Jahin Tanvir
Founder, Breathe
Fast Five is our quickfire interview series where we hit up some legendary movers, shakers and innovators with, you’ve guessed it, five big questions.
For classroom teachers, Fast Five is a great way to introduce your students to some awesome real-life changemakers and have them think about life as an entrepreneur.
In this week’s edition, we talk to Jahin Tanvir, Founder & CEO of Breathe, an EdTech social enterprise providing public speaking education to young people, and marginalised communities around Australia
Q1: Give us three words that describe your life as an entrepreneur.
Ambitious. Drive. Tenacious.
Q2: Tell us a little about your current role. What does a day in the life of you look like?
My days are both rewarding, and insanely hectic. I am the Founder of Breathe. – an EdTech social enterprise providing public speaking education to young people, and marginalised communities around Australia. We provide workshops, coaching, programs, and mentoring to make public speaking fun, accessible, and culturally competent. 3 in 4 people have a fear of public speaking – the vision of Breathe. is to help cure that.
But that is not my full-time gig. My day job is as a health consultant, and it involves working with hospitals, health networks, and most recently, in the MedTech sector. When I’m not working, I’m either travelling around speaking at different events, or investing all my time into Breathe. whilst also ensuring self-care is maintained throughout my days – going to the gym, going for walks, sports, family time etc.
Oh, and I’m also studying at university (being a 21-year-old), but let’s not get into how that balance is going!
Q3: Tell us about a massive flearning (failing + learning) moment for you.
One of my earliest memories of speaking at an event involved me being on stage at a really cool conference.
I memorised my entire speech, got ready with the best clothes I owned, and practiced almost all night.
Come to the day of my session, what I expected to present to a hundred engaged individuals, turned out to be a room of 3 individuals who turned up.
Unsurprisingly, when you have to choose between listening to experts in their fields with PhDs versus listening to an 18-year-old at the time, I shouldn’t have expected much.
But there was one of the attendees who encouraged me very enthusiastically, and I decided to get over the disappointment I felt and delivered my speech anyway with how I wanted to.
At the time, it was a lesson of patience and learning as much as possible in any situation.
But good things always come to those who wait, and that individual from the attendees who encouraged me has become a great professional mentor of mine to this very day, and we still chuckle about that story, and how transformative it was for me, and my journey.
Q4: What’s one thing you wished you’d learned at school? And, where could people can go to learn more about this?
Poetically speaking, I wish I learned more about public speaking. I was a very naïve, and shy kid growing up, and had severe social anxiety.
When I look back, all I really needed was somebody to make public speaking education fun, and destigmatize this fear that the majority of human beings have.
That’s why I started Breathe. – to provide other young students, individuals, and communities the education that I wish I had, and help them get rid of the fear through fun!
Q5: What’s one book, website or podcast that’s inspired you, and why?
‘The High Performance Podcast‘ with Jake Humphrey and Prof. Damian Hughes is one that I recommend to all my friends. They interview “high achievers” and allow them to be very vulnerable on their journey.
Instead of focussing on success, they focus on the adversities and failures, making these individuals who we regard so highly more human and relatable.
It’s one where I always reflect on, and realise, everybody is impacted by imposter syndrome, fear, doubt etc. and we just don’t talk about it enough.
More about this week’s Fast Fiver, Jahin Tanvir
Jahin Tanvir is an award-winning keynote and TEDx speaker, board director, and multicultural youth advocate. At 21-years-old, Jahin is the Founder & CEO of Breathe., an edtech social enterprise providing public speaking education to young people, and marginalised communities around Australia. Breathe. has impacted over 15,200 individuals since its inception in 2022.
Jahin was recently named the 2022 Young Australian of the Year finalist whilst also receiving the 2021 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year in Individual Community Service. Jahin is a Board Director of the Adolescent Health Association of Australia and the Youth Coalition of the ACT. Jahin is an advisor for the Australian Department of Health in which he informs healthcare communications as well as being a consultant for leading anti-racism and health research organisations. Jahin was also recently named as a Young Ambassador at UNICEF for 2022.
Jahin is one of over 50 entrepreneurs, changemakers and innovators who are supporting students in Future Anything schools through our Activator program. Read more and meet our 2022 Activators here.
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