Where Our Expertise Ended
The start of For The People’s ongoing journey to inclusion.
During initial meetings with Be Equitable’s (formally, ‘Cook Ross’) CEO and Owner, Michael Leslie Amilcar made it clear that this project had a hidden agenda. As a full-service consulting firm specialising in inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA), they had two key goals. The first: for their brand to strengthen and expand its mission to build a more equitable world. And the second? To shift the tide of inadequate diversity and inclusion standards across the creative industry — starting with us.
As a small studio, we don’t have a HR department or formal IDEA policies set in stone. We’ve been fortunate to date that the FTP ethos and type of work has attracted caring, empathetic and open-minded people. We knew, however, that working with Be Equitable was a rare opportunity to learn from those with expertise in IDEA and from their lived experiences.
Over the past year, we’ve recognised the areas where we need to improve. We’ve become more conscious of our own biases and behaviours, and have learned practical skills which have already been put into action — both internally and with our clients. As we continue on our IDEA journey, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the seemingly small, yet radical changes to our own perspective and share For The People’s ongoing commitment to doing the work.
Confronting the truths of our industry
It didn’t take long for us to realise we still had a lot to learn. Right at the beginning of our engagement, during a client kick-off meeting, Michael politely called us up on a common industry acronym: ‘WIP’ or ‘work in progress.’ To us, this term was second nature. We had never thought about the violent historical connotations it carries when heard as ‘whip’, or considered how else our standard industry practices impacted others.
And we weren’t alone. In our industry, engagement with IDEA is low, and the stats can prove it. The 2021 Australian Create Space Census outlined just how far we have to go. 20% of those working today say they’re likely to leave the industry based on a lack of inclusivity and discrimination. Micro-aggressions and casual discrimination are widely reported, especially among minority and marginalised groups. And only 53% of people say they are aware of their company's Diversity and Inclusion strategy and policies (if they have any at all). Based on these results, it shouldn’t surprise any of us that only 16% of people in Australian agencies are culturally diverse. The US and UK report even smaller numbers.
We encountered the impact of this inequity first-hand while searching for freelance creatives from diverse backgrounds to work with us on the project. In an industry that has done little to support or lift up talent from minority groups, it is again, unsurprising that finding and connecting with diverse creatives was unnecessarily difficult.
There is no denying this inequity — working in this industry, we intuitively know it exists. But the more we learned from Be Equitable, the more we had to confront the realities, and challenge the behaviours that our industry has become accustomed to. Be Equitable were open and willing to navigate us through this.
When Michael addressed our use of the term ‘WIP’, she didn’t criticise but she didn’t just move on either. Instead, she asked us to PAUSE — a model used by Be Equitable (and now FTP) to stop and reflect on a situation that should be discussed. With Be Equitable’s guidance, we unpacked the significance of this seemingly insignificant acronym. And instead of splintering our relationship, this became an important moment in realising how much work our industry has to do, and how to approach these necessary conversations going forward.
A short, incomplete vocabulary of discriminatory terms used in our industry:
WIP: An acronym for work in progress, that holds painful connotations of violence and repression.
Alts: progress meetings, check-ins, catch-ups
Guys: Exclusionary language, not gender neutral
Alts: folks, team, all, colleagues
Empower: Implies that one individual or group should have power over another
Alts: lift up, create space for
See/hear: e.g. ‘see more’, or ‘hear more’. These terms are not inclusive or accessible to all
Alts: learn more, find out more, recognise, distinguish
Shooting for/Aiming for: Associated with gun violence
Alts: focus on, work towards
Master/Mastery: The term ‘master’ carries strong connotations of slavery, conquering and colonisation
Alts: (Master), expert, specialist (Mastery), learn, achieve, overcome
‘Work’ and ‘life’ aren’t mutually exclusive
At For The People, we rarely shy away from discussing the hard topics, but we may not always recognise how our broader cultural context impacts our team. For so many of us, being able to separate our working lives from the world around us is a luxury.
But for Be Equitable, their work is directly informed by what’s happening around them. Throughout the project timeline, we witnessed the magnitude of the Black Lives Matter movement, mass shootings, hate crimes, and the violation of reproductive rights. These aren’t events you can simply leave behind when you log in for the day. It was in these more difficult moments that we saw the importance of Be Equitable’s work in action, starting with their own team. The following outlines the simple, yet profound ways Be Equitable responded in real-time:
Acknowledge the situation
Meetings with Be Equitable were always something we looked forward to — even with the 7am starts. We’d log into the Zoom call to excited faces. But some mornings, following such events, the mood was different — the sadness and exhaustion was almost palpable. These moments weren’t ‘business as usual’, so our workdays shouldn’t be either. Instead of putting these issues to the side, Be Equitable taught us to approach them head-on. Meetings would begin by acknowledging the tragedies unfolding and the impact they were having on the team. These conversations allowed everyone to openly express their sadness and frustrations and gave the work we were doing even more meaning.
Create space for staff
When events occurred, such as Roe v. Wade being overturned, Be Equitable created space for their team by offering a day of reflection. In these instances, timelines and projects were reshuffled in order to prioritise the well-being of employees and ensure necessary focus was on the events at hand.
Don’t shy away from what you stand for
Be Equitable approached each event as part of the work. They lived their values and mission publicly, showing their solidarity in times of crisis. They continue to prove that Be Equitable exists for something beyond their own work, and use their platform to lead by example.
Balance allyship with activism
It takes incredible courage, patience and optimism to not let these seemingly endless events build towards anger. Even from a distance, the shock waves of tragedy filled us with sadness and frustration. In times that felt hopeless, we witnessed the Be Equitable team use their energy to consider each event as an opportunity for education, instead of trying to point fingers or project their anger.
This ethos fed directly into the approach to design and voice, where provocation and boldness was balanced with empathy and optimism. The attitude of allyship transformed each possible encounter with Be Equitable into a moment for growth. Our ‘A-Z of equity’ cards is one example of this.
A safe environment to grow together
Since the beginning, we were faced with many unknowns. Although exciting, the space of IDEA is complex and oftentimes messy. We know that Be Equitable’s work deeply affects people’s lives. This was a responsibility we didn’t take lightly. And if we’re going to do it right, we’d need to recognise where our expertise ended and where Be Equitable’s began.
While we could leverage our design, strategy, and storytelling expertise, Be Equitable brought their diverse lived experiences, backgrounds and decades of expertise in IDEA. They added texture and cultural nuance that we would have otherwise missed without their perspective.
A memorable moment for our team was presenting design concepts that incorporated significant historical B&W imagery. When sharing this with Be Equitable, they questioned whether B&W imagery made these relatively recent events feel too far in the past. They challenged us to consider how we could represent history in a way that doesn’t feel removed from the context in which we live today, and the role of the brand in keeping these stories alive. Without their insight, this is something we may never have considered. This was one of many encounters that will shape the way we approach our work moving forward.
Reflecting on the branding outcome, we know that its success is largely due to the environment that afforded the freedom to experiment, learn and, “get things wrong”. Meaningfully engaging with IDEA, and growing from it requires making mistakes. There were countless opportunities to make mistakes, and each time we did, Be Equitable taught us something new. They welcomed us to be vulnerable, and we trusted Be Equitable to guide us without judgement. This support was also reciprocated by the FTP team in times when the project was overwhelming for Be Equitable.
Through our partnership, we experienced the benefit of diverse perspectives, brought together to create something greater. With every encounter, lesson and story shared the work became more expressive, more purposeful and imbued with the ethos of Be Equitable. It was another reminder of how important, and inspiring diversity is in the creative industry and the potential for missed perspectives when we don’t lift up marginalised and minority voices.
Together, For The People and Be Equitable not only produced a beautiful project, but also earned a new appreciation for each other’s expertise, and perhaps for the first time, demonstrated the power of true partnership.
But Michael articulated this much more profoundly during our Tryout: “Right team, right partner, right voice, right time.”
A lasting impact
Above are a few, select lessons that we have taken from a year of deep engagement and learning with Be Equitable. Seemingly simple, these insights have had a profound impact on the way we approach our work and team. Be Equitable has shifted our perspective on inclusivity and diversity in our industry, and our own role within it.
But they also taught us that IDEA is a journey. One in which we are wholeheartedly committed to travelling together. And one that we are excited to continue to share, and welcome our colleagues in the creative industry join us on. We know mistakes will always happen, and we can’t solve everything overnight. But every small action enables greater inclusivity and is an important step forward towards equity.
We will be sharing updates on the Be Equitable project, with the case study coming soon to the For The People website.
