Age Positivity In the Workplace : Sami's Journey in to HR

In this inspiring episode of The Inclusive Edge: The Power of Diversity, we kick off 2025 with a powerful discussion about age positivity in the workplace. Andrea is joined by Sami Riaz, who is transitioning into a career in HR in his mid-forties, the conversation explores how age intersects with neurodiversity, ethnicity, and career transitions.

Sami shares his personal journey and aspirations, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of navigating a career change later in life.  We reflect on societal expectations surrounding age, navigating neurodiversity in education and the workplace, and how his ethnic background has shaped his experiences. 

Listeners will gain valuable insights into Sami's experience and life in the NHS, overcoming bias and barriers, embracing diversity as an asset, and practical advice for those considering career changes or navigating age-related challenges. 

If you’re ready to champion age positivity and build more inclusive workplaces, this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

Andrea Derbyshire (00:10)
Welcome back to the Inclusive Edge, the power of diversity. This is the first podcast of 2025 after having a break So I'd like to wish all of our listeners a healthy and successful 2025. The Inclusive Edge podcast is dedicated to helping leaders and HR professionals create fair, diverse, inclusive and dynamic workplaces where everyone can thrive. In each episode, we explore practical strategies for workplace equality challenges and building an inclusive culture. 

I'm Andrea Derbyshire, your host, and I'm a HR diversity and inclusion consultant. Today, we're going to be diving into a topic that's often overlooked in conversations around workplace diversity. workplace equality challenges and building an inclusive culture.

Join us on the podcast as we learn how to unlock the full potential of your team and create a workplace where every voice is heard. I'm Andrea Derbyshire, your host, and I'm a HR diversity and inclusion consultant. Today, we're going to be diving into a topic that's often overlooked in conversations around workplace diversity, about age positivity and how that intersects with neurodiversity, ethnicity and career

In this episode, I have a very special guest with me today, Sami Riaz. Sami is currently embarking on a change of direction into a career in human resources. And we're going to be discussing the benefits and challenges Sami's come across how age positivity plays a role in the workplace and why it's essential that we embrace diverse age groups, especially in roles in human resources. So let's get started. Sami, thank you so much for joining us today. Could you start by telling our listeners a little bit about your backgrounds and how we met, please?

Sami
Hello Andrea, thank you very much for inviting me onto your podcast. I have to say that I feel a lot of gratitude because it's very rare in my opinion that HR students that their voice is heard. So I study HRM at Birmingham City University
university. I chose to go back to university to get my HR qualification. I realised once I was at university that the HR qualifications are quite diverse, there's different ways of getting them. Most people choose to get through the CIPD, which I'm a big fan of.

Andrea
Yeah.

Sami
But yeah, it's really, it's a great pleasure and honor to be on your podcast today and to share my opinions and my experience, my experience of work before I changed my career and maybe just sharing my thoughts about HR as a, you know, as a novice, as an early years HR professional. Yeah, we met by LinkedIn. So I'm in my second year now. 

Andrea

We did.

Sami (02:43)
I was very active in my first year in networking on LinkedIn and yeah fate threw us together.

Andrea Derbyshire (02:51)
Yeah, it was great to connect with you, Sami, and we've had lots of conversations and interactions since then, so it's really good to have you as part of my LinkedIn network.

So, Sami, you're currently navigating the challenges of starting to look at changing your career direction and I know that you're in your mid-40s, you're the same age as me, 47. Can you share your thoughts on how age positivity has or hasn't played a role in your journey so far,

Sami

Yes of course, I think that age positivity is extremely important today, you know in 2025 in the coming years. I think we all know that you know our society that people are living longer. If they're living longer, they're probably going to work longer as well. So these these kind of old fashioned ideas about, know, you have to retire at 65 or 66 and then just take it easy. Those are kind of getting pushed back now. And people are thinking about, you know, how to perhaps work longer if they want to. And if they want to, should they be encouraged? Why not?

Andrea Derbyshire (03:43)
Absolutely.

Sami (04:03)
is my question. So in regards to my own experience of age positivity. So before I changed my career, I was in healthcare. I do feel that in healthcare, age positivity is actually embraced. But a lot of people, I'm actually doing things the opposite way around. I met a lot of people who had corporate careers or careers in private sector, and then they changed their career and they embarked on a healthcare profession and I'm doing it the opposite way. So yeah, I always felt that, especially the NHS, that it was very welcoming of anyone who wanted to change their career at any age.

Andrea Derbyshire (04:30)
Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah, can you tell us a little bit about your career previously

Sami (04:44)
Yes, yeah.

Andrea Derbyshire (04:44)
in the NHS? What was your role, Sammy?

Sami (04:47)
So before I changed my career, I was working as a operating department practitioner or ODP as short. It's one of the invisible healthcare professions, I would say. When people think of hospitals, they think instantly of doctors and nurses, but there are other professionals who work in hospitals. ODPs, work in theatres predominantly.

Andrea Derbyshire (04:54)
Yep.

Yeah.

Sami (05:09)
but you can find them in A &E, in research departments, you can find them in ITU. And in fact, they're actually having more opportunities to work outside of theatres. 

Andrea Derbyshire (05:19)
Yeah, and what triggered your want to change your career direction from working in healthcare, supporting patients to moving into a HR role?

Sami (05:31)
It was a healthcare issue, a personal issue that I had. And I think again, you you've worked in NHS yourself, neither of us are any stranger to the fact that working in healthcare today, it's very stressful. Professionals are burning out, whether they're doctors, nurses, ODPs, lots of professionals are burning out. And...I got to a moment, I remember it was 1st of February 2023 and I wasn't feeling well and I had a of like a light bulb moment where I realised that if I continue in this path I'm going to be even more ill. So yeah it was a light bulb moment and I thought I need to step away from this and I did step away from it and I had like a

Andrea Derbyshire (06:14)
Yeah.

Sami (06:19)
battery of tests at my GP and the GP actually said that there's nothing wrong with you physically, it's stress induced and that again was the second light bulb moment that I needed to change and yeah lifestyle and career. 
Andrea Derbyshire (06:28)

Right.And what attracted you to human resources? 



Sami (06:42)
months afterwards, so this is in the period between February and May 2023, I was thinking like what could I do? My whole working experience has been in healthcare. We're a healthcare family. My mum and dad, work for the NHS. My great uncle, great aunt, they worked in the NHS from 1960s. So I realised that I liked working with people.

Andrea Derbyshire (06:50)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sami (07:09)
I like being involved in the care of people. yeah, again, my experience of working clinically, I felt very confident in my ability to communicate, to work in teams. So I've just had, I knew that I was good with people and yeah, believe it or not, it was just a conversation I was having with a fellow NHS colleague who worked at a different hospital that yeah, again,

Andrea Derbyshire (07:13)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sami (07:34)
another light bulb moment and I thought that yeah HR. Honestly it was just it was a conversation we were having and I just like HR popped up in my head.

Andrea Derbyshire (07:40)
Yeah, you've definitely got fantastic people skills. Yeah.

thank you for sharing that, Sami. I was just interested in why you wanted to change directions. I think that's really helpful for you to share with the listeners. So navigating a career change, can be really difficult for anyone.

But you've mentioned to me that you've got neurodiversity. So when you add neurodiversity into the mix, it can also present a unique set of challenges. Does that resonate with you? What's your experience been around that?

Sami (07:58)
Yes, once I had this idea that I wanted to work in HR I started to do research on how do I get a job in HR and

Andrea Derbyshire (08:21)
Yeah.

Sami (08:23)
I realised that I would have to do some training of some sort. And then I looked at courses and, you know, I'm in my 40s, I'm a child of the 80s and neurodiversity wasn't a thing back then. And yeah, I always realised I was different. But because, you know, it wasn't picked up in my childhood years.

I developed my own coping mechanisms and strategies for study, especially. I always found actually education quite difficult and that was one of my worries when I was thinking about changing career seriously and especially when I looked at the university option. I did ask myself the question that not only would I be able to go back to university and cope with

Andrea Derbyshire (08:47)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sami (09:08)
because I'm older than the average student. Would I be able to cope with mixing with younger classmates? But would I be able to cope with the academic work? And you know what? Surprise, surprise. I have been able to cope because I was the top student and that's been a massive shock. So I would say that if there are any adults listening who also had difficult experiences with education,

Andrea Derbyshire (09:26)
Amazing. Yeah.

Sami (09:36)
it doesn't mean that you're not going to be able to succeed at education at a later part of your life. Absolutely. No, it isn't something I've asked for. And again, I think through conversations we've had

Andrea Derbyshire (09:43)
Absolutely. And did the university, have they made any reasonable adjustments or accommodations for neurodiversity? Is that something that you've asked for?

No, it isn't something I've asked for. And again, I think through conversations we've had

Right. Okay.

Sami (10:00)
it's really difficult trying to get the evidence for it. And that was actually my problem. My GP, who isn't the GP who knows me, know, nowadays you go to a GP practice, you can see anyone. And it was actually quite difficult trying to get evidence. And I just took that as a sign that I'll find I'm not getting the evidence and I wouldn't have got the accommodations without it.

So I thought no, I'll just crack on and I'll do the best I can.

Andrea Derbyshire (10:28)
I'm sorry to hear that you've had those struggles with getting the right support put in place. So neurodiversity does bring a fresh perspective to the workplace. How do you think HR professionals can help make the workplace environment more inclusive for neurodiverse individuals? So thinking about when you move into a future HR role.

Sami (10:49)
Yeah, absolutely. Again, we know that neurodiversity is, it's a conversation that people are having in every industry. And from the inclusion point of view, you know, definitely, you know, right from the recruitment process, every industry they should be

making effort to recruit these individuals because I read that there is evidence that neurodiverse adults are being failed and they've got these skills, they've got the talent and HR definitely has a role in making the recruitment process, the selection process and you just mentioned accommodation in the last question offering these accommodations so that people can thrive because neurodivergent adults at the end of the day they want to thrive they want to be given that chance.

Andrea Derbyshire (11:34)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think the evidence shows now that the awareness is raising considerably around neurodiversity and I think the younger generations now more, the majority of the younger generations identify with neurodiversity rather than being neuro-typical. So think it's just so important that the workplace is fit for purpose and supports and accommodates people with different needs in the future.

Sami (12:00)
one of my HR career goals is to be that HR manager who is like 100 % understanding when someone in the team finds out that they're neurodivergent because I think this is something that's also happening, especially in the UK. A lot of females are finding out that they have

Andrea Derbyshire (12:15)
Yeah.

Sami (12:32)
For example ADHD or autism because these especially these two conditions were missed You know in the decades past So how would as a HR manager how would How would you react? What would you do? to make work Easy and less stressful for your newly diagnosed member of your team

Andrea Derbyshire (12:35)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

yeah. What you've just said that really resonates with me is that as you know I've got three children and my youngest child Alfie he's been diagnosed with ADHD and autism that was picked up quite early on in primary school and then my daughter she's 15 and she's only recently been referred for assessment for autism and I think that's because of masking and the differences and how it presents between males and females and that obviously she's struggling in secondary school but that wasn't picked up so she's not had the accommodations and the support from an early age like my son has.

Andrea Derbyshire (13:32)
So should we, moving on, talk a little bit more about some of your other protected characteristics, Sammy? I don't know if you want to share a little bit about, you did your introduction at the beginning, but the focus of the conversation today was around your background and the diversity challenges.

Sami (13:32)
Yeah sure, so I always kind of joke with people that all my life I've felt as kind of like as either as an outsider or definitely as a minority. So I do have an ethnic minority background. My parents they came to the UK from a called Bangladesh which is next to India and sandwiched between India and Myanmar.

Andrea Derbyshire (14:05)
Yep.

Sami (14:09)
You know, one of the things I've realized about HR, it's a female dominated profession, which I don't have a problem with because if you work in healthcare, in NHS, it's a female environment. So yeah, I'm a male, I'm from an ethnic minority background. I'm neurodiverse and I'm also a bit older than your average.

HR student or HR professional. there's a lot of characteristics there. But I don't feel that any of them are going to hold me back. As hopefully I'm kind of getting across, I'm very positive and I'm very optimistic. And yeah, these are not barriers for me.

Andrea Derbyshire (14:44)
Thank you for being so open and sharing that with us, Sami. So
it's really positive to hear that you don't think that any of your characteristics have held you back because we know that historically some people have been disadvantaged based on protected characteristics and there are still lots of inequalities that exist in society today. So have you had any of those challenges personally around discrimination or microaggressions in the workplace.

Sami (15:12)
Yes, I'm just thinking about experience. I have experienced, you can say, either microaggressions and there is very subtle ways in which either your colleagues or your managers can make your life difficult, but it's hard to prove. that's the that's the that was something that always bothered me that, well, if I went to speak to some, if I went to HR and I spoke with them and said that, you know, I'm having a difficult time and I think it's because of this, you'd have to prove it. And yeah, again, just from being from a minority background, I've always experienced that, you know, resilience goes with being different. If you're different,

Andrea Derbyshire (15:49)
Yeah.

Sami (16:01)
you're going to face situations where you either sink or swim. And I feel I've got bucket loads of resilience. Actually, another reason why I've changed my career is because when I was working clinically, I wasn't a manager. There was one role I had where I was managing a department, but still on the same pay scale and still on the same job title.

Andrea Derbyshire (16:24)
Yeah.

Sami (16:25)
But there wasn't actually a managerial post, an official post, but that was all right because it gave me experience of managing. And yeah, I realized the more I was working in NHS that I was interested in like the kind of bigger issues of, you know, I could see myself firsthand that why were these team dynamics not working and, you know, problems, everyone was having problems with managers.
and then with other departments. And I was thinking about these issues. I was thinking about the issues not just in the operating theatre. I was thinking about, you know, the wider environment. And that's when I thought that, okay, if I'm going to change my career, I'm not just going to change it for anything. I'm going to go into HR, but I want to be a HR leader.

Andrea Derbyshire (17:02)
Yeah.

Yeah. What's your experience been around equality, diversity and inclusion in the NHS? Obviously you've worked in the NHS for many years and you've shared with the listeners around your own background and protected characteristics. Have you felt supported? Has it been an inclusive environment or what's been your experience?

Sami (17:17)
I think that the NHS is really good at DEI training.

And that's definitely like one of its big, you know, pluses, you know, that training is annual. And one of the things that has changed is the workforce. So I think you're aware of this as well that since COVID, you know, there's whatever vacancies were in the NHS, they've just increased.

Andrea Derbyshire (17:45)
That's good to hear. Yeah.

Sami (18:03)
And since COVID, I think hospitals up and down the country, they've decided to recruit from overseas. whether it's a ward, whether it's an operating theater or A &E department, teams are more diverse. You're getting people from different cultures, different religions, I suppose different ages as well, that comes into it.

Andrea Derbyshire (18:13)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Sami (18:28)
But definitely, different ability of language as well. And yes, yeah, I think that in healthcare, especially the working environment has become more diverse. And I think that's even more reason why everyone working in healthcare, they need to be on top of their training and they have opportunity to kind of lead the way and show other sectors, other industries that

Andrea Derbyshire (18:28)
Yeah.

Yeah, so it's been a noticeable change in terms of diversity.

Sami (18:56)
you we are making diversity a success.

Andrea Derbyshire (19:00)
Yeah, to be able to provide a responsive service that meets the needs of the population that we sort of need, do really need to have a diverse workforce with that range of skills, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Just going back to something that you mentioned earlier, so you mentioned about HR being predominantly female

occupation.

Sami (19:21)
Yeah, I

Andrea Derbyshire (19:22)
I know the NHS also as a whole is predominantly female, but then if you look at the senior staff within the NHS and also in HR there's still a gender imbalance so it's predominantly female but there's more males at director and executive level which is something that's not going to change overnight.

Sami (19:22)
do

Yeah, I was just going to say

Andrea Derbyshire (19:48)
Go on, Sammy.

Sami (19:49)
that that change does need to happen in not only in NHS, but in other areas that, you know, it's 2025. We should be encouraging people to get into management positions and not holding them back. People held back for so many reasons, because they're female or because

You know, maybe they want to be, why isn't anyone really talking about offering management positions at a part time? To be a manager, you don't have to be full time necessarily or job share. I agree with you 100%. Yeah. Yeah, agree with you 100 % that females.

Andrea Derbyshire (20:29)
Yeah, well all roles, yeah all roles you can request flexible working but as you say it's not always considered as it or accommodated.

Sami (20:43)
do you need to be given more opportunity to rise in the senior positions, whether it's healthcare or private sector? so one of the things I was thinking about, one of

Andrea Derbyshire (20:52)
Many people do face different obstacles when they're wanting to make a career change, especially later in life. Are there any obstacles that you've faced so far, Sami, that you can share with us and what you've done and steps you've taken to overcome them?

Sami (21:12)
before actually applied to study at university was, you know, to be good at your studies, you need, I guess, your home environment to be stable. So now in, okay, it's 2025, my home environment, thankfully, it is quite stable. And that's compared to when I did my NHS qualification.

Andrea Derbyshire (21:26)
Yeah.

Sami (21:41)
My late dad, was still alive back then and I had the challenge of trying to manage my NHS studies with also being a carer and that was really difficult. before, especially if someone, I guess in their 30s and 40s, before they make that step, assess everything else that's going on in life.

Andrea Derbyshire (21:53)
I can imagine, yeah, stretched with, yeah.

Sami (22:06)
If everything in your life is relatively stable, because obviously no one knows what's going to happen tomorrow or, you know, six months or one year. But if everything in your life is relatively stable, then that's a good moment to make that career change. If your life is really stressful, it's going to be hard. And that's going from my experience of when I was trying to get my NHS qualification.

Andrea Derbyshire (22:06)
Yeah.

Yeah, it's really hard

Thank you for sharing that, Sammy. Are there any other hurdles that you've had to overcome to pursue your wish to move into a career in HR at all?

Sami (22:35)
Yeah.

Yeah, my own self doubt. Again, because I, you know, I did, have applied for senior positions when I did work in the NHS and I didn't get them. And that can knock a person's confidence. So it's constantly having to dig deep and you know, to self motivate myself and to tell myself that it's not too late, I can change my career, I can get into a leadership position, why not? And I think that, you know, compared to my classmates, like I'm not gonna have a long career, but that doesn't mean I won't have an impactful career.

Andrea Derbyshire (23:14)
Absolutely, yeah. And how do you embrace your diversity and your age and experience as assets?

Sami (23:16)
So last year, when I was in my first year, I put myself out there at networking events and, you know, it was always interesting to see people's reactions when I introduced myself as a university student and, you know, visibly, I guess I look older, I'm not trying to hide it.

Andrea Derbyshire (23:30)
us to.

Sami (23:41)
I could, I suppose, but I'm not trying to hide it because I think that it's a good thing that my classmates, they can see they're interacting with someone of another generation. And actually, I'm a big believer in multi-generational working. know, all my classmates who are sort of 1920, I hope that some of them, the ones I interact with, I hope they're, you know, they're feeling that they're getting some experience of working with someone or studying with someone from an older generation.

that's what they're going to experience when they've got their degrees they're going into a multi-generational working environment. I think it's five at the moment there are five generations in the workplace. So yeah I hope that...

Andrea Derbyshire (24:11)
Yeah.

Okay, I'm sure you've got lots of insight and experience that you can share with the students on your cohort. So have you experienced some bias there potentially around your age when you introduce yourself as a university student?

Sami (24:39)
What do you mean at some of these events that I've been to? Well actually I can think of one event and that's when I go to careers events and when I'm asking about graduate schemes and I think when they see me they think that I'm a parent of you know I've been to some of these events with friends and

Andrea Derbyshire (24:42)
Yeah, yeah, so an expectation that you wouldn't be studying at your...

Sami (25:02)
They think I'm the parent of my friend and they're surprised. And that's actually one of the differences I've noticed that. So in healthcare, there are a lot of people who've changed their career and embarking on new careers as nurses or paramedics, ODPs and physiotherapists. But on the other side, like in my campus, I feel like I'm one of the very few older students.

Andrea Derbyshire (25:16)
Yes, yeah.

Sami (25:26)
In my cohort I am the only older student and yeah that's quite noticeable to me. Maybe it is unusual for you know older adults to go into corporate but just because it's rare doesn't mean it shouldn't happen.

Andrea Derbyshire (25:39)
Yeah, I think it's really admirable and brave of you to be looking at changing your career at this point. And I think hopefully you'll inspire others

to take that leap and take that step.

Sami (25:50)
Yeah,

I believe in the power of one and that power of one or my theory of one is that if I'm interacting with at least one person, either in a lecture at uni or especially when I was in my job, if one patient could feel that they've benefited from interacting with me, then that would make my day and it still makes my day. Now, when I go to lectures, you know, I'm not a chatterbox.

Andrea Derbyshire (26:13)
I love that. Yeah.

Sami (26:18)
I do pay attention in lessons and seminars, but in seminars, for example, we have group tasks and, you know, it seems little groups of four or five. And I guess I do hope and feel that someone from that day that they're benefiting from interacting with me. Even one. don't. When I was younger, the difference between, I guess, now and when 20 years ago, when I was younger,

Andrea Derbyshire (26:40)
Yeah.

Sami (26:47)
I was idealistic, I wanted to change the world. Now I care more about changing the world just for one person. Yeah, and that can make a huge impact just helping one It's making a difference. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. takes one person to do something different to start a change. Yes. So I really admire that about myself.

Andrea Derbyshire (26:54)
Yeah and that could make a huge impact just helping one person it's making a difference. It just takes one person to to do something different to start a process. So I really admire that about you Sami.

And for anyone listening who might also be considering potentially making a career change or feeling any age-related challenges in the workplace, what advice could you offer to them?

Sami (27:09)
One of the best things I did last year was to use LinkedIn. And through using LinkedIn, I have been able to network with people of my age. And that's been lovely as a kind of counterbalance to

Andrea Derbyshire (27:31)
Yeah.

Sami (27:35)
you know, what I experienced on an everyday basis at university and at university everyone, you know, they're, they're, I guess, 18, 19, 20. But I do actually like interacting with people of my own age or, you know, older. Actually, I really admire people, older workers. I've got a fantastic mentor who I met on LinkedIn. His name is Dennis. He

He's a Brit, he's a HR consultant who works and lives in Colombia. You know, as much as I want to learn and to share my knowledge and experience with younger generations, I'm a student. I always feel that I'm a constant student and teacher at the same time. And that's the way I think. I'm open to learn all the time.

Andrea Derbyshire (28:09)
wow, yeah.

Yeah and how

yeah it's fantastic to hear about your mentor Sammy and how is that helping you with your your studies and your aspirations? Yeah.

Sami (28:32)
Yeah. So having this mentor, this kind of virtual mentor, you know, we discuss HR issues and I feel really privileged that, you know, I can talk with someone who's worked for 40 years already in HR, 30 years as a HR consultant. Yeah, it's a...

I as much as I like talking, I love listening more. I always joke with people. I've got one mouth and two ears. So that means I listen twice as much as I talk. yeah, I just, think learning whatever experiences I had in my childhood of being difficult, it hasn't stopped that desire and thirst and hunger for learning. just, I constantly just want to learn.

Andrea Derbyshire (29:20)
Yeah, I think that comes across from talking to you, Sami, that you've got a real thirst for knowledge and resilience and wish to progress. So that's amazing. Thank you so much for joining me today, Sami, and sharing your story. I've found it really inspiring to hear how you've embraced your age, your neurodiversity and your background in your HR journey. So before we wrap up the episode today, is there anything else that you'd like to add on the importance of age positivity and inclusivity in the workplace?

Yeah, I think if any of your listeners, if any of them are in that position where they're considering a career change, I would say the biggest obstacle is to get over that fear. Once you can get over that fear, you know, so many people in society, they live in, I guess, a kind of a comfort zone. If a person can, you know, muster that courage to step out of that comfort zone,

and to face that unknown, you know, with courage and bravery, they're going to experience so many things that they wouldn't have experienced and that will surprise themselves and they'll learn because we're all on a journey of just constant growth and self-awareness. yeah, I think fear, if a person can get over that initial fear of making that change, then

Yeah, I think they'll be surprised. You know, what the new doors of opportunity can open for them. And then you won't get any, well, you've very like kindly invited me onto your podcast. People can connect with me if they want. And I like supporting people in every way at university when I see classmates face to face online as well. So yeah, if any of your listeners.

Andrea Derbyshire (30:47)
Thank you.

Yeah.

Sami (31:05)
if they want to ask me any questions, they can connect with me on LinkedIn and I'm happy to share and to answer any questions they might have because I really believe that as a whole we need to be more positive about older age. 

Andrea Derbyshire (31:15)
Thank you.

Thank you, Sami, for those closing points and I'll ensure that I include your connection details in the show notes, so if any listeners would like to connect with Sami on LinkedIn,

Sami is inviting you to do so. So thank you so much again. And that's it for today's episode of The Inclusive Edge, The Power of Diversity. I hope that Sami's journey has inspired you to rethink the role of age diversity in your own career and workplace.

Andrea Derbyshire (31:50)
And remember, diversity isn't just what we can see, it's about the wealth of different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and talents that we bring to the table, no matter what our age or background.

Andrea Derbyshire (32:01)
So to all of our listeners, thank you for tuning in to today's episode of The Inclusive Edge, The Power of Diversity. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. And if you'd like to be a guest on a future episode of the podcast, please reach out to me. I'd love to hear from you.

Andrea Derbyshire (32:19)
Until next time, stay committed to inclusion, stay on the inclusive edge and keep driving positive change in your workplaces.