All About Inclusive Fashion Design with Shay Senior

James Berges 00:01 
Shai's senior story began with hand surgery and a business meeting in Kazakhstan at minus 25 degrees Celsius. When his arm became paralyzed, he discovered how quickly clothing could become a barrier. 

Mai Ling Chan 00:13 
Yeah, and he was only 23 years old traveling around the world, and then suddenly he needed his mom to help him put his jacket on, and he shares that that just changed everything for him.

But when he saw a sewing machine at the rehabilitation center he was going to, he started tailoring his own clothes, and soon other patients were also asking for alterations, revealing a hidden market that would become polter clothing. 

Shay Senior 00:39 
I was trying to choose my clothes, advancing in the rehabilitation process. And suddenly I realized that many objects in my wardrobe were not really working for me anymore, because I would want to wear something and then I would say, okay, I cannot put it on.

Like, my wrist doesn't fall. I cannot get into a jacket. I need to ask for help from my mom. 

Mai Ling Chan 01:02 
Welcome to the Exceptional Leaders Podcast. I'm Mai Ling Chan, and together with James Berges, we're getting you top tips and resources for building and scaling your disability-focused offerings straight from the forefront of disability advocacy and leadership. 

James Berges 01:20 
Before long, Shay and his co-founder were designing uniforms for Israel's entire Paralympic team, creating functional, stylish clothing that represented their country while meeting a diverse accessibility need. Think about people with different disabilities and needs, and how do you combine form and function?

Well, him and his co-founder started from their own problem with that, like you said, Mai Ling, with a seamstress station. That's not what you call it, a sewing device. I clearly don't. But he started with his own need, and imagine now he's at the Paralympics, and brands like Nike or these other huge fashion brands are seeing his work in the Olympics, and they started reaching out to him, saying, can you do this for us? 

Mai Ling Chan 02:05 
Yeah, I'm super excited for you, our listener today, because you're going to hear how serving your own challenge can actually evolve into a business that serves millions and talking about the distinction between adaptive faction versus inclusive faction. And I think that's something that I always mix up.

Also talking about building a community that really listens to your needs to create the products and what we all want is organic growth. And his actually led to dressing the Israel's Paralympic team, which is incredible and gave him a lot of visibility and just baked in marketing. So it's incredible. So the best part too is that he found the right co-founder and I love the story about how he was referred and just hit it off. 

James Berges 02:46 
Yeah, it all happened pre-organically starting from his own needs. So if you have to scratch your own itch, sometimes that's the best market to test it on and it will happen naturally.

But before we jump into the interview, May, what's going on in your life? 

Mai Ling Chan 03:00 
Oh, I'm so excited to share, James, that the Exceptional Leaders Network is growing. It's started from a couple of founders back in August, and now here we are in February, and we just have an amazing group of people.

The topics are so pertinent and relevant to what we're doing this month. We just talked about marketing, and there's so much change going on right now in 2025 or early 2025. I really would love for everyone to join us, our listener here. Check out the exceptionalleadersnetwork.com, and we do spell it right, E-X-C. I went with the traditional spelling, but I would love to see you there and to support you and your business because that's what we're doing this all for. 

James Berges 03:40 
Yeah, I've joined these meetings and they are helpful for me who's like many different interests, but doesn't have everything nailed down from the business aspects to, but not just business, but talking with other people in the disability leader space. So it's very specified to that while bringing in different people from different backgrounds and different walks of life and experience, frankly, really, it's like the sum of the parts are greater than each individual person's effort.

So highly recommend. Yeah, check that out. 

Mai Ling Chan 04:09 
Excellent. Thank you. 

James Berges 04:10 
Oh, and the link again was exceptional. Oh, yeah, EXCE, exceptional leaders. OK, network. 

Mai Ling Chan 04:17 
That's great, thank you. All right, what's up with you now? 

James Berges 04:19 
I just want to make sure because I misspelled things. Well, for me, I'm in L.A. and, you know, being part of it in L.A., I'm from here. But I was traveling a lot. I'm like, what can I give L.A. in this chapter and in this epic epoch?

And I've always wanted to try stand up comedy. But it's very scary. I don't like public speaking generally. I mean, I do after I do it. But anyway, Faced My Fears have done three open mics. And I got to say, you know, the best thing, just like with Shai's life, is bringing your own experience because only you have your perspective. And there's a I'm not going to do stand up here yet on a podcast. But there's some themes about how as a speech pathologist, I've worked with autistic students and how I actually prefer their communication style because it's so direct and you know exactly what you're getting. Yes, and they don't. 

Mai Ling Chan 05:21 
know they're funny. 

James Berges 05:22 
Yeah. They don't, they don't, they're not even trying to be funny, but I find it refreshing because it's like, you know, you know, imagine two people talking in high school. I remember two students be like, you know, do you like Minecraft? No. Do you like, uh, Pokemon? No. Do you like anime? No. Okay. Let's never talk again, but no harm, no foul.

And then, yeah. So anyway, it's, it's fun to pull from that and like, compare it to the LA scene and my own life and how sometimes I guess this rap for being fake on the opposite end of the spectrum where it's like, yeah, let's definitely hang out again. But no one, neither person wants to hang out again. 

Mai Ling Chan 06:01 
Oh my gosh, but I'm pumped. 

James Berges 06:04 
So a lot so there's a lot to work with a lot of material based on just life experience here. 

Mai Ling Chan 06:13 
I wish I was close by I would definitely pop in to watch you 

James Berges 06:16 
Oh, I'm going to hide from- 

Mai Ling Chan 06:17 
and cheer. 

James Berges 06:19 
Thank you, you're my biggest supporter and advocate of anything, but I'm not going to invite any friends until I feel like random strangers are laughing consistently. 

Mai Ling Chan 06:30 
Aw, I'm gonna go in there and be like, you better be laughing, this guy's funny. 

James Berges 06:35 
You're wearing like a Grazio Marx, like a little mustache thing, so that I can't even recognize you. Hey, sounds like me. Leng, it doesn't look like her, but I appreciate it. 

Mai Ling Chan 06:45 
We're having our own fun here today. Yeah. 

James Berges 06:49 
Well, yeah, so I guess all the themes wrapping this up is that you got to pull from your own life experience and diverse voices are really what bring us together and bring us up. So, whether you're a business leader looking to reach untapped markets or you're interested in fashion and inclusive innovation, or just taking your life experience and turning it into something that other people can use, you're not going to want to miss this interview with Shai Senior, founder of Palta Clothing, who's proving that fashion can be both functional and fashionable for everyone.

Today, I'm excited to be joined by Shai Senior, founder of Palta Clothing. After a service in the military in an experience with hand surgery, Shai founded Palta to bridge gaps he saw in fashion accessibility. His work now spans clothing design, brand consulting, and developing tools to help people find inclusive fashion options. Shai, I'm so excited to have you. Welcome to the show. 

Shay Senior 07:50 
Hi, hi, James. Thank you very much for that opportunity.

I'm always excited to share more with our community and talk about my story, how I got the fashion and at the end, how I'm for such a big community that the many industries are not seeing us as customers. 

James Berges 08:10 
Exactly. Yeah, we're excited to get into all of this. And, you know, I think most stories on this podcast start with somewhat of a personal journey and yours is no different. So I'll ask you what motivated your transition.

I mentioned you were in the military. So what transition from military to fashion? That seems like a leap, but maybe not. 

Shay Senior 08:30 
So back in 2012, I had a hand surgery, I mean hand injury, sorry, and I went to the hospital. They told me, oh, it's just you just broke your bone and we'll put on a cast and you're good.

And five years later, I had a trip from my job to Kazakhstan, minus 25 Celsius degrees. And I'm in a very important meeting outside in the snow. I don't know why they chose to do it outside of minus 25 degrees for us people from the Middle East. It's like radical to be in a room in that situation. And even more when we're outside and suddenly I feel that my whole right arm is getting paralyzed. And at first I cannot feel my fingers and then it goes up to my arm and I'm thinking maybe it's because of the cold and then I realized I'm not controlling my hand. And I just say, keep cool, you got to finish this meeting and then afterwards you'll get back to the hotel. I called the doctor, I told him what I was feeling and very quickly I was back here in Israel in the hospital.

They got me into a surgery and when I wake up I see that I have four scars on my arm wrist and my mom tells me that they pulled out four bones in order to make me able to move my hands from left to right. And that it's probably something nerve and it wasn't only a broken bone. And from that point I'm starting a journey of rehabilitation and to be honest with you, I mean I was an extreme child, downhill, mountain biking, snowboarding, everything that you can get injured and I had a lot of injuries but when I had this one I never felt so not in control of my body. And when I realized that it's learning how to do an activity that you've done in the past and the importance of that rehabilitation for my body because I was willing to get 100% of feeling on my right arm. I really dedicated all my energy and focus into the rehabilitation process.

So at the beginning they trained me only to catch things with two fingers and it was super hard and I was going back home and falling asleep. It was such a hard session for me to go through that process and then I was trying to choose my clothes advancing in the rehabilitation process and suddenly I realized that many objects in my wardrobe were not really working for me anymore because I would want to wear something and then I would say okay I cannot put it on, like my wrist doesn't fold, I cannot get into a jacket, I need to ask for help from my mom. Now being 23 and you're so independent traveling around the world to ask your mom to help you with a jacket was a situation that I was not used to and I didn't feel comfortable about and the next day I got all the clothes that I didn't feel comfortable in to the rehabilitation center. 

Shay Senior 11:52 
I entered and they asked me, I really remember that that day the occupational therapist was telling me like why did you bring all your clothes and I said I saw that you have a sewing machine I'm going to work on it that would be part of my rehabilitation process and I will get the result that I want to have in my wardrobe because if I want to continue working in what I've been doing before there is a dress code and I have to fit in otherwise people would not accept me to those meetings because for them it's very clear how I should look like and I started working on the on the clothes and on the sewing machine and then every person that comes into the rehabilitation center goes by and says hey if you know how to work on the sewing machine maybe you can do me this alteration on the pad and I would like to have this change on my blazer you can do a business out of it and I'm like no come on like it's only for me it's for my personal experience but in the back of my mind I'm saying wow like I never thought about it as a problem because I haven't been in that situation and then I started talking with friends that have been injured more severely than me about how did they dress and suddenly I realized that they also have challenges and every garment that they buy in a mainstream brand they will take it later for alterations it costs something around 25 to 30 percent more than the garment in the store And I go to the internet and I started searching for clothes for people with one hand, even though I have two.

But in that situation, I was feeling like I'm one handed and no results that would fit my style. But more than that, many results related with the words disability would be like only for elders, zero color, zero style. And I was like, no way I'm going to continue my life shopping these products. That's not my style. That's not what I'm expecting. And in my age, I mean, I want to be colorful. I want to buy clothes to have a meaning. That's my identity. And I understand that it disturbs me also on the psychological level. Like I'm now thinking much more before I put on clothes and go to meetings. And I buy a book that is called The Psychology of Fashion written by Professor Caroline Mayer. I recommend you to read that book. It's a great one to understand everything behind the clothes that we choose. You know, we have examples of Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs that made it very simple. Just put on the black shirt to not think about it. But people with disabilities really struggle to get dressed. And it's an operation to do after you wake up, brush your teeth, and now you have to get dressed. Whatever situation is going to be next, if you're walking the dog or if you're going for a meeting or if you're going for a cafe or for a date. And suddenly I understand that what I have to do is a questionnaire to start sharing it with people with disabilities around to understand where do they buy clothes. Because I'm stuck now and I'm not going to do it forever. 

Shay Senior 15:10 
I'm not going to work on a sewing machine or let someone take every garment that I buy and make it fit. At that point, I didn't know how's my rehabilitation going to be and to what point, like, I would succeed with the process in order to get my fingers functioning.

And one of the people that I meet, his name is Natanely Uda Alabi. He's a very strong advocate around people with disabilities in Israel, mostly on the media, very humoristic, laughing about disabilities, about the way that people try to create words. But most of the time, there are not even people with disabilities that define how would we like others to call us. And all the the PC word around people with disabilities. And I say, wow, that guy is cool. And he's talking a conversation that most of the people are afraid of. I got to meet him. And then we have that meeting. And I see a man that was born with muscular dystrophy dressed very classy. And the first sentence, I remember I told him, hey, like, I'm having this idea. I'm dealing with a with a challenge. And I was curious if you're experiencing the same thing. And then he told me, hey, man, like the guy that connected us already told me that you're thinking like a business around the clothes for people with disabilities. I don't want to be part of that pyramid plan. And then I told him and then I told him, man, that's not the case. I really just came to get more knowledge from you because you're a person that was born with disability and we're very different. 

James Berges 17:01 
Yeah. 

Shay Senior 17:01 
I know how it feels to use your both hands in order to get dressed and you were born in a way that there are a lot of limitations from a kid and then growing up as a teenager and to an adult and now you're a professional guy that needs to dress professionally in order to get your meetings and he says you know what it actually sounds good what you're talking about let's see how we can connect the dots of what each one of us is doing and let me see how I can help you. So metanelle have joined me and we're thinking what's the situation specifically here like on the national level if we're able to get to see any movement or any brand talking about people disabilities as customers not even saying models entertainment word and every other scene or conversation that right now we see much more people with disabilities appearing again and I think that that was a long process to get to the point that we are today and the first idea that comes up is that we need to do a fashion show with those clothes that I've been altering that the models are both people with and without disabilities and then a person with disabilities go goes out they return in and then someone without disability comes out with the same clothes in order to show the idea of inclusive. 

James Berges 18:31 
There's a lot to unpack there but it's before we get even deeper I just want to highlight a couple things. One you you solved a problem that was your own problem and then you know often that's how great entrepreneurship starts is this problem solving but also like obviously you already had a seamstress some some some knowledge of sewing before this all happened I'm guessing or else it would be even harder with a hand surgery to just learn it on the spot after a surgery right so that's one thing but I love how these skills coalesce and then did you just reach out to Nathaniel like online

Shay Senior 19:12 
Yeah so it was a bunch of friends that connected us and he told me just write him a message. I talked with him already about you, and as I told you it was a funny story because he thought I'm another guy that is trying to sell something to the community of people with disabilities, not being a person with disability, what do you want to get from me right now?

Yeah and people are very suspicious about these things that people you know there is that famous sentence of nothing about us without us that's mostly related to people with disabilities that a lot of people think what people with disabilities would expect or what's the right product for people with disabilities or how I'm solving a problem for someone else without really living it. 

James Berges 19:56 
Yeah. 

Shay Senior 19:57 
And I felt that I was that I was definitely living that situation. And that was what gave me the drive to do that.

So as I was talking about, we did a fashion show that really called out all the fashion people and the fashion media individuals here in Israel to talk about that topic and who are these two guys that are not coming from the fashion space and giving a great show that everybody was waiting for, presenting people with and without disabilities. But what's special about the clothes for people with disabilities? It looks like just like normal clothes. And then I realized that we're doing something great because I was all the time was afraid that if we do something functional, so then the fashion people would not see the style in it. And we got the result very quickly. We've been called by the Israeli Paralympic committee and they put on the table everything very clearly. And they say we have 36 athletes with different types of disabilities. And until now, only fashion brands were doing the collections. We want experts that understand the needs of the athletes to take that project this time. And then we were both looking at each other and like saying, we're going to do it. We're going to do it big time. It's going to be in Tokyo. It's before we knew that COVID-19 is coming. And we said, that's our opportunity to go big, to go international and to show that two individuals from the disabled community are bringing something new into the fashion industry. And at that point, we're pretty much thinking about being the Zara or Levi's of people with disabilities, if I could say, and we're super excited about it. People would make like custom orders from us. And it was fun to start and learn all the process of, you know, production and everything. And what do we have in mind after looking at the collections of many big brands that are addressing the international Paralympic athletes was that each one of them is getting is outfitted done in an adaptive way. They feel like individuals that someone made them the suit specifically to their needs and they're not really part of the delegation in the psychological level. And we understand that what we want to do is first to collect the data and to meet the athletes and to understand what each one of them is actually requiring from a government, what they like to have and what are the challenges that they're dealing with when they get dressed in order to make one outfit that could fit all the different types of disability. 

James Berges 22:45 
Yeah, are you looking to go beyond your degree and expand your impact? Whether you're a clinician or educator, you can leverage your skills outside direct services. Maybe you want to break into the exciting world of health and ed tech, or maybe you're interested in carving your own path and digital entrepreneurship. Either way, you'll find a supportive community and resources at slptransitions.com. Inside, you'll find my personal tips for mastering your mindset in the face of transition. Trust me, I've been there and inspiring stories of people who've made the leap. You'd be surprised how much your experience translates to other fields. To find out how, join other movers and shakers at slptransitions.com. Now let's get back to the amazing interview. 

Shay Senior 23:36 
I feel that in the States, people confuse that a lot and they think that when someone is talking about inclusive fashion, he's actually referring to adaptive fashion. But just to make it clear, Louis Vuitton for me is adaptive fashion and the same as the brand that is doing a specific garment for a person in a wheelchair, because at the end, it's customized for a very specific group.

They made it fit to your size, to your body type. And inclusive fashion means creating a product that is able to reach the widest range of individuals possible. So if you look at it in a financial perspective, your potential to sell this type of product is way higher than adaptive garment. Yeah, we put it clear on that way. So we collect the information of all the 100 participants of the delegation and then COVID-19 starts. We say, OK, we have to keep on going on that project. Everything is made here in Israel. We don't work with any operation abroad. We already got the textiles and everything excited about it. And we understand that we have made a new sizing chart based on the 100 athletes.

So that means that each one of them is going to feel comfortable in what they wear because we were able to give a solution, for example, for the girls that are blind and are playing golf ball and the athletes that are swimming. And one of them is deafblind. And just to give one of the stories. So one of the girls from the from the global team, she was sharing with me that they had a game in Turkey and then they were said to come with the blue shirts because the other team is going to wear black and they were in different hotels. So she had to get her stuff done by herself. She arrives to the game and then they realized that she came with the black shirt and no one wanted to listen. And they said, no way you cannot go on the on the field. And she felt so uncomfortable and disconnected in that situation.

So, for example, in that case, we solved it by QR codes on each one's garment so they could feel the QR of the fabric and then they scan it and it would say blue shirt and the name of the of the athlete. So they don't get confused and all the athletes have it. So the unique technology around it was that when you scan it for the first time, that's what it says. But when they were all already in Tokyo, we changed the reference of the link and then it would give the information about the athlete, who they are and what type of sports they're they're participating, their age, trophies that they won in the past. And we've connected both the personal story and the personal need in one solution. After covid, you know, QR codes became familiar for everyone. But everybody looked at me like a crazy guy that is putting QR codes and clothes. And why don't you use just the tag? It's more expensive, of course, and everything. But we saw the inclusivity and our ability to create an accessible way for for each one of the of the participants to work. 

Shay Senior 26:50 
And then the Paralympic Games and and I started receiving messages from designers, from the top brands that have been there in Tokyo, have seen our athletes and we had the best ambassadors for what we were doing because they were really there wearing the clothes and sharing how they took part in the process and why each one of the things on what they were were made because that to meet the need of X and that was to make the need of to meet the need of another guy. And they start reaching out and they say, we saw the collection that you have done and we're super excited about it.

And our team would like to learn how to design better for the athletes with disabilities. And I say, OK, so it's not that we just got something big doing that project to guys not coming from the fashion world and dressing the Paralympic delegation of Israel. It's that now the biggest brands in the world are interested about our know how. And yeah, we start looking into the direction of being consultants because we understand that being the Zara of people with disabilities doesn't really make sense. I don't want to buy from only one brand. I want the widest range of brands possible to buy from. And I will decide what fits my style, what trends I like, what trends I like less, the materials that they use, et cetera. And I started traveling around meeting with global brands and thinking, how can we help them understand better the needs of people with disabilities and then how to sell the people with disabilities? 

James Berges 28:29 
Yeah, sorry, I don't mean to cut you off, but I'm just wondering in my head as you're talking that this battle of form and function like fashion, did you ever get pushback from these big companies? I mean, obviously seeing the Paralympics was the best advertising PR you could have hoped for organic marketing.

But yeah, how are you helping mainstream brands understand that being inclusive doesn't need to completely change their production process? 

Shay Senior 28:55 
So at the beginning, I came very personal, I would say, to the, or sentimental to the experience, or be like very energetic about it. And you guys should do for people with disabilities and all these products don't work for us, so I'm not buying from their brand.

And then, you know, it's like telling Van Gogh that he didn't choose the right colors. So they would just kick me off the stairs. But then, you know, experiencing and learning and getting many knows, you understand, OK, let's find what's the right way to work and define what are the products of these brands that actually function for people with disabilities and they're wearing them. But the brands are not aware of it. And at that point, we're in September twenty twenty two, it's a Saturday night and it's a man writing a message that he feels bad, probably pneumonia. And two days later, I'm getting a call that he passed away in the hospital. And for me, it was a very dramatic moment feeling that we are on the run, changing the word of people with disabilities and fashion. And suddenly my second half and my partner into crime is not there anymore.

And I was shocked at the first month, I have to say. But in the back of my mind, I had all these sentences and the powerful message that he was keeping in my head every day that we were having challenges or that we're having great success, that we are the people that got the opportunity to take that action and to do a difference for people with disabilities. And as as part of his legacy, you know, I connected all these things together and I said, OK, now it's not just a yes, I'm going to continue doing that. I'm taking all this legacy on my back and I will continue stronger than I've been before.

And I buy a ticket to Spain and I started knocking on doors of brands and I say, hey, that's what we're doing. That's what we offer. I was sharp and clear on everything afterwards to the state. Meeting with brands, very important people in the fashion industry. And I just understand that they want so much to sell to people with disabilities, but they also have challenges that they are dealing with. And it's not only the consumer side that deals with some problems. And I get back and I understand that our pivot needs to be to create that place that people with disabilities could first find garments to buy, because if we talk about the shopping experience of people with disabilities, we go over researchers and interviews, questionnaires that were done by the biggest companies in the world. And the main stat that I see out of there is that 75 percent of people with disabilities leave websites because they don't get the information that they need about a product and they cannot trust that the garment works for their needs. 

James Berges 32:03 
Mmm, the weather garment's ugly. 

Shay Senior 32:07 
And in addition to that, people with disabilities buy online double the time of people without disabilities, and we all understand what are the reasons, because the physical stores are way far not accessible for people with disabilities to come in. And that brings us to an understanding that what Malta has to do is to be that one-stop shop that people with disabilities could find all different kinds of products from all different kinds of brands.

And we collect all these that we already founded the brands because we did that work while we're working on consultancy with them. And now we understand that if that one place would be accessible with a wide variety of products from different brands, as I mentioned, and the technology will actually help the customer journey, then every person with disabilities would love to go into that website and choose from whatever brand that they like, that the feedback is always done by people from the community that have, in most cases, the same disability as me, and then I get a feedback on genes from someone that is in wheelchair while I'm also in a wheelchair. I can trust that website and decide that I want to buy that product.

Now, we have the brands that have their own technological challenges and ethical challenges, I would say, but we still have 1.6 billion people on the other side that are looking for a place to buy in. And the time consumption that it took me just made me realize how much people are struggling looking for clothes and then going over 1,500 products, finally finding something that fits, and then you see that it doesn't exist in the size that you want to. So, it was super excited to work on that and to get people that are experts from the industry to join me on that team, because, as I said, I started with Netanal, but very quickly when I took direction into something more technological, so I made sure that I'm joined up with people that are experts in AI, big data, and that have background in the fashion industry. 

James Berges 34:23 
Basically, building a Google search engine sounds like for inclusive fashion, which is yeah, it's amazing how you've gone from now sewing for yourself to building a search engine in that sense. How did you go about finding these people? It sounds like it just organically all happened. 

Shay Senior 34:43 
Yeah, so it's amazing, but everything is happening organically, you know, I, when I look back, so, and I'm trying to think, like, how all this happened, and suddenly we're here. And I understand that in a, in a big difference from many other companies, I first funded community, I really understood what's their problem and what other problems they have, but probably I'm not the guy to solve them. And then to focus on the problem that I know the best how to solve, because I experienced it, and not to go to something that I feel, okay, that feels like it's super hard, maybe I will go into housing and whatever, because people have other accessibility issues. No, to keep myself focused on what I felt on my own body, and I have the most experience to do.

And, you know, already five years into that, that process, many people that I met with, I can say that maybe first they connected from the, from the impact perspective, but then, you know, looking at the numbers and understanding that there's a real business around it, and it's not only doing good is also doing well on the business side. Yeah, if you're able to create a win-win situation for both the brand and the disabled community. 

James Berges 36:06 
Yeah, I mean, having athletes who have different needs, like whether it's from braille tags to digital catalogs, and that's very inspiring naturally, just like a Nike Just Do It campaign, but happened organically. So yeah, it's a win-win for everyone involved.

Well, Shai, listen, I wanna keep talking, but I know I gotta let you go to sleep because it's late in Israel, but I just really appreciate all the work you're doing and for sharing your story. We could probably do a part two, but in the meantime, where should people get involved in your mission if they wanna learn more about Palta and everything that you're doing, where should that we send them? 

Shay Senior 36:46 
So first of all, I invite everyone to join our community. It's not only for people with disabilities. We talk about the psychology of fashion and anything around the clothes, what they make us feel and what they make people around us feel. And you can find us mostly on Instagram.

Palta we are is our hashtag and on LinkedIn, either on my personal page or look for Palta. And we have the business page there. Our marketplace, I would say, we are now selling only in Israel. So pardon from all our community around the world. But we are still continuing the collaboration, the connections with all our friends around the world, like testing the garments before we decided we want to add them on our platform. They're the ones that give the feedback. The community are the people that decide if it works or if it doesn't work for our own community because we are the only one to decide what's the best for us. And also if people are representatives of different disability organizations or are listening to us and they're part of fashion brands. So I invite you to reach out on either the channels that I mentioned before or through email. My address is shay at paltacloats.com. And I would like to discuss further how we can collaborate and make this work better for people with disabilities, for the fashion industry and in the end for us all. 

James Berges 38:24 
you for us all for us. Oh, I appreciate that shy. We'll, we'll put all these in the show notes too so people can read it as well and not lose it.

But yeah, thank you for taking the time and if you ever find yourself in Southern California, maybe you could go to the vans factory and see the skaters who are redesigning fashion for skaters. That's a different story. 

Shay Senior 38:46 
Yeah, that's important. 

James Berges 38:47 
to, as you said, that's the part to to be continued. All right, my friend, I hope you stay safe and take care of yourself. Thank you very much. 

Mai Ling Chan 38:57 
We hope you enjoyed this episode and invite you to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and share the show with people you think will find value from it. This helps the show a lot.

Or have a great guest referral, reach out to us at xleaders at gmail.com. 

James Berges 39:13 
And if you want exclusive tips on becoming an exceptional leader, deliver straight to your inbox, just go to ExceptionalLeaders.com and sign up for our mailing list. Thanks for listening.