Today, we are delighted to be joined by Matt Hocking who is the owner of a design studio, Leap. It’s based in Cornwall but they work globally. They design brands, websites and trophies for organizations such as charities, NGOs, and Good Energy. What’s exciting is they create their designs in the most environmentally friendly way. Their purpose for the business was to use it as a tool for change and to make a difference on the planet, that is, to show that there was a better way to use their skills as designers.
Resources mentioned.
Believe in what you’re doing and do what you believe in.
What is your business superpower? Being a great superhero fan, captain America being my icon, I feel our superpower would be optimism. We had the optimism that we all can contribute to the making of a better and healthier planet and in turn healthier population and doing it in a progressive way despite all the problems in the world. How does leap engage its staff, suppliers, and customers with your mission and purpose? Everyone we have in our team approached us and started working with us, since they believed in our values. We put people before profit. Being open about where I need support and help has worked for the business. Also, our team being able to come through in areas where I am weak has really pushed our business forward. What has been your biggest struggle so far when running a suitable business and how did you overcome it? We want to help but we need money to do so. We have had many projects in the past in which we had to support other organizations without getting any profits from them. In turn we ran out of funds so much so that I ended not paying myself for 5months. However, we changed to a profit share financial transparency in which everyone was told to take a 10% reduction in pay and from then on we began to become more profitable. If you could offer one piece of advice to our listeners which could help them with their purpose, what would that be? My advice would be to just do it. Try it, act on it and then as you go, start to reinforce it. Start a strong foundation within yourself and your beliefs that you want to make a difference and then find your purpose. Do not be afraid to be yourself, be authentic. Always say what you believe in. Also it is advisable to make friends with the best organizations as they can at times be the bridge to other organizations. How do you approach environmental management and carbon footprint? We only use recycled paper and we are signed into Good Energy. We minimize the use of our resources, that is, transport, energy and supply chain. One of us came up with the idea that we should have a calculator that shows us how much paper we use and what type of paper. That has really helped to measure out foot prints. We also have schemes that are buying logged carbon and we have also been planting trees. Do you have any special promotions on any particular products/services that you would like us to mention? For August Leap are running a 1 year’s free carbon neutral hosting competition. More info here: https://leap.eco/win-a-years-free-carbon-neutral-hosting-and-become-a-planet-saving-hero
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