To B or Not to B
Chante Wiegand is the Director of Research & Development at Pure Synergy® and a naturopathic doctor. The following are her thoughts about what our recent certification to B Corporation (B Corp) status really means.
I still remember one of my first writing assignments at Pure Synergy.
It was April of 2011 and I had recently been hired on as Director of Communication and Education. I had taken a leap of faith and left my practice as a naturopathic doctor to join this inspirational supplement company in Moab Utah which I honestly knew very little about. I had started devouring articles in hard copy binders and on our website, and listening to hours – many hours – of recordings of Mitchell talking about the origins of the company and how and why we do business the Pure Synergy way.
A few days into my new job, I was asked to help draft a letter and message to the people of Japan. There had been a devastating earthquake and tsunami followed by a nuclear disaster at Fukushima, leading to over 18,000 lives lost and much hardship. Mitchell and the Pure Synergy team sprung to action, donating a huge shipment of Pure Synergy Superfood worth thousands of dollars. I knew then what I had suspected: this was no ordinary company. This company had a deep heart and soul – a purpose that was born from a truly authentic place of care and compassion.
Over the years, I have watched us quietly living this deep purpose to help people, our planet, and our world community. I say quietly because the majority of what we did wasn’t about being recognized or saying, “look at us,” it was simply about “doing the right thing”, as Mitchell likes to say. Long before any of this was trending, Pure Synergy was making these thoughtful, impactful decisions. I was and am still so proud to be a part of company that has always led from the heart.
I remember when I first started hearing more and more rumblings about B Corp Certification. Companies I admired were starting to sport this logo. What was this hipster B Corp thing all about anyway?
As I learned more, I remember thinking “oh this is super cool, this embodies our values, we could do this,” while another socially defiant part of me was like “we don’t need no stinking logo to prove our worth and purpose!”
— that was the question. As time went on and the B Corp movement grew, it became clear that B Corp certification wasn’t just a marketing tactic or a cool thing to do. It was for US. It was a vehicle for self-improvement. About creating definition and structure and being held accountable and joining a likeminded community. It was a decision to hook up an amplifier to our quiet purpose. It was about becoming who we’ve always been from the very beginning.
Choosing to become a B corporation allows us to stretch — to aspire towards well laid out goals and principles that further our already lived purpose. It’s about bettering ourselves.
Watching the Olympics over the past couple weeks, it has struck me how often they feature inspirational stories about athletes overcoming their challenges and achieving their personal best. Sure, they want a gold medal, that’s the nature of the human beast, but the true triumph comes from pushing yourself to new heights. Pure Synergy is poised to better its score not for the sake of a number, but because it’s the right thing to do.
We are a company born out of empathy and doing the right thing. At its core, B Corp is about caring. This starts at the ground level with each of us as unique individuals, achieving our personal best every day and caring about each other first and foremost. All the Pure Synergy employees, whether we’ve been here 10 years or 10 months or even 10 weeks, have all contributed to this stunning accomplishment.
It has been an honor to watch our company finally reach this defining moment. Now let’s go and B-come who we’ve always been.
