In another interesting episode of the BSuite, I welcome Kris Skavish, co-founder and principal of Two Octobers, a Denver-based marketing agency that recently earned their B Corporation status. It doesn’t take Kris and I very long to realize that despite our geographic distance, there are quite a few interesting connections between our two agencies, first and foremost, our shared commitment to running purpose-driven companies.
Thanks for tuning in!
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Search Engine Optimization can be mysterious.
Kris highlighted how often Search Engine Optimization lurks in the shadows in the digital marketing spectrum. Many marketers and clients don’t understand it, they don’t know what to expect when launching an SEO initiative, and have no idea how to evaluate its benefits. Educating clients about what they’re getting and how SEO fits in to the rest of their plan has been critical to the success of Two Octobers’ business in this area.
Trust your employees and be flexible.
I spoke with Kris about how trust plays a factor in remote work environments especially with the onset of COVID which has forced us to adapt so quickly. She recommends the book Reinventing Organizations for those who want ideas about taking a people-centric approach to leadership. We both agreed our employees are smart, dedicated, wonderful people – and they’re human, not robots! That means we must consider the whole package, including all of their daily stressors and external roles and responsibilities outside of work and how that can impact their productivity and satisfaction during the business day.
Kris tries to be flexible with her employees. If someone on her team isn’t a morning person, she lets them start their day at 10am. Maybe they’re a night owl and they prefer to adjust their schedule towards the evening – that’s fine too. As long as the employee has demonstrated that she can complete her deliverables or will make the time up elsewhere, she is given full trust. Some of these principals were already in place before COVID happened.
The more we consider the importance of trust to our team’s health, the better off we’re going to be.
The B Corporation journey is important.
Diving headfirst into the intensive process of becoming a B Corporation means immersing yourself into a completely different world of people who are passionate and motivated about similar issues.
Kris reflected on how different it feels to go to B Corp networking events. She finds herself exposed to stimulating conversations where she’s asked questions like, “What are you doing for your diversity initiatives this year?” rather than the usual, “What do you do?” and “Who is your accountant?”
One of the challenges she faced through the process is keeping up with all of the documentation that’s required in the B Assessment. Kris made a fruitful decision to involve her team and deepen their engagement, splitting everyone into groups to help distribute the work and the research. As a result, there’s not a single person at Two Octobers who doesn’t understand what goes into this process!
SOME QUESTIONS I ASK KRIS:
What is the origin of the name Two Octobers?
How did your agency’s mission inspire you to go after your B Corp status?
What was the most complicated part of the B Corporation checklist for you?
NOTABLE QUOTE
“I encourage everyone to take a look at the B Impact Assessment. It will make you a better business, even if you do just one of the things on there.”
LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED
Comments are closed.