By Jessica Patton, Best Buddies Jobs Coach
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| Jon, center, with co-workers, Hugo Troncoso, left, and Rob Rosellen, right |
Jon Freeman began working at Access Hollywood on November 5, 2002 as a Degausser (tape eraser) at the Video Library. Originally working only five hours a week, Jon was housed in a room off of the Library using a degaussing machine to erase tapes. By November of 2003, Jon had graduated to 24 hours a week and had received a $3.00/week raise! He continued to work hard in the Library for several years, while his Best Buddies Employment Consultants helped him to improve and build on his skills.
In September of 2009, Jon moved from the basement’s Video Library upstairs to Access Hollywood’s Production Office where he started putting in 32 hours a week as a Runner. His day-to-day job changed drastically. As a Runner, Jon has the opportunity to see and experience many of the facets of putting on a fast-paced television show like Access Hollywood. Jon is primarily responsible for providing the Production Office with assistance on the NBC lot and the Access Hollywood offices. While other runners are sent off the lot to run errands, Jon’s supervisors can depend on him to help take care of the day-to-day office tasks and errands that come up on set. One of Jon’s supervisors, Rob Rosellen, says that “Jon is a huge help to the Production Office and is always a great worker. We love having him here.”
Eight years after starting with Access Hollywood, Jon has advocated for himself in many ways. He now works four days a week and has nearly doubled his hourly rate. Jon also receives benefits from Access Hollywood including sick and vacation time, employee discounts, and passes to screenings of new films at NBC Universal.
We asked Jon to tell us a little bit about what it’s like working for Access Hollywood and being a participant with Best Buddies Jobs:
Q: Jon, you’ve been working at Access Hollywood for 8 years. How does that feel?
A: It’s amazing. With all of the problems that I’ve gone through, it’s the longest that I have held a job. I love my job very much.
Q: How do you feel about Best Buddies Jobs?
A: If it weren’t for Best Buddies Jobs, I wouldn’t have gotten a job. They have done a very good job supporting me and everyone has worked well with me.
Q: How do you feel about your coworkers and supervisors?
A: My co-workers and supervisors are amazing. They support me in every way. Even though I have a disability, they treat me equally.
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Q: What’s the best thing about working in the Production Office as a runner?
A: I like not being isolated, like I was before. I’m around so many people I can talk to.
Q: What advice would you give a person with a disability who wants to work?
A: I would say that when the time is right, you will find a job that fits you. Even with a disability, you can find a job and everything will work out.
Q: What advice would you give to an employer who is considering hiring a person with a disability?
A: Even though a person has a disability, they are no different than anyone else. You should give them an equal chance to prove themselves and show that they can do a good job.
If you’d like more information about becoming a Best Buddies Jobs Employer, you can call Rachel Spooner at 310.642.2620 or email her at rachelspooner@bestbuddies.org.
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| Jon Freeman, center, with Best Buddies Jobs Coaches, Jessica Patton, left, and Rachel Spooner, right |
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