Our sister brand Women in Retail Leadership Circle recently hosted an On the Road event in New York City. The closing session featured a panel of retail leaders discussing multiple career-, leadership-, and business-related topics. Asking the questions was session moderator Stacy Berns, founder and president of Berns Communications Group, as well as the co-founder of DealMakeHers. Answering the questions were Emilie Arel, president and CEO, Casper Sleep; Ariane Goldman, founder and CEO, HATCH Collective; Debra Perelman, former CEO and president, Revlon, Inc.; and Deirdre Quinn, CEO and co-founder, Lafayette 148.

With the backdrop that this event took place at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war, Berns asked the panelists whether they believed leaders and corporations should take public stances on social and geopolitical issues. Here are the thoughts of the panelists on this difficult decision, both personally and as the leader of a company.

“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer here,” said Perelman. “It ends up being a very personal decision for the stakeholders — the board, CEO. Personally, when we’re dealing with issues of humanity, I think it is important for people to stand up and give their opinion. Stick to the core values of what you stand for and what the organization stands for.”

As the leader of a private company without a board, Quinn has a different organizational structure, but shared similar thoughts to Perelman. “There’s a personal level and then there’s the company wanting to say, ‘these are the areas we want to donate to, we believe in.'”

Arel noted that for almost the better part of a decade in the U.S., the most trusted part of any person’s life is not their church or the government, but their workplace. With that in mind, she noted there is a tremendous responsibility upon leaders to keep the trust of employees while giving them what they want — but not all the time.

Lastly, Goldman spoke to the importance of valuing the opinions your customers when making decisions to speak out (or not) on social issues.

“Over the years it’s been really eye-opening and incredible how many different opinions all of these wonderful mothers have,” Goldman said of the HATCH Collective customer base. “As we grow the brand and the conversation, we need to have an open mind to them. It’s not about what I believe or my team believes, but being a neutral place that makes mothers feel better in this journey. And that usually does not include political statements.”