Transcript
Find A Way Podcast: This is episode 102, Enable Talent. Amandeep Singh is a social entrepreneur and inclusion advocate with over a decade of experience in accessibility, employment equity, and innovation.
Find A Way Podcast: Born in India with partial vision, he founded Enable Talent, an AI platform connecting people with disabilities to inclusive jobs, and leads the disability entrepreneurs and career framework.
Find A Way Podcast: now Now based in Canada, Emendip collaborates with startups and not-for-profits to build accessible impact-driven ventures. His work has earned and national recognition, including being named one of India's top 100 achievers with disabilities.
Find A Way Podcast: Welcome to the show, Emendip.
Aman: Thank you, happy to be here.
Find A Way Podcast: So please tell me more about your business before we jump into your story.
Aman: So EnableTalent is a HR tech platform we started working on in 2023. Usually whenever we talk about employment for people with disabilities,
Aman: we usually get non-profits, government departments as key terms in our mind. All the mainstream job sites, be it indeed LinkedIn, despite having great usability for normal users, but when it comes to someone not like having vision or someone not being able to navigate these websites,
Aman: which leaves almost 600 million plus globally living with disability out of employment. In Canada itself, that population is almost 27% of the population, whereas per 2022 government data, there are 1 million people who are not employed.
Aman: and the reasons are not lack of education skills or desire to work but lack of inaccessible hiring practices and system usually i would ask everyone as a random example just imagine trying to apply a job but you can't use your eyes or your hands or you can't take part in the interview process because you can't speak or hear these are just some of the examples of the barriers phase So to bridge those gary barriers to make accessibility in reach of everyone, we started Enable Talent with a vision to make it one of the world's most inclusive talent platform.
Find A Way Podcast: That's amazing. And I know we spoke previously about that and how that can impact like um a lot of people don't know what they don't know. And they don't think the of the barriers that they're putting in place just by not optimizing their their process, but at the same time, not having access to incredible talent because of that.
Find A Way Podcast: um So you've described, you know, you talked about, I talked about a little bit actually, your about your experience with living with partial vision, and as it's like a driving force for you.
Find A Way Podcast: How did you know your disability shape your past ah your path into entrepreneurial social entrepreneurship?
Aman: I think if I'll have to find answer for this, I would probably go back to when I was, I think, age 15. Someone who was in a school,
Aman: was not able to catch up with his education due to the eyesight, not being able to do the studies, homework on time, or even complete exams. These are even the barriers faced by individuals in Africa and Asia these days.
Aman: All those challenges, hardships, of created some form of empathy which has been a key component of my entire life. Second, that empathy created desire which created further curiosity to find answers.
Aman: So I recall when I had to learn using computers or laptop at age of 21 when I had the first laptop in front of me, I did not know how to use it nor I had that glasses correction at that time where I could use it.
Aman: So I trained myself by memorizing the entire keyword where I could type ah without looking at the screen or without looking at the keyword with like 80-90% accuracy.
Aman: So over the time that one habit of finding answers for every problem led to help people around not with the intent to be someone who is a social worker but what I saw that okay this small change could help me let me help another person around and that became a moment which led to almost 12,000 plus people over my decade-long career getting one or another form of employment Even this enabled talent is a second but chapter of that journey where we wanted her to create something scalable which is beyond borders and beyond nature of disabilities.
Find A Way Podcast: I love that. and can you tell so if we have any recruiters, or let's say startups listening in that want to hire, perhaps they have an interest in making their process more accessible, but they don't know how?
Find A Way Podcast: Is there any like quick, like concerns or tips you would like to share with them?
Aman: Yeah, ah usually it comes to the same thing. And even i as an individual, someone having my own experience, you cannot get into depth or understanding of needs of people with disabilities.
Aman: And there's no standard formula to do so. And this is the reason we have 50 to 90 percent unemployment globally. I won't say with the Naval Talent we have all the answers in place, but our entire portfolio of services, let's say a new startup who wants to hire talent with disabilities, the solution services are designed in a manner where Starting from posting a job, it makes job description inclusive.
Aman: Then the platform does matching of that job job with the talent who would match with that role. Keeping in mind their education skills, nature of disability and accessibility needs and giving tools to HRs support that they need to give best possible support for retaining and promoting the talent.
Aman: All I would want are startups to look into this is we are missing out on very... like an audience which has a great potential.
Aman: Usually in most of my discussions, I ah quote examples of people such as likes of Stephen Hawking or Helen Keller, who despite their barriers created such big names.
Aman: And there are many more Stephen Hawking, Helen Keller living all around us. And even ah if I would quote my own example, even I was told by my doctor when I was in grad grade eight that he should get some menial job.
Aman: So it was some support which was available for me due to which I could be where i am today. So I would say like people with disability or anyone having special needs, they don't need extra support. They just need an equal chance to perform, equal chance to take part in society, employment or the economy.
Aman: So I would say be open to that and you won't regret it.
Find A Way Podcast: Yeah, I think that that's a great way to put it because it's like, it's not just about it's giving people the equal opportunity to participate, but also untapping again, a huge number of qualified people overqualified.
Find A Way Podcast: Sometimes I just are they're just looking for an opportunity to to show how good they are.
Aman: Yes, yes, yeah.
Find A Way Podcast: Tell me more about the Disability Entrepreneurs and Career Network. What gaps were you hoping to fill with that? And how like how do you do community engagement? How does that work?
Aman: Yeah, so this was a very coincidental finding during my work with Enabled Talent, where during our discussions, we would meet many entrepreneurs with special needs who have their existing businesses and are doing ah good with the work they do.
Aman: There are some prospective entrepreneurs involved. So we formed an initial network in Ontario called Disabled Entrepreneurs and Career Network, where four of us formed that group, which ended up being a group of 150 members.
Aman: The goal was to, oh and again, like ah something comes back to our previous discussion, This segment of society has great great potential. We even don't know no how many big entrepreneurs are just hiding there in plain sight or not visible in the public domain.
Aman: So the goal of this community was to bring those entrepreneurs in limelight. to be able to share their experience and journey with those upcoming entrepreneurs, create an ecosystem where each other could help each other in their respective journeys, which a small initiative ended up being a consortium of almost 2000 plus members as of now.
Aman: And within the very month of May, we are revamping this as Canadian Network for Entrepreneurs with Disabilities with a proper community forum launching shortly where we would be running ah webinars, workshops, training programs, assess to mentors for people with special needs by people which special needs.
Aman: So we call it like a community of people with special superpowers.
Find A Way Podcast: Amazing. And um you're you're telling me about like, I know that you've been involved in a lot of amazing projects and you even received like national recognition in India for your work.
Aman: Hmm. Hmm.
Find A Way Podcast: But what achievement are you most proud of and why?
Aman: That is difficult one to answer. i would usually, ah for this, I would say now there are times in life when you run after recognitions. ah They make you happy. Even last week, I got selected for 140 under 40 award.
Aman: ah We got one award for being an upcoming HR tech startup in ah promoting inclusion. these all would make sense at one stage in life but i think if i have to come and find one award or one recognition and which makes more senses uh people having those credit towards me having made some form of impact or change in life i think that is what is even a today i had a call with someone
Aman: going through similar challenges at his workplace. So when people express their gratitude towards a change that happened in their life, I think those awards on everyday basis are the milestones or the success achievements I would like to celebrate.
Find A Way Podcast: I really relate to that because I feel like my best achievements are like the small things that happen during the day that move people forward or like getting a good that's like, Oh, you gave me this feedback and this helped me this way. Right.
Find A Way Podcast: Um, I agree with It's like the big moments, they're great, but like the smaller incremental changes that you make in people's lives. So able to support it really makes a, makes a big difference.
Aman: Agreed, agreed, yeah.
Find A Way Podcast: I'm curious to hear, um, how has your transition to Canada influenced your personal and professional journey?
Aman: There are two ways to look at, and as a newcomer in this country, I would say this country has lot to offer. But it is not visible in the plain sight. like You would see people saying that there aren't opportunities, people aren't cooperative, there's nothing to go around, everything there is, what we call it.
Aman: uh this term that they use like there are no jobs these days inflation is there sorry i was recalling the word inflation but then there are people who are doing good in their life they are getting jobs despite anything so i would just simply say that as a country as a community as a ecosystem for entrepreneurs in particular especially startups this country community ecosystems across canada have great to offer. You just have to be visible, be out and about, like but something we discussed in our first call as well, that you should be visible but not be running after excessive networking.
Aman: So I would say that country has a lot to offer and has been one of my ah best experiences after having lived in Europe for a while, having had exposure to, had chance to travel to 70, 80 plus countries.
Aman: So yeah, just take your time. It takes ah some patience and some efforts to get some results, but this country has great to offer.
Find A Way Podcast: And from your perspective, working in this environment, what are the biggest misconceptions about accessibility and inclusion that you frequently encounter either working with startups or on the employment space in general?
Aman: I think that, and I'll be bit open with this, the first thing whenever we speak about someone or like I say I talk about the work I do, the first thing comes to others' mind is, first thing which you would probably pop up in anyone's mind is sympathy, nonprofit, unemployed, disability loss. These are the like ah Google search keywords which usually pop in our minds.
Aman: And that is something that has to change. And this also comes to the but ah barriers faced by individuals with disabilities where even if they want to work, some form of society challenges or ah reluctance towards hiring from the employer side, limited support of family members or friends and family of those having special needs adds on to all the barriers that they face.
Aman: So I think everyone even if they don't have any exposure to disability oh just imagine like just try to do one thing during your entire day because and you cannot walk you can't use your eyes for entire day you can't hear entire day you can't speak entirely and then try to do three things that the way those but people with special needs might do so i would say like Instead of sympathy, bring empathy, have better understanding of their needs.
Aman: No one is expecting, and this is something I have noticed, even working with people with a severe physical disability, they don't want anyone's extra care, special attention or special support.
Aman: Treat them equally. Any extra support they might need in terms of their accommodation, that can be asked in a respectful manner. But aside that, all of us, be it me or anyone, treat all of them like a normal individual with their special needs.
Aman: So that mindset, I think, is a key hindrance towards an inclusive society. It will take time, but that is what we are trying to but bridge with Enabled Talent, is to bring that awareness.
Find A Way Podcast: And i do appreciate that. I think that that's a great ah great way to put it and it open people's minds to what they expect from people with disabilities because I think that it's really skewed.
Find A Way Podcast: And i would love to hear, and like this could be like brainstorming almost, but you know you're deeply involved in both innovation and advocacy. So where do you see the greatest opportunity for accessible tech that you haven't seen yet?
Aman: I think a couple of tools that we are building ah So like within Enabled Talent, we are creating a voice-guided app for people with vision impairment, which started with a tool which would help them navigate employment.
Aman: But we are turning out to be a full-fledged personal companion to help them navigate their day-to-day work. Let's say if you have to keep track of your medicines, your bills, ordering stuff from Amazon, calling Domino's, ordering pizza on your behalf,
Aman: Similar way, we are creating a personal companion for people ah sorry of people with mental health concerns where they could have one or another form of personal body to have someone to communicate with and that personal companion app would have an parental control where parents can keep track of that person's mental health and this goes back to our previous discussion that giving them support and resources they need so they can continue building on whatever challenges they have so these are the two things that we are working on
Aman: And also in terms of ecosystem, there are a lot many new initiatives coming up in place, especially after Disability Inclusion Action Plan of 2022.
Find A Way Podcast: um We were entering a part where it's like more personal ish questions just to like for our listeners to know you better. So one of the questions that I have for you is if you could have dinner with any person alive or dead, who would that be?
Aman: I think Mother Terrassa, I would choose her.
Find A Way Podcast: Awesome.
Aman: yeah
Find A Way Podcast: And, um, we do a thing here at the podcast where our previous guests always leaves a question for the next guest. Uh, and the question that we have for you today is what are you doing to make sure that you're much better today than you were yesterday?
Aman: Interesting one, it is pretty much related to my of like principle of my life. Things evolve with time. You cannot have a vision for next three years. And and if some something new else comes up, you end up missing out on that.
Aman: So the way I try to live every day is consider that day being a last day of your life. Give you 100%. Be nice to all. Give your best. Do your best. If someone says bad, just let it go.
Aman: Something to what Mother Teresa teaches us through her poem, Do Good Anyway. So... That is what I would imbibe in my daily practice.
Find A Way Podcast: That's awesome. and what is success to you? What does success mean to you?
Aman: I think a meaning for success has been evolving with passage of time. At times, those are some metrics in startup world up and It depends. But for me, I think being able to give my 100% despite the failure, especially in startup journey, when you know that like if if even if it is fundraising or getting clients on board, that is where most of the audience would be able to relate.
Aman: You get rejections, not even one like 100 of rejections. So for me, a definition of success these especially from past couple of years is if I have been able to give my 110% to something with no further bandwidth to contribute more or give more is one one or another form of success because that has created a base for for the success in near future.
Find A Way Podcast: that's That's a really good answer. I like that. We're going to go quickly to some rapid fire questions where I'll give you two options and then you you tell me which one you like best.
Aman: okay winter youtube pizza
Find A Way Podcast: ah Summer or winter? Netflix or YouTube?
Find A Way Podcast: Pizza or burgers? game night at home or night out on restaurants?
Aman: a game night at home but i'm not into games so i'll do something else
Find A Way Podcast: So something doing something at home. Yeah, that's fair. um So I don't know if you are into books, but we also we always like to ask, you know book recommendations, any audio books or anything that you think really impact. I see some books behind you there.
Find A Way Podcast: It's like really impact you ah in your life. ah So is there any book recommendations you'd like to leave?
Aman: oh There is a book in India we had called Laws of Spiritual World. if Even for you, I would recommend highly recommend reading it.
Aman: So that book is from a lady who lost her both sons in an accident and post their death, they would impart messages through her dreams.
Aman: And there aren't even one example, many live instances of different communications of someone living in some XYZ part of India and they communicated message from that soul to her mother and when they cross-check, everything was true.
Aman: And she has very carefully narrated our purpose on this planet or how things are there in spiritual realm, no matter what religion you are.
Aman: And also what is our purpose on life, where even despite your failures and all, if you are living, following your karma, you're giving your best towards your society, something to you do as well, like being there to help each other.
Aman: That is what she has mentioned in that book.
Find A Way Podcast: That's awesome. We'll definitely check it out. And as I said before, we you know, before we close the episode, what question would you like to leave for our next guest?
Aman: What is the message that you would give your future self after 20 years?
Find A Way Podcast: Love it. I,
Find A Way Podcast: Thank you so much for telling our story and for our time, M&Dip. Is there anything else you would like to add before we close?
Aman: No, no, it was pleasure being here. And for all those who were listening to this podcast, best of luck for your future aspirations. One thing I would usually say from my life these days is keep giving your best. Don't bother about results.
Find A Way Podcast: Love it. This is our episode 102, Enable Talent with Emendip Singh. We'd like to thank all of our listeners and would like to remind you that we'll be posting one episode biweekly, always with a different guest.
Find A Way Podcast: So make sure to subscribe on your favorite streaming platforms.
