• That there is an intersection between business and self, and the self and the collective - and how we do business matters.

• That you can do business in a meaningful and purposeful way, and in a softer, more gentle way that honours and aligns with your own values, capacity and way of doing things.

• That business can provide meaningful opportunities for flourishing, change, and dismantle existing,broken systems.

• That everyone’s story is valuable. That those whose voices have been intentionally excluded should be prioritised.

• That before we can ‘show up’ we have to feel safe, seen and held. (And that it’s not easy to do this, because of the systemic barriers and messages we’ve come to internalise.)

• That our uniqueness and ‘imperfections’ are actually at the heart of our beauty.

• That everyone has a contribution to make.

• I promise to hold space for Scouts and welcome them into the space just as they are.

• I promise to oppose ways of doing business that are harmful to traditionally excluded groups.

• I promise to seek new, better ways of doing things, and to shape my business around ongoing anti-oppressive education.

• I promise to stand against six figure overnight hustle culture, and to promote a more gentle, soft and authentic way to do business.

• I promise to foster authentic community and to be my authentic self.

• I promise to promote body neutrality/acceptance, and will not photoshop people’s appearance unless they request it, and even then I will only photoshop minor things like pimples which are temporary.

• I promise to be transparent, both about areas for improvement (as appropriate) but also about my pricing, my learning and my path to where I am now.

• I promise to be conscious of my privilege and social location.

• I promise to understand that everyone is impacted by their life and events in different ways and to keep learning to be trauma sensitive.

• I promise to follow through when I say I will do something, and if I don’t I will publicly own my failings to the people I have let down or harmed

•I promise to offer payment plans

• I won’t be put on a pedestal.

• I won’t encourage people to aspire to my “lifestyle” or income.

• I can’t be responsible for the success of someone’s business.

• I can’t be a therapist or remove years of trauma or the impact of trauma.

I support traditionally marginalised groups by making a donation per branding shoot, in lieu of a client gift, to the Stars Foundation, an organisation that supports Indigenous girls through in-school mentoring and programs Its aim is to improve health and education outcomes for Indigenous girls and young women.

I am also soon to launch the Scout Fund, which is a scholarship program offering my services to people from traditionally excluded, under-capitalised groups. I commit to offering a Scout Fund space to someone each quarter in 2022.

I live and work on the beautiful land of the Wurundjeri or ‘Witchetty Grub People’ of the Kulin nations. I acknowledge I have benefited from the colonialism which dispossessed them of their land and culture, and pay my respects the Wurundjeri elders, past, present and emerging. I acknowledge sovereignty was never ceded. The land I live and work on is Aboriginal land.

In 2022 I plan to undertake:

• Trauma sensitive training

• Anti-oppressive training

• Continue to improve the accessibility of my website and content

Previously I have:

• In 2020 I sought an ethical content audit from Nailiah King and in 2020 I have been part of the Content Witches Ethics & Community Commitment Writing Intensive in 2021

• Attended Dixie Crawford’s Cultural Insights workshop in 2020

• Been part of Speak Out Studio’s Brand Plan in 2020 that has helped me the foundations of a dignitarian brand

In the past I have been held accountable for not using inclusive language, not captioning my content and having an inaccessible website. I have sought to improve all of these, but am constantly looking to make further improvements, and I welcome feedback on my ethics, inclusion and accessibility.

As part of the ongoing work of being an anti-oppressive business, I am working towards becoming trauma informed. As part of these efforts, in 2022 I am seeking to:

• Understand trauma and its impact

• Do less harm

• Centre choice and autonomy

• Embed inclusion and accessibility in my offerings

• Focus on relationships

• Share power

CF: Laura Jean/Dietitian - Trauma informed business practices podcast CF: Brene Brown: Trauma, Resilience and Healing

How I will do this is by learning, either 1:1 with a trauma trained practitioner or by doing a course (TBC), in 2022.

• Ableism

• Ageism

• Racism

• Sexism

• Transphobia

• Homophobia

• Fat phobia

• Toxic beauty standards

• Thin white privilege and centring white middle class experience

• Celebrity entrepreneur culture

• Changing people’s appearance when I’m editing photos

• Unethical marketing - shame based marketing, manipulative tactics, scarcity marketing, preying on people’s insecurities/vulnerabilities

• Lack of transparency - not being up front about what’s involved (time cost, emotional cost, actual $)

• Hustle culture

• Promising to make people rich overnight

• Inaccessibility

• That there’s only one way to market your business

• Not paying people for their work/knowledge/time

• Individual over the collective

CF: TARES CF: Nailiah King

I want to be held accountable for what I say I will do and what I stand for. I hope my community will highlight any areas where they feel my words and actions are not aligning.

If you would like to contact me about this ethics page, or questions you might have about my actions and words being out of alignment please email me at hello@sisterscout.studio I will seek to repair and address the harm done within a week of contact.

If you are feeling unsafe in one of my spaces or if someone I am collaborating with or with whom I’ve collaborated with in the past acts or speaks in breach of my ethics and values please let me know. In the first instance, I will look to the person to repair the harm they’ve caused, but if they do not make a genuine effort to repair and address the harm caused, I remain the right to cease that engagement in line with my safe space policy below.