Michael Lloyd
Accommodationz
If you met Mike Lloyd on the street or in a cafe anywhere in the world, you would likely spend the next few minutes chatting about anything from sport, to technology, and everything in between. You may notice the white cane in his hand, but inevitably, you'd walk away laughing at an unexpected one-liner and thinking about your insightful conversation with a guy with whom you could easily become friends. It's during subsequent conversations that you'd really get to know more about Mike, his life and the innovation he is creating.
One thing Mike never thought he would be is an entrepreneur in the tourism sector. That all changed in early 2021 when he first heard about the Possibility Leadership Programme run by the Global Centre of Possibility; a unique mix of entrepreneurship and leadership for people with access needs who have a huge social change vision they must bring into the world.
With a background in adaptive technology and vision rehabilitation, Mike considers himself more a techy than a CEO. His career to date has centred around problem-solving and helping others find technology solutions to help with everyday tasks. Between travelling for work and his regular trips overseas to run the New York marathon, Mike is no stranger to the stress and coordination of travel as someone with an Access Need. Mike has been vision-impaired since birth and now has no functional vision. He also lives with Parkinson's, which means that when travelling away from home, Mike and his partner Laura–also vision-impaired–plan carefully each detail of their trip.
Mike's vision for social change is built on the concept of a home away from home for those with access needs–whether travelling for leisure or business–locally and globally. His newly formed company, Accommodationz, is the result; a peer-to-peer network of access citizens who have rooms to spare in their homes and who "just get it". By matching access travellers with hosts whose homes are already located and modified to meet their own requirements, Mike is reimagining what travel means for The one in four people who have an access need. Following a relocation to Tauranga from Auckland, he and Laura opened their own bed and breakfast, and for Mike, this unlocked a myriad of possibilities.
Mike's strategic thinking and planning expertise came in handy when designing the web-based service, incorporating key factors for access travellers such as wheelchair access and close proximity to public transport and shops. His friendly, outgoing personality welcoming guests into their own home showed him there was so much more to travelling than just the physical location and facilities. He discovered the importance of the social, cultural, community and whanau aspect, which quickly became a core part of his focus–building an open and welcoming brand around the catchphrase, "make a mate, accommodate". He also hopes to turn the learnings and experiences from his start-up journey into a comprehensive training and support package for hosts, whether they want to earn a full-time income from their accommodation, or further enhance their business knowledge in a supportive environment.
Partnership and collaboration go further with the possibility ecosystem of fellow access citizens, cultivated, and nurtured by the Possibility Leadership Programme. Mike is actively working with others in his cohort to integrate accessible documentation into the Accommodationz process from the very beginning. His mentors provide regular guidance and support and although at times it feels overwhelming, he is already off to a flying start. As one of the recipients of a $15,000 grant from the 2021 Possibility Fund in partnership with the Perpetual Guardian Foundation, Mike's vision for stress-free accessible travel and a home away from home is fast becoming reality.
Mike's deep knowledge and lived experience of the community he serves, and his problem-solving abilities enable him to take on this challenge with enthusiasm, becoming Chief Vision Officer of this game-changing company. With huge support from within the access community for just such an initiative, Mike is optimistic for the future as he changes the world, one mate at a time.