It seems I continue to learn the hard way. And what I need to do right now is apologize. I don't want to ruin it with an excuse. . .and will rather try and offer an explanation of my heart and intentions behind what I did. So, for those of you who saw my post this last weekend about rape. . .please know I am offering my sincere apology for any offence taken, I pushed that "post" button in a moment of fervor and did not think through how it could be perceived. . .my heart is sickened with the knowledge that I offended and possibly alienated anyone of my friends, staff or customers. As I build this company and struggle to find the voice of the brand that pushes limits, is relevant, fearless and brave I made a mistake and for that I am truly sorry. The responsibility of having a public voice for a brand is huge and I value every single person who let's GORP into their life. . .in this instance I failed at communicating in a responsible way. . . and I apologize.
You may or may not want/need to read further. . .but here I will offer an explanation of my heart's intent.
What I thought the post was going to do was start a conversation. . .and challenge us ALL to reevaluate our perspectives and possibly false judgements on victims. . .whether it be victims of abuse, violence, bullying . . .the list goes on. . .
Please know I am acutely aware that this subject is not a joke and intimately aware of why it isn't. Specifically in the last few months I seem to have been privy to many conversations about abuse and the victim, hence why it's been top of mind. In conversation with a group of women the other night it was startling but sadly not surprising when I realized that most of our group had intimate experience with sexual violence, whether it came as abuse as a child or rape or other. What's sad is that 100% of us continue to experience everything from heckling, inappropriate cat calls, being followed to our cars in parking lots to being intimidated in parkades or the workplace. We are all familiar with the horrible examples of victims taking their own lives because of the fallout and response from anonymous bullies on social media. . .confirming to the most vulnerable in our society that it's better to keep quiet. As a culture. . .in the hopes of protecting and educating (which is obviously a great intention) I personally think we've sometimes unintentionally communicated that it's solely the victims responsibility to protect themselves. . .and sometimes it's even their fault if they get targeted. (There is an incredible amount of shame that comes with this belief.) That's why that post hit me so hard. . .and because of the profound effect it had on me I was anxious to share with other women who might be blaming themselves. Obviously I did it rashly and with no explanation of what my heart's intent was. Not an excuse. . .rather an explanation. One you may or may not be interested in.
Since a few of my customers had the courage and took the time to reach out to me and communicate their confusion, hurt and anger. . . I thought the least I could do was explain. . .
At 16. . .literally the day I could legally drive I headed out and got a job and started to travel the province giddy with the prospective of having an adventure. In my late teens and twenties I got jobs in other provinces and traveled to the U.S. doing sales. . .by the time I was 23 I'd had enough experiences that had convinced me it was unsafe for me to go anywhere alone. The prospect of me going hiking alone (something I love) fills my stomach with knots of fear to this day. To be completely honest. . .I have to gear myself up to walk alone into a parkade or down a street at night. In my entire year of working at MEC and having to walk down Smith to my car I can count on one hand how many times I WASN'T cat called, inappropriately approached or followed or on a few occasions man handled. It's a horrible reality and one I think most women fight against in normal everyday life. I know I am not alone and have found that lately when exploring this with other women we have all just learned to shut up about it. . . . I honestly didn't realize how angry I was.
The voice of my brand: To inspire Adventure.
To those of you who I confused with my post and found it disjointed from the happy and hopefully inspiring message GORP is trying so desperately to communicate. . .the intent was to get behind anyone plagued with shame and blaming themselves for their fear. Fear that is often stopping people from remembering that they have every right to get outside and have an adventure. It was not targeted at the perpetrators out there. . .or men. . .it was aimed at anyone who subconsciously blames themselves. . .a reminder that nobody has the right to make you feel scared. . .and it's not your fault if they do.
As a company. . .our core value simply is to inspire adventure. . .BUT. . .I've recently come to the realization that there are other hurdles for many of us to cross before we can do so. . . one of the biggest being fear. How do we as a company address this? How do we encourage and educate without unwittingly affirming self blame?
I did such a poor job choosing how to convey this. . .it sure didn't seem like a very "relevant" post for GORP's brand and product. What I was actually trying to do was start the conversation. . .however, I did it in an EXTREMELY rash way. I sincerely hope I've successfully explained the thought process behind what prompted me to push that "post" button.
As some of you communicated, you felt that the post portrayed men in an unfair light. . ..I am SO sorry about that. . .and in no way believe it. In fact. . .I think for men it's actually a painfully hard cross to bear when it comes to thinking about women's safety since God designed them to be protectors by nature. I would imagine there's nothing worse than the feeling of helplessness when a man finds out a person he cares about and bears the responsibility to protect has been victimized. The anguish would no doubt breaks ones heart.
I feel very lucky to have customers who are brave and honest and care about the company enough to reach out in concern (and understandably anger) to hold us accountable for our online presence. I don't take it lightly. So, as I continue to stumble forward I will be henceforth putting safeguards in place to make sure I don't make anyone feel like I did this past weekend.
. . .I'm sure my days of making mistakes and blunders are not over. . .but I will take every care to be less rash and more mindful going forward. My nature is not to shy away from debate and I love to make a ruckus and stir the pot. . .but will strive to always do so in a professional and respectful way. . .
Looking forward to continuing the adventure. . .lumps and all. . .
Colleen
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