As soon as we start saying things like “Matriarchal Leadership” or the more dramatic “Down with the patriarchy!” and “Eff the patriarchy!”...people think we hate men.


But matriarchal leadership does not mean “only women should lead.”


It is not a gender requirement.


It is a values system for how power gets used.

Off of last week's post inspired by the New York Times' op-ed asking whether “Liberal Feminism Ruined the Workplace," I thought more about one of the things that stood out in that article.

The word “woke” (or a version of it) came up at least 50 times throughout the op-ed. It felt like a teenager discovering a cool new term and wouldn’t stop using it.

But that repetition isn’t accidental, stylistic, or neutral. Because when a single word shows up that often, one of two things happens:
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It either becomes weaponized or meaningless. Let's explore what happens in either of these situations.

You’ve probably heard the word “decolonize” tossed around a lot. “Decolonize marketing.” “Decolonize your diet.” “Decolonize your faith.” “Decolonize language.”
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In my work as a messaging strategist and copywriter for equity and social-impact driven Women of Color entrepreneurs, I often think about what it means to decolonize messaging, and how we might use language to build a culture rooted in truth, equity, empathy, and possibility.