Self-advocacy!
As I venture [rather] late into the world of adulting, I realize how important it is to be your own advocate. In business and in life, I’ve learned you have to educate yourself as much as possible in order to avoid being taken advantage of. I’m not a Negative Nellie who thinks everyone’s out to screw me over. But companies are in business for the money, as several recent encounters have reminded me, and I am the target, as a consumer and small business person. It’s stressful enough navigating unfamiliar territory as I grow my business without the added pressure of being on the defense against aggressive salespeople hungry to make a buck. Here are some insightful experiences I’ve had that have gotten me thinking about self-advocacy and being an adult…
In business:
I like most tasks related to running my own business but I f*ing hate shopping for insurance! It’s a confusing, exhausting, and stress-inducing experience that is, unfortunately, a necessary evil in the world. Lately I’ve been learning about all the jargon that’s involved with insurance policies and fielding calls from agent-sharks in a feeding frenzy who are either aggressively pushy or so indifferent they don’t bother to say ‘good-bye’ when they hang up the phone. I had one insurance agent tell me ‘If a hitch hiker from the road stumbles into your garden, steps on a rake and hits themselves in the face, they could sue you, so you have to plan for that.’ Seriously? A hitch hiker? Now it’s just turned into a scare tactic to get me to sign up for the most coverage possible which = more money for the insurance company. I think it’s totally practical to get a basic business owner’s insurance policy, but I’m not going to go overboard and worry myself to death about getting coverage for every little possible random scenario. It’s been such an unpleasant experience searching for insurance that I’ve been avoiding it for months. I’m doing the best I can to educate + advocate for myself and make a wise decision, then move on to more pleasant tasks.
Another business example: earlier this week a guy from Barn2Door called me and in quick, vague wording told me they work with farms in Vermont to market products. Ok, that’s great but nebulous. He then immediately began peppering me with questions about my farm— how much land I grow on, how many years I’ve been in business, what my sales outlets are, etc. The whole beginning of the convo happened so fast, I thought he was calling to see if I was hiring, for some reason, so I was very confused. After I answered his questions he gave me a more fleshed out Barn2Door elevator pitch and I realized he was trying to get me to sign up for his product, so I declined, saying that my current website works fine, but if I scale up, I’d check into Barn2Door in the future. He quickly exited the conversation with a dismissive and impatient ‘thanks for your time,’ and click, hung up on me. Nobody in the customer service field should hang up without saying good-bye. That’s just plain rude. At least, to his credit, he did ask if one of my main selling points for garlic braids was to ward off vampires! Business reps will sweet talk your ear off trying to get you hooked, then drop you like a hot potato when they realize you’re not interested. It’s good to recognize what their agenda is, have clear boundaries, and not take anything personally. I did treat it as a good sign that my little business is growing enough to show up on some Barn2Door dude’s search for Vermont farms to hound!
In life:
I recently got my first official credit card. Not necessarily because I wanted to, but more to build this magical thing called ‘credit,’ which is good for adulting, and to be able to rent a car while traveling. So many different companies, rewards, cash back, points, miles, sign up bonuses, converting points into other rewards, so much financial jargon in the fine print. Ay yi yi! Credit cards are the ultimate in American consumerism: incentivized spending, which I am not keen on. Some people get really into playing the rewards game to their own advantage. I’ll never be one of those people. Plus credit cards have always scared me. The though of being tempted to spend money I don’t actually have freaks me out. So in order to be smart about venturing into credit card land, I meticulously researched and compared different companies offerings, read the fine print, and listened to podcasts about how credit cards work before I applied. In the end I chose a simple card that gives me good, practical rewards for my everyday spending habits. I can’t say I felt great about getting a credit card, but I did learn what my credit score was, some basic financial terminology, and how to use credit cards in a safe, smart, and effective way. I’m teaching myself about adult financial literacy as I go, but I sure wish I had learned more about it in high school!
Venturing into the world of small business on my own has taught me many valuable lessons in adulting. I’m getting better at being my own best self-advocate and educating myself to make informed decisions along the way.
