Personality Communication Can Help You In So Many Ways, A Founder’s Story with Nicole Shir
Nicole Shir uses a combination of her educational background and her entrepreneurship experience to bring conflict resolution skills to the world. She not only started her own business but is also involved in volunteer work around disability equity.
Tell us about your childhood and where you grew up?
I grew up in a small pioneer state, Oregon. My childhood was rocked with turmoil. I grew up in an age where women had few rights. My father had an undiagnosed mental health condition and was violent. Life was very unstable for me. However, in this, I learned many lessons. I had an inclusive family. My cousins were of mixed race which was not common back when I was growing up. Along with that, I had an aunt with a visible disability. My grandparents were involved with creating change around people with disabilities. I have an invisible disability. Which gives me a unique perspective on disabilities. Along with this, I saw both perspectives of working for someone and entrepreneurship because many of my family did both as career choices.
How did you get started as an entrepreneur?
There are many reasons why I got started as an entrepreneur. I was exposed at a young age to owning and starting my own business. My biological father, my mother, and her father owned their own business and my stepdad did a side hustle. I have always thought outside of the box and see things from perspectives most people don’t. Another reason is that being a person with a disability, it becomes more challenging to work for someone. There is a lot of discrimination out there. According to the CDC, people with disabilities have a 2 to 3x higher unemployment rate. This means that it is harder to maintain and sustain employment. It is easier to trust oneself to make money than to trust an employer who you don’t know will hire or not keep you based on a disability. I have something that I can build that can impact lives and make the world a better place and that is why I started as an entrepreneur. All these are the reasons why I got started.
What is one business lesson you would tell a startup founder?
You will wear multiple hats, and get a good scheduling system in place.
