THIS IS IT! This is why representation matters!
I started following fashion blogger and influencer Hayet Rida just over a month ago, not because she works at Instagram but because her content is FIRE!!
I casually realized she worked on Instagram only because she mentioned it in a story one day (shows how much I pay attention to profile descriptions smh) and remember having a fleeting thought about how amazing it is to see a black woman in tech.
Earlier today Hayet shared a post that had me punching the air in celebration. She had the opportunity to lead a team of designers at Instagram creating 10 new stickers we can all use to celebrate black business.
All the dots were now connected, a black woman in tech isn’t just ‘cool’ it means we have representation just where we need it to make a real impact in spaces where we are often underrepresented and ignored.
Read what she shared for yourself:
Sometimes we are conditioned to think we are too small, or too new to make an impact. I joined Instagram 8 months ago, and spent time quietly watching and learning to find my place and my voice.
One amazing thing about our culture is the ability to drive the change you want to see no matter who you are.
When COVID hit, I made the commitment to show more black-owned businesses and kept getting frustrated that I couldn’t find fun stickers to use in my stories to help celebrate them.
I randomly mentioned this in conversations with some of the leads at IG [Instagram], and the unanimous feedback was okay then make them.
In case u don’t know, imposter syndrome is a real thing and I kept talking myself out of it. But an amazing woman Neisha said, pull a team together Hayet, and get it DONE!
Let’s just say the last two weeks have been a crazy whirlwind and I am proud to say I led a team of amazing designers and strategists to launch 10 new stickers that help celebrate black-owned businesses.
I could talk all day about the diverse and uber-talented team that brought these together(all tagged)!!!
Our work may be simple stickers to the everyday person, but they are the result of HOURS of convos and lots of brainstorms about colors, animations, designs, and topics.
We wanted to make sure these stickers celebrated businesses (buy black), they were inclusive(made by a black lgbtq), they highlighted the slew of women who run most of
these businesses (made by a black woman), that they portrayed black-owned products as a luxury(black luxe), that they showed black ownership in a strong way (black powered biz),
and most importantly they established that every day was a day to shop black(black-owned every day)!!!
I am so proud of the work we did and the spark it has ignited to keep creating more and more ways to celebrate minority businesses on Instagram.
And in true Hayet form, this was the Instagram post.
GIRL!
The comments on her post all share the same level of excitement and just pure gratefulness I felt when I read her caption.
Read some of them below:
carmeon.hamilton
Yaaassss!!!!! Reading this really made me smile! Thank you so much Hayet!!!!
afrobella
That’s so dope!! Way to make an impact!
corporateincolor
This is incredible Hayet!!! What a fantastic initiative ESPECIALLY the luxury aspect!
kissonthe_chic
Congratulations ? can’t wait to use them! Representation matters!!
Representation is everything for us all, but we are especially grateful because sharing black-owned businesses is kind of our thing around these parts. Follow Hayet here.
