Career Storytelling for the SDGs and B Corp business panel at the University of Exeter

Dr Constantine Manochev  - Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Futures, University of Exeter Business School, PRME UK and Ireland Chapter Steering Committee member and Lead of South West Working Group

Dr Karen Cripps - Associate Professor in Responsible Management and Leadership, Oxford Brookes University Business School, PRME UK and Ireland Chapter Steering Committee member and Secretary 

Career Storytelling Workshop

It is important for us to help students reflect on career pathway choices and to be inspired by business leaders with purpose-led careers. This session on careers storytelling, aligned with the SDGs – the second one at Exeter’s Penryn campus - enabled us to do both. This workshop aimed to bridge the gap between employability and the reality of impact-driven work by focusing on fulfilment, meaning and passion. We were joined by three leaders from the local B Corp community who quite literally "walk the talk" of sustainable business.

Karen Cripps led the first half of the session with the ‘Career Storytelling for the Sustainable Development Goals’ masterclass, which was originally formed through PRME UK and Ireland Seed Funding competition for Developing Innovative Pedagogic Approaches and teaching practices in PRME (2023) with Milena Bobeva and Cathy d’Abreu. Three years on, it has been continuously refined to guide participants through a three-act storytelling process: setting the scene through self-awareness, building a plot by identifying opportunities and values-aligned aspirations, and leading to a "sequel" by intentionally crafting and communicating impact results. Ultimately, the session encourages participants to adopt a sustainability mindset and use tools like LinkedIn to demonstrate thought leadership and find their "Ikigai" or life purpose.

The B Corp Perspective: Beyond the Job Description

The second part of the session featured an interactive discussion with three inspirational business leaders from the University of Exeter’s local B Corp community:

●      Rachel Foster – Agency Founder & Chartered PR Consultant

●      Yasmine Knox – Assistant Sustainability Manager, Ward Williams

●      Sarah Walker – Sustainability Lead, Origin Coffee

B Corporations (B Corps) are verified ‘for-profit’ companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. We sought to create an authentic, honest dialogue between the business and students. We opened with a focus on our business representatives’ ‘why’. Why were they working for a B Corp? Their responses reflected their own journeys to date. Yasmine chose the B Corp path after scrutinising this business model as part of her undergraduate dissertation. Rachel couldn’t find a business aligned with her values, so she created it – building her own company and pursuing accreditation. Sarah found Origin after a period of searching and job-hopping.

We then asked our business leaders what it meant to work for a B Corp? For our panel, it was about ‘Spheres of Influence’. Yasmin shared how her journey from a 2020 graduation to the built environment was driven by a desire to protect the very nature—the beaches and ecosystems—that Cornwall residents hold dear. Sarah and Rachel echoed this, highlighting that ‘Impact Careers’ often start with "happy accidents" and a willingness to respond to change rather than following a rigid plan.

3 Key Insights

1. Value Alignment is a Superpower: When you walk into a room of people who share your interests—your ‘tribe’—the communication becomes effortless. It’s not about outmanoeuvring others; it’s about finding the people who are also interested in what you care about. Of course, we all naturally know this in the PRME community!

2. Embracing the ‘Butterfly Effect’: Panellists showed how their careers have not been linear, always intentional, even.  Small steps—attending a talk or a chance encounter at a workshop —have led to significant professional breakthroughs.

3. Navigating the Emotional Landscape and Active Listening: Panellists spoke honestly about Imposter Syndrome. In a field as vast and urgent as the climate crisis, it is common to feel like you don't know enough. The panel’s advice? Own your narrative. Authenticity and passion build more genuine connections than a list of memorised technical terms ever will. By listening to each other, we can move forward together.

By shaping these stories together, we aren't just preparing students for ‘jobs’ but, hopefully, empowering them and ourselves as educators to understand the potential of purpose-led careers. As caught up in business school metrics, it can be easy to forget!  Most importantly, new and existing connections were strengthened, laying down the direction of travel - onwards and upwards!