For 15 years I’ve had a vision of a bricks and mortar building full of women creative entrepreneur types including designers, illustrators, photographers, writers who would work separately but refer and pitch larger work together. It was just a vision until 2020, when I recognized a unique moment to move a version of this forward into reality.

The pandemic isolated us in early 2020, making the bricks and mortar part of my vision seem  ridiculous. Leaving that notion behind opened me up to start working on this vision again from a different angle – it could be virtual. At the same time, I wasn’t finding fulfillment in the business that I had run for almost 18 years. All of this led me to conclude: it was time to do something new. 

And then the murder of George Floyd happened. I grieved. I started reading. I grieved some more. I contemplated, “Why have I not worked with a Black designer in over 20 years?” “Why are my LinkedIn contacts all white?” How did this come to be?

I began to write my racism story. And I did more soul-searching. 

And slowly, this idea of a collaborative, honoring racial and gender equity in the advertising and marketing world came into focus. I started interviewing friends, colleagues and telling them about this idea. Some people thought it was a great idea. Others stopped me in my tracks, saying: 

“YOU CAN’T DO THAT.” 

How many times did I hear that phrase? From white friends. From a dear Black friend. From a marketing person, “No marketer would be interested in that.” 

A white male friend shared a comment that will stick with me forever, “Why would you have a Black MAN on your board?” (Answer: because he gets it. He gets what it is like to be marginalized, just like a lot of our white women allies understand what it is like to be marginalized in the design world.) 

A white woman asked, “Why only women?” I’ll tell you why. Because we, as women, know what it’s like to be seen and not heard. As women we are invited to a seat at the table, but expected to “use your femininity,” as an old boss told me. I remember asking to see the marketing budget as the first-ever internal creative director at a large privately-held company and I was told, “You don’t need to see the budget. You just need to make things pretty.” YES. These things happened. Not to mention the daily sexual harassment I endured at my first job out of design school with my male boss. IT HAPPENS. Believe me. Yet we persevere. 

And can you imagine the micro-aggressions and marginalization that Black and BIPOC women endure? I have heard too many stories that have brought me to tears. 

Fast forward to present-day. We have launched this amazing collaborative called Addwomxn with a dream-team of diverse women talent. We have secured a multi-year, multi-million dollar project (news coming soon) with a client that was not only looking for a diverse team, but looking for a team that comes with unique and divergent thinking. 

And what about the Black woman friend who told me, “You can’t do that.”? Well, she has since told me that I did, in fact, prove her wrong. Because she has seen so many white people SAY they are going to do something like be an ally or start a new business and advocate for racial equity, but they never follow through. 

It’s a good thing I didn’t listen to the doubters. Even the well-intentioned, cautionary ones.