Made For Us

Tosin Sulaiman

Made For Us is an award-winning podcast for anyone who’s curious about how to design for inclusivity. An Apple Podcasts Editors' Choice, Made For Us entered Apple's top 10 Design chart this year, reaching #2 in Canada and #3 in the U.S. and Australia. Join us each week for conversations with founders, designers, product inclusion leaders and other creative minds who are challenging the status quo of how everyday products are designed. Each episode will bring you insights from people who've spent years thinking, perhaps even obsessing, about how to develop products or build companies that are inclusive from the start. AWARDS 2025 International Women's Podcast Awards: Runner-up: Moment of Absolute Honesty Finalist: Moment of Behind-the-Scenes Briliance 2024 Signal Awards: Bronze winner: Most Inspirational Podcast 2024 International Women's Podcast Awards: Finalist: Moment of Insight from a Role Model & Moment of Visionary Leadership

  1. The women finance forgot: Ellevest CEO Sylvia Kwan on closing the gender wealth gap

    3D AGO

    The women finance forgot: Ellevest CEO Sylvia Kwan on closing the gender wealth gap

    Ellevest CEO Sylvia Kwan has a striking statistic she uses to explain why the company was founded: in a survey of asset managers by BNY Mellon Investment Management, 86% said their default customer is a man. In this episode, the first of a two-part conversation, Sylvia Kwan shares why Ellevest is on a mission to close the gender investing gap and why it may be just as important as the gender pay gap. We discuss: Why the gender investing gap exists and how it contributes to the wealth gapWhat Ellevest discovered about women’s attitudes towards riskSylvia's surprising route to becoming chief investment officer and then CEOHow Ellevest is breaking down the barriers that keep women from investing --- About Sylvia Kwan Sylvia Kwan is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Ellevest, a women-founded and women-led financial services firm dedicated to closing the gender wealth gap. Prior to Ellevest, she founded SimplySmart Asset Management and held senior portfolio management positions at Financial Engines and Charles Schwab. A Chartered Financial Analyst with more than 30 years of industry experience, Sylvia serves on the Board of Exit 182, the investment committee that oversees the endowment of Grinnell College. Learn more about Ellevest: https://www.ellevest.com/ Follow Ellevest on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ellevest/ Follow Ellevest on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellevest --- Connect with Made for Us Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/madeforuspodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeforuspodcast/Newsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/

    29 min
  2. 12/23/2025 · BONUS

    What's in a name? Part 3: Who decides what's 'normal'?

    So your name’s been mistreated by autocorrect. What harm does that cause? And what would it take to fix it? In this episode, Northeastern University law professor Rashmi Dyal-Chand discusses her research into autocorrect's bias and shares her blueprint for change - from what consumers can do to where the law might need to step in. Plus: journalist Dhruti Shah on her viral 2018 BBC article that first brought the issue to light. This is Part 3 of "What's in a Name?", our mini-series about autocorrect and inclusive technology. -- New to the series? Start with Part 1 and Part 2 Listen to the trailer Enjoying the show? Leave a rating to help others discover it, or share your autocorrect story at madeforuspod@gmail.com -- About Rashmi Dyal-Chand Rashmi Dyal-Chand is a law professor at Northeastern University. Her research and teaching focus on property law, poverty, economic development and consumer law. She is the author of the article, “Autocorrecting for Whiteness”, published in the Boston University Law Review in 2021. Learn more about Rashmi Dyal-Chand: https://law.northeastern.edu/faculty/dyal-chand/ Read the “Autocorrecting for Whiteness” article: https://www.bu.edu/bulawreview/files/2021/03/DYAL-CHAND.pdf About Dhruti Shah Dhruti Shah is a creative practitioner, storyteller and journalist who focuses extensively on belonging. She is a collaborator with I Am Not A Typo. Read Dhruti’s article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46362259 Follow Dhruti on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhrutishahstoryteller/ Follow Dhruti on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhruti_journo/ -- Connect with Made for Us Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/ Newsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/ Social media: LinkedIn and Instagram

    29 min
  3. The power of compassionate design, with Marcus Engel

    06/19/2025

    The power of compassionate design, with Marcus Engel

    If some of the conversations you've heard in this season of Made For Us have felt like a glimpse into the future, then you're not alone.  Our final guest of season 2, Marcus Engel, feels like he's already living in the future, thanks to AI, apps like Be My Eyes and other assistive devices. Marcus is a speaker, author and compassion consultant. He's also an advisor to Haptic, whose founder, Kevin Yoo, was our guest last week. Haptic is the company behind one of the world's first touch-based navigation apps and it was a meeting with Marcus that inspired Kevin to start the company. Today, we'll hear Marcus' story, how surviving massive trauma led him to become a compassion consultant and how he thinks haptic technology could impact mobility for people who are blind or low vision.  You’ll learn: Haptic technology's potential to guide people living with sight lossMarcus’s four-part definition of compassion and how it’s different to empathy Which products Marcus considers to be ‘compassionate' Enjoyed the episode? Text it to a friend. Loved the episode? Tell the world with a 5-star review. You might also like: Navigation you can feel: the startup making the world accessible through touch How to design a fairer healthcare system --- About Marcus Engel Marcus Engel is an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame teaching compassion science to pre-meds. He's also a survivor of massive trauma, a keynote speaker, author and hospital/system consultant. He's written two books that have been adopted by scores of nursing and health profession programs across the country.  Learn more about Marcus Engel: www.MarcusEngel.com Compassion & Courage podcast Compassion is Action training video Books by Marcus Engel Follow Marcus on LinkedIn --- Connect with  Made for Us Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/ Social media: LinkedIn and InstagramNewsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/

    38 min
  4. Navigation through touch: the haptic tech startup mapping an accessible future | Kevin Yoo

    06/12/2025

    Navigation through touch: the haptic tech startup mapping an accessible future | Kevin Yoo

    What if navigating the world didn't rely on sight at all? In this episode, Kevin Yoo, the CEO and founder of Haptic, joins us to tell the story of one of the world’s first haptic navigation apps.  Kevin shares how he was motivated by his friend’s experience of becoming blind, how haptic technology is shaping a more accessible future and the challenges that come with rethinking how we move through the world. This episode dives into:    - Why the sense of touch has been underutilized in tech and how Haptic is trying to change that - What guiding a blind runner at the New York City Marathon revealed about the potential of haptic technology for blind and low vision runners - Kevin’s experience of putting himself in the shoes of a blind person for a few weeks and the lessons that came from it ⭐️Enjoyed the episode? Leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and help more listeners discover the show! You might also like: Be My Eyes: the app powering a global volunteer movement for accessibility | Hans Jørgen Wiberg 'I don't need fixing - the world does.' Lucy Edwards on redefining disability --- About Kevin Yoo Kevin is the CEO and Founder of Haptic, a technology company creating a universal language of touch. Haptic is developing products and experiences that communicate information through vibrations. Kevin’s mission is to redefine the way we intake information through technology, especially for people with disabilities. Haptic's flagship product, HapticNav, made history by guiding the first blind runner in the NYC Marathon without sighted or audio assistance. Learn more about Haptic: https://haptic.works/ Download HapticNav on IOS and Android Follow Haptic on Instagram and LinkedIn Follow Kevin Yoo on Instagram --- Connect with  Made for Us Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/ Social media: LinkedIn and InstagramNewsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/

    38 min

Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Made For Us is an award-winning podcast for anyone who’s curious about how to design for inclusivity. An Apple Podcasts Editors' Choice, Made For Us entered Apple's top 10 Design chart this year, reaching #2 in Canada and #3 in the U.S. and Australia. Join us each week for conversations with founders, designers, product inclusion leaders and other creative minds who are challenging the status quo of how everyday products are designed. Each episode will bring you insights from people who've spent years thinking, perhaps even obsessing, about how to develop products or build companies that are inclusive from the start. AWARDS 2025 International Women's Podcast Awards: Runner-up: Moment of Absolute Honesty Finalist: Moment of Behind-the-Scenes Briliance 2024 Signal Awards: Bronze winner: Most Inspirational Podcast 2024 International Women's Podcast Awards: Finalist: Moment of Insight from a Role Model & Moment of Visionary Leadership

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