Today’s a Day for Speaking Up

*This post will not be for everyone as it contains some potentially offensive language. If that sort of thing is not your thing, please steer clear of this post, and I’ll see you next time!*

Today I want to talk to you about speaking up.

In your business, yes.

But in your life, more importantly.

I’ll be honest. Today I had a slightly different post planned for you, one that I’m sure you’ll get to read another day. But interestingly the theme was the same, and here’s where the change happened.

This morning, I woke up – in Ireland, as I have for a rather long time – and got to work, as I often do. Sometime in the middle of the morning, I popped over to Facebook to do some work (as we solopreneurs get to do sometimes). But as often happens, I got distracted and started scrolling through my news feed. I was about to berate myself for wasting my time for scrolling for so long when a post caught my eye.

A post about Philando Castile.

And what shocked me was that I had gone through about 50 posts before I heard about it at all.

No one was talking about him. No one was saying anything except a handful of friends of mine who felt particularly affected by this tragedy.

So I spoke up.

This is the first time I’ve ever spoken about this, either here in my business or personally on Facebook.

And unfortunately a couple of people took the opportunity to see my voice as a denial of the tragedies that have affected other parts of the world, other demographics, and other perhaps “quantitatively” more traumatic tragedies, ie more people killed.

But that’s not the point.

The point isn’t that another pain might be worse.

And the point isn’t that to say black lives matter is to deny that all lives matter.

But the point right now is that black lives matter.

The end.

To say that this matters, to say that black lives matters is not to deny that there’s pain in other cultures and for other people. It’s not to say that this tragedy is worse than another tragedy. Pain is pain, trauma is trauma, and it’s all wrong. And it shocks me that my voice on this subject could be construed as a literal denial of other tragedies.

I don’t deny it.

I’m just speaking up right now.

It’s not a denial.

It is merely ending a too long silence.

Because this matters.

So why am I writing this to you today, dear tribe?

Because I want to encourage you to speak up.

Use your voice. Step out. Talk. Listen. Be heard. Be seen. And be vulnerable.

Because that’s what we need right now.

You see, I believe that business has a purpose. Especially solopreneur business. Especially my business.

I’ve talked a lot about my purpose in a live setting, in coaching, in helping other people discover there purpose. But I don’t know if I’ve ever written it out for you.

You see, I believe in epic shit. My purpose is to make epic shit and to encourage others to do the same. 

That’s a little vague so let me tell you what that looks like:

• epic writing, books, blog posts, content
• amazing, emotional, touching films and music
• insanely heartfelt marketing
• clear, direct, open-hearted communication

 

But if that’s the lofty, up there, way high on cloud nine purpose, then the more specific purpose, the WHAT of I do is this:

I help creative entrepreneurs learn how to write, communicate, and use language in such a way that fosters understanding, communication, connectedness, empathy, and most importantly, humanity.

We’re starting a conversation, building empathy, through media.

You see, I believe that open, honest, heartfelt, epic communication changes everything, that speaking up, that adding our voice to the chorus, changes everything.

That’s why I’m in business. That’s why I do the nitty gritty, everyday stuff that I do. The marketing, the client work, the business coaching, the content strategy coaching, the social media posts, the webinars, everything. I do it because of what I believe in. And that’s why I had to share this with you today.

Because even though this is a business, even though what I do on paper is so disconnected from this and other tragedies and issues and oppressions and pain, speaking up matters.

So today, I invite you to share your purpose. Today I invite you to speak up, to join the conversation, to use your voice. 

And to listen to the voices of others.

The original post I was going to share with you today was all about speaking up as well. But where there are a million and one practical ways to talk about speaking up and what that looks like in your business and your business and marketing strategies, today called for something a little different.

Today, my voice belongs to someone else’s group.

Today, and all days, black lives matter.

Love,

 

 

Thank you for reading this post today. I do not pretend to know everything about this subject, and I am very aware that it is a sensitive for many of you. 

If anything I have said here needs more conversation, if you want to talk to me about what I’ve written, or if you just want to talk, please reach out to me in the comments or via email.