Spotlight on Welcome Brain Consulting
We’re delighted to be joined by Welcome Brain Consulting in our latest Supporter Member Spotlight.
We spoke to Founder, Andy Williamson to find out more about what he does, his future plans and tips for social enterprise
What does your organisation do?
We’re a neurodiversity consultancy – we help organisations get better at managing their neurodiverse employees (and sometimes their neurodiverse customers too). Our mission is to create truly neuroinclusive organisations throughout Scotland.
How do you do it?
We have a range of ways to help organisations! We can provide workshops and training; we can conduct a full audit of your organisation to go into detail on how you can be neurodinclusive. We also have a certification scheme so we can certify your organisation as neurodiverse-friendly.
Why should someone buy/use your product/services? What are the benefits, what makes your organisation unique?
The altruistic case is that a neuroinclusive organisation is one that is a truly diverse and provides support for the 20% of the population with some form of neurodiversity. The self-interested case is that a neuroinclusive organisation is better at recruitment, staff retention, and is a more productive organisation!
What’s your personal motivation?
I started off by founding an education business that worked with atypical learners to develop strategies to help them learn more effectively. I also co-founded a mental health private practice for young adults with mental health challenges. The logical next step was to support neurodiverse people in the workplace!
How would you like to engage with social enterprises?
I love meeting fellow mission-driven business-owners, whether to swap war stories or just to build a sense of community. I also think there are lots of opportunities to collaborate – when we work together we can build something more than the sum of its parts.
What is the current focus for your organisation?
We’re still new, so growth is the main focus. However, moving forward, we are focused on spreading awareness of what neurodiversity is, and showing organisations how and why they should care about it.
What exciting things do you have coming up?
Since we’re (relatively) new, everything is exciting! However, we’re going to the Edinburgh Business Festival in March, and the Glasgow Business Show in May. We’re also looking at a couple of collaborations which have the potential to be very exciting…watch this space!
Who do you want to work with more?
Larger private businesses (i.e. those with dedicated HR managers) and the public sector – we can do a lot of good for both.
What’s your biggest challenge?
The lack of awareness around neurodiversity. There are still those who don’t know the term, nor what neuroinclusion means in practice.
Where do you see your organisation in 5 years?
In the next five years, I think there will be more legislation around neurodiversity (in the same way there around other protected characteristics). This will help Welcome Brain grow, and will ensure that organisations have to take neuroinclusion seriously.
What top tips would you give to social enterprises?
Work on building your network. Not only will it help you grow and access new contacts, but it’s a really useful support – it’s very rare you face a problem that no one else has ever faced. Also, don’t work too hard; it’s a marathon not a sprint!