Should You Talk Politics in Your Business? My Honest Take
About the episode:
In today’s episode of Rebrand with RuthAnn, I’m tackling a topic that’s been on my mind for a while: should we, as personal brands, bring up politics in our businesses? To be honest, I’ve been nervous about discussing this, but I think it’s important, especially with everything happening in the world right now. I will share my thoughts, hesitations, and some key questions I think we should ask ourselves before sharing anything political on our platforms. This conversation is for anyone wondering if they should weave their personal beliefs into their brand—and how to do it thoughtfully without losing focus on clients and business. I’m excited (and a little nervous) to dive in, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, too!
Highlights:
Defining a personal brand and why solopreneurs must tread carefully with political opinions
Three essential questions to ask before sharing political views: Is it necessary?, Is it productive?, Is it applicable?
RuthAnn’s take on political discussions in the context of her faith and values
The importance of keeping client perspectives in mind when posting political content
Why constructive, in-person conversations may be more effective than social media debates
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Hey guys, welcome back to Rebrand with Pruthan. I'm so excited that you're here. Today's topic is gonna be a little on the spicy side because we are talking about if you should bring up politics as a personal brand. This is a topic, to be honest, I thought about back when I started my podcast last year in September of 2023, and it is now September of 2024 as I'm recording this, so.
It's been a while since I've had this on the docket, but it's a conversation I think is important to have and one that I've been a little bit nervous about having, honestly, you know, as you can see, since it's been a year since I've thought about this topic and am now recording. But like I said, I think it's an important conversation to have that I don't hear anyone else talking about. And especially in the season we're in right now, this is an election season and there's a lot going on.
Everyone is chiming in about what they think about everything. And so why not have the discussion right now? So in this conversation today, we are defining what a personal brand is. So who am I talking about when I say as a personal brand? I'm also asking three questions to know if you should bring up politics in your business, like on your business page or on your LinkedIn or something like that.
And I am sharing my opinion about this at the end of the episode. So yeah, we have a lot to dive into and something I want to mention before we get into everything is I really don't want this to be a one -way conversation. Feel free to email me if you thought this content was interesting or insightful or you want to share your own thoughts or opinions. And you can also find me on Instagram at art underscore art space. And I would love to continue the conversation there.
Let's define first what a personal brand is. So I am not talking about influencers or public figures or celebrities because in today's day and age, everyone does feel like they have to weigh in on the subject at hand. So I feel like back in when my parents were...
in their younger years, like no one talked about politics. And in the last like 20 years or so, it has become extremely popularized. that the right word? Ever since, yeah, I think it was like mid 2000s, like people talk about politics a lot more than they used to. And also there's been a crossover from celebrity into politics as well. know, politics,
People in politics have become celebrity figures and vice versa. So I think there's a lot of crossover there. And so I do feel like if you're a public figure or a celebrity or an influencer, you almost do have to share your thoughts and opinions. I mean, you definitely don't have to, but I think it just comes with the territory almost. so, yeah, everyone has an opinion about it. Everyone has to give their opinion or thought about it. And I...
personally want to push back on this, I just don't think you need to share your opinion about this. Even if you are an influencer or a public figure or a celebrity, call me crazy, but I just don't think you need to share your opinion. We have so many opinions out there. I just don't know if we need more opinions personally. And so because of this,
I have a lot of thoughts about this, so we're going to get into everything. But we are right now in a very unprecedented political time. I am speaking about my U .S. listeners here, everything that's happening in the U .S. With our election cycle, we have had assassination attempts to the Republican nominee. Our current president, Joe Biden, has stepped out of the race in June, and so now his VP is running for president. So there is so much going on in our election cycle. It has been a little wild. And I don't know if you listening are, you know, attuned to what's happening in politics. But I do think it's it's helpful to know what's going on in the world. And I am very informed, shall we say, on what is happening. So it's it's one it's like a blessing and a curse. So going back to a personal brand, defining what a personal brand is. I consider a personal brand someone like me who is a solopreneur, who has a small team, who is growing their business, and they are the face of their business, and they're the ones who are running the ship.
and they are also delivering the deliverable, whether you are a graphic designer or a copywriter or a bookkeeper, you are the one who is making everything work in the business and you are the one who is leading the team, but you are also the face of your business and the one that clients reach out to when they wanna work with you. And so that's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about a personal brand, is you are the face of your business, you are the one that your clients communicate with.
But you also, your business doesn't have to have your name, just like my own business is our art space. My name is Ruth Ann Rafique. And those two are separate things, but I am the face of my business. And so that's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about a personal brand is us solopreneurs who have a small team or we are doing this by ourselves and we are the ones who are the face.
Okay, so let's go into the three questions I think you should ask before you do bring up politics as a personal brand. Number one, the first question to ask is, it necessary? And...
I bring this question up because so many times in the online space we are selling our coaching services, our graphic design services, bookkeeping services, copywriting services, strategy consulting services, and the people who are hiring us, do they need to know your political preference? And so that's what I'm asking when I'm asking is it necessary? Like, think, think of it from your client's perspective and point of view.
Do they need to know your political stance? Will that help them buy from you? Will that turn them away from you? It's just good to think about it in terms of our clients. when I think of is it necessary, it's like, yes, we all have an opinion about something, but should we share it at this time? Should we share it right now? Should we share it later? Should we share it with someone one -on -one? Is it necessary to just kind of, you know?
So when I talk about is it necessary, I'm thinking about your clients and their perspective. So do you want them to know your political stance? Will that help them buy from you? I think it's important to keep this question in mind when you are going to write something political because it's like, is this necessary for my audience to know? Is this necessary for my clients to know? And just keep that in mind as you are wanting to share your thoughts on something political. Number two question to ask is, is this productive? I feel like so many times on social media, people feel the need to like share their opinion and so many times it's one sided. And so the people who are online, you know, as we call them trolls online who are on Twitter or whatever they aren't listening to someone else's opposing view. They're not having a dialogue. They're not responding to someone's tone. They are not listening to someone's thought progression or inflections. And so I feel like when it is on social media and when you are sharing on social media, it's not necessarily the most productive. Like sometimes it can be extremely unproductive because it's just spewing out your very emotional thoughts online and it's like,
you know, are people gonna have a really healthy conversation about this? Probably not. And this goes both sides, like, you know, whether on your, you know, which political party you are for, I think it's really helpful to think about is this productive? Is what I'm gonna say productive? Is this helping someone understand my thought process or my point of view? And I just wanna share a little story really quick. So As some of you know, I used to work at a printing company and that was my full -time day job before I had my business. And actually my business overlapped my day job. I was a side hustler for about almost three years. And so that overlap time, that side hustle time was at the printing company. And I was there during the 2016 election, which was also a very charged political climate. And one of my coworkers, Jesse, he...
And I, every single day we would have a political conversation. Like, I think that was like how we started our mornings. Like we would talk about the news and like what we thought about everything. And something I loved about that time and looking back on it, know, Jesse and I were really good friends when we worked together and we had really insightful, wonderful conversations. And I think the cool thing about the both of us is that we both have extremely strong opinions about our convictions and are about politics and we are on opposite sides of the aisle. And something that was always really important to me and something that he was so good at was being respectful of each other's opinions. He would always listen to my side. I was always listening to his side. He would never cut me off. He always heard me out. He let me figure out my thoughts even when I was like rambly sometimes, which I contend to be. And I would also always want to hear his point of view on things. And I loved it because we had very different points of view on things. so that was just something that I, that's something I always think about when I think about having a, a dialogue that's really, what's the word I'm looking for? A dialogue that's really thoughtful and also like constructive. And it's not that, neither of us changed each other's minds when it came to politics or anything. But we were always very open to each other's thoughts and we took the time to hear what each other had to say. And I think that's something that is really missing in today's culture of talking about politics. And I really would love to bring that back. And I think one of the only ways we can bring that back is to have discussions either in person or I don't really have the answer to this, but I do think in -person conversations are extremely beneficial because you can respond, you can hear the other person, you can take time to listen to their thoughts, they can respond to you, you can hear their tone of voice. There's so many things you lose in translation when it's online and I think it just does a lot of damage if you're just trying to take down.
someone else with your thoughts about what's going on in the world or in politics. And so I think it's just something to keep in mind is, is this productive? Like, is this conversation productive to have? Should I have this conversation with someone I know in person or should I, you know, just put this out on the worldwide web for everyone to see? So that's something. Excuse me.
So that's something I would keep in mind when you are wanting to share about something, is it productive? The third question I would have you ask is, this applicable to the work I do? And if you are a copywriter, a bookkeeper, a graphic designer, whatever service you offer to people, nine times out of 10, this doesn't really apply. It's not really like working nine times out of 10. It doesn't really, you don't need it.
for delivering the work that you do. You don't need to share your political thoughts. And so I think it's easy for people to talk about hot button topics and as a small business owner, you need to ask yourself if this is the time and the place to share your viewpoint. I'm so sorry, I have a frog in my throat.
And so that is the final question I would encourage you to ask yourself whenever you do want to post about something. And I think I do want to go into my own personal opinion if you're curious to know. So my personal opinion is very much swayed by my faith and I am a believer if you didn't know. And so I really believe in God in the Bible and so many verses in the Bible have to talk about so many verses in the Bible talk about the power of your tongue and the power your words have. And I just wanted to read a few verses that really influence my decision about what I say about certain things. Proverbs 18 -20 says, tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 15 -1 says, gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger. And there are, like I said, there are so many verses that talk about this. But,
A big one that I really choose to follow in my own life is Ephesians 4 .29. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And personally, I think it's really important to have compassion when you're talking with people and that is a value of mine with our art space. It's a value of mine in life in general is having compassion and just being careful about what I say.
And so I think it's, for me, my personal opinion, if you didn't already know, is to not talk about politics as a personal brand, just because I think we want really constructive conversations around this topic. And there's so much noise out there also of people online saying what they think all hours of the day. I just don't think we have to add to that if it's not constructive or helpful or useful.
So my encouragement is to be thoughtful and mindful and share what we feel compelled to share. And keep those questions in mind as you're representing yourself in your business, in your brand. The questions are again, is it necessary? Is this productive? Is this applicable to the work I do? And that's what I have for you today. I would love to hear your thoughts about this topic. Do you agree, disagree? Shoot me a DM on Instagram. I would love to hear your thoughts
and you can email me as well. But I hope this conversation was interesting, insightful, or just something to chew on if this is just something you've thought about. And I would love to hear what you think. So thank you so much for tuning in. I really appreciate you. And I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll chat with you again later.
