How to Boost Diversity in the Wellness Industry, According to BIPOC
Wellness companies across the US, including Nutritious Life, are striving to become more diverse within the walls of their own businesses as well as promote more inclusion and equity as a part of their campaigns and brand initiatives. Historically, you would rarely see a Black, Indigenous or Person of Color (BIPOC) appear in any wide-ranging wellness related advertising or marketing campaigns. Brands, in general, used limited, if any, diversity as it related to skin tone, hair texture, body shapes, or cultural background. Fortunately, we have reached a point in time when companies in the wellness industry are finally starting to recognize that they can and must do better when it comes to inclusive representation both internally and in their campaigns, promotions and products. This lack of diversity and inclusion is a systemic issue which will require bold steps to bring about lasting change. There is a long road ahead, but here at Nutritious Life we are on our way. In continuing to be a part of the solution, we spoke to some of our Nutritious Life Studio BIPOC alumni to discuss how the wellness industry can do better when it comes to diversity and inclusion. One thing was made clear—while Black History Month is an extremely important time to shed light on the BIPOC communities—we can’t limit the effort of awareness to the challenges they face within our industry to only one month a year. Read on to hear how change can be made, starting today. RELATED: How to Build Diversity into Your Wellness Practice HOW WELLNESS COMPANIES THEMSELVES CAN INCORPORATE MORE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION FOLLOW THROUGH IS ESSENTIAL Amanda Robinson, is a “movement master” and NLS alum. A veteran NBA Dancer and classically-trained ballerina, Amanda has performed with everyone from Nicki Minaj, Drake, Lin Manuel Miranda, and appeared on SNL and America’s Got Talent. As a fitness trainer and health coach, she has first-hand experience and insight as to where the industry is lacking. She notes that there are many mistakes companies in the industry are making as it relates to diversity. While they may have the best of intentions, the issue comes with lack of follow through. As Robinson points out, being all talk and no action is a huge issue. “A great example was when many companies posted the black square on Instagram to support Black Lives Matter, then failed to keep this issue on the forefront of their platforms once the fanfare died down,” she says. Consistency and follow through are key. There doesn’t need to be an elaborate plan to start. Some ways Robinson suggests getting started: Reach out to initiate contact and build personal relationships with people of color. Evaluate your team to consider if they portray a diverse, inclusive unit. Strategize, hire, and work in coalition with people of color on a regular basis to amplify their voices, understand their experience, and honor their contributions to society/the business. Use your platform to honor historical figures and the stories of people of color routinely rather than just during designated cultural holidays/celebratory months. Digest and discuss the implications of white privilege and demonstrate advocacy for allyship on how to dismantle it. ID racism as it’s happening and let this be an ongoing conversation to confront these issues over and over again in public and private. There are so many talented black professionals in the wellness industry. In order to truly do better, companies need to champion those rising stars. “Don’t just give POC a seat at the table, but rather after years of muting and diluting their culture, put them on a pedestal loudly and proudly,” Robinson says. “Celebrate the beautiful differences of POC and increase mindfulness and awareness around the importance of diversity, and organize events, forums, features/tributes to amplify the voices of POC.” RELATED: 16 Black-Owned Clean Beauty Companies to Support Now and Forever ENGAGE PEOPLE OF COLOR YEAR ROUND Dr. Cori Cooper is a pharmacist and Nutritious Life Certified health coach. As a working mom herself, Dr. Cori understands what happens when women allow work to dictate their priorities and ultimately sacrifice their health for a steady paycheck. She uses her Clean Up Your Gut™ system to show women a path to business ownership and financial independence. Her business model involves helping women of color build a successful network marketing business by giving them access to a duplicatable system focused on gut health in order to create residual income. She encourages all wellness leaders to not only employ people of color, but also to partner with communities of color to execute on business objectives. “Only engaging people of color by doing the above at certain times of year (like Black History Month), or following an event that publicly attacks people of color isn’t going to move the needle,” she explains. “Companies should develop a diversity and inclusion advisory council that encourages constant dialogue around issues of color and regularly engages the community of people of color. This is critical in the wellness community because of the perception of the type of people involved in wellness businesses.” Some of the ways Dr. Cooper suggests getting started: Acknowledge issues important to those communities and become an active partner. Offer support to employees of color where applicable. Realize this is an important conversation not limited to one month out the year or following an incident that demands attention. Know the numbers. Data suggest that companies that focus on diversity and inclusion are more successful and report more satisfactory work environments. MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE Lorien Talmadge is a holistic lifestyle coach, AADP Board Certified and currently pursuing her Master Certification with Nutritious Life Studio. Her mission is to demystify what is required to live optimally by making small, doable shifts that have huge impacts. “Diversity can include creating an accessible space for clients, but also employees and practitioners. Wellness is for everybody and should be reflected that way from branding and marketing to what services the company is offering. “Wellness needs to meet
How to Build Diversity and Inclusion into Your Wellness Practice
Ask Keri: As a wellness professional, how can I make sure my practice serves clients from a diversity of backgrounds? Keri Says: This is such an important question to tackle at this moment and time, but it’s also a question we should be asking ourselves every step of the way—from the start of our careers onward. After many years teaching and engaging with all kinds of wellness professionals through the Nutritious Life Studio’s educational programs, I know that nutritionists, trainers, yoga teachers, and health coaches are service professionals. Almost all of us choose these jobs because we are driven to help people live healthier, happier lives. Figuring out the best way to do that is an ongoing process. As a registered dietitian who has been seeing clients for nearly 20 years, one of the important principles I’ve come to depend on is that “wellness is personal.” The concept is even part of the Nutritious Life Manifesto: “Whatever science or tradition says, if a strategy isn’t right for your body and your lifestyle, it won’t work. Every individual is unique, and there is endless variation in terms of what your most Nutritious Life looks like.” But here’s the thing: The fact that every individual is different doesn’t mean that overarching factors like race, gender, and economic status don’t have a serious impact on health risks. In fact, scientific evidence tells us those factors are inextricably linked to varied outcomes in terms of diet-related diseases, mental health, and more. So, if we want to support a diversity of clients, we have to recognize those factors, when, for example, a Black woman comes in to work on her nutrition goals versus a White man. Here are some tips and resources to prepare yourself and your practice to better serve a diverse clientele, especially to support historically underserved populations in living their most Nutritious Lives. How to Build Diversity and Inclusion in Your Wellness Practice 1. Educate Yourself on Racial Healthcare Disparities Recently, it’s become clear that Black Americans are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Unfortunately, that’s a current example of how people of color have long faced higher disease risks and worse health outcomes in the US. A 2017 report found that Black Americans are at higher risk for high blood pressure and are twice as likely as White Americans to die from heart disease, and that Black people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are more likely to live with or die from conditions like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, which typically occur at older ages in White people. Another example: The mortality rate for African American women diagnosed with breast cancer is 42% higher than for White women. As a wellness professional, your first job is to educate yourself on these disparities before a client sits down in your office or steps onto a yoga mat. That doesn’t mean you should stop treating each client as a unique individual (don’t!), it’s just about educating yourself so that you’ve got context whenever you need it. 2. Consider Culture and Life Experiences Race and culture are not the same thing, but they can be intertwined in many ways. And dietary patterns and preferences are heavily influenced by culture. If your client is Jewish and keeps Kosher, your Simply Roasted Shrimp recipe isn’t going to fit into their healthy eating plan. By the way, it’s also important to respect and give credit to the cultural roots of health foods that are presented as new “trends” in wellness. Often, those foods are “new” only in the sense that White people are starting to eat them. Take turmeric, for example, which we love at NL. While it’s gotten a lot of attention in the past few years, it’s ancient. In fact, Indian people have been using it in food and medicine for thousands of years. Acknowledging those cultural roots is an important step towards making sure the way we talk about health and wellness is not framed entirely by a White perspective. Finally, another piece of wisdom from the NL manifesto: “We like to ask big, philosophical, and scientific questions about the best ways to lose weight and stress less, but it’s the stuff of life—meetings, bills, phone calls, family drama, and annoying errands—that distracts, damages, and derails us from our true purpose. Dealing with those details is where the magic happens…” In order to serve diverse clients, you’ve got to acknowledge that that “stuff of life” may be very different for people from different racial and economic backgrounds. Acknowledge that you may not know what a client’s “stuff” looks like if their background is incredibly different from your own, and ask questions instead of assuming. 3. Consider Issues of Access Some of the health disparities mentioned earlier are partially attributable to the fact that Black people are also less likely to receive preventive care and often receive lower-quality care. They’re also less likely to have health insurance. As wellness professionals (and especially for those of us in a position of white privilege), it’s our job to actively work to address those inequities in care. Maybe that means making an active effort to change your marketing to diversify your clientele or offer special services to historically underserved populations. Or maybe it means pricing your services on a sliding scale, offering discounts for people of color and/or low-income clients, or setting aside a certain amount of time each month to offer free or donation-based sessions. In the end, we can all do our part in making nutrition and wellness more inclusive and tackling health and wellness disparities. One of my most important principles is the idea that all of the different pillars of living a Nutritious Life—from stress to relationships to eating habits—are connected and influence each other in all directions. It’s a philosophy that intersects with tackling disparities, since race and gender and economic status are all interconnected, too, and influence each person’s ability to live their healthiest life. And learning to
