Check your privilege
Sharyn Holmes is challenging privilege and fostering authentic inclusion through their business, Formidable Voices. In this interview, Sharyn tells us about their work and the unique framework they’ve created to challenge privilege.
kindling & sage: Can you tell us a bit about your work and experience?
Sharyn: I started my own side gig business in 2012 - making handmade jewellery and mixed media art. In 2015 I created and facilitated my first journaling and goals workshop. After that, I was hooked on building community and sacred spaces of connection, and for three years, I led monthly women’s circles before I began facilitating and teaching online.
My work today is inclusive by nature. I coach, create anti-oppression programs and a membership community. I also create events featuring diverse speaker lineups in my events business, Formidable Voices. I came to social justice activism during a time of healing, reclaiming identity and ancestral connection in 2016. I knew there were things I wanted to change, and instead of waiting, I began creating the education and spaces I wished existed. Coming from a corporate background of 24 years, I recognised how diversity training was not adequately covered in the corporations I worked. Diversity and equality were more about quotas to achieve in the business plan and not centred on understanding the needs of or improving promotion opportunities and representation of marginalised people in the workplace or addressing the unchecked racism, bias, sexism, misogyny and bigotry in white-dominant and white-led workplaces.
kindling & sage: You’ve created a framework called Unpack Your Privilege®. What can you tell us about it?
Sharyn: I began developing this framework in 2018 after going full-time as an anti-racism and anti-oppression coach and consultant. The framework started as four online workshops, expanding with a business-oriented workshop in 2020. I added the final part of the framework, Inclusive Business Retreat, this year.
Unpack Your Privilege® is a global approach to anti-racism and anti-oppression to equip people with the education, skills, knowledge and language to effectively interrupt racism and address racism in their daily life, career, work, relationships and community.
This framework provides a solid foundation of self-awareness, expansion, a practical framework and action steps for coaches, helping professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs to become anti-racist and grow inclusive coaching, creative, spiritual and entrepreneurial businesses implementing and integrating an anti-oppressive, anti-capitalist intersectional feminist lens and social impact approach to their equitable entrepreneurship.
“Diversity and equality were more about quotas than understanding needs and improving representation”
kindling & sage: Having broad experience in anti-racism and inclusion work, what do you see as being some of the challenges in this space?
Sharyn: My analysis and observations of the coaching industry are the refusals of people with the most privilege to address their racist behaviours, beliefs, attitudes, bias, and stereotypes. Sometimes there is the denial of privilege and the existence of white supremacy at all! I observe that it is widespread for white people to feel uncomfortable about race and racism,
and they use this discomfort as an excuse to do nothing. It’s a privileged choice to ignore, refuse to learn, turn away or bypass the lived reality that BIPOC experience every day. My concern in the coaching industry and helping professions is that racial harm & trauma will inevitably happen because of this refusal to learn, which is why I cover that in what I teach.
kindling & sage: What do you think is essential in building truly inclusive spaces?
Sharyn: Genuinely caring about people of all identities and getting educated on anti-racism, anti-oppression, unpacking privilege and becoming self-aware about racist conditioning, authentically building inclusive spaces. Hiring a BIPOC educator/coach/consultant with this expertise to keep them accountable. Ensuring strong community guidelines are developed and enforced should any harmful behaviour occur in said community.
kindling & sage: What have been some of the challenges & learnings in starting your own business?
Sharyn: As a WOC, being seen, respected and valued for the work I do, paid and hired for my expertise. I’m learning to embrace joy, trust my intuition and honour my capacity and not get caught up in overwork and hustle culture mentality. Self-doubt is something that I face every day, so I need my practices to help remind me why I’m doing this work and who I’m here for - that’s us BIWOC first and foremost because only we can share our stories and our magic.🔥
