Service Design Show Designing for Impact, Not Just for Humans / Ben Rennie / Ep. #235
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Aug 28, 2025 Ben Rennie, co-founder of a design agency and author of 'Lessons in Creativity', shares a transformative journey from corporate success to meaningful work. He discusses the pressure of traditional success, his pivotal decision to leave a lucrative agency, and the shift toward aligning his values with community and environmental impact. Rennie emphasizes the importance of creativity, accountability in design, and rethinking what success means, advocating for designs that prioritize ecological responsibility and community engagement.
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Lake Tahoe Reset Led To B Corp Values
- After quitting, Ben and his wife spent three months in Lake Tahoe which turned into four years of rebuilding the business.
- That period led them to adopt B Corp values and redesign their agency around nature and sport.
Choose Clients By Your Values
- Define clear values and a manifesto before scaling so market demand doesn't dictate your work.
- Say no to clients who contradict those values because your client choices signal the business you are becoming.
Impact As A Business Model
- Ben shifted his agency from commercial-first to impact-led with a 60/40 commercial-impact split and later moved to ~65% impact.
- Aligning clients to climate, community, and health naturally attracted impact-focused organisations.
