Meet Vishal Narbheram, Founder of Onward Shift
From Electrician to Founder
I’m Vishal Narbheram, an electrician by trade and the founder of Onward Shift. I’ve spent over 15 years working in construction, so I know the industry from the inside the pressure, long hours, banter, pride in the job and the tendency to keep going even when something doesn’t feel right.
My own mental health hasn’t always been straightforward. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD and OCD, and there have been periods where I’ve felt overwhelmed, isolated and unsure where to turn. One of the things I found hardest wasn’t simply admitting I needed support, but working out what support existed and where to find it.
That experience stayed with me. I kept coming back to one question: why should finding mental health support feel so difficult, particularly in an industry where so many people are used to simply getting on with things?
So, I created Onward Shift.
What started as an idea to make support easier to find has grown into a construction mental health platform supporting people, companies and education providers. Today, Onward Shift brings together counselling, coaching, keynote speakers, workshops, toolbox talks, events and more than 100 free resources, all with the same aim: making it easier to start a conversation and find the right next step.
I don’t believe there is one answer to mental health. For one person it might be counselling. For another it might be hearing someone’s story, joining a walk, listening to a podcast or simply reading something that makes them realise they’re not the only one struggling.
I’m still an electrician at heart, and that matters to me. Onward Shift has been built from inside the industry rather than looking in from the outside.
Helping construction, one conversation at a time.
What Onward Shift Means to Me
Onward Shift isn’t about pretending we can solve every problem. It’s about making the first step easier. I’ve experienced first-hand how much difference the right conversation, the right person and the right support can make, and I want more people in construction to have access to that.
That’s also why so much of what we create is free. Our blogs, podcasts, newsletters, toolbox talks and events are there because not everyone is ready for counselling or coaching, and sometimes the first useful step is simply finding something that makes sense.
As Onward Shift grows, I want it to remain practical, human and rooted in construction. If it helps one person feel less alone, one manager start a better conversation or one student enter the industry knowing it’s okay to ask for help, then we’re moving in the right direction.
