Mother Teresa said, “We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.” Our next guest’s solution to this is rather ingenious; we’ll let her explain.
Please tell us a little about yourself…
Hi! I’m Alison Klein, Content Marketing Specialist for RoundPeg.
You are working on something pretty cool. Care to share a little bit about that?
When we started RoundPeg, we knew that we wanted to support organizations doing good. We’re headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, so at first many of our clients were nonprofits or governmental organizations.
In 2012, we became certified as a B Corp, which means that we voluntarily pledged to meet certain standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. With time, it became clear to us that we wanted to use our talents to support other B Corporations and social enterprises.
Recently, we conducted a survey of all kinds of companies operating to serve the triple bottom line – people and planet as well as profit. We asked them questions about their mission and how it plays into their marketing. We’re going to publish the findings to help all kinds of purpose-driven organizations understand how marketing and mission can meet.
What made you decide to follow that path?
My partner, Polina, and I have always believed that businesses can – and should – be a force for good in the world. With the growth of the B Corp movement and the proliferation of social enterprise, we saw an opportunity to help more people make that idea a reality.
At this point, there are a lot of resources out there to help nonprofits communicate effectively, but there are decidedly fewer resources for businesses working toward a positive social impact. There is a definite need for advice, resources and best practices in this area, and we want to fill it.
What outcome do you hope to achieve?
Right now, we help sustainable businesses create communications that help consumers choose products that are good for the world. Eventually though, we would love for all the options to be sustainable.
We want to create a world where every company is doing right by its employees, customers, communities and the environment. People shouldn’t have to go out of their way to make the sustainable choice. Until that’s the case though, we want to help the companies that are operating sustainably to succeed.
Walk us through your average day:
Client work always comes first, but there’s a lot of other stuff to do too!
Recently, we’ve been spending a lot of time talking to other B Corps to understand more about how marketing and mission mix in different situations. We put a lot of what we learn into different resources that social enterprises and B Corps can use to make the most of their marketing.
That’s a lot of what makes up an average day, but the not average days are pretty fun too! We volunteer as a team at least two times every year, schedule plenty of social outings and save time for a weekly inspiration meeting. We’re always busy, but we like it that way.
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you bring?
Hate to be predictable, but I’m going to have to go with the most practical stuff – a desalinator, a good knife and my dog Molly.
Thank you for sharing, Alison! You can reach her on LinkedIn.