Becoming a B-Corporation - inspired by a fleece.
When we first looked at becoming a B-Corp back in 2016, we did so because of Patagonia.
It's a brand we've long loved and admired, and if they had chosen to become a B-Corporation, then we wanted to understand why they had done it.
When Yves Chouinard started Patagonia in the mid-sixties, it was as a supplier of hand-made rock climbing equipment. His philosophy from the very start was always to be a minimalist company, producing sustainable products while negating the impact on the environment and communities.
If you've never read their history, do so, it's a great story of how they never lost sight of their values, even as the company grew at a crazy rate over the following decades. So, they were the model for a B-Corporation before B-corps existed, making environmental and social returns as important as financial ones.
So a company we initially got to know through their kick-ass products has inspired us by their honest and utterly transparent approach to their mission and business. We also took huge encouragement that a billion-dollar business could still live every minute of every day guided by a vision much bigger than themselves. So if a massively complex manufacturing business could do it and thrive, a west coast branding and design agency could surely do it.
When we hit the bumps in the road to becoming accredited as a B-Corp, we not only leaned heavily on the support team at B-Lab (they are awesome, by the way, and we'd have failed without them), we thought back to our original inspiration. It has made us think long and hard about all aspects of our business, challenging us to strive to be an environmentally net positive business, and motivating our team to support our local community more.
A final thought. One of the biggest strengths of the B-Corp community is that we all share the same desires and motivations and face the same challenges to grow our businesses while remaining true to our values. So whether you're working with purpose-driven organizations to help grow their impact or a global brand using their business and activism to help save the planet, we have more in common than you might think because of B-Corp.
If you're purpose-driven and thinking about whether to become a B-Corp, don't hesitate, you won't regret it. An easy first step is to meet and talk to a B-Corp, so give us a bell. We're always happy to chat.