Full transcript
0:03yeah there's always going to be a slight
0:05awkwardness because there's a slight
0:07barrier cultural barrier between two
0:08people
0:13my name is sahil I was born in India and
0:17then I moved to New Zealand when I was
0:19around
0:20seven around there I'll tell you a funny
0:22story so
0:24when I was working in a call center
0:25trying to get like extra cash while I
0:28was studying at University because you
0:31know you need extra cash you're not
0:34working full-time and I was like well
0:37I got to sell newspapers over the phone
0:39now I can say my real name sahil but
0:42what I just used to say is like hi my
0:44name is Simon you know for the purposes
0:46of just getting through and making it
0:49more relatable to the to the individual
0:51and I think that was a lot easier for
0:53people to swallow in my opinion because
0:54that's what other people in the call
0:57center used to do as well because when
0:58you're over the phone there's a lot of
1:00uh you don't know who's on the other
1:01line but the only thing you know about
1:03them is their name and through that name
1:05you think of what the person looks like
1:08their interest you put the stereotypes
1:11in your brain and it's like well
1:13you kind of this this let's reverse that
1:16let's give them a reason to buy the
1:18paper and make me some more money while
1:21I'm at University
1:24but that wasn't because I was you know a
1:27quote unquote
1:29ashamed of my name or any way of that
1:31it's more like being smart about your
1:34environment
1:35I could be a social justice Warrior and
1:37keep being like no it's sahil and
1:40they're like oh so he'll know it's our
1:42Hill and then get over the hurdle that
1:44already creates a barrier and then try
1:45to sell the paper you know it's just
1:48you've got to play to your environment
1:50that's what I kind of learned from that
1:51and it's like that's what I kind of take
1:53on board Yeah because sometimes there's
1:54no point in trying to correct the
1:55individual because they're just
1:57there's nothing to gain from it so
2:00you're only going to meet them for two
2:01seconds so let's just carry on
2:05if I were to say it how my grandparents
2:09would say it or how my mom used to say
2:12it before she moved to New Zealand it
2:14would be sahil
2:16a beautiful Bank yeah a beautiful Bank
2:18side by the river
2:20that's what sahil means
2:22[Music]
2:23from my experience that people don't
2:24usually get it right on the first time
2:26well I remember when I was working my
2:28boss kept on getting my name wrong and
2:30he's like a very scenery guy in the
2:31business and I think
2:33I corrected him once I was like saw him
2:36he's a very old guy and he's like no he
2:39keeps things to heal to heal and I'm
2:40like okay well listen I'm just
2:42it's not going to bother but I think as
2:45I got towards the end of my tenure at ey
2:47or at Orion Health it's more like
2:51nope
2:52this is who I am I need to own up to
2:55what this is my name and if they're
2:56getting it wrong I I have the right to
2:58correct my name so it's taking more
3:00ownership of that and that's a I think
3:03that's a battle that you kind of face
3:04kind of growing up really isn't it like
3:06you're a bit hesitant on
3:09asserting yourself or correcting your
3:10name because you don't want to offend
3:12the other person but I think a lot of
3:13people take that in respect
3:15it's just you being you and owning up to
3:17yourself and identifying with what you
3:19are and I think that's the way I kind of
3:21take it from a personal interaction
3:23[Music]
3:27open and receptive
3:29that's it that's really it
3:31nothing to
3:33nothing to Grant but just being open and
3:35receptive to learning
3:37and saying it correctly if they're
3:38getting it wrong that is yeah
3:41that's how I'd want it yeah