At the time of this recording, our country is going through quite a lot. First you have the COVID-19 virus that struck and led to us being in quarantine for months now. With that quarantine came a lot of anxiety and even depression for many people. Businesses were forced to shut down or failed to stay open. Human contact is at the minimum. And now with an even bigger virus that has been in our country for hundreds of years is surfacing. Racism is a horrific and very real problem we sadly have to continue to face and see the repercussions of.
We can’t change the past, we can’t change history, but what we can do is learn from it. Learn and grow as a country and to be aware of all of the immoral, unethical injustice that has plagued us for centuries and stop the spread of hatred.
It took me a long time to find my voice, to speak out and not be afraid of rejection or what people thought of me and my opinions. And now that I have that voice and a platform to have it be heard, I feel it my duty to use it. To try and help change the world for the better.
That is exactly what we need right now. All of this is coming up because in the past, we haven’t done enough. We didn’t listen to warning signs or do the things we need to do to actually fix our broken system. Getting vaccines approved, looking at businesses with overcrowded areas and how to manage them, but also fixing the huge problem that is racism.
I grew up with amazing parents, who made sure to teach me that all humans are equal. No matter what level of education, color of skin, religion, sexual orientation, etc., it all comes down to we are all human beings. And human beings that are not afraid to stand out of the crowd for the things they believe in. It can be the hardest thing ever, but it needs to be done. When you have the ability to use your voice, you can be a stand for someone that cannot.
When the corona virus infected us, I looked at it as a chance to make some real change in how we run things, in this country and also our businesses. A lot of systems currently in place are outdated or not working properly and desperately need change to be brought. We now have this chance to slow down for a second and really look at how things are running and how we can do them better.
For too many people, business is all about money, money, money. Making more, increasing sales, increasing revenue and profits. In reality, this is a terrible way to run a business. The core focus of business should be to bring solutions and happiness to people, to create some kind of transformation they want to see. And with this time to reflect, we should be hyper-focused not on our income, but on how we are going to take that ability to transform lives and use it to fix today’s problems, and tomorrow’s as well.
Racism however, this isn’t something new. It’s been around us every day, and sadly the travesty in Minneapolis that ended with the taking of George Floyd’s life had to happen to wake us up. But any opportunity to make real change in something so ignorant and inexcusable needs to be called upon. This is not to say I support the violence and rioting that is also taking place. We need to fight this fight by educating people and being stands for those who cannot be heard.
“The world isn’t always going to agree with what you say, and the world isn’t always going to agree with the belief that you have, that everyone is equal and everybody deserves a chance to achieve success and achieve their dreams. But you know what? That’s okay, because you need to be a stand, you need to be a stand and you need to do what you feel is right. And use your voice to create change. And use your voice to do what’s right, to help other people and to push that feeling, that belief that you have that everybody is equal.” This is something my dad said to me many, many years ago that has always stuck with me. It is a big part of how I live my life and what I built my business on.
I am blessed to have been raised this way, because there are those who were not. But they too can change, we just have to help them to learn. And we can start by implementing these values into our businesses. To make what we do more about creating a sense of community and culture instead of putting a money sign on everything. Because when you take care of your employees, your customers, your community, what you get in return is the real wealth. The wealth of having made real change for the world and creating a society of people who share the same values.
This is a time to make real changes in the world. Do your part in helping make those changes and encourage equality in your business, encourage freedom and education and diversity. Because that is where innovation comes from. From taking people with different outlooks and perspectives and backgrounds to all come together and create something the world has maybe never seen before. This is a chance to make history and we need to seize it. All that is happening right now is either going to tear us right in half, or bring us together as a nation to end all of the turmoil we are seeing and experiencing.
I know I want to be a part of the difference-makers. The ones who are going to change the future. It starts today, are you with me?
If you enjoyed this episode and in some way it inspired you to start taking action, I’d love to hear about it and know your biggest take away. Send me a DM on Instagram @theresacantley and let me know what your favorite part was.
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If there is a topic you would love me to talk about or a question you may have send it to us at theresa@theresacantley.com and we’ll feature it on one of our future episodes.
LINKS:
To download a transcription of this episode click here.
Episode 64 – The Lesson This Pandemic is Teaching Us and How it Will Help the Economy
Episode 63 – 5 Barriers that are Holding You Back from Building a Resilient Business
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