#EmbraceEquity ViDEO Style!

What Does It Mean?

The theme for International Women’s Day this year is #EmbraceEquity and I think there are a few things we can delve into around that.

What does it mean to me?

What does it mean to you?

How does it affect our businesses and, of course,

How is that all reflected in our ViDEOs?!

EQUITY Is Not The Same As EQUALITY

To me, Equity is about giving everyone an equal chance.

And that won’t mean the same thing for everyone involved.

For example, when I was teaching at one of the colleges in Edinburgh, we had some students who were dyslexic.

Once those students had been identified – and it amazed me how many had gone through the school system without it being picked up - they could be given coloured overlays, access to technology, extra time for exams and so on.

Those aids then allowed them to have more of an equal opportunity to do well at college.

We didn’t have to give coloured overlays or extra exam time to all the students, just to those who were dyslexic and needed that help so that they could then be on par with their peers.

There’s another analogy that I think works well and is shared quite a lot so you might have come across it before.

Imagine 3 people trying to look over a fence.

The people are all different heights but they’re all too short to see over that fence.

If each person is given a step to stand on, that’s EQUALITY.

But although the tallest person can now see over the fence, the shorter people can’t.

If you give the shorter people individual steps which are high enough to allow each of them to see over the fence, that is EQUITY.

The 3 steps might all be different heights - but they allow the 3 people to see over the fence at the same height.

To me, EQUITY is about assessing individual needs and then addressing those needs to allow EQUALITY to take place.

What Can I Do, What Can WE Do and What Can Our BUSINESSES and Our ViDEOs Do to #EmbraceEquity?

I always try to see past stereotypes and not get bogged down with prejudices.

When we hear someone speak a certain way or dress in a particular fashion, it’s very easy to make snap judgements about that person.

But if there’s one thing that working for the BBC and with ViDEO has taught me, it’s that everybody has a story.

Everybody has their own personal set of circumstances which has made them who they are.

It’s not our place to judge.

It’s our place to understand, perhaps to show empathy and to give support where we can.

So, we have to LISTEN to people.

We have to UNDERSTAND people.

We have to SUPPORT people.

If we actually LISTEN to people, we can HEAR their STORY.

What’s happened to them in the past?

What’s going on with them now?

Do they need us to support them – and if so, how can we do that?

Well, often we can use our BUSINESS to help.

We can help by INSPIRING

We can use our business to TEACH

So,

We can inspire by Telling our own story

(Do you know I used to be painfully camera shy?)

We can inspire by Showing what we do

(You see me on camera now?!)

We can inspire by Speaking up and speaking out

(Here I am!)

We can inspire by Showing our support

(I'm here for you!)

We can inspire other Business Owners

We can inspire our Partners

We can inspire our Children, our Family, our Friends

We can inspire Complete Strangers who see us in action

It's Harder for Women...

As you may know by now, one of the things I’m big on encouraging people to do is to Be The Face of Your Brand.

And often this can be harder for women than it is for men.

That’s why I created my From Camera Shy to Camera Confident course.

I understand the challenges that women especially, face when it comes to getting on camera - and that's putting it mildly!

Women can be out of the workplace for a while to have and to look after children.

Women can get bogged down with other family commitments, maybe ageing parents.

Women can more easily be passed over when it comes to promotion in the workplace – according

to Jennifer Willey, women get interrupted 3 times more than men!

Men ageing can be seen as a maturing whereas with women, they’re often thought of as ‘losing

their looks’.

Women can easily lose their confidence and lose their voice for these and many other reasons.

I LOVE helping women find their VOICE and find their CONFIDENCE in front of the camera!

I LOVE being able to help women tell their STORY and to Be Seen, Be Heard, Be Known! (Sounds like a great name for a FB group! ;) )

And I LOVE that those women can then go out and do what they do to, to help more people!

That ripple effect just keeps on giving!

And What Can YOU Do?

Listen to women.

Buy from women – and give them a testimonial or recommendation.

If you can’t or don’t want to buy from women in business – Share their posts on social media.

Help them with whatever their story is – be a part of it, show your support and encouragement,

often that’s enough to get them started or moving in the right direction.

Show up and Be the Face of YOUR Brand!

Inspire other women, tell them what you do and how you do it!

Model good behaviour and examples for your family and your friends.

In Your ViDEOs

Add subtitles so that your ViDEOs are more inclusive.

Be careful about the language you use.

One word I know I’m guilty of using when I’m speaking to a group of people of mixed gender (or

my kids), is ‘guys’.

I suppose ‘folks’ would cover it.

I’m still learning.

But be mindful of your language.

If you’re using stock images – show a variety of people.

And I don’t mean just add in one person of colour and think that’s enough because that’s not going

to cut it.

Stamp Out Stereotypes.

Start Now

And yes, International Women’s Day is about women – and that should include ALL women - but I think we can spread it further to help anyone who has been marginalised in any way.

And this day, once a year? It’s a good way to help us focus and to learn but it shouldn’t stop there.

We should be learning and planning actions that we can then implement all year round, day in, day out.

We can start now.

We can #EmbraceEquity

So, that’s my first blog in quite a while.

I hope it’s been helpful in some way because this is all stuff that I’m quite passionate about (in case you hadn’t realised!).

Let me know what you think and remember, it’s never too late to start using ViDEO and YOU really can be an Awesome ViDEO Star!

You know where I am if you need me.

Take care & bye for now!

Jx

PS Remember to enjoy your ViDEO Ventures!