Age is not just a number with Sudha Singh, Founder, The Purpose Room
So, age and ageism. Where do I start? Recognition of the issue comes I guess with lived experience and empathy. I truly believe that the intersectionality of my age and ethnicity were a barrier to my progress in the industry here in the UK. 6 years back when I was making my way back into the country after a longish stint abroad - I don't believe there were women who looked like me at leadership levels in the industry (feel free to disabuse me if this is just a notion and not a fact).
In this episode of The Elephant in the Room podcast I talk
👉🏾 About Serena Williams (go on have a listen to what I have to say about this legend)
👉🏾 Hitting a roadblock and finding my purpose @50 and why all women need to start giving more thought to their careers;
👉🏾 Ageism in our industry;
👉🏾 Negative perceptions and myths about people over 50;
👉🏾 A global demographic megatrend and links to the SDGs;
👉🏾 Why organisations should stop taking a siloed approach to engaging with current and potential talent from an inclusion perspective;
👉🏾 The importance of challenging traditional representation of over 50s in the media that perpetuate harmful stereotypes and devalue their contribution
I believe that age is not just a number - it is about my backstory; my life experiences; failures and successes. We should not allow a number to define who we are or become a barrier to living life to its full potential.
And how brilliant is it that I have not mentioned the absence of 50's in Industry awards even once during the podcast?
What are your thoughts on the matter?
Om Podcasten
The Elephant in the Room Podcast is a curated safe space to have uncomfortable conversations about the pervasive inequalities in society and our workplaces.
The idea of the podcast was born from my sense of conflict about identity, self and the concept of privilege and fuelled by my own need to understand how my overlapping identities and experiences had impacted and would continue to impact my life chances.
Two years ago I decided to ‘opt out’ to find my own purpose and focus on passion projects including learning about the systemic biases that are endemic in business and society. The Podcast is my very own listening project, a step towards being more intentional in my learning.
The Elephant in the Room Podcast is for people who want to be a part of the change, for those who want to step up & speak out, for those who want to learn more about biases, barriers and best practice, for business leaders and for individuals, anyone who is interested in a fairer, more inclusive and compassionate society and workplace.
Each week I will interview inspiring speakers from across the world on issues that are taboo and deserve to be mainstream including(but not limited to) systemic and institutionalised racism, discrimination based on further eight protected characteristics, poverty, mental health, climate change. The podcast will also talk about cognitive inclusion, culture, purpose, ethics and the importance of empathy, cultural intelligence and how conversations on identity and disadvantage would be incomplete without considering intersectionality.
With the podcast I hope to share stories of people with lived experiences, stories that may have never been told, stories that galvanise us to take action for change and keep the conversations alive by raising the decibel on issues of inequity, inequality in our search for a fairer and more inclusive world.