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This piece is in collaboration with Breaking the Blueprint, a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs.

I’ve been an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant for the last seven years. I’m also a consumer with several identities that are part of underrepresented and underserved communities.

And I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been on brand websites and social channels exploring whether or not I should buy something, only to decide “this brand isn’t for me” based upon something I saw or didn’t see.

Once, I was sitting with my credit card in hand while clicking through to a brand’s Instagram account from a sponsored post, only to quickly put my card away because I didn’t see anyone in the imagery that looked like me.

Unfortunately, experiences like that aren’t unique to me.

Most brands don’t know how much they could improve their conversions by optimizing their website and social media to also work for consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities.

Conducting a website and social media audit can highlight opportunities to deliver better experiences for all the customers you want to serve while improving your conversions.

The Starting Point for An Inclusive Marketing Audit

Get clear about the customers you want to serve.

Over the years, as I’ve chatted with and trained marketers about inclusive marketing, one thing that has popped up repeatedly is the notion of feeling like you have to serve everyone.

However, that’s a myth.

Inclusive marketing isn’t about serving everyone. While that would be fantastic, most brands lack the resources to do so effectively.

Inclusive marketing starts with acknowledging the many ways consumers are different and intentionally choosing which identities of your ideal customers you want to feel like they belong with your brand.

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I discussed the concept of not feeling obligated to serve everyone in great detail.

You should only assess the experiences you deliver for the specific audiences you’ve decided to reach.

But herein lies the crux of the issue. One of the most common areas where brands get thrown off with their inclusive marketing efforts is by not having a sufficient degree of specificity regarding the ideal customer they are trying to reach.

So, if you’ve defined your audience as “working moms with an active lifestyle,” it’s essential to be precise. Does that include:

• Asian moms
• Single moms
• Muslim moms
• Moms with disabilities
• Queer moms
• Moms with kinky hair
• Older moms

If you haven’t been clear about the specific identities you want to include, it becomes very easy to exclude moms from underrepresented and underserved communities from your planning for various elements of your marketing.

As a result, your ideal consumers from these groups won’t convert to customers if they feel you haven’t considered them with the products, services, and experiences you deliver on your website and social channels.

Where To Focus Your Inclusive Website & Social Media Audits

There are plenty of areas throughout your brand’s customer experience that you can evaluate through an inclusive lens. Focus on these core areas as a starting point to improve your conversions.

1. Representation

Representation matters. We know this. One research study I conducted showed that 74% of consumers say representation in marketing is important to them. That same study showed that three out of four consumers say they buy from and engage with brands that have adequately represented them.

When I educate on this topic, I like to remind marketers that people need to see themselves and who they aspire to be reflected in their brand’s visual imagery.

Seeing themselves represented is like a permission slip to take the next step forward with you, which increases your conversions. When they don’t see themselves, it causes unnecessary friction that often causes them to disengage with a brand.

When I’m conducting inclusive website and social media audits, representation is one of the key areas where many brands fall short.

I landed on Audible’s Instagram account recently due to some influencer promos they did, and I was super impressed with the representation. The nature of their product offering naturally speaks to a broad diversity of people. When you look at the brand’s grid, the people featured reflect a range of identities.

Audible even found a way to represent different identities in their Instagram Stories.

Here are some critical areas to evaluate to ensure you have adequate representation of the people you’ve chosen to serve on your website and social media:

• Customer testimonials
• Featured experts
• Your team
• Influencers
• Power dynamics
• Photography (both custom and stock)

This video explains more in detail what you need to be on the lookout for with power dynamics.

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I covered key considerations when searching for inclusive stock photography.

2. Accessibility

I’ve included accessibility on this list as something to check — whether or not your brand has intentionally chosen to serve people with disabilities.

Some government entities have mandated certain accessibility requirements for brands on their websites. One case in the U.S. landed on the Supreme Court’s desk after a visually impaired man tried to order a pizza on Domino’s website and app but couldn’t because they weren’t compatible with screen readers.

Ultimately, the courts ruled Domino’s needed to make its website accessible.

Inclusive marketing drives business results, and there are plenty of great reasons to represent people with disabilities in your marketing (besides mandates).

The good news is that there are plenty of resources, including HubSpot’s website accessibility checklist, to help you ensure your website is accessible.

When it comes to social media, here are a few things to check from an accessibility perspective:

• Captions on videos
• Alt text usage
• Use Camel Case or Pascal Case in your hashtags
• Image descriptions
• Usage of emojis

I’m super thankful someone on LinkedIn slid into my DMs to educate me on my inaccessible use of hashtags. Once I learned how to do it correctly, I made this quick video to share the knowledge with others.

3. Brand Values

Many research studies reveal that consumers want to buy from brands that share or reflect their values. The HubSpot Consumer Trends Study showed that 82% of consumers feel this way.

Since consumers increasingly care about brand values, it is more important than ever for brands to evaluate how well they are doing at both communicating and living their values.

Many brands struggle with this. A while back, I audited several websites for eCommerce brands, and my feedback for all of them was that they needed to find a way to highlight their values.

While most brands don’t mention their values on their websites or social media, I’ve also found that the small percentage of brands that do often have them buried somewhere in the footer or under some vague name, making them difficult for consumers to find.

Both ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s and retailer Patagonia do a stellar job of communicating their values on their website and social media channels.

Ben & Jerry’s brand values are also featured prominently on its website.

As you’re doing your inclusive marketing audits, review these key areas related to your values:

• Communication on website and social media
• Ease of finding values-based content
• Examples of living your brand values integrated into your content

4. Language

The words we use matter.

That’s why, in 2021, Unilever decided to remove the word “normal” from packaging and advertisements for its personal care products. After conducting a global study of more than 10,000 people, they found that 7 out of 10 people felt the word had a negative impact on consumers.

It is important to take great care with the words you use to ensure they draw the people you want to serve closer to you rather than pushing them away.

When auditing your website and social media, I recommend evaluating the words you’re using for:

• Appropriation
• Harmful meaning and connotation
• The reach, context, and meaning of pop culture references
• Gendered language
• Ableist language
• Stereotypes

This video explains more of the details about what to be on the lookout for with pop culture references.

This episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast discusses how to ensure that the language you use in your brand’s messaging is inclusive.

It’s Time To Improve Your Conversions

When working towards a goal, it’s useful to assess how you’re performing today so you can identify areas of opportunity to improve your results.

It’s no different when marketing to an increasingly diverse customer base.

Evaluate how the customer experience you’re currently delivering on your website and social media channels measures up to attract and convert more of the customers you want to serve.

As you start implementing changes that make more of the people you want to serve feel like they belong with your brand, you’ll be poised to increase your conversions.

The post How to Do an Inclusive Website and Social Media Audit to Improve Conversions appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

Employers in today’s global marketplace want leaders who are adaptive, passionate, innovative, and critical thinkers.

The key for LGBTQ+ professionals is to not see their career growth as a daunting task where they have to become something they are not.

Instead, with a little bit of cultural self-esteem, individual rebranding, and Queer moxy, LGBTQ+ professionals can position themselves as the perfect candidates and catalysts for moving any organization forward.

How LGBTQ+ Leaders Can Market Themselves and Their Unique Assets

1. Build Cultural Self-Esteem

Before LGBTQ+ professionals can market themselves externally, we have to market ourselves internally to generate an enduring, unflappable, and healthy self-image of who we are as Queer people. To underline our strengths and create a positive self-concept as an LGBTQ+ person, we should do the following:

Release internalized Queerphobia.

Internalized phobia occurs when a group internalizes the negative messages and stigmatization it receives from society.

Unquestionably, the LGBTQ+ community has faced its share of bias…Yet, when we harbor internal messages that devalue our cultural pedigree and individual worth, it becomes difficult to achieve our goals when dynamic opportunities present themselves. For these reasons, we must protect our cultural image and boost our level of pride to market ourselves effectively.

Study LGBTQ+ history.

If we become students of history, we can find countless examples of “everyday” LGBTQ+ people who do miraculous things despite overwhelming odds.

The annals of history provide beautiful examples of how Queer historical figures have been resourceful, dogged, and creative in achieving everything from the miraculous to the mundane. When LGBTQ+ people look to Queer role models for inspiration and guidance, they will be motivated to market themselves in strategic and unabashed ways.

Honor the healing Journey.

In a world that still stigmatizes Queer culture, many LGBTQ+ people may find themselves negotiating trauma, emotional wounds, or a nagging sense of “unworthiness.”

However, the lasting legacy of the Queer community is not of pain or oppression but triumph over tragedy. As Queer people, we have the right to heal and forgo the pain of the past to reach our professional aspirations.

Before anyone else can afford us the opportunity to be self-actualized, we must give ourselves grace, freedom, and latitude to be great. Once we do that, we can engineer outcomes that align with our values and professional purpose.

2. Practice a Cultural Rebranding

Once we see our Queerness as a strength instead of a limitation, we can recognize LGBTQ+ cultural genius and use it to advance our careers.

CulturalGenius is the leadership acumen that minority groups acquire by virtue of their cultural pathway. Once LGBTQ+ people minimize internalized Queerphobia, honor their cultural legacy, and give themselves permission to be great, they can appreciate the gifts they’ve accumulated along the journey.

From my ethnographic research, I identified several superpowers that align with the needs of a complex and dynamic world. The following three examples illustrate how Queer people can market themselves more intentionally and showcase their Queerness as a strength as opposed to a liability.

• Creativity: Queer people exhibit creativity in everything from personal presentation and linguistics to art and social mapping. This proclivity speaks to a novel approach to problem-solving that can help organizations embrace innovation.

• Non-binary thinking: Queer people reject rigid norms related to gender, which also helps Queer people to be disruptive when organizations have difficulty letting go of outdated paradigmatic thinking. The Queer persona can help any enterprise think outside the box and employ new mental models for addressing organizational issues.

• Interconnectedness: As champions for diversity and inclusion and architects for community building, Queer people have a penchant for supporting multicultural environments and nurturing safe spaces. Studies show that employees are happier and more productive when they feel connected to their peers and workplaces. As a result, LGBTQ+ professionals have a competitive edge when they highlight their cultural ability to break down silos, enliven interpersonal engagement, and create a sense of belonging.

Over to You

This asset-based approach to LGBTQ+ professional development can transform Queer job seeking from one-sided affairs in which prospective employers have all the appeal to empowered campaigns where LGBTQ+ candidates reiterate their full self-worth.

As LGBTQ+ people, we can use this to highlight our leadership capability if we reframe how we see ourselves and re-fashion how others can leverage our skill sets. By seeing our cultural experience and journey as a proving ground for leadership development, LGBTQ+ people can market their unique talents, enhance their career opportunities, and accelerate their career growth.

The post How LGBTQ+ Leaders Can Market Themselves and Their Unique Assets appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint— a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

Representation matters.

We hear this over and over again. And most people agree.

However, not all representation is created equal, and this is important to recognize, especially to ensure your efforts in including more people in your marketing are received positively rather than being met with frustration and skepticism.

As the number of brands embracing inclusive marketing and prioritizing visual imagery that accurately represents their target audience grows, it becomes crucial for marketers to become well-versed in how to do representation in marketing the right way.

When done right, it demonstrates to underrepresented consumers that you’re committed to them and their communities. When done right, representation in marketing makes the people you serve feel seen, supported, and like they belong with you.

Below are what consumers have shared with me in recent years about what is important for them to see in terms of representation.

But first, to make sure we’re on the same page, let’s talk about why representation in marketing is so important.

Why Representation in Marketing Matters

The people you serve need to see themselves and who they aspire to be reflected in the visual imagery your brand puts forth.

When they see themselves, it is a permission slip to take the next step forward with you in your customer journey. When they don’t, many consumers receive the message “this isn’t for me” and go off in search of another option that does make them feel like they belong.

The 2021 State of Representation in Marketing study I conducted revealed that 74% of consumers choose to buy from and engage with a brand as a result of seeing themselves represented in the visual imagery a brand puts forth.

Representation also has the effect of impacting how consumers feel about themselves. In that study, one consumer said they wish brands knew “The damage they do by underrepresentation.” Another consumer said they wished brands knew “How much it can affect someone and their feelings about themselves when they never see themselves represented [in marketing]. Like they are not important.”

These sentiments were present on social media in 2018 when Cosmopolitan UK put plus-size model Tess Holiday on the cover. One woman shared, “If I had seen plus women like me on magazines growing up, it wouldn’t have taken 25+ years to love my body.”

With representation, brands have both power and responsibility to influence not only the way consumers feel about themselves but also how they feel about other people. One study showed that exposure to highlight reels of women’s sports changed attitudes for the better toward female athletes.

French telecom company Orange followed this insight and created an ad in advance of this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, highlighting that good representation really can influence perceptions of underrepresented groups, in this case, the skill, competitiveness, and emotion of women’s sports.

As you work to build an inclusive brand that makes more of the people you serve feel like they belong with you, know that taking the time to get representation right will have a significant impact on many, including you and your customers. Embrace these principles to engage in representation the way consumers want you to.

How To Do Representation in Marketing the Right Way

1. Representation in marketing includes more than just photos.

The on-ramp for many brands starting with inclusive marketing focuses on making their visuals more representative. But switching up your visuals doesn’t prove that your brand is inclusive.

Consumers will believe you are inclusive when it is representative throughout your brand. In the same study, many consumers shared that they want the brands they engage with and buy from to be holistically representative.

One respondent said, “It’s more than putting someone on an ad. They need to create products that cater to different people. Hire people that are diverse.” Another commented that, “I wish they included more types of people in their campaigns and in their actual companies as senior leaders.”

Another person responded to the research by explaining, “When you choose to represent different types of people, that inclusivity needs to translate into other areas of the brand. The brand also needs to be outspoken politically, have fair hiring tactics, etc., or people will realize that their “representation” is just pandering for sales.”

Here are important areas to focus on concerning representation for your brand.

Products

Take the time to ensure the products you develop showcase, acknowledge, and support the differences of the people your brand serves. For instance, Barbie has said that one in every five of the dolls they develop is Black, which bolsters part of its commitment to “ensure that diversity is represented everywhere” in its products.

Content

Representation matters with the content you create as well. Whether it’s who you include in videos, the guests you feature on your podcast, or even the influencers you work with, build a content plan that allows your target audience to see themselves represented in what you publish.

If you’re seeking more guidance on how to create inclusive and representative content, the episode below can serve as a great guide:

Discover more episodes here

People

Building representative teams is an important part of demonstrating that your brand is inclusive. Who you pay serves as a strong indicator of both company and brand values. Consumers may question your company’s true commitment to diversity and inclusion if you do not have a representative team.

Having a diverse and representative team not only helps you produce better work but also brings numerous other benefits.

Jerry Daykin is the head of global media at Beam Suntory. During our chat on the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, Jerry told me about a study conducted by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which revealed that the marketing industry at large is grappling with significant challenges in achieving proper representation. “Almost every minority you can name is underrepresented in the industry and also likely to have a worse experience of working in the industry,” he stated. “If the industry was properly inclusive and represented everyone, we probably would make better work.”

That better work comes from allowing individuals within these communities to harness their lived experiences and cultural intelligence, as it informs the development of exceptional products, services, and experiences.

Of course, building a diverse and representative team isn’t necessarily something you can do overnight. It takes time. A way to ensure you can have a team representative of the people you serve in the interim is to hire consultants and contractors to support you as you build and grow.

Marketing

Ensuring adequate representation exists in your marketing mix is essential, especially to ensure that customers connect with your brand at every touchpoint throughout their customer journey.

Many brands prioritize the inclusion of representative individuals in their photos and videos, whether sourced from stock imagery or custom content, to ensure a genuine reflection of the people they serve. However, another important area to consider is your customer testimonials.

Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon for people with identities from underrepresented and underserved groups to achieve success at different levels than people from dominant groups. These disparities are often the result of systemic and societal barriers not directly related to the problem your brand solves. Still, these issues do hurt organizational success. This episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast covers this topic more in-depth:

Discover more episodes here

2. Representation must tell an accurate narrative.

Too often, the narratives told about people from underrepresented and underserved communities aren’t accurate; they often reflect harmful stereotypes.

As such, as your brand starts to infuse representation of people from marginalized communities into your brand’s awareness and value system, take time to ensure the narrative you’re communicating with that representation is well-aligned with their real-world experiences.

For instance, Meryl Evans, a disability advocate, talked about her frustration with brands that are trying to represent people from the disability community but continue to perpetuate the narrative that people with disabilities can’t function on their own. She wrote a note on LinkedIn, saying, “My fellow deafies and I who prefer sign language would appreciate avoiding the use of photos with the help sign. It infantilizes deaf people like we always need help.”

3. Longevity and intention matters.

Two consumers I chatted with recently expressed their frustration with brands who seemed to have a sense of entitlement about how consumers should respond to brands being more representative with their visual imagery.

One said it felt like the brands were saying, “OK, here you go, here’s a Black person. Come buy our product.” As a Black man, he felt that the actions of the brands did not embody authenticity. To him, it felt like the brands were just changing their imagery, so he’d think the product was for him.

A woman who wears plus-size clothing expressed similar frustrations. She told me that brands launching campaigns representing different bodies can feel gimmicky because it’s a sudden change to their track record. She says, “So now I’m supposed to feel like, ‘Oh, this product is for me’ because all of a sudden I see someone who looks like me?”

As we chatted further, she talked about how, for now, her loyalty remains with the brands that have long represented and served plus-sized people. She did express that if a brand, in its early stages of embracing representation, perseveres in supporting the community consistently over the long term, it has the potential to earn her trust.

Your customers are waiting for you to see them; what will you do next?

By promising to make your brand’s commitments to DEIA representatives throughout all areas of your marketing mix, in time, you will earn the attention, trust, and loyalty of consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities.

By committing to producing marketing, product, and visual content that features imagery representing the people you serve or who they aspire to be, you ensure that they feel seen and validated.

The post How To Do Representation in Marketing the Right Way (+ Consumer Perspectives) appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

It’s no secret that Native entrepreneurs face an uphill battle when starting up their businesses. Indigenous businesses have hurdles at nearly every step of the process, whether it’s a lack of access to credit, trouble getting technical assistance or training, or a cultural barrier between investor expectations and business owner goals.

Yet some business owners persist anyway, climbing over whatever obstacles are ahead to succeed in their respective fields.

Native entrepreneurs have moved into a multitude of industries with profitable, impactful businesses amid surges in federal and tribal support, and Indigenous people are seeing themselves represented in more swathes of the business world. In this post, I’ll introduce you to three native entrepreneurs you need to know about.

Three Native Entrepreneurs in Different Sectors

1. Amber Buker, Totem

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma tribal member Amber Buker knew she needed a bank specifically focused on Native American needs and experiences when she discovered an “invisible gap” in traditional banking while trying to buy a house.

Buker ran into rejections from major banking institutions, primarily because none of them were aware of, or at least did not implement, the available federal support for Native American home loans. “It was a broken process where I really felt invisible,” she said. “My tribe had a down payment program, but my bank refused to help me use it.”

That represented Buker’s wider experience with banks, even as she began working in the industry through a friend’s business. Realities for Native Americans meant that even basic security policies, such as refusing to mail debit cards to PO boxes, inhibited people’s ability to use traditional banks and, by extension, access the wider economy (not everyone on a reservation has a personal mailbox – meaning some Natives wouldn’t be able to get a debit card at all).

Because of that, Native Americans have become per-capita the most unbanked demographic in the United States, Buker said, with 16 percent completely disconnected from the banking system, per a report by Bankrate.com.

However, under Buker’s guidance, financial technology and banking company Totem plans to change that.

By building a bank that understands the lived experiences of Native users, Totem will boost Natives’ engagement with a system that has often failed them. To date, the company has introduced spend accounts that are not only accessible online but also designed to withstand connectivity fluctuations and weak signals, which often pose challenges for rural Native tribal members residing in remote reservation lands.

“We wanted to have a safe, free account that benefits could be deposited into, and we also prioritize features that uphold Native values,” Buker said. “Sending money from Totem account to Totem account is free and instant. For example, there’s a lot of times where auntie needs 20 bucks, so being able to share funds is super important.”

Totem also provides information and resources on what kinds of support exist for Native homebuyers, healthcare users, and even utility assistance – and that’s just the start. For their next step, Totem wants to help tribal governments deliver benefits and payments directly to citizens, foregoing the current intermediaries like paper checks and pre-paid cards. Through Totem, more tribal members will get to keep more of their benefit dollars.

“A prepaid card doesn’t give you regulation protections, or has FDIC insurance, or an easily obtained replacement. All these things are what make banks so valuable in the first place,” Buker said. “We want to tackle the root of the problem, which is access to good, safe banking products.”

2. Justin Quis Quis, Sacred Bev

Justin Quis Quis spent a long time as a member of leadership for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians near San Bernadino, California. When his time helping to lead his tribe came to a close, he knew he wanted to keep going and push into new frontiers.

In this instance, it was functional beverages – think energy drinks or herbal teas. Quis Quis looked out at an exploding functional beverage market and saw room for a Native presence. He identified where he could leverage Native traditional thinking into a product while calling attention to the fact that Indigenous people were still a part of modern life.

“I‘ve been exposed to Indian Country from coast to coast, so I’ve seen a lot of areas where tribal communities needed a spotlight, and people needed to know not only the struggles but also the successes,” Quis Quis said. “I noticed there wasn’t enough exposure to that.”

Quis Quis secured some financial investors and partners and started up Sacred Bev, headquartered in San Diego. The company’s first three flavors —Immunity, Wellness, and Tranquility —launched earlier this year and have proven popular, growing from an initial run of 7,200 cans to a second run of 17,200 cans. The drinks sell everywhere, from convenience and grocery stores to tribal casinos, Quis Quis said, and the company doesn’t plan to slow down any time soon.

The positive reception has encouraged Quis Quis to take the next steps towards scaling up, working with a cannery in Los Angeles to begin growing his operation while expanding out with a distributor.

“We’re stoked,” he stated. “We really felt like we had a good thing on our hands, and we’ve gotten some very positive reviews. We‘ve secured 14 individual accounts, some tribal, some off-reservation, and we’ve secured a distributor that’s sent hundreds of cases to mini-marts and grocery stores. We were authenticated through the IAC. The drinks have been very popular.”

The drinks have been popular enough to warrant considering who ends up leading Sacred Bev down the line, and Quis Quis has ideas on that, too. Many of Quis Quis’ partners and investors are other tribes or associates from his time in San Manuel leadership. Moreover, he has begun reaching out to other tribes in hopes of sourcing as many ingredients for the drinks – which utilize natural flavors like prickly pears, blackberries, and pomegranates – from Native sources as possible.

The goal is to make sure Sacred Bev, if acquired, remains under Native leadership, Quis Quis said.

“A big part of our deal is that no matter what happens with this company down the road that we want it to be tribally owned and operated at the end of the day,” he affirmed. “I want to be able to get some of these herbs and others from Native communities for sure. I haven‘t been able to find somebody through my sources, but I’m hoping someone will come to us with a big prickly pear farm or tons of ginger and peppermint. I‘m sure there is, but I haven’t been able to find that. That would be the best for us.”

3. Joe Valandra, Tribal Ready

Rosebud Sioux Tribe member Joe Valandra sees a lot of opportunities in Indian Country amid a historic surge in support for tribal broadband. Through federal opportunities like the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program or the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (both under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration,) tribes have found themselves managing gargantuan new projects with potentially colossal impacts on their communities.

In the wake of those opportunities, consultancies and contractors have sprung up to help send dollars where they need to go. Valandra wants to leverage his history in Indian Country as a contractor, gaming operator, and, well, as a Native American to make sure tribes are getting the best work they can for their money.

To that end, Valandra formed the consultancy Tribal Ready in January 2023. The first six months of the company’s existence have been “a whirlwind,” he shared. Tribal Ready has partnered with technology platform Ready.net to help tribes figure out everything from which kind of networks best suit their needs to negotiating feasibility and environmental impact studies ahead of build-outs.

“Indian Country is still gathering together all of this funding that’s needed to build out tribal networks. We’re helping tribes do feasibility studies or write grants, and then we’re going to help write requests for proposals and make sure deliverables line up with the RFPs we helped write,” Valandra said. “We have kind of an evolving business model. We’re a Native-owned company that’s partnering with tribes, so that we can look out for them.”

It’s no surprise Valandra’s services are in demand, given a renewed national interest in tribal connectivity in the wake of COVID-19. Longstanding challenges facing tribal members in rural locations worsened when telehealth, distance learning, and remote work became the norm. The situation garnered an unprecedented amount of support from the federal government – support that now needs to end up in the right hands to make the biggest difference, Valandra said.

Sometimes, that means helping tribes set up a new provider service on their reservation and take that over. Sometimes, it means managing the provider for the tribe in question or buying a nearby provider to expand its existing services into a new area focusing on supporting Native citizens, Valandra said.

However the final arrangements look, tribes should have as much control of their connectivity infrastructure and service as possible, he added.

“Over the last 50 years, the federal government has provided an awful lot of funding to improve rural connectivity, but very little of that was actually seen in Indian Country,” Valandra said. “For tribes to control the infrastructure that supports and delivers broadband service to their members is absolutely vital, without question.”

The post 3 Native Entrepreneurs in Different Sectors appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

A single word can make or break a relationship, especially in its early stages. This includes relationships with sales prospects, clients, and co-workers.

Most of us were raised to think that language and action are two separate things. That words don’t really matter. That an issue involving language is “just semantics.”

But in more than two decades of researching how language actually works, I’ve learned that language is social action. In fact, every single thing you say or write can cause a relationship to improve or deteriorate.

By paying attention to our language and making sure we’re using the more inclusive version, we can avoid painful mistakes. Here are three ways you can make sure that your language makes people feel recognized, taken into consideration, and valued.

How To Be Mindful of Language in the Workplace

1. Pay attention to names.

A common type of problematic language is being careless or disrespectful of names. This is especially hard on people with low-frequency names. But with some effort, you can make people with “foreign” or “difficult” names feel respected and welcomed.

• Spell names correctly. Look at email signatures or other official sources and make sure you’ve got someone’s name right. If their name includes an accent, like in Renée, then use that accent.
• Say names correctly. When you meet someone with a low-frequency name, repeat it back to them to check that you’ve got it right. Don’t say something like, “I’m afraid I’m going to butcher this name.” Instead say something like, “Can you help me make sure I’m pronouncing your name right?”
• Create and use forms that accept a range of names. This includes very short family names, like Ng, and very long family names, like Barchas-Lichtenstein. It also includes names with a blank space in them, like Yi Shun. When people can’t register with your website using their name, and when they receive emails from you with their name wrong (like, “Hey, Yi!” instead of “Hey, Yi Shun!”) they will not think well of your company. And they may take to social media to complain about the disrespect.

2. Avoid assumptions about gender identity.

A common mistake that deeply harms relationships is misgendering someone. Here is how to avoid using language that doesn’t match a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation — which may not be obvious from how they look.

• Don’t assume you know someone’s gender. For example, instead of saying something like “a man like you” or “a woman like you,” switch to “a person like you.” Until you know for sure how someone identifies, it is best to keep it neutral.
• Don’t assume you know the gender of someone’s romantic interest. Instead of asking about someone’s boyfriend or wife, wait for them to tell you that person’s gender. Not everyone is straight! And not everyone fits in the gender binary.
• Use the correct pronouns to refer to someone. It can be difficult to get used to saying they or them to refer to a single known person. But with practice, it gets easier and easier. Referring to someone using incorrect pronouns can have powerfully negative effects.
• Use the correct honorifics to address someone. Have a standard way to determine if someone uses Ms., Mrs., Miss, Mr., Mx., Prof., Dr., or some other honorific title before their name. Then, use that honorific with them. Especially when we’re trying to show respect, it’s good to be respectful of the way someone prefers to be addressed.

3. Avoid male-specific and gender-binary language.

For most of us who were raised speaking English, our cultural programming taught us that male words could be used universally, to represent everyone. And that everyone fits in the gender binary. But neither of these things are true!

• Move to gender-neutral language. Male-specific words lead to male-specific models that distort reality and cause us to make faulty judgments. Move from mankind to humankind, from middleman to intermediary, and from manmade to synthetic. Words like these are more inclusive and will be better received by people who aren’t male and dislike being excluded.

• Move beyond the gender binary. Not everyone fits into the gender binary. So instead of Ladies and gentlemen, you can address a group more neutrally, like Esteemed guests. And instead of your husband or wife you can refer to your spouse or partner.

By paying attention to names, using language that doesn’t make assumptions about gender identity, and moving beyond male-specific and gender-binary words, you can improve and enhance your professional relationships.

The post Does Your Language Help or Harm Your Professional Relationships? appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

In today’s rapidly changing corporate landscape, the concept of “professionalism” is undergoing a transformative shift, one that may completely radicalize the working world for better.

For years, traditional professionalism standards have shaped how individuals present themselves and navigate the workplace. However, these standards have been criticized for their lack of inclusivity, sustaining inequality and limiting opportunities for historically underrepresented groups, especially Black and Brown individuals.

This article explores the historical context behind these constructed principles, the reasons they exist, and ways to empower BIPOC/POC professionals in their respective journeys towards creating more inclusive and equitable workplaces.

Table of Contents:

• Unveiling the Origins of Traditional Professionalism Standards
• Embracing DEI&B: Catalysts for a Progressive Workplace
• Rethinking Traditional Measures of “Professionalism”

• Forging a Brighter Path: A Future of Empowering, Inclusive, and Diverse Professionalism

Unveiling the Origins of Traditional Professionalism Standards

In the corporate landscape of America, the concept of “professionalism” has long been ingrained in the fabric of the working world. But to understand its current limitations and exclusionary nature in the present, we must look to the past.

Standards of professionalism were initially established with the intent of implementing objective measures for evaluating employees’ skills, behaviors, and appearance.

These tenets have inadvertently perpetuated a system and workplace culture that disadvantages and alienates underrepresented groups. And with the acknowledgment of this also comes the uncomfortable recognition of the fact that standards of professionalism have been built to covertly sustain colonial ideologies/behaviors as well as white normative philosophies.

In a candid interview with Forbes, Leah Goodridge — legal scholar, litigation expert, and author of the award-winning UCLA Law Review essay titled “Professionalism as a Racial Construct” — summarized it best: Standards of professionalism, especially in traditional workplace settings, tend to operate as an integrated vignette in a larger structure of oppressive racism.

“Workplace civility,” as Goodridge explained, “has become about not discussing anything that’s deemed politics but the problem is that.. anyone that’s not a white male is considered a political identity.”

According to Goodridge, workplace standards exist in many forms, and can impact POC professionals in many ways, such as:

• Misogynoir (misogyny explicitly directed towards Black women)
• Micro-management
• Discrediting work capability, background, knowledge, and performance
• Tone and identity-presentation policing
• Emotional manipulation/gaslighting
• Inability to receive promotions

The impact of these standards on historically marginalized folks cannot be ignored, as they often find themselves conforming to norms, to environments and guidelines, that do not align with their cultural and individual identities.

This lack of inclusion not only hinders diverse representation in the workplace but also stifles the creativity, innovation, and overall potential of companies/organizations.

To truly combat this harmful corporate ethos and generate a more inclusive culture, it is imperative to re-examine how professionalism as a structure (and not just an employee ask), functions, but also to create space for POC to feel comfortable about speaking out, and to validate their feelings and experiences when they do.

Embracing DEI&B: Catalysts for a Progressive Workplace

The consequences of this lack of diversity go far beyond just a need for representation. Research from Built In actually reports that “Executive teams with high ethnic diversity are found to be 33 percent more likely to perform above EBIT margins as of 2017.” If you didn’t know, EBIT margins are a measure of a company’s operating profit as a percentage of its revenue.

Although this is an amazing development, Harvard Law School’s Forum on Corporate Governance revealed some other striking statistics about DEI&B in C-Suite spaces:

• 88% of CEO roles are held by white leaders
• 56% of women in the C-Suite said men find it easier to get promotions, regardless of capability and performance
• There is only 9% of Asian leadership representation in C-Suite roles
• There is severe underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latino C-Suite execs (40% of S&P100 C-suites have no representation at all)

These jarring numbers speak loudly. They also echo why there needs to be more of an intentional, aggressive assessment of the linkages between employee representation and success at the corporate level.

By embracing DEI&B practices and employee authenticity, companies can not only create a more inclusive workplace but also acquire a competitive edge by trusting the wealth of ideas and perspectives that diverse individuals bring to the table.

Rethinking Traditional Measures of “Professionalism”

As the need for a more inclusive culture in professional Corporate America becomes increasingly recognized, the focus is shifting towards how companies can effectively do so. The answer? Empowerment and awareness.

This could look like many things in a corporate work setting, such as:

• Fostering diversity in C-Suite spaces, where leadership representation reflects the true diversity of your organization
• Creating Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that support multi-cultural experiences, perspectives, ideologies, and identities
• As suggested by The Harvard Law School Forum, assessing potential of employees, not just experience
• Tracking development of demographics such as gender, race, and ethnicity quarterly to address diversity gaps organization-wide
• Allowing all employees to come to work as themselves, not just as a uniformed representative of your organization

But this shift won’t be easy. It will require a collective effort to push back against years of conventions, and an increased awareness of the barriers that BIPOC and other POC face daily.

Organizations can absolutely set a new standard for inclusive professionalism in Corporate America, and the time to start is now.

Forging a Brighter Path: A Future of Empowering, Inclusive, and Diverse Professionalism

As we reflect on the evolution of professionalism in Corporate America, it becomes clear that traditional standards have often failed to embrace the reality of what true, unobstructed diversity and inclusion looks like.

The growing awareness of these limitations of these standards and a collective effort to redefine what it means to be professional.

By actively seeking out diverse talent, challenging norms, and celebrating individuality, we are paving the way for a future where everyone can thrive professionally, regardless of background, identity, or how they look as they strive towards career elevation and success.

Together, we can build a more empowering, inclusive, and diverse understanding of professionalism that reflects the true strength of our organizations and society as a whole.

The post Creating a Culture of Inclusion: Revolutionizing Professional Standards appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a new blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

White authors dominate book publishing, and it can be difficult for people of color to find successful entrepreneurship stories written by founders, CEOs, and marketing executives with similar cultural backgrounds.Penguin Random House, a “Big Five” publisher, reported that 76% of their released books in 2019-2021 were by white contributors. This percentage may correlate with 74% of their staff being white.

Between statements to prioritize DEI efforts and leadership restructuring—like at PRH after their bid to acquire Simon & Schuster was halted—time will tell if publishing houses will make significant strides in diversity across their rosters and workforces.

Learning from someone with lived experiences you can relate to is invaluable and affirming. It’s a chance to feel less isolated when creating the blueprints for a company you once thought was an improbable dream.

To learn new avenues for success and strategies to build your business, community, and wealth, here are five must-read books by entrepreneurs of color.

1. This Is Not a T-Shirt: A Brand, a Culture, a Community–a Life in Streetwear by Bobby Hundreds

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In his memoir, Bobby Hundreds invites us into the behind-the-scenes journey of building his iconic and culture-shifting streetwear brand, The Hundreds. It’s an intimate story that starts with a tumultuous upbringing in Southern California as a punk Korean-American outsider and cascades into in-depth anecdotes about emerging as a prominent voice in the industry.

Beyond practical advice and the gripping history of streetwear’s global influence on fashion, art, and music, this memoir is a motivating salute for preserving the essence of streetwear and the importance of nurturing the lifeline of a brand–a ride-or-die community.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Review excerpt: “This book is more than just a story of a brand that sold shirts, it shows how in order to build a lasting brand it‘s more than just a cool design or logo, but building a community that will call you out on your BS and support you to the end because you’ve held true to your foundations.”

2. Jefa in Training: The Business Startup Toolkit for Entrepreneurial and Creative Women by Ashley K. Stoyanov Ojeda

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Written in Spanglish, Jefa in Training is a playbook and tool kit for solopreneurs and small businesses in the startup stage. In conversation with Latina immigrants and Hispanic Americans, Ojeda shares first-hand experiences, guest stories, worksheets, and templates to guide women of color to transform their projects into full-fledged businesses.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Review excerpt: “This book helps you overcome every fear you have that may be holding you back from starting a business. The quotes at the front of every chapter keep you motivated, the worksheets at the end keep you productive, and the tips/stories from other Latina entrepreneurs remind you that your dreams are attainable.”

3. The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage by Daymond John with Daniel Paisner

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Shark Tank star Daymond John had humble beginnings. He sold products on the streets of Queens and turned that hustle into the $6-billion brand FUBU. Through his personal story and those of other hustling visionaries with empires, John shares how ambitious entrepreneurs can turn the desperation of being penniless into a superpower to be more efficient and innovative to achieve greater success.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Review excerpt: “The most comprehensive business book I’ve read! So many examples of successful entrepreneurs and their journeys to the top. I enjoyed the format of the book with all of the case studies, I really felt like I learned a lot. Daymond is very authentic and I think that is how people relate to him most. He is very approachable and humble and it comes across this way in his book.”

4. It’s About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated Into Your Greatest Advantage by Arlan Hamilton with Rachel L. Nelson

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Arlan Hamilton is a Black, gay woman who survived on food stamps and slept on the floor of the San Francisco airport.

Even with no college degree, background in finance, or any contacts in Silicon Valley, her tenacity and hard work propelled her to become a venture capitalist investing in underrepresented and underestimated people like her.

Her book is an unfiltered and inspiring account of staying true to yourself while pursuing success, overcoming obstacles, and staking your claim as an entrepreneur, even if no one like you is breaking into your dream industry.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Review excerpt: “As someone who doesn‘t plan to raise capital as part of my business models, I originally didn’t think this book would apply to me. How wrong I was. From the beginning chapter, I was hooked on Arlan’s story, and her innate ability to weave in business advice, truth and pointed (and poignant) realities, as well as real life suggestions to change the narrative.”

5. We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth and Gaining Economic Power by Rachel Rogers

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Rachel Rogers is on a mission to rewire the way women think about money so they can take charge of their lives, overcome the history of systemic inequality, and secure financial freedom.

While seven figures may sound wildly unattainable, Rogers’ book is a practical guide on million-dollar decisions, savvy strategies for making and investing money, and tackling mindsets that limit you.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Review excerpt: “Part autobiography, part roadmap to success, wholly authentic, and 100% relatable – this book is THE new book for women in business. I read a lot of personal development and business books and run my own 6-figure generating business and I can say without hesitation that there is next-level mentorship between these covers.”

No matter your story, success is unlimited, and the path to it differs for everyone. Whether you’re just getting started or have an established company, pick up a book from this list and invest in your business journey by learning from those who endured the highs and lows of entrepreneurship before you.

The post 5 Must-Read Books for Building Brands and Wealth by Entrepreneurs of Color appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

Publishing an ad or working with influencers isn’t the only option to get your business in front of an audience on YouTube. And with 41% of YouTube users being ethnically diverse, this multicultural demographic is eager to watch and support brands and entrepreneurs who they feel represent their culture and life experiences.

Small business owners are starting channels to share videos that connect deeper with their customers, introduce themselves to new consumers, and even earn some passive income. When Azia Anderson, the founder of prty grl beauty, started sharing videos about her Black-owned business, she saw it as a way to educate other aspiring business owners in addition to marketing her brand. “I just felt like everyone could win,” said Anderson.

In this post, we’ll share examples of YouTube videos by entrepreneurs of color who double as video creators and how to become eligible for monetization through the YouTube Partner Program.

Table of Contents

• The Opportunity on YouTube for Entrepreneurs of Color
• YouTube Video Ideas for Entrepreneurs of Color
• How to Join the YouTube Partner Program
• 7 Ways Entrepreneurs of Color Can Earn Money Through YouTube Monetization

The Opportunity on YouTube for Entrepreneurs of Color

Thanks to YouTube, over 70% of viewers are more aware of new brands, and it’s one of the most lucrative social platforms for people to publish content. The YouTube Partner Program now offers several opportunities for channels to monetize their videos.

As channels grow and become eligible for the program, YouTube grants access to new revenue streams. Various metrics impact how much YouTube pays, but on average, YouTubers can earn between $3 to $5 per 1,000 video views.

Tammy Dinh, a clay artist with a shop named Uncomfy Co. and 60,000 YouTube subscribers, shared that since August of 2022, she has earned between $700-$1,000 in AdSense each month and $8,000 in shop sales. With around 20,000 subscribers, Anderson told us she makes $2,000-$3,000 in AdSense per quarter.

Anderson, a mother of two, had an overwhelming interest in how she runs her business and feels she can connect with people on YouTube by showing how much love goes into her company’s products. “It really just feels like a long Facetime call with a friend rather than a sale or an ad,” said Anderson. “Whenever I post tutorials, my sales skyrocket.”

Consumers crave transparency, and entrepreneurs that give viewers more visibility of what happens behind the scenes establish a new layer of trust and loyalty between their brands and clientele.

YouTube Video Ideas for Entrepreneurs of Color

The data shows that YouTube has over 2 billion users and is the world‘s second-largest search engine—after its parent company Google. That’s a lot of curious eyeballs ready to be introduced to you and your business. Optimizing your channel with an SEO strategy will help grow your audience and improve your ranking on both YouTube and Google’s search engine results pages.

This strategy starts with conceptualizing educational, entertaining, and relevant videos. Here are a few examples to kick off your next brainstorming session.

1. Studio and Day in the Life Vlogs

Bring your audience into the inner workings of your business. Whether you’re a solopreneur or have a team, you can casually share your day-to-day planning, operations, and team personalities.

Lauren Strybos, a Chinese-Jamaican ceramicist in Canada, welcomes subscribers to her From Tree to Sea studio, showing her pottery process, collection planning, product photoshoots, and life updates.

2. Tutorials

How-to videos might initially feel like giving away your business secrets, but it‘s also a strategic format. Tutorials can help clients and customers understand how much time, effort, and expenses go into managing a business or producing a product. These videos help justify a person’s investment in your service or goods and increase respect for your craft.

Anderson‘s how-tos for making the best-selling prty grl beauty products are her most popular. Even though she’s teaching people how to make their body butter and sugar scrubs, she said most people still visit her site to purchase a product they watched her make.

3. Packing Videos

Bring customers down the assembly line by documenting how orders are packed and mailed. This type of video fills the time gap between when they click purchase and receive the package at their door.

Natasha Elle, an illustrator and SAD SHRIMPS shop owner based in Singapore uses her channel to promote her Patreon and show her and her assistant organizing, packing, and mailing hundreds of orders.

The XXL Scrunchie & Co team shares relaxing ASMR-style videos of them packing orders from their 4,000 sq. ft. warehouse, where you can listen to the peeling of shipping labels and the crinkle of envelopes.

4. Launch Updates & Product Features

Announce product and service launches or restocks by showing what will soon be available, styling tips, or an informative deep dive, such as launch inspiration, pricing, materials, ingredients, shipping, and more. It’s also an opportunity to host a giveaway to boost engagement and excitement.

Tina Nguyen, the founder of XXL Scrunchie & Co, films try-on hauls to generate hype for new products and help customers make purchase decisions.

5. Office and Warehouse Tours

Give viewers a tour of your office or warehouse to show where you’re building and managing your company. If you’re moving into a new space, take your audience on the journey with you through a moving vlog and the interior design phase.

Angela Jasmina used to run her million-dollar business out of her home and now films most of her embroidery and sublimation videos from her team’s 9,000 sq. ft. warehouse.

6. Q&A Business Chats

Engaging with subscribers in the comment section is essential to further connect with them and answer questions. Q&A videos on different topics are another compelling way to answer frequently asked questions, build trust, and establish oneself as an expert.

Dinh records the occasional sit-down Q&A video to answer audience questions and be vulnerable about her experience as a self-employed clay artist.

How to Join the YouTube Partner Program

In addition to marketing your business with your channel, there is an opportunity for extra earnings. Upload consistency and providing value are vital to growing a channel and becoming eligible for the YouTube Partner Program. With the introduction of YouTube Shorts, there are now two options for eligibility.

1. 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months (Shorts views don’t count towards this watch hours threshold)
2. 1,000 subscribers and 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days

There are a few additional requirements to join the program, including:

• Living in a country/region where the program is available
• Following monetization policies
• No active community guidelines strikes
• An active AdSense account

Again, consistency here is important because you risk YouTube turning off monetization if you don’t upload content for six or more months.

7 Ways Entrepreneurs of Color Can Earn Money Through YouTube Monetization

Once you’re a part of the YouTube Partner Program, you can choose which monetization features fit your channel well.

• Watch Page Ads: Earn revenue from ads that play before, during, after, and around your long-form and live-streaming videos.
• Shorts Feed Ads: As of February 1, 2023, you can earn a revenue share from ads viewed between videos in the Shorts feed.
• Channel Memberships: Offer members-only perks, such as badges, emojis, exclusive videos, and more, for loyal viewers who join your channel for a monthly fee.
• Shopping: Feature shoppable product links in or below videos and live streams by connecting your store to YouTube.
• Super Chat & Super Stickers: For fans who want to show extra support during live streams and premieres, viewers can buy Super Chats to highlight their message or Super Stickers to get a digital or animated image that pops up in the live chat feed.
• Super Thanks: Viewers can buy a one-time animation and post a colorful and customizable comment in a video’s comment section. This function will also be available for YouTube Shorts in 2023.
• YouTube Premium: When a viewer is a YouTube Premium subscriber and they watch your videos, you will earn a part of the YouTube Premium fee.

Over to You

There is no better time than now to start a channel on YouTube and promote your growing business. With the camera quality of today‘s cell phones, fancy equipment is optional to document your journey as an entrepreneur. Anderson wishes she had started posting videos sooner, and her advice is to start regardless of what editing program, camera, or audience you have. “Even if you’re only getting a few views, you never know who is watching,” said Anderson.

The post Entrepreneurs of Color on YouTube: How They Market Their Businesses & Monetize Videos appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of America, and those owned by LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs make a hugely positive impact. According to a 2022 report by the NLGCC, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, LGBTQ-owned businesses contribute over $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy and support over 33,000 jobs annually.

But as any entrepreneur knows, starting and growing a small business is not just hard work, but it can be expensive. Startup and growth costs are especially challenging for business owners in marginalized populations, such as the LGBTQ+ community, who face higher levels of financial insecurity and fewer resources than their peers.

Fortunately, LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs can apply for grants specific to their community, or grants that are known to be inclusive of them. If you want to fund your LGBTQ+ small business with a grant, check out the list below.

Grants for LGBTQ+ Owned Businesses and Entrepreneurs

Small business owners commonly fund their ventures with loans, credit cards, lines of credit, and/or investors, but all require repayment, potentially with steep interest fees. While grants are harder to obtain, they’re coveted since the money is gifted and doesn’t have to be repaid.

Grants are offered by a range of entities, including the government, nonprofit organizations, philanthropic foundations, and corporations. They each have their criteria for awarding grants to a select number of businesses or organizations.

1. StartOut

While not quite a typical grant, this membership organization is for LGBTQ entrepreneurs. They offer exclusive networking opportunities, skills training, and mentorship. Members also get access to an investor portal with over 500 investors looking to help finance LGBTQ business owners.

Start Out also has a growth lab, described as the country’s only dedicated LGBTQ accelerator program. StartOut hosts many events, online and in person, and their annual Equity Summit features sessions on funding your business with grants.

Due Date: June 30th, 2023

2. TRANSFORM Business Grant

The TRANSFORM Business grant supports individuals in systematically oppressed groups making a social impact. It’s a microgrant of $1,000 and also includes a customized, year-long business strategy and development program, and preference is given to those in financial need.

Due Date: July – August 2023

3. Queer to Stay

Queer to Stay uplifts LGBTQ+ small businesses and provides the resources they need to operate and continue making an impact. It offers 65+ grants to small, LGBTQ+-owned businesses across the U.S.

Due Date: August 31st, 2023

4. Astraea Foundation

Most grants this foundation awards focus on supporting non-profit and community organizations created by lesbian, trans, intersex, and LGBTQI groups.

Its U.S. fund is a yearly program that supports projects that further the liberation of LGBTQ+ individuals. It accepts proposals from organizations supporting climate justice and disaster resilience for queer, trans, and intersex communities in the U.S. and organizations looking to create long-term, affordable, and sustainable housing for BIPOC LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. South.

Due Date: Accepting proposals as of June 2023

5. Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation gives out around 1,500 grants annually to support social justice and address inequality in all forms, including a focus area on gender, racial, and ethnic justice.

The foundation identifies most recipients themselves, but they do welcome proposals. A quick search for “LGBTQ” under their recent grantees shows many recipients working in the community, and their website emphasizes supporting the LGBTQ+ population. It’s currently running two grants programs:

• JustFilms: Supports film and media storytelling projects that explore different aspects of inequality.
• Good Neighbor Committee: Supports New York-based organizations that contribute to improving and uplifting local communities.

Due Date: Accepting proposals as of June 2023

6. National Pride Grant

Founders First CDC, which doles out various grants, launched its inaugural Pride Grant for LGBTQIA+ Small Businesses in 2023 to increase businesses led by diverse founders; the grant will give $25,000 in grant packages each to 25 LGBTQ-led US businesses.

Due Date: Check back for the 2024 deadline

7. NLGCC Community Impact Grant Program

The National LGBT Chamber of Commerce partners with food delivery business Grubhub for an annual grant program. It offers grants between $10,000 to $25,000 for LGBTQ-owned or allied businesses in the food and beverage industry. 

Due Date: Check back for the 2024 deadline

8. Borealis Philanthropy

Borealis Philanthropy manages several funds that give grants, two geared toward the LGBTQ+ community. The Fund for Trans Generations supports leaders and organizations working to improve all aspects of life for trans and nonbinary people, and funding is available year-round. It also has the Emerging LGBTQ+ Leaders of Color grant, which funds queer and trans leaders of color under age 40 in inclusivity and social justice work.

Due Date: Check back for the 2024 deadline

9. SoGal Black Founder Startup Grant

Black business founders who self-identify as women or non-binary can apply for these grants to remove barriers to capital. Grants range between $5,000 and $10,000 and are given to legally registered businesses to help them scale. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Due Date: Check back for the 2024 deadline

General Business Grants

There are loads of other small business grants available that aren’t exclusive to the LGBTQ+ community, but may be a good fit. Here are a few to get you started:

• Grants.gov is the central hub for federal grants. Thousands of grant programs are listed in the website’s database, and you can search by keyword. You’ll be able to find grants specifically for those in minority communities, or those that are open to anyone but put a preference on minority applicants. Make sure when searching grants that you check eligibility requirements carefully, as some are only for non-profit or government organizations.
• The Comcast Rise Grant program originally focused on small business owners of color or women in designated US cities. It’s now open to all small businesses, but their emphasis remains on supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, so LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs — especially those with intersectionalities in other minority groups — may have a better shot.
• Women Who Tech gives out grants to female-founded or women-focused startups. They have several programs and challenges that grant funding for innovation in technology, so LGBTQ+ business owners who identify as female may want to apply for their grants.

Many businesses are also dedicated to helping LGTBQ+ business owners find the capital they need. Here are some examples:

• iFundWomen offers coaching, networking, and training. It also offers crowdfunding focused on queer-owned businesses and their campaigns.
• Pipeline Angels is an angel investor firm that supports transgender women, cisgender women, nonbinary, two-spirit, and GNC founders.
• Loud Capital is a venture capital firm of diverse founders that invests in businesses owned by diverse founders.
• Gaingels facilitates venture capital investing through an ecosystem of investors who offer capital to startups and companies run by LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.

Over to You

Starting and scaling a successful small business can be incredibly rewarding, but the reality is that it’s often exhausting and expensive — especially for LGBTQ entrepreneurs, who already face challenges such as discrimination and wage gaps. As you explore your funding options, make sure to include grants in the mix — the fact that they don’t require repayment can save you heaps of money.

The post 16 Grants for LGBTQ+ Owned Businesses and Entrepreneurs appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

Native entrepreneurship often occupies two worlds. Aspiring Indigenous business owners navigate historic barriers to traditional financing and growth — while building culturally informed, sustainable ventures.

This challenging climate hasn’t stopped these entrepreneurs from entering nearly every industry imaginable to make an Indigenous imprint on the world while supporting themselves and their communities.

Some Native business owners build on cultural touchstones like tribal art and stories to launch design studios and art shops. Others address long-time systemic hurdles to credit by stepping into the financial sector, bringing an Indigenous perspective to the issue that often proves crucial in addressing it. Still, others make waves in industries where Native participation registers just a fraction of a percentage point, such as in engineering and architectural design.

Inspiring Indigenous and Native Entrepreneurs to Know

By examining the stories and advice of these powerful voices in Indian Country business, we can light a path for even more Indigenous entrepreneurs to follow after — and continue an ever-improving cycle of breaking free of poverty and systemic discrimination. Let’s dive into these incredible leaders’ stories.

Chad Johnson (Cherokee,) The Akana Group

Agriculture is a staple business for many Native Americans, whose families have farmed reservation lands for generations. However, equipment typically proves a major hurdle even when working private lands, especially when Native farmers struggle to secure startup or business capital, according to a U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund report.

Enter Chad Johnson’s Akana Group, which partners with equipment dealers like John Deere to foster relationships with tribal producers. Akana often secures discounts, delivery, and maintenance for Indigenous purchasers to help producers fully use their land.

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“It’s empowering for Native farmers to have more opportunities around their land usage,” Johnson says. “It’s about providing them what they need for a long-term growth strategy.”

While the Akana Group has since gone national, Johnson’s aspirations don’t stop at U.S. borders. His background drives him to establish partnerships with other Indigenous people across the globe.

“As Native businesses, with these new opportunities in front of us, we have to really consider: What are we looking to do? How are we looking to grow?” Johnson says. “We have to have the more complicated conversations of how we can really work together.”

Johnson recently served as a delegate for the First Nations Trade Mission, which saw a group of Native business figures visit Australia to discuss trade, partnerships, and education with Indigenous communities there.

The First Nations Trade Mission builds on the Native tradition of bartering and partnering to achieve better things for all parties involved, Johnson says.

“Trade is in our blood. Indigenous people have been traders since the beginning,” Johnson says. “This mission only reinforces that.”

Sheila Cummings (Lumbee,) Cummings Aerospace

Cummings Aerospace founder, CEO and president Sheila Cummings has plans in Australia, too. The Lumbee citizen recently announced a partnership to develop defense solutions alongside Australian company Criterion Solutions.

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That’s everyday work for Cummings herself, who took an intense interest in science and technology in her teenage years, she says. Despite a lack of available science classes in her early education and precious little existing Native representation in the aerospace industry, Cummings fought hard to achieve her goal: making objects fly.

“I encountered many teachers and advisers who were not very supportive,” Cummings says. “I wanted to succeed so that, if nothing else, I could prove them wrong.”

That defiant spark gave way to a desire to open her own small business after Cummings landed in Huntsville, Alabama, where she found a supportive community to build upon. Cummings says support made her feel comfortable taking a risk in launching Cummings Aerospace in 2009.

It was a break into an industry where Native Americans made up just 0.3 percent of employees and owners, according to data from the National Action Council on Minorities in Engineering. Cummings says the obstacles to her ascent only made her strive harder.

“I use them to fuel my passion,” Cummings says. “We all encounter challenges, no matter what your career or journey is. There’s always challenges. It’s best to utilize those obstacles to improve as a person, as a leader, and as a business owner.”

Valerie Red-Horse Mohl (Cherokee,) Known Holdings

Long-time financier Valerie Red-Horse Mohl understands those challenges well, leading her to enter the financial sector and found the first Native-owned investment bank on Wall Street in 1998. Since then, Red-Horse Mohl has helped find capital and support for Native entrepreneurs, culminating in the founding of combination investment fund, asset management firm, and institutional knowledge center Known Holdings in late 2022.

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Red-Horse Mohl says Known Holdings aims to mend disparities in racial wealth by providing business and financial management support for owners and executives, emphasizing supporting entrepreneurs of color.

“It’s about supporting these businesses as they grow,” Red-Horse Mohl says. “When you think about Native founders and entrepreneurs, they deal with this cliff that they fall off of when they make it past the small business stage – they don’t have that same support in getting to the ‘endgame’ where they go public or are acquired.”

Bridging that gap has become a “passion” for the Cherokee citizen, who sees the support as a way to break free of a cycle of poverty afflicting BIPOC communities.

“I moved into the philanthropy space to try to identify more sustainable solutions I would bring back to my community,” Red-Horse Mohl says. “To me, it’s a culmination of all my work, all my years, and I’m thankful God saw fit to put me in the paths of my other founders at Known Holdings.”

Connor Alexander (Cherokee,) Coyote and Crow

Native perspectives in fantasy frequently find themselves employed on behalf of the villains – savage orcs roam in tribes, or mystic druids maintain an exaggerated relationship with their environment. Moreover, the exploding tabletop roleplaying game industry often employs colonialist frameworks for their basic gameplay, leaning on Eurocentric tropes and ideals to create their stories.

Game designer Connor Alexander wants to explore new horizons for Indigenous stories, rather than retreading old stereotypes and frameworks. To that end, he and his team created Coyote and Crow, a tabletop roleplaying game that imagines what Native America might look like if contact with Europe never occurred (along with a dose of magic.)

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Coyote and Crow created a splash with an immensely popular, million-dollar Kickstarter campaign, paving the way for Alexander and his team to expand the game with more books, adventures, mini-games, and accessories. The game even features its own fictional language and an evolving encyclopedia.

“We knew we were tapping into something unusual before we launched – but it really threw us to find out how many people the game spoke to,” Alexander says. “The enthusiasm is just overwhelming.”

The game is Alexander’s take on Native optimism, and a push into telling Native stories from a Native perspective, rather than relying on consultants or researchers to provide a more distant position.

Gaming is an overwhelmingly white industry, Alexander explains – which makes pulling together appropriate support and representation for Indigenous people a crucial step toward improving things.

“I think we’ve all gotten so used to representational table scraps from mass media that when something different comes along, it feels really fresh and vital,” Alexander says. “My hope is that Coyote and Crow is part of a larger moment, a media rebirth.”

Elizabeth Perez (North Fork Rancheria Mono Indians,) GC Green

Elizabeth Perez is the award-winning founder of GC Green, a clean energy consultation and general contracting company. That’s multiple awards: Minority Veteran Owned Firm of the Year through the National Minority Supplier Development Council, a Champion of Climate Change and Clean Energy Veteran award from then-president Barack Obama, and recognition from her own tribe.

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For Perez, it’s that last award from her tribe that means the most to her. Perez’ tribe, the North Fork Rancheria Mono Indians in California, have faced wildfire disasters in recent years, including one that claimed 28 homes.

“One thing about a lot of tribes is that we’re front and center when it comes to climate,” Perez says. “We must be. We’re dealing with the consequences.”

Perez describes GC Green, and her climate change work, as “going to the doctor” by designing healthier, more energy-efficient buildings putting less strain on their surrounding environment. The company also consults with California utility programs on energy efficiency, assists local businesses in applying for climate resilience incentives, and helps tribes build and maintain microgrids.

The goal, Perez says, is to bring tribes together in promoting energy resilience and tribal sovereignty over their energy use. She hopes to organize a meeting between tribes in California’s Central Valley, to bring leadership under one roof to cooperate on building environmentally efficient solutions.

Tribes must take the lead, Perez says, and that includes business owners like herself, helping to combine climate resilience and economic opportunities.

“We’ve got to get to our cultural ways to fight climate change and get ahead of it. We can provide power for our own, which creates economic stability for people,” Perez says. “I believe in seeing a challenge — even like these wildfires — and turning it into an opportunity. I’m trying to do that now.”

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