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Abstract

love in the face of prejudice lights up the airwaves with support and cheering, you know we have work to do.Below is a reprint of the article. Enjoy. And, next time you encounter a jerk, you just might find that love shifts the tides faster than war.<figure id="d476"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*kz5mL9UhnEj96syu"><figcaption>photo screen capture by author</figcaption></figure>If you are a discriminating shopper, you might want to read this before working with us.Friday, September 27th marked a first in Krikawa Jewelry history. We were boycotted. After I got over my initial surprise and questions of why, my brain started spinning about my company’s position regarding, well, humanity.I don’t consider my company to have a religious position, however, it is inevitable that my own personal beliefs flavor everything we do and frankly the people I hire. I suppose these ideals are not always known straightaway by the people that consider engaging our company to make the most meaningful ring they’ll ever own, as we don’t announce our beliefs at any point during a transaction. It has just never played into the process.As a white anglo woman raised in Canada, California, and Arizona, who went to college and became a successful entrepreneur doing what I love, I have to honestly (and apologetically) say that I can’t recall ever being discriminated against. One event that comes to mind, rather ironically, is a time I walked into a high-end jewelry store, wearing my favorite jeans and t-shirt, and felt the snub of a haughty salesperson.I easily avoid that behavior in my own company, as I’ve learned that hiring the right people makes all the difference. Actually, every morning here is the perfect beginning of a joke … So a Mormon, black and gay person walk into a jewelry store…While I can’t say that I had a fairytale childhood, discrimination was not part of my upbringing or vocabulary. I wasn’t raised to believe that one human being is better or

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worse than another. I was raised to believe — and still believe — that we’re all simply “spiritual beings having a human experience,” to put it in the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.I did find out as an adult that my own mother held prejudicial beliefs against others based on race, and whenever I think of some of the things she said it still makes me shiver. My mother was also, sadly, schizophrenic and fighting her own battles of mental illness discrimination. She’s passed away now, so I’ll give her a get out of jail free card. Anyway, she was entitled to her own beliefs, as is everyone else.One of my favorite moments as a parent myself, was when my daughter Amelia was five, and she met my brother’s girlfriend, LeCarie, who is now his life-partner and my business partner. LeCarie is a beautiful African-American woman. LeCarie and Amelia were having an in-depth conversation at the kitchen counter, when I heard LeCarie exclaim, “…well, because I’m black!” And my dear daughter replied, in wide-eyed shock, “You are?!” In truth, she didn’t even know what a “black” person was. I’d never thought to mention it. And LeCarie instantly fell in love with her.Now, after 21 years in business, I’ve had a client actually “put the brakes on their order.” Why? Because we support the LGBTQ community. My sales manager asked me how I would like our team to respond to this communication. Although I’ve never had to craft a response to this sort of comment, writing this blog has helped me formulate our official answer. We will treat this person just like we treat everyone we work with. With love.We work with people in love, we create objects that symbolize love, and we believe in love. No gender preference, race, political affiliation, prejudice or religious belief will ever shake that. We don’t discriminate. Especially when it comes to love.Originally published at <a href="https://www.krikawa.com/blog/post/boycotted-jewelry-company-because-of-non-discrimination">https://www.krikawa.com</a> .</article></body>

What I Learned When We Were Boycotted Because of Our Beliefs

A radical lesson about our love-thirsty society

I usually live in a happy bubble of inclusiveness, and the people in my business that I work with and interact with are equally keen on equality.

Yet on an innocent day in September, a customer wanted to cancel an order when he learned that we were LGBTQ-friendly. Maybe that’s common territory for some, but for me, it was a first. I’ve been in business for 21 years. I’ve had plenty of LGBTQ clients that experienced prejudice at businesses, but this was quite the reverse.

While I’m usually gifted with a quick or witty reply, when my sales manager asked me how her team should respond to this client, I had to process my thoughts about this.

After mulling it over for a while, I reverted to my favorite medium, the written word. I posted a blog with my thoughts and then our cell phones and landlines and webchat and social media channels lit up. It wasn’t to debate or join the fight.

I discovered something quite radical.

People are thirsty for love. They’re thirsty for businesses to operate with kindness. It’s not just about having an inclusive mindset, it’s bigger than that. Above all the chatter of diversity, inclusion, and non-prejudice is a human need for commonplace love.

What has happened in our culture that makes an act of gentleness or kindness stand out? When every interaction has a winner and a loser, and rules are held to just on principle, when one has to prepare for battle just to ask for something, then it is time to step back and let go.

When a public statement about love in the face of prejudice lights up the airwaves with support and cheering, you know we have work to do.

Below is a reprint of the article. Enjoy. And, next time you encounter a jerk, you just might find that love shifts the tides faster than war.

If you are a discriminating shopper, you might want to read this before working with us.

Friday, September 27th marked a first in Krikawa Jewelry history. We were boycotted. After I got over my initial surprise and questions of why, my brain started spinning about my company’s position regarding, well, humanity.

I don’t consider my company to have a religious position, however, it is inevitable that my own personal beliefs flavor everything we do and frankly the people I hire. I suppose these ideals are not always known straightaway by the people that consider engaging our company to make the most meaningful ring they’ll ever own, as we don’t announce our beliefs at any point during a transaction. It has just never played into the process.

As a white anglo woman raised in Canada, California, and Arizona, who went to college and became a successful entrepreneur doing what I love, I have to honestly (and apologetically) say that I can’t recall ever being discriminated against. One event that comes to mind, rather ironically, is a time I walked into a high-end jewelry store, wearing my favorite jeans and t-shirt, and felt the snub of a haughty salesperson.

I easily avoid that behavior in my own company, as I’ve learned that hiring the right people makes all the difference. Actually, every morning here is the perfect beginning of a joke … So a Mormon, black and gay person walk into a jewelry store…

While I can’t say that I had a fairytale childhood, discrimination was not part of my upbringing or vocabulary. I wasn’t raised to believe that one human being is better or worse than another. I was raised to believe — and still believe — that we’re all simply “spiritual beings having a human experience,” to put it in the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

I did find out as an adult that my own mother held prejudicial beliefs against others based on race, and whenever I think of some of the things she said it still makes me shiver. My mother was also, sadly, schizophrenic and fighting her own battles of mental illness discrimination. She’s passed away now, so I’ll give her a get out of jail free card. Anyway, she was entitled to her own beliefs, as is everyone else.

One of my favorite moments as a parent myself, was when my daughter Amelia was five, and she met my brother’s girlfriend, LeCarie, who is now his life-partner and my business partner. LeCarie is a beautiful African-American woman. LeCarie and Amelia were having an in-depth conversation at the kitchen counter, when I heard LeCarie exclaim, “…well, because I’m black!” And my dear daughter replied, in wide-eyed shock, “You are?!” In truth, she didn’t even know what a “black” person was. I’d never thought to mention it. And LeCarie instantly fell in love with her.

Now, after 21 years in business, I’ve had a client actually “put the brakes on their order.” Why? Because we support the LGBTQ community. My sales manager asked me how I would like our team to respond to this communication. Although I’ve never had to craft a response to this sort of comment, writing this blog has helped me formulate our official answer. We will treat this person just like we treat everyone we work with. With love.

We work with people in love, we create objects that symbolize love, and we believe in love. No gender preference, race, political affiliation, prejudice or religious belief will ever shake that. We don’t discriminate. Especially when it comes to love.

Originally published at https://www.krikawa.com .