Celebrating Pride and the Power of Being Heard

This past weekend, I celebrated Pride with my community in Denver, CO. The whole city showed up. Rainbow flags everywhere, local businesses offering specials, street festivals full of food, music, and joy. It was colorful and loud and proud in all the best ways. And it got me thinking… what would it look like if more businesses showed up for their customers the way they show up for Pride?

Last month, I was staring at a batch of customer satisfaction survey responses, and something just felt off. Everything looked way too polished. Same kind of praise and tone. Here’s the thing: if all your customer feedback sounds identical, you’re definitely not hearing from everyone. And honestly? That’s a huge miss.

You know how Pride Month is all about celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in all its beautiful, vibrant diversity? Pride is all about being seen, right? About showing up as your full self and knowing you’ll be accepted. Customer feedback should work like that too. If the only people you’re reaching out to are the ones who already feel satisfied, you’re not getting the full picture. Real inclusion means asking, who’s not in this data? Whose voice is missing?

The companies that actually want to grow are the ones brave enough to dig into those questions. They go beyond the easy wins and make space for everyone, even if it’s uncomfortable at first. Because that’s when the real insights show up.

We just wrapped a project where one client was getting wildly different support feedback. Like, some customers were saying the service was almost too good: instant responses, super helpful. And others? They were stuck on basic connectivity issues, feeling completely ignored. Same team. Same systems. Totally different realities. That kind of gap doesn’t show up unless you’re hearing from a broad mix of people.

I know this might sound like I’m getting all kumbaya about inclusion, but this isn’t just about being nice. When people feel like they’re being seen and actually listened to, they stay loyal, they spend more, and they tell their friends. And during Pride Month especially, it’s a good reminder that authenticity and visibility aren’t just warm fuzzies, they’re business drivers.

At Ideba, we’ve seen it over and over again – when companies stop just listening to the “easy” customers and start creating space for all voices, the transformation is real.

Jenna Eisenberg – Research Manager