Katherine McCord's Journey to Inclusivity Leadership

Rich Bennett 0:00
Thanks for joining the conversation today. We're joined by Katherine McCord, an innovator in nerd diversity, inclusion and people operations. Overcoming six six. That's a number six Invisible Disabilities. Katherine has founded Titan Management and the nervous focusing on revolutionizing H.R. and advocating for newer diversity. She's also the creator of the first Anti-bias Applicant Tracking System. A renowned speaker, Katherine, has shared her insights globally, including at the United Nations and in Forbes. Her work centers on empowering change through integrity, inclusion and innovation. So let's welcome Katherine McGeorge. How are you doing, Katherine? 

Katherine McCord 0:47
Great, thank you. And Bobbie, that was a beautiful intro. I think I might actually say. 

Rich Bennett 0:50
Oh, thank you, it's all yours. So you go by Katherine or is it Kathy or is it. 

Katherine McCord 0:58
Actually, it's funny. I have people to call me. All of the above. So take your pick. 

Rich Bennett 1:04
I have people call me worst things. 

Katherine McCord 1:06
Yeah, there's definitely worse. Things that I've been told. Those are. Those are the ones that are related to my name. 

Rich Bennett 1:12
So I got it. It's funny. I just. What's not funny? I just have one of our new co-hosts. I say new because if I have somebody on the show and I just sense that they should do their own podcast, I invite them to be a co-host. And I just had a young lady on. She's a children's author. She's written two books, and she was so good that I asked her to co-host and she just co-hosted one with us. And I asked her it was the last minute, but I asked her she wanted to do this because she's she's got dyslexia, dyscalculia, she's got ADHD, and she's also autistic. And like, oh, my God, this would be perfect for her. And she's she's awesome. Yeah, Really awesome. But I have to ask you. Okay. Six Invisible disabilities. 

Katherine McCord 2:05
And they keep bringing up two, by the way, which is super rude. I told my. Doctor I was like, I know your cat. No more. You just have to put it under the umbrella of something else that's already been diagnosed. No more. That's it. We're happy. Oh, geez. 

Rich Bennett 2:20
All Oh, God. So. So what are the six women. 

Katherine McCord 2:26
In your work? So the six. Are. I have an unnamable role of neurological. Disorder. That basically it's I have mini strokes that evolved into seizures because why not? That's just super fun. Wow. And then. Oh, yeah. And then I have and then I have Max, which is basically my body will send me into anaphylaxis. Even if there's just a texture that it doesn't like, it's then not even an actual allergy. I just don't like a texture. Wow. And then I have Isy, and then I have, which is another autoimmune. And then I have a bipolar one. Obsessive compulsive disorder and misophonia. Those are three neuro diversities. And then they just keep, again, trying to add more. We're just not having that. Cut it off. 

Rich Bennett 3:13
Okay. And yet you started, what, two businesses? 

Katherine McCord 3:17
Let's see now. Hold on. Oh. So I have I owned Titan that I've had that for nine years now and. Okay. Consulting and people operations side i invented and h.r. Tech that was technically number two and kept that going. And now i founded an organization, so i guess that's three. That would be the neurodiverse. And then i also have two shows. 

Rich Bennett 3:42
Okay, so you are a prime example. 

Katherine McCord 3:47
Oh, shoot. And I'm an international speaker. I forgot. And I'm a speaker because technically it's homecoming, that's for sure. 

But I nearly forgot. Oh, yeah, that thing that. Sends me all over the world. Oh, right. I totally do that. Whoops. 

Rich Bennett 4:03
I don't know. I just jump on a plane to go here, there. And it's. 

Katherine McCord 4:06
Fine. You go to London. For no apparent reason. It's like. 

Rich Bennett 4:11
Oh, I actually had just talked to somebody from London earlier on another episode, but. So but you are prime example of it doesn't matter what you're diagnosed with, you ain't giving up now you're fighting, you're doing what you want to do. 

Katherine McCord 4:28
And people are so dramatic about it. And I'm like, Dude, this is just my body. Like, this is this is this would be like telling somebody, Well, you're five foot four, so you can't start a company. Like what? What? Like, this is how they're built That makes no sense. You know, this is just how I am. This is just what I do. And I work very much with my disabilities, not against them. That's something that my parents started when I was very young. It's something that I've continued with my my physicians and things like that as I've gotten older and I work very much with myself, not against myself. And so I steer into the strength that I have. Especially because I love it. I have so many strengths that go with that and there's so much science to all that up. But that's a huge that's a huge part of it, is just learning to steer into who you are and not to run away with it. And, and embracing your weird like that was one of the best things that I ever did was, you know, we're all taught like, you know, keep it all inside and, you know, don't anybody write me that. But when I was backed into a corner and basically had to share what was going on with me in the most public possible effing. Way, because I was. A a i was right after i'd been in the h.r. Tech tool and i was presenting it at the world's largest tech conference during covid. It had 45,000, 50,000, something like that. People. Huge. Wow. And i'm on a stage to present my topic. And we have both a captive audience and audience walking by and cameras pointing at our faces. And I had. Had. A seizure. I'm across the world, by the way. I don't know anybody. I had two seizures. Oh, God. And forgot my entire speech. And we're supposed to get up there without, like, notes or anything, obviously. Right. And I called them. They accommodated me. They were wonderful, fantastic humans about it. And I got up there and I started off and I said, you know, you may notice that I have my phone and I'm going to be reading my speech today. Today. That's because I woke up this morning and I had two seizures and I can't remember anything. But that's okay because I'm here to talk to you about occlusion. And I dove into it and it worked. And that was such a public way to have. To do it at night. It was it worked. And when that worked, I started steering more into that and letting more and more and more of that come out. And now I get real personal in some of my talks. People ask me all kinds of questions that are extremely personal, and I answer them and and it's grown me as a human exponentially and my career exponentially. So I know it works. I guess just to steer it. 

Rich Bennett 7:10
So you're traveling, you're traveling throughout the world speaking. 

Katherine McCord 7:15
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 7:16
Have you done any TED talks? 

Katherine McCord 7:18
Not yet. You know, people keep asking me about that. I guess I probably. Right, Right. 

Rich Bennett 7:23
Well, I mean, you can always start off with the TED talks. 

Katherine McCord 7:27
The hard part for me. They typically want you to script and I'm not much of a script or I just get up there and go kind of a thing. So that's going to be that's going to be interesting. 

Rich Bennett 7:37
Hey, Kathryn, there's a thing out there called Chat. 

Katherine McCord 7:40
JPT Oh, no, I can write a script. I don't want to. 

Rich Bennett 7:44
Oh, that's what I'm saying. If you want to, you can let a I don't know. 

Katherine McCord 7:50
I don't like the script. My topic like to come across weird. So I don't like you. I just like to. You give me a topic and I'll just go. And it always works. 

Rich Bennett 7:59
Shoot. Yeah. Shoot from. 

Katherine McCord 8:00
The hip. Yeah, I do. And it works. And people are really. You didn't plan that out? Oh. No. That's just what comes out of my mouth. 

Rich Bennett 8:08
Yeah, I'm the I'm the same way especially is doing this. Now, granted, there are some questions that I'll write down, but a lot of times it's just I like the natural conversation. And when I started this because everybody told me, said, you need you need to go buy a script, you need you need to have your it's like now even with authors that come on, I don't read the books. 

Katherine McCord 8:33
No. 

Rich Bennett 8:34
I don't I don't read the books first because. Well, that is one of my favorite people to always watch to interview people was Larry King. And Larry King didn't read the books before. He talked to his guest because his philosophy was it, which makes sense. If my listeners haven't read your book yet, why should I? You need to sell me and my listeners on the book. Right? And I've also had I've had authors on and, you know, I always go back and listen to other shows. They've been on and I've had I've heard podcast host talk about the author's book and the author very, you know, very rarely got any words. 

Katherine McCord 9:19
And that is counterproductive. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:23
It's like, well. 

Katherine McCord 9:24
Wait a minute. 

Rich Bennett 9:25
I heard you. Okay, you let your guest tell us about the book. 

Katherine McCord 9:30
You want the natural one. You know, that's how I do my show. We talked about that. That's. That's how I do my show, too. It's not even live. You don't get to edit anything. 

Rich Bennett 9:39
Well, and actually, okay, here's the thing, because we. Yeah, both of us have B.S. We have to finish in, what, 40 minutes? But I want to I'm already going to do this. I want to invite you back on another time to talk strictly about your shoes. 

Katherine McCord 9:57
Sure. 

Rich Bennett 9:58
Anytime. Because I love talking to other podcasters. I've been doing this since 2015, and I'm always I learn from other podcasters, even new podcasters, and I actually consult other podcasters too. So I love it when people pick my brain very much up there. 

Katherine McCord 10:15
But, you know, I've always looked. Into senility. But 

oh. 

Rich Bennett 10:21
Like the white beard. Don't let the white beard fool you. 

Katherine McCord 10:25
Oh no. I don't me, I just looked. Like, Oh, I just love this ability. I get it. It's, you know, it is one of the things and people make the mistake of thinking that with collaboration that you need experts. Yeah. And that's just not it. There was an experiment conducted, you know, 100 years ago or whatever at the fair. Where about nothing cattle wait after it had been dressed and all this and and the people who got it right who got the answer right in their method, the method that led them there was brilliant and it was just people, nobody who worked, none of the ranchers, none of the rodeo clowns, none of those people. It was the people who were just at the fair, you know, And I've learned over the years that you don't need people. You do need experts, too, but you'd need more people who have the mind for innovation and the mind for creation. Yes, that's more what you need to focus on. So I've brought in people who have no experience in technology to help out with the tech that are built out because I needed their minds and that was just it that I got brilliance from them. And so I think that that's the thing that allow you don't. So I like that you interview the the younger people too. And I have people tell me, oh, I'm new to recruiting. I don't know as much as you about like, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You still have value here. Hold on. Oh, yeah. Everybody. And I know. 

Rich Bennett 11:50
Everybody's got value. 

Katherine McCord 11:52
One of the things on the side that just gets me to like, Oh, we need this many years of experience. No, you don't. What if they've been doing it for ten years and they suck? What, You don't want that person. That has nothing to do with. 

Rich Bennett 12:03
Exactly. 

Katherine McCord 12:04
Nothing. It's expertise. That's what we need. Or ability. Right. 

Rich Bennett 12:10
And the other thing, I think, where when it comes to the workforce in general, where a lot of companies are struggling is they're hiring the people with the book Smarts, which is completely different when you're, you know, depending on what you're doing right when it comes to the experience, Right. Yeah. Like with the I.T. world. 

Katherine McCord 12:31
Yeah. You know, but and you know it's true. You know it's true. And people just kind of get past that and they forget the real. Yeah. You know, stuff and how to get people's minds and and interviewing is funny because so many people stink out loud at it. And like, interviewing people, it's so simple. It's just basic. Com perception. It's getting the other person's mind relaxed. And my, my least favorite thing is I, I go, I don't want to hire this person because they're not good at interviewing. Are you hiring them to do interviewing? No. Then who cares what idiotic. Yeah, it's yeah, they make. A hiring decision. That's just stupid. You know, people it's this weird mentality. I think it's that humans just don't understand other humans. That's something I never diversity that I figured out. People do not understand other humans. And also people do not write outside of themselves. 

Rich Bennett 13:24
They don't see in I'm if you were to ask me 20 years ago or you know, when I first started in radio, if you were to ask me if I'd ever be doing a talk show, I would have told you You're nuts. I'd like to be in a deejay playing the music as far as interviewing, not as shut now. 

Katherine McCord 13:43
Right in your. 

Rich Bennett 13:44
Head. I love it. I love it. I love meeting people. And the funny thing is with this and I got to think, Alex, you're from POD managed for this because you meet so many great people through it. 

Katherine McCord 13:58
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 13:59
But you're also making a lot of friends. Yeah. And that's something else I like. I can't tell you how many people I've had on and we've had, you know, we've done group 

recordings, roundtable recordings, and just from, you know, meeting through pod. 

Katherine McCord 14:17
Match or something. I've met people. Oh yeah. I'm extremely bonded to And that. Money. For projects, all kinds of things. It's wonderful and oh yeah, the best things I tell people is if you're trying to brand yourself, whether it's to get a job, whether it's for your own company, you speaker or whatever, all of this to start podcasting, just get out there, talk. 

Rich Bennett 14:38
Absolutely. 

Katherine McCord 14:40
You know, that kind of thing. I think I think it's really important. And again, the. 

Rich Bennett 14:44
Absolutely. 

Katherine McCord 14:45
Other humans that's the thing. Oh yeah. People freak. 

Rich Bennett 14:48
Yeah you're right. They do. It's just 

a you're seeing it you're seeing more, more people get into it. Yeah. And even younger people, unfortunately you're seeing a lot of people not doing the research before they get into it. 

Katherine McCord 15:08
And not. 

Rich Bennett 15:08
Lasting as long. Well, but, but yeah, they got to realize do your research because it is a lot of hard work and especially if you're doing it yourself. Oh yeah. So anyway. 

Katherine McCord 15:20
But. It is, but it, it's good connection and I think connection, Yeah. It's one of the things that's or lack thereof is one of the bigger problems in our world right now. Oh yeah. And even just like fact that human beings do not know how to communicate with each other effectively, that's one of the biggest things you got in speaking on is like the the power of breaking your own ego mechanism to respond and curiosity. So we all here, we all have the ego, all of us. All of us, right? It's a built in defense because our brain needs to be right because not being right is scary. That means we might be harmed. So our brain needs to be right. So when something comes up that's in conflict with a belief or something that that we have, our brain automatically throws up defenses and the dramatic version of that is when you see somebody on social media arguing beyond all reason. Yeah. Oh God, you know. That's the dramatic version. But we do micro versions of that every single day. And so one of the main things that I teach is breaking that ego mechanism. And, and it's so easy to do. It's so easy. All you have to do is let your brain know that you're safe. So I spent literally 5 minutes one day and gave and taught myself a grounding exercise where if I just touch the arms of my chair or tap my foot once in the ground, I spent 5 minutes teaching my brain that when those things happen, there's food in my pantry. Nobody is coming at me to physically harm me. I have a roof over my head and I am safe. Like I just walked myself through that. So now all I have to do to completely turn off adrenaline in my brain and to shut down that that ego response is to just lightly touch the arms of the seat. I'm in or to lightly tap my foot on the ground. And then so I've changed. Now the chemicals in my brain, I take a quick breath just a and I ask a question. And it's so instantaneous that other people don't realize what I'm doing. But when you put that question, you look somebody in the eye and you actually listen to what they're saying and then start diving more into them and what's going on with them and how they're thinking and how they're processing oxytocin releases in your brain, which then soothes you and makes you happier and feel safer and feel connected to the other human. And it lets you receive what's actually being said to you. And then the coolest thing of all happens, which is that your neural pathways expand and your ability to think in a bigger, broader spectrum expands because we don't know what we don't know. So if we don't observe absorbed from other people, we see very limited and or other sources, we say very limited. Right. So this allows you to expand and grow. And when I started doing this, it changed my career, it changed my life, it changed my relationship. It changed everything. And now and I'm a learning nerd. It made learning even better and. Even more. 

Rich Bennett 18:19
Fun. 

Katherine McCord 18:20
Yeah, Yeah. It's really cool. And it's that simple to just go just that little tap and then just tap and then you actually feel your brain decompress. All that stress just goes away. And we're actually addicted to that stress because adrenaline's addictive. That's that's actually how a lot of people are addicted to drugs. They don't realize that. But that's actually what it is. It's those chemical releases and people are addicted to that. But we can change it and take away the stress, take away the fight or flight and really release that nice, happy oxytocin that just lets us be in a happy and fulfilled state. 

Rich Bennett 18:57
How in the world did you learn all this stuff? 

Katherine McCord 19:01
So this is interesting. Actually, this is okay. So this is a great journey. So I was I've always understood that there was a breakdown of communication. I've been doing ground work, Oh God, I'm going to date myself here. But 25 years, something like that, as part of my mental gathering. 

Rich Bennett 19:19
You're not as old as Santa. 

Katherine McCord 19:21
Claus. But as part of my mental health regiment. That became a real thing. Okay, it works. I learned that skill, and I've always researched a lot about, like, you know, brain chemicals and things like that. But it was a talk that I heard about a year and a half ago from a gentleman named Seth Butler, who does brilliant work around anti-racism, and he has a very beautiful curiosity approach. And he believes in what I call true inclusion, which is your everybody's part of inclusion. I firmly believe that he does, too. But he used the word curiosity a lot. And that got me thinking. And I started just doing a bunch of research about how brain chemicals work and all of this kind of thing. And so I developed this method and I really learned the ego mechanism through it, through and I learned this method and I taught myself this method. And then I started teaching it to other people and they said it worked and then they taught it to other people that they said it worked. So over the span of a year, year and a half, it's just become this whole thing. And and now I'm getting asked all the time to come teach this because it works and it really does changed the programming of your brain. 

Rich Bennett 20:33
Actually. Would what made you decide to get into speaking into the public speaking. 

Katherine McCord 20:39
The B.S. that's happening in the world and somebody has got to do something. About it. 

Seriously. 

Rich Bennett 20:44
So so you've been doing it for a long. 

Katherine McCord 20:48
Well, I've been I've been talking. Day, but it was it was just the the more that I learned. And the more I. Kind of cultivated certain talents and things like that, I had more to really share with people. And so I just every opportunity I get and sometimes I'll apply for things, sometimes people come and find me and I just love to go and teach and do and and all that. And so it's very natural. And I've been on stage since I was a kid, so it didn't feel weird to get up on a stage and talk to people, right? So yeah. Just no big deal just started. And that as a career, I started about two or three years ago. 

Rich Bennett 21:27
Okay, so Titan Management, you started about. 

Katherine McCord 21:30
To know that Titan. 

Rich Bennett 21:31
That was your first. 

Katherine McCord 21:32
Name is the consulting side that has been around for nine years, nine years plus. 

Rich Bennett 21:35
Nine years. 

Katherine McCord 21:36
While. 

Rich Bennett 21:37
A What were you doing before Titan? 

Katherine McCord 21:39
Oh, gosh, I what didn't I do? I did everything on. Purpose. Because I wanted to learn everything I did. I just wanted to see and do everything. And so I just found all the cool jobs, mastered them and then move on. I did a lot of work with startups, a whole lot of work with startups, and I did. I worked for the travel partner to the Dallas Cowboys. That was freaking amazing. Wow, I love football. I have a huge familial tie to the cowboys. My aunt was on the original cheerleading squad. It's okay. I'll forgive. 

Rich Bennett 22:11
You. She's saying that is I'm wearing my raven shirt. 

Katherine McCord 22:15
They're not in it. They're not really in conflict. So it's okay like that? Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 22:18
So you're fine. Now, if you were in Pittsburgh right now, that. 

Katherine McCord 22:21
Would be a problem. If you were an. Eagle fan, it would be like, I'm sorry. We can't be friends. Well. 

Rich Bennett 22:24
Yeah. Then I. 

Katherine McCord 22:26
But, you know, so. So I did all these things. I worked in debt resolution helping people get out of debt who had severe circumstances in their lives. I was a collector for a while. I worked in Animal Rescue for fun. This was what when I worked with lions and tigers and bears and would go, Oh. My, yeah, oh my. And I would go take care of them and and socialize them and and all of us that would get. 

Rich Bennett 22:53
Out of. 

Katherine McCord 22:53
Here. No kidding. It was amazing. In fact, a lot of people know the only place I did it and no, I'm not on the Netflix special, but I was on an Animal Planet special about the animals from this And the tiger King. That's the zoo. Yes, that I worked with. 

Rich Bennett 23:11
Oh, really? 

Katherine McCord 23:12
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 23:14
Well, that had to be. 

Katherine McCord 23:15
Fun and. Interesting. I left before things got real bad. Okay. And we won't go into that. Be a whole show by itself. But but I was at an Animal Planet special about the animals. From there, I didn't want to participate in all that. Right. But. But I did do that. That was amazing. I fostered wolves and all these animals, and so I've had. Wow, a. Lot of experience, but it was all very intentional. I wanted to see everything. I wanted to learn everything. And the only thing I ever stunk at out loud. It I mean, it was bad was retail. I am not good at retail at all. It is horrible. It is really like. I my brain just turns off and I just can't do it. It's just not a thing. But I always loved working and even as a little kid, I was, you know, with makeup companies and sell shares to the family members. And I would play interview with my mother, who was in recruiting, and I fired her. Once I did, I was fired and I fired. 

Rich Bennett 24:16
I'm sorry, what? 

Katherine McCord 24:17
I fired my mother. We were playing and we were playing h.r. And I fired my mother a plane. Okay. But it was so rude. Know what? Five year old just fired their mother. 

While she was very. Proud, and they call her the Terminator at work. So she was very proud. Of me. And thought it was great. What's funny is. 

Rich Bennett 24:43
Well, we know where you got. 

Katherine McCord 24:44
That, right? Yeah, I came home. Really? 

Did you ever see the show Designing Women, by any chance? 

Rich Bennett 24:52
Oh, my gosh. 

Katherine McCord 24:53
Okay, so my mother is the real life equivalent of Julia. That's my mother. Like, in a nutshell, Julia. 

Rich Bennett 24:58
That was Dixie. Yeah. Oh, God, yes. Dixie Carter. 

Katherine McCord 25:01
That's my mother. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 25:02
Wow. 

Katherine McCord 25:03
Yeah, she's. She's amazing. Yeah, it's. It was interesting. And my dad was is a brilliant musician and also teaches music at a college level. And now he's played for he's played at Carnegie Hall twice. He's incredible. Wow. Yeah, he's he's amazing. He's done some composing. He's done all these cool research things, but he's he's incredible. And I had two amazing humans, his parents. And so whatever people are like. 

Rich Bennett 25:30
And you don't play you don't. 

Katherine McCord 25:32
Read. For many, many years. Okay. I was vocally trained for a while and then I also played piano and I played every percussion instrument you can think of except for a drum set. 

But I did. I played everything I did. I did all the stuff. I even played a vibraphone, which is a metal and metal mallet instrument that has a pulse. Yeah, I played it with violin bows, so I even got to do that. So. Huh. Yeah, I've. I've done the competitions, I've done all that. Yeah, it's, it's still a part of me, but it's, it's incredible I think to people always want to limit themselves and they feel like after this really linear path and my path is just all over the place. But no, but you're. 

Rich Bennett 26:20
But you're, but your path is amazing because here it was six different, six different disability ese. And I said this in the beginning, a lot of people would have just said, Oh, no, I can't do that. But you went out, you tackled the world, you wanted to learn all these different things. And of all the things you've learned, the only thing you really hate is retail. 

Katherine McCord 26:43
Yeah, legit hate it. Can't do it. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 26:46
But, I mean, and you fired your mother. 

Katherine McCord 26:52
And she still loves me. She still loves me. To this day. Got to. 

Rich Bennett 26:57
But I bet she But she hasn't come to work for you in real life, though. 

Katherine McCord 27:00
Actually, yes. Oh, she's out of here and falling for me. That's no joke. This doesn't work involving me. That is no joke. 

Rich Bennett 27:08
Did she make you sign an agreement stating that? 

Katherine McCord 27:11
You know. But I got to tell her that she. Said, I mean, I got to go on. You know, she told me to fire her. She absolutely would. She would. Oh, God. I bet. No, I my my parents were a big part of that. So part of it is my mother says I came into the world bold and loud. I was just ready to go. Right. Speaking at nine months old. Walking at nine months old. Yeah. I spoke full sentences. By the time I was one, I just. I just had stuff to say. I was just like, Hey, hey, world, here it is, you know? And my parents, though, had a lot to do with it because they realized very young that my brain wasn't the same as everybody else's, you know? Right. The Misophonia and the OCD were always there. And they did the most beautiful thing that I think any human could do for another human, which was that they just stared into it and they said, okay, this is who she is, This is no big deal. And they just they helped me learn to accommodate myself where I needed it because OCD could be very stressful. And for people who don't understand it, everybody goes, Oh, we're all a little OCD. No, you know, go, go watch the movie as good as it gets and then tell me that that's actually relatively well, it's with what's his name? Jack Nicholson. You know, and it's a very when you work, it's compulsive. You can't stop and you're like, okay, same thing over and over. It's it's it's a lot. So they taught me to work with it and not against it. And they never made me feel bad or weird. It was just, Oh, okay. No, this is just what you learn today, you know, And, and that was the best lesson that they could give was it's not a big deal. This is just who you are. And you have all these great strengths and we're going to just rock with those strengths that you have. And whenever you have a problem, we'll just figure it out. We'll just find the solution and it's okay. And they did the same thing when the bipolar one kicked it in a surprisingly young age. I was it started at about 13, I think maybe early 14, which is very young. I couldn't get a diagnosis till I was 17, but they knew what it was. 

Rich Bennett 29:22
Why? 

Katherine McCord 29:24
And it's it's hereditary for for me. Okay. Not me either, my parents, but both sides of the family. And so I had I had that kick in and they did the same thing. They just said, all right, we're going to learn to work with this. And here we go. 

Rich Bennett 29:41
Wow. So with with all these I hate to use that term disability. So all these. 

Katherine McCord 29:47
Different word, that's not a bad. Word. 

Rich Bennett 29:50
So I like differing abilities because while you're a prime example, again, you're you're I, I want to say you are using them to your ability. 

Katherine McCord 30:02
Yeah, but disability isn't what people think it's like. And I think part of it is the word just sounds so downtrodden, you know, it just does. 

Rich Bennett 30:09
Maybe that's why I don't like it. 

Katherine McCord 30:11
But it's really not so disability is just a part of you. It's no different than your opinion. Okay? Don't go around like, Oh, my pinky is everything for me, right? Like, that's stupid. It's just this one little tiny like, you know, £1 thing on my 100 and whatever, 180 or but I don't know how many pounds I have. But anyway, whatever. Pounds I just love that and it's, it's those things that. You know, I think a lot of people, everybody has things that are perfect about themselves. And I don't think it's right. Different issues that disability can be a little bit more exaggerated for some people. Almost everyone experiences that at least short term at some point in their life. You know, I and so it's not the end of the world. So I tell people I'm successful with my disabilities because I can't just leave them at the doorstep. But it's it's part of me. It's okay. But there's so much awesomeness in there that, Oh, well. That's why I just love it so much. Awesome. I have an abundance of awesome, so it's okay. It's okay that. I have it. I love it. 

Rich Bennett 31:15
And of all the ones that you have, which which one? And besides the seizures, because I'm sure it's probably the seizures, but which is the hardest to control. 

Katherine McCord 31:24
Oh no, the worst is the NCA. Yes. Hands down is awful. It's because it's the most random stuff. I will literally the other day I was like. Okay, is. True story. This just happened a week ago. I was in Walmart. I go there all the time because it's very close to my house. I am walking along. I have no idea what it is, but all of a sudden I start going into anaphylaxis and my throat is closing and my nose is running and my eyes are watering and my skin is breaking out into rashes. And I almost had a stab by some EpiPen. I used everything else I had with me first, all my other meds and it worked. But I almost had to step on EpiPen just from walking along to Walmart. It's idiotic. It's the most frustrating condition and we had to completely change my pool out of chlorine into bromine, which is typically used for hot tubs. I can't use regular alkalinity chemicals for it. We use baking soda, which works great, by the way. Don't let lot let people through all that alkalinity nonsense in the pool or baking soda. Works. Of. Oh, but it's interesting. So if you just do things differently, but that one's irritating because it can come out of nowhere if there's not like right things, you know, if I, if I avoid all this, I'll definitely be fine. Now I can, I can hug somebody and the texture of their shirt, I'll get a rash. And I'm like, really like. 

Wow. But condition. That one's frustrating mental health wise. I say the misophonia, which will mean that sounds will kind of like set you off. It'll actually like give me tics and stuff like that. That that one's the most irritating because people make a lot more noise than they think they do. And a lot of noise is really very repetitive. Yeah. Okay. I had to learn very young because again, I've had this since ever that, you know, we don't punch people in the face because they chew too loud. So because that's my thing. I can I. Can hear you chewing and it makes me so angry and it's so physically uncomfortable. Like, it gives me like, headaches. It makes me cramp up. Like, it just and it literally makes me want to punch the person in the face. I don't I've never done that. I want to be very clear. 

Rich Bennett 33:34
I'm sorry, but I have to agree with you because there are times where I hear people cheering and I feel the same. 

Katherine McCord 33:39
Yeah. So they're just how they breathe, though. And I'm like, I can't tell you not to breathe like that. Sure. Yeah. 

No, I actually I have. Well, we have a shout out to a great new product that I found is a loop. Earplugs. There's other brands, but the basically they go in, you can hear the conversation really well and like you can hear what you want to hear, but it mutes background noise so I can hear like the TV. 

Rich Bennett 34:05
So they're noise canceling kind of. 

Katherine McCord 34:07
But I. 

Rich Bennett 34:07
Know they're not. 

Katherine McCord 34:07
Noise and I. Can hear whatever I want to hear So I can hear the conversation. I can hear a TV, right? Or music out of it, but I don't hear the background. Like I won't hear my cat licking itself across the room, you know, really super cool. So it's it's noisy. 

Rich Bennett 34:22
It's kind of it's called loop. 

They're called loop. 

Katherine McCord 34:27
Yeah. OP And there's other interesting. Yeah, there's other ones too. But and they have different ones. They'll help you figure out which ones are best for you. Incredible product. Absolutely. For love. It but yeah, it's that's a good question. Which ones are the hardest to deal with those. Yeah. Those two would be those two would be the worst. Seizures aren't one, but they're intermittent, you know, they're not every day. Yeah. So you know. 

Rich Bennett 34:52
What, when you mentioned before bed, you know when you were speaking and you had the seizure that morning and most and I'm sure most people will just said, no, I can't go on. But you went up there and you went out. You just you battled. 

Katherine McCord 35:07
It flew across the. Country to do it. I wasn't going to. Not do it. 

Rich Bennett 35:12
So you're you remind me that for those of you listening as we're recording this on November 10th Marine Corps birthday, so I can say you remind me of a marine. Thank you. Because overcome and adapt. 

Katherine McCord 35:24
Thank you. I tried to be a marine. They turned me away because I have too many health problems. 

Rich Bennett 35:28
Well, I find that. 

Katherine McCord 35:30
It was noble. It was great. The sixties. Really. And I have other health conditions that are just not technically disabilities, but. Right. Like I have an irregular heartbeat. I have got it's just a pain. But it was right after it was about a year after 911, it felt like they had all right and they were like, No defective girl. We don't, you. Know, think girl, go. Over there. No, no. You know, was so. Nice, though. They were they were so nice. And they were like, thank you so much for trying. Like, we really it. 

Rich Bennett 36:02
It's so I was pissed because I went to re-enlist after 911 and and they told me I was too old. 

Katherine McCord 36:09
Rude. Seriously, that's how long for that, is it? 

Rich Bennett 36:14
That's why it's like, are you serious? And then they raise the age. I think they raised the age a couple of years later, and I was still too. 

Katherine McCord 36:22
I'm sorry. That sucks. 

Rich Bennett 36:24
It's like I should have stayed longer. 

Katherine McCord 36:27
You know? 

Rich Bennett 36:28
So 

I'm looking at the time and I got to ask you about this, the applicant tracking system. What is that? 

Katherine McCord 36:36
Okay, so an applicant tracking system is where, you know, when you go to apply to a job, that's where your application goes. It's the storage space for applications. It's kind of like a CRM for those people that know what they're. 

Rich Bennett 36:48
Okay. 

Katherine McCord 36:49
Or h.r. It's just a place to store applicants. You'll get leave nodes, disposition them search, so on and so forth. That's what that is. It also typically is what sends your it's where you'll put the job description and it sends it out to all the job boards for the recruiting team. So they'll put it in one place and then it'll automatically post to like a D monster career, whatever they've selected, that's where it will go. And they are they were created an answer to the job boards like Monster and CareerBuilder. Yeah, and back in the nineties and very sadly they have not in basic structure there have been some cool features added but a basic structure. They have not changed since the nineties. 

Rich Bennett 37:31
Okay that's it. But until you came along, then. 

Katherine McCord 37:34
I came along and I said, First of all, resumes need to be fired because they're horrible and everybody knows that they're horrible. That's what there's even article, there's studies that have been done that say resumes don't work and yet we're still using them. That makes no sense. Everyone knows it doesn't work, but we're still using them. So we fired the resume. We built the first ever fully inclusive, fully accessible applicant tracking system. So another thing that a lot of folks don't realize is that for the both the disability communities and the neuro communities, the whole application process is horribly all inclusive for the most part as they are now. And that's kind of a sideshow in and of itself as to why that is. But these are people that you want. I mean, if just a few examples of brilliant, you know, minds is, you know, Stephen Hawking, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Albert Einstein and Maya Angelou, Mozart, Mozart in the list, kind of a Dan Aykroyd, the. Chameleon, the comedic actor. Is on the autism spectrum, believe it or not. Really. Yes, he is. And he is very public about it now. He didn't used to be, but he. Wow. And so all of these extraordinary Arnold Schwarzenegger is another one who's also, by the way, a brilliant businessman, just not just the Terminator. Wow. Brilliant businessman. Yeah, but he's dyslexic. 

Rich Bennett 38:59
Yeah, I. I thought your mother was determined. 

Katherine McCord 39:02
Not the robot. Not the scary robot. Skynet. One that she's okay. But it's. It really is. So these are people that you want and there's tons of science about that. So even Hewlett Packard released a cool study that when they not only hired for neurodiversity but cultivated it and said, we're going to allow you, we're to support you working in whatever way is natural to you, whatever is going to make you comfortable, do that. And they did that. And what they found is that production went up 33%. Innovation, increased employee satisfaction, increased retention increase. Ultimately customer satisfaction went up and profits went up. 

So not only. Do you. Want to hire these people, you want to let them just be them and whatever that means, because then your business is going to lie. It's going to absolutely fly. 

Wow. It's extraordinary. Now other companies are starting to duplicate that, and that's something I teach as well as I teach a little differently than Hewlett Packard did it. But they are definitely the groundbreakers there. And I have nothing but respect for them. 

Rich Bennett 40:14
For their work. Well, I saw the very important because from what I know, although you probably have more you have what, two websites or do you have more than. 

Katherine McCord 40:23
So many now? It's so sad because all the. Oh, good. Mostly, no, mostly. I. Management you know Slate.com type it's dot com. And then the new one is the Neurodiverse which is join the neurodiverse dot org and that's for neurodiversity. 

Rich Bennett 40:36
And I didn't have that one. I had your speaking one. 

Katherine McCord 40:40
I know. 

Rich Bennett 40:41
K 

Okay, so if people want to hire you for speaking, they go there, they want to book you that way. 

Katherine McCord 40:49
Wow. Wow. Many websites. I built the. 

Rich Bennett 40:51
Bag you got. Did you what? 

Katherine McCord 40:53
I built all for website. 

Rich Bennett 40:56
Really? Yeah. I mean I'm looking at because I'm looking at the Titan management and. 

Katherine McCord 41:03
I made the image you're. 

Rich Bennett 41:04
Spending it there but. 

Katherine McCord 41:06
I did all the type. 

Rich Bennett 41:07
There. Great looking websites. 

Katherine McCord 41:09
Thank you. Thank you. I that's something I don't suck at. I told you, I only really suck at retail like I'm at least passable at everything. Oh. 

Rich Bennett 41:18
Wait a minute. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, so you went and spoke at one of Donny's events for you? 

Katherine McCord 41:27
Yes. Well, okay, so here's what happened there. Actually, what happened is somebody cancelled. I was there and somebody canceled. And he goes, who wants to go up on stage? And I went, me. And then I did it. I just got up on stage impromptu. 

Rich Bennett 41:43
For for those of you that don't know who Donny is, I had Donny on a while ago. He's another Marriott, but he runs the The Billionaire's Business summit. 

Katherine McCord 41:51
And. 

Rich Bennett 41:53
Probably one of the greatest networking groups out. 

Katherine McCord 41:56
There also. You know, and it's. Extraordinary the events. 

Rich Bennett 41:59
That's what I've heard. Yeah. 

Katherine McCord 42:01
The event is what got me back. I will. Always hope that. He 100% had a great event. 

Rich Bennett 42:07
He is he is awesome. I was actually supposed to start a networking group here, but I just got so bogged down with stuff. 

Katherine McCord 42:14
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:14
And with not just with work, like a dummy. I just keep. 

Katherine McCord 42:19
Oh, I. 

Rich Bennett 42:20
Volunteer for all these nonprofits and sitting on the. 

Katherine McCord 42:23
Boards. I really. I love. 

Rich Bennett 42:25
Giving back. 

Katherine McCord 42:25
Weird. And I started a nonprofit like, I don't. Yeah, I don't know. 

Rich Bennett 42:31
What's a nonprofit so. 

Katherine McCord 42:32
Nervous That's that one. Yeah. That's for doing diversity stuff. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:36
So that's a501c3. 

Katherine McCord 42:38
I'm going to be a we're in the process. Like, I just the process of doing that whole thing. 

Rich Bennett 42:42
Oh, wow. 

Katherine McCord 42:43
I'm excited about it. And we're going to have our first, the first ever neuro Wonder world in New York in August next year. And it's going to be all about. 

Rich Bennett 42:52
You have to explain this. 

Katherine McCord 42:54
It's it's kind of like a Christmas wonderland, meets the tech convention, meets a bunch of interesting neurodiverse people like it's just going to be a whole thing of introducing people to what neurodiversity really is of the extraordinary thing out of neurodiversity. Some of the wonderful work that people in the Neurodiverse community are doing, from technology to just to 3D printing human tissue to artwork, all of that. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I have a buddy who is 3D printing human tissue and is on his way to being the first one to to 3D print an organ that can be transplanted. 

Rich Bennett 43:33
Why? Yeah. 

Katherine McCord 43:35
It's freaking amazing. It's so freaking amazing. And, and so we're going to be showcasing all of this. I'm a 13 year old entrepreneur who's going to come in and talk to businesses that are up and running these 13. Yeah, he's brilliant, is freaking brilliant. So he's going to come. It's going to be really freaking cool and we're going to get to have. 

Rich Bennett 43:56
And when is this. 

Katherine McCord 43:57
Going to be. August of next? We do have the exact date that and try to finalize it. 

Rich Bennett 44:01
You said in New. 

Katherine McCord 44:02
York City, in New York. And we're going to have. Okay. It's going to be a great freaking event. We have some really cool people that are helping help me with some cool some interesting visuals that are going to happen. There's going to be sensory booths. You can have different types of experiences. There's going to be live think tanks, all kinds of stuff. 

Rich Bennett 44:20
All right. I have to ask you this, because you're from Florida, so why New York? 

Katherine McCord 44:26
Because New York is just sort of known for the out of the box. Right. Think about it. Okay. There's Broadway. There's some of the best music. There's so many different cultures there, this type of thing. So I thought, you know what? Plus, we have people coming from Europe, too. So I was also like, okay, where's an easy place. For people to travel? 

And when you. 

Rich Bennett 44:52
Go. 

Katherine McCord 44:52
Right, it's really good to go in there. So that kind of just became that became part of it too. But it's really the culture there I think is going to be the most welcoming for the very first to this event. And then we're working on doing a second one in Spain. I have a friend who works for the European Commission and is working on getting us some funding to be able to come over to Spain and do on there as well. 

Rich Bennett 45:17
Wow. And have you ever get up this way towards Marilyn? 

Katherine McCord 45:20
We'll see. 

Rich Bennett 45:25
She's like, why we never there's nothing up there. Hey, we have the best crowd. 

Katherine McCord 45:29
That is the truth. That is the truth. And Marilyn is very, very pretty. It's very, very pretty. I just need you to have that. 

Rich Bennett 45:35
Yeah, 

I had. I don't know nothing about them. I haven't flown since 96. Yeah, and apparently. Well, I'm going to be flying in February for the first time since 96. 

Katherine McCord 45:49
Good. It's not that big of a deal. People are so dramatic. It's not difficult. 

Rich Bennett 45:53
Oh, I'm sure it will be fine. And I told Tom, my. My wife and kids and my in-laws that if I can do this, then the next thing is Iceland. Oh, I like it because I've always wanted to go to Iceland. 

Katherine McCord 46:08
That's interesting. 

Rich Bennett 46:08
Y Yeah, because I've always I've always heard it's the most beautiful country in the world. 

Katherine McCord 46:14
My husband and I went to experience a festival. 

Rich Bennett 46:21
Oh, I don't even I didn't even know that. 

Katherine McCord 46:25
So when you so curious, like, is that the thing? It wasn't that be weird, though. 

Rich Bennett 46:30
Let me tell you. So I am a metal head. Death metal scares the hell out of me. 

Katherine McCord 46:35
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 46:35
It's my son. 

Katherine McCord 46:37
Played. 

Rich Bennett 46:38
In a death metal band and we went and sold it. My nephew was into death metal and we went and saw them and they started playing. We're getting into it. And then that singer started. We're like, What is this? 

Katherine McCord 46:50
So I'm a huge fan. Of most Death. Metal is a no for me. But there is some stuff I, I listen to you that's amazing. And actually one of the one of the things I did a while back on LinkedIn is I posted the lyrics to a Killswitch Engage song that's about inclusion and believe it or not. And so I posted every single, Oh my God, it's so beautiful. Can you post a link to the song? I was like, I okay, but just a warning. It's a off. 

And sure enough, I heard he was like, nevermind, beautiful lyrics. Don't want to listen to it. Oh God. And Killswitch Engage even does clean vocals. So that was that was cool. But 

it's it is what it was. That's another one of those, like, misunderstood things like heavy metals. Great. That has beautiful like messages to it and all that. But everybody's like, it's scary. I don't like. 

Rich Bennett 47:45
Go watch Gwar. 

Katherine McCord 47:46
Sorry somebody. Oh my God, Did you see what they are make of. That Kansas song? Oh my God. I. Lost it. Google that. It is priceless. 

Rich Bennett 47:57
Oh, I'll have to check that out. 

Katherine McCord 47:59
Gwar singing. Real. 

Rich Bennett 48:00
Quick because we got 3 minutes left and I got we didn't even talk about what we were going to talk about, what we did. Somewhat, somewhat. But that's okay. I mean, it just means you got to come on again. But something I love to ask all my guests, because you've been on several different podcasts already. Oh, what is something that that A, who says never asked you that you wish they would have asked you and if so, what would be that question? What would be your answer? 

Katherine McCord 48:26
Gosh, um. I've been asked so many great things. I'm not sure. Let's see. Um, 

actually, you kind of. You kind of did it earlier. The, um, the question about what's the hardest to deal with. Oh, okay. Because people kind of missed that. And I'll tell you what the question would be. What is something along the lines of what is the different, you know, how does everybody experience does everybody experience diversity the same? Does everyday experience disability? Is it different for everybody? And the truth is, is that it's very different If you know one person when the diagnosis you know one person with that diagnosis, we're all different. Our bodies change. Hormones have changed. All of my disabilities that's jacked up. I hit menopause in my body, but never mind none of your treatments are going to work anymore. New thing. Good luck. Lady. Thumbs up. We firmly believe in you. Geez. Um. Yeah, I lost a disability because I. I got a hysterectomy. I got rid of that, and then that I hit menopause. That was fun. So it's different for everybody, and so many different things change it, you know? So I think it's important to remember that every individual is unique. Everybody has their own gifts, everybody has their own strengths. Disability doesn't change that. 

Rich Bennett 49:44
And I can already see what your next venture is going to be. Stand up comedy. 

Katherine McCord 49:51
I've considered it. I do. I do. Comedic. I think he should power. But all the time. 

Rich Bennett 49:57
All right, Catherine, people are supposed to sing in the shower. 

Katherine McCord 50:02
No, no. 

Rich Bennett 50:05
See, if if I tried to do comedy in the shower, I'd be laughing so hard, my ass would fall down. 

Katherine McCord 50:11
I didn't hit my head once. That's a choice. 

Rich Bennett 50:13
Use it. Oh, yes, You. You definitely have to come back. Going again? 

Katherine McCord 50:19
Without a doubt. 

Rich Bennett 50:22
Without a doubt. Catherine, I want to thank you so much, everybody. If you need her to come and speak. First of all, when she does come to speak, be ready, because it's it's going. 

Katherine McCord 50:32
To be who it is. This is this is what you get. 

Rich Bennett 50:36
You're going to have I guarantee you, you're going to have a blast and you're good, but at the same time, you're going to learn a lot. So Kathy, thank you so much. Next time you come on, we're going to talk about the podcast. We'll probably talk about music. We're just going to have to sit up 2 hours. 

Katherine McCord 50:51
Let's do. It. I'm down. Let's just do it. 

Rich Bennett 50:54
All right. Works me. Thanks so. 

Katherine McCord 50:56
Much. Thank you so much for having me.