Shropshire entrepreneur shows benefit of neurodiversity in business during awareness week
A Shropshire entrepreneur is encouraging young neurodiverse people to consider working for themselves for a living if they struggle to feel comfortable in the workplace.
G Sabini-Roberts, from Gobowen, is using Neurodiversity Celebration Week, which runs from March 15 to 21, to reach out to young people who may be worried about their future career - and they will be doing this on a global stage.
They will soon be launching a free ebook, a podcast and sharing their message in a TEDx talk.
G, who runs design company Branding by G based in Oswestry, is autistic and said they were never told about entrepreneurship as an option in school.
“I have always struggled to fit in in the workplace before I started my own business nine years ago and for a neurodiverse young person looking at what to do after education, the prospect can be very worrying,” G said.
“Setting up your own business or working for yourself is not something that is ever presented as an option to any young person.
“But for those young people that find the idea of traditional workplace settings and environments challenging, entrepreneurship gives them the freedom to create careers that work for them.
“When I look around me in the entrepreneurial community I see neurodiverse business owners everywhere. Not just autistic people, but people with ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, people who just like me, who have wonderfully different brains that don't fit into the boxes that traditional career paths tried to put us in.”
G and fellow neurodiverse entrepreneur Sara Kedge are putin together a free ebook showcasing the stories of the neurodiverse entrepreneurs who are part of the How 2 Entrepreneuro Facebook Group.
They have also teamed up with Shiggi Pakter to record a podcast which aims to lift and inspire others. The Entrepreneuro Show showcases how neurodiverse people have forged their own path in life, either through setting up their own business or choosing an alternative career path.
And as part of a TEDx talk in May, G will be on stage discussing neurodiversity in business, using their autism as an example, and shine a light on how different ways of thinking can be an asset.
Neurodiversity refers to the range of differences in individual brain function and behavioural traits. Neuro-diverse people see things differently, work things out differently, interpret things in new and interesting ways.
According to the Department of Education, 15% of students in the UK have a learning difference and many students with special educational needs have negative school experiences.
Beyond that, a recent study by the Institute of Leadership & Management found that 50% of managers would not want to employ or line manage a neurodivergent person.
The national awareness week aims to celebrate neurodiversity in all its forms.
“Entrepreneurship is brilliant. It allows people to build business on their own terms,” G added.
“For neurodiverse people, it can be a vehicle for them to create businesses, to generate incomes, and to build lives that allow their unique brilliance to shine whilst escaping the rarely supportive workplace environments we often find ourselves in.
“As a society we are getting better at diagnosing neurodiversity, but after that diagnosis, when it comes to supporting neurodiverse people to find jobs and careers, we need to start promoting entrepreneurship as a viable career choice.”
