How to Use Your Platform to Fight Against Injustice

by Amanda Abella  - December 1, 2020

This year has been on the top of my crazy list, with the most recent event being the presidential race.

Several times throughout 2020, I have stood up and shared my beliefs and views, and if you didn’t know, I voted for Joe Biden. I’ve publicly expressed my views on that, and I’ve also stood up to blatant and very unfortunate Injustices that we’ve seen in 2020.

Whether on the news, out in daily life, and in certain industries, some deplorable things have happened in the coaching and financial space this year.

People Haven’t Stepped Up to the Plate for Social Injustice

People who have not stepped up to the plate? Audiences are not okay with that anymore.

I bring this up because last week, while the election was going on, I was sharing election memes. I had expressed where I stood on the issues we were voting for when I had some DMs come into my message box. Many people were super supportive; however, I did have messages that asked me if I should really choose a political side. People asked me if I wasn’t afraid that I would lose money, over-expressing my opinion.

Can You Make Money and Express Your Political Views?

I believe you cannot be a bystander in a year like 2020 when there is a whole lot of mess going on in our world. Between a pandemic, racial injustice, and an election where democracy itself was hanging in the balance, there were many platforms in which I felt I had to take a stand.

Make no mistake – that is what Americans were voting for this election. If you have a platform, your audience is watching and paying very close attention to who leads with integrity in these times and who does not. Audiences pay attention to the moves that you make online. I have been saying this since March, and it is still true.

Staying silent is not going to work for you or your business. I’m not afraid of losing money because I have integrity. I already know that not all money is good money. I also don’t put money above calling out injustices, blatant injustices, or human rights because that’s fucked up.

There are several people this year who’ve been torn apart for staying silent on major issues. Major companies are being called out for not taking a stand on the things that they claim to support In the financial space.

We’ve had unfortunate situations that have unmasked systemic racism. Big-name coaches who were silent on issues they claim to care about. This is what I have been saying for the last nine months; people are paying attention.

Be a Leader to Look Up To

People are looking for leaders with integrity, and this is why you cannot stay silent. Staying silent looks disingenuous. There are way bigger issues at play right now that don’t have to do with checking a box or the political party you belong to.

As in life and standing up for what you believe in, you can’t be lukewarm in your marketing. You also cannot be lukewarm in your leadership.

My platform started as a financial podcast. Now I teach sales, and I teach people how to make money. It’s still money, and where there’s money, there is politics 100%.

I am a huge fan of consumer activism because I feel it’s important to get your money together to give your money to the things you actually care about and the candidates you care about.

In the last year, I ended up donating more money than ever to political campaigns. Because I had to do something to cause change. The last four years of shit ain’t cute.

If you want to learn more about money being political, I have two resources for you. Both of these resources are from my friends in the financial community. Michelle Jackson and Kevin Matthews of Building Bread. They can explain the link between money and politics in more detail. To look further into this topic, those are two resources that I highly recommend.

Racist? Not in MY Backyard

We live in a free country where we are allowed to debate ideas and express them. And that is the beauty of democracy. However, I will not allow anyone to come into my orbit with racism. This will not be tolerated. Neither will baseless conspiracy theories or manipulation be tolerated.

These are my hard boundaries. The reason these are hard lines is that the former is debating ideas. The ladder is fucking with people’s lives, and this is where I have to draw a hard line.

People are paying attention. Make a stand and make some of your ideas known. I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually ended up making more money because people understand who you are, act with integrity, and have ethical boundaries.

 

Resources that are mentioned or add value to this episode:

The Importance of Developing Challenging (and Fun) Sales Goals

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