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Better Together

In the midst of Black History month it’s important to remember that we are all better together.  The things we can accomplish when we take the time to work with one another are truly incredible.  We live in a veritable melting pot of people, ideas and cultures, and we benefit greatly from our blended lives.  The transparency provided by the internet allows us to “get to know” the companies that make our favorite things, and attention to our sourcing can greatly impact our lives.

As a capitalist country, we very often put our money where our hearts are, or our stomachs, or our skin.  Which is why that double duty we talked about last time can be extra beneficial.  If feeding myself can also feed someone else, that meal becomes a no-brainer purchase.  As a woman, I often find myself trying to support businesses run by women.  Not that I do not frequent establishments run by and owned by men, I just try to consciously support my sisters equally.

According to a 2019 Business Report financed by American Express, even though over 50% of female-owned businesses are founded by women of color, the disparities in income earned between these and white-owned female businesses is palpable.  While 40% of businesses in the country are female-owned, 64% of new businesses opened last year were started by women of color.  Yet white women-owned businesses pulled in about 1.4 trillion dollars in revenue, while women of color women-owned businesses pulled in about 422 billion dollars in revenue.

The difference?  I truly believe it’s exposure.  When I was studying to complete my undergraduate education in Political Science, the one fact that really boggled my mind was why most people vote for who they vote for.  I’m not sure this is still true, but in 2009 it was because of name recognition.  Literally blew my mind, until I really thought about it.  Our daily lives are hectic.  There is so much for us to manage that it can be difficult to pay attention to or really delve into things that we deem less important.

Arianna Huffington discusses how autopilot is an evolutionary necessity in her book Thrive.  The more activities of our daily lives that we can place on autopilot, the more efficient we can be.  Many of our habits are deeply ingrained in our person, sometimes even intergenerationally ingrained, but one of the benefits of living in such a socially connected era is being able to change these habits in a thoughtful and present way.  Finding people who support us and who we can support allows us to create communities we’d like to live in.  Supporting businesses owned by women of all backgrounds allows more seats at the proverbial table for women, and isn’t it about time we make the playing field truly equal?  Forbes put together a great starter list for incredible businesses to frequent, owned by women of color, but do your own research and find what matters most to you.  Together we are stronger and together we are better.

by Catie Zimmerman

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