Impact report 2023-24

Measuring my business as a force for good.

I’m in business to bring back nature

Reflecting on the progress I’ve made and the changes that have taken place over the past year, I'm reminded of the subtle yet significant evolution in my mission. Early in 2023, I refined my mission statement - my WHY. This minor adjustment brought a clearer focus and aligned perfectly with my vision. While photography remains the medium through which I can create impact, this updated perspective opens up broader possibilities beyond capturing images.

In the FY23-24 year, I continued to work towards the metrics by which I now measure my impact. Traditionally, these metrics have encompassed business, clients, community, and environment, inspired by the B Corp certification categories. However, with the refined mission in mind, I sought a more personal and meaningful framework last year. Inspired by Odonata’s 7C’s, I engaged in some deep brainstorming to align these impact areas with my core values.

Here’s what I developed: the impact areas are interconnected and overlapping but reflect what truly matters to me. These are now the pillars of my impact measurement. Each area is benchmarked against the Sustainable Development Goals and relevant B Corp impact areas, with clearly defined goals and metrics. You can find a detailed table outlining these goals and measurements in the Looking Forward section at the end of this report.

FY23-24 was also the measurement year of my first B Corp recertification, which is due in November of 2024. This signifies three years since I became a B Corp, and joined a community of businesses worldwide that are committed to balancing profit with purpose and driving positive impact for communities and the environment.

bird on Lady Elliot Island, nesting

Clients

I use photography to amplify the impact of my clients, who focus on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in sustainable architecture, climate change solutions, and biodiversity conservation.

My services bolster purpose-driven businesses and organizations, leveraging my network of press and publications to highlight their work.

Since committing exclusively to purpose-driven clients in late 2021, my portfolio has transformed significantly. The percentage of purpose-driven projects increased from 48% in 2021-22 to 90% in 2022-23 (with only 3 out of 30 shoots being general interiors rather than high performance buildings). Last year, this figure rose to nearly 92%, with only 2 out of 37 shoots not considered highly purpose-driven.

Client satisfaction

Client satisfaction is fundamental to business success. Asking clients for feedback can seem daunting, but implementing a formal process is essential. I send a 9 question survey to my clients for every shoot and mentoring session, with specific satisfaction goals in mind. By evaluating the results at the end of the financial year, I can assess my performance and make necessary improvements to meet these targets.

I had 33 responses to my survey out of 64 sent (from a total of 31 shoots). I often have multiple clients per job due to a cost-sharing model (anywhere from 1-5). I send the survey to all clients, even though a lot of them aren’t in attendance on shoot day (including 30% of my respondents).

I didn’t include my mentoring responses in this analysis below, but still received 3/9 responses).

Some key takeaways from my respondents were:

  • 100% said my pre-shoot communication was just the right amount.

  • 91% said their understanding of licensing was good and they understood the basic principles. 9% said it was average, they had some understanding but it could be better.

  • 67% said that shoot day was “fun, so much fun” or “calm”. 30% weren’t there on shoot day, and 0% of clients said the shoot day was stressful.

  • 61% said they were blown away by my deliverables and they were much better than they imagined. 36% said they were good - useful for the purposes they needed. None said they were underwhelmed by the deliverables.

  • 64% said they’d recommend me as a 10/10, 18% said they’d recommend as a 9/10, 12% as an 8/10 and 2 respondents said they’d recommend me as a 7/10 (although when I asked one what I could do better to improve, said he was too harsh in his scoring!).

  • A figure I’m especially proud of as a business owner trying to do meaningful work: 100% said my value for money was good or great. 

The summary table breaks down this survey over the last four years and how I met my targets. I’ve kept these questions in my surveys consistent since I started it for my B Corp certification so I could compare the results year on year. However, now that I have just submitted my re-certification after three years, I will revisit my questions and see if the survey can be improved.

Conservation

This impact area shifts our perspective beyond just the 'climate' lens when evaluating the environmental impacts of business. Historically, nature and biodiversity were often overlooked in these assessments. Now, there is a growing recognition of the importance of considering both nature impacts and carbon emissions, marking a positive change in how we view business sustainability.

In light of this, here are a few nature-related initiatives I undertook in 2023-24:

  • I donated 170 hours of my time to the Odonata Foundation, for the program Business of Biodiversity.

  • I donated $18,750 of services (photography) to the Odonata Foundation to promote two different projects - Limpinwood Botanic Gardens & Nursery in NSW and the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary just north of Sydney.

  • My Prints for Wildlife series is ongoing, albeit slowly. I sold only one print and donated just over $88 to a single wildlife sanctuary.

  • Continued to look for suitable habitat to establish our own threatened species sanctuary, with a long term view of leaving it in community ownership.

Climate

For the fourth year in a row, my business is Climate Neutral Certified. To achieve this, I measured all of my emissions (as a business but also as a two person household - as it's too hard to distinguish when you're a sole trader working primarily from home), and I am implementing reduction actions on my journey to net zero. I also compensate for my emissions every year by investing in carbon credits and clean energy certificates.

I chose to re-certify with Change Climate (formerly Climate Neutral) again, even though it is based upon an estimate calculated on your revenue. I looked a few other options to certify, but the cost is quite prohibitive for a micro business, so stuck with Change Climate.

My result was the same as last year - 4t of carbon for a two-person household and small business. This still doesn’t seem correct to me as when I calculated my emissions via PathZero were around 20t. So this year I also used a very detailed spreadsheet from Carbon Neutral, which calculated my emissions at 23.10t for the a two person household and my business.

I therefore opted to offset for 25 tonnes to cover what I thought would be my true emissions.

For the 2023 calendar year, I chose to partner with SeaTrees with their SeaTrees Carbon Credits, which restores multiple ecosystems and blends Verra certified carbon credits with early-stage ocean restoration projects. Each SeaTrees Carbon Credit sequesters one ton of CO2 with Verra certified carbon offsets from the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project in Cambodia, and also plants three mangrove trees in Mida Creek, Kenya. I chose this option as one of my goals this year was to compensate my emissions with credits that also increase biodiversity and habitat.

My journey to net zero is focusing on electrification - as almost 40% of my emissions are from the use of two diesel cars and the energy from using a 50-year-old gas AGA stove. My reduction goals are to purchase an electric car and an electric AGA, which will reduce my total emissions substantially. This is a slow burn (so to speak) as we are still looking for land to build a small, off-grid, all-electric passivhaus on. I just electrified our current home with the help of Goodbye Gas, which is a start to the electrification journey. Read more here about that.

Green gum leaves

Currency

This impact area encapsulates my passion around putting your money where it matters under the broad categories of banking, super, spending and giving.

I was invited to write a regular eco-column for a Canadian magazine called Uppercase, and my first article was A Sustainable Supply Chain: A Practical Guide for Creatives. My second column was about Using Your Money Responsibly.

My fortnightly newsletter Three Neat Things also featured half a dozen pieces on using your money for good, with a subscriber list of just under 1000.

Cashflow is another crucial metric I measure to ensure my business remains profitable, and can continue to create a lasting positive impact. I am happy to report that this goal was successfully achieved.

On a personal front, I started measuring the percentage of money invested in impact, because you can’t change what you don’t measure! And also invested in two different impact funds.

Coaching

As mentioned in my introduction, there is a lot of crossover with my 8 impact areas, and this one is a prime example. Coaching covers my work on the pilot program for Business of Biodiversity and all additional educational work around impact in business (such as my Three Neat Things newsletter, of which I sent 27 last year), mentoring, eco columns, guest posts etc.

I’m not sure where these activities sit in terms of impact areas - perhaps somewhere between coaching and community:

I did nine mentoring sessions - eight for photographers and one for a small business.

Causes

Pro bono - time

In the 2023-24 financial year, I donated 170 hours of my time of pro bono work with the Odonata Foundation. I also donated 31 hours to the newly formed B Local Melbourne. This equated to over 10% of my time to pro bono causes.

Pro bono - services

I donated $18,750 of services (photography) to the Odonata Foundation to promote two different projects - Limpinwood Botanic Gardens & Nursery in NSW and the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary just north of Sydney. I also donated $84,835 in value for licensing of images to the Australian Passivhaus Association - which operates as a non-profit.

Cash donations and 1% For the Planet

I’ve been a member of 1% For the Planet since 2018. In previous years I’ve pledged to give at least 2% of my revenue to non-profits in the form of cash donations, but this year I donated only 0.9%. This was due to a change from just cash donations to a combination of cash and in-kind donations, which includes pro bono goods and services (as above), and is allowed under the donation criteria.

My total percent of revenue donated (of cash and in-kind donations) was just under 35%.

My 1% For the Planet commitment was made up of donations to Odonata Foundation, Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, and The Change Climate Project (formerly Climate Neutral).

Culture

At its heart, reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians.

- Reconciliation Australia

I joined the B Corp Reconciliation Action Group, which is a space for B Corps who are committed to Reconciliation in Australia to come together to take action through business. The purpose is to take action for Reconciliation. This can be:

  • Action for internal business change, or

  • Action for broader social change, using business as a force for good.

The focus is on Reconciliation through business, and actions are aimed to be grounded in one of five pillars:

  • Employment

  • Procurement & supplier policy

  • Engagement

  • Measuring, monitoring & evaluation

  • Cultural capability

Through my newsletter, Three Neat Things, and my social media, I promoted NAIDOC week, why I said yes to the Voice referendum, and Reconciliation Week.

Through the B Local Melbourne group, we are organizing Cultural Heritage Awareness training for Q1 FY24-25. This initiative aims to integrate Indigenous wisdom and practices into corporate ethos, fostering respect for Indigenous traditions and perspectives.

These sessions will bridge dialogue between the business community and Indigenous peoples, engaging directly with Indigenous leaders and educators. This approach enriches our cultural understanding and informs our business practices, ensuring alignment with sustainability, respect, and equity principles.

Community

Community is vital to me, yet I often yearn for a deeper sense of connection, in both business and life. While I'm an active member of the B Corp community, the scarcity of in-person events in Victoria hampers deeper engagement. To address this, a few dedicated individuals and I revived the B Local Melbourne community. In May, we organised the first event, Nature + Network: values in action at a threatened species sanctuary.

This year, we also had excellent opportunities to come together and strengthen our community through two significant conferences: the B Corp Assembly in Cape Paterson, and the Australian Passivhaus Association conference, Thrive.

Additionally, I've introduced an Alumni program as part of the Business of Biodiversity course. I hope to grow this community around the themes of nature and biodiversity as the program continues annually.

Measuring impact

In order to compare my social or environmental performance scorecards year on year, I needed to define some measurable impacts when I started writing my impact reports.

I did this by tracking the metrics below for the Australian financial year. This will be continued to be tracked on an annual basis.

Looking forward

Evaluating my business and life against the eight main impact areas most important to me is a valuable guide for the next year. I’m not looking to change much from last year, but rather to keep working towards some of the goals that weren’t achieved and continue improving upon existing ones.

The second Business of Biodiversity program will commence in February 2025. If successful, it will become an annual program with an alumni component. This feels like a significant way to make an impact by encouraging other businesses to do the same, creating a ripple effect.

A major goal yet to be achieved on a personal front is finding land suitable for conservation or a threatened species sanctuary. A notable recent achievement is the completion of structures that can facilitate this, even if we’re not still here to do so.

I remain committed to donating at least 5% of my time and resources annually to nature-focused causes. FY24-25 is my B Corp recertification year, with November 2024 marking three years since I first gained certification. I aim to increase my score by at least 30 points.

I will continue to work exclusively with clients actively pursuing the SDGs, particularly those focused on sustainable buildings, climate action, and nature and biodiversity. My goal is to achieve a 100% purpose-driven client base next year.

Refer to the table below to see my progress from my FY23-24 goals, and where I want to go in the next year.

My journey is driven by a commitment to impactful, purpose-driven work that aligns with my core values. By consistently evaluating my business and life against the eight main impact areas, I ensure a clear and focused path forward.

This strategic, forward-thinking approach is more than a plan - it's a promise to foster a sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future. Through intentional actions and unwavering dedication, I aim to inspire others and create lasting positive change.