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Kevin Lowe: Has anybody ever told you that you weren't good enough?
00:00:05.097 --> 00:00:09.397
Kevin Lowe: Maybe that you weren't strong enough. You weren't fast enough that maybe you
00:00:09.397 --> 00:00:12.217
Kevin Lowe: needed to find something else that you were passionate about.
00:00:12.437 --> 00:00:16.557
Kevin Lowe: Well, my friend, if you've ever been that person who has ever felt like the
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Kevin Lowe: world has tried to tell you that you're less than who you are.
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Kevin Lowe: Well, my friend, I hope that today we can stop that.
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Kevin Lowe: Because today I'm in the studio with a guy named Mike Calvo.
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Kevin Lowe: A guy who adversity, you could say, has been his middle name.
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Kevin Lowe: From being the child of immigrants from Cuba to being a kid who was born blind.
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Kevin Lowe: The guy has an incredible story of overcoming the odds.
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Kevin Lowe: But more than any of that, it's the insights that Mike has to share today that
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Kevin Lowe: I hope, that I pray, are going to mean something to you.
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Kevin Lowe: That are going to transform your life from this day forward.
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Kevin Lowe: Because my friend, I want you to understand that you are more amazing,
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Kevin Lowe: more spectacular than you could ever believe.
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Kevin Lowe: And I believe that if you have it in your heart, a dream, an idea.
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Kevin Lowe: My friend, it's meant to come true.
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Kevin Lowe: And it's your turn to put in the work, to do the effort, to not be held back
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Kevin Lowe: anymore by fears or lies that you've been told.
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Kevin Lowe: But no, it's time for you to chase your dreams with everything you've got.
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Kevin Lowe: And today, with the help of Mike Calvo, I hope we're going to get you fired up to do just that.
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Kevin Lowe: So my friend, if you're ready for it, well, it's all inside of today's 378th
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Kevin Lowe: episode of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.
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Kevin Lowe: Hey, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and you are listening to Grit,
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Kevin Lowe: Grace, and Inspiration.
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Kevin Lowe: What's going on and welcome back to the podcast. I'm your host,
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Kevin Lowe: Kevin Lowe, in the studio today with none other than the main man, Mike Calvejo.
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Kevin Lowe: Mike, dude, a pleasure to have you here. Welcome to the podcast.
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Mike Calvo: What's up? How are you, buddy?
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Kevin Lowe: I am doing amazing, man. I am doing amazing and even better now that you're here.
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Mike Calvo: So thanks, man. Thank God for small miracles or technical miracles. Finally got in here.
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Kevin Lowe: Absolutely. Absolutely. I agree. Well, Mike, I'm excited to get to dive into
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Kevin Lowe: your story, getting to explore kind of all kind of facets of your story from
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Kevin Lowe: childhood up through adulthood and career and all of that.
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Kevin Lowe: And what I would love to kind of start off, though, is.
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Kevin Lowe: When you were a kid growing up, did you ever think in a million years that you would be,
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Kevin Lowe: where you are in life right now, doing what you do, whether professionally,
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Kevin Lowe: personally, or maybe did everything follow through with maybe what you thought?
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Mike Calvo: Oh, no. Well, let's begin by saying I'm an old guy. So I'll be like,
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Mike Calvo: I remember back in the day when I was playing with cassette players and reel-to-reel tape recorders.
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Mike Calvo: I mean, every blind kid I think wants to grow up to be a DJ. Hey, how you doing?
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Mike Calvo: And I did that. But no, I didn't think I would end up here.
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Mike Calvo: Actually, I wanted to be a lawyer when I was a kid. I always admired lawyers.
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Mike Calvo: And I always admired the law because the law has nothing to do with what's right and wrong morally.
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Mike Calvo: It has to do with what's legal and illegal, you know, which is a pet peeve of
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Mike Calvo: mine. and we try and legislate morality sometimes, and it just doesn't work.
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Mike Calvo: Yes. I always found the law interesting. Unfortunately, as we'll get to in a
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Mike Calvo: few, my life took a number of different turns based on circumstances and decisions,
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Mike Calvo: rather immature decisions in my life at the time.
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Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah. Now, where did you grow up at?
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Mike Calvo: Well, I grew up in the sunshine state of Florida in Miami. Damn me, I'm a good Cuban kid.
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Mike Calvo: I don't sound like, and I tell people, I sound like a white guy from the Midwest. But I'm not.
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Kevin Lowe: No.
00:04:03.178 --> 00:04:10.798
Mike Calvo: I promise. I speak perfect Spanish, very well.
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Mike Calvo: And I learned while I was doing broadcasting stuff, because I used to do voiceovers,
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Mike Calvo: and I don't know why, but I have something caught in my throat today that has
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Mike Calvo: me a little raspy, so forgive me.
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Mike Calvo: I started, and at that time, it was like, you need to not sound regional,
00:04:27.919 --> 00:04:31.139
Mike Calvo: which meant sounding like a white guy from the Midwest. So I was like, okay.
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Mike Calvo: So that's what I, because in Miami, we're all like, hey, dude, what's up?
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Mike Calvo: You know, how you doing? Chillin', you know, this and that. And that's not the
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Mike Calvo: way you, you know, you can't walk into a corporate meeting and say, yo, what's up?
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Kevin Lowe: Exactly. Oh, wow.
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Mike Calvo: Although I've tried.
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Kevin Lowe: Yes. Yes. Now, so did your parents come to America from Cuba?
00:04:55.539 --> 00:05:00.739
Mike Calvo: They did. My parents came here in the 60s after the revolution in Cuba,
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Mike Calvo: after the regime change in 1958.
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Mike Calvo: My parents came to Florida and they met in Miami.
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Mike Calvo: And I was born in 1967 in Atlanta.
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Mike Calvo: They left Miami, went to Atlanta to go discover more riches,
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Mike Calvo: this and that and the other. And I was born in Atlanta.
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Mike Calvo: I have a brother and a sister. I'm the middle child. And I have all the middle
00:05:25.979 --> 00:05:31.719
Mike Calvo: child trauma or psychological trauma, which no one except my therapist,
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Mike Calvo: which I don't have, gives a damn about.
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Mike Calvo: When my parents realized I was blind, as you can imagine, culturally,
00:05:41.239 --> 00:05:44.039
Mike Calvo: blindness is at very best,
00:05:44.659 --> 00:05:49.739
Mike Calvo: I think blindness is one of those things where you accept it as a parent,
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Mike Calvo: then you figure out, you don't know what you're going to do.
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Mike Calvo: And I'll tell you, I have five kids. I've been busy. I don't like television.
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Mike Calvo: And my kids all came before descriptive video.
00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:09.279
Mike Calvo: But, you know, I don't know what I would have done if one of my kids would have
00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:11.599
Mike Calvo: been born blind because as a blind adult,
00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:17.740
Mike Calvo: I realized that there is so much more to blindness than just my eyes don't work, you know?
00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:23.440
Mike Calvo: There's a lot of social impact. I mean, I was told literally from a very young
00:06:23.440 --> 00:06:28.800
Mike Calvo: age that you will never accomplish anything, you know? Don't be a burden.
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Mike Calvo: And my favorite one was to, quote, act normal, end quote, to which my question
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Mike Calvo: always was, well, what the hell is normal?
00:06:35.880 --> 00:06:36.320
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
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Mike Calvo: You know, I've yet to find the definition of normal. If you do,
00:06:40.280 --> 00:06:44.140
Mike Calvo: send me an email, please. My parents went on that quest.
00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:52.220
Mike Calvo: And unfortunately, because of cultural ignorance, they didn't know what to do with this blind kid.
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Mike Calvo: So they said, go to Michigan. In Michigan, there's the Michigan School for the Blind. It's the best.
00:06:57.400 --> 00:07:00.760
Mike Calvo: And I don't know if that was true, but they believed it was.
00:07:00.880 --> 00:07:03.380
Mike Calvo: So I went to Michigan School for the Blind, which is no longer.
00:07:03.960 --> 00:07:07.940
Mike Calvo: And I got trained there to do all my stuff. I could make my bed and I could,
00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.480
Mike Calvo: you know, do all kinds of stuff that they teach us to do, read braille and stuff
00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:13.120
Mike Calvo: all by the time I was in kindergarten.
00:07:13.640 --> 00:07:18.620
Mike Calvo: And then, uh, you know, ultimately the snow got to us, it got cold, man, in Michigan.
00:07:18.940 --> 00:07:23.960
Mike Calvo: And, uh, we came back to Cuba, I mean, Miami and, uh, and, uh,
00:07:24.280 --> 00:07:28.620
Mike Calvo: enjoyed, uh, grew up, grew up there and in the crazy eighties and we'll get there.
00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:32.820
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Now, so you were born blind.
00:07:33.280 --> 00:07:40.200
Mike Calvo: Yes, sir. Born with detached retinas in both eyes. and then they were the founder
00:07:40.200 --> 00:07:43.660
Mike Calvo: of Baskin Palmer Eye Institute in Miami.
00:07:43.880 --> 00:07:48.180
Mike Calvo: It was actually my doctor, Dr. Norton, may he rest in peace.
00:07:49.140 --> 00:07:52.920
Mike Calvo: And he did a lot of operations on my eyes.
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Mike Calvo: So many that my left eye got blown out and just never worked again.
00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:01.400
Mike Calvo: And my right eye. And people are like, don't you get mad about that?
00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:05.340
Mike Calvo: I was like, no, the eyes didn't work to begin with. All they were trying to
00:08:05.340 --> 00:08:09.500
Mike Calvo: do was fix them. So, you know, I mean, as a computer guy today, I get it.
00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.400
Mike Calvo: Sometimes, you know, when you're trying to recover stuff from your hard drive,
00:08:13.030 --> 00:08:16.770
Mike Calvo: If it's blown, it's blown, man. You know, you may be able to recover some information,
00:08:16.950 --> 00:08:20.750
Mike Calvo: but it's all gone. And it's not the technician's fault.
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Kevin Lowe: Exactly.
00:08:21.890 --> 00:08:26.030
Mike Calvo: You know, so I think I have a very positive view on my blindness.
00:08:26.090 --> 00:08:31.990
Mike Calvo: If they gave me the opportunity to get my eyes, my eyesight tomorrow, I wouldn't take it.
00:08:32.250 --> 00:08:36.650
Mike Calvo: Now, that being said, being blind is a pain in the neck, you know,
00:08:36.830 --> 00:08:38.790
Mike Calvo: and as I'm fond to say, and a little lower.
00:08:39.170 --> 00:08:44.050
Mike Calvo: But being blind is not the end of the world. Being blind is a major,
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Mike Calvo: massive freaking inconvenience, you know, but hey, you know,
00:08:48.330 --> 00:08:51.190
Mike Calvo: there are many other inconveniences in this world. It could be worse.
00:08:51.610 --> 00:08:57.250
Mike Calvo: I am floored when I hear people say they'd rather have cancer than be blind.
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Mike Calvo: That is such a minimization of cancer, first of all, and such a maximizing thing
00:09:05.950 --> 00:09:09.250
Mike Calvo: of blindness, which, you know, if you've got stage four cancer,
00:09:09.250 --> 00:09:12.010
Mike Calvo: your chances of surviving that are slim to none.
00:09:12.270 --> 00:09:18.790
Mike Calvo: If you've got blindness, your chances of surviving that are pretty good.
00:09:19.390 --> 00:09:26.650
Mike Calvo: So I don't get it. So I think that our biggest challenge as blind folks is the social stigmas.
00:09:27.610 --> 00:09:33.810
Mike Calvo: And the things aren't made for us and blah, blah, blah. But it isn't my attitude. But I digress.
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Mike Calvo: My parents moved back to Miami. I went to school in Miami. I got mainstreamed
00:09:39.610 --> 00:09:43.810
Mike Calvo: in the first grade, second grade, somewhere in there and move forward.
00:09:44.570 --> 00:09:51.790
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Now, talking about kind of this idea of blindness is, you know,
00:09:51.850 --> 00:09:55.350
Kevin Lowe: I always say sometimes, you know, as people who were blind,
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Kevin Lowe: we don't even think half the time that we're different than anybody else until
00:10:00.070 --> 00:10:01.490
Kevin Lowe: somebody else reminds us.
00:10:02.155 --> 00:10:05.575
Kevin Lowe: That, that we are blind because they have to bring it to your attention.
00:10:05.935 --> 00:10:10.695
Kevin Lowe: And I can't help, but wonder as a kid back in that day and age,
00:10:10.835 --> 00:10:16.295
Kevin Lowe: you've now gone from the Michigan school for the blind where you're around everybody
00:10:16.295 --> 00:10:22.175
Kevin Lowe: who either is blind knows how to treat blind to then go to quote unquote, this real world.
00:10:22.415 --> 00:10:24.555
Kevin Lowe: What was school like for you?
00:10:24.995 --> 00:10:28.115
Mike Calvo: You know, it's interesting. I was always told when I was, Oh,
00:10:28.115 --> 00:10:32.075
Mike Calvo: everybody knows you're blind, but you, I was like, no, I know.
00:10:32.155 --> 00:10:35.355
Mike Calvo: Oh, I'm blind, but that's not like saying everybody knows you have black hair
00:10:35.355 --> 00:10:38.815
Mike Calvo: or blonde hair, but you. No, I mean, that is part of who I am.
00:10:38.995 --> 00:10:42.455
Mike Calvo: It's not, I don't wake up, oh my God, I'm blind.
00:10:42.715 --> 00:10:47.155
Mike Calvo: You know, I don't care. This is the way that my creator created me,
00:10:47.255 --> 00:10:51.775
Mike Calvo: you know, and for people who listen to that and don't like that in the book
00:10:51.775 --> 00:10:57.015
Mike Calvo: of Exodus, in the Bible, in chapter four, verse 11, I call it the 411 on blindness.
00:10:57.395 --> 00:11:00.535
Mike Calvo: God actually takes credit for people's blindness.
00:11:00.715 --> 00:11:03.615
Mike Calvo: It is not I that make the blind not see and the deaf not hear.
00:11:03.735 --> 00:11:05.395
Mike Calvo: It is I the Lord that does these things.
00:11:05.615 --> 00:11:09.115
Mike Calvo: And if you go back and you put that together with all things work for the good
00:11:09.115 --> 00:11:11.675
Mike Calvo: of those who love him and are called according to his purpose,
00:11:11.975 --> 00:11:15.235
Mike Calvo: then he did this. Yes. You know what I'm saying?
00:11:15.435 --> 00:11:21.895
Mike Calvo: So in other words, you know, whatever you believe my quote unquote affliction is, no,
00:11:22.455 --> 00:11:26.695
Mike Calvo: you know, unfortunately human beings, we become complacent and we,
00:11:26.695 --> 00:11:29.935
Mike Calvo: we like to gripe and complain about a whole lot of stuff, you know,
00:11:30.055 --> 00:11:32.755
Mike Calvo: so, but that doesn't, we're not going to blame it on a deity,
00:11:33.395 --> 00:11:36.435
Mike Calvo: you know, because we're unhappy with our lot in life.
00:11:36.655 --> 00:11:42.715
Mike Calvo: You know, be satisfied where you are. Be content in all things and move forward because...
00:11:43.503 --> 00:11:48.263
Mike Calvo: I may lack my sight, but I do not lack innovation.
00:11:48.483 --> 00:11:52.303
Mike Calvo: I don't lack creativity. I don't lack intelligence.
00:11:52.643 --> 00:11:58.003
Mike Calvo: Well, it depends on who you ask. I have so much to be thankful for that I don't,
00:11:58.243 --> 00:12:04.403
Mike Calvo: you know, the ignorance of the world around me is a bigger challenge than my
00:12:04.403 --> 00:12:06.763
Mike Calvo: own personal view of blindness.
00:12:07.243 --> 00:12:15.303
Kevin Lowe: Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Out of my own kind of curiosity is for somebody who was
00:12:15.303 --> 00:12:20.603
Kevin Lowe: born blind in the fact that this is this is the world that you've always known,
00:12:20.803 --> 00:12:24.103
Kevin Lowe: as opposed to somebody like me who went blind later in life.
00:12:24.503 --> 00:12:32.423
Kevin Lowe: Did you still have to grieve the loss of of your sight? If you know what I mean?
00:12:32.583 --> 00:12:38.623
Mike Calvo: Dude, you just nailed something that I love to talk about. It's what I call the blind crash.
00:12:38.623 --> 00:12:40.223
Kevin Lowe: Okay, let's hear it.
00:12:40.363 --> 00:12:43.443
Mike Calvo: And it happens to every freaking one of us.
00:12:44.103 --> 00:12:48.243
Mike Calvo: Every single one. I've never talked to a blind person that I'm like,
00:12:48.303 --> 00:12:50.063
Mike Calvo: listen, come here, come here, come here. Let's talk.
00:12:50.263 --> 00:12:54.343
Mike Calvo: Let's talk. I won't tell anybody, I promise. Except for on Kevin's radio show.
00:12:57.983 --> 00:13:02.663
Mike Calvo: Have you ever really come to terms? Have you woken up one day and said,
00:13:02.743 --> 00:13:06.343
Mike Calvo: and you're probably going to bleep this, and said, oh, shit, I'm blind. Oh.
00:13:07.278 --> 00:13:11.738
Mike Calvo: And I'm going to be this way for the rest of my freaking life. My God, you know.
00:13:12.638 --> 00:13:18.358
Mike Calvo: So first of all, full disclosure, detached retinas entitled me to some site for a while.
00:13:18.738 --> 00:13:19.178
Kevin Lowe: Okay.
00:13:19.398 --> 00:13:22.218
Mike Calvo: But never enough. I mean, thank God.
00:13:22.458 --> 00:13:25.778
Mike Calvo: And thank God I had an honest doctor who always told my parents,
00:13:25.978 --> 00:13:28.698
Mike Calvo: you know, you need to raise him as a blind child.
00:13:29.078 --> 00:13:33.338
Mike Calvo: And my parents, so I learned braille. I learned mobility. I learned all my stuff.
00:13:33.518 --> 00:13:38.538
Mike Calvo: So I was raised as a blind kid. But I had light perception, color perception,
00:13:39.138 --> 00:13:40.838
Mike Calvo: all that stuff until I was about 18.
00:13:42.138 --> 00:13:45.058
Mike Calvo: So it's funny. I tell people, yeah, I got to see a naked girl,
00:13:45.298 --> 00:13:46.698
Mike Calvo: you know, which was really important to me.
00:13:49.778 --> 00:13:54.838
Mike Calvo: You know, in full living color. So that's cool. I don't remember what it looks like anymore.
00:13:55.778 --> 00:14:02.998
Mike Calvo: But I went through the blind crash later in life. And I wish we could schedule the blind crash.
00:14:03.678 --> 00:14:06.018
Mike Calvo: We just don't know what the hell's going to set us off.
00:14:06.258 --> 00:14:06.458
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:14:06.738 --> 00:14:10.278
Mike Calvo: I don't know what that triggering thing is. I have a great deal of admiration
00:14:10.278 --> 00:14:13.978
Mike Calvo: for people like yourself that deal with sight loss.
00:14:14.358 --> 00:14:19.338
Mike Calvo: You know, I hate that our brothers and sisters in other countries in Europe
00:14:19.338 --> 00:14:22.898
Mike Calvo: especially cover everybody with sight loss because, you know,
00:14:23.138 --> 00:14:26.158
Mike Calvo: people that I know that have been total since birth didn't lose their sight.
00:14:26.238 --> 00:14:27.158
Mike Calvo: They never had it to begin with.
00:14:27.278 --> 00:14:31.418
Mike Calvo: So they're not dealing with sight loss. But a guy like you, you're dealing with sight loss.
00:14:31.418 --> 00:14:36.478
Mike Calvo: And thumbs up to you, dude, because you guys are the ones that you have to reinvent
00:14:36.478 --> 00:14:42.018
Mike Calvo: your life, which is exactly why my lazy butt wouldn't want my vision tomorrow
00:14:42.018 --> 00:14:46.338
Mike Calvo: if I got it, my sight tomorrow if I got it. Because, dude, I'm perfectly happy where I'm at.
00:14:46.498 --> 00:14:49.638
Mike Calvo: You know, people around me, oh, yeah, you need it. Yeah, so you don't have to
00:14:49.638 --> 00:14:51.458
Mike Calvo: leave me around or whatever anymore, huh?
00:14:52.658 --> 00:14:53.018
Kevin Lowe: Exactly.
00:14:53.018 --> 00:14:58.358
Mike Calvo: But I'm perfectly happy where I'm at and, you know, regaining my sight.
00:14:58.918 --> 00:15:02.038
Mike Calvo: Again, full disclosure, blindness is a pain in the neck.
00:15:02.178 --> 00:15:02.518
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:15:02.838 --> 00:15:06.638
Mike Calvo: You know, but I wouldn't do it any other way right now. You know,
00:15:06.798 --> 00:15:10.118
Mike Calvo: I'm very content where I'm at and I'm happy here.
00:15:10.678 --> 00:15:16.078
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. And, you know, I can't help but think to myself listening to you is that
00:15:16.078 --> 00:15:22.578
Kevin Lowe: do you feel like having that faith aspect helps with that mindset?
00:15:22.578 --> 00:15:27.858
Kevin Lowe: Because I know for myself, I have been able to find great peace in the fact
00:15:27.858 --> 00:15:35.238
Kevin Lowe: knowing that what happened to me, I believe, was all part of the plan and God's plan for my life.
00:15:35.878 --> 00:15:39.978
Kevin Lowe: And for myself, I find peace in knowing that.
00:15:40.238 --> 00:15:44.038
Mike Calvo: It's interesting. I didn't become a believer until later in life.
00:15:44.038 --> 00:15:46.458
Mike Calvo: I grew up in Miami in the 80s.
00:15:46.758 --> 00:15:48.978
Mike Calvo: Like I said, I was told to be normal.
00:15:49.298 --> 00:15:54.178
Mike Calvo: I was told from the age of 12 that I, you know, didn't, you know,
00:15:54.238 --> 00:15:56.178
Mike Calvo: I needed to work three times as hard as everybody else.
00:15:56.538 --> 00:15:59.698
Mike Calvo: And even then, chances are I wasn't going to make it very well.
00:16:00.038 --> 00:16:06.158
Mike Calvo: I had sleep issues because of non-24 and stuff. So I would fall asleep in class sometimes.
00:16:06.458 --> 00:16:09.878
Mike Calvo: I had teachers that would call me a loafer and stuff. Now, that was,
00:16:10.038 --> 00:16:12.898
Mike Calvo: I'm trying to, you know, I'm making them all sound bad.
00:16:13.018 --> 00:16:18.538
Mike Calvo: But at the same time, you know, I grew up, you know, selling drugs. I grew up in gangs.
00:16:18.898 --> 00:16:23.078
Mike Calvo: I grew up working in nightclubs, you know, which I was exposed to very early.
00:16:23.458 --> 00:16:26.538
Mike Calvo: You know, my parents didn't want to be helicopter parents.
00:16:26.578 --> 00:16:30.978
Mike Calvo: So in their own ignorance, instead of keeping me home, they did nothing.
00:16:30.978 --> 00:16:35.438
Mike Calvo: So I ran crazy on the streets and look for leadership where I could find it.
00:16:35.618 --> 00:16:37.838
Mike Calvo: And in the 80s, you know, the place
00:16:37.838 --> 00:16:41.218
Mike Calvo: where you found it was in the music industry and in the drug culture,
00:16:41.338 --> 00:16:47.378
Mike Calvo: which I embraced fully at the time and got heavily involved in that and ended
00:16:47.378 --> 00:16:50.638
Mike Calvo: up dropping out of high school and all of that, you know.
00:16:50.898 --> 00:16:54.498
Mike Calvo: But I became a believer in 1995.
00:16:54.838 --> 00:17:03.498
Mike Calvo: I no longer classify myself as a Christian. Kevin, I think I've more leaned into deism
00:17:04.271 --> 00:17:09.991
Mike Calvo: Because I'm just not happy with where the Christian community has gone of late.
00:17:10.291 --> 00:17:15.151
Mike Calvo: And that doesn't, and there are, you know, believers in Jesus and all that, that are DS.
00:17:15.331 --> 00:17:20.191
Mike Calvo: I just, I refuse to be a part of today's religious system and its involvement
00:17:20.191 --> 00:17:21.431
Mike Calvo: with the political system.
00:17:21.911 --> 00:17:28.631
Mike Calvo: That aside, I have a different view than you do on destiny and God's plan for us.
00:17:28.791 --> 00:17:33.331
Mike Calvo: I think that God uses availability and then he gives availability.
00:17:33.951 --> 00:17:39.571
Mike Calvo: Or if we're going to be 21st century about it, they, you know,
00:17:39.911 --> 00:17:44.031
Mike Calvo: because, you know, God has no gender, but, um, but you know,
00:17:44.131 --> 00:17:48.491
Mike Calvo: so they give us ability and, you know, I don't buy into the world.
00:17:48.651 --> 00:17:50.951
Mike Calvo: God's got a plan for my life. No, no, no, no, no.
00:17:51.191 --> 00:17:55.231
Mike Calvo: God's got a plan. And when you make yourself available and say,
00:17:55.371 --> 00:18:02.011
Mike Calvo: here I am, use me as you see fit or show me where I can plug in,
00:18:02.031 --> 00:18:05.031
Mike Calvo: but it isn't about you, dude. It's not about me.
00:18:05.291 --> 00:18:11.111
Mike Calvo: It's all about them, him, her, it, whatever you want to call God, you know?
00:18:11.311 --> 00:18:13.551
Mike Calvo: And I think that doesn't bother me.
00:18:13.771 --> 00:18:16.331
Mike Calvo: It doesn't make me feel like I got a raw deal.
00:18:16.871 --> 00:18:18.551
Mike Calvo: Blindness just is.
00:18:18.791 --> 00:18:19.991
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:20.351 --> 00:18:25.091
Mike Calvo: You know, blindness just is, you know, listen, you know, before you this day,
00:18:25.211 --> 00:18:26.651
Mike Calvo: I lay blessings and curses.
00:18:26.831 --> 00:18:28.891
Mike Calvo: Which one will you choose?
00:18:29.151 --> 00:18:31.791
Mike Calvo: You know, you never knew what good was until you saw evil. You never knew what
00:18:31.791 --> 00:18:35.231
Mike Calvo: evil was until you knew and understood what good was. Same thing.
00:18:35.511 --> 00:18:41.091
Mike Calvo: You know, the only reason that blindness is a problem to you or me is because we're the minority.
00:18:41.351 --> 00:18:41.851
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
00:18:42.111 --> 00:18:46.671
Mike Calvo: You know, it's funny. Jonathan Mosen does another podcast, and he actually wrote
00:18:46.671 --> 00:18:50.111
Mike Calvo: a story about a blind leading world,
00:18:50.271 --> 00:18:55.711
Mike Calvo: you know, just a whole blind world that was dominated by blind people and sighted
00:18:55.711 --> 00:18:58.571
Mike Calvo: people were the minority. And it was a very interesting turnabout.
00:18:58.931 --> 00:19:02.851
Mike Calvo: So, you know, our issues are social. Our issues are not
00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:08.840
Mike Calvo: personal, you know, I mean, everybody wants to fit in. That's the nature of the human.
00:19:09.060 --> 00:19:12.440
Mike Calvo: We want to fit in. We want to be a part of society. We want to be accepted.
00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.860
Mike Calvo: And when somebody says you're different than me or you're less than me or you're
00:19:16.860 --> 00:19:20.380
Mike Calvo: incapable, you know, than me, it doesn't feel good.
00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:20.680
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:19:21.040 --> 00:19:23.720
Mike Calvo: And people are shocked when I say this. So I'm going to shock you.
00:19:23.840 --> 00:19:26.880
Mike Calvo: Ready? Blind people don't need your empathy or your sympathy.
00:19:27.300 --> 00:19:32.280
Mike Calvo: What we need is your understanding and your inquisitiveness.
00:19:32.280 --> 00:19:34.660
Mike Calvo: This. What can I do, if anything, to help?
00:19:34.800 --> 00:19:35.100
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
00:19:35.800 --> 00:19:41.280
Mike Calvo: Yes. You know, I have sat in front of many a sighted person and they've said,
00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:45.000
Mike Calvo: well, you can't do that or you can't do this. And I'm like, but why?
00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:48.200
Mike Calvo: Well, if I were a stopper right there, I'm like, well, but see,
00:19:48.360 --> 00:19:51.600
Mike Calvo: that's the problem, dude. You're not me and I'm not you.
00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:55.400
Mike Calvo: You know, I can go to the gym and I can bench 150 pounds.
00:19:55.800 --> 00:19:59.540
Mike Calvo: You know, I know people that are my same stature that can't do it.
00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:02.860
Mike Calvo: You understand? So it has nothing to do, with your abilities.
00:20:03.320 --> 00:20:09.300
Mike Calvo: You know, empathy is, we're taught socially to empathize, but the reality is
00:20:09.300 --> 00:20:12.300
Mike Calvo: that a blind person needs comprehension. We're all different.
00:20:12.560 --> 00:20:15.220
Mike Calvo: We need conversation, open communication,
00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:18.900
Mike Calvo: open dialogue. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask.
00:20:19.100 --> 00:20:19.540
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
00:20:20.040 --> 00:20:24.220
Mike Calvo: You know, because the reality is that, you know, and when I was younger,
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:30.000
Mike Calvo: I'm an old guy now, I'm 57, but I call myself an old guy and I'm not angry anymore.
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:35.420
Mike Calvo: I used to be a really pissed off person and I'm not angry anymore because I
00:20:35.420 --> 00:20:38.060
Mike Calvo: realized that anger gets you nowhere.
00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:41.440
Mike Calvo: You know, that doesn't mean I don't bring passion. I mean, I'm Cuban,
00:20:41.560 --> 00:20:43.360
Mike Calvo: man. I'm, you know, we're passionate people, man.
00:20:43.780 --> 00:20:50.280
Mike Calvo: You know, but, but besides that, you know, I'm here to differentiate between
00:20:50.280 --> 00:20:55.280
Mike Calvo: the ignorant and the stupid, you know, and ignorance is you truly don't know.
00:20:55.600 --> 00:20:59.960
Mike Calvo: Stupid is you suspect you don't know, you know where you can go get the information,
00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:03.420
Mike Calvo: but you're too damn lazy or don't care enough to go figure it out.
00:21:03.580 --> 00:21:06.980
Mike Calvo: And I got a cure for ignorance. And that's what I'm doing here today.
00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:10.640
Mike Calvo: It's what I do when I speak publicly. It's what I do when I write articles.
00:21:11.020 --> 00:21:14.640
Mike Calvo: That's a cure for ignorance. My cure for stupidity will lend me in jail for
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.480
Mike Calvo: the rest of my life and get my concealed weapons license taken away.
00:21:18.820 --> 00:21:23.940
Mike Calvo: So, and yes, in Florida, they let blind people carry guns and we do.
00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:25.960
Mike Calvo: So don't mess with me. No, I'm kidding.
00:21:28.500 --> 00:21:33.380
Mike Calvo: But you know, it really is one of these things where, you know,
00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:38.520
Mike Calvo: blindness is really up to interpretation and the way that you handle it.
00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:42.700
Mike Calvo: And I am so sorry. I have probably derailed every question you have for me.
00:21:42.860 --> 00:21:45.680
Mike Calvo: So I would be a good guest to get back in my place.
00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:53.980
Kevin Lowe: No, I mean, but what I love about this, and I think this is kind of the direction
00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:57.860
Kevin Lowe: moving forward in our conversation, at least for the next little bit,
00:21:58.120 --> 00:22:00.880
Kevin Lowe: is this understanding that.
00:22:01.841 --> 00:22:08.141
Kevin Lowe: So blindness, it's a part of you. It's a part of me, but it does not define any of us.
00:22:08.361 --> 00:22:14.101
Kevin Lowe: It's just like the fact of you have black hair. I have brown hair. It's a part of us.
00:22:14.461 --> 00:22:22.321
Kevin Lowe: And so with that understanding that you being blind doesn't make you some type of crazy individual.
00:22:22.601 --> 00:22:25.261
Kevin Lowe: Well, I mean, you're already kind of crazy, but I think that was from other
00:22:25.261 --> 00:22:25.781
Kevin Lowe: reasons. I was about to say.
00:22:26.681 --> 00:22:31.021
Mike Calvo: You're taking away one of my good points here. And by the way,
00:22:31.101 --> 00:22:34.521
Mike Calvo: I'll tell you a secret. See, I could lie to you, but I'm bald.
00:22:34.721 --> 00:22:37.841
Kevin Lowe: You're bald. Yes. Okay. There you go.
00:22:38.021 --> 00:22:44.521
Mike Calvo: And calvo in Spanish means bald. I tell people it's not just a last name. It is a prophecy.
00:22:47.421 --> 00:22:52.281
Kevin Lowe: Fascinating. I love it. I love it. Well, I want to get back to one aspect of
00:22:52.281 --> 00:22:56.921
Kevin Lowe: your story, because despite the fact of even being a blind teenager,
00:22:57.221 --> 00:23:02.681
Kevin Lowe: you mentioned as a teenager, when most teenagers we think of are maybe doing
00:23:02.681 --> 00:23:10.221
Kevin Lowe: schoolwork, maybe hanging out with friends, you were DJing and selling drugs in Miami.
00:23:10.481 --> 00:23:11.041
Mike Calvo: Yes, sir.
00:23:11.221 --> 00:23:16.001
Kevin Lowe: Talk to me a little bit more about that aspect of the story before we learn
00:23:16.001 --> 00:23:23.081
Kevin Lowe: about how in the world maybe you got out of that world into a more professional role.
00:23:24.781 --> 00:23:28.361
Mike Calvo: So rewind, I was 12 years old And I,
00:23:28.561 --> 00:23:32.861
Mike Calvo: like I said, every blind kid wants to be a DJ So I, you know,
00:23:32.981 --> 00:23:39.281
Mike Calvo: I put together a little demo tape And I went to WDNA Which was a radio station
00:23:39.281 --> 00:23:44.661
Mike Calvo: A public access radio station in Miami And wanted to do a radio show there And
00:23:44.661 --> 00:23:48.641
Mike Calvo: they were cool enough to let this 12-year-old blind kid Go on the radio My voice
00:23:48.641 --> 00:23:51.541
Mike Calvo: hadn't even changed And I was doing radio
00:23:52.335 --> 00:23:58.815
Mike Calvo: So I used to love to go to the skating rink and I was enamored with disco and
00:23:58.815 --> 00:24:00.075
Mike Calvo: with mixing and all that stuff.
00:24:00.255 --> 00:24:04.275
Mike Calvo: And there was a guy named Leo Vela who may rest in peace, passed away a few
00:24:04.275 --> 00:24:06.275
Mike Calvo: years ago, a close and dear friend.
00:24:07.135 --> 00:24:10.555
Mike Calvo: He wasn't a close and dear friend then. He was just the guy that this pain in
00:24:10.555 --> 00:24:14.855
Mike Calvo: the ass teenager would call or, and how do you do this? And how do you backspin?
00:24:14.995 --> 00:24:18.815
Mike Calvo: And how do you mix? And how do you beat match? And how do you get your levels right?
00:24:18.955 --> 00:24:21.715
Mike Calvo: And you know, what kind of cartridge are you using on your turntable?
00:24:21.715 --> 00:24:23.675
Mike Calvo: And, you know, how do you put your records in order?
00:24:23.875 --> 00:24:26.155
Mike Calvo: And, you know, and Leo was so patient.
00:24:26.415 --> 00:24:32.515
Mike Calvo: You know, I learned how to mix, DJ mix, beat match and that kind of thing that way.
00:24:32.855 --> 00:24:37.835
Mike Calvo: And I went to my local skating rink and I went on and I said,
00:24:37.915 --> 00:24:42.175
Mike Calvo: hey, can I, you know, and they were like, here's this little blind kid. Can I do a set?
00:24:42.775 --> 00:24:46.375
Mike Calvo: And what the hell, why not? Let the kid do it. And I impressed them.
00:24:46.795 --> 00:24:48.235
Mike Calvo: You know, they had a little teen disco.
00:24:49.955 --> 00:24:54.215
Mike Calvo: And, you know, being Hispanic, we have a pretty strong work ethic.
00:24:54.415 --> 00:24:57.295
Mike Calvo: So I come home and they said, hey, if you want to work, you know,
00:24:57.375 --> 00:25:01.615
Mike Calvo: we'll give you Fridays and Saturdays. You can work Friday nights and Saturday during the day.
00:25:01.795 --> 00:25:04.355
Mike Calvo: And then Saturday nights, you know, Saturday during the day,
00:25:04.815 --> 00:25:08.695
Mike Calvo: I actually worked the skating rink side. And then Saturday nights,
00:25:08.815 --> 00:25:10.315
Mike Calvo: I would go and work the disco again.
00:25:10.815 --> 00:25:14.655
Mike Calvo: And I went to my dad and I'm like, hey, dad, I want to get a job.
00:25:14.835 --> 00:25:18.035
Mike Calvo: And he says, are you going to keep going to school?
00:25:18.575 --> 00:25:21.775
Mike Calvo: I'm like, yeah, of course. And he said, okay. He said, well,
00:25:22.495 --> 00:25:26.435
Mike Calvo: man that works is a man that pays rent. And I said, okay.
00:25:27.115 --> 00:25:31.455
Mike Calvo: And so from the time I was 13, my dad was charging me 50 bucks a week for rent.
00:25:32.415 --> 00:25:36.275
Mike Calvo: You know, and I was making like 60 or $70 at the time. Oh, wow.
00:25:36.435 --> 00:25:39.755
Mike Calvo: And I was like, dad, I'm making $70. He said, work harder.
00:25:41.355 --> 00:25:44.915
Mike Calvo: He said, work harder. He said, that's the rent. He said, I'm not gonna,
00:25:45.095 --> 00:25:47.015
Mike Calvo: he said, what? I'm gonna lower it for you? No.
00:25:47.615 --> 00:25:49.495
Mike Calvo: He said, that's the rent here. Figure it out.
00:25:50.346 --> 00:25:52.406
Mike Calvo: Which is true, bro. That's life.
00:25:52.746 --> 00:25:52.986
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:25:53.326 --> 00:25:58.526
Mike Calvo: That's life, you know? And so I, you know, I started working.
00:25:58.806 --> 00:26:06.346
Mike Calvo: And then the guy, Leo, that was my mentor, he actually got me into a club, a real adult club,
00:26:06.686 --> 00:26:10.926
Mike Calvo: under something called the Performers Act, which was basically,
00:26:10.926 --> 00:26:14.866
Mike Calvo: I didn't go in there as a 13-year-old DJ.
00:26:15.106 --> 00:26:17.266
Mike Calvo: I went in there as an act.
00:26:17.766 --> 00:26:19.726
Mike Calvo: Okay. Kind of like a circus. Yeah.
00:26:21.226 --> 00:26:25.026
Mike Calvo: You know, watch the blind guy spin records, you know, I mean,
00:26:25.286 --> 00:26:29.146
Mike Calvo: and, and, and yes, it was that patronizing, but what the hell,
00:26:29.386 --> 00:26:32.946
Mike Calvo: you know, I went in, I, I started spinning records.
00:26:32.946 --> 00:26:37.106
Mike Calvo: I started going to clubs. I started working in clubs from the time I was 13
00:26:37.106 --> 00:26:41.566
Mike Calvo: and I would do guest appearances. And of course it was 1980.
00:26:41.746 --> 00:26:46.906
Mike Calvo: So, you know, cocaine and, you know, weed and all that stuff were in abundance in Miami at the time.
00:26:47.226 --> 00:26:51.686
Mike Calvo: So, you know, I took the liberties of participating and indulging in all of
00:26:51.686 --> 00:26:54.746
Mike Calvo: the above. Never got hooked. Thank you, God.
00:26:55.266 --> 00:26:58.346
Mike Calvo: You know, knock on the wood. I don't have an addictive personality.
00:26:58.926 --> 00:27:03.006
Mike Calvo: I tell people, the only thing I'm addicted to is my, you know, my female partner.
00:27:03.706 --> 00:27:08.726
Mike Calvo: You know, it's the only addiction I kind of foster. But everything else,
00:27:08.866 --> 00:27:11.586
Mike Calvo: you know, I don't have an addictive personality.
00:27:11.926 --> 00:27:16.026
Mike Calvo: So I did that. And then in, you know, like I said, I started,
00:27:16.286 --> 00:27:21.526
Mike Calvo: I got involved with some people of questionable background from Vegas,
00:27:21.766 --> 00:27:25.706
Mike Calvo: and you can read between the lines, and they taught me how to hustle.
00:27:26.337 --> 00:27:32.537
Mike Calvo: And I became one hell of a hustler at 13, 14 years old, started selling quaaludes,
00:27:32.777 --> 00:27:36.477
Mike Calvo: which were a drug back in the day, and just got really involved in that culture.
00:27:36.617 --> 00:27:41.157
Mike Calvo: I was making a truckload of money at that time. My dad said I need to make more money, right?
00:27:42.037 --> 00:27:43.897
Mike Calvo: I don't think it meant for me to make it that way.
00:27:45.957 --> 00:27:51.457
Mike Calvo: But I made more money. I mean, you know, I was making more money and I would
00:27:51.457 --> 00:27:55.237
Mike Calvo: always laugh because getting my books in school was a pain in the neck.
00:27:55.237 --> 00:27:58.897
Mike Calvo: Getting anything done in school was always this uphill battle.
00:27:59.237 --> 00:28:02.797
Mike Calvo: And there was always for this carrot on a stick of you need to go to school
00:28:02.797 --> 00:28:05.337
Mike Calvo: and get your diploma so you can get a high paying job.
00:28:05.597 --> 00:28:08.697
Mike Calvo: And my principal would be very patronizing at school. I'd be like,
00:28:08.777 --> 00:28:13.257
Mike Calvo: bitch, I make more money than you do in a month, in a week, you know?
00:28:13.717 --> 00:28:18.177
Mike Calvo: And so it was just, you know, very, very rebellious
00:28:19.397 --> 00:28:23.977
Mike Calvo: teenager type of thing and got involved in, you know, if you're involved in
00:28:23.977 --> 00:28:28.957
Mike Calvo: drugs and stuff, if you're involved with hoodlums and that kind of thing. And I had enough sight.
00:28:29.717 --> 00:28:34.397
Mike Calvo: Back then, it wasn't big fights, we called it rumbles.
00:28:35.677 --> 00:28:38.777
Mike Calvo: And people would fight or whatever, and somebody would bring a chain,
00:28:38.977 --> 00:28:41.537
Mike Calvo: or somebody would bring some nunchucks or whatever. Nobody would bring guns
00:28:41.537 --> 00:28:43.097
Mike Calvo: or anything. It wasn't like it is today.
00:28:44.357 --> 00:28:49.317
Mike Calvo: At least in Miami at that time. I mean, Miami got ugly later with all the cocaine
00:28:49.317 --> 00:28:50.697
Mike Calvo: cowboy fights and all that stuff.
00:28:51.382 --> 00:28:54.442
Mike Calvo: But it was just, you know, it was the way I grew up, man.
00:28:54.702 --> 00:28:58.802
Mike Calvo: I, you know, I naturally moved into from DJing, moved into music,
00:28:59.202 --> 00:29:02.122
Mike Calvo: started a mobile DJ business, grew that business.
00:29:02.262 --> 00:29:05.442
Mike Calvo: By the time I was 16, we had eight or 10 mobiles.
00:29:05.842 --> 00:29:09.922
Mike Calvo: I've always been a leader. I think that leaders are born.
00:29:10.142 --> 00:29:13.522
Mike Calvo: That doesn't mean that leaders are born knowing how to lead.
00:29:13.722 --> 00:29:17.062
Mike Calvo: I think that leaders are born and then we get taught how to lead.
00:29:17.062 --> 00:29:21.482
Mike Calvo: And as a great man once said, the master is no greater than his servant.
00:29:21.802 --> 00:29:23.522
Mike Calvo: And I believe that strongly.
00:29:23.862 --> 00:29:26.902
Mike Calvo: If you're going to lead, then you need to learn how to follow first.
00:29:27.222 --> 00:29:32.942
Mike Calvo: And I have had on both sides of the law, some amazing mentors in my life.
00:29:33.202 --> 00:29:36.342
Mike Calvo: My father couldn't handle my blindness for a long time.
00:29:36.502 --> 00:29:41.762
Mike Calvo: I lacked a good, deep relationship with my father because, you know,
00:29:41.842 --> 00:29:47.162
Mike Calvo: and we'll rewind for a second. In 1953, my father went to his mom's house.
00:29:47.542 --> 00:29:48.562
Mike Calvo: His parents were divorced and
00:29:48.562 --> 00:29:53.662
Mike Calvo: they were in Cuba. And he ran to his mom's house in 1953 to go see her.
00:29:53.762 --> 00:29:56.042
Mike Calvo: And she had a blind guy sitting there playing guitar.
00:29:56.562 --> 00:30:01.182
Mike Calvo: And like I said, in Cuba, there was a great deal of ignorance pre-revolution.
00:30:01.602 --> 00:30:06.062
Mike Calvo: Post-revolution, believe it or not, the main people that gained from the Cuban
00:30:06.062 --> 00:30:07.682
Mike Calvo: revolution were people with disabilities.
00:30:08.142 --> 00:30:12.682
Mike Calvo: Because for whatever reason, Castro had it, you know, he believed that,
00:30:12.682 --> 00:30:15.842
Mike Calvo: you know, if you made a way, everybody could work, you know,
00:30:15.982 --> 00:30:20.582
Mike Calvo: so you've got blind people in Cuba, you know, that, that, that have college degrees.
00:30:20.742 --> 00:30:23.822
Mike Calvo: I met a blind MD in Cuba. Wow.
00:30:24.262 --> 00:30:27.542
Mike Calvo: They wouldn't let you or me near a freaking stethoscope, you know,
00:30:27.542 --> 00:30:33.482
Mike Calvo: but I met a blind MD in Cuba and his explanation, Hey, all I lack are the eyes.
00:30:33.522 --> 00:30:36.382
Mike Calvo: He said, I got the education. I just tell somebody with eyes, look in there.
00:30:36.602 --> 00:30:39.262
Mike Calvo: If you've got a throat ache, what you hear, does that hurt? Yeah.
00:30:39.482 --> 00:30:42.082
Mike Calvo: Look in their mouth. Is it red here? Is it red there? Yes. Okay.
00:30:42.302 --> 00:30:43.642
Mike Calvo: Well, then you're sick, you know?
00:30:44.108 --> 00:30:48.948
Mike Calvo: But when in 1953, my dad ran to his mom's house and there's a blind guy there.
00:30:49.208 --> 00:30:52.568
Mike Calvo: And she's like, oh, Carlos, come and listen to the blind guy play the guitar.
00:30:52.868 --> 00:30:56.348
Mike Calvo: He's like, what? What are you doing with this piece of crap in your house?
00:30:56.348 --> 00:30:59.168
Mike Calvo: If I ever had a blind child, I'd drown it like a cat.
00:31:00.108 --> 00:31:03.908
Mike Calvo: You know, and this poor man in that was in 53.
00:31:04.328 --> 00:31:10.748
Mike Calvo: I was born in 67. And my father for years just thought he was being punished by God for saying that.
00:31:11.068 --> 00:31:13.208
Mike Calvo: Oh, wow. And my father's not a
00:31:13.208 --> 00:31:17.688
Mike Calvo: religious man. You know, so I can't even imagine, bro, the burden of that.
00:31:18.188 --> 00:31:22.628
Mike Calvo: You know what I'm saying? I mean, and, you know, my heart goes out to him,
00:31:22.768 --> 00:31:28.548
Mike Calvo: you know, because that was, I'm a dad and I can't even imagine living with that level of guilt.
00:31:28.848 --> 00:31:32.148
Mike Calvo: You know, if I get into an argument with one of my kids and I'm wrong,
00:31:32.248 --> 00:31:34.348
Mike Calvo: I'm guilty for, you know, freaking 10 years.
00:31:34.548 --> 00:31:41.288
Mike Calvo: So it's, you know, it was pretty intense, but I digress. I did the DJing thing,
00:31:41.788 --> 00:31:44.188
Mike Calvo: Eventually built up a mobile business.
00:31:44.548 --> 00:31:47.848
Mike Calvo: I've always been a leader. The way I built the mobile business was I didn't
00:31:47.848 --> 00:31:49.068
Mike Calvo: buy a bunch of DJ equipment.
00:31:49.348 --> 00:31:54.048
Mike Calvo: I built my name and I ended up doing mixes on the radio and all this stuff.
00:31:54.128 --> 00:31:58.228
Mike Calvo: I built my name up and said to other kids who had DJ equipment,
00:31:58.368 --> 00:32:00.708
Mike Calvo: listen, I've got more parties than I can handle.
00:32:00.848 --> 00:32:06.628
Mike Calvo: So I'll take 20% and you'll get 80% and you will work under my label.
00:32:06.808 --> 00:32:08.768
Mike Calvo: And that's exactly what they did.
00:32:09.008 --> 00:32:11.648
Mike Calvo: And by the time I was 16, I was doing that.
00:32:12.068 --> 00:32:16.448
Mike Calvo: Ended up selling that to my business partner at the time because I wanted to
00:32:16.448 --> 00:32:18.788
Mike Calvo: go into producing music and did that.
00:32:18.848 --> 00:32:21.728
Mike Calvo: And I was DJing at clubs and stuff. So I was making enough money.
00:32:21.928 --> 00:32:25.148
Mike Calvo: Didn't want to do the mobile DJ thing anymore.
00:32:25.288 --> 00:32:30.528
Mike Calvo: So went forward and then ultimately ended up with a recording studio by the time I was 18.
00:32:30.848 --> 00:32:33.508
Mike Calvo: A little recording studio, not a big deal, you know, midi thing.
00:32:33.888 --> 00:32:39.008
Mike Calvo: But as you see, school was just never, it was just never important to me and
00:32:39.008 --> 00:32:42.868
Mike Calvo: listen it was never important to me because I wasn't important to it
00:32:44.333 --> 00:32:49.833
Mike Calvo: You know, I met one or two teachers that ever had the nerve to tell me,
00:32:49.933 --> 00:32:51.233
Mike Calvo: you know, Calvo, I believe in you.
00:32:52.073 --> 00:32:58.333
Mike Calvo: You know, I met more teachers that were intent on telling me the realities of life.
00:32:58.693 --> 00:33:01.853
Mike Calvo: That's bullshit. You don't tell people the reality. You don't tell a 13-year-old
00:33:01.853 --> 00:33:04.453
Mike Calvo: kid, you can't do this, you can't do that, you can't do it.
00:33:04.593 --> 00:33:08.633
Mike Calvo: If a 12-year-old or a 13-year-old kid, I don't care if he's blind or if he's
00:33:08.633 --> 00:33:11.813
Mike Calvo: in a wheelchair or if he don't have any arms and legs, I don't give a damn.
00:33:12.333 --> 00:33:15.473
Mike Calvo: You know, if he says, I want to be an astronaut and a police chief and a mail
00:33:15.473 --> 00:33:20.613
Mike Calvo: carrier all at the same time, damn it, you tell them you can do anything you freaking please to do.
00:33:20.853 --> 00:33:24.893
Mike Calvo: Anything your mind says you can do, you do it. Because if God gave you the ability
00:33:24.893 --> 00:33:28.473
Mike Calvo: to conceive it, God will figure out a way for you to achieve it.
00:33:29.633 --> 00:33:29.993
Kevin Lowe: Amen.
00:33:30.593 --> 00:33:33.733
Mike Calvo: Amen. You know, no, I feel that very strongly.
00:33:34.193 --> 00:33:37.373
Mike Calvo: We have an amazing creator that gave us the ability to dream.
00:33:37.373 --> 00:33:42.933
Mike Calvo: And man, what a piece of crap that creator would be if it did not give us the
00:33:42.933 --> 00:33:44.833
Mike Calvo: ability to achieve what we conceive.
00:33:45.273 --> 00:33:50.653
Mike Calvo: And I bring to you the picture of Abraham. Abraham never saw what God gave him
00:33:50.653 --> 00:33:54.953
Mike Calvo: the ability to conceive, but it did achieve. It did happen.
00:33:55.613 --> 00:33:58.953
Mike Calvo: You know, write the vision for it will surely come to pass.
00:33:59.093 --> 00:34:04.453
Mike Calvo: You know, and I believe very strongly in the power of self-motivation.
00:34:04.453 --> 00:34:07.413
Mike Calvo: I believe very strongly in the power of faith.
00:34:07.593 --> 00:34:10.773
Mike Calvo: I don't mean faith in a being, I mean faith in one's self.
00:34:11.304 --> 00:34:16.444
Mike Calvo: Faith in what you do, faith in what that creator has given you the ability to do.
00:34:16.584 --> 00:34:21.204
Mike Calvo: Like I said, I don't think God is up there like a big puppet master moving the strings.
00:34:21.564 --> 00:34:25.664
Mike Calvo: God gives us the ability. He gives us, you know, the framework and he gives
00:34:25.664 --> 00:34:28.884
Mike Calvo: us the opportunities. You know, what you do with them is your business.
00:34:29.144 --> 00:34:32.784
Mike Calvo: If you make crap out of it, well, it's your thing. Don't worry.
00:34:33.424 --> 00:34:36.144
Mike Calvo: Creator's vision will be done in spite of you.
00:34:36.384 --> 00:34:40.464
Mike Calvo: Yeah. I'm not naive enough to believe, oh, you know, I'm God's little messenger.
00:34:40.464 --> 00:34:42.764
Mike Calvo: And, you know, it's not going to happen if I don't do it.
00:34:42.824 --> 00:34:46.404
Mike Calvo: Hey, if I don't do it, if God needs to make a donkey do it, and he's done it
00:34:46.404 --> 00:34:50.284
Mike Calvo: before, God needs to get his message across to humans through a donkey, he will.
00:34:50.564 --> 00:34:55.884
Mike Calvo: You know what I'm saying? And this donkey right here has actually spread some messages for God.
00:34:56.124 --> 00:35:01.124
Mike Calvo: So, you know, to me, you know, I have so much to say, dude, and I don't know
00:35:01.124 --> 00:35:03.784
Mike Calvo: how to fit it into this, into what
00:35:03.784 --> 00:35:08.924
Mike Calvo: we're doing, because normally when I do podcasts, it's kind of just a Q&A.
00:35:09.044 --> 00:35:12.144
Mike Calvo: So how did you make it where you are? How did you do this? And what technologies do you have?
00:35:12.284 --> 00:35:17.264
Mike Calvo: But this is like, you're opening me up and asking me to share my soul.
00:35:17.544 --> 00:35:22.924
Mike Calvo: And I love doing that because I believe, I believe that I have something to say. Yes.
00:35:23.364 --> 00:35:25.724
Mike Calvo: You know, there's a little narcissist in all of us.
00:35:26.244 --> 00:35:29.304
Mike Calvo: And I believe I have something to contribute. Yeah. You know,
00:35:29.564 --> 00:35:33.364
Mike Calvo: and some people may think I'm full of crap and that's fine. You have the right to do that.
00:35:33.564 --> 00:35:33.724
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:35:33.904 --> 00:35:37.644
Mike Calvo: I'm tired of being angry. I'm tired of being upset.
00:35:37.644 --> 00:35:42.264
Mike Calvo: You know, I really want to share my life experiences.
00:35:42.264 --> 00:35:47.844
Mike Calvo: I want to share the wisdom I think that I've earned throughout the years because
00:35:47.844 --> 00:35:56.164
Mike Calvo: I don't ever want a child to go through what I've gone through because of the world's ignorance.
00:35:56.704 --> 00:36:03.524
Mike Calvo: And I have really dedicated my life to doing that, to helping our community
00:36:03.524 --> 00:36:06.344
Mike Calvo: grow and believe in itself.
00:36:06.584 --> 00:36:12.204
Mike Calvo: The power of us, man, power of us. That's the internet gave us a huge amount of power.
00:36:12.444 --> 00:36:12.904
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
00:36:13.524 --> 00:36:19.764
Mike Calvo: And I leverage it every day of my life. I'm not gonna lie. There's a number of social challenges.
00:36:19.964 --> 00:36:23.264
Mike Calvo: There's still an 85% unemployment rate in our community.
00:36:23.464 --> 00:36:23.764
Kevin Lowe: Yep.
00:36:24.244 --> 00:36:27.264
Mike Calvo: And which is why I decided to build my own.
00:36:27.524 --> 00:36:31.024
Mike Calvo: If there's a 90% failure rate, in first-time business.
00:36:31.264 --> 00:36:34.484
Mike Calvo: There's an 85% unemployment rate in the blindness community.
00:36:34.664 --> 00:36:37.824
Mike Calvo: Well, then hell, it's about a 50-50 shot if I'm going to make it or not.
00:36:38.604 --> 00:36:39.004
Kevin Lowe: Exactly.
00:36:39.144 --> 00:36:44.064
Mike Calvo: So I might as well do it my way and not have a stop on the gas pedal.
00:36:44.524 --> 00:36:46.364
Mike Calvo: Have I become a millionaire? No.
00:36:47.084 --> 00:36:50.764
Mike Calvo: But riches are measured much more than the zeros in your bank account.
00:36:51.204 --> 00:36:51.604
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:36:51.944 --> 00:36:56.044
Mike Calvo: You know, I am a motivational speaker, you know, but I'm not going to tell you
00:36:56.044 --> 00:37:00.644
Mike Calvo: how much money I'm going to make you. I will tell you that I'm going to change your life.
00:37:02.086 --> 00:37:05.646
Mike Calvo: I'm going to change your life because mine was changed.
00:37:06.186 --> 00:37:10.826
Mike Calvo: You know, and the defining point, ironically enough, in 1995,
00:37:11.366 --> 00:37:13.526
Mike Calvo: I found myself with a broken marriage.
00:37:13.886 --> 00:37:16.506
Mike Calvo: I found myself with looking at
00:37:16.506 --> 00:37:20.366
Mike Calvo: the possibility of having to murder someone who did a great wrong to me.
00:37:20.646 --> 00:37:24.986
Mike Calvo: And I, you know, as crazy as things got for me, you know, back in the day,
00:37:25.246 --> 00:37:26.666
Mike Calvo: I never had to pop anybody.
00:37:27.106 --> 00:37:29.926
Mike Calvo: Beat a few people up, maybe, have somebody beat somebody up for me,
00:37:30.306 --> 00:37:34.106
Mike Calvo: you know, or whatever, sure. but never pop anybody, never kill anybody.
00:37:34.666 --> 00:37:38.526
Mike Calvo: I draw the line at that. I don't have the right to take anyone's life unless
00:37:38.526 --> 00:37:39.806
Mike Calvo: they intend to take mine.
00:37:40.006 --> 00:37:40.366
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:37:40.726 --> 00:37:46.486
Mike Calvo: You know, however, besides that, I had this experience that to this day, I can't explain.
00:37:46.826 --> 00:37:50.906
Mike Calvo: It was to the Christian people, it would be a Damascus Road experience,
00:37:51.586 --> 00:37:55.226
Mike Calvo: but I knew nothing of the Damascus Road at the time, and I knew nothing about any of that.
00:37:55.766 --> 00:38:01.726
Mike Calvo: And I had an encounter with this thing that said to me, look at what you've
00:38:01.726 --> 00:38:03.626
Mike Calvo: done with the life I've given you.
00:38:03.726 --> 00:38:06.146
Mike Calvo: Look at what a message you've made of it. And I gave you so much talent,
00:38:06.426 --> 00:38:09.026
Mike Calvo: the ability to lead people and look what you've done.
00:38:09.186 --> 00:38:12.566
Mike Calvo: And all my life I'd been, you know, leading people into debauchery,
00:38:12.786 --> 00:38:16.986
Mike Calvo: you know, leading people, selling weed in school and doing things for it.
00:38:16.986 --> 00:38:18.086
Mike Calvo: Like I said, I've always been a leader.
00:38:18.246 --> 00:38:20.486
Mike Calvo: You know, my father used to tell me, oh, you know, I feel bad,
00:38:20.606 --> 00:38:23.926
Mike Calvo: you know, people have taken, I'm like, no dad, I was the one selling everybody
00:38:23.926 --> 00:38:26.306
Mike Calvo: the drugs. Nobody sold me the drugs except for my bosses.
00:38:27.466 --> 00:38:32.866
Mike Calvo: You know, so, you know, So it was, you know, I take full responsibility for my behavior.
00:38:33.086 --> 00:38:39.486
Mike Calvo: And in 1995, although, like I said before, I do not classify myself as a Christian
00:38:39.486 --> 00:38:44.806
Mike Calvo: today in the conventional religious sense of the word, Jesus changed my life.
00:38:45.206 --> 00:38:50.086
Mike Calvo: That's it. There's no other way to put it. No religious BS.
00:38:50.466 --> 00:38:55.106
Mike Calvo: No, that's just, that is the line, dude. And I've never sold another drug.
00:38:55.546 --> 00:38:59.526
Mike Calvo: Never, you know, I'm not gonna lie. By full disclosure, I use cannabis medically,
00:38:59.766 --> 00:39:01.706
Mike Calvo: frequently, but that's about it.
00:39:01.966 --> 00:39:04.966
Mike Calvo: Don't do drugs, have a drink from time to time.
00:39:05.266 --> 00:39:11.546
Mike Calvo: But my life was changed, and from that time to now, I've had the honor and the
00:39:11.546 --> 00:39:16.606
Mike Calvo: privilege of leading two companies that have changed the world for hundreds
00:39:16.606 --> 00:39:18.546
Mike Calvo: of thousands of blind people.
00:39:19.209 --> 00:39:25.909
Mike Calvo: From an uneducated, drugged out, gang banging, nobody's ever going to look at you.
00:39:26.089 --> 00:39:28.889
Mike Calvo: You need to be normal bullshit kid from Miami.
00:39:29.349 --> 00:39:32.389
Mike Calvo: God is freaking amazing. God is amazing.
00:39:32.669 --> 00:39:33.029
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
00:39:33.369 --> 00:39:36.269
Mike Calvo: And I'm honored to be a disciple.
00:39:36.769 --> 00:39:40.149
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely, man. Well, Mike,
00:39:40.289 --> 00:39:48.729
Kevin Lowe: what I'm curious about is how does that transition happen in your life to go
00:39:48.729 --> 00:39:56.429
Kevin Lowe: from the kid we're hearing about to this entrepreneur in the tech space?
00:39:56.429 --> 00:40:03.389
Kevin Lowe: And how do you even get involved in technology aspects and make this transition
00:40:03.389 --> 00:40:06.849
Kevin Lowe: into creating the life that you have today?
00:40:07.609 --> 00:40:11.549
Mike Calvo: So in 1989 in 1989
00:40:11.549 --> 00:40:14.589
Mike Calvo: i found i had a studio a recording studio
00:40:14.589 --> 00:40:17.549
Mike Calvo: and i got my girlfriend pregnant and uh
00:40:17.549 --> 00:40:22.849
Mike Calvo: we we were engaged we had gotten engaged we decided to you know to uh to speed
00:40:22.849 --> 00:40:27.169
Mike Calvo: it up so that she wouldn't be walking down the the aisle with the bed yes you
00:40:27.169 --> 00:40:34.169
Mike Calvo: know so you know so all this time i'm like thinking oh my goodness i gotta i
00:40:34.169 --> 00:40:36.269
Mike Calvo: gotta change my life man i gotta do something different.
00:40:36.389 --> 00:40:39.809
Mike Calvo: I can't imagine my kid being in kindergarten going, you know,
00:40:39.869 --> 00:40:41.329
Mike Calvo: what's your daddy? My daddy, a drug dealer.
00:40:42.289 --> 00:40:46.429
Mike Calvo: So that's bullshit. No, I'm not going to do that.
00:40:46.629 --> 00:40:51.629
Mike Calvo: So I went and, and, and you got to picture this, Kevin, I'm,
00:40:51.729 --> 00:40:53.709
Mike Calvo: you know, wearing a pinky ring.
00:40:54.509 --> 00:41:00.589
Mike Calvo: I'm in a suit with hair past my shoulders in a perm. This is 1989.
00:41:02.389 --> 00:41:05.989
Mike Calvo: I go to a bank to get a job doing collections.
00:41:06.929 --> 00:41:12.289
Mike Calvo: And I got a job working at a bank and realized that after a few months,
00:41:12.749 --> 00:41:17.069
Mike Calvo: one of my beautiful mentors, a guy named Greg Luther in the state of Florida,
00:41:17.269 --> 00:41:20.229
Mike Calvo: he took me under his wing and he was the one who set up my computer originally.
00:41:20.829 --> 00:41:26.269
Mike Calvo: I've been using computers because back early on, I worked with a group of hackers
00:41:26.269 --> 00:41:32.869
Mike Calvo: that we were breaking into long distance services and selling codes to like
00:41:32.869 --> 00:41:34.369
Mike Calvo: MCI and Sprint and all that stuff.
00:41:34.969 --> 00:41:39.209
Mike Calvo: So started doing music, using Voyatra and all that stuff. So I had gotten exposed
00:41:39.209 --> 00:41:44.849
Mike Calvo: to computers from a very young age, but hadn't started using them until I was like 21.
00:41:44.989 --> 00:41:52.609
Mike Calvo: I got training on how to use Vert Plus at the time, which was a tele-sensory thing in DOS.
00:41:53.390 --> 00:41:57.770
Mike Calvo: Went to go work at this bank. And Greg, Greg was just like, you know,
00:41:57.890 --> 00:42:02.110
Mike Calvo: once you learn this, you're going to take to it like a duck to water. He was from Iowa.
00:42:04.370 --> 00:42:09.290
Mike Calvo: Funny sayings. And he was right. And I, you know, I brought productivity at
00:42:09.290 --> 00:42:10.510
Mike Calvo: that time. This is pre ADA.
00:42:10.850 --> 00:42:14.850
Mike Calvo: We had a blind employee productivity rate and a normal employee productivity
00:42:14.850 --> 00:42:17.930
Mike Calvo: rate, cringeworthy in today's world.
00:42:18.530 --> 00:42:22.590
Mike Calvo: And I said, well, if I'm going to be abnormal, then I'm going to be abnormal for a purpose.
00:42:22.850 --> 00:42:26.250
Mike Calvo: And, and we, you know, started using an auto dialer and stuff like that.
00:42:26.450 --> 00:42:29.870
Mike Calvo: I brought my, my calls per hour from 16 to 37.
00:42:30.390 --> 00:42:33.190
Mike Calvo: And they were like, oh man, we want another blind guy, you know,
00:42:33.270 --> 00:42:34.950
Mike Calvo: because you're doing such a good job.
00:42:35.250 --> 00:42:38.070
Mike Calvo: And by the way, you get to train him. I'm like, oh shit, I don't know what to
00:42:38.070 --> 00:42:39.090
Mike Calvo: do. I don't know how to do that.
00:42:40.350 --> 00:42:43.870
Mike Calvo: I'm freaking dropping out of high school. Do you give me this freaking blind guy to train?
00:42:44.550 --> 00:42:48.210
Mike Calvo: I didn't train one. I trained two. Oh, wow. Ironically enough,
00:42:48.490 --> 00:42:55.150
Mike Calvo: I remember I used to lug this IBM PS2 model 3286 with monitor home every day
00:42:55.150 --> 00:42:58.830
Mike Calvo: after 12 hours of work and put it in the back of my car and learn and learn
00:42:58.830 --> 00:43:01.550
Mike Calvo: and learn because behind that computer, I was a freaking equal, dude.
00:43:02.590 --> 00:43:07.030
Mike Calvo: And that was, that's all I ever wanted. I mean, I worked, you know,
00:43:07.110 --> 00:43:08.150
Mike Calvo: you say, how did I get there?
00:43:08.330 --> 00:43:14.430
Mike Calvo: If I had to write a book tomorrow about how to make it in life and how to do,
00:43:14.570 --> 00:43:17.870
Mike Calvo: there would be two words, trust God, because that's all I had.
00:43:18.690 --> 00:43:22.210
Mike Calvo: That's it. And that was it. Even before I knew God, God knew me.
00:43:22.570 --> 00:43:24.550
Mike Calvo: And it was just trust God.
00:43:25.470 --> 00:43:30.590
Mike Calvo: Because to this day, I don't know where my paycheck is coming from next month. I truly don't.
00:43:31.270 --> 00:43:35.650
Mike Calvo: And with the current political situation, with the DEIA crap that they're doing now,
00:43:35.810 --> 00:43:38.930
Mike Calvo: and both administrations are guilty of that, the previous administration for
00:43:38.930 --> 00:43:43.590
Mike Calvo: including accessibility as part of DEI and the current administration for keeping
00:43:43.590 --> 00:43:47.010
Mike Calvo: it that way and throwing us out with the rest of that whole situation.
00:43:47.350 --> 00:43:47.610
Kevin Lowe: Yep.
00:43:47.970 --> 00:43:53.230
Mike Calvo: Our community has taken a 30-year step backwards because of stupid ideologies
00:43:53.230 --> 00:43:56.830
Mike Calvo: that have their place, but they don't have a place to blindness.
00:43:57.250 --> 00:44:00.710
Mike Calvo: And to me, so I don't know where my paycheck is coming from,
00:44:00.850 --> 00:44:03.730
Mike Calvo: but I do know one thing, that I am not my provider.
00:44:04.170 --> 00:44:08.390
Mike Calvo: So, you know, one way or the other, I'll survive, but I digress.
00:44:08.390 --> 00:44:14.750
Mike Calvo: So back to the bank, after a few months, one day Greg says to me, hey, I can't go.
00:44:15.090 --> 00:44:19.290
Mike Calvo: We got a presentation at Rider Trucks that we need somebody to do.
00:44:19.470 --> 00:44:21.650
Mike Calvo: Would you go over there and connect to their mainframe?
00:44:22.110 --> 00:44:24.450
Mike Calvo: And this is how advanced I got. And I went from like knowing nothing.
00:44:24.590 --> 00:44:28.010
Mike Calvo: He's like, could you go there and connect to their mainframe and demonstrate
00:44:28.010 --> 00:44:31.850
Mike Calvo: to them how a screen reader works and answer some questions for,
00:44:32.050 --> 00:44:33.710
Mike Calvo: and I'm still like long hair, dude.
00:44:35.550 --> 00:44:39.530
Mike Calvo: And I went, I'll never forget the first day I walked into Ryder Trucks and I'm
00:44:39.530 --> 00:44:43.350
Mike Calvo: sitting there with all these suits and I say to them, you know,
00:44:43.530 --> 00:44:46.650
Mike Calvo: we're here to talk about hiring a blind person.
00:44:46.810 --> 00:44:49.690
Mike Calvo: I said, but the first thing that I'm going to answer is what everybody here
00:44:49.690 --> 00:44:51.970
Mike Calvo: is wondering is, who dressed him this morning?
00:44:53.410 --> 00:44:57.470
Mike Calvo: And everybody started laughing. And I said, you want to know the truth?
00:44:57.690 --> 00:45:02.450
Mike Calvo: I said, any guy who denies in this room that his wife helps him get stressed is a liar.
00:45:03.750 --> 00:45:07.710
Mike Calvo: And that's how I got dressed this morning as well. So blindness has nothing
00:45:07.710 --> 00:45:10.170
Mike Calvo: to do with me being able to get dressed or not.
00:45:10.430 --> 00:45:15.290
Mike Calvo: And I realized that I love talking to people because I'm the kind of speaker
00:45:15.290 --> 00:45:21.090
Mike Calvo: that goes into an organization and says, let's take away the political correctness.
00:45:21.090 --> 00:45:25.150
Mike Calvo: Political correctness has been the enemy of our community because we don't need
00:45:25.150 --> 00:45:28.950
Mike Calvo: I saw the movie on television damn it you don't need to worry about if you ask
00:45:28.950 --> 00:45:34.350
Mike Calvo: me if I heard it that's bs that's stupid no Kevin did you hear that movie the other day
00:45:36.390 --> 00:45:40.810
Mike Calvo: You know so it's stupid yeah you know but four-sided people they're trying to
00:45:40.810 --> 00:45:45.870
Mike Calvo: empathize again don't empathize and I've gone into a number of organizations
00:45:45.870 --> 00:45:49.570
Mike Calvo: to just do talking to their executives, their leadership.
00:45:50.150 --> 00:45:56.250
Mike Calvo: And if a blind person's late all the time, fire their ass. They're not worth it. But they're blind.
00:45:56.490 --> 00:46:00.070
Mike Calvo: So they can read a clock, dude. If not, they got a talking clock.
00:46:00.270 --> 00:46:03.650
Mike Calvo: You know, if they take special, you know, if you got a job, protect it.
00:46:03.870 --> 00:46:09.350
Mike Calvo: God knows you're part of the specialized 15%. You know, if you don't appreciate
00:46:09.350 --> 00:46:10.950
Mike Calvo: what you got, then you don't deserve it.
00:46:11.270 --> 00:46:16.930
Mike Calvo: So to me, I went in and I realized that I loved talking to leadership and companies
00:46:16.930 --> 00:46:19.610
Mike Calvo: and stuff, and I like that environment.
00:46:19.930 --> 00:46:25.170
Mike Calvo: So this guy, I can't say his name because of HIPAA, but he went and he got a
00:46:25.170 --> 00:46:29.630
Mike Calvo: job at Rider, and Greg says, I can't go down there and program that thing.
00:46:29.790 --> 00:46:32.430
Mike Calvo: I'm sure he could. He said, you're gonna need to do it.
00:46:32.670 --> 00:46:35.710
Mike Calvo: I'm like, Greg, I can't do that. He said, yes, you can. I said, Greg, are you kidding?
00:46:36.404 --> 00:46:40.544
Mike Calvo: And he's like, I'll pay you 75 bucks a day, which is crap money, but okay.
00:46:41.844 --> 00:46:45.224
Mike Calvo: I said, okay, considering I was making $13,500 at the bank.
00:46:45.504 --> 00:46:48.624
Mike Calvo: I got to remember, dude, I come from drugs and all that crap.
00:46:48.624 --> 00:46:52.024
Mike Calvo: So I'm making tons of money when I was a kid. Yes.
00:46:52.404 --> 00:46:57.624
Mike Calvo: And went down to $13,500 a year at the bank.
00:46:57.704 --> 00:46:58.084
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
00:46:58.364 --> 00:47:02.204
Mike Calvo: With, you know, and the reason I left was because they literally told me,
00:47:02.244 --> 00:47:04.764
Mike Calvo: I said, so when am I going to be the president of this bitch? You know?
00:47:07.904 --> 00:47:12.244
Mike Calvo: And they were like, they were like, hey, you know, we don't know what to do with you people.
00:47:12.604 --> 00:47:16.764
Mike Calvo: Like you people, really? Yeah. Some guy came in, he set up the,
00:47:17.024 --> 00:47:19.944
Mike Calvo: he set up your computer and said you could do this and then the other.
00:47:20.264 --> 00:47:24.304
Mike Calvo: And I said, so then what you're telling me is that I'll never grow in the rank.
00:47:24.424 --> 00:47:28.944
Mike Calvo: So after 20 years here, if I do really good, I get a 5% annual raise.
00:47:29.164 --> 00:47:32.584
Mike Calvo: So I'll be from 13, five, I'll be at about $40,000.
00:47:33.084 --> 00:47:36.844
Mike Calvo: I'll get a roadmap sandwich and maybe a watch that I can never read.
00:47:37.644 --> 00:47:41.604
Mike Calvo: And thanks for 30 years of service, Calvo. Hell no, that's not what I'm going to aspire to.
00:47:41.964 --> 00:47:45.644
Mike Calvo: So I'm going to give you the first time, I'm going to give you a statistic.
00:47:45.644 --> 00:47:47.224
Mike Calvo: It's called blind fucking turnover.
00:47:48.244 --> 00:47:52.184
Mike Calvo: And I walked out. I had left them with two other blind people that were doing really well.
00:47:52.424 --> 00:47:58.584
Mike Calvo: And ironically enough, which both are dead, which is so sad that they were older than me.
00:47:58.984 --> 00:48:02.244
Mike Calvo: I went and I did this stuff for Ryder. Ryder ended up being one my customers
00:48:02.244 --> 00:48:05.344
Mike Calvo: for 15 years while this guy worked there.
00:48:05.924 --> 00:48:13.344
Mike Calvo: And I opened up a consulting company and started working with the state of Florida and grew from there.
00:48:13.484 --> 00:48:18.184
Mike Calvo: And what I did was I would go into an organization with the division of blind
00:48:18.184 --> 00:48:22.344
Mike Calvo: services at first and with other vocational rehabilitative services later.
00:48:22.784 --> 00:48:28.064
Mike Calvo: And I would define a career path for a blind person from entry level all the
00:48:28.064 --> 00:48:31.364
Mike Calvo: way up as high as they would let me go to executive or managerial or middle
00:48:31.364 --> 00:48:32.164
Mike Calvo: management or whatever.
00:48:32.684 --> 00:48:37.504
Mike Calvo: And with that, we put together Pizza Hut, which is still in work today,
00:48:38.164 --> 00:48:44.444
Mike Calvo: Sun Bank, Sun Trust, Southeast Bank, American Airlines, Eastern Airlines,
00:48:44.844 --> 00:48:48.244
Mike Calvo: Marriott, American Express, Federal Express.
00:48:48.244 --> 00:48:51.464
Mike Calvo: I've worked at all these companies setting up their systems when I was younger.
00:48:51.964 --> 00:48:59.184
Mike Calvo: And over a four-year period, we placed over 500 blind people to work.
00:48:59.204 --> 00:49:06.444
Mike Calvo: I'm honored and humbled to say that my God gave me the ability to do that in spite of my background.
00:49:06.744 --> 00:49:13.264
Mike Calvo: And understand, if I've done anything, it's all in spite of me. It's not because of me.
00:49:13.784 --> 00:49:17.364
Mike Calvo: If left to my own devices, all I know how to do is, you know,
00:49:17.544 --> 00:49:19.784
Mike Calvo: write a good dance track and sell you some good weed
00:49:20.488 --> 00:49:25.748
Mike Calvo: You know, and that's it. But when I'm being directed by my greater purpose,
00:49:25.748 --> 00:49:27.528
Mike Calvo: I've changed the world, man.
00:49:27.708 --> 00:49:32.328
Mike Calvo: And I'm humbled and honored, you know, because the world changing isn't done.
00:49:33.128 --> 00:49:41.268
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Wow. Well, you know, what I love about you is, is the passion and heart
00:49:41.268 --> 00:49:43.608
Kevin Lowe: that comes through in everything that you say.
00:49:43.908 --> 00:49:44.848
Mike Calvo: I'm Cuban.
00:49:44.848 --> 00:49:57.468
Kevin Lowe: You are human, but it's truly humbling to just listen to you speak about a passion,
00:49:57.628 --> 00:49:58.908
Kevin Lowe: honestly, when I listen to you,
00:49:59.108 --> 00:50:04.628
Kevin Lowe: of just helping someone else in whatever way that looks like,
00:50:04.788 --> 00:50:10.168
Kevin Lowe: whether they needed a drug, they needed some music, or they needed a helping
00:50:10.168 --> 00:50:12.248
Kevin Lowe: hand. I listen to you, man.
00:50:12.568 --> 00:50:16.488
Kevin Lowe: And, you know, dude, we a lot of times can talk about success.
00:50:16.648 --> 00:50:20.668
Kevin Lowe: What does success look like in life? Is if it's money in the bank,
00:50:20.668 --> 00:50:22.828
Kevin Lowe: is it awards, you know, in the office?
00:50:23.288 --> 00:50:29.208
Kevin Lowe: To me, success, in my opinion, is looking at the person that you can become in life.
00:50:29.488 --> 00:50:36.208
Kevin Lowe: A person like I look at you here today and you talk with such passion and conviction
00:50:36.208 --> 00:50:38.868
Kevin Lowe: of just wanting to make a difference.
00:50:39.508 --> 00:50:43.848
Kevin Lowe: And I think, man, that to me is success.
00:50:44.688 --> 00:50:47.728
Mike Calvo: I appreciate that. And thank you. I'll tell you the why.
00:50:47.908 --> 00:50:53.268
Mike Calvo: I've always been a believer in working the system.
00:50:54.022 --> 00:50:57.802
Mike Calvo: You know what I'm saying? I mean, a great mentor once said, Mikey,
00:50:57.902 --> 00:50:59.782
Mike Calvo: if you're going to break the law, you better learn it first.
00:51:02.382 --> 00:51:07.662
Mike Calvo: And that has served me well, not for breaking laws, but for understanding that
00:51:07.662 --> 00:51:09.862
Mike Calvo: we need to work within the confines of the system.
00:51:10.422 --> 00:51:14.602
Mike Calvo: So as much as I love to help people, I'm a self-centered son of a bitch when
00:51:14.602 --> 00:51:15.562
Mike Calvo: it comes to certain things.
00:51:15.622 --> 00:51:18.842
Mike Calvo: And that is, I want my life to be better and you're going to benefit from it.
00:51:18.902 --> 00:51:19.282
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
00:51:19.582 --> 00:51:23.762
Mike Calvo: You know what I'm saying? Yes, I have, I mean, I love people.
00:51:24.022 --> 00:51:26.702
Mike Calvo: Sure, but there's a lot of things I don't like about people too.
00:51:26.842 --> 00:51:27.142
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
00:51:27.562 --> 00:51:31.722
Mike Calvo: You know, me included. You know, I understand my own humanity.
00:51:31.722 --> 00:51:34.962
Mike Calvo: I understand my own frailty and my own fickleness.
00:51:35.382 --> 00:51:40.342
Mike Calvo: You know, my own pig-headedness. You know, and the thing is that I've had to
00:51:40.342 --> 00:51:44.862
Mike Calvo: work it out and I don't think that's fair because I've seen other people that
00:51:44.862 --> 00:51:49.422
Mike Calvo: have had to work it out and have worked, I know Harvard freaking graduates,
00:51:50.042 --> 00:51:54.122
Mike Calvo: okay, that have done it all right and still can't buy and find a flipping job.
00:51:54.782 --> 00:51:57.762
Mike Calvo: That's just dead ass wrong, bro. That's dead ass wrong.
00:51:58.662 --> 00:52:04.042
Mike Calvo: You know, and to me, the only way to cure that is to cure the ignorance,
00:52:04.262 --> 00:52:09.742
Mike Calvo: is to help corporate America, Europe, corporate world, corporate anybody,
00:52:10.082 --> 00:52:13.282
Mike Calvo: educators, people in leadership to understand that, damn it,
00:52:13.382 --> 00:52:15.382
Mike Calvo: we're people and we've got abilities.
00:52:15.522 --> 00:52:21.162
Mike Calvo: And if you simply learn to think outside of your own little dumb ass box,
00:52:21.382 --> 00:52:23.382
Mike Calvo: you might learn something.
00:52:23.742 --> 00:52:27.362
Mike Calvo: You know what I mean? And that's the way I am.
00:52:28.102 --> 00:52:32.922
Mike Calvo: If I died tomorrow, and I hope I don't, but if I died tomorrow,
00:52:33.162 --> 00:52:36.222
Mike Calvo: the one thing that I will not do is die with regrets.
00:52:36.542 --> 00:52:40.542
Mike Calvo: I refuse to die with a regret. Have I done some crappy things in my life?
00:52:40.602 --> 00:52:43.182
Mike Calvo: You betcha. Am I guilty? Absolutely not.
00:52:43.502 --> 00:52:48.162
Mike Calvo: No, I'm not guilty. I don't feel guilty. I don't feel bad, I've done what I
00:52:48.162 --> 00:52:54.682
Mike Calvo: had to do and I will continue to do what I have to do to make my world a better place.
00:52:55.162 --> 00:52:58.482
Mike Calvo: And I will not apologize for doing what I have to do.
00:52:59.288 --> 00:53:03.548
Mike Calvo: Obviously, if I chose to do something against the law, if I know the law,
00:53:03.708 --> 00:53:06.148
Mike Calvo: I better learn the law before I break it.
00:53:06.308 --> 00:53:09.868
Mike Calvo: And I have no intention of, you know, I got too much to lose now.
00:53:10.088 --> 00:53:13.408
Mike Calvo: Understand that most people who break the law is because they got nothing to
00:53:13.408 --> 00:53:15.548
Mike Calvo: lose. It's because what the hell, why not?
00:53:15.928 --> 00:53:19.028
Mike Calvo: And for many years, I go to jail for a couple million bucks.
00:53:19.388 --> 00:53:24.028
Mike Calvo: I wouldn't do that today because I got five beautiful children and my wife's got two.
00:53:24.168 --> 00:53:28.308
Mike Calvo: So I got seven beautiful children, you know, five of which are girls.
00:53:28.328 --> 00:53:29.188
Mike Calvo: You want to talk about karma?
00:53:30.288 --> 00:53:36.848
Mike Calvo: So I appreciate, you know, your words, but to me, I'd be a liar if I told you,
00:53:36.928 --> 00:53:38.628
Mike Calvo: yeah, I just have this love for humanity.
00:53:39.008 --> 00:53:45.468
Mike Calvo: No, man, no, I'm just a survivor. I'm a survivor and I don't ever want it.
00:53:45.728 --> 00:53:50.808
Mike Calvo: And I've been given a purpose, a guy named Jim Stovall who founded the American
00:53:50.808 --> 00:53:53.968
Mike Calvo: narrative, the narrative television network,
00:53:54.268 --> 00:54:00.448
Mike Calvo: which was the first, the predecessor to DVS said something one time at a university
00:54:00.448 --> 00:54:02.028
Mike Calvo: and it stuck with me for life.
00:54:02.248 --> 00:54:06.408
Mike Calvo: He says, if you wake up one day and said somebody should do something about
00:54:06.408 --> 00:54:10.208
Mike Calvo: this and you know exactly what to do about it, name your problem,
00:54:10.908 --> 00:54:13.828
Mike Calvo: and you don't, you've probably missed a calling in your life.
00:54:14.108 --> 00:54:15.708
Mike Calvo: Very profound statement.
00:54:16.088 --> 00:54:20.248
Mike Calvo: You know, and that's, I live my life that way. If I've got a dream,
00:54:21.588 --> 00:54:23.288
Mike Calvo: then somebody gave it to me.
00:54:23.508 --> 00:54:27.388
Mike Calvo: And if it's to better the world, well, if Christianity's right and we've got
00:54:27.388 --> 00:54:28.708
Mike Calvo: an enemy. Well, that ain't that dude.
00:54:29.328 --> 00:54:29.808
Kevin Lowe: Yep.
00:54:30.208 --> 00:54:36.268
Mike Calvo: So I'm going to do my best to follow the lead and say, I want to make the world a better place.
00:54:37.088 --> 00:54:40.368
Mike Calvo: For me first, then for you.
00:54:41.108 --> 00:54:46.908
Mike Calvo: No, not necessarily for me first, but I really, I mean, I love our community. Yeah.
00:54:47.248 --> 00:54:52.628
Mike Calvo: I love the passion in our community and it breaks my heart
00:54:53.455 --> 00:54:58.035
Mike Calvo: to see that our community is suffering unnecessarily.
00:54:58.375 --> 00:55:03.495
Mike Calvo: You know, being blind is a pain in the neck and we suffer from that. That's enough.
00:55:04.035 --> 00:55:04.355
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:55:04.675 --> 00:55:08.655
Mike Calvo: But without having to feel, you know, I mean, just even if the world were perfectly
00:55:08.655 --> 00:55:11.735
Mike Calvo: brailed than everything else, we still do everything slower than everybody else, you know?
00:55:12.395 --> 00:55:12.815
Kevin Lowe: Exactly.
00:55:13.195 --> 00:55:17.735
Mike Calvo: But when you add the social stigmas, when you add the work stigmas,
00:55:17.935 --> 00:55:21.655
Mike Calvo: when you add the financial challenges, when you add all of these things that
00:55:21.655 --> 00:55:25.095
Mike Calvo: we as blind people deal with every day, it's not fair.
00:55:25.575 --> 00:55:29.855
Mike Calvo: I mean, it's life, and I'm certainly not gonna sit here and throw a temper tantrum.
00:55:29.895 --> 00:55:31.855
Mike Calvo: It's not fair, but it's not.
00:55:32.335 --> 00:55:37.795
Mike Calvo: So if we can help, if we can change the world, if we can make the world just
00:55:37.795 --> 00:55:42.575
Mike Calvo: a little bit better, and better than that, if we can die and leave it that way,
00:55:42.855 --> 00:55:46.915
Mike Calvo: my goodness, what a great legacy, dude. What an amazing thing.
00:55:47.455 --> 00:55:51.195
Mike Calvo: And that's what I'm here to do. I don't know how well I'm gonna do it,
00:55:51.495 --> 00:55:56.135
Mike Calvo: And as as Kenny Rogers said, there'll be said one time in a great song,
00:55:56.275 --> 00:55:59.775
Mike Calvo: there'll be time enough for counting when the dealing is done and the dealing ain't done.
00:56:00.095 --> 00:56:04.675
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Such an absolute joy to get to sit down with you today,
00:56:04.875 --> 00:56:07.875
Kevin Lowe: to get to hear your story, but more so than just your story,
00:56:08.235 --> 00:56:12.475
Kevin Lowe: just your insights that you have to share about nothing more than life.
00:56:13.521 --> 00:56:19.261
Kevin Lowe: For somebody who would love to stay connected with you, whether through service
00:56:19.261 --> 00:56:24.181
Kevin Lowe: you offer, business, social media, anywhere, is there any way that we can send them?
00:56:24.421 --> 00:56:30.441
Mike Calvo: Yep, I am Mike Calvo everywhere. On Facebook, on Twitter, or X,
00:56:30.761 --> 00:56:32.821
Mike Calvo: which I don't deal with anymore.
00:56:33.301 --> 00:56:39.281
Mike Calvo: On LinkedIn, of course, Mike Calvo. MikeCalvo.com is my personal website.
00:56:39.281 --> 00:56:44.561
Mike Calvo: Website, Pneumasolutions, P-N-E-U-M-A, solutions.com.
00:56:44.801 --> 00:56:47.461
Mike Calvo: We put the P in there to frustrate blind people.
00:56:49.481 --> 00:56:53.981
Mike Calvo: That's really the way Pneumas is spelled. It's my assistive technology company,
00:56:53.981 --> 00:56:59.861
Mike Calvo: and we produce accessible cloud solutions for the visually impaired product
00:56:59.861 --> 00:57:04.221
Mike Calvo: that you may or may not have used called Remote Incident Manager RIM and other products,
00:57:04.701 --> 00:57:08.081
Mike Calvo: document remediation products and that kind of thing.
00:57:08.661 --> 00:57:13.721
Mike Calvo: That's a whole different hat I wear. The Accessibility is a right foundation, the AIR Foundation.
00:57:14.501 --> 00:57:19.321
Mike Calvo: We've done work in Colombia, changing the world there for blind children,
00:57:19.821 --> 00:57:24.801
Mike Calvo: worked in Cuba with their blind, worked in Africa, in Kazakhstan,
00:57:25.461 --> 00:57:26.921
Mike Calvo: changing the world for blind people.
00:57:27.381 --> 00:57:30.941
Mike Calvo: You know, any of those places. Or just write me, Mike, at MikeAlvo.com.
00:57:31.201 --> 00:57:32.641
Mike Calvo: I'd be honored to hear from anybody.
00:57:33.001 --> 00:57:37.841
Kevin Lowe: Well, fantastic. Well, I will be positive that all of that is in the show notes
00:57:37.841 --> 00:57:40.661
Kevin Lowe: for anybody interested for easy access.
00:57:40.981 --> 00:57:46.821
Kevin Lowe: Mike, dude, you're absolutely freaking awesome, man. And I truly, you.
00:57:46.821 --> 00:57:47.361
Mike Calvo: Don't know me.
00:57:47.621 --> 00:57:51.761
Kevin Lowe: I truly, I truly can't say what a pleasure it's been.
00:57:52.021 --> 00:57:56.941
Kevin Lowe: Even if you basically kind of described yourself as a really awesome,
00:57:57.221 --> 00:57:58.621
Kevin Lowe: selfish asshole, you know?
00:58:00.361 --> 00:58:03.081
Mike Calvo: Hey, I'm going to get a t-shirt with that.
00:58:07.581 --> 00:58:12.561
Kevin Lowe: Oh, man. Yes, man. Well, thank you so much for you listening today.
00:58:13.081 --> 00:58:16.621
Kevin Lowe: I hope you have enjoyed today's conversation as much as I have.
00:58:16.821 --> 00:58:19.001
Kevin Lowe: Hopefully you're smiling as big as I am.
00:58:19.241 --> 00:58:23.681
Kevin Lowe: And hey, if there's anybody in your life that you think of that you think, you know what?
00:58:24.061 --> 00:58:26.661
Kevin Lowe: There was at least something said today that they need to hear.
00:58:26.921 --> 00:58:30.221
Kevin Lowe: Well, hey, be an awesome friend and share today's episode with them.
00:58:30.561 --> 00:58:34.021
Kevin Lowe: And hey, until next time, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe. And this,
00:58:34.141 --> 00:58:36.241
Kevin Lowe: of course, was great grace and inspiration.
00:58:36.880 --> 00:58:56.401
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