July 28, 2024

Living the dream with disability advocate and CEO of Aspiritech Tara May

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In this episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, host Curveball explores the inspiring world of neurodiversity with Tara May, the CEO of Aspiritech. Discover how this nonprofit tech service organization, where 95% of the employees are autistic, is revolutionizing the tech industry through kindness and psychological safety. Tara delves into the origins of Aspiritech, the concept of neurodiversity, and shares invaluable advice for companies looking to transform their work culture. Learn about Aspiritech’s upcoming projects, including their new cybersecurity initiative and their global alliance, Neuroworks. Tune in to find out how embracing neurodiversity can drive innovation and success in any organization.
www.aspiritech.org
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> Speaker A>Welcome, to the living the Dream podcast with Curveball. if you believe you can achieve Chee Chee.

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> Curtis Jackson>Welcome, to the living.

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> Curtis Jackson>The dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate, and inspire.

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> Curtis Jackson>Today we're going to be talking about diversity, as I am joined by founder and CEO of Aspera Tech, Tara May.

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> Curtis Jackson>Her, company is a nonprofit tech service organization, and 95% of the employees are artistic. And she believes in neurodiversity, and that companies can succeed by using their return on investment of kindness and psychological safety. So we're going to be talking to her about her company and everything that they're up to. So, Tara, thank you so much for joining me today.

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> Tara May>Curtis, thank you for having me.

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> Curtis Jackson>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> Tara May>Absolutely. So, like you said, my name's Tara. I'm CEO of a, wonderful organization called Aspiratech. We are about 100 employees, and 95% of our team are autistic adults. We do tech services, so quality assurance, data services development, AI, accessibility testing, basically any tech that you might need help with at your company. We jump in and do staff augmentation. I come from the digital transformation space, so I worked for decades helping legacy print media companies become digital forward companies.

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> Tara May>And I love what I do, both from a tech perspective as well as from a mission perspective. It's an amazing organization, and I'm lucky to lead it every day.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, well, tell us how asperatech, got started and why you decided to start the company.

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> Tara May>Absolutely. So let me, make just one amendment. Our co founders were actually a, ah, wonderful couple named Brenda and Moshe Weisberg. They founded Aspiratec 15 years ago because their adult autistic son was working in jobs that were really not commensurate with his intelligence and capabilities. And they began to do some research. They thought there must be something better out there. And they were inspired, actually, by a danish company called Specialisterna, which still exists today. And so they started a spirit from their kitchen table and grew it to what it is today. More than 100 employees and $6 million in revenue. They retired two years ago, coming into their seventies, so they got to ride off into the sunset with their beautiful grandson. And I was lucky enough to be selected by both them and the board of directors of aspiratech to take the organization into the future. So, I've been here two years now, and I am so thrilled. we have been, planning for significant growth over the next five to ten years, and we intend to be a tech company and a neurodiversity movement that are here to stay.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, so, for the listeners who don't know, explain what or define neurodiversity.

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> Tara May>Oh, such a great place to start, Curtis. I'm glad you said that, because neurodiversity, is a fairly new, in the grand scheme of things, terminology for many, many people. So neurodiversity actually refers to all of us, every single one of us, because we all have brains that work differently and cause us to experience the world differently. About 80% of us fall into a bucket that's referred to as neurotypical, which means we have brains and experience the world roughly in a way that's considered typical. And like most other people in that, 80% bucket, the other 20% of us have brains that are so far outside the box, it's diagnosably different.

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> Tara May>Those people we refer to as neurodivergent, and that could include autism, OCD, ADHD, things that we have from birth. It can also include, having trauma. So PTSD actually causes your brain to work differently, so you can be born neurotypical and become neurodivergent. And the neurodiversity movement is really the idea that all of those brains are valuable. All of those brains have something special to contribute to the world, to the workplace, to everything that we do, and we should value each and every one of them all.

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> Curtis Jackson>right.

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> Curtis Jackson>So you talk about how your company succeeds and operates on the ROI of kindness. So explain to the listeners what that is.

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> Tara May>So thanks for asking, Curtis.

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> Tara May>That's actually a philosophy I developed before I came to a spirit tech.

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> Tara May>Although we certainly take, full advantage of kindness at our workplace here. so in transformation, when you are trying to convince an entire large organization with hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of employees to do cultural shifts, to embrace innovation and try new things and move at the pace of digital in 2024, you are talking about change, transformation, and innovation that needs a safe space. People need to feel like they can make mistakes, like they are going to be lifted up by their coworkers and their leaders if they fall down. And they need to feel as if we have each other's backs to make that sort of change and transformation happen.

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> Tara May>So if you want to grow your business, if you want transformation and innovation, if you want to thrive in a 21st century workplace, you need your full organization bought in. And for a long time, the way to do that was thought of as sort of a, crack the whip philosophy. Right. Top down management, where managers tell people what to do and there's punishment if that doesn't happen. I believe the opposite should be true. Leaders should be there to lift up their teams, to be kind to them, to give them space to experiment and to thrive and to reach their fullest potential.

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> Tara May>And that that's actually what's going to drive change and transformation and innovation. So we embrace this at aspiratec, and every organization that I work with and talk to about major cultural and digital transformation, I advocate that they start with kindness to see a return on investment for their work at their workplace.

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> Curtis Jackson>So what advice would you give any company out there that is looking to transform their work culture? M maybe from what it is now to, the philosophy maybe that you have.

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> Tara May>So, the first advice I would give them is to start with their leaders.

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> Tara May>absolutely set the example for the entire company.

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> Tara May>And as the old adage goes, people don't leave organizations, they leave managers. Right.

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> Tara May>So if you can teach and coach your leadership and your managers at every level, to treat people with kindness, with respect, with empathy, that can go a really long way in setting the tone of your entire organization. I also give a lot of coaching about how kindness and niceties are two very different things. So, for example, Curtis, do you think it would be kind to fire someone?

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> Curtis Jackson>that sounds like a loaded question. well, it's not kind, but sometimes, it could be necessary.

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> Tara May>It is a loaded question, and I ask it that way on purpose. Right. Because I believe that sometimes it is a kindness. It's a kindness to the team members who might have to carry that person's weight. Right.

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> Tara May>and have too much on their shoulders because one person isn't contributing the way they should. And I actually believe it can be a kindness to the person who's getting fired. People want to be successful in their jobs. They want to do a good job. And if this particular job isn't the right fit for them, then it may be a kindness to let them go and let them move on to something where they can be successful. Now, I believe there's good ways to do it. Right. Being fired should never be a surprise. being fired, should be done with severance pay and with benefits and packages and support that extends beyond the day that it happens. But it absolutely can be a kindness. Right. And so I use that example to differentiate between being nice and being kind. And a leader's job is to think about the entire organization and how to make everyone on the team successful. And sometimes that's like walking a balance beam.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, you talked about neurodiversity, but you also talk about psychological safety. So talk about what that means and how, companies best practice tips that you would give them if they're trying to promote both neurodiversity and psychological safety.

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> Tara May>I believe that psychological safety is most important when it comes to making mistakes.

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> Tara May>So, if you make a mistake and the first reaction of your coworker, your boss, your team member, is to scream at you or blame you or some other terrible negative repercussion that I'm not even thinking of, how likely are you to put yourself out of your comfort zone?

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> Curtis Jackson>Again, not, very likely.

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> Tara May>Not very likely. Right.

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> Tara May>Whereas if you make a mistake trying something new and innovating and working hard, and your boss or your coworker says to you, you know, thank you for trying something new, it's okay that that didn't go exactly as we planned. What can we do to make it better next time or to try this again? Then what's your reaction?

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> Curtis Jackson>Then you feel empowered, and anytime you have ideas, you feel empowered to come forward.

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> Tara May>Exactly. So, if we want people to come forward, to feel psychologically safe, to bring new and innovative and transformative and exciting ideas to our team or to our organization, we need to make sure we're treating them that second way and not that first way.

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> Tara May>Right. And that's something that's really important to practice if you want a psychologically safe workplace.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, well, kind of tell us if aspiratech is a.

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> Curtis Jackson>Aspiratech. Sorry. Is a nationwide company, and if there's companies out there that would like to work with Aspiratec, what do they need to do to make that happen?

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> Tara May>Oh, I love you for asking that question, Curtis. so we are, in terms of geography, based in the Chicago area. That's where we were born and raised.

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> Tara May>However, we work with clients and organizations all over the country and actually all over the world. So if you want to work with us, partner with us. the very best way is to start by visiting our website or sending me an email, which I'm happy to share. We, work with companies that need to augment their quality assurance teams, data projects, AI efforts, or do accessibility testing or any wide range of, staff augmentation techniques that we can jump M into. We also do neurodiversity, cultural training, and education to help all organizations be more inclusive to neurodiversity.

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> Tara May>And we are happy to partner with organizations on their neurodiversity hiring initiatives and to just think more widely about how do they create the kind of culture where employees stay and thrive.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, since you mentioned it, go ahead and throw out your website.

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> Tara May>Thank you. It's www.aspiritech.org, and I'm sure I can also put it in, the comments or another place where people can reach it easily in case you have trouble spelling it. But it's www.aspiratech.org.

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> Curtis Jackson>I'Ll, throw it in the show notes.

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> Curtis Jackson>Tell us about any upcoming projects that you, Asperatech is working on that we need to know about.

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> Tara May>Absolutely. So, Aspiratech is a, founding member of an organization called Neuroworks. We're a global alliance of, neurodiversity inclusive organizations all aimed at autistic hiring. We have an upcoming conference in Amsterdam in October, so really excited to be a part of that. Aspiratech also has an academy for autistic students and young adults who aspire to careers in tech. So autistic students, you can apply for that at our website.

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> Tara May>And we are always looking at new lines of services and new areas where we can grow. so we are embarking on a new cybersecurity initiative. We will have trained autistic cybersecurity professionals ready to employ in 2025. so lots of exciting things going on at our organization.

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> Curtis Jackson>So do you guys only work with autistic, or, do you, would you accept other disabilities as well?

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> Tara May>Autistic people is our specialty, but our team members have a wide range of neurodiversities.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, spiritedech.org, ladies and gentlemen, so close us out with some final thoughts.

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> Curtis Jackson>Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on, or any final thoughts you have for the listeners.

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> Tara May>Curtis, you were a fantastic host. Thank you for everything you thought of asking. It was perfect. I would just leave you all with this. Neurodiversity is all around us. It's in your home, in your loved ones and your family. It's in your workplaces. And the best thing you can do to support your neurodiverse and neurodivergent friends, family, coworkers is to be kind.

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> Tara May>And that's free and easy thing to do.

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> Curtis Jackson>All right, ladies and gentlemen, spirit tech.org dot. Please be sure to check them out.

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> Curtis Jackson>Follow Rate Review share this episode to as many people as possible. If you have any guests or suggestion topics, Curtis Jackson, 1978 T.net is the best place to send them. Jump on your favorite podcast app. Leave us a review. Follow us check out the show, share it to as many people as possible. As always, thank you for listening and supporting the show. And Tara, thank you for all that you do in your company. And thank you for joining us.

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> Tara May>Thank you, Curtis. Thank you for having me.

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> Speaker A>For more information on the Living the Dream podcast, visit www.djcurvefball.com.

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> Speaker A>until next time, stay focused on living the dream.

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> Curtis Jackson>Dream.