The Canberra Business Podcast
A podcast about all things Canberra Business.
The Canberra Business Podcast
Delivering Culturally Competent Care Service in Canberra
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A migrant-led business can be commercially sharp and still lead with mission, and Himayat Support Services is proof. We’re joined by Waheed Jayhoon to explore what “trading for purpose” looks like on the ground in Canberra, from culturally competent community support to building a model that can scale without losing integrity.
We dig into the real settlement barriers migrants and refugees face, including language and cultural friction in hiring, limited social support, and the complicated reality of qualification recognition and licensing. Wahid shares a powerful reminder that the cost of underemployment is not just personal, it is economic too, and that many obstacles are more solvable than we assume when services are designed with people at the centre.
From there, we get practical about disability support as an NDIS provider: why trust and in-language care matter, how to reduce exploitation risks for support workers, and what it takes to lead a diverse team working across seven or eight languages. Wahid also speaks candidly about living with ADHD, leaving a comfortable public service career, managing early business risks, and why mentors, feedback, and strong partnerships are essential for any founder, especially in the social enterprise space.
If you care about social impact, small business growth, migrant entrepreneurship, and the future of culturally competent care in Canberra, this conversation will give you both perspective and usable ideas. Subscribe, share the episode with someone building a purpose-led business, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.
Welcome And What Himayat Does
SPEAKER_01Hello and welcome to the Canberra Business Podcast. I'm Greg Harford, your host from the Canberra Business Chamber, and today I'm joined by Wahid Jehoun from Himeat Support Services, a Canberra-based migrant-led organisation focusing on culturally competent community support. Wahid, welcome to the podcast.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much, Greg. It's a pleasure to be here.
SPEAKER_01So tell us about Himeat. You're a relatively new business operating here in the nation's capital. What is it that you do?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you so much. So, Himayat, we are a social traders verified social enterprise. So we're a business that trades for purpose. And I'm happy to talk more detail about that. I suppose, I guess for us, um a core sort of tenant about what we do is we try to ensure that migrants in Australia can um live, learn, contribute, and um participate equally as the rest of the population does. So I suppose we have a number of uh sort of innovative services. We do um care services, we're a registered NTIS provider, um, and we're looking to get into the aged care space um relatively shortly as well. Um we also provide um small business digital agency services for aspiring um entrepreneurs, migrant entrepreneurs, but then also small businesses generally.
SPEAKER_01So a whole range of uh things there that you're doing. Um you must have a massive team in behind you.
SPEAKER_00Um you know, I think we are punching well above our weight, probably. Um I think for me the core uh message is that it's not really about the number of people we're supporting, but that the people we're supporting um are able to have a uh sustainable and sort of um meaningful contribution. Um and really that's I think a testament to the people that we have uh working with us and that we're supporting, but then also the the vast kind of um partner uh partnerships that we have across across the ACT.
SPEAKER_01And how long have you been going now? When did you launch?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, you know, we're just coming up on our um third anniversary, I think, by June of this year. So um very much um uh very much um getting into it. But I think really this year is the year where we have addressed a lot of the challenges. You know, we've learned definitely a lot over the last two years, and I think I'm really excited to um see where this year takes us. I think there's a lot of opportunity and a lot of um uh meaningful social impact that we're we're looking to achieve this year.
What Trading For Purpose Means
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Cool. Well, look, tell us tell us about trading for purpose. Um, so so what does that mean for you in practice and and and and how does that translate into what you're doing?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. And I suppose I might start with some context about um myself and I think how Himayat started because it's so central, I guess, to how we're operating as a business, and I think um how we would like to see uh more businesses in in Australia operate. Um so I should uh preface by saying, you know, I'm not a um business person by trade. I think originally I spent a lot of time um in law. Um I studied law, I studied cybersecurity, um, and then I did um about a decade in the public service. It was only in the sort of last two years, and um I actually started Himayat with my mom. Um and we're both migrants, uh, first and second generation. I think between the two of us, we'd realized that there was a real problem in our own communities that we were looking to solve. Um, and I guess for us, the core um tenet of trading for purpose is um first and foremost, we're a business. We trade and we try to trade um in a way that is competitive with other businesses who aren't potentially trading for purpose. But there's an underlying sort of value set behind why we do what we do. Um and by being quite innovative about how we deliver services and who we deliver those services to, we're able to marry up both um sustainable and responsible business practice with a lot of social good.
SPEAKER_01And and what sort of social good are you are you delivering at the end of the day?
SPEAKER_00Oh, great. Um so I guess for us, really the core challenge that we're trying to solve is um the inequity um between um and and the barriers that sort of migrants and refugees face when they're um going through their settlement journey in Australia. And I'll just give you a statistic. So um if today the people in Australia who are migrants were able to um work in fields that match their skill set, their existing skill set, would add nine billion dollars to um in GDP to the economy. Now, that's not a um small number, um, and I think what's important to note there is that the barriers to doing so are often um quite solvable. So um it may be a lack of social support, it may be um some language barriers that uh make it difficult to participate in things like interviews in in the sort of way that's usually accepted. So, yeah, I think overall for us, those are the kinds of challenges that we're trying to address. Um, you know, at the end of the day, I think Australia is quite a multicultural country. Um, most Australians are migrants in some way or another, and I think it's really just celebrating that diversity um across across the ACT, but then also across the nation more generally.
SPEAKER_01And you talk about sort of a lack of social support and some of the language barriers um and I guess potentially some cultural barriers through through interview processes uh and and so forth. But what about um licensing rules? Are there regulatory rules around um recognition of qualifications and things that get in the way as well?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. And I mean, um obviously those qualifications and those licensing frameworks exist for a reason. Um, and I think it's often a good thing that they do to make sure that, particularly for industries like medicine or um Allied Health, that we're making sure that um we are bringing in a good standard of care and that we can recognize those. Um, in saying that, though, there are a lot of people in this country um and a lot of people even working at Himayat who are probably overqualified for the roles that they're working in. And um the unfortunate reality for those people is that um they don't have an alternative pathway to actually bring forward their skills and do so in a way that contributes. So um definitely I think licensing is is a challenge. Um, and I think in that also I think the lack of understanding of other alternative pathways that you could use for your existing qualifications as well.
SPEAKER_01Um now you mentioned earlier that you're an NDIS provider as well. What are you doing in the disability space?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, great. And I mean, um, thanks for that question. So I think for us um it's worth reflecting. So we actually started just as an NDIS business. Um, our first client was a client that um um was one of my mum's friends who didn't have any culturally um competent care and she didn't have anyone who she could trust. So I think that was a role that for us really shone a light on a broader problem in the care space where there's a lack of um culturally competent care sometimes, but then also I think a lot of exploitation in terms of um support workers from migrant backgrounds, in terms of how we sort of um address trying both of those challenges. Often we try and um come up with a you know a working environment that provides um award wages, um, a sort of reasonable work-life balance, and then also um promotes the ability for our support staff who I think we're up to seven or eight languages now, are able to deliver supports in language, if needed, to people who would otherwise not have access to um that kind of care.
SPEAKER_01And and does that really set you apart from from others in the marketplace?
SPEAKER_00Uh I think so. Um, I mean, uh we probably wouldn't have started um Himayat if there was somebody else who had already been doing this. I think it does give us a bit of a um competitive advantage because we're very sort of um, although we we um service um everybody, um, we're not sort of restricting in who we support. In practice, I think the fact that we're leading with value and a we're values-led organization means that um people are naturally attracted to our mission and then also to the support staff that we bring on.
Leading A Multilingual Diverse Team
SPEAKER_01So from a from an internal leadership point of view, dealing with a a very diverse workforce yourself, how do you how do and and if you've got a team that operates in seven or eight languages naturally, um, you know, how how do you go about kind of leading that team and what what makes it particularly challenging to uh or how do you resolve the challenges associated with that level of diversity?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I think you know, it's an ongoing um journey for me, also, I'll be honest. I think um first and foremost, I'm really grateful for um just the sort of outstanding leadership across the board um and the team that um supports uh Himayat's mission. Um so I think that would be the first thing I'd rely on is just the sort of quality of the people who we've managed to attract into the organization has been very helpful. I think in terms of how I sort of manage the broader question, it really comes back down to I think lived experience. So um I'm a migrant, and although I have a lot of privilege in um, you know, I grew up in Australia, I grew up in Canberra, I went to primary and high school here, um, I went to university here, I've worked a comfortable job in the public service for a long time. So I understand, I think, and I've really uh managed to um achieve, you know, the ideal Canberra dream, as they say, in saying that though, you know, in my community, um, I'm originally from Afghanistan, but then across a lot of the migrant diaspora and the people we work with, um there are a lot of challenges. And I've seen those challenges from a young age. I suppose there's some lived experience as a migrant, um, and also some lived experience as someone with a disability. Um, I have ADHD, and so I think just really being mindful of um my own kind of place in the world, I think, and how I can sort of contribute and be able to serve um the people we're supporting and be able to bring out the best in them.
SPEAKER_01So can I ask you about your ADHD and what what that has meant for your career and and you know, as you've started the business? How have you how have you worked with that? Is it given you given you additional strengths? Has it created challenges and how have you managed those?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean I I think I really try and take a um a positive approach to um ADHD. I do really think it it can be a superpower. Um and there's a lot of uh benefits to ADHD, and I think it's often um about mitigating the challenges that are associated with it. So I think in terms of the some of the benefits, you know, I've had um a real privilege in just the wealth of experience jumping from one thing to another for the last 10 years. You know, I was working in Parliament House in the press gallery for a while, I worked on a number of um uh policy issues, there were you know big big ticket policy issues over the last 10 years, um, and was able to um serve the public in a really beneficial way in that respect. But then also I think um, you know, it's allowed me to really just explore the wealth of um information and interesting kind of insights across um the public sector, the academic sector, um, and now the private sector as well. And I think um with my own twist, I suppose, um, to the best of my ability.
SPEAKER_01Can I jump back to talking about um kind of your transition from uh how you described a comfortable job of the public sector uh into into starting your own business? Now, of course, there's um uh plenty of business people I talk to who sort of um look at uh some of the people in in in public service roles and think, oh look, you know, these are fantastic jobs they've got. They work nine to five, often from home, um guaranteed terms and conditions and and a beautiful, stress-free life. Um why why would you why would you jump from from that into taking on some risk starting a business?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know, um I guess because it's fun. I mean, first and foremost, you have to you have to enjoy it. I think what I've learned in the last two years is that um nothing really went the way that I had expected it to go at all, but that's a good thing actually. So um in terms of um for me, the key lesson that I've learned in the last two years is sometimes um you do need to take some risks, especially if um you you're at a place in your life where you find that um things have gotten a bit stale or you want to try something new. I think life's quite short and we really need to make the most of it. I think um it's often when you're jumping into you know a chasm that you can't see that that you find that um you had the right people all along that would that will take you to the next kind of place in your life.
SPEAKER_01And and taking risk is great, but of course there's there's risk associated with that. Have you have you had to sort of manage over the last couple of years once the well the last three years as the business has been going? Have you had taken risks that haven't worked out and how have you managed those?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I think so, and definitely I I think risk is um an inevitable part of life, I think. And um I think you always need to engage with some risk. I think it's always um important to make sure that you're not engaging in too much. And I think um one reflection that I had um really in the last two years of starting this business and seeing all the challenges that had sort of come come through, a lot of those risks were probably risks that um with a bit of more experience I would have uh managed, I would have identified and seen and managed better. Um so I think in terms of the sort of big risks that um we faced, you know, in the beginning we were too ambitious maybe for our resourcing profile, we didn't have enough sort of redundancy if something went wrong, um, we put all of our eggs in one basket. Um a lot of the things that probably um ring true for a lot of people in the first kind of year or two years of starting a business. I think for us, um the stakes were also much higher in a sense because while we were trying very hard to trade like a business and make sure that we were self-sustaining, we were also trying to make sure that um every person who we touched through our organization received a lot of value from that. So I think in the in the social enterprise space, there's often this uh risk of you know good intentions, really good intentions uh being paired with poor organizational resourcing, and often that can have a much uh more harmful impact to the people you're trying to support. I think for us, making sure that we were acting with integrity across the last two years as we were navigating some um you know some ups and downs and uh lessons uh was a key risk that, at least for me, um will probably serve me for the rest of my business journey.
Mentors Networking And Hiring Values
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So if you had if you had some advice for someone planning to start a business or a social enterprise, um what what would it be? How do you apply those learnings?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, great. Thanks. Um and I I might answer this question in two ways. I think firstly, um in relation to some of the work we're doing um through one of our arms, Himayat Digital. Um, because so really I think what we found with our sort of small business digital agency services is that for a lot of people who are just starting out um trying business for the first time, which is um, I think a lot of people from migrant backgrounds, I think if you ask them, you know, what would you really like to do? Most of them would like to own their own business. Um it's uh self-empowering. I think it gives you a lot of agency, there's a lot of benefits that come with it. Um so we support people through that journey of um starting their own business, getting an ABN, which ABN should you get, um, what kinds of businesses should you be thinking about? Um, what kind of business modeling are you doing? And we work quite closely with um a number of uh government service providers, including um Azuria, who does um the self-employment assistance program in the ACT, also Realize Business, and they do the Digital Solutions program in the ACT. Um, I think the core sort of lesson for me is that it's really important to make sure that you find good mentors, people who will support you and who are genuinely invested in your success, no matter what kind of business you're starting. If you're a sole trader, if you want to, if you have a big business startup idea, um, whatever it is, I think making sure you have good people around you who are genuinely invested in your success and um believe in what you're doing is very important. And I think to be receptive to feedback and listen, I think um there's often people who have been doing it for longer, who know more than you in one way or another. And I think um if you're not sort of learning from those around you, you're setting yourself up for failure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so that's some really good advice. How do you go about finding a good mentor? I mean, because that's one of the key things, one of the key challenges facing people starting a business, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's right. Um, and so I can only sort of talk about my experience and the things that I've seen. Uh, in terms, you know, if you are a migrant or a refugee, um, I would suggest um checking out our website. Um, we'd be very happy to support you. More generally, though, I guess um I think networking is very important. Canberra is a really good place um to do that sort of networking. There are a lot of useful events um that are held across um the city. So whether it's the Canberra Business Chamber, whether it's the Canberra Innovation Network, um for social enterprises, millhouse ventures is another good kind of um starting point. I think really for me though, it's not so much about the institutions or or or the kind of companies, it's really about the people in those places. And I think the quicker that um you can get to um meeting some of those people and and genuinely sort of um engaging with them, the quicker you're probably likely to find the kinds of people who would be uh helping you on your business journey.
SPEAKER_01And and people are obviously critical to any business, almost any business. Um you know, and and from a from a mentoring point of view, that that's one thing, but of course you're leading a team as well. Um what are you what are you looking for when you're uh hiring people, getting people involved in your business, and and and how does how do they uh is there a particular kind of value set that you're looking for as you're bringing people into a social enterprise?
SPEAKER_00Definitely. I think for a lot of people who are interested in the idea of social enterprise, it attracts a certain kind of person usually. I mean, in terms of the values alignment, really, I think um across any of the streams of work that we do, what I look for is to make sure that the person is really applying a person-centered approach to um either their leadership practice or how they are looking at and solving problems in the in the kinds of streams that we're doing. Um, you know, you can sort of um commercial now is a skill set that um is hard to come by, but often I find that um uh empathy and and being able to sort of um understand the unique situation that a lot of um staff find themselves in on a day-to-day basis and being able to manage that effectively is uh a much more important skill. So, really, when I'm looking at um the kinds of people we want to attract into the organization, um it's people who are values aligned who understand our mission um and are genuinely interested in using their their skills to help people.
SPEAKER_01And what's your take on the availability of talent in Canberra? Are you do you do you have challenges finding the right people?
SPEAKER_00You know, um, and I can only chalk this up to um a real blessing, and I'm very grateful. But um so far to date, I think we've been quite um successful. I don't think that we've had any sort of um challenges finding the right person for particular roles we're looking to hire. I think the reality is um there's no shortage of people who are willing to do good in the world. And I think if you're applying a sound kind of mindset and principle to the kinds of people you're hiring and why you're hiring them, and really being intentional about um making sure that the people you bring into the organization are a good fit and are going to be a good fit in six or twelve months, you're just sort of building on your value set because every new person you bring in, it's so much easier for them to feel like this is a good place for them to work because of the effort of all the people previously.
SPEAKER_01So, what's next for the business? Three year anniversary in June, big party, lots of cake and some candles. But beyond that, where are you headed?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thanks. So I think this year is really for us a year that we have done a lot of the groundwork, I'd say. This year is a year that we're probably looking to make a much bigger impact in the Canberra community. So we're moving into the Canberra Innovation Network actually from February and have a number of interesting initiatives and announcements actually from next month. So stay tuned for those. I think for me, really this year it's about making sure that the business model is right and financially sound. So, like I mentioned, we're moving into the aged care space, and I think that's something that will be really exciting. There's a lot of uncertainty at the moment in the aged care space because of government regulatory challenges and a lot of sort of uncertainty about funding and how that will be managed. So I'm really excited to sort of see how we can make a difference there to the Canberra community. And then I guess also, aside from the care services part of our business, that sort of digital agency and employment generating arm, where we're really trying to work with a range of businesses from sort of sole traders who've just sort of starting out and don't know what they're doing and need their hand help to more established businesses who are looking to grow and to try and sort of come up with a very compelling set of products for the Canberra community that will build value for them and hopefully mean that there'll be more people in the ACT that are working, that there'll be more sort of economic activity, and that ultimately we are building towards a long-term sustainable future.
SPEAKER_01Your business is quite diverse. You've got digital agency services on one side, NDIS on the other, aged care over here. Does that pose particular challenges around managing that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a really good question, thank you. Um yes and no. So I suppose if I were to take a step back because and explain why we have all of these different arms, I think it's best understood if we think about the person and the key things that a person needs to be successful in any context, migrant or not. You know, um there's health, there's there's uh employment, there's um shelter, um, a sense of community. These are the sort of basic tenants for anybody. Um in terms of how we do what we do, I think a really big part of Humaiat for me that's interesting is that um we try and apply innovative practices that ultimately serve the community. Now, in this context and this sort of digital agency model, um, for us, you know, um, we're not trying to make a million dollars as a digital agency. We're trying to employ migrants who would not otherwise have that opportunity into the space. And from that perspective, I think actually there's a lot of value just in being able to support one or two people whom would otherwise not be able to be in that position. Um, and I think we can do that in a way that um with really smart tech, you know, we're leveraging sort of uh a one shared IT system across all of our services, so um they're cheaper and more sort of um cost-effective in that sense. In another sense, definitely, you know, I think especially if you're trying to um bring in staff into the organization, there's always opportunity cost, and if you're doing a new thing, then that's potentially at the uh detriment of another thing you could be doing. Um, and uh those are some of the lessons I think that we've learned over the last two years. Really, and this year I think I'm really excited because um some of the partnerships that we've been sort of cultivating over the last two years will probably really um bear fruit, I'd say, um, for lack of a better term. The reason we're able to do all of these diverse things is because we're doing it in partnership with experts. You know, we're not a digital agency that can operate without the support of the wealth of more experienced digital agencies, marketers, branding experts, creative directors who have bought into Humeyat's mission and who are able to, you know, lend some of their time in a way that actually also generates a commercial return for them to help a lot of people.
SPEAKER_01And how have you gone about building those partnerships?
SPEAKER_00You know, um, I think uh perseverance has been one. I think authenticity has been another. Um, and I I can't just credit myself. I think to be honest, there's um my mum, uh, who is the other sort of part of the business, um, she is a real advocate, and I think um people are quite moved when they see the the work that she's been doing in the community. We work very closely with um other social enterprises, um, the ones that help other migrants and refugees. So I might um just shout out Cafe Stepping Stone, Elara Creative, and some others who do a lot of good work in the community. Um, but I think leading with uh value and genuine partnership for us has been um the key kind of uh uh way that we've been able to cultivate that. I guess for me as well, working in the government, um uh stakeholder management and those kinds of things came a bit naturally to me, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, excellent. Well, a big year ahead. Uh lots happening. We'll look forward to hearing uh about your announcements um as 2026 progresses. But uh, it's been great having a chat this morning. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much, Greg, and uh all the best to you as well.
Final Thanks And Follow Reminder
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thank you. Um Wahid Jahoon, thank you so much for joining us here on the Canberra Business Podcast. Um, don't forget uh to follow us on your favorite podcast platform for future episodes of the podcast, and we'll catch you next time.