Of the many lessons we teach in CREW, self-advocacy is up there as one of our top 5. All of our training means nothing if our apprentices can’t walk away with the independence and confidence to represent themselves.
And here at ROSIES, we don’t just talk the talk…most recently, we sent out 5 representatives from our first cohort to engage with some local businesses to offer their services. Now let’s hear from two of our ROSIES apprentices themselves, Zach and Daniel, about their exciting venture into the neighborhood…
Tova: Zach, can you tell me about your experience passing out flyers to local businesses? What was that like?
Zach: We had to walk around to all the companies to pass the flyers around to see if they would join us and work with us. To prepare, we wrote down what we were going to say to the people. It was good getting to know the people in the community more. My job was to let them know about our business and I was passing out the flyers. It was successful because The New School of Cooking agreed to work with us and other companies said they would call us. The people we met were nice. It was fun working as a team. I learned from ROSIES to get to know the people and get more information before applying for a job.
Robin: Daniel, what was your project?
Daniel: To pass out flyers. We were trying to tell people in the neighborhood about what we can do so we can try and get a job doing something we want to do.
R: How did you feel talking to different businesses?
D: I felt great.
R: When you talked to people in the neighborhood how did they treat you?
D: They were friendly, nice, made eye contact, and showed respect.
R: How did you feel about yourself passing out the flyers and talking to businesses?
D: I felt good because I expressed myself to them.
R: What were you hoping to would happen after passing out the flyers?
D: I was hoping to get hired.
R: Would you have preferred to go on your own or with your co-workers?
D: I liked working in a team because if I did it by myself I would get stuck.
We’re so proud of our CREW for putting themselves out there–literally. At ROSIES, we don’t wait for employment to fall into our laps; we make it happen for ourselves. What do you think of their bold act of self-advocacy?
