S2, Ep 10: Leading The Disability Activism Agenda

S2, Ep 10: Leading The Disability Activism Agenda

From Sales Leader Secrets by Uspire

September 2, 2025 · 34 min · Season 2 · Episode 10

About this episode

Amanda Downs interviews Esi Hardy about her journey in disability activism and creating inclusive workplaces.

What’s it like to build a career around changing the way we think about disability? In this episode of Sales Leader Secrets, Amanda Downs talks with Esi Hardy, founder of Celebrating Disability and a leading voice on inclusion. Esi’s path has been far from typical. From training as an actress and working in performing arts in LA, to moving into health and social care, she’s now running her own business helping organisations and individuals create spaces where disabled people can thrive. If you’re interested in leadership with purpose and building workplaces where everyone belongs, this episode is worth a listen. Here are the highlights: 00:00 Introduction 04:50 Starting a business after leaving charity work 06:42 Driving disability inclusion with Homes for Students 09:53 Learning leadership through early challenges 13:04 Building inclusive hiring practices 18:48 Choosing value-driven clients and redefining authenticity at work 22:40 Building a value-led pipeline through SEO and exploratory calls 28:36 Disability activism shifted my mindset 33:09 Faking It, Making It Join us each month for the Uspire webinar series “Become a Better Leader” and get valuable leadership frameworks…

People in this episode

Host: Amanda Downs

Guest: Esi Hardy

Topics covered

  • disability inclusion
  • leadership
  • workplace culture
  • business development
  • activism

Keywords

  • disability
  • inclusion
  • leadership
  • business
  • activism
  • workplace
  • authenticity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Celebrating Disability, Homes for Students, Uspire

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