Molly Burke Reveals Her "First" Everything!

So technically I went on two first dates,

like my first date and my second date

were with two different guys on the same day.

But I went from like,

nobody being interested in the blind girl,

to everybody being interested in the blind girl.

Hey Teen Vogue, I'm Molly Burke,

and I'm here to go over some of my firsts.

[upbeat music]

The first thing people ask me

when I tell them that I'm blind is, Like actually blind?

Like can you see nothing?

Like how blind are you?

Are you really blind?

A lot of people think of blindness as black or white.

There's so much gray area.

Most of us, in fact, 90% of us in the blind community

have some form of remaining vision,

but that doesn't make us not blind.

My first favorite makeup hack was entirely my own.

So I just pinch my nose, the bridge of my nose,

and I do my mascara.

And when I would usually hit the inside corner of my nose

I hit my nail, and then I just wash my hands.

It's so exciting.

It's the small things.

The first time I experienced echolocation,

I wanna say I was probably eight or nine years old

and it was with an orientation

and mobility instructor of mine.

I was trained in passive echolocation,

which is really just tuning in to the natural sound waves

that exist in society.

And so she would blindfold me,

'cause I could still see at the time.

And she would give me my cane,

and she would have me walk down the street

and count the trees by listening to the tree trunks,

or rather the blockage of sound

because when there's no tree there

you can easily hear the traffic.

But the moment you walk by that tree,

the traffic is blocked a little bit.

And so I was really tuning into that

and it's been a skill that I use and harness

every single day for navigation now.

The first time I had a fashion faux pas,

was this pair of boots that I bought two of.

It was a maroon pair and it was a light gray pair.

Couldn't be further apart color. Like so different.

One's a like light, light, light color. One's a deep tone.

Well, didn't I put one of each on,

and walk out the door for my day?

But you just own it.

Like you just own it, and you act like you meant to,

and you're creating the trend instead of following it.

My first guide dog was my only female.

She was a gorgeous black and white Labernese.

My current guide dog is Sir Elton John, the fabulous.

He's not as good at singing as the human Elton John,

but I'd say he's better at guiding.

My first date experience. Oh my goodness.

Okay this is a great story, if I do say so myself.

I was the lead singer in our alternative punk rock band.

I was a scene kid back in, you know, 2008.

The lead guitar player asked me out.

I know, a classic love story.

The lead singer and the lead guitar player.

And I told my dad, I was like,

Yeah we're all gonna meet for coffee

before we go to the band rehearsal

so we can like talk through song selections

and stuff like that.

So me being the blind girl and not knowing

where he was in the coffee shop,

my dad has to guide me in to find him.

I'm feeling so nervous, I'm feeling so awkward.

And my dad is like, Oh it's the new guitar player.

He's like, It's only him here.

Do you want me to wait 'til the rest of the band comes?

And I was like, No, no, it's fine.

I'll just wait with him.

And that's what I did.

And he was super sweet, he was adorable.

He brought me a gift because it was the week between

Valentine's Day and my birthday.

My birthday's February 8th.

Oh wait, I forgot the best part.

Then this other guy asked me to hang out after,

but it wasn't a date in my mind,

it was just me hanging out with this guy.

So then I go to hang out with that guy,

and he brings me a gift and I realize he thinks it's a date.

So technically I went on two first dates,

like my first date and my second date

were with two different guys on the same day.

And then I had to like let that guy down

and started dating the other guy,

and he became my first boyfriend.

And we dated for like nine months.

It was like a whole thing.

But I went from like,

nobody being interested in the blind girl,

to everybody being interested in the blind girl.

The first time I felt empowered against my bullies

was when I stopped caring.

I was like, you know what?

None of you like me, but I'm gonna like myself.

And I think when you're in school,

it feels like it's never going to end.

Like you're never gonna graduate high school.

School is this never ending thing.

It is your whole life.

And when I realized this is a moment in my life.

I am gonna graduate.

I'm gonna move on from all of this

and none of those people are gonna matter.

And it's true, they don't.

The first time I got a cane,

I was around seven or eight years old

and that's when I started taking O & M,

or Orientation and Mobility training for the first time.

And then I started using my cane full-time

around nine or 10 years old,

when I had a massive blind girl accident.

And everybody on my team

and everybody in my family was like,

Yeah, no she cannot see enough to not use a cane anymore.

And that was devastating for me.

I think for a lot of blind people,

the moment they need to admit

that they need a mobility aid is really hard

because majority of blind people don't use

any form of a mobility aid.

That's part of why I do the work that I do

because I want to show people that we are just normal people

and we deserve to be treated the same,

whether we need to use a mobility aid or not.

A lot of people name their canes, and I so wish I did that.

I see all these cute ones on TikTok, like Rick the Stick,

and Steve, and all of these things, like so adorable.

And I never named any of my canes

but I did get a hot pink one and that was fun.

The first thing I do when I get home from traveling is

make a cup of tea.

I love tea.

It's like if I could build a tea tap in my home,

I would, just have constant flow of tea.

The first step in my nighttime routine is

removing my makeup, putting on my PJs,

doing my skincare routine.

And then I go into my yoga flow,

my foam rolling, and my prayers and affirmations.

It's a pretty extensive evening routine.

I guess I walked you through the whole thing,

not just the first.

[Camera Person] First piece of dating advice

you would give to viewers.

The advice that I would give

is do what feels right for you.

Don't listen to the rules.

Do what feel, you wanna text them right away?

Text 'em right away.

You don't? Then don't.

And maybe that's actually your sign.

You know, just do what feels good for you.

The first thing I bring when traveling is slippers.

I'm a blind girl.

I walk into things, kick things

more often than your average person.

I always bring my slippers

because it's the only way I protect my feet

from like kicking the end of the bed, tripping over things.

Gotta keep my toes safe.

The first time I made an impact on people

was when I was speaking at a school about

how being bullied impacted my life and my mental health.

And this guy came up to me afterwards,

and he had graduated high school the year prior,

and he was like, You know, listening to you

made me realize that I was a bully in high school,

and I'm gonna go home

and I'm gonna message everybody on Facebook

who I ever bullied, and I'm gonna apologize to them.

And that was really cool.

[Camera Person] So we're gonna move on

to rapid fire questions.

I'm ready.

[Camera Person] First thing you tell people

about eye health.

Wear sunglasses, protect your eyes.

[Camera Person] First time you read an entire book

by braille.

Was probably my math textbook. Nothing fun.

[Camera Person] First career you wanted as a kid.

First career I wanted as a kid was as an actress,

and a model, and a singer.

Triple threat.

[Camera Person] Favorite first TV show.

Barney and Winnie the Poo, obviously.

[Camera Person] First time you forgot your homework.

I don't think I ever did. A student.

[Camera Person] First favorite school subject.

First favorite school subject was Drama.

[Camera Person] First celeb crush.

Oh my goodness, I don't think I really ever had one.

[Camera Person] First thing you ever cooked.

First thing I ever cooked, I am a terrible cook.

Like probably salad. It's not even cooking.

[Camera Person] First time you ever poured

the wrong condiment on your food.

Well, honestly, one time I poured ketchup

all over my lap instead of my dish

and I had to go through the rest of school like that.

But thankfully my pants were red,

though I did smell like ketchup all day.

[Camera Person] First blind joke you ever made.

First blind joke I ever made, I don't know.

Blind jokes aren't forced.

They come naturally.

[Camera Person] First thing you're gonna do

when you finish this interview.

Go eat.

The first thing I want everybody to know about me,

that I'm just a normal girl.

I think as a blind woman,

a lot of people see me for my diversity.

They see me for my minority, my oppression,

like this hole that I fill.

And of course a lot of the work I do

is around educating and trying to further the needle

on inclusivity of disabled people.

But at the end of the day, I am just a person.

And I think so often society sees disabled people

for their disability instead of for being a human

that has a disability.

So I want people to know like I'm just Molly.

I'm just a normal gal who films videos in my bedroom,

drinks way too much herbal tea, loves bubble baths,

and puppy cuddles, goes on as many bad Tinder dates

as anybody else.

I'm just a girl.

Thank you to Teen Vogue for having me.

And thank you to all of you for watching.

I'm Molly Burke, and those are my firsts.

[upbeat music]