At Pownal Street Press, we are continually working on our independent press’s vision, mission and mandate. Since the first few days of our inception, we’ve talked about how we can positively contribute to our local community, the publishing industry and our authors, in the work we do.
Last Fall, we were one of a few Prince Edward Island businesses to be selected to participate in the Export Launch Incubator Program. This incubator is a virtual export readiness program that builds the export capacity of small businesses in Atlantic Canada with the goal of enabling long-term economic growth in the region.
We were thrilled. We began undertaking sessions in branding, sales, customer service and cash flow. I was buried under a pile of manuscripts and little bandwidth for the concepts, and so most of the hard labour of the sessions and calls fell to Genevieve, in her red publisher’s glasses and trying to solve all of the problems of the world.
Through the program, we had the opportunity to select someone we could work with on our own, a business coach who could help us develop a voice of our own, to match our unique brand, to capture the way we connect with clients and dive into the crux of the work that we do — developing books.
Gen and I went back and forth on what type of coach we wanted to work with. We talked about sales funnels. We talked about CRMs. We talked about trust. At some point, we had a call with Tessa Vanderkop, an experienced industry business strategist whose priority is to work with companies on purpose-driven leadership, by developing a social purpose statement that can be used as a lens for their business. And suddenly, with Christmas cookies in the oven, we were a match made in heaven.
If there’s anything that Gen and I are passionate about, it’s the stories that our authors bring to the table. Their books give them the agency to tell their stories, to share their platforms and to connect them with their readers, which we are truly passionate about. Finally, the lights started to go on!
Our first step was sharing what Tessa called our “origin story”, when we came together and why.
But there was more…
After Tessa had us pour over our very first concepts, business plans and visions for our press (and I can assure you there were many stars, moons and circles in the side margins), it was time to go out and get stakeholder feedback from the people that know us best— our freelancers, and our distribution partners, and most important of all, our authors. And man, did they come back with things to say!
After 3 years in business, we could see the impact of doing really good work in the world, really important work.
A social purpose statement is the intersection of where our company’s vision (what PSP does) meets our vision for a better world (what the publishing industry needs). How did the two collide?
So, we’re writers. We got down to work. Using our stakeholders’ words, and our own with purpose, we began to craft a narrative. What would our social purpose be? It had to cover all of our territory, and cross the four thousand miles between Tessa in Vancouver and us in Charlottetown. It had to start with We Exist. It had to make the world a better place using a social governance framework. It had to become a lens that would help us make business decisions.
We moved from a foundation, to our pillars, and finally— to a landscape.
Introducing our new social purpose!
We exist
to give rise
to brave stories, and
to be a light for
community and connection.
And so now we carry on, but with our vision and our purpose in our back pockets, we know why, and we know how.
Whose brave story will be next?
