In March 2020 when the world as we know it was about to change, I was in Auckland with my external leadership group. Ian Harvey, the founder of Collective Intelligence, mentioned B Corp to me as he believed many of Kin’s values and practices aligned with the B Corp community and movement.

As I hastily jumped on a plane to return home to Wellington, little did I know that kicking off our accreditation process would be one of the internal projects we undertook when the wind went out of the recruitment market sails that year.

The process

If you’ve flirted with becoming a B Corp before, you’ll know it can be an overwhelming process. Run by B Lab, the accreditation arm of B Corp, the assessment dives deeply into five key areas of business: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. Across these five pillars, 80 points are needed to reach the standard of accreditation. 

The detail is exacting, the supporting documentation and evidence is comprehensive, and even the language is often not easy to interpret. We started and stopped our application process twice before we realised we needed a hand to navigate our way through.

Asking for help

Help arrived in the form of Tim Jones, also known as the Grow Good Guy. Tim has been working within the B Corp eco-system since 2016; in B Corp years that’s a very long time! He connected with our team through a series of five or six one-hour sessions and helped de-mystify some of the B Corp language. He also shared valuable template resources, and many other insights along the way. Don’t get me wrong, there is a mountain of mahi to do but when our process was supported by Tim, it all somehow felt just that little bit easier.

How things played out

In October 2021 we finally pressed ‘send’ on our application for assessment by B Lab. After a journey lasting 18 months, we eagerly awaited our turn at the front of the queue, something we knew could take up to six months. It wasn’t until February of this year that we finally had the call up for our first assessment meeting with B Lab. I’m not going to lie; it was an intense meeting that left us with sweaty pits. We’d worked so hard for this, and that meeting felt like the moment of reckoning.

After a few more back and forth meetings and a bunch more information being provided, we FINALLY heard back from B Lab last week. We’d made it through! With 112.5 points.

What it means for Kin

Whether we had succeeded or failed on our first attempt at becoming B Corp certified, Kin is a much better business because of the process. It really is a journey rather than a destination. The B Corp framework has given us a north star to anchor our values and business practices on. I’m so grateful to have had the experience and look forward to Kin continuing our journey within the B Corp community. 

If you’re keen to find out more, reach out to me or one of our team!