A19F22

I have always identified with the business/entrepreneurial community. Ever since I was in elementary school, I’ve been involved in business ventures with either myself or my family. I started out by reselling various items at school, then eventually turned my entrepreneurial spirit into creating a clothing brand with my brother. Then, as I became older, I started an ecommerce business where I sold sporting equipment, technology items, and eventually moved onto reselling sneakers. All of these simple ventures taught me many lessons and it made me feel more connected to others in the business world, because I was now having similar feelings to them, just on a much smaller scale.

A “single story” that often gets repeated about the business community is the thought and idea that the people involved are greedy, self-centered, and arrogant. However, the majority of the time this is not the case; many entrepreneurs are kind, compassionate, and generous towards giving back to those who don’t share the same opportunities. Therefore, I would say the stereotype surrounding businessmen is not accurate in most situations because many realize that others aren’t as fortunate, so they do everything in their power to help those in need. As a result, people need to stop jumping to conclusions based on a single situation they’ve experienced, then at the same time need to keep an open mind. You can’t let just a single mishap overturn your understanding of a certain community, because then you ultimately have obtained a misunderstanding of that certain group of individuals.

Once individuals can grasp the concept of not holding onto a “single story” of a community, they can see those people in a different light, which leads to more positive experiences. When you only look at one side, you often find yourself thinking negatively about those individuals, because you don’t see anything in common with them. People often support others that they have things in common with, so if a “single story” is stopping that from happening, then a person’s outlook can look much different.