MISGIF + Sustainability
HOW IT STARTED
To understand how MISGIF transformed into a sustainable small business, it’s important to begin with how and where we started…
After graduating Arizona State University’s Barrett Honors College in 2011, MISGIF CEO Jessie Whitfield began working in the nonprofit sector which eventually landed her in an event management and donor relations role where she was tasked with finding valuable ways to recognize event sponsors. This led to her hiring photo booth vendors for nonprofit fundraiser events.
At the time, Jessie noticed that photo booth companies only offered the option to include the event sponsor’s logo on the physical printed photo, which often were left at events and eliminated the opportunity for the sponsor’s logo to reach more eyes online. This led to a missed opportunity in Jessie’s eyes to not only increase awareness about the generous sponsor, but also the amazing work the nonprofit was doing in the community. Additionally, this created an unnecessary waste issue at events.
Because social media platforms like Instagram had yet to become a mainstream marketing tool in 2014 but were widely used by the community, it made Jessie question why a digital photo booth option that focused on social media sharing and GIFs (something that was becoming increasingly popular) was not being offered by Arizona photo booth companies.
Fast forward to 2017, Jessie founded MISGIF, a woman-owned and majority women-led, Green Business Certified, award-winning Arizona photo booth activation agency that specializes in creating stylish, shareable and sustainable photomoments and video experiences designed to connect brands (corporate companies, small businesses and community organizations) in a memorable and meaningful way with their target audience at events while reducing their carbon footprint.
As time went on, MISGIF evolved to also provide turnkey, sustainable photo booth solutions (installs & leases) for nationwide brands, retail spaces and event venues that assist with amplifying brand awareness and increasing engagement both on and offline.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS
The event industry is no stranger to sustainability. “Sustainable events” or “green events” are terms that have been written about and promoted in the event community for decades, but how that translates to day-of operations at events and within event businesses is another story.
While the event industry often has the best of intentions (to provide a fun, memorable and safe experience for event attendees) the more we educated ourselves on sustainability, the more we began to understand that the event industry was full of not-so sustainable practices. Below are some common examples:
Reliance on event decor such as balloon backdrops, feather walls, etc. that utilize materials and/or chemicals that are harmful to the environment or animals
Excess in waste created that was not properly recycled or repurposed such as single-use photo prints, photo booth props, plastic water bottles and utensils, leftover food, etc.
Lack of encouraging eco-friendly transportation options including carpooling, busing, biking, etc.
Excess in energy consumption including leaving lights and equipment on instead of turning them off or not utilizing natural lighting
Lack of diversity when it came to which event vendors were hired for events
Reliance on large corporations like Amazon for event materials, instead of local small businesses
Not only did we learn that the event industry had a long way to go to become sustainable, after speaking with fellow event professionals it became clear that many people in the event industry were simply unaware of the negative impact their actions had on our planet and community.
With that said, the goal of MISGIF is to solve the following problem specifically in the event industry: How to provide brands with sustainable photo booth options that have a positive impact on our environment and community.
And so, we’ve committed to doing business in a way that is environmentally friendly, socially responsible, and supportive of a vibrant local Arizona economy. Our hope is that by leading through action we can help educate and inspire others in the event industry.
OUR SUSTAINABILITY JOURNEY
As we mentioned above, it’s one thing to want to be a sustainable small business. It’s an entirely different thing to live and breathe those values. So in order to ensure our photo booth options were sustainable and had a positive impact on the environment and community, we took a look at how we could improve our day-to-day small business operations at our office and at events.
With that said, while researching various sustainable solutions we ran into a lot of misinformation online, often referred to as “green washing” which is when one claims (often for marketing purposes) that they’re adopting sustainable practices, but in truth are contributing to the problem. So we sought out local experts, Local First Arizona Sustainability Program, and enrolled in their SCALE UP Sustainability Cohort to further educate ourselves on the facts, which eventually led to us writing our Environmental Policy, receiving our Green Business Certification and later being honored by the City of Tempe for our work in sustainability.
Below are some examples of sustainable solutions we have embraced since beginning our journey to become a more sustainable business:
We quit offering the option to add printed photos to our photo booth packages, which allowed us to effectively decrease our carbon footprint on shipments via air and divert waste (some containing toxic materials) from the landfill which can seep into the ground/water and harm animals
We retired and donated all feather boas to local nonprofits, which solidified our commitment to fighting animal cruelty and eliminated shipments via air and waste sent to the landfill
We began educating our clients on why balloon installations are not the ideal choice for photo booth backdrops or event decor (more often than not they aren’t disposed of properly and can become a choking hazard for animals when dumped in landfills), and encourage reusable backdrops instead
We began seeking out local small businesses to support when buying/renting supplies and equipment, which allowed us to support other entrepreneurs and keep our money in our Arizona economy (we also donated old equipment including cameras and props to local nonprofits or businesses that could repurpose items in a meaningful way)
We equipped our photo booths and office with LED lights and situated our office so that we would be able to utilize as much natural lighting as possible while working to reduce energy consumption
We outfitted all of our office faucets with the lowest gpm aerators to reduce water flow, which in turn assisted with water conservation as well as invested in an energy-efficient washer to clean our own backdrops (which are hang dried outdoors to reduce energy consumption)
We became more vocal about issues that we’re passionate about such as the importance of increasing equality and equity in the event industry for BIPOC event professionals, aligned ourselves with organizations like National Events Council who are taking this issue on head first, and making sure our clients understand where we stand by sharing information about how they can take action on our social media pages, website homepage and e-newsletters
We established our GIF Back Club, an initiative designed to use our small business as a vehicle to pour love and support back into the soul of our home state of Arizona, specifically local nonprofits and organizations helping those in need and ones fighting climate change
While the majority of the above examples are not glamorous or exciting, they are small steps that have helped transform the way we do business at MISGIF for the better.
HOW IT’S GOING
Since adopting more sustainable small business practices overall the outcome has been a very positive one. Not only does it feel great to live our values and to know that we are effectively making progress toward being a part of the solution, perhaps even more meaningful is that we’ve been able to educate and inspire others in the event industry, effectively (or at least we hope) making our impact even larger.
While we have lost some clients who insist that physical printed photos are a must for events, interestingly our revenue has not reflected a loss since we have gained new clients and partners excited about embracing sustainability and investing in sustainable event vendors like MISGIF. In fact, not only are we on track to exceed our 2019 revenue numbers, but we have also already (only six months into the year) exceeded our 2022 goal of donating $10,000 to local Arizona nonprofits, which is very exciting!
FUTURE PLANS
The work is never done, so even though MISGIF has been able to transform the way it does business we are always looking for more ways to educate ourselves on how to be more sustainable and how to have a greater impact on the events industry, as well as our environment and local community.
One of our goals moving forward is to source even more eco-friendly products so that we can eliminate contributing to overconsumption and unnecessary waste. Additionally we plan to work with Local First Arizona and the City of Tempe to create a blueprint for event sustainability that can be shared with Arizona event businesses and event professionals that makes accessing reliable, helpful info and action steps easy.
OUR ADVICE
It is our experience that the key to enacting real change starts with educating yourself. Taking accountability for the ways you are a part of a problem, then investing in learning about how you can be a part of a solution is what we recommend first and foremost.
If you can connect with local organizations, like Local First Arizona, that have programs focused on assisting small business owners with taking environmental action this is a great place to start. We are incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to enroll in the Local First Arizona SCALE UP Sustainability Cohort because it helped us better understand the framework of sustainability as it pertains to our local environment, community and economy, as well as our direct impact as a small business in Arizona, where we are headquartered.
With that said, we recommend starting with small steps to make your shift toward running a sustainable business manageable. Ultimately everything you do has the potential to make a difference, but you get to decide if it’s a positive or negative one. Remember, change doesn’t happen overnight…and if it feels uncomfortable at first, you’re probably doing things right. The work is never easy.
Some easy places to start are by swapping out your old light bulbs for LED energy efficient ones or opening your blinds and utilizing natural lighting at your office, skip the Amazon order and source supplies from local woman, BIPOC and LGBTQ -owned businesses, create your own version of our GIF Back Club and funnel a portion of your small business profits back to nonprofits doing incredible work in your community …and don’t be afraid to phase out services or products that aren’t eco-friendly! You might lose clients or customers, but at the end of the day every action counts and speaking from experience, we promise it’s worth it!