Tough Love Tuesday: Use Your Influence and Vote
Next Tuesday, November 6th is election day. I cannot stress how important it is as a business owner or entrepreneur or just anyone with influence to use your platform and tell people to vote. It is imperative. And, it’s ok to not be into politics. What’s not ok is to sit blindly by and not care about what is happening around us.
I watch other small business owners be too scared to say anything in fear of losing customers. I have some news for you. If those people have values that don’t align with yours, most likely they were never gonna hire you anyway and that is ok. I would much rather turn away someone that does not believe in basic human rights and being a decent person then take that money. That’s money I don’t want. When I talk about social justice issues and Black Lives Matter on social media, for the most part, people are on board with what I’m saying but every once in a while there is pushback and that pushback is typically from a white woman. I bring this up because 90% of my clients are white women. I’ve been told that me bringing it up is making more divisions “because they want us divided!” I am very tired of white people not acknowledging the lived experiences of black people and people of color in this country and by saying that you’re putting the onus on the black person to fix what white supremacy started and continues to do to this very minute and I share all of that online. I probably have turned off some of those white women, my highest demographic of customers, from working with me. You know what? That is just fine by me. If that person is done with me after that, they were never my person and I am happy to not work with them.
If you have any type of platform online and that could even be 100k followers on Instagram to maybe 50 people follow your Facebook page, those people are there because they wanna hear your voice. They believe in you and what you stand for. Use that platform for good. Inform people to vote and most importantly know what and who they’re voting for and know what those people stand for. It may be of no surprise that I’m voting Democrat down the ticket but I wanna know what these people stand for still. Inform your followers to do the same. Tell them to go out and vote and bring a friend. This is not the time to sit this one out.
This isn’t over on Tuesday, November 6th. We have to keep fighting. We have to keep giving a shit. We have to be better as a collective.
As small business owners, we can do what we want. We don’t work for a company with a long list of rules and conducts. We create our own rules so why are we so scared to say what we want to say? We have the luxury and privilege to do whatever we want. If people don’t want to fall along with that, that’s their problem. It’s not mine and it’s not yours. I will gladly lose a customer or potential customer because they don’t align with my values. That’s not a person I want to work with. Yes, we need to make money but think about the energy of that money. Do you want money that has the energy of I’ll do anything to make a buck? Do you want money that has the energy of I set aside my values just so I can make a few more dollars? I want money that I know I am 100% myself at all times and that the person who hired me is on board with what I am saying and my values. They don’t need to agree with me 100%. We don’t need to live in a vacuum. It is important to make a point to be educated on all sides but to make the right choice.
In the past week, three different terrorist attacks happened. So many people have died and so many more people could have died. This is beyond politics. This is basic human rights and decency so I encourage all of you entrepreneurs and business owners to use your platform, use your voice, and get out the vote. In one week, we can change the trajectory of this country. Make sure you are on the right side of history.
