We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jenn Richey Nicholas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jenn below.
Hi Jenn, thanks for joining us today. What’s been one of the most interesting investments you’ve made – and did you win or lose? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
This one is easy. Hands down, becoming a Certified B Corp in 2014 was one of our best investments.
Pixel Parlor is an expression of my conviction that business can be a force for good. Businesses are influential. As such, we have a powerful opportunity to address the most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges of our time. But if “business as usual” got us into this mess, why on earth would we rely on it to get us out of it?
As a Certified B Corp, Pixel Parlor represents a new way of doing business that measures success on more than just making money but on a triple bottom line of people, plant, and profit. We are guided by purpose, not just profit. B Corp Certification roots us in a local community of businesses who strive to do well and do good, and a global movement transforming the world’s economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.
The standards we have to meet as a B Corp are extremely high. That’s the point. When people ask me why it’s important to hire a Certified B Corp, I tell them it’s an opportunity to use your resources and decision-making power to back up your values. Working with a B Corp can energize your team and stakeholders around a shared vision. And in a world where a lot of people are making claims about social and environmental impact, B Corp certification is credible because of rigorous, third-party certification.
Recognition is increasing. People are familiar with B2C B Corps like All Birds, Warby Parker and Ben & Jerry’s.
People do wonder how a design studio can be a Certified B Corp. We have many opportunities to use business as a force for good. We seek to provide smart solutions to our clients so that the messages, materials, production methods, and quantities of products created are made to last, are environmentally sound, provoke change, and advance culture. We also provide a positive, ethical work environment for our employees.
In short, we are proud to invest the time, resources, and energy to truly walk the talk.
We got certified in 2014, but in fact, we were actually acting like a B Corp even before we knew what one was. With the help of B Corp consultant, we realized that our existing practices already met the rigorous standards for certification. Our initial certification also solidified a commitment to improve our business practices and impact every year moving forward. And then in 2017, and for the next two years, we were Awarded B Corp Best For The World: Changemakers by committing to doing even better for people, planet and profit. We were able to achieve this huge accolade by finding amazing collaborative partners, clients, and team members.
Our story is the story of how it’s possible for a business to do well and do good, and how to be unusual in a world where “business as usual” is killing us.
So while it hasn’t always been easy, I can confidently call B Corp certification a big win for us.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
In 2012, my husband Andrew and I left New York for Philadelphia and turned our experience and love of making things with people into a business. We knew from the beginning that success meant more than growing a profitable design studio. We wanted to express our commitment to environmental sustainability and social responsibility through our business practices, studio culture, and community involvement.
In 2021, I moved into my role as CEO, and continued my work as the vision caster and mission keeper of Pixel Parlor. As the leader of Philadelphia’s only WBE Certified and Certified B Corp branding and design studio (and one of the few across the country), I steward the studio’s promise to push the boundaries of traditional design and conventional business practices. As a creative director and artist, I foster strategic partnerships, invest deeply in client relationships and communities, and attract designers and creative thinkers who want to use their talent to support inspiring mission-focused businesses and organizations.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I’m on a mission to run a kind, inclusive, sustainable, and profitable design business.
Before founding the studio with my partner, I had some monumentally bad jobs. Those terrible jobs made me appreciate the few amazing jobs that I had and taught me to expect better for designers and the industry as a whole.
Many design studios skimp on employee benefits like health insurance, pay salaries below the cost of living, rely on unpaid interns, ignore harassment and abuse, and work their team excessive hours—sometimes 100+ hours a week— to generate profitability. Just ask any designer, they’ve likely experienced one, if not all, of these unfair experiences, while working in a design studio.
Workplace abuse in design studios has been an accepted and celebrated practice for generations—which is just awful. Why? Is this just to make profit? Is it a toxic manipulation of the tragic artist cliche? We can’t reward hustle and results at the expense of health and humanity any longer.
I’m 11 years into the experiment of running a kind and inclusive studio and things are still going well. We’ve definitely had our rough patches and have learned a lot about what we are good at and things we should avoid, but Pixel Parlor is proof that you can run a great design studio with great business and workplace practices and be successful.
Any advice for managing a team?
Implement and enforce a strict “No Asshole Rule” for both the team and your clients. When your team feels respected and appreciated by their coworkers and the clients they serve, people are happier and more committed to their work. We wrote about this recently to spark conversation in our industry.
Assholism is contagious, and my team is encouraged to report all asshole behavior so that it can be immediately nipped in the bud and stopped before it starts to spread.
The result is that I now have the best team I could ask for. Now that the standard has been set, the team defends the studio culture preventing bad behavior from slipping in.
Contact Info:
- Website: pixelparlor.com
- Instagram: pixelparlor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pixelparlor
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pixelparlor/
Image Credits
Andrew Nicholas, Grant Hurlbert, Bradford Bucknum