
Hedayat Osyan
MYAN Youth Ambassador
Hedayat realised there was a gap in the market, and that he could use his knowledge and political experience to help them achieve this. So, he postponed his PhD and he became the Founder and Managing Director of social enterprise, Nick Tiling Services which employs, supports and empowers refugees and asylum seekers through providing training and employment opportunity.
““In the construction environment there is quite a limited knowledge of refugees and asylum- seeker issues. I try to find companies that are more open-minded and I share my own experiences with them to help understand.”
Now, within two years, he has employed and trained more than forty-five refugees to become professional tilers. They have regular incomes. Some of the employees sponsor their families, and they are growing in confidence and able to speak to their colleagues now.
He says, when he first arrived to Australia in 2010, he never could have dreamt he would be running his own business and empowering other refugees navigate their own paths. Hedayat says, “everything changed because MYAN opened a new chapter for my life.”
Since founding the business, he has been selected as Young Social Pioneer by FYA in 2018 and First Gens Accelerator by ygap in 2019, and spoken at several conferences, including TEDx Sydney.