ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the narrative strategies of ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the creative industries to acquire legitimacy in their professional field. In particular, the authors investigate how ethnic minority entrepreneurs narratively craft legitimacy, or 'credibility and the social process of acceptance and recognition by the strategic peers and other stakeholders constituting a field'. A first strategy is characterised by entrepreneurs' extensive use of their ethnic minority background in their creative production to stand out in their creative field. In the second strategy, respondents construct a unique product by mixing their minority and majority cultures. In third strategy, fitting in is constructed via a portrayal of the self as heroically overcoming difficulties — a common element in (majority) entrepreneurship narratives — that stems from one's minority background. Respondents using this last strategy are completely orientated towards the majority norms, values and culture.
