Description

💬 Summary
In this episode, we speak to Kaya Allen-Bevan – founder of Youth the Gap and Edge of Difference – about what it really means to build inclusive workplaces, protect your energy and keep showing up with purpose.

Kaya opens up about how her own lived experience fuelled her work in advocacy and DEI. From early activism to launching two mission-driven businesses, she shares the realities of what it takes to do this work – emotionally, financially and professionally. We cover everything from unconscious bias to how to spot green flags in a new role, and how self-awareness is your biggest tool for growth.

💡 Takeaways

• Advocacy is about co-creating, not preaching
• You can care deeply and want to be paid – they’re not mutually exclusive
• Self-education is where most change begins
• Bias won’t go away – but awareness helps us navigate it
• Confidence doesn’t come before action, it comes from it
• Honest feedback loops are essential for workplace inclusion
• If the culture doesn’t support you, you don’t need to stay
• Empowering others starts with knowing your own needs
• Self-care isn't optional in meaningful work – it’s how you keep going
• Safe spaces in the workplace don’t just happen – they’re built intentionally

🔥 Favourite Soundbites

“I started to question a lot.”
 “I did it because I was passionate.”
 “You can’t control it anyway.”

🕒 Chapters
00:00 – Meet Kaya and her mission
01:19 – How Edge of Difference came to life
04:10 – Kaya’s personal entry into activism
06:49 – Passion vs. pay: the advocacy tightrope
09:48 – Building confidence through self-care
13:43 – Bias at work: naming it and navigating it
18:47 – Hierarchies, feedback and honest conversations
20:11 – Culture fit vs. culture add
22:11 – How to build safer spaces for feedback
25:41 – What green flags in culture actually look like
30:18 – Diversity + flexibility: what the future needs
34:07 – Holding on to hope in a complex world
37:58 – How to reflect when something isn’t working

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaiaab/

https://www.instagram.com/kaia.ab/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/youththegapcic/

https://www.instagram.com/youththegap/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/edge-of-difference/

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