4 Tips for Building a More Inclusive Brand with Inclusivity Expert, Beth Ruffin
Branding with Friends | Episode 29
Featuring Expert Guest, CEO, of The Everyday Inclusionist, Beth Ruffin!
Watch or listen to the video interview below or scroll down to read the transcription.
Meet Beth Ruffin, CEO of The Everyday Inclusionist
Annie: Hi there, welcome to a new episode of Branding with Friends, the show where branding meets key business topics. Here you're going to learn tips straight from experts on everything from posting on LinkedIn to content marketing to thought leadership, we focus on what you can do right now to use these topics plus the power of branding to attract your ideal clients. I'm your host, branding expert Annie Franceschi from Greatest Story Creative. I help service business owners tell their story and share their value through clear messaging and consistent branding. I'm also a former Disney storyteller, a professional speaker, and the author of the best-selling book Permission to Try.
Today I am so excited to introduce you to one of my new friends in the business world. Beth Ruffin is here. And if you have been wondering about how to make your practice more inclusive, and you have no idea where to start, you are going to love today's episode. Beth Ruffin is here as I said, and she has spent 20 years in corporate America before she realized her dream of entrepreneurship. She opened her own boutique consulting firm, The Everyday Inclusionist. Beth is committed to making our world more inclusive through consulting, coaching, and speaking. She's also the host of At the Table, a weekly podcast about elevating the voices of the underrepresented. Her first book, details her journey to self-acceptance. And her second book “You Belong Here,” explores the topic of self inclusion which believes that everyone has a purpose and has the power within them to impact lives. She is a mom to one daughter, and in her spare time she blogs and travels. Welcome!
Beth: Thank you. So excited to be here.
Annie: I'm so excited to not only hear all that you've created, but that you're also a two time author. I'm about to become that by the time this episode airs, I would have just come out with my second book. So you know, the book. The agony of writing the first book, and then the rediscovered agony of writing the second book, right? That's right.
Beth, I'm so excited to have you on and I love what you're the work that you're doing to amplify voices that are underrepresented. And for you know, we were doing Branding with Friends for a little over two years. And I really wanted to find the right speaker to come and talk about it. And I knew for sure that was not me. So I'm really glad that you're here to give everyone tips. Beth is going to be our first guest to give not just three tips, but four tips. So you're gonna get four actionable tips if you want your brand to be more inclusive today.
So Beth, just tell me a little before we dive into those tips, like why are you so passionate about it at this moment? Why is inclusivity so important to you? Why do you think as coaches and consultants, we should be really focused on it at this point in time?
Beth: Yeah, great questions. I'll start with my own personal passion. So as you mentioned, I spent 20 years in corporate America, more specifically in the insurance industry. And I grew up as a professional in the insurance industry, and if you know anything about financial services or insurance, you know that it is a very conservative, very middle-aged, straight, white, male lead. And so being a woman of color, just there were so many times, more than I can count, where I was the only person who looked like myself in the room, or I was the first person who looked like myself. Early in my career, I was the first person of color who was ever hired by a company that had been around for at least two decades. And so I spent a lot of my career not feeling like I belonged. I spent a lot of my career having to represent the voice of people who look like me, not because I wanted to, but because that's the position that I was put in. And so for me, the passion is I want to help leaders and organizations create spaces that are welcoming and inviting for anyone, no matter how similar or different they are.
Annie: Yes, absolutely. I'm so glad you're here to talk about that. You, and I and others, often teams of one or they have a very small team, we're not these, like larger companies that I know you are committed to changing. So tell us, you know, if we're coach or consultant - if we want to be inclusive, but we're not sure or we're worried that we're not going to take the right first step, what is the first thing we should do?
#1 Action TIP
Explore Your Biases
Beth: Absolutely, the first step is really want to explore your biases. So the truth of the matter is that we all have bias, right, whether it's conscious or unconscious. And so the first step is really acknowledging that and understanding what biases you have. There are a few ways that you can do that. Harvard has, for example, free tests. It's a Harvard Implicit Bias Test that you can take and that can help you explore that. The other thing I say is that you lean into those people or situations where you feel discomfort or awkwardness, which can typically give you a hint as to are there some biases in place here. So for example, as someone who's extremely extroverted, I know that having conversations with people who are introverted sometimes is uncomfortable for me because I don't like empty space. I don't like quiet. And so as you can probably tell, I love to talk. And so for me, I recognize that I do have a bias towards people who are extroverted like me because I feel that discomfort with that quiet space. And so I challenge people, you know, just spend a few days really tuning in to where are you feeling comfortable? Where are you leaning in? Who do you find yourself surrounded by, and that can start to give you a clue as to what biases you have.
Annie: That's, that's really incredible. I'd never heard of the Harvard tool, we'll make it point to put that in the links to make sure if you'd like to take action on that. This has been an eye-opening thing for me, as I've been trying to sit back. I love to talk as well, clearly, I have a microphone and do Branding with Friends and other things. But and I'm in a big extrovert talk with my hands, I totally felt that. I love that you gave that example of something that we can all kind of relate to. But there's just so much there. I find myself when I do feel those uncomfortable moments just kind of going well, am I overlooking something? Why is that uncomfortable? I'm sure you're gonna kind of get into that. But you know, that example of an introvert, I find myself more often kind of stepping back and going well, why am I thinking that? And kind of what is the, what's another way to see that situation? Right. Oh you know, an introvert takes their time, I could probably learn to take my time a little bit more, not fill the space. I think you're going to get through this as we get through our tips. But there's just, I know a lot of well-meaning entrepreneurs who really want to have their brands be inclusive, I am one of them. I'll own that of wanting to say the right thing, and do the right thing, but not sure what that is. And being afraid to step on toes and have completely the opposite impact that you want to have. So I'm excited to have you here today talking about this. So this first step of exploring our biases, and kind of unearthing what those might be. And I love this tip of kind of going around and pushing on what makes you feel uncomfortable or awkward. Always a great idea to find where you need to grow and where you need to be looking more closely. So first step is to explore biases, what is the second thing we need to consider?
#2 ACTION TIP
Embrace the Perspectives of Others
Beth: Well, it goes right into kind of what you were talking about with embracing the perspective of others, right? And so especially if you're a solopreneur, much of what you do, of course, is just coming from your own perspective, your own experiences, your own expertise. But how can you make sure that you're also embracing what other people think, what other people feel, what other people value? And there's been a discussion recently, even specifically, when it comes to your ideal client, how sometimes that process can be biased, because what we do is we take a specific person, and we tailor everything for that person, right? But that may leave other people feeling excluded and feeling left out. And so there's this thought now, even of what does my ideal community look like? Right? And that's a little more inclusive. But how can you make sure that you are expanding your network, whether it's personally, whether it's looking at the books that you read, the podcasts that you listen to? What articles are you reading? How can you make sure that you are hearing and learning from people who are different from you? So that you're truly understanding what their needs and their values are as it comes to the products and services that you offer?
Annie: Yeah, and I think there's a little bit too, that of what you were saying about like media diet, like, what are you consuming? We are all shaped by what's in our news feeds and what we're clicking through on Instagram, and who are we following? And I know, just in the past few years, I've been trying to kind of do as you say, look to people I wouldn't normally have just stumbled upon go looking for more diverse voices, other perspectives I hadn't considered, but I think I really liked how you kind of put it in the position. A lot of what I heard was if you're a coach or consultant going and looking maybe at other coaches that are from different backgrounds, and you are who have different philosophies about coaching than maybe what you've heard of like, but really kind of going and seeking that. Right? I'm hearing a lot of action taking there.
Beth: That's something I think maybe we should have said at the beginning is that this work is very intentional. You don't accidentally become inclusive. It's very intense. Intentional. So all of these tips we're going to discuss are like he said action oriented, taking the initiative, and being intentional.
Annie: I think that is a perfect dovetail in alignment with what branding is. And when I talk a lot about branding, no one gets to invent their brand. That's sort of the misnomer, right? I think I'm going to create my brand. Just like you have a reputation, you have a brand, whether or not you manage it, whether or not you try to intentionally impact it. And I think it seems like inclusivity and being inclusive is really very akin to being intentional about how you're growing your brand. That is an active role that you play, if you want, if you care about that, if you want to be a responsible citizen, if you want to be a good, successful business owner, you take a role in the branding piece as much as you would take a role in making inclusivity a strong value of your practice.
Beth: And I want to just make one comment. Absolutely, it's the right thing to do. But I want people to also realize that it makes good business sense, right? This is not just about feeling good, right? But I mean, research shows you have better profits, you have better innovation, right? When you do have employees, you have greater employee satisfaction, and especially in the world that we live in, with what you know, some people may call cancel culture, right? But just it's so important to your business, that you are inclusive, it can literally can make or break your success.
Annie: I really like how you've sort of told a story about that, that really calls to mind what an opportunity it is, to be in the US, we should do it for that reason, per se, but to realize that there is so much good that can come from being inclusive, that it isn't just about checking a box, or say like making yourself feel like you're you know, good in terms of your conscience, like those things are certainly a value in different ways. But I think you pointed out historically that it's been researched, that there is great success to be had, there is a more well-rounded opportunity to have. At least in my small efforts to try to be meeting people that are more, you know, different from who I am and have different philosophies, different backgrounds, I have learned so much from them and become friends with people and we've collaborated. It's things that I wouldn't have had in my universe at all had I not gone looking for it. There's a lot of lot to be said about that angle of things and considering like doors, you just haven't walked through communities, you haven't been able to connect with that. And when everyone is more connected, and everyone is more considerate of one another things, you know, a rising tide lifts all boats, right? We've been going through this idea of the first place we start is really knowing it's an active journey. But that first tip is to explore our biases. And then the next part is to explore other people's perspectives. What is the third thing we want to consider?
#3 Action Tip
Evaluate Yourself.
Beth: The third thing is you want to make sure that you're constantly evaluating yourself. You said the right word earlier journey. This is a journey. And it's one that doesn't end. I don't think there's ever a point where you say, All right, I'm in, I've arrived, I am inclusive. I don't need to learn anything else, right? But with the way that things change in the world, right? The way that things evolve, you have to constantly check in and make sure am I adaptive, adapting, flexible, and growing, with how the world is growing, with how culture and society are growing. So you know, have a process in place to really make sure that you're coming back and checking in and evaluating yourself. And as part of that, I am a really big proponent of asking others, right? Because as great and as wonderful as we all are, we still have blind spots. And so find people that you trust, that will be honest with you and say, hey, you know what, Beth, I noticed that you lean a lot towards this particular type of person. Let's take a look at our marketing, our branding, at our programming, and make sure that we are truly being inclusive of everyone who may come across you
Annie: Everyone you really want to serve and to feel welcome, right? That leaves me a question you know, and I will selfishly ask as a branding person. I have been wondering this - I would like to be an inclusive practice. I would like people who are from different backgrounds, you know, I'm reluctant to list things because I feel like I don't want to like put labels on people but I want people to feel safe and welcoming and inclusive. And that's really important to me and those who don't feel like all people should belong really are not gonna be a fit. Sorry to spoil it. If you're listening to this episode, I doubt you're involved in that. But, you know, I'm trying to signal that but it's this balance. And I've helped clients write statements, or put it into their messaging in some way on their website. They're like, inclusivity is really important to me. I'm curious if you have any tips on language to use because I often find I try to be really intentional with the words I use. But then I don't want to, label people, leave people off or say the wrong thing and put my foot in my mouth, in the effort to get across, safe and inclusive and not judgmental. You just completely fall on your face or say something that is completely taken the wrong way. I want to be so intentional with my words, and don't say the wrong thing. We could probably have a whole episode about the shame one feels when you do something wrong in this world. But I'm curious if you could give our listeners and me some guidance of what is the best way to, to through words, on your website, or in your email signature to signal to people that you are an inclusive practice without that feeling “judgey” or using the wrong language or feeling? Getting across the tone, because I think that feels off to me too. But it's just more a letting that intention meet the you know, execution that you want to have.
Beth: Absolutely. And the first piece of advice, which is not as concrete as the rest I'll give is that it has to be natural. And it has to be genuine. Right? Yeah. Yes. So really think about what is the intention with how you with including language, or including something, right? So make sure that's coming from a genuine place. But you know, that's why it's important to embrace the perspective of others, right? That's why it's important to have people in your network that can help guide you, right? People always ask me, Well, how do I know what people want? And it's like, ask them, right, like, ask the question, like, how do you want me to identify you? You know, what, like, one thing that's come up is, you know, do I say Black or African American? And it's like, well, that is a personal choice that people make. And the best way is to ask, right, so like, for me, I prefer black. But I know people who prefer, you know, African American, but it's asked the question, right. And so some of the things that I do on my email signature, for example, are I do have my pronouns, which I use she, her and hers. And I also link so that anyone who has a question about why I include that they can click on that link, and they can see what that's about. And why I use that. I also use something that I've been doing lately is acknowledging the territory that I live on, which is a practice that was started really heavily in Canada, because of their history with Nate with indigenous people. But I put that on the email signature as well that I acknowledged that the territory I live was was occupied by the charity, the tablet, and the and the Congaree. And I also have a link to that on why I include that information. But there are ways that you can write language. Again, starting with that perspective of people who it affects, I think is the most important is really finding those people, building relationships with them, and being able to say, hey, what's the best way for me to do this? Because I just, I need some help.
Annie: And I think, you know, I've definitely gotten there. I think that's wonderful advice. And it really, I really love your idea of having the links to provide context. Because, you know, for example, in the past year, I've added like, what are your pronouns to my intake form for free consultations, if you sign up for me, you'll be asked what your plans are. And there'll be a couple of people who I want one recently that said, I don't have pronouns. You know, I was like, “well, everyone has pronouns because of grammar.” You know? But I think that they were, and when I met what I was, like, kind of, you know, again, biases, I was like, what is this person about? And I talked to him and I think that they were actually really well meaning I did not participate, who I actually ended up meeting and they were, you know, perfectly nice, and I don't I don't think they realized like the context and had there been a link Had there been a little bit more description so like, you know, hey, we're very welcoming of you know, all backgrounds like something like that, but I love that you kind of give it some context or the example about territories. There are just so many again, coming back to your first point about biases and clearly it's about like, who you want to work with and who you care about their feelings and asking them for help. is so important. So thank you for sharing those I love the general advice and and the concrete examples are really great way to you apply, we have. So we've gone through three big things. Here. I'm going to recap them shortly. But if you watch or listen to Brainy, my friends, you know, we're going to share that last tip for the end. We've got a fourth tip today. But before we do that, Beth, I know you brought something along that, you know, if listeners or watchers or readers want to take the next step to be more inclusive, what should they check out from you?
Beth: Yes, so I am really excited to offer a free website assessment, where like you were just asking, How do I know if I'm using the right language? Right? And as we think about branding, right, is my online brand inclusive. And so I will do a free website assessment, and I'll look at things such as language, I'll even look at accessibility for people who may have disabilities, I'll look at imagery and help provide you some feedback on how you can make that website more inclusive. So I'd love to offer that to your listeners. And we can include the link in the show notes,
Annie: We will absolutely do that. I love that you offer that I think it's really important. And again, I really I'm really glad that you're on the show today, because I think people are gonna hear some things that maybe they didn't expect to hear like even you just talking about people who have disabilities say like a hearing impairment or a visual impairment, something I've been doing more and more as I've been learning more about accessibility for websites is people don't realize that they need to have their images, their file names for images need to be accessible by a screen reader. Right? So someone has a screen reader, if it just says top picture, right? Nobody knows what's in the picture. So you have to give, you know, a reader cues and things like that. So you can make your website accessible to people who may have a disability if you know, hopefully, that's something you care about. But it seems like that's something where Beth can point you in the right direction. And some of these things you may not have considered about lots of levels and types of accessibility to your site, whether it's because of a background or because of a disability or for another reason. So I think that's such a wonderful tool. I'm so excited to have you sharing about that I challenge everybody who's listening to this to go and do that and put it into action. Because as we said, it's an active process. I usually give a call to action, say and if you're talking about branding, come chat to me, you know, you can do that. But I'd much rather you do what Beth is talking about. So I totally seed that moment to her. And with that in mind, we've talked about three really important things so far. So we need to explore our biases, we need to embrace the perspectives of others. And we evaluate ourselves and to have some sort of regular moment with ourselves realizing that becoming an illusionist is a process of becoming, you know, till the end of time, then it's going to change it's going to, and you get comfortable with that idea to check in with yourself. What is that last thing we should take away from today?
Don’t miss this special opportunity for “Branding with Friends” fans…
Schedule Your Free Website Assessment With Beth here.
#4 Action Tip
Evaluate The Voice of Others.
Beth: The last thing is make sure that you're elevating the voices of others. So understanding that we have unique perspectives, we have unique voices, as do others. So this is really an example of that. And you know, thank you for having me on the show, right? Because you're elevating the voice of someone, while you have your own journey. You're elevating the voice of someone who has a totally different experience and a totally different background. And I can speak to my individual experience with this. And so I used to always say I want to make sure that I give a voice to the voiceless. Well, everyone has a voice, right? And so we have to try to figure out how do we help elevate that. So when you think about, if you have a podcast, if you write books or newsletters, if you're doing social media, how are you representing diverse voices, by inviting other people? Through those mediums, it's really important. Because look, I can talk to you all day about why it's important to use pronouns. But if I never elevate the voice of someone who is transgender, and uses they / them, then all I'm doing is just kind of, I don't want to say preaching, right? But I'm kind of just still coming from the experience of someone who is cisgender and who identifies with the gender she was given at birth, right? And so think about, what are the things that are meaningful and important and impactful that you may not experience directly? How can you invite others and give them that platform to talk about what they experience personally?
Annie: I love that and I feel like I've kind of lived a fraction of that like, experiment with Branding with Friends and Branding with Friends has been on for two years. I started it originally to get some content while I was on maternity leave. And I knew from when I started I was like, I'm not great at it. You know, networking, right, like creating new relationships with people. And so this was one way to be really accountable to that and to stop writing email newsletters and make it more about live content I love but I think I'm just as you were talking, I was very much thinking back to what you had already said about how inclusivity and an effort to be more inclusive is actually great business. And I would also say it's great marketing, not in the sense of like, look how inclusive I am, more so in the sense that I think this show is so much better, because I have been really actively over the years trying to find guests like yourself that are incredible, you know, what they do represent a different kind of community than the one I am in, or the background that I am from. And I've learned so much from those people, then if I had everybody that I'm like, well, here's my buddies, like, I almost had to tell myself the first year to not invite my buddies on because I already know all my buddies and we all think alike, and I gotta bring in more voices. And so that's been kind of the, the blessing that it's been, it's been wonderful to build. It's helped me kind of get past myself, it's kind of my process and be more accountable to one following more people that are kind of outside my bubble and getting to know them. I feel like I really benefited as just a person, let alone a business owner to know people like you and others that we've had on the show. And, you know, you're talking about accessibility and like, yeah, like one of our goals, and I you know, keep me accountable audience that like I want to have people on that, folks that people who do have disabilities, people who have ADHD, people who are dealing with physical disability, there are so many different perspectives and things that we've barely touched. In the two years, in the over 25 episodes, we've done so only more to come. But I'm glad that you have I feel like not only have you set the stage for what inclusivity means you really provided it as a really empowering journey that people can go on to not only make other people's lives better and feel more inclusive and safer. But for you to do that for yourself. So I just love this episode. Thank you so much for coming on today, Beth.
Beth: Awesome. Thank you for having me. This is I could talk about this for five hours at a minimum. So I'd love to come back in a few years and talk about something different.
Annie: Well, we'll make it a date. But please check out Beth - she has a wonderful free website assessment that I think you're going to have a ton of value add on. Thank you again, Beth, for joining us today.
Beth: Thank you so much for having me.
Annie: Thank you so much for joining us for yet another episode of Branding with Friends. Today's guest was Beth Ruffin of The Everyday Inclusionist. I hope you enjoyed today's episode, and I can't wait to see you next time. Tune in when we're going to tackle yet another topic where branding and business meet. Until then I'm Annie Franceschi, Greatest Story Creative. You can find all of our past episodes, branding resources, and so much more on our website.
“Branding with Friends” Episode 29
Show Notes + Resources
Here are 4 key tips for inclusive decision making:
Explore your biases
Embrace the perspectives of others
Evaluate yourself
Elevate the voice of others
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