With the rest of the world, we were outraged by the murder of George Floyd and knew that we had a pivotal role to play in the conversation about Black Lives Matter and diversity as a whole. Plain and simple, we could not continue business as usual when our Black team members and Black influencers in our community were not okay.
Collectively, we were not okay and still aren’t.
MagicLinks is committed to doing right by our people and sometimes that calls for tough conversations. The first step of this was a public announcement on where we stand as an organization by our CEO and Founder, Brian Nickerson. Internally, our team had plenty of uncomfortable, yet necessary conversations via Zoom to break down racial barriers and put it all out there. Since then, we’ve formed a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team to bring light to how we have contributed to systemic racism and how we should course correct.
Diversity Casting Audit
We audited our 2020 sponsored campaigns to get a clear picture of the racial breakdown of casted influencers.
While some results were encouraging:
Others were not:
We can do better. We will do better.
Diversity Action Plan
The MagicLinks Diversity Action Plan for campaigns & influencers includes:
- Instituting minimum requirements for diversity in casted campaigns
- Recruiting more Asian and Hispanic influencers to join our network
- Drive greater representation of minority groups in casted campaigns
- Anti-colorism diversity casting: Specifically casting talent with non-European features & darker skin tones
- Offering Diversity & Inclusion campaign packages to brand sponsors
- Targeting Black-owned businesses for new campaigns, particularly Black female-targeted hair & beauty products
- Adding Black-owned search filter and Diversity Ratings to our Retailer Ratings available to view by MagicLinks influencers
Recruitment & Hiring Practices
MagicLinks is committed to crafting a workplace and team that reflects the beautifully diverse, creative influencer & brand spheres that we work with. We’re revamping our recruitment & hiring practices to attract a wider range of applicants across all ethnicities, genders, religions, and sexual orientations.
Our diverse team hails from all over the world, from Nigeria to the Philippines, and we’re committed to crafting an inclusive, engaging work environment that challenges and changes our world view.
Want to work with us? View our open positions, then reach out!
Tea Time
What started out as a casual conversation with beauty content creator Mena Abudea, who responded to one of our Black Lives Matter emails, has now evolved into a weekly staple of our content programming.
In our weekly instagram Live series, #MLTeaTime, DEI Lead Bryan Mirabal gives the floor to BIPOC leaders to get into the real issues. Our intention is to learn, grow, and evolve from these conversations with the goal of creating long-lasting impact as leaders in the influencer marketing space and within our own organization.
We’ve learned A LOT. From colorism to on- and off-screen representation to how to view diversity as a spectrum, we celebrate the unique perspective of each of our speakers.
Guests on Tea Time include influencers (Mena Adubea), innovators (Tari Kandemiri), entertainers (Lauren Ashley Beck), industry leaders (fashion designer Perry White), and entrepreneurs (Jordan of Artists Untold), and we’re far from done. Follow @magiclinks for weekly updates and new episodes.
Donations: Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are
MagicLinks’ CEO & co-founder, Brian Nickerson, pledged to match, dollar-for-dollar, employee contributions to causes they care about, as well as donations made by Tea Time viewers during the IG live sessions.
In 2020, we have donated over $8,000 to:
- The ACLU
- ActBlue
- The Innocence Project
- Buy From A Black Woman
- The Minnesota Freedom Fund
- The EIF
- The American Council for Construction Education
- Food Chain Workers Association
- More to come – keep checking this space!
What’s Next?
All of the above is great, but we’re not done. Future plans include a partnering with YouTube to encourage creator diversity and empowering BIPOC creators to build more brand equity through courses. We can’t do it alone, so please, reach out to Bryan at bryan.mirabal@magiclinks.com!
