This Mother-Daughter Combo Started A Business That Makes Live Events More Inclusive
I'm a neuropsychologist and the co-founder of Sensory Access, a non-profit organization that provides resources, consultation, planning, and implementation to bring solutions to organizers while creating inclusion and accessibility for people with sensory processing difficulties.
Our mission is to make events, travel, accommodations, amusement/ theme parks, and other venues more accessible for people with sensory processing difficulties. With this organization, I've been able to marry my clinical knowledge in neurodevelopmental disorders with my expertise in event planning to create optional strategies that can help make events, workplaces, and services accessible to millions of people with sensory processing difficulties. Autistic individuals or people with ADHD, Down’s Syndrome, PTSD, Fragile X Syndrome, epilepsy, and other conditions often face unnecessary traumatic experiences at events from a lack of accommodations, leading many to forgo these experiences altogether. Sounds, lights, or experiences can elicit extreme discomfort, anxiety, and even pain — but by implementing accommodations and mild adjustments, one can create access.
Simple and small actionable steps can spark a future where sensory impaired individuals have access to events alongside those in their community.
What's your backstory and how did you get into entrepreneurship?
My daughter Izzi and I co-founded Sensory Access after repeatedly experiencing firsthand how challenging it is for those living with sensory sensitivities or disabilities. My son is on the autism spectrum, and I have watched his inability to be in certain experiences in many situations/spaces throughout his life, with a maddening desire to ease those pains, that anxiety. I have Hyperacusis, so I have my own set of auditory difficulties that are incredibly painful, but he experiences multiple sensory difficulties at once. I’ve always wanted him and others to enjoy the events that so many of us take for granted — especially given how complex, layered, and immersive the sensory elements of those events have become (to provide peak entertainment value to the rest of us). Our experiences have made me wonder why there aren't more options available to maximize the experience of these outings or events for those with hidden disabilities and sensory impairments.
From small community theatre performances to pro football games, we found some of the most mainstream events and experiences still lack true accessibility and optimization options for those in the audience who are differently abled — those for whom flashing lights, packed crowds or high decibels can be painful, traumatic, and triggering. We believed that with the right resources, training, and education - so many of these venues, production companies, experiences, and events would benefit from willingly and thoughtfully retrofitting their spaces and circumstances for those living with disabilities. We knew that we wanted to help make it happen.
I knew I could see the solutions that were needed at these events. I could look at an event and see the barriers for sensory-sensitive individuals and ideas just pop into my head. Since not everyone in charge of events and venues can see through this lens, I saw an opportunity to push for accessibility and make this concept digestible. I'm able to put myself in their shoes, in the shoes of the organizer, as I understand why accessibility might not be their main concern at first. I knew it would be easier for these companies to have the backbone of a company with processes already strategized to put into place.
Growing your company requires an understanding that you can't do it alone and that you need the support of great people around you who can make up for those areas where you might not have as much knowledge.
After having noticed a group of kids visibly struggling and overwhelmed at a community theatre performance from sensory overload, we started digging into solutions to see how we can make a difference. My daughter and I realized that it's not that difficult to create accessibility, even within existing spaces — if doing so is a priority. We then identified/developed several ways to make shows, concerts, art exhibits, sporting matches, and any kind of community event much more accessible by either optimizing the event's sensory friendliness, providing a modified area well-suited to these needs, or simply reviewing the experience ahead of time to document the sensory impact. Ultimately, it just comes down to educating people about the issue and providing the right resources to make the decision easy for them.
Take us through your entrepreneurial journey. How did you go from day 1 to today?
Well, after receiving my doctorate, I worked at a hospital as a neuropsychologist. I wasn't happy in that environment. While I enjoyed helping patients overcome their difficulties one-on-one, I struggled with the institutional structure — trying to abide by a specific set of rules, sitting in a non-windowed office with terrible lighting, and working for others within a government setting was making me miserable. I left psychology and started working in the event industry designing and planning various types of events from weddings to movie premieres for the next 13 years. These years were paramount for me to learn about the various aspects of event production — the interests of stakeholders, what's important for all the people putting on the production, what's important for the guests, etc.
I found my way back to my roots of wanting to help people directly. That's when I started my private clinic to help patients in one-on-one settings once again, which I've been doing for the last 10 years. Now, in the last 5 years with Sensory Access, I can bring all those experiences together, combining my deep understanding of individuals who process information differently, with my first-hand knowledge of how events are planned and organized. All these endeavors led to me figuring out how to jumpstart Sensory Access. We started by going directly to theaters, stadiums, and other venues to inquire if they've thought about these concerns. In the beginning, there was still a void of knowledge about these difficulties. Companies assumed that following ADA laws meant they were doing everything they needed to do. Often these things came down to "there's no money in the budget for that." That's why for the first couple of years, we would just offer our services for free for big events like Lollapalooza just so that we could create awareness of these issues. But of course, this was not sustainable for very long, so even though we are a nonprofit, we had to learn how to operate as a business so we can expand as such to truly spark effective change-making events more inclusive.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Today we're doing fantastic. I'm excited about how far the organization has come. We're based in Seattle and we started as this tiny little startup that was known to do accessibility work local to the city. But now we're doing all this amazing work globally and we often have greater recognition in other parts of the world than we do in our hometown. Over the last year, we've received a lot more business and have gotten a lot more variety in the kinds of events and venues we work. World Expo 2020 Dubai was perhaps our biggest client to date, but we're also working with various museums in England and have other exciting initiatives in the works that I'm super excited about and proud to be doing. But even with the global expansion, I'm just as excited about the local work we continue to do in Seattle. One of our main goals is to make every single theater and concert hall in the city sensory accessible.
It's exciting to be able to be working on all these initiatives because it also allows us to hire more. We love to hire individuals that have that firsthand lens of disability and are passionate about this work based on their firsthand experience. I think it's important to hire from within the community you're trying to support, as it gives our employees that proper perspective and understanding of the ones we're trying to reach.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
I've learned that everyone has their agenda. For the companies and corporations, we work with, it's usually financially related or about getting more guests into their venue and ensuring they are all happy. I've learned that the core of our job is education. There is simply not a lot of knowledge about the disabilities that we're trying to raise awareness of. There are many misconceptions about those with sensory differences, such as the notion that they don't enjoy seeing concerts and don't come to these types of events. But that's only historically true because of the barriers in place that prevent them from enjoying these experiences. If you take the barriers away, then people will want to come.
We're seeing more and more sensory-sensitive individuals leaping to partake in these events, but they have to push hard to do so. The burden of that shouldn't be on them and so that is why the education factor is huge. I also learned that we have to balance being assertive about our efforts while not being so pushy that we don't even get in the door because otherwise, we won't even get the platform to spark effective change.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
We utilize most social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for our outreach.
We used to be only on Instagram where we could share pictures of the events we were working on.
Twitter became a very useful platform for us to use in real-time at an event. If we're doing sensory accessibility at a large festival, during the time we're in the venue, we're on Twitter letting our audience know which areas are getting crowded and where the nearest sensory safe spots are located. Twitter is the best platform for us to give these updates in real-time, while Instagram is helping us document what we have done for events over time.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
I believe that to run a successful business, for-profit or nonprofit, is to learn from other industries. One of the reasons I'm good at running a business is because I've been able to pull from all these different industries.
One of the podcasts that do this well is called “How I Built This” by Guy Raz. Each episode features a different founder telling their story beyond all the glossy stuff — how they started, the pitfalls they went through, how they almost lost everything, how they fought their way back up. I love listening to these stories because I learn a lot about sourcing, communication, and how to get over those barriers that we will inevitably encounter — regardless of which industry you're in. Even if the episode features someone in a completely different industry, I can use and model those ideas to come up with new ideas for Sensory Access.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Don't be afraid. Starting a business always comes with some risk and there's no way around it. You just have to go for it and do the best you can. The best tool we have is the ability to listen and learn from the ones who have already done this, so we can try out those ideas. Don't be afraid to take things on. I'm always of the mind of taking on something new and saying yes even if I don't yet know how to do it. I'll figure it out. I've built all my businesses just by saying "yes, I can do that" and then figuring it out on the job and delivering at 110%. I think that's the main driver of growth. It also comes down to self-awareness. If you know what you're good at and what you're not good at, you can then bring in the right people to help fill in those gaps. Growing your company requires an understanding that you can't do it alone and that you need the support of great people around you who can make up for those areas where you might not have as much knowledge.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
Absolutely! We are currently on a big push in the U.S. to start making more theaters, arts venues, and concert halls sensory accessible. We're looking for people across different states to act as individuals who, through training with us, can learn how to review a Broadway show or work with a concert venue to bring those venues the level of inclusion we want to create. Of course, we can’t possibly be in all places at once and if we were to do it just with the small team we have now, it would take way too long. We’re impatient and want to increase the inclusion as quickly as possible and hiring individuals in the major cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Denver would greatly help expand our efforts.
We're looking for individuals who have a different point of view, whether they’re neurodivergent, hard of hearing, blind, etc. It's such a fantastic perspective to have on board to empathize with those who find it difficult to enjoy some of these events or go through certain venues. We want to hear from individuals like that and want to work with them to help create that inclusion.
Where can we go to learn more?
You can visit our website to learn more! You can also find Sensory Access on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts. If you’d like to contact me, you can reach out to me on my LinkedIn.
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