I cannot begin to tell you the number of times I’ve been told the words… “I had no idea I was not being inclusive.”
There’s this misconception that if we are “good” people who are kind, generous and volunteer for causes close to our hearts then there’s no way we could be perpetuating systems of exclusion right?
Well, allow me to bust that myth wide open by sharing with you the story of my dear friend and long-time client Jess.
Back in early 2020 even before the horrific murder of George Floyd and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter movement, Jess got called out for having an online business summit that had no racial inclusion on the speaker line-up.
You see, Jess had taken all the steps she knew to ensure everyone would feel included. She’d made the application for speakers open to all. Jess assumed that those who didn’t apply were not interested and so her job was done. Sounds fair enough right?
Not so.
When Jess was made aware of how she had unknowingly excluded thinking she’d been inclusive, her heart broke. She cancelled the entire event, sent an apology to her mailing list and made announcements on her social media posts. She lost a lot of money in the process not to mention the impact this had on her mental health and wellbeing.
What followed was a long journey into racial equity work that Jess continues to this day and is an active advocate for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour.
Jess and I chatted about her experience and you can catch that recorded conversation here. It takes a lot of courage to do what Jess did and our friendship has deeply grown to one that goes way beyond the surface. This is what I call going from transactional to transformational. Jess is not only financially invested in this work on an on-going basis but she has made the decision to build relationships with people of colour and is deeply conscious of who she is learning from, buying from and attracting into her coaching business.
What I’m trying to get at here is you don’t know what you don’t know. You too might be making the assumption that you are a “good” person and so this is not something that’s a priority for you in your business. And in the process of thinking in that way, you could be unknowingly excluding.
I’d love to invite you to think a little bit more about how your business might be perceived by those who do not see themselves represented in your business. And by represented I don’t mean seeing imagery. Representation is so much more than images. It’s about language, values, giving voice and agency to underrepresented groups, acknowledging and addressing systemic biases, and creating an intentional culture of inclusivity and equity.
And what I know for a fact is this is not work that can be done in isolation or pushed down the to do list. This is work that is part and parcel of business operations. It’s not a “good” to have. It’s a must have. That’s part of what we unpack together inside REPRESENTED.
When you choose to step up as an inclusive leader you will:
1️⃣ Humanise the experience people have with you and your business, so they can see themselves represented.
2️⃣ Humanise the way you respond to tragedies, like the murder of George Floyd, so you show up in more meaningful ways than posting a black square and declaring you’re muted and listening.
3️⃣ Humanise how you interact with People of Colour, so you are not unconsciously excluding them or having stereotypical expectations of how they might show up or behave.
4️⃣ Humanise racial diversity and inclusion in your business, so that it becomes the norm, rather than something that is seen as the “good” thing to do.
If this work you know needs to be prioritised in your business then, I’d love you to join us inside REPRESENTED.
Join REPRESENTED and the other business owners who have already said YES
With love,
Annie
