Disability Inclusion In The Workplace: Roderick Batson Of Howdy Homemade Ice Cream Katy On How Businesses Make Accommodations For Customers and Employees Who Have a Disability
An Interview With Eric Pines
Failure is normal and is something you should embrace. You can’t appreciate winning if you don’t lose.
As we all know, over the past several years there has been a great deal of discussion about inclusion and diversity in the workplace. One aspect of inclusion that is not discussed enough, is how businesses can be inclusive of people with disabilities. We know that the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. What exactly does this look like in practice? What exactly are reasonable accommodations? Aside from what is legally required, what are some best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities? To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experience about “How Businesses Make Accommodations For Customers and Employees Who Are Disabled “.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Roderick Batson.
Roderick Batson graduated from Mayde Creek High School in Katy, Texas, and received an Undergraduate degree in sociology from Texas Lutheran University before going on to obtain his Masters in mental health psychology. He is a serial entrepreneur and a philanthropist who successfully owns and runs multiple businesses. Batson is also a franchisee of Howdy Homemade Ice Cream in Katy, Texas. He leads a team of amazing people to serve some of the best ice cream to neighbors in Katy, Texas. This is very special because Howdy Homemade Ice Cream supports young adults who are differently abled, young adults with special needs. Batson is on a relentless pursuit to provide employment for individuals with special needs and to give back to the community.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you ended up where you are?
Growing up in katy Texas, I graduated from Mayde Creek High School, in which I played football, basketball and ran track. After high school, I went on to play collegiate ball at Texas Lutheran University, where I received an undergraduate degree in sociology and a specialization in pre law. I then went on to obtain my Masters in mental health psychology.
I started my work career as an investigator with child protective services, in which I thoroughly enjoyed! Those 3 years were very fulfilling and rewarding but God crossed my paths with a surgeon, in the medical field; who offered me a once in a lifetime position (as a medical sales rep), leading me to take a leap of faith and change careers. The relationship me and him gained, over time, and his guidance, has really been instrumental in where I am today. I went from being a medical sales rep to owning my own implant company and with the help and support of family, we’ve been able to successful start many ventures and diversify. This is how Howdy Homemade Ice Cream came about.
After watching the “Today” Show, I was inspired by Tom Landis, the CEO and Owner of Howdy Homemade Ice Cream. Tom’s passionate speech about bringing a voice to the voiceless and helping bring a better quality of life to those who aren’t always given the same chances stirred me. So much so that I wrote Tom the same day. Four weeks later, even before I had tasted the ice cream, I became a franchisee of Howdy Homemade Ice Cream with plans to open a shop in Katy, Texas.
I was ready to join the mission. I knew this purpose was bigger than ice cream. I was committed to giving back and providing job opportunities for people who have been marginalized because of society’s misunderstanding of their abilities. It goes without saying, bringing delicious ice cream to his neighbors and friends is an excellent bonus.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Hard work, faith, perseverance. Being a star football player/athlete my whole life, I looked forward to showcasing my skills; my senior year, and committing to a big d1 university. But summer, leading into senior year, bad decisions and being a follower, landed me in jail and then alternative school, forcing me to miss out on my entire senior football season. Not only were my dreams crushed but all the years of hard work were flushed down the toilet. I lost focus and hope but I never lost faith and I knew God must have had a bigger and better plan for me. Preserving, keeping faith and searching to find my real purpose, in life, is what got me here.
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what this looks like in practice? What exactly are reasonable accommodations? Can you please share a few examples?
-Our accommodations include, repeated on the job training or coaching, increased process time for our employees with mental delays. Safety adjustments including no sharp utensils, pictured directions, repeated labeling, color coding.
-Aside from what is legally required, what are some best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities? If you can, please share a few examples.
-Getting to know your employees individually will help you get an idea of their triggers and when they are behaving a little differently/off
-Once triggered, allow for them to take a step away from work and take a breather to regroup. …
Ex. A lot of our heroes have anxiety. If crowds come into the shop that they weren’t expecting or if a customer yells at them, they are thrown off and might shut down. In those cases, give them a second to get back together Tell them to step away and regroup
Fantastic. Let’s now shift to our discussion about inclusion. Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience working with initiatives to promote Diversity and Inclusion? Can you share a story with us?
- 85% of our staff has special needs but our store has 99% 5 star ratings. Why? They run the store from front to back and have the most amazing customer service. But one way that we’ve promoted inclusion is designing a work system that allows them to function and express their strengths and work on their weaknesses; which we all have. For example, our cash register has pre populated action buttons and all of our prices are round dollars; already including taxes. Therefore, no change is needed. So 1 scoop of ice cream is 5 dollars, 2 scoops 7 dollars. This eliminates needing to count change. Therefore, we are able to teach all of our heroes how to run the register and check people out. Giving them a role, outside of taking out the trash, instills a since of self-worth and dignity that we all need.
This is our signature question that we ask in many of our interviews. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started My Career”?
-When the going gets tough, the ones I thought were tough don’t get going. It’s really on you. You can’t expect others to have the same work ethic, beliefs or drive that you have so having expectations of others can lead to a lot of unnecessary let downs.
-It’s about networking not about capital. The more hands you shake, the better off you’ll be.
-Failure is normal and is something you should embrace. You can’t appreciate winning if you don’t lose.
-Many will use your success as a form of self-sabotage to drive and fuel their envy and jealous nature instead of seeing you as motivation or a potential partner.
-The more good you sew, the more you’re tested! So, keep walking and fighting the good fight
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant in your own life?
My life quote is a scripture out of the bible, phi 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Never has he forsaken me or given me more than I can bear. In the toughest times and the best times, he always showed up and showed out.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Watching coach prime talk with his team and teach character lessons has really touched me. I’d love to see a movement where kids keep track of their daily compliments, motivating kids to complement each other and lessen the bulling.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Howdyhomemadekaty.com
@howdyhomemadekaty on Facebook/IG
@essentialspeechcypress Facebook/IG
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.
While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.
Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.
Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.
Disability Inclusion In The Workplace: Roderick Batson Of Howdy Homemade Ice Cream Katy On How… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.