Using the superpower of dyslexia to make your business clear

Ange Dove (00:00)
Okay, welcome to You're the Boss podcast show. And today I have a special guest with me, Russell Van Brocklen.

Russell is a New York State Senate-funded dyslexia researcher, and he's shifting daily reading frustrations into confident academic wins for students facing dyslexia.

And today we're going to talk about how his research can also impact business.

Welcome, Russell.

Russell Van Brocklen (00:32)
Thanks for having me.

Ange Dove (00:34)
You're welcome. So just explain in your own words who you are, what you do exactly, and what you've been doing.

Russell Van Brocklen (00:42)
Well, just so everybody knows how I got started—this is the last thing I was supposed to be doing.

I did a New York State Assembly internship because I wanted to know how laws were made in the late ’90s. When I was finishing college, the state gave me extraordinary accommodations, which the political science department at SUNY Buffalo didn’t like.

So instead of the 15 credits of A-minus, I got 15 credits of F. Yes, they flunked me because of the accommodations the state government gave me.

Russell Van Brocklen (01:19)
At that time, I had a first-grade reading and writing level. I went to law school. On my second day of contracts, I was called on by the professor and responded for 15 minutes—not as a student, but as his equal.

I learned how to read within a month and write within a couple of years.

Later, I went back to the New York State Senate. I got funding to work with highly motivated high school juniors and seniors in Averill Park, near Albany.

They went from middle school reading and writing levels to the average of entering graduate students—all within one class period per day over a school year.

All of them went to college. All graduated with GPAs between 2.5 and 3.6.

Cost to taxpayers? Under $900 per student.

We were 3x as successful as the best dyslexia college—for less than 1% of the cost.

Ange Dove (01:53)
Mm-hmm.

Russell Van Brocklen (02:16)
Unlike most researchers, I also went to business school and completed the entrepreneurship concentration at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Now I help business owners apply what I’ve learned—especially helping dyslexics succeed in identifying what they want to do and how to acquire customers.

Ange Dove (02:53)
Yeah, okay. Before we go there, let’s clear up some misconceptions. What is dyslexia?

Russell Van Brocklen (03:06)
Sure. The top book is Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz from Yale.

In a typical brain, the back region shows high neural activity. In a dyslexic brain, there’s very little activity there—but the front part is about 2.5 times more active.

The front handles word analysis and articulation.

So what I do is teach how to move information into that stronger front area.

Russell Van Brocklen (04:00)
Here’s the key for marketers: once dyslexics learn to organize their thoughts, they can outperform others—like entering a weightlifting competition with Arnold Schwarzenegger versus someone much weaker.

Ange Dove (04:23)
Okay.

Russell Van Brocklen (04:27)
Now I’ll show how to apply this to business and marketing.

Let’s start with a movie everyone knows—what’s one of the best?

Ange Dove (06:10)
Apollo 13.

Russell Van Brocklen (06:18)
Great. Reduce it to one word.

Ange Dove (06:49)
Triumph.

Russell Van Brocklen (06:50)
Exactly. But “triumph” is broad—it’s not precise enough.

So we refine it using structure. Think of storytelling:

• Hero

• Goal

• Villain

• Conflict

• Resolution

We simplify this for marketing.

Russell Van Brocklen (09:53)
Let’s take a business. What’s the name?

Ange Dove (09:50)
Cynthia.

Russell Van Brocklen (09:53)
What does Cynthia want?

Ange Dove (10:07)
To simplify communication and end miscommunication.

Russell Van Brocklen (10:13)
Why?

Ange Dove (10:17)
So businesses work better, faster, kinder.

Russell Van Brocklen (10:22)
Why does she care?

Ange Dove (10:27)
Because we’re losing the ability to communicate face-to-face.

Russell Van Brocklen (10:34)
Exactly.

So we keep asking why and how—this builds clarity.

Then:

1. Record your answers

2. Transcribe them

3. Extract key words

4. Use AI to define and refine them

5. Identify your core universal theme
   
   

Russell Van Brocklen (14:31)
Then refine that theme with synonyms until it truly reflects your purpose.

From there:

• Build messaging

• Apply it to content (posts, ads, etc.)

• Test against your ideal customer (avatar)
  
  

Ange Dove (16:41)
Wow.

Russell Van Brocklen (16:42)
My avatar is 29,000 words.

You need depth. I built mine based on a real customer—Kimberly—who improved her son’s reading dramatically.

You gather data, validate it with AI, and build a detailed profile.

Then run all marketing decisions through that lens.

Ange Dove (17:53)
That’s powerful. We’ll definitely have you back to talk about avatars.

Russell Van Brocklen (18:10)
Absolutely.

Ange Dove (21:34)
I think people should rewatch this—it’s not a one-time listen.

So Russell, thank you so much for your insights and for the work you’re doing.

Where can people find you?

Russell Van Brocklen (22:21)
Visit dyslexiaclasses.com or askdyslexiaclasses.com and fill out the contact form.

Ange Dove (22:33)
Amazing. Thank you so much for your time today, Russell.

Russell Van Brocklen (22:39)
Thanks for having me.