The concept for this week’s blog post came from the 2021 Global Wellness Trends Report: The Future of Wellness, which highlights 9 of the biggest trends that will be seen in the world of wellness in 2021.
The trend in this report dubbed “Adding Color To Wellness” argues that to generate true and lasting, change, businesses and the wellness industry as a whole must recognize that wellness is not solely for financially well-off caucasians, but also for people of color, and those of all financial classes.
However, recognizing that the current narrative is misleading is not enough. The report also offers suggestions for action from the wellness community: first and foremost, recognizing the different ways in which people of color experience the wellness industry, and valuing them as customers. The actions businesses are taking will in turn equalize wellness while also broadening their consumer markets and increasing profitability.
We love that this topic is being recognized as one of the most important trends in wellness in 2021. However, there is one piece of the puzzle that’s missing. The word “trend” carries with it an implication of temporary change, and a brevity of action. This is exactly what we DON’T want. We don’t want adding color to wellness to be a 2021 trend that dies out in 2022! We want it to be a change that lasts for the foreseeable future, and only ceases once there is TRUE equality in wellness – not only in terms of access, but also marketing/representation and voices in the industry.
With that said, we propose to ourselves (and to you) to look at this as a movement. A social movement implies permanence and lasting generational change, not a passing whim of a particular generation. We look forward to participating in this change, and truly value each and every one of our current – and future – clients of color.