#4 Lim Wei Jie- Bridging understanding, a cup of coffee at a time - a podcast by PJ (Poh Jie)
from 2020-08-21T00:00
My guest today is Lim Wei Jie, co-founder and director of Foreword Coffee, a social enterprise that seeks to bridge understanding between ‘regular’ people and people with disabilities and special needs. I have a lot of respect for Wei Jie for having the heart to do a social enterprise, and to take the path less travelled as he has never been an employee after he graduated from NUS. I hope this conversation inspires the people out there who are thinking of starting their own social enterprise, but are not quite sure how. I also got Russell Lim, a good friend of mine who linked Wei Jie and I up, on the show as well. Please enjoy the show.
Show Notes
- [0:50] How did Wei Jie and Russell met each other in CAPT?
- [1:50] What sparked Wei Jie’s interest in community issues
- [4:20] A brief introduction to Foreword Coffee
- [6:06] The process of starting Foreword Coffee
- [8:39] Reaching out to special needs school
- [11:10] Testing out training programs for special needs individuals
- [17:24] Why most of us misunderstand what ‘special needs individuals’ really entail
- [19:30] Was there any point when Wei Jie knows Foreword Coffee will work?
- [22:19] What are the big hurdles that Wei Jie has to overcome?
- [27:00] What are other sectors that special needs individuals can contribute to? Any potential advice to employers who wish to employ special needs individuals?
- [34:37] Facing doubts at social enterprise startup competitions and the importance of the human element in creating impact
- [41:36] Is there anything that Wei Jie has changed his mind on 3 years into his entrepreneurial journey?
- [46:02] Foreword Coffee’s customer base
- [48:48] Future plans for Foreword Coffee
- [50:37] How does Wei Jie go about planning for Foreword Coffee?
- [53:26] Was this journey harder or easier than initially expected?
- [55:23] How does Foreword Coffee plan to expand beyond Singapore?
- [58:50] How does Wei Jie feel about having never been an employee after graduating from NUS?
- [1:01:56] How has stigma of special needs individuals change within Foreword Coffee’s ecosystem?
Links
Foreword Coffee: https://www.forewordcoffee.com
More
If you like to find out more about me, please find me on my personal website at www.pohjie.com, or connect with me on Twitter (@pohjie_pj).
Music credits
- Shades of Spring by Kevin MacLeod
- Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4342-shades-of-spring
- License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Website of PJ (Poh Jie)