Get to Know Sinéad Burke

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Rebel Girls

Kids & Family, Stories For Kids, Education For Kids

4.5 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fashion is a fun way for people to express themselves. But, what happens when not everyone can enjoy fashion, public spaces, or even social situations in the same way? In this episode, access consultant, style trailblazer, and disability advocate Sinéad Burke talks with Esther Okade about strategies to make the world more inclusive for everyone. They chat about Sinead’s work with "Tilting the Lens" and changing how we reframe the world to grow empathy and accountability.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.
0:05.0	Hi, Rebels! This is Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, the interview. I'm your host, Esther Joshua, and today we're talking to Shnade Burke, fashion trailblazer, writer, and disability advocates. Hi, Shnenade i'm so excited to be talking with you today
0:25.6	you are an advocate a writer a teacher and a fashion trailblazer so many things but for those of you
0:32.7	who may not know can you start by introducing yourself and telling us updates about who you are?
0:38.3	Hello everybody. My name is Shenei Berth. I'm a white cisgendered woman. I use the pronouns
0:43.3	she and her. I identify as queer and physically disabled. I have dwarfism. My background is in teaching,
0:50.3	and I loved being in the classroom and I loved being a teacher and I lead a team of majority
0:56.8	disabled women across Europe and our big goals are about making the world more equitable and more
1:03.3	accessible. I love that. Oh my gosh, you've done so much and I can't wait to hear more about your
1:08.8	journey. Now, one of the things you've known for
1:11.4	is your incredible work in fashion. So what first sparks you love for fashion? Did you have a
1:16.4	favorite outfit or style when you were little? My two parents were brilliant ambassadors and
1:22.2	advocates for me. My dad was a little person. So the idea that there was another person who looked
1:27.3	like me at home was actually really transformative.
1:30.3	I remember being about 14 and 15 and going to him and saying, you know, how do I figure out this clothes thing?
1:35.3	Fashioned to me felt like a vocabulary. It felt like a way in which to explain who I was.
1:41.3	I didn't just want to wear clothes. I wanted to understand how the system worked,
1:45.9	but I knew that there had to be others who felt excluded and that fashion had an obligation to do
1:51.3	more because we all wear clothes. It's so true and so real. And it's so cool that your dad as well
1:56.5	who was able to be that role model for you and that, like that's so special. What do you think the biggest challenges were when trying to find clothes that, like,
2:05.6	express you in your entirety and, like, fit properly?
2:09.6	I think when I was a lot younger, some of the greatest challenges was just availability and fit.
	...

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