Home Away From Home

Exploring belonging in the experiential industry.

What does it really mean to belong in a professional world? Particularly when that world has not been built with you in mind? 

With less than 1% of companies in the events industry being Black led, the majority of the workforce does not have belonging built into the fabric of their workplace. This is why equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives have seen such a great increase in popularity in the last few years—businesses are finding ways to adapt their companies to include a wider range of people.

However, this doesn’t change the fact that belonging isn’t sewn into the seams of the place. Is it possible to put an EDI-themed sticking plaster onto the problem and hope that it goes away? What does it mean for BIPOC communities to thrive within the experiential industry? 

At Apt-122, we believe in not only shifting visibility, but shifting coin into the pockets of Black and Brown people. It’s not enough to spotlight these creatives—we need to hire them as well! Creating an environment where everyone feels at home is key to this—we can’t bring our best ideas to the table unless we feel like we have a seat there. 

It’s easy for us to move past talking about diversity in 2022. We know it’s important, and that we should make moves towards it, but there is still work to be done in unpacking what that word actually means for all of the different people. That’s what we’ve been exploring in this space for the last year—how do these buzzword-seeming terms manifest in real life? What is really involved in being a Black entrepreneur? How does being a business founder differ to starting as an intern at the bottom of the ladder? How do we bring our whole selves, emotions, and need for change into the workplace?

We’re not pretending we have all the answers. But it’s been a joy to explore, and continue to investigate, what it might mean for all of us to belong to the experiential industry.

We’ll see you later @WeAreApt122