B Corp B Day

March is B Corp Month — and March 8th marks iilo’s first B Corp birthday! To celebrate the 12 months that have passed since our official certification, we’re reflecting on the journey so far and sharing advice for anyone thinking about joining the B Corp movement.
Q: What originally prompted you to become a certified B Corp?
Lisa: At iilo, we’re committed to doing business in a truly ethical way, so it was natural to join the B Corp movement to use our business as a force for good. The rigorous B Corp assessment process that evaluates a company’s governance model and impact inspires us to find creative ways to support our workers, customers, community, and environment. Plus, with one of our core values being “community-minded,” we love being among 6,000+ Certified B Corps in more than 80 countries and over 150 industries. This vibrant community energizes us and we’re excited to cheer each member on!
Q: What changes did you have to implement to meet the B Corp standards?
Madelen: We had to create a robust policy document, which we didn’t have before. Writing it took a while because we realized we had a way of doing things in all areas of the business, but we hadn’t documented the details before. As a small team (two employees/owners at the time), it took a considerable amount of focus to produce the policies that reflect our approach to running an ethical business, but now we can easily share them with our team and others. It felt really good to outline our policies, and it’s a living document we review and evolve quarterly.
Q: What positive benefits have you experienced since becoming a B Corp Certified company?
Madelen: We certified in March of 2023, so we’re giving ourselves a bit more time before we evaluate the full impact of certification. We’ve enjoyed learning about other B Corps, and being certified gives us an easy starting point in conversations. So far, we’ve gotten more people reaching out and it’s certainly made life easier to recruit people. We’re noticing that other B Corps and values-driven organizations who need communication design support are seeking our services because we’re a B Corp, and women owned, which is awesome. We aim to support more B Corps with their design and communication needs (B corps hire other B Corps!)
Q: What surprises have you encountered in your first year as a B Corp?
Lisa: Something that has been surprising to me personally is how broad the B Corp community is. As we’ve been working with sustainability-focused businesses for over a decade, it was great to meet businesses that have different focus areas. As B Corps, we’re all in it together to expand our social and environmental impacts and to be on the right side of history — showing a commitment to doing business better.
Q: What advice would you give to other companies considering getting B Corp certified?
Lisa: The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be.
- Reach out to other B Corps to ask about their experience! We’re always happy to connect.
- Don’t hesitate to make an account and use the B Impact Assessment tool. You only need to pay when you want to go through certification. The process connects you with real people who can answer your questions, and those B Corp pros helped us through some misunderstandings that caused a few lost points.
- We benefitted immensely from the support of a group called Decade Impact. We highly recommend their B Corp Certification services.
- Be ready for a wait. Once we pressed submit, we celebrated internally and then waited eight months to complete the certification process! It’s wonderful that more businesses are becoming B Corp certified, but that also means the processing queue is taking longer.
Q: What are you looking forward to as you move into the next phase of your B Corp journey?
Madelen: I’m looking forward to learning more about the evolving standard for certification. I’m pleased to see such a keen group that’s truly committed to raising the bar on how businesses are run. This community of changemakers gives me a lot of hope that together, we can build a better future.
Q: How are you celebrating your 1-year B Corp anniversary?
Madelen: As a business, we’re building rituals and ceremony into our corporate culture practices, with help from our friends at Be Ceremonial. We’ll be creating a B Corp-iversary ceremony to celebrate this important milestone with our team!