10/16/2025
This is my unofficial official statement: as a Chicagoan, as a marketing strategist, as a brand, and as someone who is proud to advise other brands.
It’s not a political rant... but it’s not neutral either.
If you’re navigating how to show up (or not show up) right now, I hope this gives you something real to sit with.
And if you're here in Chicago with me, I'm hugging you so, so hard (in HR-approved, consentual ways).
****
I live in Chicago. (Real city limits Chicago-Chicago, not like you posers out in Schaumburg.) And between stretches of eerie stillness... things have been bonkers. Scary. What’s happening here is real, even if it’s not always trending, and misinformation is evvvverywheeeere even if people are actively looking away.
This isn’t a political post. It’s a post about platforms, and what we choose to do with ours.
Something I say often in my work:
A platform is a privilege.
If your proximity to privilege allows you to do it safely - go freaking nuts. Speak your truths with gusto.
But here's the kicker that I've learned through the process of documenting and sharing what is happening with the invasion of Chicago over on my until-recently-dead Facebook account:
A platform is a privilege, but it also isn't a contract.
You don’t owe constant updates. (Yes, strategically, it has been shown that maintaining a consistent heartbeat in your marketing helps a lot - but I've said it a billion times. The best marketing is the marketing that gets done, and you can quote me on that. Sometimes "doing your best" feels like "doing your worst." Try to give yourself some grace, hey?)
You don’t owe a statement. (Yes, it may endear people to your business or personal brand if you choose to do so. But - what's the reason behind the share? Because you're going to lose just as many people, if not more. You gotta FEEL this choice out. When it comes time to raise your voice, I find it easiest to use the barometer, "what cannot stay unsaid here?" Bear in mind: not making a statement can also be seen as making a statement.)
You don’t owe “both sides” anything. (This is the one I personally grapple with. "But I'm alienating wonderful people!" "I've known them for so long!" "They've given me money!" I'm still navigating this, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to where I've chosen to draw deliberate lines in the sand encompassing my business and personal life.)
Here's where I'm at in this moment, and where I'm trying to stay: if someone unsubscribes, unfollows, or unfriends you because you chose to speak from your values... let them.
Truly, truly: let them go like Idina Menzel in an ice storm.
NOW! That doesn’t mean you need to post every hard thing either.
1. You’re allowed to protect your nervous system. (Please do. Thank you.)
2. You’re allowed to keep some things private. ("Keep your side of the street clean" as T. Swift would say.)
3. You’re allowed to choose what’s right for you... and change your mind tomorrow. (Case-by-case is the perfect pace.)
Here’s the point: discernment is the strategy here, folks.
So if you've been quiet, or loud, or somewhere in between... that’s okay. (I have been damn near radio silent on the platforms that matter most to me - LIKE THIS ONE - and ranting like a lunatic about ICE on my personal Facebook. My best friends have heard from me less than my alderman. Just showing you I'm in the same field as y'all on this.)
You’re not quickly becoming irrelevant. You’re not a wuss. You’re being human - AND A PERSONAL BRAND - in a world that demands more emotional labor than it admits.
You get to build your platform around what matters to you and to walk away from anything that doesn’t.
xoxo,
a.p.r.
P.S. ICE is active in Chicago and especially in my gorgeously multi-cultural neighborhood. It’s terrifying. I won’t debate that here, but I will say this: I stand with my neighbors, not with systems that dehumanize them. If that’s too much for some people, I wish them well as they unfriend me. Thanks for helping me walk my talk.
