Stay Woke, Not Broke Protect Your Brand in Today's Business Climate

Navigate polarizing landscapes and "cancel culture" traps. Businesses wanting to stay relevant and do the right thing are asking questions such as “What is ‘woke’ and how can a business be it?,” and “ How can you avoid a mistake that could get you ‘cancelled’?” While social justice issues dominated the headlines, author and disability advocate Alison Tedford realized business owners were asking these questions and often didn’t know how to sell with sensitivity, share their stances on social justice issues, or even what their audiences wanted or expected from them. Did they need to take a stand, and if they did, what if they said the wrong thing? Was recovery possible? This experience saw Tedford develop a program that is, in a nutshell, social justice education for owners of businesses big and small. Stay Woke, Not Broke explains how to create diversity statements, develop content plans for ongoing social justice topics, and moderate your communities to let important conversations take place. With more than a decade in cross-cultural communication, her experience navigating sensitive topics lends itself to this book.

Tedford has been struggling with chronic pain for a number of years as a result of her diagnosis of joint hypermobility syndrome (Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.) She has appeared on Sick Biz Buzz and Mom Camp podcasts to discuss life as an entrepreneur with chronic pain. She has also been a patient advocate with Pain BC in their collaborative care consultation and they have shared her content in the past. Tedford is an advocate for health issues, historically around mental health, serving as a Shoppers Drug Mart ambassador for their Run for Women and in-store fundraising events, and also around Indigenous health issues, having presented at a regional nursing conference on disparities in health experiences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women. She has created Stay Woke, Not Broke: a program for business owners to learn what woke is, and how to avoid being cancelled in today’s environment.