Maya French has been reflecting lately on the early days of starting Koia, the best-selling vegan protein drink now sold at 8,500 stores, when she stepped back as her white male cofounder took the lead in front of investors.
“There are people who have not wanted me, like I was dead weight and they really didn’t care to even learn what exactly I do for the company, even though there were two people running it,” says Chicago-born French, who attended college but didn’t obtain a degree. “It was very hard for me and made me very insecure. It took a long time for me to feel comfortable speaking up.”
When French did find her voice, it resonated. She landed on the pages of Forbes as a featured member of the 2019 30 Under 30 and a year later was chosen to give a keynote speech at the food and beverage industry’s Expo East trade show.
“The fact that I’m here today is just very surprising, but it’s been a long journey,” French told Forbes in 2018, when Koia had shelf-space in 4,000 stores. “We’ve worked really hard and it’s very rare for any brand, so quickly, to grow so large.”
Maya French, Koia cofounder, wants to see more diversity on CPG boards.
Jamel Toppin
French may find herself in a different corporate environment in the wake of nationwide outrage over the killing of George Floyd, which has prompted a new flood of support from white, male corporate America, which has historically remained silent at times of racial strife. Companies that include GM and Johnson & Johnson
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“Opportunities are given based on who you know,” she says. “Everyone has the same investors. The same legal representation. It’s hard to break into that if you don’t have an intro. It creates a higher barrier for people of color. They don’t know where to start.”
French has had some tough conversations of her own this week. Though she remains Koia’s only black employee, she says she is starting to see a shift in the conversation.
“In the past, I could tell people were really afraid to even say anything or touch the subject,” she says. “They don’t know what to say or where to start, so they’d rather not say anything at all. People are starting to feel more comfortable and understand what’s going on and that they should support.”
She shares her thoughts on what businesses can do to create a more inclusive environment.
What should businesses be doing to support their black employees right now?
All business leaders should take the time to have one on one conversations with their black employees. The conversation is the starting point. During these one-on-one conversations, it’s important to ask how they are feeling, what can you as a leader do to help, and what the organization can do to show support to the community. Many black employees might feel an overwhelming amount of emotional fatigue during this time. It’s important to be sensitive to this and give space where needed. Even if you don’t know the right words to say, at least reach out. Even something as small as a heart emoji, just to show that you actually care, because the silence speaks louder.
What’s your advice for a founder of color first starting out?
Many people are not open to changing the way things have already been done. The best thing that has worked for me is to work very hard and stay true to your values. There will be people who will reject you, people naturally fear the unknown. But there will also be people who accept you and be more than willing to help you succeed because you are a genuine person. Try a common phrase, “Just do you.” Avoid getting caught up in the negativity of those who won’t or are not open to accepting you. If you stay true to your path, it’s inevitable that you will attract the right people to help you along your journey.
What can businesses do more to hire black workers?
It’s a really difficult subject. I’ve only had one other black person apply for a job and honestly they weren’t the best fit for the position and we chose someone else. It wasn’t because of race. It was just, at the end of the day, you have to choose the best person for the job but have not had a lot of people apply. Is there a way that the industry can seek out talent in underserved communities or at least have some type of internship program to help give opportunity to people of color? That’s the way that we can combat that because I just don’t see a lot of people applying and I’m guessing it’s because you only know what you know.
What should businesses be doing to support their black customers right now?
Be sensitive to the matter, and show you care. Something that was really strong for me in the beginning: we were working with a social media agency and they would use all of their employees for the photo shoots and they had no black employees. So we would never get photos featuring black people or even people of color other than one Asian person every once in a while. I said it was ridiculous. We need to represent people of color through the photos. We need to represent all of our customers. This thing I like to say is black hands matter. Because, you know, we have to do food shots with hands. Representation matters. Do a better job.
If someone or a brand messes up, what should they do?
I’ve definitely seen this a lot this week. The best thing that I’ve seen is when people actually own up to their mistakes and they state their reasoning, both sides, and then get educated on what they did wrong and talk about it. I know people hate to admit fault, but that’s the best way to do it is just own up to your shit. There’s many different ways to support and not feel pressure to show up the way everybody else does. As long as everybody’s contributing in some way, that should move everything forward.
What about some industry-specific actions? How can the food and beverage industry better support black founders and black-owned businesses?
Investors: Angel investors, VC and PE really need to step up and make an effort to seek out these founders. Having training courses or even a recruitment firm that helps to place minorities in the industry – it starts there because there are a lot of people like me personally. I know, because a lot of them reach out to me. They want to start food and beverage companies, but they just really don’t know where to start, who to talk to, or anything. It’s very intimidating. If we can ease that and open the doors, we’re moving in the right direction. There has been some progress in supporting women’s participation on board of directors. The same initiative should be taken for people of color. Investors can also pledge a certain amount of dollars per year to fund minority-owned businesses. I notice a large gap in awareness between both the investors and the founders. Many founders lack the resources to secure a meeting and many funds don’t know exactly where to find these impactful, minority-owned businesses.
Grocery Buyers: I’d suggest they make it a priority and policy to take meetings with brands and product companies that demonstrate diversity and maintain leadership or ownership with people of color. One company that does this well is Target
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Distributors: Distributors should identify these same brands, share the diversity of the brands that they carry, identity, and clearly communicate those brands to their channel partners.