Over the past couple of years teaching and coaching online business owners on how to create a racially inclusive business, I’ve uncovered 3 stages that most people fall into:
1️⃣ Awareness
This is the stage where a lot of online business owners arrived at in 2020. They realised there were high levels of racial inequity that exist in their industry and it didn’t sit well with them. They felt the desire and drive to do something about it.
This is also the stage where I’ve observed fear and overwhelm are at an all time high. The fear of not only getting it wrong and potentially offending, but also the overwhelm of where to begin. Having a list of resources so long you don’t know whether to read the book, listen to the podcast or watch the documentary.
Everywhere you look there’s information overload. And the worst bit…you don’t understand most of it. You have more questions than you can articulate or even have language around. And so the inevitable happens, you save the resources for when you will have time to return and dive in deeper because right now it’s just too hard.
A vast majority of students and clients I’ve supported fall in this category. They have a desire to do the work, know how important it is for them as a human and business owner, but life gets in the way and before you know it, we are talking about another racially motivated attack and it’s headline news all over again and still no personal progress has been made to understand the issue and the role you can play.
2️⃣ Activated
These are the action takers. The ones who say, tell me where to sign up, what to read, what to watch and listen to. They are the one’s having conversations with loved ones and people in their sphere of influence. They are showing up to masterclasses, courses and trying to understand how they arrived to where they are in life having unintentionally excluded people from racially diverse communities.
But what gets in the way at this stage is staying plugged in? Once they’ve taken action in one way or another, it ends there. Life gets in the way; juggling business needs in order to keep the doors open and care-giving be it to ageing parents or children. They often find themselves in a vicious cycle of being activated and then long periods of inaction.I’ve come to realise the issue stems from not knowing how to stay plugged in and incorporate inclusion work as a part of their daily life and business activities. They essentially view this work as a separate entity and therefore need to dedicate separate time they do not have making it seemingly impossible to make progress. Whilst they realise how incredibly important inclusion work is, it goes into the too hard basket.
Perhaps you too have found yourself in this stage. You’ve probably said to yourself, “the course I took back in 2020 will have to suffice for now as I just do not have the bandwidth for this work. When I see a window of opportunity I’ll definitely get back on track.”
3️⃣ Allyship
These are the ride or die kind of people. They’ve been doing this work for quite some time and are bold with their activism. They are over what other people might think because being on this journey as long as they have, they know it comes at a cost. It’s cost them friendships, clients, collaborations, deals and money. But they also know what they’ve gained. The rewards of doing this work has brought them industry recognition, more representation in their business and the services they offer, they’ve disrupted industry trends and interrupted the status quo. They are the changemakers who have helped move the needle forward.
They understand this is lifelong work and are looking for ways they can use their platforms to impact in a deeper and more meaningful way. They are looking for partnerships with Black, Indigenous and People of Colour who they can champion and amplify so that they are continually reaching more people in their network and challenging them about the importance of this work.
This information is what led me to create a teaching framework around the 3 A’s where I help you to go from being AWARE to ACTIVATED and finally to ALLY. Every single one of those stages requires support. Specific and individualised support that reflects the personal journey you’ve been on. It’s what instigated the idea behind a quiz that online business owners could take to see exactly where they are on their journey and the next step they can take to stay consistent and make progress.
I’d love to invite you to take the 90-second quiz to learn more about where you are on your individual journey and the next step you can take to build an inclusive business that will see you attract and support more racially diverse clients.
With Love,
Annie
How I can support you:
👉🏾 Want to build a racially equitable online business? Join the waitlist and be the first to find out when doors to my 10 week signature program REPRESENTED open in September 2023. Join REPRESENTED waitlist
👉🏾 Want a private space where you can unpack what’s coming up for you as a coach as you dive into racial equity work? Book a 1:1 consultation.
👉🏾 Want to take your allyship to the next level and help your clients in the process too? Book me to come in as a masterclass guest teacher for your group program.
