5 short statements

Five short statements explain what this site is about and how the project came to be.

Statement 1

My name is Artem Berman. I am a co-founder and former COO of StarWind Software, acquired by DataCore Software in 2025. Earlier I co-founded Rocket Division Software, which I exited in 2010. I hold an Executive MBA from Edinburgh Business School. Today I run an advisory practice; more about me at www.bermana.net.

Statement 2

At the age of 16, I broke my neck while jumping into a river. I sustained a fracture at the C5-C6 level and have been living with a traumatic spinal cord injury since then. I am a wheelchair user.

Statement 3

This research started as my part-time PhD project. I was investigating how people with disabilities integrate into the labor market: the opportunities they find and the obstacles they face. The academic part of the project is on hold. The interviews were collected and published, and the site stays online as an open archive of these stories.

Statement 4

The interviews were collected between 2018 and 2020. The participants were people with disabilities who hold a university degree or another form of higher education. Each interview took about an hour and was conducted in person or by video call. Recruitment is closed.

Statement 5

Each story is published with the written permission of its participant, under a real name or anonymously. The site remains online so these stories can help people who are deciding whether to look for a job, what support to expect, and what obstacles they may meet along the way.