Episode 73: Tina Beauvais- Be Kind, Live Kind

Tina Beauvais joins the podcast today! Tina Beauvais is one of the co-founders of Be Kind Live Kind and the Disability Inclusion Educator. She is on a mission to teach parents and children the best ways to include individuals with disabilities and special needs. Tina’s daughter, Noel, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at 5 months old, is the motivation and inspiration behind all of the work that she does. Be Kind Live Kind is an online shop as well as a boutique in Greeley, Colorado. They sell various types of apparel, accessories, stickers, and jewelry with the intention of spreading the message of kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Through their shop, they dedicate the sales of specific designs each month to raise funds for a family that is caring for a child with a disability. At the time of this interview, they were still running the shop out of Tina’s home as solely an online shop but since the business got such a great response from the community, they have opened a brick and mortar location. Tina’s work as the Disability Inclusion Educator is designed to help parents to raise disability inclusive kids as well as educate the general community on how to connect with individuals with disabilities and special needs. She does advocacy work through her online platforms and speaks to students, parents and educators on the message of inclusion. This episode is hosted by Emma Benner. We have a listener survey for The Illuminate Podcast that we would love if you filled it out. We want to hear from you to help better the show in the coming years and we would love if you took a few minutes to fill that out. Fill out the survey HERE. What we talked about: 5:20- What she does through her Disability Inclusion Educator work 8:45- Her family and having a blended family with her husband, Dustin 12:35- What her children have learned from having a sibling with a disability 16:45- The advice that she would give a family that has received a recent diagnosis that their child has a disability 18:30- How you can help a family that just received the diagnosis that their child has a disability 19:40- Misconceptions that people have about people with disabilities 21:00- Her reaction when she received the diagnosis that her daughter had muscular dystrophy 23:45- How they had a community of people running for Noel through their initiative “Steps for Noel” 28:10- The joys that Noel brings to her life 34:25- Noel’s involvement in the Be Kind Live Kind Shop and their monthly program to help other families that are caring for an individual with a disability 39:30- What Be Kind Live Kind is and the mission behind it 42:05- The vision that Tina has to hire individuals with disabilities for her company 46:55- The community response when the business was launched and how they have grown since 50:25- The message that she hopes to get across with her Disability Inclusion Educator work 53:50- Her 5-10 year plan and goals for her work as the Disability Inclusion Educator 1:03:20- End of podcast questions Show notes: Choose2Include Disability Education Podcast Be Kind Live Kind Website Tina Beauvais on Instagram Tina Beauvais on Facebook Tina Beauvais on YouTube Get 20% off of your order at getfinleys.com by using the code “ILLUMINATE20” Fill out the listener survey here Book recommendation: The Ideal Team Player Follow The Illuminate Podcast: Illuminate Podcast on Instagram Illuminate Podcast on Twitter Illuminate Podcast on Facebook Follow Sandyboy Productions: Sandyboy Productions on Twitter Sandyboy Productions on Instagram *As a Finley’s ambassador we do earn from qualifying purchase.