Feminist Founders Subscriber-Only Podcast

Becky Mollenkamp (00:00.952)
Hello, wonderful subscribers. Thank you so much for being a paid subscriber, for listening to these bonus episodes or these private podcast episodes that Faith and I do. It really means a lot to us. And we just really talk off the head of like whatever is going on in our minds. And something I've been thinking about that I thought I would share with you is about thinking of your work as activism. I had a client, I coach a lot of coaches. And so this was a coach client who was talking about

feelings of nearing burnout and just exhaustion and overwhelm because she said, I think of my work as my activism. And so it's feeling even heavier right now with the world and the state that it is. And it was a really great reminder for me as well as somebody who also thinks of her work as her activism. And I know so many others may as well, but also it made me think

that there are so many of us who maybe don't think of our work as our activism. And I wanted to encourage you to think of it, to sort of reevaluate that. I'm sure you're here because you are a founder who cares deeply. That's what Feminist Founders is all about. People who want to radically change the way we think about work, who want to honor the full humanity of all people. And we're living through a time where that feels especially challenged and especially difficult because

the systems are doubling and tripling down on the opposite, right? Of reinforcing toxic capitalism, of reinforcing profits over people. And so it can feel really hard. And when you are somebody who cares deeply, there can be this thing that happens, see if this feels familiar to you, because it's what I feel, which is like, I should be doing more. I should be out on the street protesting. I should be...

running for office, should be doing whatever I think activism looks like. Which for most of us, we think of it in a way of being something very demonstrative, like we see the people and they see the anger and we see the push for change. And those things are absolutely activism and valid and important forms of activism. But I think it's important for us to remember that that is not the only way activism looks.

Becky Mollenkamp (02:24.116)
I am a big fan of and shout out to Taina Brown for introducing me to the Social Change Ecosystem Map from Deepa Iyer. That's D-E-E-P-A-I-Y-E-R. And it's a wonderful book you can get and it's a workbook, really useful to think about social change and the ways that we can be a part of it. But I think the ecosystem map that she has created, which you can just find online if you type in

Deepa Iyer social change map, you'll easily find it. And at the center of it is the things that we all care about, equity, liberation, justice, solidarity, what we're all fighting for. And around it, you'll find 10, I believe, yes, 10 circles and 10 different ways that we can all be a part of creating that world that we're all wanting. And while some of it is that frontline responders, the people that are, you

out there on the front lines or the disruptors who are the people who are really like, you know, those are the roles that we typically think of. Those people that are really out there being the face of the change and of the movement. They are not the only roles. There's also the caregivers, the people who tend to those people. There's the visionaries, the people who are casting the vision for what's possible that the other folks are fighting for.

There's the builders, the people who are creating systems, who are creating tools and resources, everything that those folks need to be able to go and be about the role of change, creating change. There's the healers, which is similar to the caregivers, but a little different. The storytellers, the guides, those are the people who are sort of helping others. The visionaries are the ones casting the vision, the storytellers.

are the ones helping people understand that vision, contextualize it, get excited about it. The guides who are helping create the plan forward towards that. The weavers who are helping to integrate all of this stuff. The experimenters who are trying different things to see what works. And all of us, whatever work we do, will fall into some of these categories, one or multiple of them. They may just not look like the people out on the front lines.

Becky Mollenkamp (04:48.088)
But so many of us, maybe you're a therapist or a coach and you're a part of that caregiver or healer space. you do Tai Chi or yoga or massage, you are one of those healers. You are a person who's helping to create space for healing for the people who need that so they can stay involved in the fight. You may be someone who does content marketing.

And a piece of that can be integrating some of these stories. Maybe you're a journalist, you know, you're the storyteller. If you're an experimenter, maybe you work in the tech space and you're the kind of person who's trying to test out new theories and see what can work. You may be a part of that. There are so many ways that we can all be a part of this. And I think it's is incumbent upon us to think about what does it look like when I think about my work as my activism?

What might shift in the way I show up with my work and what I'm doing in my work? How I'm thinking about my work now and always, know, especially in this moment and responding to what's going on, but in all ways, in all times, if I care deeply about equity, liberty, justice, solidarity, how am I making sure my work is a part of creating that change? It does not, again, have to look like saying that means my work is

you know, I have to drop everything and go get on the front lines. It might look like it just means that I begin to do a little more of that storytelling and my own marketing. Maybe it looks like making sure that my healing work is integrating the needs of these people who are more on the front lines or speaking directly to them. What can you do inside of your work to think about it as activism?

And I think part of that is it's important to understand how all of our work, no matter what you do, is inside of these bigger systems. And so it is a response to the bigger world. Like it can be easy to think, well, I just do marketing for X, Y, or Z kind of company has nothing to do with the government. has nothing to do with what's going on socially. We're not part of creating the change. And yet.

Becky Mollenkamp (07:06.252)
You exist inside of these systems that are.

Becky Mollenkamp (07:12.706)
designed to keep us back, to create the change we don't want. Your business, no matter what it is, exists inside the systems and is therefore political. And so whether it's because some of the things that are happening with the Small Business Administration or the government's changes around taxes and services, if you are a company that pays taxes, if you are a...

an employee who pays taxes. If you are a company that is a small business that could potentially be affected by any of the changes coming at small businesses. If you are an company with employees, that necessarily means all of the issues around diversity, equity and inclusion matter. So in all the ways these things affect our businesses, whether our businesses are obviously and decidedly political or not, they are political.

We, our existence is political, our business's existence and our own existence inside of these systems is political. And that's why it's so important for us to think about our work as activism. And again, what that looks like can vary wildly. And it's, I think it is a great read to go look at Deepa Iyer's work around social change to understand all of these different roles and how you can be a part of these systems and how we are all part of this bigger

framework, this bigger ecosystem that we are all a community and a collective and in our own ways, we can be a part of the change and figuring out these 10 roles, these 10 social roles and how you can be a part of change without having to be on the front lines. I think it's really valuable. But even if you don't get the book or if you just look online and learn a little more about it, my encouraging of you this week is to be thinking about.

How do I view my work as activism? How can my work be activism? How can my work be part of the bigger change? And it does not have to be in grand monumental ways. It can be in small ways. It can be in the smallest ways about, for example, if you put anything on your website or anywhere forward-facing that talks about your commitment to DEIB, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, that is resistance in this moment when those things are being so attacked.

Becky Mollenkamp (09:35.896)
That is activism. Simply saying and asserting these things matter to our company, these things matter to me, that is activism. And there are many, many other ways that you can do this, but that's just one small example. And the point being it does not have to be big monumental things. And in fact, the greatest change often comes from all of these small defiant acts that add up. So looking for how those can exist inside of your business.

how you can find the little ways every day to challenge what's happening and to view your work as activism and to view yourself as an activist, even if that's something you've never really thought of yourself as before, because more than likely you are and you certainly can be. So I really encourage you to think about that. And then the final thing I just wanna mention is because we are all activists, whether we fully realize it or not, we all can and should and are able to step into this role

of everyday activist in whatever ways that looks in our own lives and our business lives. But because we are all activists, we also have to be very, very mindful of our own self-care because activism is an energetic drain. It is asking you to give, to give, to fight, right? It requires an energy that can easily drain you. And so it's really, really important as you shift into thinking about your work as activism,

Start looking for these everyday moments and ways that you can be an activist to fight for change, to know that that will be adding onto your plate. Even if they're small ways, it's small things adding onto your plate that will emotionally, energetically, physically begin to drain you if you don't replenish that energy by caring for yourself and the ways that you know are nourishing to you. So really think about

If you're going to like intentionally make this shift, or if you already know you're already really deep into activism, to be thinking about how am gonna care for myself? Does that mean I need extra rest? Does that mean I need extra time in community? Does it mean I need extra movement? So to think about what are the things that nourish you, and if you aren't clear on those, boy boy is it helpful to get clear on those. We all need to know how we nourish ourselves.

Becky Mollenkamp (12:00.428)
and that can often be multiple things that help to nourish ourselves. But it's important to know what those are and so that you can be more intentional about adding those into your days. So I wanna really encourage you to think about that as well. So my goal for this episode is to get your brain spinning a little bit about how is my work my activism or how can my work be my activism? Secondly, what are the little...

everyday acts of activism, the little everyday moments of resistance that I can begin to try to integrate into my life more. What are the small things? We don't have to think so big. Let's think of small ways that we resist, that we say, am showing up in this fight to create the world that I want. And then third is how do I care for myself as I do this? How do I make sure that I'm constantly nourishing myself?

as I engage more in this fight for change because I don't want you to burn out. I would love to hear from you on what you think about when you think about your work as your activism. Feel free to email me, becky at beckymollincamp.com or you can find me on bluesky at Becky Mullencamp and tell me there. But I would love to know from others as they begin to think about this, how is your work, your activism or how could it be? What do you want that to look like?

So thank you for listening and thank you if you share. We love having you as part of our paid community. And a reminder, if you're listening to this one live or soon after it comes out, that you, because you get this, you are a member of the Feminist Founders Society. That is our community of paid members. And we have our next monthly gathering on March 25th at noon central, 1 p.m. Eastern. We will get together and we're gonna be talking about leadership.

largely probably around self leadership, but also some about leading others. But I hope that you'll join us because that also kind of gets to the heart of this, seeing myself as an activist, my business as an activist, that that is a way that I am showing up as a leader. And if that's something you've been thinking about, self leadership, leadership of others, if you're wanting to bring more training and reflection into your life around leadership.

Becky Mollenkamp (14:21.336)
We hope you'll join us on the 25th at noon central. If you need the link to that, you'll be getting it in the email. So watch for it, but you can also email me and I'm happy to share that. Becky at beckymollencamp.com. Just mention the Feminist Founders Society and that you want to make sure you get the calendar so you can add those too. Cause we have all of the upcoming calls. You can get those added into your calendar if you haven't already. If you need that, just email me. All right.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here, for being paid subscriber, for being part of the society, hopefully for joining us on our next live call and for thinking about your work as activism. And I hope it energizes you to start thinking about ways you can show up more dynamically. Have a wonderful rest of your week.