had I recognized that

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cadence. I recognized the expression on his face

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and I recognized the beautiful way in which

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he immediately jumped in to help me find

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whatever it was. I was looking for. I

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recognized it because I've been working with people

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on the autism spectrum for 26

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years. So it dawned on me that this

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young man I immediately looked at his name

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Tag, Michael, that Michael was most likely on

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the spectrum and that I was in very

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good hands. So he asked me, is there

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something I can help you find? And I

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said, well, yeah. Actually, yes. I am looking

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for a very specific type of cro on?

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He said, a, Cro ton follow me. And

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so I followed him 2 aisle over where

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I never expected to be because it wasn't

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by the salad dressing, and then he proceeded

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to me what type of coupon? I was

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looking for and I said, well, curiously enough,

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I didn't know there were so many different

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varieties, but I'm looking for a garlic cro

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ton. To which he said, well, as you'll

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notice here down toward the bottom, there are

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garlic. There's butter garlic. There's butter. There's plain,

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there's italian season and he went down the

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list of my options. And I said, wow,

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Michael, I didn't even know this many cro

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coupons existed.

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But thank you. I think this is the

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1 I'm looking for here. I think I'm

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looking for the garlic cro coupon for the

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soup I'm making. And then he politely

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so politely asked me if there was anything

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else I needed and I said not today,

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but Really appreciate your help. Thank you. And

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then I walked up toward the... Check out.

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Well, not before my third or fourth item

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was on the belt. Did Michael reappear to

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bag my groceries.

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And so I said, oh, hey, Michael. Thanks

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for helping out. He said, sure. And then

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he of course asked me if I wanted

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paper or plastic. I indicated which I preferred,

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and I then mentioned to the cashier, you

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know, thank goodness for michael because he helped

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me find the crude coupons I was looking

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for. I probably would have me around for

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a very long time, and so I proceeded

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to just share with the cashier how helpful

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Michael had been. I let her know that

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he was extremely helpful that he helped me

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find what I was looking for right away

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and that I was amazed at how he

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knew exactly where to go and find just

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about anything. Like, wow. Cool. Right? And so

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she just kinda, you know, shrugged whatever nod

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didn't agreed with whatever I said. That's her

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job. Then as I was going to start

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putting things into the cart, Michael was helping

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me. I was struggling

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to find a place to put a few

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of the more fragile items, and Michael recommends

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that I move my purse out of the

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cart and into the actual purse compartment so

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that he can make room for the bags.

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And again, he did it in the most

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polite way he was totally right. Like,

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I was sort of a little chaotic and

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not paying attention, and he was very precise

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and very methodical and knew exactly what needed

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to happen for me to get everything into

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that card that I needed and to get

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out of that store. So why am I

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telling you my grocery re

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because I don't think that the michaels of

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the world are acknowledged and affirmed as much

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as they should be. This young man has

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clearly overcome many obstacles.

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And working with this population, I know how

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torment it can be to be a young

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man in a public educational setting? That's why

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I frankly never recommend it. But I wondered

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to myself as I drove away what kind

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of hurdles and challenges he had to face

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growing up, the teasing,

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potentially the bullying,

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finding his way through life and here he

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is with this job, and not only does

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he have this job

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but I am going to put money on

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the fact that I will bet that that

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store very best and most loyal

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and most pun

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employee with the highest attendance is probably Michael.

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And I'm telling you this population this beautiful,

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some call calling in neuro,

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some just stick with the. Autism,

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spectrum

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language,

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regardless, this beautiful

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population of young men and women that I

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wish got more credit. I wish they got

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more jobs. I wish they were part of

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the workforce. I wish that they were a

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broader part of customer service. I wish that

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they got more recognition. I wish that retailers

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like that retailer trusted

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this population to do those types of jobs

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because I am telling you friend, they deserve

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it. And my invitation to you today is

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going to be this when you see someone

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who you imagine probably had a considerable amount

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of struggle growing up and and dealing with

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whatever hurdles or challenges or disabilities or special

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needs or special talents and gifts, whatever, we're

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gonna categorize that as. As you acknowledge that

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somebody has dealt with those things. And you

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see them doing an exceptional job The invitation

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friend is, would you please acknowledge that? Would

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you please let them know that you see

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them? Would you please them know that they've

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done a good job for you and thank

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them, and I'm gonna ask you to go

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1 step further. Would you acknowledge to the

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employer, a, thank you to them and an

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acknowledgement that the young man or woman that

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helped you that's provided their service to you

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did an exceptional job if it's true. I

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mean, don't make stuff up. But if you

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really had a good experience. Would you let

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them know that? Because as

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employers

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hear that kind of feedback, they will open

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up to, hiring more of this population to

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let them do the phenomenal job that they

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absolutely can do. It's going to serve the

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business well. Trust me. But I just think

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if we maybe provide that type of feedback,

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we will see more of these beautiful

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individuals in the types of jobs that they

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deserve to have I hope he gets promoted.

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Frankly, he should be running the store and

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I hope he does. But we gotta start

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opening the door and

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encouraging things like this with employers and with

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each other in the community so that we

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can all benefit from the beautiful gifts and

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talents these young men and women have to

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offer. Are you in?

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Thanks for listening, my friend. You know I'm

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with you in this 1. As always, much

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loved to you. Thanks again for listening, and

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I can't wait see you on the next

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episode.

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Thanks so much for listening to the Stephanie

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Stevens show. Please remember to subscribe, so we

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can stay connected and you never miss an

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episode of the podcast.

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Oh, and if you haven't left a rating

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yet, please be sure to do so. It

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helps incredible people like you find the podcast.

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We'll see on the next episode.