Aniyia Williams on Why Self-Examination Is Critical to Dismantling Racism in Fashion

The Business of Fashion Podcast

The Business of Fashion

Fashion & Beauty, Business, Arts

4.6 • 770 Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2020

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

LONDON, United Kingdom — Aniyia Williams is ready for difficult conversations. The opera singer-turned-fashion tech entrepreneur has navigated systemic racism within corporate culture for years. And as companies slowly begin the process of dismantling policies and norms that harm Black people within them, Williams has a few ideas on where they go from here.

“The biggest thing that gets in the way is self-interest,” Williams told BoF Editor-in-Chief Imran Amed in the latest edition of the BoF Podcast. “Discomfort is the key ingredient to getting to the other side.”

Self-examination is critical. “It starts with the blind spots,” Williams said. “You are going to find things you don’t like about yourself.” Companies should look to their own practises and corporate culture to understand who they benefit and what needs to change.
You’re not going to hire your way to diversity, inclusion and equity. “What’s more important,” said Williams, is the environment that exists to support those people once they’re hired. Diversity and inclusion initiatives can only go so far, and it starts with senior leadership recognising the need to change both policies and company culture. “If the leadership isn’t buying into those ideals... I don't know how you can expect anyone else to,” Williams added.
Act to make it true. Aside from social media posts and one-time donations, fashion companies need to push for a larger, longer-term change. Diversity and inclusion at its core is about creating shared realities that understand what each employee is facing. “What is our relationship to each other going to be and is it going to be as fair and equitable as it can be?” asked Williams.

When Your Corporate Diversity Strategy Isn’t Enough

How to Navigate the Workplace as a Minority Voice

How to Create an Inclusive Workplace

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Transcript

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0:00.0	We always want to reduce that gulf between who we think we are and what we're actually doing.
0:07.0	But we have to actually have like a framework or a tool or a system to be able to evaluate to know if that's happening.
0:12.0	When you look across these different sectors and experiences that you've had, what are the things that are getting in the way?
0:19.0	So much of it is self-interest. And if you're not even
0:21.4	cognizant of what your motivations are, you're constantly making choices that might not actually
0:27.2	be aligned with who you think you are. Hi, this is Imran Ahmed founder and CEO of the business
0:36.8	of fashion. And welcome to the BOF podcast. A founder and CEO of the Business of Fashion, and welcome to the
0:38.4	Bof podcast. A couple weeks back at the BOF Professional Summit, we had an outstanding speaker,
0:46.1	Aenea Williams, the founder of Black and Brown founders, and a co-founder of Zebras Unite,
0:52.1	who gave an important talk on building racial equity from the ground up.
0:57.2	We had such a positive response to Ania's talk that we decided to speak to her again,
1:02.8	to discuss in detail more of her thoughts, ideas, and perspectives on how the fashion industry can become more inclusive.
1:13.6	Here's Ania Williams inside fashion. Welcome, Ania.
1:21.6	Welcome, Ania.
1:22.6	Welcome. Thank you for having me.
1:24.6	I'm so glad to be back.
1:25.6	I was so humbled and excited about the response to last week's talk. So it's my pleasure to be here today.
1:34.4	Thank you. Thank you. Well, last time, we didn't get much of an opportunity to understand your background and how you ended up doing the work that
1:46.4	you do now. So, you know, in the first instance, I'd love for you to just explain, you know,
1:51.8	how you got here and, you know, how did you know, yeah, how did you get? Yeah, that's a great question.
1:57.9	So I'm like, it's such an interesting, you know, kind of windy path in
2:03.0	thinking about how I got here today. One of the things that a lot of people don't know about me
	...

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