Thread by @MimZWay

How much money is racism costing your company?

I was talking with a girlfriend yesterday.
She just completely remodeled her kitchen & was telling me about her experience at a granite/stone showroom when she was pricing solid surface materials for countertops.

My friend is a black woman who owns a very successful business. She has an amazing eye for design. Her house is impeccably stylish - and her kitchen was going to be the shining gemstone of her home.

To set off her kitchen, she had a vision for the solid surface counter-tops.

When she entered the showroom, she approached a salesman to describe what she was looking for.
She had photos of countertops she liked.

The salesman seemed annoyed at being approached - and when she produced her phone with the photos, he snapped,
“You people with your photos!”

“You people”?
Now the man could have simply meant “people” who dare to bring in photos of what they are looking for, trying to make his job easier - but in case you don’t know - the words “You people,” is triggering for black folks.
It groups us - and not in a good way.

After the offensive “You people,” statement - the salesman barely looked at her photos - and told my friend that what they had in the store was “expensive” - implying that she probably didn’t have the money. He sent her to walk around the showroom on her own.

She left.

She went to another showroom & found exactly what she wanted.
Imported marble from Italy.
Marble so exclusive & pricy - the owner of the store accompanied the workers to her home to insure it was installed properly.

Upon seeing her kitchen, the owner asked if he could have a professional photographer take photos so he can feature her kitchen in his advertising.
That’s how good her kitchen is.

My friend is not the only example of how implicit bias by employees loses money for the business owner.
My mother is an artist.
She paints several paintings each year and custom frames them.
She went into a small frame shop in Penfield to inquire about their framing services.

A young woman sat behind the counter - and eyed my mother, a black woman with obvious suspicion.
My mother explained that she was an artist interested in framing.
“We only do custom frames here,” the woman snipped.

“That’s exactly what I’m looking for,” my mother said.
“You know, that’s going to cost you money,” the girl said.
“I didn’t think your services were free…”
“This isn’t like a drug store where you just buy a frame.”
Like my mother didn’t know what “custom” meant.

My mother left.

A minimum of 10 frames a year at about $300/frame equals $3000 worth of business that girl lost for her employer.

Do you own a business?
How much money is having a racist employee costing you?

Chances are - you will never know.