Rhodesia of Rhodesia J. Designs
Rhodesia is a branding and web designer who works with feminist visionaries whose mission is to be more inclusive and diverse in their messaging, marketing, and company culture. When not working on design projects, she guides small business owners through the process of making their marketing more inclusive and reflective of their values.
HER START
Rhodesia talks about her start and going to school for graphic design and taking a typical corporate path and then getting sick with cancer. That for her was a wake up call and she knew that what she was doing didn’t align with her values so she ended up leaving and starting her own business. She realized that the jobs she loved the most and had the best connections with her clients were the jobs with feminist busines owners where they shared values. Things like making sure that people have access to things regardless of their social status or financial status and making sure people are able to live full and vibrant lives.
TAKING THE LEAP
Rhodesia talks about having wanted to wait before going out fully on her own so that she could save up and do it at the right time but then ending up quitting her corporate job sooner because she realized she simply wasn’t focused and driven in what she was doing. She says that time is valuable and you don’t get it back but ultimately If anything went wrong she knew she could get another job. She stresses that even if that were the scenario it wouldn’t be failure but rather continuing on the journey.
ON DESIGN
Rhodesia talks about spending a lot of time connecting with her clients and strategizing around who they are and what their business is and bringing that out in their branding. She stresses that people don’t always realize that you are your brand and you are your business and not having that front and center really hurts you because at the end of the day you’re just another coach or just another fitness instructor, for example.
ON INCLUSIVITY
We discuss Rhodesia’s mission to help business owners incorporate inclusivity into their business. Rhodesia talks about having planned to shift to this part of her business prior and turning it into high gear as events unfolded and ramped up over the summer after the death of George Floyd because she knew it was such an important conversation to have, not just around race but also sexuality, gender or class. She says that anything else that you think of that can make someone different needs to be addressed when you’re in a business. She stresses that when you are ignoring a whole sect of people in the world you are essentially erasing them but by including them in your business you are not only able to make more money but ultimately the more important part is that everyone is accepted, celebrated and respected in your business. Being able to help her clients infuse this into their business has been her form of activism and her way to push for change. Rhodesia talks about how things like changing the stock photos on your website or making sure you have a text that is very legible for people who are impaired might seem small but it shows people that you see them and they are on your mind and you are thinking of them and she explains how that is groundbreaking for someone who has always been erased or pushed to the back or separated out and only had their differences pointed out.
WAYS TO BE MINDFUL AND MORE INCLUSIVE IN YOUR OWN BUSINESS
Rhodesia and I discuss ways that business owners can be more inclusive in their business. She says that the first step is really taking stock of where your biases are, the thoughts that you have about different people, the stereotypes that you have in your head that exists and things that you say and do and that the sooner you acknowledge those the sooner you can work on fighting back against them and taking a moment to think about why you reacted that way or, for example, why am I leaning towards hiring this person over that person.
Rhodesia suggests making sure you are following people on social media who don’t just look like you. She says that is something she works on herself to try and broaden her horizons but making sure that you make an effort to try and follow people who don’t have the same experiences as you because that is the only way you’ll be able to learn and see a different point of view and really get a good insight into how someone is living and what it is like to live like them. She explains that once you are able to do that you should be able to empathize with them and see things from their point of view and that it should then be easier to make things more inclusive for them. She thinks that a lot of the reason people don’t make things more inclusive is because they simply aren’t thinking about it or it didn’t cross their mind.
DIVERSITY IN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
Rhodesia suggests iStock and Shutterstock to seek images that have selections of people of color, people with larger bodies or people living with disabilities, for example. She also suggests Body Liberation by Lindley Ashline that has great photos of people with larger bodies living full, vibrant lives. Rhodesia says that sometimes as a plus size person or larger bodied person, finding photos of people who are just living and not a strange stereotype can be hard. Nappy Co. is another site that is entirely devoted to having images of people of color.
ON MIXING BUSINESS AND POLITICS
I ask Rhodesia to share her thoughts on people who might have fear of mixing business and politics. She says that the first thing to do is realize that someone’s identity is not political. She says “Me being a queer black woman should not be political whatsoever. My right to exist in the world should not be political and having a photo or supporting queer rights should not be political. It is a human rights issue to me.” She goes on to explain that if that is something you’re concerned about you should ask yourself if you want to work with people who you think would be upset if you post a photo of someone in a wheelchair and is their business or money that important to you.
WEAVING YOUR VALUES INTO YOUR BUSINESS
Rhodesia talks about the numerous resources that exist to make sure you are coming at your business from an anti-oppression lens. She talks about making sure that your products and services are affordable and accessible for all people and creating sliding scales or scholarship opportunities. We discuss making sure that your text is live on your website and not in images so that people who use screen readers can access your site. Additionally site titles and transcripts of your podcast.
BUILT TO BE INCLUSIVE
Rhodesia talks about her Facebook group, Built to Be Inclusive. She started it because she realized there were so many places where people need support to talk about these kinds of issues and she wanted a place to get input from other business owners as well.
STRUGGLES & HER FAVORITE/LEAST FAVORITE PARTS OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
I ask Rhodesia where she struggles in her own business and we discuss prioritization and getting excited about new ideas. We also discuss her favorite part of her work and she says that it is seeing her clients' business grow and how it is so rewarding. Also seeing people in the Facebook group ask great questions and seeing people try to make things better. Rhodesia talks about her least favorite part being things like finances and emails, etc. which we all can relate with.
HAPPENING NOW
We discuss Rhodesia’s focus on her facebook group and shifting her business towards inclusivity and working with feminist business owners and having people gather in the group to communicate, interact and collaborate. You can find her facebook group at Built to Be Inclusive.
Book Club Recommendations: The Body is Not an Apology
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