Ep 73 Build a trauma mindful business - practical steps to get started
Today I'm going practical on trauma informed business practices.
This episode gives you a place to begin if you're interested in being more trauma mindful in your business, no matter what stage of business you are in.
For each of the 6 principles of being a trauma mindful business I'm offering up 1-2 (or more!) practical ways you can start embedding them in your business right now.
Let's dive in.
Links, resources & mentions
Katie Kurtz’s aware guide to assess your competency
Acceptance as a starting point Ep 46 Dietitian Values Podcast
Vision Australia colour contrast tool
6 principles of trauma informed business Ep 15 Dietitian Values Podcast
Episode Transcript
Build a trauma mindful business - practical steps to get started
Laura Jean 0:36
Hello, hello, and welcome to this week's episode of the dietitian values podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by my six week programme, Integrate, which is a six week space to learn or to begin embedding trauma mindful business practices. And that is actually what I want to talk about on the podcast today. So if you're interested in learning more after you have a listen, or if you've been meaning to sign up, and if you're catching this when it drops, sign up closes on the 28th of October 2022. But you can check out the link in the show notes or head to dietitianvalues.com/integrate.
So today I want to get super practical. And I want to talk to you about six steps or six ways you could start embedding trauma mindful business practices in your business right now without doing anything further. To give you a bit of a taste of I suppose what integrate and what being trauma mindful is all about. And also to give you some practical strategies to walk away with right now. I realise a lot of the time on the podcast, I'm talking about things from a really bigger picture view or we're deep diving into like the nitty gritty nuance. And I want to give something super practical. So I'm gonna run through the six principles of trauma mindful business, which are research informed principles that I've put together. And for each one, I want to give you one or two examples of things you can go do. some will be like, super practical, like changing a font colour, some will be a little bit bigger than that. So let's dive in.
Understand trauma and its impact - principle 1
Okay, so the six principles, we'll start with principle one, which is to understand trauma and its impact. part of being trauma mindful, is understanding trauma. And so what I would encourage you just to do here is to check in with where your current level of understanding of trauma is. Are you a very newbie, do you have mindfulness or awareness of trauma? Have you done some trauma informed training? And what I would encourage you to think about is firstly, so two practical things you can do here, one is just get a really good read on where you are, as far as your awareness or your competency around trauma. And if you want a tool for that, I will link in the show notes to Katie Kurtz, who does trauma informed space holding, she has a really great free download, which is a trauma competence scale, which actually allows you to place where you would be in your trauma competence level. So that would be step number one. And step number two, if you want to go further, is to actually look at where could you deepen your understanding, or where could you strengthen it. And so my recommendation here, obviously, courses and programmes are really great. So Katie Kurtz, like I said, has a programme. And that free resource, I of course, have Integrate, which I have doors open to running right now. And in the Nutrition and Dietetics field, pretty specifically, there are some dietitians who have an extra training and awareness around trauma informed care who run programmes specifically around that. So that would be it. If you're very early days, and you're just wanting to get a little bit more understanding. There's great books, podcasts, and so many things. So if that is you, and you want some recommendations for resources, hit me up in the DMs over at dietitian values on Instagram, or send me an email Laura@dietitianvalues.com. And I'm happy to send you out some resources. So that's step number one, understand trauma and its impacts that sorry, principle number one, and my actionable steps there is one, get an understanding of your competence around trauma, like really assess where you are at on your understanding, and then two, if you would like an extra one is to go deeper, to take it a little bit further.
Do less harm - principle 2
Principle number two is to do less harm. And one of the most important or most practical or most powerful, I should say, or impactful ways we can embrace this is firstly, by accepting that harm will happen. So practical step number one, if this isn't something you have thought about or dove into before, is to start a practice of accepting that you will do harm to sit with that discomfort and to see what comes up for you. Now, I do have a podcast episode on this. So I'll link to that in the show notes. And you can go check that out. Because I've done a whole podcast on one of the really important ways I think that we do less harm is first by accepting it. so practical. Step number one, go have a listen to that podcast if you haven't already. If you have listened to that and if you have started thinking about it, then Just sitting with that a little bit more. So maybe it's thinking about if we're going to do less harm or going to accept that harm has happened is to just look where maybe the resistance around that comes up for you. Is there fear or resistance when you're in your consulting in your one to one space, is it when you're posting things on social media, do you worry about comments that might come back to you. So I suppose just run an awareness over what, where you might have some resistance around accepting that harm will happen. And what comes up for you when you think about that. So sitting with that, and then just digging into it a bit. And using a tool that works for you, maybe it's embodiment techniques, maybe it's journaling, maybe it's taking it to supervision or with a coach or mentor, maybe it's being in conversation with a peer around what comes up when you actually start from that place of accepting of doing harm. Because if we can sit with those feelings and that discomfort, if we can get more acclimatised I would say, I wouldn't say get comfortable with being uncomfortable, but getting acclimatised to what that feels like in your body and having the tools and strategies for you to take care of yourself and your nervous system when it comes up. So accepting we will do harm. If that's something you have worked on, then the practical step I would add in is to strengthen your toolbox or build those skills to take care of yourself and your nervous system when that discomfort comes up or when harm actually does occur. So That's principle number two, do less harm. And the practical steps there is start with acceptance of doing harm. And you can check out the podcast interview. And you can do some exercises and some practice of just sitting with the discomfort of that. And then the third, even a third bonus step to that is to build in your toolbox and skills around how to support yourself and your nervous system and your own sense of safety and comfort when harm does occur, or even just when you're considering harm might occur and going through that acceptance process. So That's principle number two.
Centre choice and autonomy - Principle 3
Principle number three, centre choice and autonomy. So this is really about having a consent based process in your business. So one really super practical tool or step you can take for this principle is to ask permission to share insight and information. So if someone makes a comment, or if someone DMs you, and they're talking about a situation, often what we do, because this is what often happens in and even in our one to one work, we can often go straight to that putting on our problem solving advice giving hat. And so what I would really encourage you, a really cool practice to do in this space - cool also meaning like tricky, and hard sometimes, is to stop and pause and ask permission before you share a solution, idea and insight and be ready for the No. So it might be as simple as someone makes a comment. And you might say, Oh, I have some, I have some ideas or strategies around that. Would you like anything? Are you open to me sharing it? Or would you like me to. so sometimes even I'm watching like, you know, look thinking about the wording you use there? You know, often we say do you want me to send you some links on something even just shifting to Are you open? Do you have the capacity? Are you are you looking for, you know, resources or ideas or strategies. So rather than launching straight into helping mode or solution mode, practice popping a pause in there and asking permission centering choice, so that the human that is reaching out to you has a choice to say yes or no.
And then if getting a no feels uncomfortable, you can go over to back to principle number two, where we talked about, you know, it's that those strategies to take care of your nervous system when you do feel uncomfortable or where things come up. So principle number three centering choice and autonomy, practice pausing and asking permission, before giving information advice, even when it feels really obvious, like consent is implied. So for instance, in the in one to one work with someone when you're sitting down, and you're giving you're in a consult, rather than assuming that consent is given, practice actually asking for consent. So it might be you know, I can see from our conversation that there are a couple of areas we could work on. Are you open to me, giving you a summary of what those areas are, and then perhaps letting me know which one feels comfortable to you. Now, if you do run your care through a trauma informed lens, this might be something that comes more naturally or that you're more practised at. And so perhaps it's more broadening that out into things like the social media space or into other areas of your practice in your business as opposed to just the one on one consulting. But depending on where you're at. This can be a really good practice in just stopping and pausing and just removing that assumption that people want us to tell them things or to tell them a thing and just recenter in that choice, even in something that feels like it's very implied that there is consent for us to give them information or to give them help and advice. So That's principle number three, centering choice and autonomy.
Embed Inclusion and accessibility - Principle 4
Principle number four is embed inclusion and accessibility, I'm going to run off a couple of these, because I feel like this is an area where you can do some really practical, simple, practical, but powerful changes in your business. And so here's a couple of things you can do. So one thing you can do is to put your pronouns in your bio, or have your pronouns on your zoom, call, you know, little, little link, or when you next go to an event, putting your pronouns on your name badge. And so that's a way you can acknowledge, you know, going first, I suppose, to create that space of inclusion for people. Another thing is adding a land acknowledgement, but a land acknowledgement that's rooted in your actual connection, and true acknowledgement of land versus, you know, often we see things that are really like lip service, like on somebody's website, the other day, I saw, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, and they didn't even name them. And I don't know if that was deliberate, or they just hadn't tried to figure out who the who the actual custodians of land were. But yeah, that was an interesting one. So wherever you are in the world, if you live in the US, Canada, or Australia, New Zealand, then you are living on unceded territory, you're living on stolen lands. And so acknowledging that, adding a land acknowledgement, to spaces and places where you show up, so maybe it's on your Instagram bio, maybe it's on your website, on any kind of like, I have it on the end of my podcast, and when you do presentations, wherever it might be. So having a land acknowledgement, and taking it beyond lip service, really here. So these aren't things like checklists, which we just do, tick, this is just things to kind of run through they're really practices in getting connected to, to what is, to the humans that you are wanting to share your work with. Because at the end of the day, making these changes is about creating a business that actually holds space for those humans. So it's not simply about lip service that we see, you know, in some cases with these kinds of practical activities, but actually considering the impact and considering how you might implement them in your business and what they might mean and what they might represent for both you and the humans you work with. So land acknowledgement is one. Another one is around accessibility, checking your brand colours. So something for people around vision and around being able to see what you're reading, what they're reading. And that doesn't necessarily mean people with a vision impairment, although there is a very high percentage of people with vision impairment, but even just as we age. and you might think, Well, that's not an important thing in my, for my the humans I work with. The thing about being trauma mindful or embedding trauma mindful practices, is we make sure that our practices, the approach is to have our practices be as mindful and aware for for the person who is potentially most impacted. Because it benefits everyone, right? So it's not about I suppose thinking, Well, I don't need to do that. a really great example to give you an example is transcription on my podcast. So that's something that I do most of the time, I will admit, I've gotten a bit slack with it lately, and it has dropped off just with life and schedules, like I'm a solopreneur, so everything I do is me doing it. And somebody let me know the other day that they don't really like to listen, they prefer to read the transcripts, and they really appreciate having the transcript. This person does not have any, any problems with accessing the auditory. So there's no hearing impairment. There's no sort of block with processing information or anything as such as that. So there's no actual, you know, physical or physiological reason that they quote unquote, need the transcript. But having the transcripts allows them to access things in a way that feels more supportive for them. So it's not always about having it because people need it or have to have it but it's just having these things in place because they increase people's accessibility to your information and they increase inclusion.
So brand colours, did I even say the thing or did I just get off on a complete tangent, so look, checking your brand colours because sometimes the colours that we're use to contrast are really hard to see. What I'll pop in the show notes is a link to Vision Australia have a really great tool where you can put in your brand colours, and you can, maybe you don't have brand colours but what do you use on your social media posts like if you do little Canva squares on Instagram, or maybe you have a blog on your website, even the colours you use on your website, where you can check the contrast to see that it is accessible. So there's some really practical things. So put your pronouns wherever they could go, consider a land acknowledgement or even just consider looking up what lands that you actually work and live on. And check your brand colours to make sure they're actually accessible. And bonus one, which I did mention, consider having transcripts or written descriptions or alt text, and things go along with your media. Also, when it's things like a video having closed captions on a video, so having things that, and again, that's another great example of where making things super accessible benefits everyone, as a mum, sometimes I'm looking at things on my phone, but I've got my sound down because I don't want to disturb a sleeping baby. Or I just don't want the kids to hear, hear what I'm what I'm looking at not because there's anything that I'm that I'm keeping from them as such, but sometimes stuff comes up right like on social media, you might be scrolling through, I have the sound down in case it's something that's not really appropriate for them. So if I'm watching a video or a reel, or something like that having the captions on there is really helpful to me too, even though it's not essential. So having things accessible, there's benefits to all of the humans that you work with. So That's principle number four, which is embed inclusion and accessibility. And there were heaps of practical tips or tools or strategies you could start with there.
Focus on relationships and relating - principle 5
Okay, the next two are a little bit more a little bit less practical, let's say a little bit less easily practically, you know, popped in a little step like popping your brand colours in it in an assessment tool. So principle number five is to focus on relationships and relating. So something that could be super practical here. Now, this is an are I feel like health professionals or dietitians are actually really good at because our work really is dependent on us relating and building relationships with the humans that we are supporting with our work. So this is often one that is actually something that kind of comes naturally, the space where we sometimes lose that focus or lose that lens is when it comes to other areas of our business outside of our direct interaction with humans. So one practical thing that you could do to bring the focus back on relationships and relating is anywhere in your marketing or copy or social media like anywhere where you write things or where you talk about people. Anywhere where you put a label, consider if you can humanise and add the relationship into that label. For example, as dietitians we would often call, even dietitians there's a label there, as dietitians or clinicians will often call the humans that we work with clients, you'll notice if you've hung around here, I, I use the terms humans that I work with, humans you work with, humans you want to share your work with, it reminds us of the relationship that we have. Now you might not put it in all your things. But perhaps what you could add a practice of is every time you write client every time you write follower, audience, that you bring it back to who those humans are in your relationship with, even just inside your head. So you might be thinking followers. And you might just add to yourself, that the humans that are connecting with my work via social media, so it's talking about your relationship, it's naming, it's reminding ourselves that they're humans. And it's also talking about the relationship that you are having or hoping to have with them. So that's a really easy practice, you can do it in the actual language you use. Or you can even just do it in your mind around like wrapping more words around that language when you're thinking about it. So that can be a good practice in bringing the focus back on to relationships and relating. So That's principle number five.
Share Power - principle 6
Principle number six is around sharing power. So sharing power is really around disrupting the idea of the hierarchy and disrupting the space, particularly for us as health professionals of us as experts and humans we work with as the person coming to benefit or receive our expertise. Now, do we have expertise or a certain level of knowledge in our area of practice? Yes, absolutely. One way we can, I suppose disrupt the hierarchy or disrupt that power situation is by just noticing when we put on or slip on our expert hat. In one of the ways this shows up and I see it a lot in social media. So again, sometimes when we're working with somebody one to one or in groups we are really aware of this we are really, if you're operating through a human as expert in themselves kind of lens with your practice, you possibly are really good at this when you are working with humans around their interactions with food. where we start to slip with that lens start, to slip again, similar to the century of choice and autonomy, principle number three, is in spaces outside of that. So in marketing, for example, one thing I notice people do is telling people a thing. So telling people to stop doing this, don't do this. This is why you do this. So telling people, these things about themselves, like we are the holder of all the knowledge and information. So what I would encourage you to do is outside of your direct human to human work, when you're writing a blog post, when you're considering a social media card or reel or caption, is to just stop and pause and think, would I say it this way to a human sitting in front of me on a zoom screen or in a consult room? Would I say this when you know, notice when you are slipping into that, popping the expert hat on to tell people a thing, and the places that shows up is often those places where we are, where maybe we don't have that relationship or where we're trying to talk to a lot of people, or where we are just trying to grab attention, where we're shortcutting that relating we are popping our expert hat back on to to market because one of the techniques or strategies taught in traditional marketing, right is to position ourselves as authority. like we know we have the answers to people's problems. And so when we look at it through a trauma mindful and we want to extend it the same way we would practice the same trauma mindful human centering and human holding, human as expert in themselves approach into how we market, into how we talk to people, even before they've started working with us. So when you are crafting posts, captions, reels, when you're on a podcast, when you're talking to someone, when you're doing presentations, is to just be mindful of when you're popping the expert hat on. And one of the ways it shows up is when we start telling people a thing. So rather than inviting people, so the practical steps, so one number one is you can notice it, number two, if you want to take action is start thinking of where can you create invitations and curiosity and connection for that human over you know, the expert telling them a thing, being the one with the knowledge or authority and answers. So where can you invite curiosity? Where can you create an invitation? Where can you kind of seed curiosity? And where can you create an opportunity for that human to build connection to their own experience. So they are the practical tips. So that's for sharing power. So when you are doing things where you notice the expert had on so first step, first practical step, if you want it is just to notice, second practical step, if you want to go deeper is to look at can you reword or reconsider or rephrase things to be an invitation, consideration for curiosity, like planting a seed for curiosity, or opening up an opportunity for that human to connect with themselves with their relationship with food with their body, whatever it might be, as opposed to telling them a thing, as opposed to chucking our expert hat on just to get to the point.
So they are some practical steps that I wanted to offer out for the six principles of running a trauma, mindful business, or building embedding trauma mindful practices in how you do business. If this is something you would love to learn more of, if these practical tips have made you think, yes, actually, this is something I want to go deeper on, then please do check out integrate, which is the upcoming six weeks space, where we will be going through each of those week, each of the weeks. In the six weeks, we'll be going through one of the principles. And we'll be going deep on this and we'll be talking about how they show up. We'll be talking about what does it look like to embed this practice in your business? And we'll be talking about what is already happening? Or what where have things come up in the past? Or where can you see maybe spaces where it might feel more difficult to embed these practices, we'll be talking about basically the practical steps to do it. So if that sounds like something you're interested in, check out the link in the shownotes dietitianvalues.com/integrate. If you've got questions, comments, concerns about this episode, or any questions about integrate them, please do feel free to reach out. As always love to be in conversation and connection. Okay, until next time, bye for now.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
