Inclusive Business Starts With Better Questions

Inclusion is rarely one grand gesture. It lives in the everyday choices we make about access, invitations, recommendations and whose needs we consider before making a decision. This week, one question from Tara Mackings’ cover story has me looking at who still isn’t in the room.

By Tricia Scott.

In case you missed it, the September Issue of The Female CEO Magazine landed on Wednesday, and one thing from Tara Mackings’ cover story has really stayed with me.

Two words.

Why not?

Tara’s work is in accessibility, and “why not?” is the question she brings to so many of the barriers that have simply been accepted as normal for far too long. Why not ask the people who actually use the space? Why not involve them in the conversation? Why not make it work properly in the first place?

I’ve always had a soft spot for that question because I’ve never been very good with “that’s just how it’s done.”

It’s part of why The Female CEO exists in the way it does. We have never been interested in doing things a certain way just because that’s what a media platform is “supposed” to look like. If something feels outdated, inaccessible, unnecessary or simply not very useful to the women we serve, I want to question it.

Hard.

So Tara’s words made me look at our own business and ask the question:

Who isn’t in the room?

Inclusion lives in everyday decisions

And I don’t mean that in a huge, corporate-policy kind of way. I mean in the everyday decisions we make when we run a business.

The time we schedule something. The venue we choose. Whether the video has captions. Whether we ask the people affected what they actually need. Who gets recommended when an opportunity comes up. Who gets invited into the conversation in the first place.

None of those things need to be dramatic. Most of the time, they’re just decisions.

And that’s what I keep coming back to.

Inclusion starts with paying attention.

To who is there. To who isn’t. To what makes it easier for people to take part, and what makes it harder.

I was at the beach on Friday and, as I was waiting to cross the road, I noticed a dropped kerb. Dropped kerbs were introduced to make streets accessible for wheelchair users, but look at who benefits from them now. Parents with pushchairs. People dragging suitcases. Delivery drivers with trolleys. Anyone with mobility issues. Anyone who has ever tried to negotiate a kerb carrying a kid or too much stuff.

When you pay attention to the people who are most likely to be excluded, you often end up making the experience better for far more people than you imagined.

And business is no different.

Who isn’t in the room?

It’s not only about who we welcome in. It’s about who we think about before we make the decision. Who are we hearing from? Who are we assuming we understand? Who gets introduced, recommended, featured and invited? And who isn’t here yet?

That last question matters to me because The Female CEO was built with the women in our community from the very beginning. But we’ve grown — a lot — over the years, and I want to keep building it with you rather than assuming we already know exactly what you need.

So this week, I’m asking.

What do you need right now that you’re not getting?

What would make The Female CEO more useful to you?

And who isn’t here yet that you think should be?

Hit reply. One line is plenty. I genuinely want to know.

Keep asking

And if you haven’t read Issue 69 yet, put the kettle on and start with Tara’s cover story. It’s a brilliant reminder that some of the most useful questions are also the simplest.

The rules aren’t always wrong.

But “that’s how it’s always been done” has never been a good enough reason to stop asking better questions.

Ask the question.

Make room.

Bring someone else in.

Why not?

I believe in you (always).

👉🏼If you want to receive a Biz Love Letter directly to your inbox every week in 2026, I email our Hello CEO mailing list every Monday. To join, head to The Homepage and sign up! 

 Tricia Scott is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Female CEO — a global platform, magazine, and community dedicated to helping women build confident, aligned, powerful businesses.

A startup mentor and multi-company director, she’s spent the past decade helping women move from overwhelmed and isolated to empowered and intentional.

Most days, she’s juggling her MacBook, her next big idea, and a very necessary caffeine supply. Connect with her at thefemaleceo.com.