STOP With The Pretend Collaboration

I am all about women’s empowerment. I am all about their success. I am all about them CRUSHING their financial goals and being the BOSS WOMEN they are.

And yet, I am disturbed by the trends of inauthentic obligatory “support” that seems rampant in the women’s business community.

Collaborate, they say.

Buy each others’ products.

Like each others’ businesses.

Engage on each others’ posts.

Push each others’ services.

Meet every business woman for coffee.

If you don’t, you’re not a supportive business owner.

If you don’t, you don’t support other women.

If you don’t, you’re a poor collaborator.

But, I think we have been sold a false definition of collaboration.

Collaboration isn’t blind and unconditional support.

It isn’t manufactured celebration.

It isn’t making pity purchases.

It isn’t obligatory coffee dates.

It isn’t pretending you love someone’s product.

It isn’t scratching their back so they will scratch yours.

Supporting someone’s business because you think you’re SUPPOSED TO, is INSULTING to yourself and your fellow business colleague.

You can fully love and support someone’s success and empowerment, without putting on a fake show about their product or service.

You can fully support a fellow business owner AND really not feel turned on by their product.

You can totally root for someone’s success AND decide partnering with them doesn’t feel quite right.

You can celebrate someone’s business AND decide forcing a coffee date isn’t the next right step for you.

My personal thought is that collaboration is much like INTIMACY. If it isn’t mutual desire, it’s not the real thing. Collaboration isn’t giving someone support in the hopes they will return the “favor”. It’s birthed purely from INSPIRATION and PASSION, on BOTH parts, or it DOESN’T WORK. It is GENUINE love for a person’s service or product and a GENUINE desire to be a part of it.

Ladies, it’s time to level up, again. Transactional collaboration is birthed from desperation and manipulation, and not from true, heartfelt inspiration.

Collaborate because you WANT TO. Not because you HAVE TO.

Go knock ‘em dead queens!

Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamunapologetic