Dallas Travers | The Hive - Business Mentoring

Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion matter.

When we say we help coaches build a business they’re proud of, we mean ALL coaches.
The online coaching industry does not do enough to amplify BIPOC voices or serve marginalized or underrepresented communities.

Expert panels, summit lineups, and featured podcast guests are overwhelmingly white. And too many strategies, tactics, and other industry norms perpetuate systemic racism.

As a company and a community, we are committed to creating more equitable opportunities for BIPOC coaches, especially those who serve marginalized, underrepresented or underserved communities.

You can see a list below that highlights what we’re doing to educate ourselves, identify where we’re inadvertently contributing to systemic racism, and advocate for a more just, diverse and equitable coaching industry.

This work is ongoing, and we haven’t figured it all out. We’re learning, listening, and vowing to grow.

Here is what we are doing…

✔ We hired a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion coach (a BIPOC woman) who continues to personally mentor me (Dallas) since 2020.
✔ The entire team completed a two year diversity training and we stay committed to additional training led by Black women and people of color.
✔ We hired a DEIJ expert to guest teach a workshop inside The Hive and have plans to hire another teacher to host a 3-part intensive for our Hive members in September 2022.
✔ We also hired a recruiting coach (a Black woman) to help with our hiring process, ensuring we have job descriptions that attract a diverse group of applicants, an application process that doesn’t discriminate, and a company culture that diverse employees want to join in the first place.
✔ We’ve worked hard both on the internal company culture & the community culture inside The Hive to create an environment that is safe for BIPOC employees and Hive members. In December 2019, our Hive membership consisted of only 6% BIPOC coaches. One year later, that number increased to 21%. There is more work to do and we stay committed to it.
✔ Through coaching, we strive to positively impact underrepresented, marginalized and underserved communities. We understand that the coaches who already serve these communities are the best people to make the biggest impact. Which is why in 2021, we launched our Social Impact Exchange Program. You can learn more about that program here.
✔ Our podcast guest industry expert onboarding forms are designed to ensure that we aren’t amplifying voices of folks who don’t support the same values as us. You can see an example here.
✔ Similarly, we screen all Hive member applications to confirm that every coach who enters our program shares our value of diversity, equity and inclusion.
✔ We amplify Black voices on the Coaches on a Mission Podcast. 57% of the guest experts we feature are BIPOC.
✔ We are currently in the process of updating all of our course content to ensure that it all represents our values and does not perpetuate any harmful norms of the online industry.
✔ We’ve hired a consultant to make our materials more accessible. We’re in the process of adding forms of educational materials, including closed-captioning all course videos and adding in written, audio & text-based lessons to support diverse styles of learning.
✔ We’ve vetted every single one of our software platforms, our podcasting team, our coaches, and our affiliate partners. We’ve divested our dollars from those who aren’t vocal in sharing the same values that we do, and have a formalized process for vetting future vendors, partners and collaborators moving forward.
✔ We’ve updated our community guidelines in our private member Facebook groups, articulating what is acceptable conduct in our spaces, what is not tolerated, and how we are striving to create a safe and valuable experience for everyone in our community.
✔ I (Dallas) have pledged (and unfortunately, had to act on this pledge!) to turn down any speaking engagements, interviews, collaborations or summits that do not have a diverse set of speakers (or who aren’t willing to add diversity to their lineup).
✔ We put our money where our mouth is by donating to causes that support equity, diversity, inclusion and justice including The ACLU, The Equal Justice Initiative, and No Hungry Kid.