Sekond Skin Society

On this 34th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we're celebrating the protection of rights of people with disabilities and the achievements and continued progress towards disability inclusion. We’re proud to work with companies who are actively prioritizing accessibility and inclusion in their hiring practices, facilities, marketing efforts and business development. Nielsen is leading the way in working towards inclusion and we are excited to support them with their initiatives. Grab your friends, family, co-workers and community, and join us for a Free Community Class, sponsored by our partner, Nielsen. Join us August 15 at 3pm EST 30 min Yoga Class with multiple standing and seated options Presented via Zoom Register at https://lnkd.in/g46hrdPV Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA #ADA34 #ADAAnniversary Image Description: Two women practising a seated, single leg forward fold. They are on yoga mats in a studio. The Nielsen logo with a white plus sign and the Sekond Skin Society logo are present on a black background under the image.

Inclusion is active, not passive. For us, it’s not enough to listen when someone shares. It’s not enough to notice who’s already in the room. It’s not enough to understand what people are experiencing. We are actively asking, not just waiting for you to speak. We are paying attention to who’s not yet in the room, asking ourselves why, and actively working to create the environment where people know and feel they belong. We are going beyond just understanding what you’re experiencing, to value you and your human experience. This is inclusion. Active, not passive. We don’t wait for you to find us, we go looking for you! www.sekondskinsociety.com Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA Image Description: a black background with blue text and the caption “Inclusion is active, not passive.”

We’re almost halfway through Disability Pride Month and today we’re looking to amplify more stories - not just for this month, but for the months and years ahead. We want to hear from you! As a company, we’ve developed an Inclusive Language Guide that we use for training as we onboard new team members. This is to ensure the culture and ethos we have established as a brand is clearly understood so we can all live by it. This guide serves as an important part of our company’s North Star for our team and, in developing it, we’ve understood the opportunity for it to be an educational tool outside of our business, as part of the impact we continue to create. We’re excited to take that impact even further by including stories from our community that can help to highlight the different aspects of the guide. Reading text or listening to audio is great to absorb information for some, but we know the most powerful way to convey the message and support people to apply the guide to their way of thinking is by amplifying stories we can use to demonstrate the lessons. This is where we need you. We’d love to hear your stories so we can amplify them and integrate them in our Inclusive Language Guide. This will create even more impact for organizations who will use the guide to teach their management teams, employee teams, stakeholders and communities about disability inclusion. Please email info@sekondskinsociety.com to learn more. We can’t wait to connect with you. Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA

How many times do we look at something “exclusive” and think - I want that! I want to have that. I want to be part of that. As a society, we see “exclusive” as something more valuable, sometimes unattainable, and often only meant for a certain few. What does that kind of message and thought process do when it comes to valuing inclusion? Have we set ourselves up for failure in creating spaces and experiences where everyone belongs? If this is the belief we have collectively adopted, then inclusion is an act of rebellion! Join us in rebellion, alongside so many other disrupters! Lianna Genovese Access to Success Organization Jolene MacDonald Julie Sawchuk Erica Cole Erica Carson-Sami, MSW Laura Andert Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA Image Description: A black background with a white Sekond Skin Society logo, blue text and the caption “In a society where “exclusive” is perceived as more valeable, inclusion is an act of rebellion.” 

Interrupting your feed with some strength and motivation 💪🏼 For a long time, we’ve recognized the issues that the fitness industry has as a whole. The way it has been constructed and the marketing around fitness has been and continues to be very destructive and exclusive, particularly for people with disabilities. It’s for this reason we’ve made our membership different. No marketing for weight loss. No earning your dinner. No excluding bodies that don’t fit the fitness industry’s standard as “valuable”. Our community is a safe space for EVERYBODY and EVERY BODY where empowerment through movement is our focus. We know movement is and needs to be for all - For all races, genders, sexualities, ages and abilities. Every body needs movement and you shouldn’t have to change anything about who you are in order to access it. Does this sound like the kind of fitness community you’re looking for? We’d love to have you in our society! One of the things we hear often is: “I don't have a disability, so I'm not sure this is for me.”  We're here to tell you, whether you have a disability today or not, this is absolutely for you!  We use accessibility to drive our innovation, so everyone has access to a fitness tool that meets their needs, and everyone benefits from an enhanced, more personalized fitness experience because of the accessibility features we've integrated. Disability Pride Promos are happening now and will soon be gone! Save 45% off our yearly membership - $109.99 (Reg. $199.99) OR Purchase 4 months of our membership and save! - $49.99 (Reg. $79.96) Grab one of these promos on our website: www.sekondskinsociety.com Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA Image Description: A young, black woman wearing a sports bra that says “Happiness and Fun” and leggings, flexing her biceps and holding weights with a smirk on her face.

What actually is inclusion? It’s a place for you and me and everyone to be together. It’s removing the barriers that exist so everyone has access and opportunity to live life to the fullest based on their choices, not based on what’s available to them! Inclusion is active, not passive. For those who are still waiting for people with disabilities to ask for supports to attend events, to ask for products and services or for hiring practices to be made accessible so they can buy and apply, you’re missing the mark. Inclusion is actively looking around the room to notice both who is there AND who is not, and asking ourselves why there are certain groups missing. It’s taking responsibility for the environments we create. Inclusion is then taking action to create spaces everyone can access so that anyone can attend events, buy products and apply for jobs without having to ask! Inclusion is then going further and ensuring supports are readily available and people are trained in inclusive language and etiquette so the experience people have when they are included is one that makes them want to come back and bring their friends! It’s not, “Hey, I created something so you can participate too! Follow me, it’s here in this other room, beside the one where everyone else is in.” This is seclusion, NOT inclusion! There is no belonging without inclusion. There is no inclusion without accessibility. There is no accessibility without taking responsibility. Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA Image Description: A black background with blue lettering and the caption “We aren’t creating something “special” for “special” people, we’re simply including everyone in our society!”

5 days into Disability Pride - we’re looking at you… what have you implemented from your learning? We often see eyes widen when we talk about the exclusion that is present in the fitness industry (and everywhere). People all of the sudden come to realize they don’t see people with disabilities in their gyms, studio or virtual fitness app and they come to understand what a problem that is. But beyond a greater sense of awareness, learning does nothing to move the needle if you don’t actually apply what you’ve learned. Here are three things you can do TODAY and going forward. They cost nothing, take almost no effort, and they are super easy to share with others in your network. 1, Use camel case hashtags. Regular hashtags #looklikethis. Camel case hashtags #LookLikeThis. This helps for easier readability and ensures the message you want to convey doesn’t get lost in translation. 2, Add an image or video description. It doesn’t have to include every single detail of the image, but convey the sense of the photo/video with words so people who can’t see it understand the meaning and impact. 3, Make sure there is enough colour contrast from your words to your images so people can actually read the messaging you’ve created. It’s there for a purpose, right? Don’t let the message get lost in bad font and contrast. Don’t trip yourself up on whether it’s right or wrong to the point you don’t take action. This is the messy part of moving forward into unchartered territory and it’s ok to try and get it wrong. Just keep learning and you will get it right (trust us, we are still learning too!). There are some amazing supports coming out to help with accessible content. Check out Scribely for image/video description services! Now that you know, you can’t not know. Now it’s time to DO. Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA Image Description: Three people in wheelchairs, sitting with their backs towards each other in somewhat of a circle, looking forward as if looking right at you. Blue Steel/Zoolander vibes in this group’s look!

More people are talking about inclusion… Which is great! But what’s actually being done? … a lot of talking, not a lot of inclusion. Read on so we can include you! 👇🏼 When we started building out the idea for our app, we did a lot of research and discovery. We conducted hundreds of surveys and 1:1 interviews, and also spoke to groups to get feedback. We heard from so many people that they had been promised accessible and inclusive experiences and didn’t get them. We also spoke to the DEI roles at dozens of companies… not one person mentioned people with disabilities as part of their focus in working towards inclusion within their organization. 👀 We see people talking about how their products and services are “for everyone”, but then see no representation of people with disabilities in their marketing. 🤔 When we say, we are “for everybody and every body”, we mean it and we live it. For today’s Disability Pride Month shout out, we’re looking for you share your gifts and be part of our instructor community!! 🎉 Are you a yoga teacher, dance instructor, or cardio/strength trainer who’s passionate about accessibility and inclusion and wants to drive real societal change in the fitness industry? Our instructor teams are made up of people with and without disabilities, co-creating multiple versions (standing and seated) of each class to create truly inclusive fitness experiences. Email instructor-support@sekondskinsociety.com to connect with us about our joining our teams! Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA Video Description: A series of photos, showing pictures of mostly white women who are very thin and lean, including a pregnant woman, an older woman, a very muscular man, and 1 woman in a larger body, with the caption “When they say they’re for “everybody””. Then a series of photos, showing pictures of men and women, different ages, different sizes, different races, some with disabilities, some without disabilities, with the caption “When we say we’re for every body!”

Working to create real change in society is scary. You’re going to get it wrong sometimes. Last week we started a Friday email series with our community called “Failing Forward Fridays”. In the first email, we shared the above statement and called out that fear of doing or saying the wrong thing, being judged, or having failure be seen publicly is the number 1 thing that stops people from working towards real change. The idea of failing forward is that we acknowledge the mistakes, the feedback, the things that aren't working and we also share how we use the feedback and failure and keep moving forward to do better. For Day 2 of Disability Pride Month, we want to encourage you to embrace the idea failing forward so that you don’t allow fear of judgement to stop you from creating change. Now listen, you need more than good intentions here. You can’t just dismiss critical feedback with, “I meant well”. There are so many resources available to learn about accessibility and it’s impact, to understand what language is ableist, and to start making small changes to be more inclusive, not just in your business but in the way you live your life. These resources are readily available and don’t cost you a dime to learn and start to take action. What it will cost you is taking responsibility for your current way of thinking, for the ways you (unconsciously or consciously) exclude other people, and for now knowing how to do better and actually doing better! We will be sharing lots of these over the month, but to start, go give Unlearning Ableism, Jamie Shields and Celia Chartres-Aris (née Hensman) a follow (they have a ton of resources available on LinkedIn) and attend their sessions, take in their content and really start to look at how you can take action towards inclusion today. And we’re talking about INCLUSION, not SECLUSION (we’ll touch on this another day). Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA Image Description: A black square with the caption “Working to create real change in society is scary. You’re going to get it wrong sometimes.”

It's the first day of Disability Pride Month and there are so many ways we are celebrating! All month long we'll be sharing our favourite people and organizations you're going to want to follow, along with resources and tips for taking action towards accessibility and inclusion. You'll also see us share about our own efforts towards disability inclusion and how we are living this every day. Plus, some exciting announcements and opportunities for you! Stay tuned and stay celebrating! Disability Pride. Today and every day. #WeAreBillionStrong #DisabilityPride #ForEverybodyAndEveryBody #YouBelongHere #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleFitness #InclusiveFitness #AdaptiveFitness #NoInclusionWithoutAccessibility #DisabilityPrideMonth #DEIA Image Description: The Disability Pride Flag colours proudly displayed above the caption "Disability Pride Today and every day" and the Sekond Skin Society logo.