The business community cannot be silent.
Especially on the (potential) overturning of Roe v Wade
Entrepreneurs and business leaders need to be speaking out on issues that negatively impact their employees and teams, especially in a city like Austin, Texas, which has made business such a pillar to our political identity. The notion that we can somehow lead our businesses in a vacuum without any association with or perspective on what's happening socially or politically is an outdated one.
Women are such an integral part of every business I've ever run, both as employees and leaders and as customers and partners. When I had a social media consulting agency, my first client was a woman executive at a Fortune 100 company and my second client was a woman small business leader in Austin. Even the sneaker boutique I used to own, Sneak Attack, specialized in helping women see themselves as sneakerheads — long a male dominated segment of consumerism. When I ran the first-ever fashion segment of SXSW, our 15,000+ attendees were majority women as were the majority of the designers we recruited. When I worked at Bazaarvoice, my boss was a woman as were many of my colleagues. And, for the better part of the last decade running Localeur, our community has been more than 70% women.
I know there are Austin business leaders who think they can put their heads down and stick to the business, the same way there are those who believe athletes like LeBron or Kap should stick to sports, but I refuse. We all need to step up and use our voices and platforms to be advocates and allies with women in America right now who are going to suffer as a result of a group - largely made up of old men - potentially decides to remove their bodily autonomy and choice.
To all the women in my network and community here in Austin and beyond, please know I believe every person should have bodily autonomy and choice about what happens with their bodies, and I honestly don't believe men should have any say in the matter of women's bodies. This is me speaking as an entrepreneur, business leader and candidate, but mostly as a human being.