Well, it’s been a little while since you’ve heard from us. We’ve been on a journey. It was a good deal of work, and a decent amount of waiting, but we’re pleased to announce that Ready State is now a Certified B Corp™.
So, what’s a B Corp you might ask?
Well, a B Corp™ is a company that has made a public commitment to use business as a force for good. It also means that we’re committed to keeping a balance between our top 3 priorities: people, planet, and profits.
We’ve completed a rigorous assessment of our business that evaluates our company’s impact across five primary categories: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. We’ve come out on the other side of it with a realization that all along we’ve had B Corp in our DNA from the start. It’s been gaining momentum as we’ve grown and shaped the culture of our agency to be more inclusive.
As our co-founder Kabeer puts it, “There was a time when companies, especially big companies like the Fords of the world and, in India, the Tata Group, used to help build communities. They thought about the wellbeing of their employees, of their suppliers, all of this stuff.
It's time to reject this kind of mantra where the only thing that matters is profit.”
Why B Corp?
“Marketing is about influence, it's about changing perceptions, and we are masters at shaping perceptions,” says our co-founder Steven. “In the post-Trump era, I think everyone agrees perception can become reality. Lies repeated often enough can sound like truth, and as marketing experts, we have these very powerful tools that could be used for good. For our pro bono work, we have used it for good, and for our clients too. Why not make a commitment to always making time to apply our marketing chops for good.”
And Kabeer had a slightly more specific reason:
“For me, it started off with conversations with Tai, Chief Marketing Activist at Torani, when they started their B Corp process. I came away from those conversations feeling, ‘Wow, these guys are really putting the money where their mouths are in terms of trying to do good in the world and using business as a force for that.’”
In the end, what it came down to for the three of us is that people matter.
Through B Corp, we attempt to answer a question that Kabeer asks of us all: “How do we make a positive impact in people's lives to the extent that we can using the business as a lever to do that?”
How does this change what we do as an agency?
In many ways, we could argue that it changes things very little. We are still a services company offering the same premium creative and marketing services we always have.
But for our people and hopefully for our customers too, being a B Corp adds new meaning to who we are as a brand and the work that we do and we think everybody can get behind that.
Ultimately, B Corp holds us accountable for the commitments that we’ve made to our customers, our community, and our people.
- To provide a living wage and annual monetary bonuses to all full-time employees
- To support career development and training through such vehicles as internal group training courses,
Linkedin Learning, events and conferences, and guidance from managers using SMART goals - To offer time off to employees for volunteer community service
- To offer a hybrid work environment
- To purchase core products (at least 50 percent of non-labor expenses) from independent local suppliers
- To enable the financial or operational success of businesses that are purpose-driven
One of our core values is “Stand up for what’s right,” which was born out of the collective experience as an agency learning how to participate in conversations about Black Lives Matter, Stop AAPI Hate, and vaccine hesitancy, to name just a few. Our work lives and our personal lives became more intertwined and we all realized that we shared this value in common. We care about each other. We care about humanity and its future.
Why should you care?
The reason you should care about our status is because B Corps are committed to an investment in both people and the planet. We’re using our profits to support both in ways that can be measured and shared transparently with the world. This means we’re not trying to be the “Best in the world, but best for the world.”
We’re only just getting started, but we now have the support of a wonderful community to inspire us and keep us on a path that’s focused on using our profits to create a better future for everyone and for the planet we all share.
How can you become a B Corp?
You may think that B Corp is only for consumer products or larger enterprises, but even sole proprietors can become B Corps. It just takes some time and dedication to apply and work through the process.
This is not just a certification, it’s a movement. And through B Corp certification you become part of a community of like-minded businesses.
You can take the DIY approach, and get started today at https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/certification. Follow the steps below “Pathway to Certification”
But you can also work with a consultant. We also highly recommend our guide Carolina Miranda. We met Carolina, of Cultivating Capital, at a meeting of GGBA, the local chapter of the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and it turned out to be a great connection. Nothing like having a coach who’s cheering you on from the sidelines, which is what she did for the better part of a year as we worked through our B Impact Assessment.
This community has already been so supportive of us just in the few short months that we’ve been onboarded, and we can’t wait to roll up our sleeves and get to work on what’s next.
