Helen Russell & Brooke McDonnell, Founders of Equator Coffees
This week’s Featured Founder brings us not one, but two incredible women. Not only are Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell business partners and co-founders of Equator Coffees, but they are life partners, as well! We were lucky enough to catch up with Helen to chat about running a business through Covid, Pride Month, and the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement, and we have never felt more energized. 25 years into business and 31 years into their relationship, Helen and Brooke have some wisdom we hope can inspire you!
You have been in business the last 25+ years with Equator. What have you seen change as a LGBTQ+ business owner?
The way the LGBTQ+ community supports each other is incredible. The way new businesses are proudly Queer owned around the country is inspiring. LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs are way more visible and way out.
Remember, we started our business before even Ellen was out. There are some young Queer entrepreneurs starting businesses today that can’t imagine closeted Ellen, but boy did we watch that go down. Love her or hate her, her coming out was incredibly inspiring and also terrifying. Sponsors pulled their advertising, her show was canceled the next year, no one would hire her for years. Watching someone famous (and white/blond/attractive) facing such consequences for coming out really drove home the message of “stay in the closet for your own safety.” Looking back on this time in our lives is hard, I wish we were brave enough to be loud about being queer when we first opened, but at the time it felt like it would irreparably damage our business.
What advice would you have for up and coming queer women entrepreneurs?
Know what you don’t know and don’t be afraid to surround yourself with people who you think are smarter than you. You do not have to be an expert to get started. I’m such a people person and I’m great at connections and selling. I have the drive to move our business forward. I need help with organizational processes, financial details, and product development. That’s ok. I feel like entrepreneurs who are just starting out, especially women, feel like they have to take on every role in their company at once. I’m telling you, you do not! If I were roasting our coffee, no one would want to buy it. Trust me! I rely on Brooke as the expert on our product and Maureen McHugh our EVP for everything else.. You are judged as a leader not solely based on what you know, it’s also about the team you pull together to support you.
How is Equator celebrating Pride this year? Does this year feel different (Covid, BLM?)
Pride feels incredibly different this year. Like many things, I feel like how we celebrate and what we honor around Pride is going through a rebirth right now. It will be better on the other side of this. Because we can’t gather in the typical large celebrations/parades, folks are coming together in innovative ways, either virtually or simply with their chosen families.
It doesn’t make it any less of a celebration just because we aren’t shutting down the city for the whole weekend to party. It’s exciting to see our cities being shut down for racial equality. Centering BLM and especially Black Trans people will only make Pride better. So many people are learning for the first time this year that the Stonewall riots we honor every June were spearheaded by trans women of color (even the film whitewashes this fact). I really hope as a culture we continue to do the hard work of dismantling white supremacy (and heteronormativity while we are at it).
There is a lot of work to be done to make many Queer spaces comfortable for BIPOC, we have work to do at Equator towards this end. We are celebrating Pride this year by becoming a more inclusive and welcoming employer and community space.
Favorite quote that keeps you motivated?
“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today”. Malcolm X
Favorite business or leadership related book?
Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard and The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander
Favorite business tools?
A good CFO!
You have to have someone who has a strategy around the finances of the company. And with me 100% focused on the people/selling and Brooke being focused on the coffee we needed to hire someone to make sure our business actually worked!
How do you feel like your identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community has had an impact on the way you lead/run your business?
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was actually pretty closeted for the first few years of launching my business. I didn't correct people when they assumed my partner, Brooke was male, or when they assumed we were business partners only. I regret this now, but in 1995 I felt we were facing such an uphill battle as a women-owned roastery in a hetero male-dominated industry that this felt like the only safe option. I had to get comfortable with the idea of not pleasing everyone, and even losing customers if it means being comfortable being myself. At the time I thought I was simply keeping my personal and private life separate. Now I realize how trapped in fear I was, I lied through omission. I've used my experience to ensure Equator is never a place where people feel closeted or that they have to hide any part of themselves. I've lived that reality, It's stifling.
What do you feel like the biggest challenge is right now for LGBTQ+ founders? What do you feel we (the collective) can do to change that?
Mentorship. You need a great product but also a great network. Historically the (straight white) boys club of business leaders was an impenetrable important part of the business. I think about the trope of deals being made on the golf course, I think about college alumni networking opening so many doors. Then I think about all the people from marginalized communities who do not have access to these traditional mentorship opportunities. We need to be reaching out within our community to mentor those who are up and coming.
Funding. Both bank loans and commitments from stores to purchase your product. I love the 15% pledge going around right now where big companies are committing to purchasing 15% of their supply from Black-owned businesses. Anyone in a position to purchase should be looking to diversify their suppliers. Look for Minority-owned businesses, Women-owned businesses and (of course) LGBTQ+ owned businesses. Where we spend our money matters.
How has quarantine life with your life partner and business partner been :)
Well, we are 30 years into this relationship and 25 years in the business, so we are doing something right.
Brooke is simply incredible. She is the north star of our company and the foundation of my strength. I would not be able to run my company and have balance in my life without her. Brooke makes sure I eat and take breaks from the constant emails. I’m so thankful for our sanctuary of a home and the balance she helps me maintain. We spent the last year gearing up for 2020 to be a year of great growth for Equator. We were ready to hit the ground running and expand in new and exciting ways. Instead, this has been a year of contracting and refocusing. We have had to make incredibly tough decisions about our business, we are very good sounding boards for each other.
What advice do you have for business leaders navigating through 2020?
Well, if you are already in business I hope you took steps to preserve cash so you have a company to bring people back to.
Also, If you are not an omnichannel now, you better become one! We redid our website last year, and were talking about how to directly reach people in their homes, but didn’t take very many steps to actually do so. When our cafes and wholesale business shut down we were
Do something that reaches people at home.
Build a digital community.
What makes you the most hopeful right now?
Young people.
I’ve always been inspired by my team, now more than ever. I stay engaged and want to grow our company, in a large part because of how meaningful it is to employ people. This spring they came together to support each other and our company through the COVID shut down. They have adapted to this new way of doing business.
Then with the BLM movement, I’m watching young people take to the streets to demand a restructuring of our country. They believe things can done in a better way and this gives me so much hope.
What are your top three goals for your company this year? AND! How can the LWL Community support you in accomplishing them? (donating, supporting new product launch, etc.)
Three goals are to stay in business, hire people back, have a robust digital presence.
You can order coffee! Follow and interact with us on Instagram! Tell people about our coffee. Order it as gifts and get a subscription for your office.
What is one action you want every woman entrepreneur to take this week? (must answer!)
Reach out. Women must support each other.
If you are at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey reach out to a woman who has a company similar to yours. If you are sitting in a position of power and/or privilege reach out to a women who’s just starting out. Let her know you think she’s awesome and on the right track. Connections matter. They make all the difference in your life personally and professionally.