Build It Boldly’s Path to B Certification

Dr. McGlonn had already gone through the process of becoming a Certified B Corporation back in 2022 as the Founder and CEO of Grant Blvd, a sustainable apparel movement committed to social justice and climate action, while also supporting women who have faced cultural barriers to living wage employment in fashion design. While Dr. McGlonn benefited from the insight gained from certifying Grant Blvd years earlier, a few factors presented initial barriers to success when it came to certifying Build It Boldly:

✔ Limited Time and Bandwidth: At this very early stage of BIB’s journey, which Dr. McGlonn founded as recently as October 2024, the BIB team was fully occupied with building out the company’s initial product offerings, such as Build It Boldly and The Leader’s Work. Still, obtaining B Certification was a non-negotiable element of BIB’s business strategy, and the team knew they would benefit greatly from consulting support, removing a burden from their shoulders and allowing them to focus on daily operations without feeling overwhelmed.
✔ The Need to be Held Accountable: The team knew that having someone to not only keep them on track through the various impact requirements but also be their biggest cheerleader through each phase would be crucial in getting the job done.
✔ Working Against a Hard Deadline: It took Dr. McGlonn about a year to certify Grant Blvd. As part of BIB’s wider launch strategy, Dr. McGlonn was aiming for the company to be fully verified as a new Certified B Corporation in a considerably shorter period of time, ahead of B Lab U.S. & Canada’s Champions Retreat 2026 where Dr. McGlonn would leverage her platform as the conference’s Emcee to make the big announcement.

We met Dr. McGlonn and her team where they were and tailored a bespoke plan that was most relevant to Build It Boldly, ensuring the best pathway possible for success:

✔ Mapped, coordinated, and managed a digestible plan of action across the BIB team and student interns from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Impact & Sustainability Consulting program who worked alongside us.
✔ Accentuated the company’s innate spirit of charitable giving, leveraging the Designed to Give impact business model as formal inspiration.
✔ Aligned the company’s mission and values with clear practices and mechanisms of accountability, ensuring that every aspect is accurately and consistently reflected into the future.
✔ Developed key operational policies to strengthen the company’s business infrastructure and solidify how certain metrics are tracked.
✔ Organized all documentation and interacted with B Lab during the review process on behalf of BIB.

Having launched our partnership in September 2025, our technical expertise and motivational support in keeping everyone organized enabled us to submit our B Impact Assessment in early December 2025. Our level of execution across acceptable documentation and methods of verification enabled us to successfully make the case for Build It Boldly’s newly formalized commitments, most notably:

1️⃣ To donate 2% of top-line revenue year over year to charitable organizations doing work to benefit the environment both in Milwaukee, Dr. McGlonn’s hometown, and in Philadelphia, where Dr. McGlonn has called home for many years. At least half of this giving commitment is honored through BIB’s new 1% for the Planet business membership.
2️⃣ To ideate educational resources that lead to positive social or environmental impacts, which is a key identity of BIB and an integral part of its strategy.
3️⃣ To have at least 10% of total supplier expenditures by dollar amount sourced from diverse suppliers (at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by a member or members of a qualified minority group). BIB’s 10% pledge was surpassed many times over in 2025.

With the realization at this point that we would indeed meet our goal, Alyssa Ghilardi, BIB’s Chief Operating Officer and VP of Partnerships, noted that:

Working with Jeffrey from Enharmonic Encounters on our B Corp Certification process was the smartest decision ever! He streamlined just about everything and stepped in seamlessly as an extension of our team. His knowledge of the process and its requirements are undeniable. My team and I could not have moved through the assessment with such ease and in such a timely manner without him.

Alyssa’s prescient words manifested shortly thereafter. With all of the positive impact that was captured and recognized during the review process, we guided Build It Boldly across the finish line with favorable results:

✔ B Certification Achieved: Build It Boldly officially became a Certified B Corporation in April 2026, just in time for Champions Retreat 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Getting certified ahead of Champions Retreat was BIB’s biggest goal and we delivered for them, all in about half the time it took for Grant Blvd!
✔ Formalized Business Operations: We ensured operational integrity and a clear path for growth and interoperability with B Lab’s new standards (V2).
✔ Credibility with Stakeholders: By having announced BIB’s status as a new Certified B Corporation on Champions Retreat 2026’s main stage, Dr. McGlonn and her team now have the momentum they need to maximize the way they want to scale.

Are you thinking about embarking on your own B Certification journey? We would be more than happy to discuss how it could look for you and your company! Learn more about how we can build bridges to purposeful impact together through our B Certification Consulting service.