Taking DEI Deeper than Content with Karen Williams

Summary

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in e-commerce has been a topic that we’ve wanted to explore on this podcast since almost day one. During and following the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020, many brands and retailers acknowledged the events by posting imagery in support of our friends and neighbors who’d had enough of not being heard. 

When I met my guest for this episode, Photo Art Director Karen Williams, I thought the conversation would focus on that, how diverse and inclusive was the content itself. It quickly become apparent that we needed to talk about the diversity of the crews creating the content. From there, it’s really hard to have the conversation about team diversity if we aren’t talking about opportunity also. Specifically, how we can create more opportunities for a more diverse team that makes our content better. 

Key Takeaways

• DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) are important in all facets of work, but with content creation, its important not to simply consider the diversity or inclusiveness of your model casting, or what appears in the media itself, but the diverse perspectives of the crew as well. 
• This can be a challenge, because people tend to bond on shared experiences and common interests. People tend to want to be around others with those common connections. This can create a challenge when building a diverse team. 
• The crew imparts a lot of itself on the content, and that can in and of itself create perspective issues when creating content. 
• It's hard to talk about diversity without touching on opportunity. Do opportunities exist in your studio for a diverse set of people to excel and succeed? Or even get a shot at trying?
• Building a foundation that creates opportunity can be very difficult, especially at legacy retailers or brands that don't necessarily have DEI baked into their policies. 
• Equipping managers to be effective moderators of conversation can be one way to ensure that diverse perspectives aren't being overlooked. 

Resources

Karen Williams on LinkedIn

How to Become a Diverse and Inclusive E-commerce Brand

Credits
Produced by: Creative Force - creativeforce.io
Edited by: Calvin Lanz Sound - clsound.net
Hosted by: Daniel Jester - danieltjester.com