There’s no shortage of talent, drive and heart among Australia’s LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. This Pride Month, we’re proud to spotlight queer-owned brands who are building more than businesses — they’re building safe, inclusive spaces and breaking boundaries while they’re at it.
We caught up with Kaylene Langford of StartUp Creative and Erin Spencer & Bec Cerio of Sock Drawer Heroes to talk about the meaning of Pride, the power of visibility and how we can all be better allies this month and beyond.
Kaylene Langford (She/Her)
StartUp Creative
What does this year’s Pride Month theme, ”Love, Respect, Empower”, mean to you?
Love, Respect and Empowerment I would say are three of the world’s greatest needs at this moment. Many of us in the queer community have had to endure being dejected, disrespected and disempowered. Pride celebrations provided us safe spaces to fully express ourselves and for many feel love, respect and empowerment for the first time.
Our right to exist and live freely as who we are isn’t always guaranteed and sadly we are seeing many other minority groups facing similar consequences right now. I think this year’s theme is a reminder that what we stand and fight for as a queer community isn’t just for us but the right for all people to live their truth and shouldn’t come at the price of their right to be loved and respected. It’s not always easy to raise our voices when so many want to silence them but if we don’t empower each other to speak up, the hate wins.
Why do you think it’s important to spotlight LGBTQIA+ businesses during Pride month and beyond?
Because we’re fabulous, obviously! As a queer, First Nations woman in business I was scared that no one would take me seriously when I first started my business StartUp Creative. 10 years ago, the startup space was very much dominated by white, straight men in suits so being the complete opposite of that was terrifying.
As much as I tried to fit the mold of who I thought I needed to be in order to make my mark in the small business/startup space, the more exhausted I got and simply couldn’t keep up the facade. Acknowledging that I didn’t belong there led me to creating my own events and spaces that aligned with my values as a creative entrepreneur. I started hosting networking events for hundreds of people with food trucks, live musicians, vibrant panel discussions that spoke to and attracted a diverse audience of likeminded creatives.
The moral of the story is that the queer community has a lot of magic to bring to the world, our personal experiences have forced us to think outside of the box and create new ways of doing things. Our boldness in being who we are in a world that doesn’t always accept us or make it safe gives us courage to dream big and our sense of pride in our community means we’ll always strive to make safe and inclusive spaces for all.
What have been some of your biggest challenges and proudest achievements as an entrepreneur?
I remember fearing conversations in the work place about what we did on the weekend. Inevitably those conversations would lead to asking about each other’s partners and what they did and I’d dance around the topic trying to avoid having to out my partner as a ‘she’ or worse, someone else would misgender them and I’d have to quickly determine if it was safe to correct them and then brace for their reaction. I don’t think straight people realise how exhausting it is to have to ‘come out’ over and over again when people assume our sexuality, definitely the hardest.
The best and proudest of my achievements would be meeting my fiancé and the love of my life Lizzie on a pride shoot. She was the producer of a short piece of content that we created for a brand celebrating pride. We travelled back to my home town, a small rural town in Queensland Australia to tell my coming out story and what it was like growing up there and then throw a pride party. It was terrifying and the lead up was quite anxious as I convinced my family to get on board and tell our not so smooth sailing story about my queer coming out at the age of 23. But from the very first zoom meeting with Lizzie to plan the event, I knew I was in safe hands and instantly head over heels! That was nearly four years ago now and I still I’m in awe that we found each other and am forever grateful that I found my person in this lifetime, happy Pride to us bb!
How can the wider community better support LGBTQIA+ small businesses like yours?
I want to say spend money with us (kidding) but I actually think joining the community and cheering us on is even more valuable. Simple things like sharing our content, joining the mailing list, following us online, telling your friends what we do and sliding into the dm’s to say hi are all so helpful for a small business.
Solo entrepreneurs like me can get a little lonely when we spend our days in front of a screen talking to our audiences so knowing there are real people out there on the other side of the content who are consuming and appreciating what you’re creating goes a long way in helping us to keep showing up. Come say hi!
Bec Cerio (They/She) & Erin Spencer (They/Them)
Sock Drawer Heroes
What does this year’s Pride Month theme, ”Love, Respect, Empower”, mean to you?
As co-founders of Australia’s leading gender expression store, Sock Drawer Heroes, this year’s Pride Month theme, “Love, Respect, Empower” really resonates with us. It reflects our core values as an authentic community-driven trans and queer led business which exists to support trans, gender diverse, and LGBTQIA+ people, empowering them to be their authentic selves.
This is particularly important in the current climate of increasing attacks on the rights and lives of transgender people in Australia and around the world. Love, respect and empowerment of our community is more important than ever.
Why do you think it’s important to spotlight LGBTQIA+ businesses during Pride month and beyond?
Because we’re here all year, not just during Pride Month. Running a small business is hard, but LGBTQIA+ business owners often face additional challenges just because of who we are.
Spotlighting creates positive visibility. It celebrates us and our identities, which is important because stigma and discrimination contribute to LGBTQIA+ people, and particularly transgender people, having some of the poorest mental health of any population group. It supports a marginalised community in a world that doesn’t always make space for us. It says “you are valued and we support you”.
What have been some of your biggest challenges and proudest achievements as an entrepreneur?
Running your own business is full of challenges, but so rewarding! We’re so proud to have grown over our 7 years, but our increasing visibility has, unfortunately, brought an increase in transphobic online abuse. This is really hard on our team, but we receive amazing support from our community during those times, including offers from allies to moderate our channels so we don’t have to read the awful comments. But this is far outweighed by our achievements. In 2022, we opened Australia’s first physical gender expression store; in 2023, we launched our own chest binder range; and in the same year, we appeared on and secured an investor on Shark Tank Australia, which brought positive trans visibility to a national audience.
How can the wider community better support LGBTQIA+ small businesses like yours?
We love our allies! We’re so lucky at Sock Drawer Heroes because we get to meet parents, grandparents, siblings, loved ones and friends of our customers who are proactively supporting the trans and gender diverse people in their lives.
The wider community can support LGBTQIA+ small businesses like ours by buying from them all year round, not just during Pride Month. Choose to buy from small local businesses over big chains who only bring the rainbow flags once a year. If money is tight, tell your friends and family, engage on social media, leave a kind review – everything helps!
Discover more from StartUp Creative at https://www.startupcreative.com.au/ and follow along at @startupcreative on Instagram. Explore Sock Drawer Heroes at sockdrawerheroes.com and connect with them at @sockdrawerheroes on Instagram.
For more inspiring small business stories and tips, follow us on social @vistaprintaustralia and visit our Ideas & Advice blog on our website.
