Tell the Dear Fathers community more about who you are and what you do?
I’m Cazerny Bussey, a Brooklyn-born recording artist, songwriter, producer, published author, entrepreneur, public speaker, advocate, and father of five. I’m also the founder and CEO of Even Though I’m Blind, Inc., a blind-led nonprofit organization.
My work brings music, storytelling, financial literacy, accessible media, advocacy, and community service into one connected ecosystem. Whether I’m recording music, writing books, speaking publicly, or creating platforms through ETIB, my purpose is to help people move beyond limiting assumptions and recognize what is still possible.
I lost my eyesight at 15, but blindness does not define the full scope of who I am. It is one part of my perspective. My life is rooted in faith, family, creativity, leadership, service, and building something meaningful for the next generation.
What inspired you to start your organization, ETIB?
I started Even Though I’m Blind, Inc. because I understood firsthand how easily blind and visually impaired people can be overlooked, underestimated, or spoken for instead of being given the opportunity to speak for themselves. I wanted to create something led by lived
experience, an organization that would help people feel visible, connected, informed, and empowered without using pity as the message. ETIB uses advocacy, accessible media, storytelling, education, technology, and community resources to create opportunities and change how people understand blindness and leadership. Today, that mission includes ETIB Radio, the Even Though I’m Blind Experience Podcast, the ETIB Community Connect Directory, our blog, encouragement projects, and other programs that amplify voices throughout the blind and visually impaired community.
How has your business journey impacted the man and father you are today?
My business journey has taught me patience, discipline, responsibility, and the importance of continuing to build even when the results are not immediate. Entrepreneurship will expose your strengths, but it will also reveal where you need to mature.
As a man, I’ve learned that vision is more than seeing an opportunity. It is having the discipline to keep working when other people cannot see what you are building yet. As a father, I understand that my children are watching how I respond to pressure, disappointment, success, and responsibility.
I want them to see that creating something meaningful requires consistency. I also want them to understand that success is not only about what you earn. It is about who you become, how you treat people, and whether the work you build improves somebody else’s life.
How did your relationship with your dad shape the man you are today?
My father recognized my gift before I fully understood it myself. He encouraged me to sing from an early age, around three years old, and that support helped build the confidence that eventually led me to write my first song at 12. That taught me how powerful it is when a father notices something inside his child and takes it seriously. Sometimes a father’s encouragement becomes the first evidence a child receives that their gift is real. As a man and father, I try to carry that lesson forward. I want my children to know that I see them,
believe in them, and respect the individuality of their gifts. A father may not choose his children’s purpose, but he can help create the environment where they feel confident enough to discover it.
Who is Cazerny as a father?
As a father, I am loving, protective, present, honest, and intentional. I am not trying to raise five copies of myself. I am raising five individuals with their own gifts, personalities, dreams, and lessons to learn. I want my children to know that they are loved, but I also want them prepared. That means teaching discipline, accountability, financial awareness, emotional strength, faith, creativity, and the confidence to think for themselves. I do not want my children to inherit only things. I want them to inherit knowledge, principles, ownership, confidence, and the understanding that they can create opportunities instead of always waiting for someone else to provide them.
When fathers are intentionally engaged, how does that shape
children’s development?
An intentionally engaged father gives a child another source of safety, guidance, accountability, and affirmation. Children need to know that their father is not simply present in the room but genuinely interested in who they are becoming. Engagement can look like listening, asking questions, helping with decisions, teaching practical skills, encouraging a talent, correcting behavior with love, and admitting when we get something wrong. When fathers are intentional, children learn that their thoughts matter, their emotions can be expressed, and they do not have to face life alone. A father’s presence can help build confidence, stability, discipline, and a stronger understanding of what healthy love and responsibility look like.
What advice do you have for dads looking to educate their kids
about financial literacy?
Start early and make money part of normal family conversation. Financial literacy should not begin when a child is already dealing with debt, credit cards, and adult responsibilities.
Teach children the difference between wanting something and needing it. Help them save a portion of the money they receive. Explain how investing, ownership, credit, entrepreneurship, and delayed gratification work in language appropriate for their age.
Most importantly, connect money to choices. Children should understand that the decisions they make today can affect the opportunities they have tomorrow.
That is why I wrote The Money Master: Alex’s Guide to Financial Literacy. I wanted young people to learn about saving, investing, smart financial choices, and entrepreneurship through an engaging story instead of waiting until adulthood to learn through expensive mistakes.
How do you balance being an author and entrepreneur while being the
best dad you can be?
I do not believe balance always means giving everything the same amount of time. It means knowing what requires my attention at that moment and remembering why I am building in the first place. My children are not separate from my purpose. They are a major reason behind it. I try to make sure they experience my love and presence now instead of hearing later that everything I did was supposedly for them. I also look for opportunities to bring family and purpose together. The Money Master was dedicated to my children, and my daughter Melia helped expand that work by recording the Money Master Kids theme song. Experiences like that allow my children to see the work, contribute their gifts, and understand what we are building as a family. I am still learning, but I know accomplishments cannot replace emotional presence. My children need both my example and my time.
What does legacy mean to you?
Legacy is what people can continue carrying after your direct involvement ends. It includes what you build, but it also includes the values, knowledge, love, confidence, and opportunities you leave inside people. For me, legacy is not only about what my children
inherit later. I want them to feel it now. I want them to experience the love, guidance, creativity, financial education, faith, and sense of possibility behind everything I am building. My music, books, nonprofit work, advocacy, and businesses are all connected to that purpose. I want my children and my community to inherit more than my name. I want them to inherit something they can use.
What’s next for you, and how can people follow you?
I am continuing to grow Even Though I’m Blind, Inc. as a global blind-led media, advocacy, and community-resource organization. That includes expanding ETIB Radio, the Even Though I’m Blind Experience Podcast, the Community Connect Directory, accessible educational content, partnerships, and opportunities that amplify blind and visually impaired voices. I am also continuing my work as a recording artist, speaker, author, and entrepreneur. I plan to expand The Money Master into more youth financial-literacy programming while creating new music, speaking opportunities, books, media projects, and
family-centered initiatives through the CFLY brand.
People can learn more about my work and connect with everything I am
building at:
https://eventhoughimblind.com/
They can also visit the main ETIB website at:
https://eventhoughimblind.com/
