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We are Lisa & Tim Hennessy, and we are excited to share our musings, to help you be a better founder.
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Why do the good guys always pay?

While we are knee-deep in the B-Corp verification process, I recently told some friends about this rigorous review assessment and we started thinking… why is it, that people and companies who care, have to jump through all the hoops and then pay to be a part of this (thankfully growing) group of others who care as well? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t every company have to go through this assessment frequently, to make sure we are all striving to be as ethically and sustainably as possible? And then, shouldn’t the ones with the highest ratings get all kinds of benefits, tax cuts, and otherwise, so that in turn they can go off and do even more good with all the money they have been saving? While the ones not reaching the target pay for their failure to do so?

Instead, big corporations still get to cheat and lie and pretend to care (if at all). And not nearly enough laws and regulations restrict all of the evil they are doing in the world. While the ones that do care, that want to belong to a group of others who care as well, struggle through rigorous assessments (willingly!) and happily pay for their certification every year. Not only are these the companies that do more for their employees and communities at large, and constantly try to minimize their impact on the environment, but they are also the ones not afraid to openly share all of this, for everyone to see and judge. As publicly displaying the assessment and impact report is part of the B-Corp certification process.

Is it naive of me to wonder, why no one else is irritated by this reverse reality? Sure, I am willingly doing all of this, just like everyone else. I am writing policies for our tiny company, to make sure we make the 80 point minimum, I am changing our governing papers, I am researching health insurance and 401k options, and mental health support as well as maternity leave, and employee education for the future employees we might have. And I am looking into ways to reduce energy and find BIPOC vendors and more regenerative materials for office supplies (and so much more). And I encourage you to do the same. Because after that endless, painful road to redemption, you will find an encouraging and supportive community just like the one we found with the 1% for the Planet team. All while wondering if this makes sense? That I spend my time doing this, while these big, greedy corporations take take take and abuse their people and make them fear the return to the office, through traffic and mental challenges, without child care insight, and still look for the cheaper option without any hint of worry, what will happen to us all when the biggering and biggering of their factories all ends with the last chop of the very last truffula tree? Sorry, I digress, but even the non-parents amongst our readers know where I am going with this.

Unless someone like you, who care a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.

Love, Lisa, Tim & The Lorax

PS: In case you are curious as well, you can learn more about the certification process here tomorrow.