and now get high for Dylan.
Good morning everybody.
Good morning thank you for having me on your show.
What's your story? My story. So I'm 21 years old.
I was adopted twice. Was adopted from Russia.
The first time from Russia to the United States at 2.5 years old
I was misdiagnosed with dyslexia.
So I didn't know how to read until 10th grade.
And you guys know what dyslexia is.
What do you got for dyslexia?
I know what it is.
It's um where some people have it and they can't really read
that well or write that correct kind of.
So dyslexia is where the words are kind of backwards and they're
flip flopping.
So when I'm reading you take sentences and the sentences they're
flying across the pages and the word the letters inside of them
are flipping. So it's really hard to read.
So when I was adopted from Russia I was adopted with my twin.
And I was very sick when I got to United States I was very
blessed to be in the United States.
My very first father was not present.
So I was adopted the second time in seventh grade in seventh
grade I was misdiagnosed with a D. H. D.
On the wrong medicine for 10 years when I was on the wrong
medicine we didn't know what was wrong.
So I was failing school I didn't have a father and I had my
brother and my mom.
So when we got back and I was adopted the second time.
My my second father He looked into it.
We did research and I was officially diagnosed with dyslexia at
16 years old.
So at 16 I had to catch up and graduate my class within three
years. And then today when Covid hit,
I graduated high school and I started my own brand with dyslexia
and defying all odds. And that's now a movement, not a moment.
And that's why I'm here today because I wanted you guys to know
that anything is absolutely possible and you guys can defy the
odds to no matter what, where you come from,
what your family looks like,
what your siblings look like the school you guys go to.
You guys can absolutely defy all the odds.
I've built a talk show. I got, let's go.
I built the talk show.
I went from working for free at an intern to getting a full job
in finance at 21 years old.
And now I get to travel to schools and inspire you guys.
It's been good, wow, that was a great story.
How does it feel being adopted The first time in Russia,
we had to sleep in our uh,
pillowcases because the older kids stole our blankets and they
stole our food. So I had to figure out how to eat.
So being in a place where I can eat and have blankets and have a
loving family. It's awesome.
How was you adopted? The second time?
My first adopted father left so that my second father came into
our lives and adopted us for Christmas in 7th grade,
we have to work,
everyone's gotta work hard to get where they want to be.
You got to do things that others aren't willing to do to get the
results that others won't have.
That's how you get to defy the odds. Did you here sit down?
Which time? The very first from Russia?
I was 2.5, so I didn't really know what was going on,
but when I figured it out, looking back, I'm very blessed.
How did you feel when um those mean kids took your blankets and
food?
I went into survival mode. So I was like, what can I do?
So you lay on your pillow and you sleep in your pillowcase
because the pillowcase is kind of a blanket and you go into
survival mode. Amazing.
I was excited. Happy blessed.
Do you still talk to your second adoptive family?
I live with them.
What I like to do for fun.
I like coming to school as inspiring kids and I like working out
what's your biggest inspiration?
Uh probably my second adoptive father and then also uh a lot of
people are surround myself with the biggest thing with you kids,
you gotta surround yourself with the right people who you are
seen with is who you are.
So if you get in the right circle you can be whoever you will be.
So if you get in a circle full of say millionaires,
you're in a group of five millionaires,
you'll be the six millionaire?
If you're in a group with five people who we called runners,
who complain about what they want isn't coming alive,
then you'll be the sixth one of them.
So whoever you surround yourself with is who you're gonna become.
So I learned that very fast and I was very grateful and blessed
to be able to be surrounded myself with people like king carl
and our business partners to be around the right people to get
places I wanted to be.
Um Do you um do you have a goal?
And if you reached it already, what was it? I do have a goal.
My goal is to inspire, impact,
motivate and educate and at the highest level.
So as many schools as I can,
as many conferences that I can to make a change and impact and
let everybody know that they can divide the odds and nothing is
impossible.
What was your favorite moment when you inspired kids out of
school? Um In Virginia? I mean, this is a great moment,
so clap it up for everybody right now,
because thank you for having me,
but I recently went to a school in Virginia and I made a huge
impact and not only the kids,
but the parents and the board and I think it's gonna be a great,
moving forward for that school,
every reason to have a better understanding of what dyslexia is
and how they can move forward for their kids and families and
teachers to do everything and be successful in it.
Um, What was your best moment of being adopted?
It's every day, Every day is my best moment.
I mean every day you gotta focus on how can you guys be better
used today than you were yesterday. And I always,
it's the little things you probably don't even think about,
but it's,
if anybody doesn't understand the math question today and they
come to school monday and they learned monday,
you're a better person monday than you were today.
And that's what you gotta look for house one.
What is one thing you guys can do today to be a better person
that you are tomorrow? And there's small things like,
can you help your mom take out the trash that you didn't do last
week. Can you help do the laundry?
Can do your homework on time or can you, hey mom,
I have homework to do.
Can we figure out what's best for you and me?
So both parties can value and get everything they want out of it.
So basically,
so basically like stuff that you didn't do the last week that
you could do this week, every day.
So 1% every day, which is one thing.
So if you don't know a math problem today and you figure it out
tomorrow.
You 1% better tomorrow than you were today and that's a big deal.
What was your most toughest moment when you had the uh when?
So dyslexia. Yeah, you're good.
So when nobody knew what was going on and it all looked like
chinese, I didn't know what was going on.
Um And I was really trying. I was going in before class.
I was going during lunch during gym,
staying after class and going to a tutor and we still don't have
answers.
Spent over $10,000 and a year and a half of tutoring and we
didn't have any answers. I was still failing second.
He was, he was dedicated for sure.
He, he said I wasn't gonna take no for an answer and that's the
people you want to surround yourself with.
So he did all the research. You needed to talk to everybody.
He needed to get to the people we needed to get to to get the
answer we needed to and then once we got the answer,
he had to find out what the best way to proceed is and what
programs you would use to help me overcome it.
Amazing Dad stand up for that.
Um, when your dad figured out that that you had dyslexia,
were you really excited when you got a a treatment for it?
The treatment was I had to learn my A. B. CS.
As a 16 year old kid and I did go to kindergarten twice because
we didn't know what was going on.
So basically I did kindergarten three times to just graduated
high school and I did it by the hair on my chin.
Um, so it was really relieving to know we had an answer,
but the cure was a year or two years of every day studying for a
couple hours and learned my A. B. CS letter by letter.
So it was very humbling, but it was,
it was a great journey and I'm glad I went through it.
Wow, that was a great story and nice questions.
Yeah. So we're gonna end it now.
Thank you so much for visiting Dylan.
You most definitely inspired all of us.
I'm so glad to hear that. Thank you guys so much for having me.