Episodes

Startup founder and father to four children with ADHD/ADD, Hagay Levy joins the show today to share his entrepreneurial journey thus far. As a man who also has ADHD himself, he knows much about the unique needs of folks in that community, of which our host, Mai Ling Chan, is also a member. Hagay speaks with Mai Ling about his quest to start Iluria, a new tool for measuring the efficacy of medication for people with ADHD/ADD. They talk about identifying the problem, building a solution to the pro...

Today, James sits down for a timely conversation with celebrated soccer coach Scott Martin. In addition to a decades-long career in, and advocacy for, the game of soccer, Scott has also worked as an advocate for the disability community. He shares with James the story of his experience with disability as an amputee, his love of soccer, and how he pushed through the challenges in life to pursue his dreams. You don’t want to miss this conversation, especially if you’re a soccer fan. You can read m...

Today, Mai Ling sits down for an in-depth discussion about how to get outside investment for your disability-focused ventures with husband-and-wife entrepreneur team, Rich and Brittany Palmer. Leaning into their previous experiences with the startup world and the disability community, they founded Adaptation Ventures, a pioneering pre-seed fund and investor community dedicated to fueling tech innovation in disability, neurodivergence, and accessibility. Brittany and Rich share their individual s...

Our hosts kick off this episode with some important tips and information for folks working in the disability community. This is followed by a fascinating discussion between Mai Ling and our guest, Joyce Ko, who joins the show to talk about her experiences as a disabled clinician. Joyce shares her very personal story of a traumatic brain injury as a child and the journey that led her to a career as a speech-language pathologist. She is transparent about the challenges she faced post-injury, both ...

Today, James shares a great conversation with Dr. Kirk Adams, PhD, with us on the podcast. Kirk Adams is the founder of Innovative Impact LLC, through which he consults with corporate clients on diversity, inclusivity, and equity with a focus on the employment of people with disabilities. James talks with him about his own experience with blindness, the struggles he faced to enter the workforce, and how that led him to his work of advocacy for employment for people with disabilities.

Our guest for today’s episode of the Xceptional Leaders podcast is one who undoubtedly exemplifies that label, Dr. Tamer Abou-Elsaad. He is a professor of Phoniatrics at Mansoura University in Mansoura, Egypt. He joins Mai Ling for a conversation to share the story of how he built a medical specialty from nothing in his country. He also talks about why Egyptian insurance covers 12 speech therapy sessions per month, his efforts to stop unlicensed practitioners from treating patients, and explains...

Samantha Elandary has worked exclusively with individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s and related disorders since 1999, and for our first episode of 2026, she joins the show to talk with James about her work. She is the founder of the Parkinson Voice Project, and she shares how she built a non-profit from her kitchen table, explains the difference between speaking with intent versus automatic speech, and gives some tips for those who are starting their own disability-focused business.

For our final episode of 2025, Mai Ling and James revisit some of the highlights from the past year of excellent guests. They go over the top takeaways from all of the exceptional leaders who have appeared on the show to share their expertise and experience with our community. This great retrospective will remind you of all the great info we’ve heard and perhaps entice you to re-listen to some of your favorite shows from 2025.

Dr. Rachel Khasky-Levy is our guest for today’s episode of Xceptional Leaders. She is the CEO and co-founder of The Babel Group, and she brings her passion for connecting technology and clinical practice to this conversation with Mai Ling. They discuss the necessity and value of wearing multiple hats in a startup, encourage the listener to go ahead and ask the “dumb” questions, and comment on the fact that sometimes leaders need to blaze a new trail. Don’t miss this informative chat with Dr. Lev...

James sits in the interviewer chair this episode and talks with speaker and activist, Elizabeth Jenswold. Elizabeth is a global thought leader with executive-level business experience, and she talks about her career path from the Jane Goodall Institute to financial services to diversity activism. She also shares how to spot the tasks at which neurodiverse people excel, why employment laws often hurt the ones they’re meant to protect, how sometimes your best business solutions come from the most ...

Our guest today, Leila Denna Staiger, is a speech-language pathologist and founder of SLPs Talk Tech. Under Leila’s leadership, this professional community is exploring emerging tech and AI tools and discovering how to put them to work for clinicians, researchers, and educators. She joins Mai Ling for a conversation to talk about how to build community around emerging technologies, some of the practical uses of AI in healthcare, and the ethics of using AI in private practice.

Our guest for today’s episode is the founder of the Be Perfect Foundation, Hal Hargrave. Mai Ling talks with Hal about the horrific car accident that left him with a spinal cord injury, which then led him to the genesis of the foundation. Hal also shares his thoughts on the importance of leaders knowing when they need to pivot, the value of staying positive despite setbacks, and how he also founded a second organization called The Perfect Step where he serves as president, all in an effort to be...

Mai Ling and James share some fun updates in their lives and leadership journeys at the top of today’s episode. James follows that up with a great conversation with comedian and disability advocate, Pamela Rae Schuller. Pamela talks about living with Tourette syndrome, her path into the world of comedy, and why humor is so important when talking about disability. She also shares her thoughts on leveraging what makes you different and disclosing what you want when you want about your disability.

In today’s episode, Mai Ling speaks with CPA Michael Ringel about the unique challenges faced by families who have loved ones with disabilities, with regard to financial planning. In this information-packed and frank discussion about money management and planning for your financial future, Michael talks about how he reached the decision to focus on this particular segment of the market, how the approach of his team might differ from other financial advisors, and shifting one’s mindset about weal...

Our guest in this episode is Emily Mischel‍, Co-Founder & CEO of FlexTogether, a telehealth practice that was “founded to radically expand access to respiratory care.” Emily chats with James about the impetus for the creation of the...

In this solo episode, our host, Mai Ling Chan, draws on her years of experience in the arena of disability entrepreneurship and gives some tips and practical advice for fellow business owners. Mai Ling shares some in-depth perspectives as she...

After a fun introduction in which Mai Ling and James bring us up to speed on what’s going on in their careers, James introduces Shay Senior, a social entrepreneur and this episode’s guest. Shay is the CEO and founder of Palta, an inclusive fashion...

We’re kicking off the new year with Speech-Language Pathologist, Vanessa Abraham, as our first guest. After Mai Ling and James catch us up with some updates after our short break, Mai Ling sits down with Vanessa to chat about her very personal...

In this final episode of the year, our hosts Mai Ling and James, recap some highlights from the show in 2024. They list some of the top takeaways from our lineup of incredible guests over the past year. Our hosts also recount a few of their own...

In our final interview for 2024, Meier Galblum Haigh joins the show today to talk about changing the conversation and perceptions around disability. Meier is the founding Executive Director of the Disability Culture Lab, a nonprofit disability media...

James is flying solo in this episode while Mai Ling is traveling and he brings us a fascinating conversation with our guest, Professor Mark Cook, a Melbourne-based Consultant Neurologist who specializes in the treatment of epilepsy. James talks with...

Mai Ling and James kick off the episode talking about some recent family and cultural moments that Mai Ling experienced. Then Mai Ling introduces our guest for this episode, SLP, vocologist, and Kapila Voice and Speech Services CEO, Ruchi Kapila to...

Today, we are happy to share a fascinating conversation with speech recognition scientist, speech and language pathologist, and CEO of Say It Labs, Erich Reiter. James chats with Erich about the founding of Say It Labs, a company that develops speech...

Our Ability’s President and CEO, John Robinson, joins Mai Ling on today’s episode to discuss some important issues for National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). John talks about his advocacy for people with disabilities in the...