Meet the Mancunian-8.3 - Charlie Michael Baker transcript

Intro

Welcome to Season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. A warm Mancunian welcome from your host, Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe. Thank you for joining me today.

Every Tuesday, I bring you the stories of Manchester's unsung heroes, the individuals who helped to create positive change in our community. My aim is to inspire you, dear listener, to follow your own passions, whether through volunteering or working in the social impact sector. I'm also keen to spotlight good causes. and create more awareness and support for them.

Whether you're tuning in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or on my website, www.meetthemancunian.co.uk, get ready for a season filled with inspiring tales of social impact within our beloved city.

Welcome to the third episode of Season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester.

It's Autistic Pride Day on 18th June. The purpose of Autistic Pride Day is an uniquely autistic led initiative celebrating neurodiversity and the strengths of autistic individuals. It empowers the autistic community, promotes self-advocacy, and fosters a sense of pride and unity, challenging stereotypes and inspiring change.

Passionate about supporting autism awareness, we hear from Charlie Michael Baker, author, in this episode.

In Charlie's own words,

[00:01:34] Charlie Michael Baker: Autism, it basically means that you just think differently to other people. A neurodiverse person and a neurotypical person will look at the same things but take different things away from that.

Autistic people see things differently to other people. It's not anything bad, obviously. Sometimes we struggle with friends, relationships and we just take different things away from different things, really.

Introduction to Charlie Michael Baker

[00:01:58] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'm delighted to introduce my guest, Charlie Michael Baker, author. Thank you so much, Charlie, for joining me today on the Meet the Mancunian podcast. Pleasure to have you today.

[00:02:10] Charlie Michael Baker: Of course, thank you for having me on.

Charlie's Journey with Autism

[00:02:11] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Looking forward to hearing all about your passion for promoting autism awareness. Tell us about where that started from. I know you have your own lived experience.

[00:02:21] Charlie Michael Baker: I was diagnosed with autism when I was six so very young. And then I was bullied throughout the whole way through school. And then I saw that Christine McGuinness, she's mostly known as the Real Housewives star, and Paddy McGuinness' ex-wife. I saw that she wrote a book about her experiences with autism. So I thought that I'd do the same. And then, it's just massively skyrocketed. And it's amazing and I get to support so many people globally.

[00:02:47] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much for sharing that. I'm so sorry you had those childhood experiences of being bullied. You're still very young and it's so good that you're inspiring so many people. Looking forward to hearing about that.

The Inspiration Behind the Book

[00:02:58] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Tell us about your book. What are the big insights for readers?

[00:03:02] Charlie Michael Baker: It's called Charlie Baker: Autism and Me. We're available in Walmart stores in America, which is mad, And available on Amazon worldwide. And Lulu, my website.

Insights from 'Charlie Baker Autism and Me'

[00:03:11] Charlie Michael Baker: The main aspect of my book is just sharing awareness on autism.

You basically come with me, you relive how I was bullied, my diagnosis, my friends and even relationships. Autistic people do tend to struggle with relationships. I've covered that a lot. I never really had any friends throughout school. I never really do now. It covers everything, all aspects of autistic life.

Understanding Autism

[00:03:35] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Because we have listeners from around the world and not everybody may be fully familiar with autism, can you explain in very simple words, what are some of the things to consider when you think about autism?

[00:03:46] Charlie Michael Baker: Autism, it basically means that you just think differently to other people. A neurodiverse person and a neurotypical person will look at the same things but take different things away from that.

Autistic people see things differently to other people. It's not anything bad, obviously. Sometimes we struggle with friends, relationships and we just take different things away from different things, really.

[00:04:09] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: It's also a little bit of a superpower, isn't it? Because it allows you to concentrate and you're more focused when you're neurodiverse. So, there's a lot of advantages as well.

[00:04:19] Charlie Michael Baker: I wish I got that, trust me. I don't, honestly. My mind's everywhere all the time.

[00:04:25] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Everybody's different and people have different perspectives. You talked about your book being about your lived experience of taking people on a journey. What's your ambition with it? Why did you write the book?

[00:04:37] Charlie Michael Baker: I originally wrote the book to just share awareness, and then it changed more of a philanthropical? Is that the word? We donated all the proceeds. And now we've donated about 400,000 pounds. That's crazy.

It goes to autism charities worldwide that we just come across. And we'll be like, we like their work, and we'll donate to them. And we're helping people along the way as well. Because different people struggle with different things.

Even neuro typical people read my book and it resonates with them, which I find really cool because obviously not everyone is neurodiverse, but not everyone is neurotypical either.

Everyone's got a little bit of neurodiversity in them, so everyone will relate to my book, and that's the part I love about it. It makes people feel, I hate the word normal, but it makes people feel normal about things that they're being insecure about.

[00:05:26] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think it's a way to connect as well, right? We have more in common than divide us. It's a really great thing.

Challenges and Overcoming Them

[00:05:33] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Would you like to talk about some of the challenges you've faced on this journey? Because obviously, one was the early challenge of being bullied and not being understood. And like you said, struggling with relationships. Are there other challenges you've had to overcome?

[00:05:48] Charlie Michael Baker: The main aspects for me were just making friends, keeping friends, having relationships and stuff like that. I was always on my own and that's the kind of thing that happened most to me. Obviously different neurodiverse people suffer with different symptoms, but mine was just making friends and stuff like that. I was always the different kid in school, and I don't think that people liked that. That's why I was bullied so much. And obviously that's a harsh reality for many people.

[00:06:17] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think it's a little bit of stereotyping as well where people don't understand and therefore, they are challenged.

[00:06:24] Charlie Michael Baker: Yeah.

Writing and Publishing the Book

[00:06:24] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And what about writing a book? What age were you when you started writing your book?

[00:06:29] Charlie Michael Baker: It's crazy. So, this was last march, I wrote it in March and self-published it in March. So it was mad. I wrote it in literally, I think it was about three days with no sleep. That's the concentration coming through. I was determined to write this book and then I left it a couple of weeks after I'd written it. And then I've just went through and published it.

And then, it was massive. We sold about 14,000 copies within the first week. I cried when I got that phone call. I was like, Oh my God, what me? I've sold that many copies. Because I was expecting to sell about five copies. I think I had about 6.50 pounds in my bank account at the time. I wasn't expecting anything from it really. And then it just skyrocketed, but I was 16 still.

[00:07:14] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is amazing. And to think that you wrote it in a very short three-day sprint, which is amazing because people take years sometimes to write a book. So hopefully, there are many more books ahead of you.

[00:07:27] Charlie Michael Baker: Fingers crossed.

[00:07:28] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Is there a common myth or about your role or about autism that you want to myth bust? It's something new I've introduced in the podcast. But because it's here to shine a light on good causes, I'm really keen to just give you an opportunity to myth bust? You talked about everybody having an element of neurodiversity, which is very interesting. Is there anything else that you think people should know?

[00:07:52] Charlie Michael Baker: I think in school and stuff, I was labelled as the naughty kid. A lot of autistic people are. They're just seen as the naughty kid that you should just disregard and not care about. And I think that is, that's a really big myth with autistic people.

So obviously we're not naughty, we're just different. And people that don't see different. They just tend to label it as things that they don't like. It's not. So I was always labelled as the naughty kid. I was nice to everyone, but I was always the naughty kid. Look at Charlie, the naughty kid.

[00:08:22] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is very difficult.

Impact and Philanthropy

[00:08:24] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And then you talked about the charities, the autism charities that you've been able to donate your proceeds to. So can you talk about a few of them, especially any in the UK you want to highlight?

[00:08:35] Charlie Michael Baker: Of course. So we've donated to a few UK ones as well. I think the biggest one we've donated to is Autism Speaks. You've probably heard of that one. We've done a bit of work with them. They're actually trying to get me onto their podcast at the minute. So, we're in talks with their podcast, which is fun and exciting. We've donated worldwide, I think there's about 200 charities, so it's as far as Australia to like Dubai that we've donated to and stuff like that which is crazy to think that.

[00:09:04] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is amazing and, more power to you to help so many good causes.

What can you tell me a little more about the impact you made? You talked about the funds you raised, and you talked about the books you reached, and the charities you supported. Is there anything else you'd like to highlight here? Or you can tell the story of one person whose life you have impacted.

[00:09:25] Charlie Michael Baker: When we first published my book, we did have an email come through. A man and he basically said to us that he had just been diagnosed with autism and his parents didn't really agree with it. They didn't know much about it, and they were actually threatening to make him homeless because of his autism, which obviously he cannot help. But they were threatening to make him homeless over that and that which made him suicidal, unfortunately.

After reading my book, though, he did reconsider his suicidal thoughts. And so did his parents on making him homeless, which is the biggest thing that I've ever taken out of my book. And obviously the headline for that story was, Charlie Michael Baker saves a man's life, wasn't it? Something like that, which was crazy. But I'm still in contact with him to this day. So, we still talk.

[00:10:14] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is a wonderful story. And no, I hadn't heard it actually. So great to hear it on the podcast.

[00:10:22] Charlie Michael Baker: Oh, wow. That's amazing. Little exclusive.

[00:10:24] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Great to hear. And then is there anything else you want to share about Impact?

[00:10:29] Charlie Michael Baker: I'd say just the amount of people that we've reached, do you know what I mean? It's crazy the amount of people that we've reached with this story. I have 1.1 million followers or something, don't I? I don't run my Instagram account, but I just get told that so many people have liked my post and I'm just like, what? Why?

[00:10:45] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is really amazing. And it's everybody that you're reaching through your Instagram and through your book and through your talks and your charities.

[00:10:54] Charlie Michael Baker: So surreal to me, honestly. The amount of opportunities that I've had put my way because of this book, it's crazy.

Future Projects and Advice

[00:11:00] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What advice would you have for people looking to start a similar movement in their own part of the world or their own community?

[00:11:07] Charlie Michael Baker: I'd say absolutely do it. Do you know what I mean? I had no help. I had no endorsements. I just did it by myself. I had the support of literally nobody. When I told people I was writing a book, they laughed. And now, they're like messaging me and stuff. They're trying to be friendly with me now.

Just do it, I'd say. Just definitely go do it. Reach out to me, I'll help you in whatever way I can. People have asked me to help them write a book and stuff like that, and of course, I'm going to help. So just reach out to me, reach out to other people, send them your books, send them your podcasts, send them just anything you can.

Just do it. That's the best advice I can give. Just do it. No matter what people say, just do it.

[00:11:47] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I like that. Ignore the naysayers and just make it happen, isn't it?

[00:11:51] Charlie Michael Baker: Exactly

[00:11:52] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Opportunities for you to talk about anything that I haven't asked you about, anything coming up in the next few months, or if you want to talk about some of the opportunities you've had because of the book, I'm more than open for you to talk about anything here.

[00:12:06] Charlie Michael Baker: Writing my book has opened up so many doors for me. I've had so many opportunities, parties and stuff like that, crazy events. It's amazing the opportunities that I've had. I'd say it's definitely amazing.

In terms of things coming up, there is another book. It's going to be about my influencer journey. So obviously I'm classed as an influencer, aren't I? It would just be about that. It's going to be about how I've grown as an influencer, what it's actually like living in the public eye. And I'm going to cover a lot about hate comments and stuff like that as well.

I am sharing a really positive story, but there are a lot of people out there that are not so kind. Especially as I'm sending a positive message out. Haters are going to hate. That's the best way to put it. So I'm writing about that and it'll be out everywhere my current book is, I think.

[00:12:54] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Now, that sounds interesting, and absolutely, there's always going to be people who challenge or people who like you said, hate on even good work you're trying to do. But again, you just need to have enough good people come forward, like you are calling to them.

[00:13:10] Charlie Michael Baker: It's lovely.

Signature Questions and Fun Stories

[00:13:11] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I've got some signature questions I ask all my guests.

And the first one is, if Manchester was a colour, what colour would it be? And tell us why.

[00:13:21] Charlie Michael Baker: Is that even a question? Of course it'd be yellow. The bee. It's the bee city, isn't it? Of course it'd be yellow.

[00:13:28] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Brilliant, the Worker Bee of Manchester, yes, it's such a big part.

If you could choose a famous landmark in Manchester to represent you. Which one would you choose and tell us why?

[00:13:41] Charlie Michael Baker: A famous landmark? Probably the Hilton Hotel because that's when I know I'm near home.

[00:13:46] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Why is it representing you?

[00:13:48] Charlie Michael Baker: Because I lose my way in Manchester, I get lost all the time. So when I see the Hilton, I know where I am. So, I'll say, oh, that's the Hilton, I know where I am now. But otherwise, I get completely lost.

[00:14:00] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Oh, I'm still in that boat. I'm still learning.

If you could trade lives with someone in Manchester for a day, who would that be, and why?

[00:14:09] Charlie Michael Baker: Oh, I'd have to say my friend Anastasia Kingsnorth. She lives literally down the road from me, and she's amazing. She's also an influencer, she does YouTube and stuff like that. She's amazing, she's honestly, she's so iconic, I can't even put into words how amazing she is.

I met her at an event, and we just got chatting. Funny enough, we were chatting about paparazzi because we were all sat there, and someone messaged a paparazzi and they wouldn't come. Or something weird like that. And we were just chatting about that the whole night, and it was amazing. So we immediately hit it off and then she just followed me on Instagram and I was like, Oh my God, life is made.

[00:14:46] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What's the most important life lesson you've learned so far?

[00:14:50] Charlie Michael Baker: Don't listen to negative people, I'd say. I used to. I used to a lot. And now, obviously, if I listened to negative people, I wouldn't be here today. Do you know what I mean? I wouldn't be sat here talking to you. If somebody's negative, just walk the other way. Block them. Whatever it is, just don't listen.

[00:15:08] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think this is really important, and if you have the courage of your conviction, just carry on and try to, ignore people who aren't helping, who aren't contributing to your cause.

[00:15:19] Charlie Michael Baker: Definitely. Just be you.

[00:15:21] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Just be you. That is so important. That authenticity is super important.

What's the most important personality or strength that people would need to do what you're doing?

[00:15:32] Charlie Michael Baker: A lot of resilience, I'd say. I spoke a bit earlier about obviously the hate that you get and stuff like that. It's crazy. The amount of hate you get in this line of work. It's bizarre to me, do you know what I mean? I'm trying to do a good deed and then I get people telling me this and that and I'm just like sorry.

A lot of resilience and very thick skin. Because you will get people, no matter what you do, no matter what that you're in the public eye for, no matter who you speak to, you're always going to get that at least one person saying that you're doing something wrong.

[00:16:04] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think you're right about the resilience. That is really important because you don't want to feel, less than yourself when you're doing the right thing. You want to feel good about it and you don't want to be brought down by other people. So, it's really powerful.

And I think you need to find ways to bounce back as well because not everybody will have 100 percent good days. There'll be some good days and bad days as well.

[00:16:26] Charlie Michael Baker: Trust me. I'll like, if I have a bad day, I'll spend the whole day in bed. I'll cancel everything. Like, all brands, everything. I'll just be like, no, sorry, I can't. And then I'll just cry in bed eating ice cream.

[00:16:37] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Ice cream is a good solution, isn't it?

[00:16:40] Charlie Michael Baker: It's honestly everything is fixed with ice cream.

[00:16:43] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I like that.

How can interested people reach out to you and learn more? Where can they find you?

[00:16:49] Charlie Michael Baker: Just reach me through Instagram mainly. I don't run the account but every message is put past me. If somebody reaches out and says that like they want to talk to me or whatever then I'll see it somehow. Or I run my own emails.

It's charlie at p o r t y h dot net. Through there I run the blog. I write the blogs and stuff like that. There's a few ways you can reach me.

[00:17:13] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Do you want to call out your blog email or blog website address.

[00:17:17] Charlie Michael Baker: Of course, yeah. It's port, it's pronounced Porter, but it's spelled P-O-R-T-Y h.net. And we just cover all neurodiverse things. We've interviewed a few neurodiverse people as well. So we've interviewed Greg Wallace's wife Tanya Bardsley. The amount of opportunities that come through for that is, is amazing.

[00:17:38] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is amazing. Keep continuing the good work on that front. And I'll make sure to include your blog and Instagram in the podcast so people can easily reach you.

 Is there a funny or a heartwarming story you'd like to share with listeners? I know you talked about the person whose life you saved, but is there something else you'd like to share?

[00:17:57] Charlie Michael Baker: Definitely. I'd probably say, can I say an event? I went to the Coco Cosmetics Slash Clomana event and it was crazy. That's where I met Anastasia Kingsnorth. I loved it there. I met so many good people. It was amazing. We actually did get a little bit drunk so that was probably the most funny part.

We were drunkenly singing Miley Cyrus The Climb. It was amazing there. I'd say that's probably the funniest one, and that was at Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, so literally just down the road I think, isn't it?

[00:18:29] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you for sharing that. It's nice that you had a good time with your friends.

[00:18:34] Charlie Michael Baker: So it was amazing there. Honestly, I loved it. I love the brand. I love the company. I love the people that run it. I love the people that were there. I've met so many great friends there.

[00:18:42] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: It's been really nice. It's been a real pleasure.

[00:18:46] Charlie Michael Baker: Thank you for having me on. I've loved it.

[00:18:49] Speaker 13: Charlie, I really enjoyed learning about creating autism awareness today.

Outro

Dear listener, thank you so much for listening to the third episode of the Meet the Mancunian podcast season eight. Tune in every Tuesday for a new episode or log on to www.meetthemancunian.co.uk to listen to all the episodes and learn more about my podcasting story.

Next week on Tuesday 25th June 2024, I speak to Andrew Alan Matthews about art and poetry in the community.

Thank you for joining me on the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. I hope today's conversation has sparked new ideas and inspired you to act in your community.

A big thank you to my wonderful community for your continuous support and valuable feedback. Your stories shape the very essence of my podcast, driving me forward with purpose. I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

Visit my website at meetthemancunian.co.uk to share your insights and remember this podcast is your platform too. Let's stay connected on social media. Find me @MeettheMancunian on Instagram and Facebook, @ MancunianPod on X and @ Meet the Mancunian Podcast on YouTube.

Together, we're more than just listeners, we're a vibrant community dedicated to making a difference in Manchester. Spread the love by sharing, commenting and engaging with my guests and me. Keep fostering connections and always remember the power to change the world lies within each of us. Until next time.