Interviewees:

• Chloe Chim, Co-Founder of Hyginova
• James Chan, Co-Founder of PIE Strategy
• Geoff Hucker, Founder of Work for Impact

Tell us about your company

Hyginova: We are a sustainable hygiene product manufacturer based in Hong Kong. Our products are safe for pets, human and the environment. We are the first Asian household brand to get certified for Leaping Bunny (International standard for cruelty-free products) and Cradle to Cradle (safe and potentially infinite circulation of materials and nutrients in cycles). We want to provide a more sustainable choice of hygiene products in the market. 

PIE Strategy: We are a sustainability consultancy that offers services including establishing strategy and sustainability framework for companies, conducting stakeholders research, climate-related risk assessment and more. We believe that every business can be a force for good, and we hope to facilitate the integration of sustainability into the companies’ long-term strategy and therefore strengthening their resilience.

Work for Impact: Work for Impact is the only freelance on-demand talent platform in the world that’s a B Corp. We envisage a better and fairer world of work, with equal opportunities for all regardless of geographical location, race, religion, sexual orientation. Our advanced platform can facilitate companies of all sizes find and manage a global talent team in a clear, transparent and ethical way.

Tips on becoming Best for the World™?

Hyginova: We’re just trying our best. We started using post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, started our own packaging recycle program, joined 1% For the Planet, and started using renewable energy etc. We also insist on educating our staff on a day to day basis. We believe that if they have the right mindset that aligns with our company value, they will understand why we need to do the extra work and will be willing to do it automatically.

PIE Strategy: A few of our policies may sound rather aggressive. We have established a policy since our inception, which is profit sharing, allowing our colleagues to share the fruit of our company success. Also, we’d allocate 10% of our time to offer pro bono services with our professional knowledge. As B Impact Assessment continues to raise the standard, there is room for B Lab to recognise the more experimental measures that we’ve done. 

Work for Impact: It wasn’t a conscious effort for us to go after becoming the top 5% in community, but we’re very honoured to be there. At the very heart, the foundation and seeds of Work for Impact come from community. Everything we do is community-focused. I guess having that alignment and commitment to our community really shone through. (Note: Check out Work for Impact’s recent community initiative Pathways!)

Word of wisdom from Best for the World™ B Corps

Hyginova: Just do it! So that you know whether your company is benefiting your community. Also, you’d know more about your company’s strengths and weaknesses to achieve a certain goal. Just like us, we have failed the certification before and we worked hard on our weaknesses (based on our B Impact Assessment results). Our effort paid off and we finally became a B Corp!

PIE Strategy: I’d recommend companies to reflect on their reasons of getting B Corp certified, despite the many other, more popular certifications in the market. It will certainly make the certification process smoother and the company will then truly understand and believe in the value of becoming a B Corp. What we encounter a lot is that companies are now using certifications to greenwash, and therefore I personally believe understanding the “why” of getting certified is very important.

Work for Impact: For us, even going through the process was highly beneficial. B Impact Assessment helped us look at things that we may not have thought about, or what we’re doing what we thought was best practice, but in reality wasn’t. Organisationally, by going through the process, it validated what we do and what we believe. It takes time and commitment, but we’re very glad that we did.

Check out the full interviews on our LinkedIn page!