Stay Woke, Not Broke

Protect Your Brand in Today's Business Climate

Table of contents

PREFACE xi
1 INTIMATELY INCLUSIVE: A PROFILE OF A
COMPANY DOING RIGHT
(FOREVER YOURS LINGERIE) 1
2 KEY TERMS DEFINED 13
What Is Social Justice? 13
What Is an Intersectional Perspective and Why
Is It Important? 14
What Is Decolonization? 15
What Is White Privilege? 16
What Is Purpose Washing? 17
What Is a Marginalized Identity? 19
What Is Cancel Culture? 20
3 DOES SOCIAL JUSTICE BELONG
IN BUSINESS? 23
Corporate Social Responsibility: Real Impact or Posing? 23
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Activities 24
Strategy in your DEI activities 24
Where diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts
can go wrong 24
Bringing DEI front and center 25
The DEI advantage 25
Inclusive Leadership Qualities 26
4 THE LANGUAGE OF INCLUSION 29
How to Use Words of Welcome to Include More People 29
Racial Issues in Language 30
Ableist Issues in Language 31
Developing a Style Guide for Your Business 32
Why You Need a Diversity Statement 34
How to Create a Diversity Statement 35
Components of a diversity statement 36
Next steps: Integration 41
Digital Blackface: What It Is and How to Avoid It 41
5 YOUR POLICIES: ARE THEY ABOUT EQUITY? 43
How to Structure Your Business Policies to
Include More People 43
Payment Plan Policies 44
Policies around Accessibility 46
Policies around Wages and Contractor Payments 48
Policies around Charitable Giving 50
Supplier Diversity Policies 53
6 MARKETING TO AND FOR MORE PEOPLE 55
Inclusive Content 55
Don’t just talk about it, be about it 57
Giving together is better 57
Contents v
Have a goal 58
Keep It Simple 58
Representation 59
Representation in media 59
Representation in relation to your brand 59
Create a Cohesive Brand Experience 61
Equitable Advertising Tactics 63
7 BUILDING INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES ONLINE 65
How to Build a Diverse and Inclusive Online Community 65
Online Community Conflict Resolution 68
Team up against trauma 68
Don’t “dirty delete” 68
Set boundaries like a boss 69
Forbidden topics 70
Tone policing 70
Content warnings 70
Dealing with exclusion 71
Outrage porn 72
Managing the flow 72
Communities of purpose (and permanence) 72
Justice versus peace 73
Setting expectations around privacy 74
What Happens If I Screw up? (Letting go of
Moral Perfectionism) 74
The Anatomy of an Apology 77
8 COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT
SOCIAL JUSTICE VALUES IN BUSINESS 81
Do I Really Have to? Won’t This Blow Over? 81
How Do I Avoid Looking Like a Bandwagon Jumper? 83
I’m Just One Person, Will It Make a Difference? 85
I have a Team, How Do I Keep Everyone on Message? 87
Do I Need to Be an Expert? 88
Values Are Personal: Why Tell My Customers or
Audience What I Think? 90
Who Can Help Me Implement These Strategies? 92
9 WHAT’S IN A NAME? A PROFILE OF A
COMPANY DOING RIGHT BY FIXING
A PROBLEM (ONE LAX) 95
CONCLUSION: A CALL TO ACTION 101
Where Do I Go from Here? 102
CHECKLIST
Is Your Business Ready to Welcome Everyone? 105

Description

Navigate polarizing landscapes and "cancel culture" traps.

Businesses wanting to stay relevant and do the right thing are asking questions such as “What is ‘woke’ and how can a business be it?,” and “ How can you avoid a mistake that could get you ‘cancelled’?” While social justice issues dominated the headlines, author and disability advocate Alison Tedford realized business owners were asking these questions and often didn’t know how to sell with sensitivity, share their stances on social justice issues, or even what their audiences wanted or expected from them. Did they need to take a stand, and if they did, what if they said the wrong thing? Was recovery possible?

This experience saw Tedford develop a program that is, in a nutshell, social justice education for owners of businesses big and small. Stay Woke, Not Broke explains how to create diversity statements, develop content plans for ongoing social justice topics, and moderate your communities to let important conversations take place.

With more than a decade in cross-cultural communication and education in the public sector, and several years in the private sector creating content for public education on social history affecting Indigenous people, her experience navigating sensitive topics lends itself to this book.

Reviews

Testimonials from the author’s Stay Woke, Not Broke program:

“I joined Alison's program Stay Woke, Not Broke in the summer of 2020. I had already begun my journey of unpacking the systemic racism and injustice that society had ingrained in me.

I had no idea how to incorporate this into my business from a logistical standpoint and Alison made it all so simple.

My site, and social media all have explicit statements on where I stand as an advocate for anti-racism. This has given me the confidence to weave my stance into my podcast episodes, posts and community in general.

It goes so much further than just a values statement though. The way Alison facilitated this program allowed me to tangibly lay an expectation for myself, and my community.

I felt supported in figuring out how to articulate my stances on a subject that can be very delicate. She answered my questions with care, and when I had some uncomfortable situations arise in my community she gave her honest feedback in how to handle it.

I learned so much in this space that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
It was so much more than a history lesson, or what I "should" be doing. It was the space and direction to turn my business into a vessel for what I hope to be a significant part of the puzzle that moves our generation forward in finally committing to anti-racism, and beyond that true inclusion.

I don't think I have all the answers now, but Alison instilled so much belief in myself to trust my gut, research when needed and take action when necessary.

I'm forever grateful to have heard about this course from a friend and to have taken it!

If you are a business owner and need tangible steps to create an anti-racist and inclusive business, this is for you.”