5 THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR VALUES

This week I spiraled into a rabbit hole trying to live my values.

Here’s what happened: I wanted a third-party application to sell digital products because, no offense squarespace, but doing so on here isn’t amazing. An app called Gumroad was being widely used by some business owners I was familiar with and after my research and comparisons it seemed like a really great option.

Then I thought I’d read just one more review and… *hit the breaks* that review featured a twitter thread where Gumroad made a statement in support of Blake Lives Matter, but then blocked twitter users that asked for transparency into what that meant and what actions Gumroad was willing and planning to take.

A statement in solidarity with Black Lives Matter is nice, but also just the very tippiest of tips of a massive iceberg, and it doesn’t actually mean anything more than an encouraging thumbs up without some plans to dismantle systemic racism in your organization and your industry. Needing time to formulate shareable language around this topic is ok — within reason

What is absolutely not ok is to silence the people that ask for the accountability that goes along with your show of solidarity.

I spent the better part of the rest of the day researching other ecommerce sites that might fit my need and communicating with their support teams to get a sense of their antiracism stance and actions, and I truly could not find one, and was starting to panic.

But I also realized the rabbit hole was in thinking that if I can’t live my values at 100% all of the time, I’m being fraudulent, and no better than an empty statement of solidarity.

Partnering with values-aligned companies & dismantling systemic racism and inequities is a key value, but as a business owner and service provider, another value is to offer a quality experience to you when you buy something from me. At certain points I’ll have to make the hard decision that not all values can be fully realized at all times. At least for now :)

So here’s what I’m doing with my values and what you could do too:

1. Research the software and vendors that you use for their alignment with your values.
   In my case it’s their stance on BLM, actions taken to create more equity + become antiracist, reducing unsheltered population, dismantling the school to prison pipeline, and environmental sustainability

2. Reach out directly — most companies will have some answers for you via support chats

3. Ask for the actions they’re taking in addition to any statements of support

4. Follow up until you receive a real answer to hold them accountable to

5. Share the information you find with your peers and colleagues, so we can all make well-informed choices on who we partner with

I’m compiling a list of the answers I receive from the companies I reach out to and will be posting and updating regularly! If you’d like to add to this compilation please reach out here!

UPDATE: Gumroad issued a long apology on twitter, which is sparking another conversation. Once you’ve exposed your racism and/or performative allyship, what would it take to become un-cancelled? What kind of apology and action would indicate sincerity and a true lesson learned?