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00:00:01,667 --> 00:00:03,101
When I was young,

2
00:00:03,125 --> 00:00:04,458
I wanted to be on TV:

3
00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:08,309
the lights, the cameras,

4
00:00:08,333 --> 00:00:09,976
the makeup,

5
00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:11,417
the glamorous life.

6
00:00:12,417 --> 00:00:14,101
And from my vantage point,

7
00:00:14,125 --> 00:00:17,726
just outside of a military base
in Lawton, Oklahoma,

8
00:00:17,750 --> 00:00:21,726
I didn't make the distinction
between TV reporter or actor.

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It was all the same to me.

10
00:00:23,375 --> 00:00:24,643
It was either,

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00:00:24,667 --> 00:00:26,059
"Reporting live from Berlin"

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00:00:26,083 --> 00:00:30,518
or "I shall attend her here and woo her
with such spirit when she comes."

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00:00:30,542 --> 00:00:31,809
(Laughter)

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It was all special,

15
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it was all the spotlight,

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and I just knew that it was for me.

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But somewhere along my journey,

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life happened.

19
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Ah, much better.

20
00:02:20,167 --> 00:02:24,101
(Applause)

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00:02:24,125 --> 00:02:25,875
I have a disease called vitiligo.

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00:02:26,500 --> 00:02:28,708
It started early in my career.

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It's an autoimmune disorder.

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It's where it looks like your skin
is getting white patches,

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but it's actually void of color.

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It affects all ethnicities,

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it affects all ages,

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all genders,

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it's not contagious,

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it's not life-threatening,

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but it is mental warfare.

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It's tough.

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Now, I was diagnosed with this disease

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when I was working on
"Eyewitness News" in New York City.

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I was in the biggest city in the country,

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I was on their flagship station

37
00:03:06,750 --> 00:03:11,018
and I was on their top-rated 5pm newscast,

38
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and the doctor looked me
right in the eye and said,

39
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"You have a disease called vitiligo.

40
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It's a skin disorder
where you lose your pigment.

41
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There is no cure,
but there a-la-la-la-la".

42
00:03:22,875 --> 00:03:24,393
Charlie Brown's teacher.

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(Laughter)

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He said there is no cure.
All I heard was, "My career is over."

45
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But I just couldn't give up.

46
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I couldn't quit,

47
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because we put too much into this,

48
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and by "we" I mean Mr. Moss,

49
00:03:43,500 --> 00:03:47,851
who sent me to speech and drama club
instead of to detention,

50
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or my sister who paid
part of my college expenses,

51
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or my mom,

52
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who simply gave me everything.

53
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I would not quit.

54
00:04:06,625 --> 00:04:11,125
So I decided to just put on makeup
and keep it moving.

55
00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,976
I had to wear makeup anyway.
It's TV, baby, right?

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I just put on a little more makeup
and everything's cool.

57
00:04:20,708 --> 00:04:24,476
And that actually
went very well for years.

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I went from being a reporter
in New York City

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to being a morning show anchor in Detroit,

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the Motor City,

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and as the disease got worse,

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I just put on more makeup.

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It was easy.

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Except for my hands.

65
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See, this disease is progressive
and ever-changing.

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That means it comes and goes.

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At one point, for about a year and a half,

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my face was completely white.

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Yeah, it trips me out too.

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00:04:59,792 --> 00:05:01,101
(Laughter)

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Yeah.

72
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And then, with a little help,

73
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some of the pigment came back,

74
00:05:09,792 --> 00:05:12,559
but living through this process

75
00:05:12,583 --> 00:05:14,292
was like two sides of a coin.

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00:05:16,125 --> 00:05:18,184
When I'm at work
and I'm wearing the makeup

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or wearing the makeup outside,
I'm the TV guy.

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00:05:20,542 --> 00:05:22,726
"Hey, how you doing everybody? Great."

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At home without the makeup,

80
00:05:24,250 --> 00:05:27,625
I'd take it off
and it was like being a leper.

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The stares, constantly staring at me,

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the comments under their breath.

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Some people refused to shake my hand.

84
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Some people moved
to the other side of the sidewalk,

85
00:05:40,208 --> 00:05:42,143
moved to the other side of the elevator.

86
00:05:42,167 --> 00:05:44,958
I felt like they were moving
to the other side of life.

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It was tough,

88
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and those were some tough years.

89
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And honestly,

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sometimes I just had to shelter in place.

91
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You know what I mean?

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Kind of just stay at home
til I get my mind right.

93
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But then I'd put my blinders back on,

94
00:06:08,250 --> 00:06:09,625
I'd get back out there,

95
00:06:10,750 --> 00:06:12,434
do my thing,

96
00:06:12,458 --> 00:06:14,393
but in the process of doing that,

97
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I developed this --

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angry, grumpy demeanor.

99
00:06:21,833 --> 00:06:23,601
Anger is an easy go-to,

100
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and people would leave me alone,

101
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but it just wasn't me.

102
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It wasn't me.

103
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I was allowing this disease to turn me
into this angry, grumpy, spotted guy.

104
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It just wasn't me.

105
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So I had to change.

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I knew I could not change other people.

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People are going to react
and do what they gonna do.

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But there was a cold hard reality as well.

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I was the one

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that was showing anger, sadness

111
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and isolating myself.

112
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It was actually a choice.

113
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I was walking out the door every day

114
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expecting the world
to react with negativity,

115
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so I just gave them that mean face first.

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If I wanted change,
the change had to start with me.

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So I came up with a plan.

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Two-parter, not that deep.

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Number one: I would just let people stare,

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drink it in, stare all you want,

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and not react.

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Because the truth is
when I got this disease,

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I was all up in the mirror
staring at every new spot

124
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trying to figure out what is going on.

125
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So I needed to let other people
have that same opportunity

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to get that visual understanding.

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Number two:

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I would react with positivity,

129
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and that was simply a smile,

130
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or, at the very least,

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a nonjudgmental, kind face.

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Simple plan.

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But it turned out to be
more difficult than I thought.

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But over time,

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things started to go OK.

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Like this one time, I'm at the store
and this dude is like staring at me,

137
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like burning a hole
in the side of my head.

138
00:08:33,250 --> 00:08:34,851
I'm shopping, he's staring at me,

139
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I'm going to the checkout,
he's staring at me,

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I'm checking out, he's on the other line
checking out, he's staring at me,

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we go to the exit,
he's still staring at me,

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so I see he's staring

143
00:08:44,875 --> 00:08:47,726
and finally I turn to him
and I go, "Hey buddy, what's up!"

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And he goes ...

145
00:08:49,042 --> 00:08:50,643
(Mumbling nervously) "Hi!"

146
00:08:50,667 --> 00:08:51,684
(Laughter)

147
00:08:51,708 --> 00:08:53,976
Awkward.

148
00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,518
So to relieve the tension, I say,

149
00:08:56,542 --> 00:08:58,309
"It's just a skin disorder.

150
00:08:58,333 --> 00:09:00,559
It's not contagious,
it's not life-threatening,

151
00:09:00,583 --> 00:09:02,643
it just makes me look a little different."

152
00:09:02,667 --> 00:09:05,309
I end up talking to that guy
for like five minutes.

153
00:09:05,333 --> 00:09:07,726
It was kind of cool, right?

154
00:09:07,750 --> 00:09:09,833
And at the end
of our conversation, he says,

155
00:09:11,833 --> 00:09:14,726
"You know, if you
didn't have vitilargo" --

156
00:09:14,750 --> 00:09:17,809
it's actually vitiligo,
but he was trying, so --

157
00:09:17,833 --> 00:09:19,309
(Laughter)

158
00:09:19,333 --> 00:09:23,018
"if you didn't have vitilargo,
you'd look just like that guy on TV."

159
00:09:23,042 --> 00:09:24,309
(Laughter)

160
00:09:24,333 --> 00:09:28,434
And I was like, "Haha,
yeah, I get that, I get that, yeah."

161
00:09:28,458 --> 00:09:29,934
(Laughter)

162
00:09:29,958 --> 00:09:31,875
So things were going OK.

163
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I was having more good exchanges than bad,

164
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until that day.

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I had a little time before work

166
00:09:44,333 --> 00:09:46,851
so I like to stop by the park
to watch the kids play.

167
00:09:46,875 --> 00:09:48,143
They're funny.

168
00:09:48,167 --> 00:09:51,476
So I got a little too close,
this little girl wasn't paying attention,

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she's about two or three years old,

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she's running, she runs directly
into my leg and falls down, pretty hard.

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I thought she hurt herself,

172
00:09:58,083 --> 00:10:00,476
so I reach out to try
and help the little girl

173
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and she looks at my vitiligo

174
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and she screams!

175
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Now kids are pure honesty.

176
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She's like two or three.

177
00:10:18,125 --> 00:10:22,184
This little girl,
she wasn't trying to be mean.

178
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She didn't have any malice in her heart.

179
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This little girl was afraid.

180
00:10:27,875 --> 00:10:29,125
She was just afraid.

181
00:10:32,750 --> 00:10:34,059
I didn't know what to do.

182
00:10:34,083 --> 00:10:36,542
I just took a step back
and put my hands by my side.

183
00:10:40,750 --> 00:10:45,208
I stayed in the house for two weeks
and three days on that one.

184
00:10:47,458 --> 00:10:50,684
It took me a second
to get my mind around the fact

185
00:10:50,708 --> 00:10:52,750
that I scare small children.

186
00:10:54,583 --> 00:10:57,875
And that was something
that I could not smile away.

187
00:11:03,125 --> 00:11:04,833
But I jumped back on my plan

188
00:11:07,875 --> 00:11:10,542
and just put on my blinders,

189
00:11:11,542 --> 00:11:12,833
started going back out.

190
00:11:14,250 --> 00:11:17,559
Two months later, I'm in a grocery store
reaching on the bottom shelf,

191
00:11:17,583 --> 00:11:20,333
and I hear a little voice go,
"You've got a boo-boo?"

192
00:11:21,583 --> 00:11:25,268
It's like a two-year-old, three-year-old,
same age, little girl,

193
00:11:25,292 --> 00:11:26,708
but she's not crying,

194
00:11:27,875 --> 00:11:30,768
so I kneel down in front of her

195
00:11:30,792 --> 00:11:33,393
and I don't speak two-year-old
so I look up at the mom,

196
00:11:33,417 --> 00:11:34,893
and I say, "What did she say?"

197
00:11:34,917 --> 00:11:37,601
And she says, "She thinks
you have a boo-boo."

198
00:11:37,625 --> 00:11:41,059
So I go, "No, I don't have
a boo-boo, no, not at all."

199
00:11:41,083 --> 00:11:42,851
And the little girl says,

200
00:11:42,875 --> 00:11:44,167
"Duh-duh-hoy?"

201
00:11:45,167 --> 00:11:47,601
And so I look to mom for the translation,

202
00:11:47,625 --> 00:11:48,976
and she says,

203
00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:50,292
"She thinks you're hurt."

204
00:11:51,542 --> 00:11:56,059
And I say, "No, sweetie,
I'm not hurt at all, I'm fine."

205
00:11:56,083 --> 00:11:59,351
And the little girl
reaches out with that little hand

206
00:11:59,375 --> 00:12:01,684
and touches my face.

207
00:12:01,708 --> 00:12:04,101
She's trying to rub
the chocolate into the vanilla

208
00:12:04,125 --> 00:12:05,434
or whatever she was doing.

209
00:12:05,458 --> 00:12:06,708
It was amazing!

210
00:12:07,667 --> 00:12:08,917
It was awesome.

211
00:12:09,875 --> 00:12:11,934
Because she thought she knew what it was,

212
00:12:11,958 --> 00:12:13,934
she was giving me everything I wanted:

213
00:12:13,958 --> 00:12:16,684
kindness, compassion.

214
00:12:16,708 --> 00:12:18,625
And with the touch of that little hand,

215
00:12:19,792 --> 00:12:23,226
she healed a grown man's pain.

216
00:12:23,250 --> 00:12:25,809
Yee-ha.

217
00:12:25,833 --> 00:12:27,083
Healed.

218
00:12:30,333 --> 00:12:32,625
I smiled for a long time on that one.

219
00:12:35,708 --> 00:12:39,875
Positivity is something
worth fighting for,

220
00:12:40,958 --> 00:12:43,934
and the fight is not with others,

221
00:12:43,958 --> 00:12:45,208
it's internal.

222
00:12:46,458 --> 00:12:50,125
If you want to make
positive changes in your life,

223
00:12:51,625 --> 00:12:56,417
you have to consistently be positive.

224
00:13:01,167 --> 00:13:03,476
My blood type is actually B positive.

225
00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:06,851
(Laughter)

226
00:13:06,875 --> 00:13:09,268
I know, corny TV guy dad joke,

227
00:13:09,292 --> 00:13:11,268
my daughter hates it, but I don't care!

228
00:13:11,292 --> 00:13:13,018
Be positive!

229
00:13:13,042 --> 00:13:15,500
(Laughs)

230
00:13:20,583 --> 00:13:23,226
A 14-year-old boy years ago --

231
00:13:23,250 --> 00:13:25,309
this kid had vitiligo --

232
00:13:25,333 --> 00:13:29,268
he asked me to show my face on television.

233
00:13:29,292 --> 00:13:30,726
I wasn't going to do it,

234
00:13:30,750 --> 00:13:33,559
we've been over this,
I thought I was going to lose my job,

235
00:13:33,583 --> 00:13:35,792
but the kid convinced me by saying,

236
00:13:36,875 --> 00:13:41,226
"If you show people what you look like
and explain this to them,

237
00:13:41,250 --> 00:13:43,417
maybe they will treat me differently."

238
00:13:44,458 --> 00:13:47,042
Boom! Blinders off.

239
00:13:47,833 --> 00:13:50,184
I did a TV report,

240
00:13:50,208 --> 00:13:52,250
got an overwhelming response.

241
00:13:53,375 --> 00:13:54,934
So I didn't know what to do.

242
00:13:54,958 --> 00:13:57,684
I took the attention
and focused it back on the kid

243
00:13:57,708 --> 00:13:59,458
and other people that have vitiligo.

244
00:14:00,417 --> 00:14:01,958
I started a support group.

245
00:14:03,125 --> 00:14:06,059
Pretty soon, we noticed "VITFriends"

246
00:14:06,083 --> 00:14:10,792
and "V-Strong" support groups
all over the country.

247
00:14:12,333 --> 00:14:18,208
In 2016, we all came together
and celebrated World Vitiligo Day.

248
00:14:20,833 --> 00:14:23,059
This past June 25,

249
00:14:23,083 --> 00:14:25,976
we had over 300 people,

250
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,893
all in celebration of our annual event.

251
00:14:30,917 --> 00:14:32,167
It was amazing.

252
00:14:32,792 --> 00:14:34,351
(Applause)

253
00:14:34,375 --> 00:14:35,625
Thanks.

254
00:14:40,208 --> 00:14:42,768
Now, I'm not going to lie to you

255
00:14:42,792 --> 00:14:45,768
and say it was quick or easy

256
00:14:45,792 --> 00:14:50,083
for me to find a positive place
living with this disease,

257
00:14:51,417 --> 00:14:52,667
but I found it.

258
00:14:54,708 --> 00:14:56,417
But I also got much more.

259
00:14:58,083 --> 00:15:01,018
I became a better man,

260
00:15:01,042 --> 00:15:03,309
the man I always wanted to be,

261
00:15:03,333 --> 00:15:09,018
the kind of guy who can stand up
in front of a room full of strangers

262
00:15:09,042 --> 00:15:12,292
and tell some of
the toughest stories in his life

263
00:15:13,625 --> 00:15:15,250
and end it all with a smile,

264
00:15:17,458 --> 00:15:22,208
and find happiness in the fact
that you all just smiled back.

265
00:15:23,250 --> 00:15:24,518
Thank you.

266
00:15:24,542 --> 00:15:27,083
(Applause)