EP 132: Choosing The B Corp Life with Buzz Food Truck Founder Michael Sirianni

Published: May 8, 2018, 8 a.m.

b'The Nitty Gritty\\n\\n* Why Michael created Buzz, a rock-and-roll infused sandwich shop on wheels\\n* How he infused his personal values into Buzz \\u2014 and how those values extend into the culture of the company\\n* Everything Michael learned from taking the B Impact Assessment\\n* How becoming a B Corp positively impacts Buzz, its employees, and the community\\n* What running a responsible business means to Michael\\n\\nToday on What Works, we welcome Michael Sirianni, owner of Buzz, a mobile rock-and-roll inspired sandwich shop serving the Lancaster, Pennsylvania community. But Buzz is about so much more than egg and cheese sandwiches: as a B Corp certified business, Michael runs his restaurant-on-wheels a bit differently than most.\\nListen to the entire conversation with Michael to hear all the details on what B Corp certification is, why sustainability is an important foundation for running any business, and how the B Corp certification benefits Buzz, its employees, and the community.\\nWe release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode.\\nHow B Corp Certification aligns Michael\\u2019s company and personal values\\n\\u201cI\\u2019m a firm believer that a company\\u2019s values need to drive and reflect what your customers, vendors, and employees value. In addition to that, those values should be rooted in kindness, fairness, and generosity.\\u201d \\u2014 Michael Sirianni\\nMost of us go into business because we see possibility for a better world \\u2014 and we see how we can help make it so. That\\u2019s definitely true for Michael, who, after years working in the food industry, felt that his B Corp business matched his personal values. \\u201cI think that\\u2019s who I always saw myself as a leader in business,\\u201d Michael adds. \\u201cI could not be more happy that B Corp came along and now my personality matches my professional desire.\\u201d For him, making Buzz a B Corp certified business made it possible to make an even bigger impact than without it.\\nWhat Michael learned from taking the B Corp Assessment\\n\\u201cI sat down with my books and said I can\\u2019t really afford to do this. I can\\u2019t afford to give everyone a living wage and bring home X of profit. But that\\u2019s what the whole thing\\u2019s about. It\\u2019s about saying profits need to be sacrificed for the betterment of my staff. When you give somebody a living wage, they\\u2019re less likely to leave, they learn more, they grow more, they\\u2019re more invested, they become a bigger part of your company in the long run, they\\u2019re less likely work a second job because they have less of an economic need so they\\u2019re available more hours to you. There are all these positives about it. That\\u2019s the thing I learned most and simultaneously the thing I\\u2019m proudest about.\\u201d \\u2014 Michael Sirianni\\nGoing through The B Corp assessment, Michael realized that if he truly wanted to create the company he was the proudest of, he needed to be able to pay his staff a living wage. That meant that he\\u2019d take home less profit \\u2014 but, to Michael, it\\u2019s worth it because it results in happier and healthier employees. In addition, providing stable, living-wage jobs to his employees results in a stronger community.\\nWhat responsibility in business looks like\\n\\u201cAre you doing what\\u2019s right for your community? Because they\\u2019re your customers and they\\u2019re your future employees. The private sector, as we define it, absolutely has a responsibility to make themselves a part of the solution and a part of progress.\\u201d \\u2014 Michael Sirianni\\nB Corp certification is Business Sustainability 101. \\u201cEveryone should do it,'