foreign freedom is independence i think it's something i've always had to fight for i live an amazing life it's a life that i've had the courage to create i had two choices i could either let my condition define me or i could define it because i'm only disabled by the world around me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i think diversibility really embodies the millennial mindset because we just don't take no for an answer i would never have thought that i would be an entrepreneur you know the founder of so many different side hustles i've had to find alternative solutions just to live every single day because i live in a world that isn't designed for me and that's why i decided to create a new piece of technology that supports disabled people [Music] we're here today because i'm meeting up with the team we're at a really exciting stage now with diversity we're just a couple of months away from launch diversibility is an inclusive discount platform for people that live with impairments and conditions because life costs more when you live with a disability we've got the website tested yeah everyone in the field of inclusion we don't give the power to those that have the skills and the lived experience and the passion to really change the narrative for example a lot of people working in disability inclusion are non-disabled people so it's about people actually reclaiming that power i remember growing up and it wasn't diverse at all and i just thought this doesn't reflect me this doesn't reflect my community doesn't reflect my upbringing doesn't reflect anything about me we have the power to change this i was born with a rare genetic condition called brittle bone disease it's characterized by bones at break without any trauma and by the age of 14 i had broken my legs six times in my family we always joke that the hospital is my second home [Music] my mum is expertly altering my clothes for me because i can't why and wear clothes off the whale so i'm very lucky that my mum has a brilliant seamstress it would have been very expensive for you if you had to get a tiny little hair i didn't treat it different i treated the sam as a brother and sister when they've had a challenge and the easy option was to say that i can't do it and my motto always was there's no word as can't can't was bad and you're choosing not to even try to do it try first if then you can't do it that's different i think with the era that we was brought up in and everything that we've been through i think i'm actually stronger and if i wasn't at home or at school or in hospital this is where you would find me as a child growing up sikhism is founded on the principle of inclusion and equality it's really shaped me as a person and you know it's hard working in the space of disability inclusion i'm working in the system sometimes against it to make it better and i think my faith really gives me that strength to carry on when it feels really tough moving to london was hard i was leaving my family and the city that i had grown up in but it was a big challenge that i was ready for i can educate people i can raise awareness i can challenge perceptions but equally and now i can't do it on my own and i don't want to do it on my own i was looking to go and meet like-minded asian women and the only events that i could find were to either you know book your wedding venue or buy a new sari and i'm not interested in either of those things i thought well why don't i create the event that i want to attend we're a team of 13 south asian women now and we have a community of 30 000 we're across 38 countries i i never imagined it would ever you know be this big the thing is you are like the numbers [Music] i feel that i have taken on this responsibility to make change in the world and i believe i can do that [Music] the asian woman festival is a global movement we are you know more than just an event we held our first festival in birmingham in 2019 i thought a few hundred people would turn up we had over a thousand people on the day i think it just goes to show that we were all looking for that safe space my favorite quote is from michelle obama don't ever make decisions based on fear make decisions based on hope and possibility make decisions based on what should happen not what shouldn't imagine if we all did that the world would be a different place [Music] you