We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shawn Satterfield a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shawn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The decision to change the focus of Mozaro’s service offerings from enterprise CMS integrations to digital accessibility came after starting my nonprofit Shine Music, which utilizes the platform of music to create awareness for inclusion and accessibility.

Live music is about the collective shared experience. Imagine being excluded from fully participating in this experience. Now, imagine the same thing happening on your company’s website. These invisible walls exclude nearly 20% of the population from accessing your company’s digital assets. As certified web and digital accessibility testers, we work with businesses and other agencies to create a more inclusive and accessible digital landscape for all.

By putting accessibility at the forefront of our mission, Shine Music Festival has become the world’s largest universally designed music festival. In acknowledgement of this achievement, Shine Music received an official proclamation from the City and County of Denver for our years of experience enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities and promoting awareness and education on the importance of events being inclusive and accessible. With nearly 5,000 in attendance at Shine Music Festival 2022, we proved that accessibility isn’t difficult when you incorporate it into your plans from the start. It is this very concept that we bring to the digital world – creating accessible designs leads to accessible websites which leads to a digital world where all can participate.

Shawn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Daring to explore the unknown, embracing diversity, and venturing off the beaten path – these are my keys to unlocking a world of endless possibilities. In a society where conformity is often celebrated, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut and miss out on the beauty and innovation that comes from embracing variety. Stepping out of my comfort zones and into the unknown, provides new perspectives and an enriched understanding of the world around us. Variety truly is the spice of life.

I spent a significant amount of my life believing I was limited in what I could accomplish. But when I stopped asking “Why me?” and started asking “Why NOT me?”, I realized that my only limitations were those I placed on myself. When I integrated this philosophy into Mozaro, and changed our core service offerings to better align with my passion of accessibility and inclusion, the renewed joy and enthusiasm for the work we do trickled down to every aspect of our business. It’s easy to get stuck in a groove, however, I believe it is important to check in and ensure your current mission and goals are aligned with not only the industry trends but your own personal aspirations. Bring the joy back into what you do and you will attract the business needed to be successful.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Completely pivoting Mozaro’s focus from enterprise CMS solutions to digital accessibility was both terrifying and necessary. It most definitely meant a drastic decrease in revenue during uncertain economic times, and we needed to find a way to market these services from a positive perspective. With the digital accessibility space mostly being centered around the legal ramifications of not having an accessible website, I wanted Mozaro to be more inclusion focused. A business should care about website accessibility not just because of the laws, but because it is the right thing to do. Making sure that everyone, including individuals with disabilities, can access and use your website is essential for creating an inclusive and equitable online experience. Not being inclusive can damage your brand and business by alienating potential customers and damaging your reputation. Additionally, accessible websites can improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and lead to higher conversion rates. Making your website accessible is a win-win situation that benefits everyone and helps build a better, more inclusive web for all.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience happens to be my word of the year. Resilience is the ability to adapt to difficult situations. When stress, adversity, or trauma strikes, you still experience anger, grief, and pain, but you’re able to keep functioning — both physically and psychologically. Starting my non-profit while pivoting my for-profit, sprinkled with a pandemic and tough economy, most certainly added a lot of stress and fear into my life. However, being resilient in my pursuit of doing my part in making the world a more inclusive space, meant I needed to keep eating that elephant, one bite at a time. By breaking down this seemingly overwhelming challenge into smaller, actionable steps, both myself and my businesses are now better equipped to handle the stress and uncertainty that come with the ever-changing business landscape. Although I was tired of eating elephant, by taking small, incremental steps and building on our successes, I am confident in our ability to weather any challenges that come our way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mozaro.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mozarocms
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smsatterfield/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShineMusicFestivalDenver
• Other: www.shinemusic.rocks

Image Credits
Nikolai Puc’