Why We Started Our Advisory BoardWhen we create roadmaps for our clients that are pursuing B Corp certification, one of the suggestions to gain points is often “Start an Advisory Board”. Most of the time their response is the same “huh - interesting. I’d love to but I wouldn’t even know where to start.” We felt much the same way when the idea first came up. Images of big corporate rooms with a giant conference table are evoked when you say “board”. We’re just a small business, what do we need a board for??As our business grew, it started to become apparent that there were A) some gaps in our expertise and B) some areas that we needed more voices to weigh in. Rebecca and I are fantastic partners in so many ways - but at some point, brainstorming and diving into topics with the same 2 people over and over again lacks a fresh perspective. So, during our 2022 Annual Retreat we started to think about creating an Advisory Board. The questions we asked ourselves were: what are the areas of expertise that we need support on? what would be the structure of this board? who even would we ask? why would anyone want to be on our board? what would they get out of it? is this just another task we’re adding to our plates? how do we ensure we’re leveraging our board adequately? etc etc etc etc.How We Started Our Advisory BoardThe very first thing I did was google “what is an advisory board” and “how to start an advisory board”. The results were….supremely unhelpful. So…the second thing we did was make a list of expertise areas that would be beneficial for us to have regular access to. We landed on the following: expert in social impact, expert in scaling a service business, expert in consulting, expert in leadership. As we thought about the purpose of the collective, our dreams and goals for the future, the struggles we went through on a regular basis, this was the list that arose.After creating this list, we started to fill in names. People we knew, people we admired, people who were actively engaged in the community and making an impact. Because we were less sure about the structure of our advisory board, we started building it around people who not only fit the prompt, but who were people we knew personally and had come to respect and admire. Rebecca and I first met Abby Chroman, Program Director at PSU, on our trip to Colombia during our MBA program, and when we thought about an expert in social impact, her name was at the top of our list. Anja Taylor, President of Kinesis, was another name that came to mind instantly, and while she would certainly fit any of the remaining descriptions, we tapped her for her expertise in scaling a service business. Together with these amazing people, we co-created our advisory board.How We’re Leveraging Our Advisory BoardCurrent state: we just had our first quarterly board meeting last week! Our focus was on Q2/Annual goals - progress we’ve made, challenges we’ve experienced, what we need direction and accountability for. It was an incredible experience not only for the insight they provided, but also the spirit of community and connection that they brought. There’s almost no greater feeling than having people you admire root for you and offer their support because they believe in you. We’re excited to continue growing the board and benefiting from their expertise!Like a lot of things in the BIA, this started out as an idea to get some points but has grown into an invaluable part of our business. If you’re thinking about starting an advisory board, I cannot recommend it enough. Start small, start with people who will co-create it with you. Asking for help and relying on others is a beautiful experience!
