BIRD WILLIAMS: You're listening to Bird Means Business Episode 61.

Well hello, friends! And thank you for tuning in to the Bird Means Business podcast. I am so glad you're here. And I'm so glad that you're interested in the topic of diversity in your business. This is going to be a great episode, so thanks for tuning in. 

In honor of Black History Month, we're doing something really neat on the show. I actually got this idea from my friend, Nina Harrison. Every year she posts these incredible stories of African American legends, inventors, business owners, many of which we've never learned about. And their contributions are astounding. So each week for the month of February, I'll be sharing a quick, "Did You Know" segment here on the show, highlighting a brilliant African American trailblazer. 

For this episode, did you know that in 1906, Madam CJ Walker created a hair care line that would later gain her recognition as the first self-made, female millionaire? Let me say that again. Her haircare line would later gain her recognition as the first self-made female entrepreneur, though she was born to parents who had been enslaved. And she was inspired to create her haircare products after experiencing hair loss herself, which led to the creation of The Walker System of Haircare. Though this was her own proprietary system that she trademarked, she was a talented entrepreneur with a real knack for sales, coining her fleet of salespeople Beauty Culturists. I love that. And I really love this article from history.com which I'm going to link in the show notes. This is what it says. "While other products for black hair, which were largely manufactured by white businesses were already on the market, she differentiated hers by emphasizing its attention to the health of the women who would use it." 

Here on the show, in everything I do, really, I talk so much about not just solving a problem with your product or service. But doing so in a unique way, so that you can stand out in the market. Madam CJ Walker did this not only with the proprietary system she trademarked and created. But also through her marketing strategy. There is so much that we can learn from this entrepreneurial powerhouse and I encourage you to check out the links in the show notes for even more information on her story and upbringing. It's astounding that she was able to do all of this with what she endured as a child and as a young woman. So I encourage you to check out those links for more information and I'm also going to link Nina's Instagram in the show notes for you to follow along there and learn more as well. 

Getting into the episode now. It was really hard for me to find a good angle for this topic for the small businesses that I serve, which is you because conversations on diversity in business are typically centered around, employees. A diverse pool of employees, having conversations with your employees, diversity initiatives on your team, activities, and on and on. And while the term small business is technically fewer than 50 employees, that's not you, right? That's not me either. I don't have anywhere near 50 employees. In a lot of the strategy sessions I've actually had this week, I'm actually trying to wrap my newbie entrepreneur clients' heads around the idea of just having one employee. They're like, "Look I'm just trying to launch. I'm a solopreneur. I'm out here doing it all myself." And I'm like, "Yes, you are right now in this phase. But in order to grow your business, you're gonna have to grow your team." So even just having one team member is a big deal for a lot of you. And when people talk about small businesses, they're talking about up to 50 employees. So how do we think about diversity in our businesses with a very small or just no team at all? Does this mean that we get a pass and that we can just turn our eyes away from the issue of diversity, even in our businesses? Of course not. These are the kinds of questions we should be asking ourselves. 

Who are you, featuring on your podcast? 

Which of the guest bloggers are you collaborating with?

What do people see when they go on your website? Does everyone look the same?

Do people feel welcome when they walk into your place of business? 

Our friend and neighbor Ryan began to oversee a diversity and inclusion committee at his job. And this is how he sees it. He defines diversity as inviting someone to the dance. And inclusion as inviting them to dance. Like does their song come on at the dance? Do they feel welcomed there? When I heard this, it reminded me of this time I was in Canada. I was in Calgary for Stampede. Stampede is like our rodeo. And I met my Canadian friend Angela during our time studying abroad in a program in Milan. Once we left Italy and headed back home, Angela had invited me and another mutual friend from the program to visit her in her hometown of Calgary, for Stampede. And one of the many events we attended was going to a line dance. And, of course, I didn't know how to line dance. Even with actually having a dance background, because, as a young girl, as a kid, I was a dancer in a company for years. So I understood dance, but I didn't know how to line dance, and it felt a bit awkward. I didn't know what I was doing. Not many people look like me. But I remember a moment when one of the songs went from just straight country music to kind of having a dope beat. And I was like, "Okay". I immediately felt more comfortable. And even though I still didn't know all the steps, I just felt that much more welcome. So when people engage with your brand, do they feel like their song ever gets played? For example, if you're a freelance photographer, and all the images on your website reflect one type of person. Sure, you're not turning down clients that don't look like that one type of person. But, do people who look differently feel celebrated? Do they even feel seen? Sure, they can come to the dance. But do they get time on the dance floor, when they feel like they can really freely jam to their song? 

Now, it's also important to not be performative. So performative is when you post a black square, and walk away from it, feeling as if, "Hey I checked the box. I made my stamp." And it was really just a moment for you and not a movement. So don't make it an initiative to celebrate Black History, only in February. Don't limit it, live it. It shouldn't end on February 28. Right?  It also shouldn't mean having a picture of one black person on your website. Because tokening, which is when you see one black person on a TV show or one black person in a group photo. That's also performative. Because again, if you and your brand are living it. There's going to be a natural and consistent ease to welcoming the conversation and communicating that you care. So a good DJ is going to consistently play the right collection of songs so that everyone present is feeling celebrated. 

Now I want to point out that diversity is about a lot more than just race and ethnicity. True diversity means representation from diverse religious and political beliefs, education, socio-economic backgrounds, sexual orientation, cultures and disabilities, and even diversity in personality types. But since we're in the middle of Black History Month, this conversation is focused on racial diversity. 

I also want to share a story of a time when I didn't get this right. I've talked in previous episodes a lot about how when you first launch your business, most of your support is naturally going to come from your friends and family. And that's great because it helps to really give your brand momentum and get you started. But it's also important to understand that marketing to your friends and family cannot carry your brand. You ultimately need to really identify and attract your ideal client or your target audience, because these are those people who are perfectly positioned to buy your product or service. So that's not your Auntie's friend on Facebook, right?

When we launched our first business, The League, which is a warehouse circuit training gym here in Houston, that is exactly what happened. Our friends and our family rolled up deep to the launch party. And they supported so much in those early days. We were grateful that we were well supported as a black-owned business, and we were so honored that we became the premier training destination for people from our community to come and get fit. And we also saw a great need for our gym to reflect the diversity of the city that it is here to serve. My husband Terry and I asked ourselves that very question. Would everyone feel welcome here? So, we got intentional. We truly wanted to serve everyone. We wanted everyone to feel celebrated and welcome. So we considered who we hired. We considered which images we posted on our social media. The songs we played in our classes. And we took surveys and got feedback from the entire community so that we could make sure our gym reflected the diversity we so valued. And I actually love that I can share a real life example where I got this wrong with hopes that if you feel like you have to, you can see that it doesn't help anyone to beat yourself up about it, or shy away from a topic in general. It is what it is. And you get to do something about it. So the question is, will you? Again, valuing racial diversity feeds not just into how you hire, but also your branding and your brand voice, what you feature, who you partner with, and so on. 

I know this conversation is tough for a lot of people. And it's sad that it has to be this way. But as our country continues to face the reality of its history, this conversation will be one we're gonna keep having. So, let's not run from it. Let's build a better brand and embrace it. And as always, I am going to be here rooting for you to win, even in this. 

I would really love to hear your thoughts on this episode so send me a DM on Instagram. I'm @heybirdwilliams. Thank you so much for tuning into the Bird Means Business podcast, for subscribing on Apple Podcasts, and for following us on Spotify. Be sure to tell every entrepreneur you know about this episode so that they can think about diversity in their business too.  Talk to y'all next week.