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Founder@ Interview
With Kale Sudhoff
“One piece of advice that I would give is don’t ever give up. No matter how many people tell you that it will never happen, don’t listen and keep striving toward your goals. ” – Kale Sudhoff
Today we feature Kale Sudhoff, the founder at Silent Opportunities. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I was born with a stutter so that made reading and everything relating to books really difficult for me when I was younger. As a result, I really wanted nothing to do with books as a kid. It wasn’t until I was 15 years old that I felt compelled to start writing a story.
I heard the word author come up from three different sources at three different times and I just felt like God was trying to tell me to start writing. I like to write for kids like me who are faced with extreme challenges in life. I want to teach them to never give up.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I was working on a book called “Born to Stand Out” which is about an elephant who is born deaf, when I came across a Facebook post about a girl named Allie Gray who was running for and would later become Miss Ohio’s Teen.
I wanted to speak with her because her talent was actually sign language so I figured that she would have a lot of helpful insight for a book related to the deaf community. When we came together and shared our ideas, we began to realize that our values and morals aligned very well, and we decided that we could do more to help those in need.
We created a non-profit organization called Silent Opportunities to try and give more opportunities to those in the hearing loss and deaf community. I am astonished every day by how much of an impact 2 kids from a small town in Ohio have made with our outreach efforts.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
Silent Opportunities is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness and support for the hearing loss and deaf community. Our mission is to raise funds for the Ohio School for the Deaf, to donate sign language materials to local schools and to award a scholarship to a local high school graduate impacted by hearing loss or disability. We are based in Celina, Ohio
How long has your company been operating, and what have been some of the key milestones in its development so far?
Silent Opportunities was started this past year. We have participated in several podcasts and interviews to help raise awareness. We held a Family Fun Day to promote our non-profit and to include the community in our mission. We have raised money and have already bought and donated sign language materials to local schools.
We are excited to be able to donate a check to the Ohio School for the Deaf and to create a scholarship to be given out to a high school student at the end of this school year.
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What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
One of the most memorable moments came during his first book signing, where a young girl with special needs spent 20 minutes talking to me, unaware of who I was but simply needing someone to listen.
This interaction solidified my belief in the power of small, meaningful connections and the importance of advocating for those whose voices are often unheard. Then connecting with Allie, I knew that we could make a difference in the hearing loss community with my book and her voice as Miss Ohio’s Teen.
We know that there are ups and downs in business. What’s been your biggest lesson so far?
The biggest lesson that I have learned so far in this business is that your impact doesn’t have to be a huge outreach to 1000’s of kids. While that would be nice, if I can make a difference in the life of one child, then that to me is true success. I’ve also learned to not stress out about our fundraisers and the level of impact that they will have.
I have learned to just put it all in God’s hands and whatever is meant to happen will happen. Each time we do one of these event’s I am astonished at the blessings that come out of it.
That’s insightful. How has that lesson influenced your approach to decision-making, especially when faced with uncertainty?
Now when we’re faced with uncertainty, I don’t let fear and worry get the best of me. I don’t worry about how much funding we will raise. I know God can do miracles with just about anything that we’re able to offer up so I simply trust that what is meant to happen will and I wait to see the great things that we are able to do with the funds that we do raise.
Nothing makes me happier than being able to give more opportunities to those who don’t normally have them.
I wish that I could tell the shy, awkward kid with a stutter that one day you will make big impact on kids facing disabilities and obstacles in life.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
A piece of advice that I would give to my younger self would be to stay confident in who God has made me to be and to not doubt that a small-town kid like me could make a big difference in the world.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
Using our website and social media accounts to be able to reach people has been very helpful. Being on podcasts and doing interviews has also raised a lot of awareness for our non-profit. We also set up a GoFundMe page so people can go online and make donations which has been really helpful.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
I wish that I could tell the shy, awkward kid with a stutter that one day you will make big impact on kids facing disabilities and obstacles in life.
Based on what you’ve learned, what are some common pitfalls you’ve observed other companies in your space fall into?
I think one of the pitfalls of having a non-profit is focusing on being this big organization that needs to make a lot of money and impact a large amount of people, instead of focusing on just taking steps to help the people you come in contact with.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
I hope to continue writing books for children with disabilities and to raise awareness for inclusion of the disabled community. I also want to continue raising funds for the hearing loss and deaf communities through Silent Opportunities.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
One piece of advice that I would give is don’t ever give up. No matter how many people tell you that it will never happen, don’t listen and keep striving toward your goals.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Silent Opportunities”
To learn more about Silent Opportunities Visit https://silentopportunities.wixsite.com/hearinglossawareness
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