117: Diversity and Inclusion in Small Business: what all entrepreneurs should know
Diversity and inclusion may be something you heard in any corporate or other job role…
But what about a small business owner, as an entrepreneur?
Is your business set up for inclusivity and diversity? Join me with my mentor, Louise O'Reilly, a force of nature in the realm of inclusion, diversity, equity, and allyship.
We explore the power of inclusion, the beauty of diversity, and the path to a more equitable world.
If you LOVED the episode, make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag me @essential.shift and @louise.oreilly.shieldandconch!
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KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS
How to be more inclusive in your business
How to embrace diversity in your business
What you should know about diversity and inclusion
SHOW RESOURCES
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Check out the Inclusion Creators Collective - HERE
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Find out more about how to WORK WITH ME - HERE
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @essential.shift.
ABOUT THE GUEST
The oppressive status-quo is something Louise refuses to swallow. Louise comes with her unique self-expression, heart-centred rebelliousness and clarity around her vision of an all-inclusive world. Louise is a proud Warrwa-Noongar woman and an inclusion, equity and diversity coach and course-creator for heart-centered and socially-conscious entrepreneurs. She offers the Inclusion Creators Collective membership, which is filled with monthly online courses, live trainings, coaching, mentoring and more. Louise also offers limited 1:1 coaching services. Her dream is to stimulate the co-creation of a more inclusive world. She is driven by her children, cheered on by her husband and inspired by the calling from within. LouiseOReilly.com.au is where you’ll find her. Outside of business, Louise was a freelance writer for Amnesty International Australia; a radio host on Noongar Radio; a Miss NAIDOC Perth finalist; and is currently part of an Aboriginal-led, 10-year visionary reconciliation project (a first for Australia), in Boorloo (Perth).
Bless it be.
With love, Laetitia!
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Laetitia Andrac 6:28
Hello, Louise. Thank you so much for being on the essential shift podcasts.
Louise O'Reilly 7:06
Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for the invitation. I'm so excited to start talking a little bit more about our topic and to reach all of your listeners and hopefully get them to think a little bit more about inclusion in their business.
Laetitia Andrac 7:23
It's such an important topic especially as we are taking a new turn in 2024 I really find people starting to really understand how important it is to be inclusive in their business. Before we start diving into this topic, which is very close to your heart and which we will go deeper and speaking about. I just want for you to share a bit more about your story. And who are you and what is your origin story for your business.
Louise O'Reilly 7:54
I would absolutely my pleasure before I do that, would you mind if I do a really quick acknowledgement of country you go ahead are wonderful wonderful. So I Louise O'Reilly of the word of warning. Our people would like to acknowledge the worship people as the traditional and ongoing custodians of the lands and waters on which I'm coming to you from. I'd like to thank them for their custodial role that they fulfill here and show my appreciation for that and also to pay respects to the elders here and thank them for their community leadership, their love their guidance and everything they do. I'd like to also extend that acknowledgement to the custodians of the lands on which you are listening from and pay respects to the elders in whatever titles they refer to themselves on those very special and sacred lands. So that's my acknowledgement of country. In terms of your question, well, where the origin of my business and where we kind of started with my you know, becoming an inclusion, diversity, equity and allyship coach is I was born and when you are born and you are a marginalized person in society, you are very much born it. You are a political being, because people tend to believe that they have a right to tell you how to be how to exist, how to live, what you have rights to and what you don't have rights to and those particular rights are very different to your privileged people in society. So I grew up witnessing and really observing that different groups of people were treated very, very differently. And even as a young child, I could recognize there was a difference in way people were treated. And as you can probably tell, I didn't really like or appreciate that. Growing up, I experienced lots of racism and I experienced a different kind of racism, because I don't actually look like I'm Aboriginal. While the stereotypical version of Aboriginal I look Aboriginal because I am Aboriginal, but people's version in their mind of what that might look like. Isn't what I look like I have white skin, and I very much resemble my Scandinavian heritage. So I was exposed to racism that people would say when they didn't think that Aboriginal people were around and it shocked me the kinds of conversations that people had about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. That was really harmful and really hurtful. And you could just imagine growing up struggling with my identity and because what those kinds of things do is it it forms frameworks of beliefs and core beliefs about yourself and who you are growing up when you see how it has society treats whole groups of people. So in our Australian society, I was told over and over and over again that I'm bad, that I'm wrong, that I'm unwelcome, that I'm not valued, that I'm not important. All those kinds of things kept being, you know, concrete it in my psyche and my understanding of my identity, but my heart always has told me I am Aboriginal. That's my culture, that that's who I am. And there was such a real struggle because I thought, you know, I feel like I'm a good, kind, caring, considerate person. Yet society is telling me I'm this really, really horrendous monster. That should not be. So I really struggled with mental health issues as a teen to the point where I wondered, should I even exist in this space? Because in my own country in my own home, I'm unwelcome. So I don't belong anywhere. So belonging is a big thing. But then from there, I kind of blew through it and will grew my resilience as so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other marginalized communities do we grow resist resilience, and we learn to exist. But then something magical happened. I fell pregnant with my first baby. And it was such a wonderful, wonderful moment. But then I remember there was this one point, this pivotal moment, where I realized that I'm going to birth an amazing little human into a world that is so harsh. That has so much racism, a world that didn't treat me well and was not good enough for me is not good enough for any children. Not good enough for anyone and I'm actually bringing a child into this space. So it was in that moment I went, you know, that means I have to change the world. I have to do every thing in my power to change how people treat each other. And inclusion is one of those high vibrational kind of things that can help us make a better world together and CO create a better world together and I focus on the high vibrational stuff. I don't focus on anti racism, I don't focus on anti discrimination. I focus about on the thing that we want to create the inclusion so that's kind of the origin story that we had and the rest is basically history went it went from being a hobby on the side of another business, to then me realizing this is what I want to be doing full time forever.
Laetitia Andrac 13:52
And what a gift, what a gift you are to share this wisdom and impart all of us with your learning and your lived experience. I am so grateful for everything I've learned from you last year and so much more to learn this year. So thank you so much for sharing your story and I I acknowledge you for everything you've done so far. So thank you, Louise. And so for anyone, Iowa, for anyone who is listening to this and is like Okay, is it talking about inclusion? What is inclusion? Am I inclusive? Before we dive into how they can be inclusive if they're not today and let's agree on what you mean by being an inclusivity. Coach and helping business owner to make sure they're more inclusive in their ways of running the business in their ways of being in their ways of leading and in the impact they have in their community, and in their friendship and through their children and all of that. So let's change Australia to tell us
Louise O'Reilly 14:55
let's change the world. So my version of inclusion that I'm talking about is one that deconstructs and dismantles the privilege system. There are these oppressive systems so you may have heard them being called lots of different things. It might be called the privilege system it might be called the patriarchy. It might be colonialism, it could be, you know, some colonial imperialism. What else was it called? White supremacy, white supremacy, all those kinds of things so you might have heard them now these are all oppressive systems. And whole structures and frameworks in our society, that their aim is to other people, and to put people in different hierarchical structures to say that some people are better than other people. And therefore, if we believe as a society that some people are just innately better than others, we don't have to treat them as well. So we currently live in these particular structures. They're not the only cultural structures there are around the world. There are more, but a lot of us grow up not realizing that there are other possibilities to exist and other societal structures. So in terms of inclusion, what it does is it recognizes that there are privileged people and then there are oppressed or marginalized people. And with inclusion what we can start to do is be really mindful and conscious that the lived experience of a privileged person is a very different lived experience of a marginalized or oppressed person. And if we can be mindful of that and listen to marginalized people listen to their experiences, listen to the social and justices are experiencing, we can start to look at ourselves and the way we are interacting with the world or interacting with others and start to question am I supporting a societal system? That continues to oppress and mistreat people? Or am I behaving or, you know, using my language or operating my business in a way that actually, you know, pushes that away and dismantle services? No, no, no, I'm not participating in that system anymore. I am going to make sure that I'm considering the needs, the wants, the desires of people who are marginalized and who are oppressed. I'm doing things in my business to make sure that access to my business is there and they have adequate access to make sure that my business is equitable. So to make sure I'm doing what I can to make sure those people who are marginalized have whatever they require to meet the same level of service or the same level of wellness or the same support that people who are privileged have. So it's really a mindfulness practice to go. Who might not have access to this or who might not be considered in a cultural way in this space, and can I do something with my own privilege with my own platforms and with my own business, to be able to support them so they know that they want they're valued, that I'm considering them when I'm doing business and operating? And I care about them and I don't want the systems to continue. I don't want them to continue being marginalized. I want liberation for everyone and I want people to know, you know, I want my end goal basically is I want everyone to feel safe and free to be themselves authentically. In every situation to know that they are loved, they are cherished and they are valued. That's That's my end goal for people to have that freedom. And to be liberated from the systems that get us treating each other really, really badly.
Laetitia Andrac 19:20
Thank you. Thank you for sharing that because it's way broader definitions as the one you will find on the enciclopedia. And it's weaved into your mission into Yes, your way of being your way of life and the path that you're following and leading the way for your children. So it's very potent and powerful. So thank you for sharing that. So for anyone who is listening to this and like okay, all right, am I closer? I am I know. Can we help them with either a few questions or starting doing the inquiry and of course I'm not asking you to guide them through a bias workshop like you do. In your space and we'll talk about your space after a bit. Just starting to educate whoever's listening to this feeling a bit uncomfortable and if you feel a bit uncomfortable, know that it's okay it's part of the process and Louise will explain us with her own words, but keep listening even though you may feel a bit like oh my gosh, they said why patriarchy is it said colonialism I am born and raised in France. I I come from this background of colonialism and it's uncomfortable for me yet. We need to speak about it. We need to address those things. It's not by keeping you taboo that we will change the world which is Louise mission and I am Hi an ally to her mission. Really, how can we help them start diving a bit deeper and exploring if they are inclusive? Both things to work on? Yeah,
Louise O'Reilly 21:02
yeah. Well, I think to start with, I think it's wonderful that you've acknowledged that people may be feeling really uncomfortable right at this point. And I want to share that. It's totally normal to feel that it's totally okay to feel that we are doing and it's so interesting. I pulled a couple of cards before I took this podcast and one of them was shadow hunter. And this is what we're doing. We exploring the shadows of ourself when we're doing this kind of work. So it is absolutely okay for you to feel uncomfortable with this. And to know that even though we may have a family history of colonialism, or we know that our family have participated in some form of oppression that's not on us. We did not do those acts. So we don't need to feel the guilt and the shame of it. What we can do is recognize that it has happened. We can say it's absolutely not okay to do those things. But we do have a responsibility now of choosing how we behave. And we have a responsibility now of breaking those chains of oppression. That our ancestors have created. So that isn't a really empowered space to be in to go what is done is done and I acknowledge my family have participated in that. But I'm being the cycle breaker here. I'm acknowledging that that was not okay. And from this point forward, I'm choosing to do things differently. And I'm choosing to do things in an inclusive way. So a way that you can start off in your business. If this is very, very new to you, is check out things like your feeds, on your social media. They have algorithms that are set up specifically to you know, algorithm no one's feed is identical to another person's feed. So have a look at that and flick through and see, you know, how are there is there diversity in my feeds so you can do this on Instagram, on Facebook, on your tick tock, whatever, whatever social media you're on, and look through and go, does everyone here look the same? Does everyone here have the same culture? Does everyone here kind of have the same kind of belief systems or kinship systems or ethnicities? Have a look? Are there other black people present? represented in that space? Are there brown people represented? Are there people from the disability community represented? Are there people from the LGBTQ i A plus community represented? And then we can just say, oh, you know, you might go, actually, we all complicated very much the same here in this space. And this is when you can take action to go okay, well, I'm going to make it different. I'm going to actively seek some diversity to come into my feet so I can hear different perspectives. So I can start to listen about how life is done or experienced differently. And in business, this is really, really powerful to create excellence in business as well. Because when you can recognize people who are in your niche, also a marginalized people. It can make you stand up both other businesses in terms of your service, you provide the types of delivery, and just the overall business because you're actually listening to people who are marginalized. And they saying, actually, in this industry, this is a real problem for us. And when you go, Oh, it's a problem for you. Is that something that I can change in my own business to make sure it's no longer a challenge or no longer a problem? And when you do that, that brings more diversity into your spaces. You can also have a look through your own client lists, and have a look of their diversity in those spaces. If your business is inclusive, you will naturally and organically attract diversity into your business. So it's a really good telltale sign on spaces that you need to work in. And with this, I always say and I say I'm an inclusion and diversity coach in that order for a reason because you must have inclusion and build an inclusive space. Before genuine diversity flows through to you. You don't create the diversity that's an a natural byproduct of your inclusion. So to create an inclusive space, you create it with the thoughts or the idea or the the mindfulness that these different martial arts communities. If they come into my space, what do they need from me as a business owner? What kinds of supports do they need? What kind of accessibility do they need and you build it into your business, whether they're there or not? That way, when people who do come from different marginalized communities come into your space, they go, it's like this was already built for me. And you can say it was because I wanted you here I value you. I've care about you. And I've got something I've got some form of magic for you or some form of medicine for you. And so that's why I've created it in this way. It's really difficult when you build your business in a non inclusive way and then marginalized people enter your space, it can be really harmful to them can be really unsafe for them, but also as a business owner, then you have to scramble around and try to restructure things. And it really is just not fun for anyone involved. So we do have a duty of care to our clients and to people who come into our spaces to make sure they are safe. And inclusion is one of those ways that we can make sure we are providing and and you know, there's a word that's coming to me. He'll come there's that we're making sure we're providing safety in our spaces.
Laetitia Andrac 27:40
Thank you. Thank you for sharing that and thank you for inviting everyone to quickly look at what they are consuming because definitely the information you're consuming are kind of forging your opinion and your experience and I love this because it's very applicable online. Anyone can just take their phone and scroll through and see. And I know personally for me, inclusion has been something that I really discovered when I moved to Australia. It's really funny how when I was and I was a leader in a big corporation in France and it was not necessarily something we're talking about inclusion, we're talking about diversity. So whether or not it's a topic that is more, you know, towards Australian or whether we were completely ignoring it when I was working in France, but 10 years ago when I left the French market, we're talking a lot about diversity and how do we make sure it's accessible for you know, disabled people, people with neurodivergent, NSSI and all of those kinds of topics, but inclusion has not really something and now I love how you put inclusion on the forefront of everything because definitely if you think about inclusions and diversity will come into place. So I think it's a beautiful way to to frame that. Do you want to add something to what I just said? I've Yes,
Louise O'Reilly 29:03
yes. That's so good. I do I do. That's it and there are a lot of businesses and even in Australia, there will be a team that's focused on diversity. And that is because they're missing. And I'm not saying this is the same that happened in France, but this is something that I've witnessed here in Australia is the focus is on creating diverse spaces. And we can all create diverse spaces, but that doesn't mean they're inclusive. So diversity is having just let's just say there's there's a room right? And it's full of people diversity is when you have a roomful of people with lots of different backgrounds and ethnicities and but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is valued in that space. It doesn't necessarily mean that people are wanted in that space and it doesn't mean that whatever activities are happening there are either appropriate or safe for all those people. So when you have inclusion, you already create the space beforehand. So let's say it's like a party. And you go okay, well, I don't want there to be people sitting at the front and sitting at the back. So let's just create a big round table for everyone to sit at so that everyone can get in on the conversations and everyone is equally far away from the food in the middle and but also we got to make sure that there is two spaces available because there are two people there who will have wheelchairs, so they're not going to be positioned somewhere else. There's already those spaces available ready there. We know that coming. That's that's already there. And also we know that there are people there are some people who are vegetarian and there are some people who are vegan. So we are making sure that we are providing food that is an you know a decent amount of food and options for those people in the middle because we've considered those particular things as well. And also we're making sure before No, I won't do that. That example was that would be more like a meeting and not a party to have an acknowledgement at the start. You can do an acknowledgement whenever there is a formal or semi formal meeting. But in party terms, maybe there's different styles of music from the different cultures. So making sure in our music lineup, we've got a mix of music from different cultures. So that people actually no, we thought about them before they even came to this room. So that's the difference between just having diversity and having inclusion. Inclusion means you're actually valued and cared for and we want you in that space. Diversity often is our check box activity to say, yes, we got these different groups of people in the room. But it's not always safe and they're not always wanted.