188. Championing Neurodiversity in the Workplace with Kathryn Kerrigan

In this episode, host Colette Brown welcomes Kathryn Kerrigan, founder of Uncommon Revolution and co-founder of Encourage Resources, to discuss her journey of driving digital transformation and advocating for inclusive work environments for neurodivergent individuals. Kathryn shares her personal experiences, starting from her childhood and extending to her professional career in technology. She emphasizes the importance of communication, understanding, and patience in managing teams with neurodivergent members. Kathryn also explains how her companies bridge the gap between employers and neurodivergent employees, showcasing the productivity and creativity these individuals bring to the workplace. She offers insight into how businesses can support and leverage the unique talents of employees on the spectrum.

Episode Highlights:

01:31 Kathryn’s Early Life and Challenges

04:29 Professional Journey and Entrepreneurship

06:29 Supporting Neurodivergent Individuals in the Workplace

14:35 Uncommon Revolution and Its Innovations

17:14 Final Thoughts and Message

About Kathryn Kerrigan:

Website: https://unkommonrevolution.com/our-story/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unkommon-revolution/

Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unkommon-revolution/

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Connect with Colette:

Instagram: @wellnessbycolette

Website: love-colette.com

Thank you for listening to the Limitless Healing podcast with Colette Brown! It would mean the world if you would take one minute to follow, leave a 5 star review and share with those you love!

In Health,
Colette

Transcript

[00:01:00] Our next guest has founded a company Uncommon Revolution. It's dedicated to driving digital transformation for small to mid-size businesses, and she's also the co-founded Encourage Resources focusing on integrative neurodivergent individuals into inclusive work environments. It is my great honor to welcome Kathryn Kerrigan.

Colette Brown: Welcome Kathryn. Thank you so much for being a great host and I'm so excited to be here. Happy to have you. One of the things I love to do when we first start out is get to know you a little bit and what brought you into the space that you're at today. So why don't you take us back to a favorite childhood memory, that may have propelled you into where you are.

Kathryn Kerrigan: I think I was always very different and I was always incredibly intelligent, very smart, and I don't mean that in a, overinflated ego way. but with that [00:02:00] came struggles with, connecting with girlfriends, guy friends, and I would think about things like, hey, they would want to go out and party or have fun or do this.

Kathryn Kerrigan: And I was like can't we talk about, the latest advancement in AI or in algorithm or like algebra and 

Colette Brown: okay,

Colette Brown: then you got some 

Kathryn Kerrigan: new friends. There was always a disconnect, and I knew it was more of a me problem. So I think looking at that and looking at a lot of my friends who, whether they have children who are autistic or my friends who have Asperger's, it's a struggle. To relate, right?

Kathryn Kerrigan: And, being in technology for 20 years, there's very brilliant minds and the way that they're like the cognitive thinking. Is so brilliant within computer software engineers architects, data [00:03:00] scientists, and so I've been in that space for 20 years and I've seen, things that arejust different.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Behavioral patterns. And I've had a really great patience. And I look at my father who has always been by my side. He could see I. How my cognitive differences, were a blessing and a curse, right? And so just having patience and looking at it, from a different perspective and saying, okay, there's no single right way of thinking or learning or behaving, and differences should not be viewed as deficits.

Kathryn Kerrigan: They should be propped up. 

Colette Brown: So I just wanna take a step back here. So Kathryn's business works with companies that work with populations of those on the spectrum. Is that correct? Is that, did I say that right? Okay.

Colette Brown: And in doing so. What happens is I, in my professional [00:04:00] career, I have run across people also, when I worked in technology that. Really communicate a little bit differently and your company comes in and provides them with this bridge of, okay, you have this population of people that you're working with and we're gonna come in and we're gonna make the connection and how to support those people that are working for you as well as your business.

Colette Brown: So that's what you do in a nutshell. so you grew up. You go to college, what did you study? So I studied pre-law. 

Kathryn Kerrigan: Okay. And thought I was going to get into law school, and I actually got into law school and I. I was a paralegal and doing, all the fun internship stuff that you do in your early twenties and realized that I did not want to go to law school.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Okay, that's good to know. I've been an entrepreneur for almost 20 years. And it was during [00:05:00] MBA school that I had a really great professor who, this goes back 20 years, the course was called Internet Marketing. and she was an entrepreneur and.

Kathryn Kerrigan: E-commerce driven and it inspired me, right? So I started like one of the first fashion footwear.com startups when Amazon was still selling books. Wow. That's pretty cool. I remember speaking to a local banker and I said, Hey I just need. 30 to 50 grand. I just needed like a short term loan.

Kathryn Kerrigan: And he said where are you sourcing your, manufacturers from? And I said, alibaba.com. And he, I think, almost had a heart attack because back in the day you didn't really trust every single aspect of the internet, right? I've always been an entrepreneur, but I think my long-winded story is that looking at all of the [00:06:00] different people that I've worked with, they're so brilliant.

Kathryn Kerrigan: And if you can put someone in their swim lane. Encourage them and educate the managers and directors of, and even c levels of a different organization to say, Hey, Kathryn is great at this. Colette is great at that. Paul is great at this, and let them float. 

Kathryn Kerrigan: It works, right?

Kathryn Kerrigan: It works for the employee and it works for the employer. 

Colette Brown: Can you give us an example of a situation that just made your heart smile because of that connection that you made? 

Kathryn Kerrigan: for me it's always been about having patience and I've worked with the most talented cybersecurity experts.

Kathryn Kerrigan: And they just think differently. And when I. I've employed a handful of really great, talented people, and when you have patience and you step back and say, yes, this is [00:07:00] our project plan, we need to, hit this mark, or whatever it is, when you take a more humane perspective and you.

Kathryn Kerrigan: What does this person need today to make them successful? I remember my great confidant Lee Sherry. He was just struggling because he saw things in a different perspective and it didn't match with, corporate America, let's say. Okay. And then he came back and he said, thank you so much for being patient and letting me shine.

Kathryn Kerrigan: And he was able to create some really cool projects and it was a situation where, you know, from a very simplistic point of view, sometimes he needed a Wednesday off. But then he would crank out, Saturday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So it wasn't this traditional, purview. I let him do whatever he needed to do, and I was always there to support him.

Kathryn Kerrigan: And he [00:08:00] constantly comes back and says, you were the best boss. You understood me. And we were. together successfully. And so he won. The company won. We all had a win and everybody was happy. So it's not that complicated. Yeah. 

Colette Brown: So if you're a business owner or you're working in a situation where you see this discrepancy of, I see it this way, and this person sees it this way and it gets uncomfortable, right?

Colette Brown: It's just Ugh, what do we do here? And you try to talk and. It's just noise that's coming in between. So when can you step in a company like yours? Or what would you encourage somebody in that situation to do? I. 

Kathryn Kerrigan: I think it's communication. I think it's very simple. I think it's communication and understanding your team members, whether you're a C-level and you have a team of 10 to 20, like having a conversation with you Colette and saying, okay, what do you need today?

Kathryn Kerrigan: And I [00:09:00] can make that happen, right? And how can I better support you? And oftentimes, especially with those who are neurodiverse or autistic or Asperger's, they usually have a one track mind. Which is brilliant. That makes them very smart. But sometimes they just need simple things like simple accommodations.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Instead of sending an email to, Colette and saying, Hey, do these three things, sometimes you just may need a five minute phone call. or conversation, right? So it's understanding. It's. Almost like an emotional intelligence, emotional iq, and also just, being there for our brethren and understanding what they need and helping them get to the next step.

Colette Brown: That's beautiful. I like that. And I personally have witnessed a couple of situations in my life where I've seen those brilliant [00:10:00] minds taken advantage of too. 

Kathryn Kerrigan: I love that you're saying that because oftentimes those who are, I call it neurodiverse, right?

Kathryn Kerrigan: Whether that's O-C-D-A-D-D, autism, Asperger's, dyslexia, right? There's a new umbrella term for what we call like this, like mental health and issues, And I've experienced this as well where I get taken advantage of, right? And I care so much about others, and oftentimes those who are neurodiverse have this like overwhelming love for.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Their friends or compassion, and therefore you get taken advantage of. So it's like looking at that in a broader spectrum and saying, how can we protect them? How can we also make sure that they're set up in a great career or a path to a great career? Because everyone wants to work, everyone wants to contribute.

Kathryn Kerrigan: So just doing it in a [00:11:00] more protective, way is beautiful. So that's, it's a lot of what we do. 

Colette Brown: Yeah that's really beautiful. 'cause it then nothing breaks my heart sadder than seeing someone taken advantage of. And so I love what you're doing in your work and how do people find you and work with you?

Kathryn Kerrigan: we've been mostly referral based. We really look at companies, sometimes, we stay away from DEI, but, that's a separate issue, there's one champion in a corporate setting or a small, it could be a small business. Who. Understands the power of these brilliant autistic Asperger kids.

Kathryn Kerrigan: If you look at the statistics, 20% are neurodivergent. 80% of them have either been unemployed, underemployed, or never been employed. Wow. And then you look at of that population, that [00:12:00] 20% population, they're usually 30% more productive. So JP Morgan Chase put together a really great program called Autism at Work.

Kathryn Kerrigan: They reported productivity improvements of up to 140% with financial gains, right? So it goes back to my comment of you're helping the employee and you're also helping the employer. And so when these neurodivergence, and I'm one of them, so I can say it. You have a 90% retention rate. So you look at, I look at both things.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Like I look at the employer cost, right? And I look at the employee productivity, happiness, wellness, being confident in what they're doing. And it's a win. But you need a champion inside of every organization that can say. Okay, I've seen this. I got [00:13:00] it. Let's put some like meat behind it. That's 

Colette Brown: beautiful.

Colette Brown: And then is there any kind of, group or organization that they can go to and people can go as a resource and find these people that, can work with them? Like how do you find this population to work with? 

Kathryn Kerrigan: So we work with a lot of neurodiverse recruiters. Okay. And can definitely provide you with links of those that understand whether, and it usually, I don't want to segment people, but it's a lot of technology.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Aerospace, really engineering based companies that really understand and SAP they've had a program for those who are artistic and neurodiverse. They've had it since 2013, so they know. The type of talent that they want to attract. And yes. Short answer, we can definitely provide you with, a handful of [00:14:00] recruiting tactics and things like that.

Kathryn Kerrigan: And it really depends on where that person is. So I have a lot of friends who have adult children with autism, and sometimes they're, they can't even speak, but they're working at five guys. They love it. And the people, the customers come in to five guys and they're greeted by the most beautiful, spirit and talent.

Kathryn Kerrigan: So it, it depends on where you're at. But yes we definitely have some cool resources that we can provide. That's beautiful. Tell me about Uncommon Revolution. So Uncommon Revolution. We're uncommon with a K because we're different. Okay. We do stuff in AI and technology. We've been in this space since 2018.

Kathryn Kerrigan: We've done some really cool facial recognition, for different government departments. And what this is the one thing that I love to brag about. [00:15:00] So you take facial recognition, right? And you're looking at different places on your face and your cheekbones and your neck and this and that, but.

Kathryn Kerrigan: What if you had Botox tomorrow? But if you had lip injections, you might not look Y Colette yesterday might not look like Colette tomorrow. And and you have all these different hormone advancements and things like that. So when you're tracking, I'll keep it very simple. When you're tracking bad guys.

Kathryn Kerrigan: How do you know what they're shapeshifters. Exactly. Yeah. So we're doing a lot of fun things to really get back into the DNA of things. But we do some really cool things within B2B manufacturers and 3D configurators where instead of having four people, do a cost per quote for.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Real estate or things like that, we can like really shorten the timeline. And we do some really fun [00:16:00] stuff there. And we are heavily involved in cybersecurity, which is so fun for me because everyone is getting hacked. 

Colette Brown: Yeah. 

Kathryn Kerrigan: All. Time. So we do a lot of fun stuff in cybersecurity and I'm with a really great crew of white hat hackers, which just means they hack for the right reason, not for the bad reason.

Kathryn Kerrigan: And it's just, it's fun. Wow. 

Colette Brown: That's beautiful. I, it just makes me so happy to hear you talking about this, and I believe that this is very inter integral in the wellness space because we need to have. We need to have those brilliant minds in, because they're they just think differently than others.

Colette Brown: And so like when you wanna just homogenize and get just the same type of employee all the time, like that's also not the best fit, especially if you are, more. Technology forward and you're going to have this diversity [00:17:00] and you will need resources on that communication and guidance, and the fact that you're out there and doing this is just such a bright light and I'm so happy that we connected and that to know what you're doing today.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Yeah. No I love the forum that you provide and I think I'll end it with this. It's, there's so much there, there's unique perspectives that those who either are autistic or, it depends on how you classify yourself. The unique perspectives and the different cognitive.

Kathryn Kerrigan: Brilliance, that you may say, okay, I'm gonna look at this as one way. And those who are neurodiverse think of it in what about this? What about that, what about this? And they look at it in 10 different ways. That's what makes us a great population, 

Colette Brown: That's beautiful. I love that.

Colette Brown: And one of the questions that I ask all my guests [00:18:00] as we get towards the end Is if this was your last message, whatever that is to send out to the world, what would that be? 

Kathryn Kerrigan: Kindness, 

Colette Brown: right? 

Kathryn Kerrigan: And kindness and compassion and a bit of tolerance, right? We're all so different. I've had a lot of loss in my life and I've been through some stuff, and you sit back and say, just wake up and be nice.

Kathryn Kerrigan: be compassionate and if you can help your friend, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your gal pals, just try. It's not that complicated. Just be nice. I like that. 

Colette Brown: That's beautiful. And help 

Kathryn Kerrigan: each other out because there, there's always going to come a point where you're going to need something and, if somebody helped you, you helped that.

Kathryn Kerrigan: there's a wave to everything. 

Colette Brown: That's so true. It's been an absolute pleasure, Katherine. And if people wanna get ahold of you, through either of [00:19:00] your businesses, where's the best place that they can find you? 

Kathryn Kerrigan: Yeah. Definitely LinkedIn and or just go to uncommon revolution, uncommon with a K and send a an email or call us and we're very receptive so we're open to doing a lot of cool things and always happy to help somebody else out.

Colette Brown: I love that. Thank you so much. And thanks for being here. I appreciate it. and everyone else, until next time, be well.