Meet one of our awesome Supported Employment participants – Pia! She is creative, kind, and loves learning new things.
“Pia produces her own music. She writes all of the lyrics. It’s astounding!” says her SOAR365 employment specialist (or “job coach”) Lizzie Graham. Job coaches like Lizzie know our participants often have undiscovered talents or interests. Sometimes these skills can be overlooked due to their disability.
That’s why it’s so important to really get to know each participant. Lizzie says this allows her to “fine tune the job search to who they are as a person.” Her goal is to find a position “that’s the best fit – not just a job that they can do, but a job that they’re going to want to do, long term.”
Lizzie quickly realized that for Pia, that meant getting creative. Lizzie asked Pia if she’d ever heard of Canva, a popular graphic design program. It turns out, Pia had yet another surprise in store. “She got super excited and showed me over 50 things that she’d already created in her Canva account!” says Lizzie.
Many of the examples were marketing- and social-media-related. This gave Lizzie a great idea. She decided to introduce Pia to SOAR365’s Marketing & Communications team, including Kelly Noles, Creative Director, and Nate Wise, Communications & PR Manager. Together, Kelly and Nate showed Pia how they design materials for print, web and social media. With a few quick directions, Pia jumped right in! “She’s a rockstar. I’m super excited,” says Lizzie.
Keep reading to hear from Pia herself, as she explains why SOAR365’s Supported Employment program means so much to her:
- What was your favorite part of working with Kelly and Nate?
- My favorite part was seeing all of the pictures and how they were designed in different programs. I thought that was very cool.
- Did you learn anything new (about Canva, about what our team does, etc.)?
- Yes, I learned how to fix a picture in a template so that it would look professional and how to make a brand in Canva.
- What are your biggest talents or interests?
- My biggest talents are writing songs and making music beats. I love making music – it’s my passion.
- What do you like to do at home?
- I like to read, make music, write songs, go to restaurants, go bowling, watch basketball, and go outdoors.
- After trying out a few jobs, what kind of job do you think you would like best so far?
- I think finding a marketing job would be a great fit for me because I’m very creative.
- How have you liked working with Lizzie, your SOAR365 job coach?
- Lizzie is very kind, and she is helpful. She cares what kind of job I really want.
- What is something you like about participating in Supported Employment with SOAR365?
- I like looking for jobs. I learn a lot about different kinds of jobs and what are the duties of the job position.
- What would mean the most to you about having a job?
- Getting my own money and getting out more. Independence means the most to me because I can have more independence having a job.
What’s next for Pia? “We’re going to be working through different templates of flyers and other materials for marketing and social media,” says Lizzie. With examples of her design work in hand, Pia will be ready to take on job interviews. She can even show employers her work herself on her adaptive Accent tablet. “I really want Pia to be able to be the one to advocate for herself in interviews,” says Lizzie.
With the continued support of SOAR365’s Supported Employment program, we’re confident Pia is on the road to success!
Want to learn more about Supported Employment? Visit soar365.org or contact Chris Martin at (804) 381-5405 or [email protected].