Adaptive Clothing and Hidden Disabilities with Victoria Jenkins
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
Release Date: 11/16/2020
Creating a Support Community for Parents of Autistic Children with Rob Gorski
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
Our featured guest for today’s episode is blogger and podcaster Rob Gorski, The Autism Dad. Rob has built an online community for families with autistic kids starting with his blog over a decade ago. He chats with Mai Ling about the origins of his online efforts, specific struggles he’s faced with his own kids, and some of the challenges that come along with sharing such personal information in a public forum.
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Autism is Only Part of the Story with Jackson and Ken Robol
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
Mai Ling and Martyn bring us up to date with all that is going in with their respective efforts in the disability space, including the release of the new book, Becoming an Exceptional AAC Leader. Then Mai Ling chats with guests Jackson and Ken Robol about how Jackson is building his skills as a broadcaster in spite of his autism. In the middle of the pandemic, Jackson, a high school student, launched a live-streamed interview show and has had celebrity guests from a variety of arenas.
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Utilizing Language to Communicate on a Deeper Level with Lateef McLeod
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
Writer, poet, and podcaster Lateef McLeod joins the show for this episode to talk about communicating with the written word as a person with a disability. As an AAC user, Lateef has a unique life experience and perspective to share with our community. In addition to his own writing projects, he is also a contributor to the upcoming Xceptional Leaders book and he discusses what that process was like with Mai Ling Chan as well.
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Selling a Disability-Focused Business with Mai Ling Chan and Martyn Sibley
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
Our hosts, Mai Ling and Martyn, decide to give the guests a break and just share some valuable information with you from their personal entrepreneurial experiences. So in this episode they talk all about exit strategies. You’ll learn about some of the various types of exits, tips on how to navigate the process of selling your business, and why it’s important to set yourself up for a successful exit from the outset.
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How Google is Addressing Accessibility and Inclusion with Kyndra LoCoco
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
We are happy to be joined on the show today by Kyndra LoCoco. She is the Accessibility Partner Programs Manager at Google and she chats with Martyn about her work in the disability community. Kyndra shares her background, her journey to becoming a googler, and her personal connection to the disability community. They also touch on topics such as how Google addresses accessibility in their products, verbiage changes in the community and much more.
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Managing Online Communities in the Disability Space with Deborah Jaffe
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
Deborah Jaffe is our guest today and she joins the program to talk about the two disability focused Facebook groups of which she is the creator and admin. She talks with Mai Ling about how the groups got started and the steps required to manage them and keep engagement alive. Deborah also shares how she filters through news stories, helpful info, tips, etc. to find what is applicable to the members of the groups. This information is valuable to anyone looking to build a community in the disability space.
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Sustaining Your Business Despite Adversity with Josh Wintersgill
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
We’re joined today by entrepreneur, Josh Wintersgill. He is the founder of Able Move and creator of the easyTravelseat, an amazing product which makes it easier for wheelchair users to move from their chair to airline seats. Josh shares with Martyn about some of the highs and lows since launching his business, he talks about pivoting and diversification in product offerings, and how the pandemic has pushed his team to innovate.
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Affordable Robotics for Accessibility with Harout Markarian
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
In our first episode of 2021, we start off with a fantastic conversation with entrepreneur Harout Markarian. Harout is an author as well as the founder and CEO of Markarian Robotics. Mai Ling chats with him about his vision for creating efficient and affordable products for the mobility challenged using robotics. Harout’s goal is to make life accessible for all through this new company and he’s sharing this message via his book and podcast too.
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Year End Special with Mai Ling and Martyn
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
In this final episode of 2020, Mai Ling and Martyn take a few minutes to share some thoughts on the past year. They also also share a few thoughts on networking and then chat a bit about holiday plans. We hope you enjoy this fun, short, wrap-up episode of the show.
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The Origins of Accessible Technology with Alan Brightman
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley
Today’s featured interview is an insightful conversation with Alan Brightman. Alan is a former executive of both Apple and Yahoo where he was a pioneer in the field of assistive technology. He talks with Mai Ling about the early days of developing accessible technology, the hurdles and challenges they had to overcome, and laying the foundation for the tools available today. This is a fascinating interview packed with information and insights.
info_outlineToday we’re sharing an important discussion about hidden disabilities with our guest Victoria Jenkins. She is a designer, garment technologist, and the creative director and founder of Unhidden Clothing. Martyn talks with her about the challenges of living with a disability that is not visually obvious as well as her work designing and altering clothing to make them suitable and comfortable for people with disabilities.