On the latest episode of Recode Decode, Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton and Deeds Not Words founder Wendy Davis joined Recode’s Kara Swisher onstage to talk about being seen and heard in historically male-dominated fields; the current political climate in America; and how, sometimes at the urging of their own peers, women and people of color make apologies and accommodations for the people who discriminate against them.
Hamilton recalled a story about a successful black woman in New York who she thought was going to invest in Backstage, but instead used a meeting to give her fashion counseling:
“She said, ‘First of all, I don’t need to see you in blue anymore. You’re never going to raise money if you don’t dress the part, if you don’t dress better, if you can’t wear what you’re wearing,’” Hamilton said. “And I do believe it was well-meaning because I feel like she felt she had to do the part … It just felt so wrong. And then about two blocks out…
