Should Your Business Reflect Your Personal Beliefs?
It’s no secret that my heart is about as bloody as they come. I served on the leadership team for the Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice for two years. I have a yard sign proudly displayed in front of my home in my VERY conservative neighborhood declaring what we believe. (Black lives matter. Love is love. Feminism is for everyone. No human is illegal. Water is life.) I cannot stand Donald Trump or most conservative politics.
When I started my freelance business in 2018, I was still working a 9–5 job that I, quite frankly, hated. I felt unhappy, unappreciated, underpaid, and micromanaged. I was desperate to leave the corporate world and work for myself.
As a result, I worked hard to land as many freelance clients as possible. I worked early in the mornings before my two children woke up, hurried to a coffee shop to work on my lunch breaks, and worked in the evenings after my kids had gone to bed. I took on any project that I could get in order to establish myself as a freelance professional and pad my bank account for the day I finally set out on my own. I was fortunate that my early clients aligned with my personal values, but I remember asking myself, “What am I going to do if someone approaches me and they end up being a Trump supporter?” I needed the money and the experience, but at what cost?
Throughout my entire working career, I have always heard that the things you believe in your personal life shouldn’t bleed into your professional life. Keep it at home, so to speak. So when I started on my own and realized that I could make my own rules about who I wanted to work with, I had to have a serious conversation with myself about whether or not I was willing to turn down good money if a client did not happen to speak to my sense of social justice and morality.
I knew the answer to my question before I even finished it: of course I would not align myself with someone whose values didn’t match my own. I knew on a deep level that taking money from and working with someone who didn’t stand for the things I did was unacceptable. I decided that I would be myself both personally and professionally, and if that kept me from getting more work, so be it.
I am of the mindset that if you are authentic and genuine, your people will find you. That theory applies to every facet of your business: your website, your social media, your e-mail marketing, and your day-to-day operations. Don’t be afraid to be vocal about the things you believe in. Celebrate diversity in all its beautiful forms and celebrate it loudly. There comes a time when silence is complacency, and I myself refuse to be silent any longer — and I encourage all business owners and professionals who hold progressive values to do the same.
What do you think? Have you struggled with this, and if so, what conclusion did you come to?
