Kaya Reader

When we talk about power and privilege, we often talk about identity. But there's another layer to consider as a business owner:

What does your position allow you to do?

Because when you own a business, you have decision-making power.

• You decide your prices.
• Your policies.
• Your working hours.
• How people access your business.
• What flexibility exists.
• How concerns are handled.

And your own experience of the world inevitably influences the way you make those decisions.

Does this resonate?

You’ve probably already spent a fair bit of time thinking about how your business lands for other people.
You’ve questioned your language.
You’ve thought about accessibility.
You’ve reconsidered your pricing, policies or ways of working.
You may even be quite used to asking yourself, “Who might I be leaving out here?”

But there are still decisions in your business that you don't question. Not because you don't care, but because they make complete sense from where you're standing.

Your availability feels reasonable.
Your process feels straightforward.
Your expectations feel clear.
Your price feels justified.
Your way of communicating feels natural.

And because these things work for you, it can be surprisingly difficult to see what you might be assuming about the people experiencing them from the other side.

That’s the interesting bit.

Sometimes the hardest business design assumptions to notice are the ones that feel like common sense.

What most business owners don't see

Privilege doesn't always look like an obvious advantage.
Sometimes it looks like less friction.

• You can afford the price.
• You can make the scheduled time work.
• You understand the technology.
• You know what is expected.
• You have the capacity to participate.
• You feel comfortable asking questions.

None of this means you've intentionally designed your business to exclude anyone.

But it can mean your own experience becomes the easiest reference point for your decisions.

And that matters.

Because what is easy for us isn't automatically neutral for everyone else.

The Leadership Shift

This is where I see power and privilege as an Inclusive Business Leadership issue.

The question isn't simply:

The more useful question is:

That's a leadership question.

And you don't need to judge yourself to explore it.

You simply need to become willing to notice where your own experience may be influencing what feels obvious, reasonable, or normal.

This week's Inclusive Business Leadership Principle

Louise's weekly Leadership Question

This week I'd love you to sit with this question:

What does my position as the business owner make easier for me?

That's the one question I'd like you to sit with this week.

You don't need to analyse your whole business.

Just notice what comes up.

Ready to grow your Business Leadership?

This is the kind of thinking we develop inside the Inclusion Creators Collective.

Not through a list of rules.

Not by trying to find the one perfect answer.

But by developing the capability to look at the real decisions you're making in your business and examine what's underneath them.

Because power and privilege show up in everyday business design.

And the more capable you become at seeing that, the more intentional and inclusive your leadership can become.

​Let's Work on One Real Thing

Is there one part of your business you've been wondering about from a power, privilege, or access perspective?

Maybe it's your pricing, policies, hours, client process, payment options or expectations.

Reply to this email and tell me what’s going on.

I’ll look at it with you and give you my practical perspective on what to consider changing, & what to consider keeping, and why.

We can work it through right here by email.

No cost. No obligation. No sales pitch.

Just a genuine opportunity to get another perspective on something you're actually dealing with.

Until next time, may you use your power & privilege to intentionally design an inclusive business.

P.S. If you know another service-based business owner who would get something from this conversation, feel free to forward this email to them. The experiences we create in our businesses can travel further than we see.