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When entrepreneur Bianca Lesmes was asked to join a candid session about how small businesses navigate political tensions for the SXSW Inc. Founder's House in Austin, Texas, her marketing team had concerns. Could this backfire on the organization? What if she says something -- or nods or smiles at a comment -- that could be interpreted as either leftist or rightist? What if the public suddenly mistakes her personal view for the company's?
The marketing team had good reason to be concerned. Talking about politics can be divisive, even in business: nearly half of Gen-Z employees would consider quitting if their CEO's support for a political candidate didn't align with their beliefs, according to an October Glassdoor survey. And, as Gallup has reported, the general public is nearly evenly split on whether corporations should take a public stand on political issues.
Lemses is the founder and CEO of BB Imaging, which provides ultrasound services to women with high-risk pregnancies. It also happens to be headquartered in El Paso, Texas. Thus, she often finds herself at the intersection of two politically charged issues: immigration and reproductive rights.
Despite her team's concerns, Lesmes decided to go ahead with the panel session, joining Tom Spano, founder and CEO of Austin-based STG Media, for a conversation on Monday.
"I think it's an important conversation to have," Lesmes says. "As entrepreneurs, we're feeling backed against the wall to say something like really outlandish, or really swinging to one side or another, when we don't want to."
Lesmes's strategy is to simply stay out of politics as much as possible and avoid making public statements. For example, if a BB Imaging employee who lived in a state with limited or non-existent access to abortion care needed help traveling to another state, Lesmes says she would focus on helping that employee and privately addressing their individual needs rather than making a public statement about that support.
"What I believe personally really does not matter when it comes to running the organization," says Lesmes. As an entrepreneur, she says, her job is to look out for the best interests of the company. And when she focuses on the company's actual work, she is able to find consensus: "What I found in my work is that there are more people who align with me that pregnant women should know when there is something wrong with their pregnancy."
Spano also focuses on finding a middle ground, and is careful to never isolate entire groups. One of the businesses he owns -- a music venue in Cedar Park, Texas -- hosts a Sunday drag bunch. Community members on both sides of the political aisle were "very vocal" about theose brunches, Spano says. "[They say] 'We don't want that in our backyard,' or 'We love it. We want more of that.'"
As a compromise, the venue restricted attendance to those age 21 and above. "As long as we don't involve the kids, I think everybody is happy," Spano says. "We've had no complaints. In fact, our ticket sales have gone up."
But while he is careful to not make polarizing decisions in his businesses, Spano does not stay out of political conversations entirely. He joined the local tourism board, as well as the local Chamber of Commerce, because he wanted "some sway" in key conversations that affect his businesses. "I have businesses there, and I have opinions," he says.
Still, the entrepreneurs recognize the toll that navigating political tensions can take on a business owner. "There's a saying that you only have so many f***s to give," says Lesmes. "So many of the Fs that I'm giving are providing the [prenatal] service that I don't have the bandwidth to play the political game. Especially if you've got a small team [with] constrained resources, you just can't go fight one more fight. It is just exhausting. I just can't do it."
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When entrepreneur Bianca Lesmes was asked to join a candid session about how small businesses navigate political tensions for the SXSW Inc. Founder's House in Austin, Texas, her marketing team had concerns. Could this backfire on the organization? What if she says something -- or nods or smiles at a comment -- that could be interpreted as either leftist or rightist? What if the public suddenly mistakes her personal view for the company's?
The marketing team had good reason to be concerned. Talking about politics can be........
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