Community Commitments

The BS Free Business community consists of both paid clients, as well as podcast listeners and social media followers.

While our primary commitment is to our paid clients, these commitments may extend to our broader community.

Guidelines for how we consent to be engaged on our primary social media platform Instagram, can be found here. We’re open to dialog, but when that crosses into demands or critique without context, or disrespect, that’s where it’s over the line, and is a one-way ticket to being blocked.

It’s worth noting that social media represents only a fraction of the work we create and we fully recognize that we’re often dealing with complex, layered and nuanced issues. For context, we encourage you to read or listen to our essays and podcast episodes for the complete picture.

Equity

We're focused on equity by design. We value and support all identities including (but not limited to); race, gender, abilities, LGBTQIA2SP+, age, and religion.

We’re deeply committed to continuously improving our business practices to prioritize equity of all groups. Within our community, the expectation is that the safety of all identities takes priority over our individual comfort.

All members of our paid programs are bound by a community code of conduct to this effect.

Dialogue Over Dominance

We reject hierarchical power structures and forms of communication. With our clients, and community, we’re focused on having an open and ongoing dialogue.

We view our conversations as a collaboration and we commit to being self-aware of our position and any potential power dynamics. We believe in your personal sovereignty including self-determination, self-respect and self-trust.

In our work together, our role is one of a consultant where we’re a collaborator, a contributor, and a conspirator to help you make things happen. You’re the ultimate decision maker, and our support is based on your ongoing consent.

Consent

For clients, consent is a vital part of our work together, and you can withdraw it anytime.

We’ll refresh consent throughout our work together, including, but not limited to: when providing feedback, when new developments arise and when handling confidential information. You reserve the right to change your mind as we work together and our relationship evolves or changes.

Community Care

For equity to be a reality, even within the context of our businesses, we need to start with community care. As explained by Nakita Valerio, community care is “people committed to leveraging their privilege to be there for one another in various ways.”

Community care requires us to move away from transactional business relationships to ones rooted in empathy, compassion and kindness.

In practice, community care within the BS Free Business community is practiced on an ongoing basis by providing a supportive container for our paid clients. We’ll be creating a Community Care Plan in 2023 to detail specific practices and actions.

​Trauma Awareness

We all contain multitudes, which for many of us, includes trauma. We are actively working to become trauma aware and recognize that trauma may be a passenger in our work together.

With trauma awareness, this means we don’t have the training or skill to address it. Still, we’ll treat it with care and if needed, make recommendations, referrals and connections to other professionals equipped to assist you.

Additionally, in our content, we’re committed to providing trigger and content warnings.

Citation

I’m committed to citing my sources, fact-checking and naming our teachers. The borrowing and recycling culture of online business is deeply rooted in privilege, entitlement and systems of oppression.

Furthermore, we ask that if our work inspires you that you cite us consistently and generously. Give credit where credit is due.