I’ve just found out that I’ve been accepted to speak at the thirteenth International Animal Rights Conference in Luxembourg in September. It’s a great privilege to be asked to speak but it’s also something I nearly didn’t apply for because I found myself far out of my comfort zone. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve spoken in front of crowds of hundreds of people at many different conferences and events over my 20-year career, but do I have the right I class myself as ‘an animal rights activist’?!
I was originally encouraged to submit a proposal by a VBT member who is already on the speaker roster for the conference, but they have a long history of animal rights activism and volunteering. I didn’t come to veganism until my 40s, and although I truly believe that you can use your business skills as your form of activism, I consider what I do with Vegan Business Tribe a long way from those that engage in street activism or direct action. Surely they are the real activists and they wouldn’t accept me as one of their contemporaries?
It’s funny. Because the day before I found out, I’d had a long pep-talk with a Vegan Business Tribe member about getting over their imposter syndrome. They are someone who is hugely qualified to become the leading expert in their niche, but imposter syndrome was holding them back. They left that call in no doubt of their own worth and duty to step up to the role. But it’s not as easy to have a pep-talk with yourself it turns out.
Fortunately, I have a way of dealing with comfort zones and imposter syndrome, and that’s to just to do it anyway. It’s how I taught my kids to ride rollercoasters: you don’t have to be brave enough to ride it, you just need to be brave enough to sit down in the carriage. Then you’re strapped in and have no say on what happens next! So if you find yourself faced with something that scares you, you don’t have to be brave enough to do it, you just have to be brave enough to say yes. The decision is then out of your hands and you are forced to become the thing you fear that you’re not. I’ve seen (and prompted) lots of Vegan Business Tribe members to do this over the years with amazing results. There’s no better feeling that when you see someone become the thing that they feared no-one would accept them as being.
So I will be on that stage in Luxembourg in September, telling the world how you can use your business, or business skills, to move the animal rights movement forward. And knowing that people will be expecting to see an activist on that stage means I’m already working out how to step into the shoes of one. Veganism is a journey with no end, there’s always more you can do. And this might be just the prompt I need to take that next step.
David 💚🌱
David’s thoughts from the week, published every weekend for members only.
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