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Springing Forward & Out of Synch

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In the U.S. most of our clocks have sprung forward by one hour while marketing images for some major brands in the swim industry remain stuck many decades backward into the 1950s.  [a split image: top half shows a website homepage with a newsletter pop-up prompt of a young woman in a 2-piece swimsuit who's kneeling on the beach; bottom half shows a website homepage with a newsletter pop-up prompt of 6 young adults standing in a circle with their arms around each other's shoulders as they gaze down into the camera lens]  This company's brand is synonymous with swimming.  When the newsletter pop-up with the 6 models (who are not responsible for the exclusionary context in which it's being used) first came to my attention almost 2 years ago, here's what sprang to my mind: Tell me no one in your company recognizes (or cares?) that the imagery used to inspire engagement with the brand embodies the opposite of inclusion without saying a word.  That same newsletter sign-up...
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Stating the Obvious

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  [three sentences: Humans swim. Black people are humans. Therefore, Black people swim.] 
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Different Season, Different Month, Same Old Exclusion

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  [a collage composed from 7 images of models in swimwear; top image with "NEW VIBE" across the center]  The lack of visual representation of a broad array of humanity in swimming and aquatics continues on this well-known brand's U.S. homepage in which the "new vibe" is the same old vibe. [sigh]   
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A Swim Brand's Story in Pictures

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Last July the pop-up image for a major swim brand's newsletter sign-up prompt on the homepage for their U.S. website caught my attention because it shows 6 young adults who appear nearly homogenous in age, physical fitness, body types, hair textures, and ethnicity.  My disappointment in seeing how many different kinds of people were  excluded from this image led me to check in on that website at least once per month (except October & November 2023 and March 2024).  Even if the homepage images during the 3 missed months featured a wide assortment of people of various ages, fitness levels, body types, hair textures, and ethnicities - as unlikely as that is, the majority of this swim brand's images during the past 15 months reveal a noticeable pattern of focusing on a very narrow portion of the population.       Their homepage images from February, May, and June 2024 generated my cautious hope for expanded inclusion even as the pop-up prompt remained ...
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Making Inclusion the Default

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Do the people shown in this mix of images represent the wide variety of people who swim in the U.S. and around the world?  [ a collage of 5 images clockwise starting top left: 1. 2 young women wearing 2-piece swimsuits next to a laughing embracing couple - a young woman and a young man  2. a young woman wearing a 2-piece swimsuit while lying on a mesh lounger; she's holding an open book over her face  3. 2 young women wearing 1-piece swimsuits and 2 young men wearing swim trunks sanding together and talking in a locker room  4. 4 young adults - a man and a woman to the right and to the left - with a "Labor Day SALE" logo between the two pairings  5.  six young adults standing in a circle with their arms around each other’s shoulders as they look down]  On Friday's CBS Mornings segment with Fearless Fund's Arian Simone, News Anchor Gayle King asked, "What should we do?" about the persistent investment funding imbalance that negatively impacts Black and ...
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Some Thoughts at the End of Outdoor Swim Season

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Now that outdoor public pools have closed for the season here in the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area, it also marks the end of another round of frustration and disappointment for me in searching for a collaborative product development partner for my SwimMission Swim Cap, which remains stalled at the initial prototype and beta testing stage despite its U.S. utility patent. Rubber, latex, and silicone companies, prototype makers, athletic and sporting goods companies, sports talent agents, other industry professionals, university professors, and the governor's office don't even send the most basic courtesy of "no thank you" replies to my queries despite automated responses that say they will respond. A reputable overseas manufacturer has reached out to me multiple times, but I keep saying no because it feels risky in many ways and because manufacturing SwimMission Swim Cap in the U.S.A. using sustainable materials and processes has always been my intention since my firs...
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297 Days & Counting

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[a super flattering (sarcasm intended) freeze frame of a Black woman with voluminous type 4c hair in the foreground; a letter board with "#swimcap @SwimMission 297 DAYS AGO" hanging in the background]  https://youtu.be/q5_GaDLFGT8   My PitchHU 3.0 cohort experience has been a study in contrasts.  The weeks of substantive scheduled and asynchronous entrepreneurial content sessions and practical assignments, guidance from outstanding Subject Matter Experts, camaraderie within the cohort, etc. between April to June 2023 concluded with a 3-minutes/3-slides pitch presentation from each cohort member evaluated by a panel of prestigious guest judges in finance and business development.  Being awarded non-dilutive funds toward producing more prototypes for additional beta testing of my U.S. utility patented SwimMission Swim Cap had me feeling elated. That was almost 10 months ago. And now I'm tired.  Tired of having my polite emails ignored.  Tired of submitting th...
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