PEORIA MAGAZINE February 2023

S P O T L I G H T

ENTREPRENEUR, AUTHOR, ADVOCATE We Hear You CEO Paul Pierre is on a mission ‘to change the world’

BY STEVE STEIN PHOTO BY RON JOHNSON

H e’s only 24, but Pierre Paul has already endured a lifetime of challenges and celebrated a lifetime of triumphs. Extreme poverty, xenophobia and racism are among the roadblocks he’s encountered on the way to becoming an award-winning entrepreneur, sought after public speaker, diversity specialist, respected mentor and fierce advocate for the disadvantaged. Paul recently added a new title to his résumé: children’s book author. The title of his debut is Carden: The Wheelchair Warrior , a fictional tale about a young girl trying to fit in during her first day of school. The story was inspired by a real-life person, Carden Wyckoff, a disability advocate and colleague who has not let muscular dystrophy slow her. “All too often, those who are different find themselves doing and saying anything to acclimate to the status quo,” Paul said. “Carden is no different, using her wild imagination to exaggerate in order to fit in among her peers. But she will learn that children love regardless of age, race, physical ability or gender.” Published over the recent holidays in English, Spanish, French and Arabic,

“My company believes that diversity and inclusion should not be an afterthought of innovation, and I live this in my daily life,” he said. “We Hear You is an extension of my childhood dreams to change the world.” The company ’s two-way sign language translation software — an idea Paul said came to him in a dream — has reached 98% accuracy. Paul isn’t satisfied with that, so WHY has joined forces with the Doğuş Group, one of Turkey’s largest companies, to work out the software’s kinks before it’s rolled out globally. “It’s going to take about two years for them to perfect … The deaf community has become jaded because of people promising to create this kind of software and not keeping their promise, so we want to do it right.” Paul said he received invaluable help testing the technology from The Spot Coffee in Peoria, which provided it to hearing-challenged customers in placing their orders via a tablet on the store’s counter. “This software truly has the potential to bridge the gap between the deaf and hard-of-hearing world and the hearing world,” said Jessica Lang, vice president

the book is available on Amazon ($9.99/ eBook, $15.99 soft cover), where it sold 125 copies in its first three days. At some point, Paul would like to get Carden into brick-and-mortar bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Target, with hopes of donating some of the sale proceeds to the likes of Easterseals and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. THE 20-SOMETHING CEO The Bradley University grad and product of the university’s Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation isn’t fazed by lofty goals. He embraces them.

He’s the founder and chief executive off icer of We Hear You (WHY), a company launched at Bradley that has created award-winning sign language translation technology “for individuals whose concerns often go unheard,” Paul said.

78 FEBRUARY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE