Shared Ground

Episode 9: Quick Hits - Grabbing Hope from Others' Stories with Abhishek Motayed

• Sean Knierim & Allan Marks

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How do we maintain hope while facing growing environmental threats? Abhishek Motayed, founder and CEO of N5 Sensors, offers compelling insights into this question during our candid conversation about wildfire resilience and community protection.

Abhishek's company develops critical technology that provides real-time information to protect communities from environmental hazards, with a special focus on wildfire detection. But what drives him goes beyond technology—it's the stories of people directly impacted by these disasters that fuel his optimism. From dedicated firefighters to grassroots innovators and community organizers, Abhishek finds inspiration in how ordinary people respond to extraordinary challenges with creativity and determination.

We discuss the remarkable success of community-driven solutions like WatchDuty, which has become an essential resource for wildfire information. Abhishek emphasizes that even when facing overwhelming problems, taking small actions today matters: "This is too big of a problem, and we are all getting affected, so we have to do something. We have to do it today, even if we take small steps." This practical approach offers a blueprint for resilience—breaking down massive challenges into manageable actions.

The conversation takes a personal turn as Abhishek reflects on balancing his new role as a parent while running a company. He shares a universal truth that resonates deeply: "Have you met anyone whose life is not affected by some kind of personal adversities? Everybody faces something." His philosophy that resilience is both a personal journey and collective effort reminds us that finding hope isn't about denying challenges but facing them together with creativity and shared purpose.

Join us for this thought-provoking conversation about innovation in crisis, community strength, and how the brightest solutions often emerge from our darkest challenges. Subscribe to hear more stories of resilience and forward-thinking approaches to our most pressing environmental issues.

Shared Ground is produced by Sean Knierim and Allan Marks. Thanks to Cory Grabow, Kara Poltor, Corey Walles (from The Recording Studio) for your support in launching this effort.

For more stories of resilience & rebuilding, kindness & generosity: visit shared-ground.com and subscribe to Sean's substack. We invite you to share your own stories of resilience at the Shared Ground website - whether in response to the January fires in LA or other situations.

Follow us at seanknierim.substack.com, Instagram, or wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc).

Sean Knierim:

Thanks for talking. So who are you?

Abhishek Motayed:

Hey, my name is Abhishek Mattad. I'm the founder and CEO of N5 Sensors.

Sean Knierim:

And what's N5 Sensors doing?

Abhishek Motayed:

So at N5, we provide accurate, real-time information to keep people, businesses and communities safe and protected from all kinds of environmental threats and hazards. Namely, most importantly right now is protection of communities, people, lives and buildings, homes from threat of wildfires.

Sean Knierim:

Right on. We were just on a panel together talking about different experiences of fires. So, as you think about resilience in the communities that you're trying to support, how do you stay hopeful about the future in the communities that you're trying to support? How do you stay hopeful about the future? You guys are looking and trying to actually find bad stuff that's happening, at least bad stuff for communities. So how do you stay hopeful?

Abhishek Motayed:

So I guess you know meeting people like you and hearing their stories and we have met so many passionate people from technology developers to firefighters, to community. You know fire safe council people, like hearing their stories and how these you know news clips actually they mean very different. When you're hearing their stories, right, it becomes real personal, like how, in face of adversities, how people are still kind of going on and thinking how can I make my life better, safer my children, my family and then community? Right, what can we do so that this does not happen? You know, tomorrow again, and maybe going one step forward, maybe developing some solutions that we can kind of. You know scale, like give it to other people Like we have met. You know scale like give it to other people Like we have met. You know the WatchDuty founder amazing story, and I meet people like that all the time. And how can you not be hopeful?

Sean Knierim:

I mean, this is WatchDuty. Has randomly come up, not randomly. Has come up on every single one of our podcasts. Hopefully this becomes one of our first sponsors for the podcast. That app became such an important resource for everybody.

Abhishek Motayed:

And we meet people like that all the time, trying to do something, even it's kind of like really, really hard and with not a lot of support, but you know, you just don't give up. I mean, this is too big of a problem, right, and we are all getting affected, so we have to do something. We have to do it today, even if we take small steps. So I guess, going back to your, you know the question. This is how, by being connected, listening to the stories and seeing people what they're doing, I mean we think we have a big job to do here.

Sean Knierim:

And that's where the hope's coming from as you think about resilience in these communities? As individuals or as groups. Is there anything you've seen or looked to for yourself to stay resilient or to carry on when things get hard, or people that you look to? Or examples, any tools that you've seen that seem effective in helping in these difficult times?

Abhishek Motayed:

Yeah. So going back to you know people's innovativeness and willing to kind of roll up their sleeves, whether it's like raising a fund or helping community raise some money like charity, or even figuring out like fire safe councils, how we can actually help homeowners think about these things so that next time something happens everybody's prepared. So seeing how all of these people are coming together trying to make the community better and make the community safer, resilient, I think this is kind of I draw inspiration and kind of hope from that. And some of the things that has been kind of coming back to us over and over again is how people, in the face of these kind of adversitiesities, come up with the brightest solutions. Right, and this is I think it's important lesson in life.

Sean Knierim:

You've got a newborn, you're running a company. Sleep is probably something that's challenging to get right, so anything else yourself personally, to keep yourself going Like stories will get you so far. How are you?

Abhishek Motayed:

Personally also right. Our lives are constantly changing. And are you Personally also right? Our lives are constantly changing. So and this is where you shine right and have you met anyone whose life is not affected by some kind of, you know, personal adversities?

Sean Knierim:

Everybody faces something.

Abhishek Motayed:

And this is the reality of life and how you handle it and how you find hope, peace, resiliency and try to build back, and that's, that's all we got.

Sean Knierim:

I am so glad I got a chance to meet you today. Thanks for agreeing to talk for a little bit.

Abhishek Motayed:

Thank you, Sean. Thanks for your time.