2025: the year of making compliance the most talked about topic at parties.

Ok full disclosure, before meeting José (aka the brains behind Certification Oceania), I was completely unaware of:

1. Certification

And

2. What it means to “meet the requirements of ISO standards".

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I can’t say it’s a strong contender, topic-wise wise at a party.

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So, once things got serious, and it was clear we had both found the one, José sat me down one Sunday afternoon, to finally explain what it actually was he does for work and said “let’s talk about ISO”, naturally I asked “what are we searching for?” 

P.S. ISO stands for “In search of” in the marketing world. 

To give you context, my background is in digital marketing, brand and design strategy. I have a Masters in Sexology and am also an advisor in women’s health, working with a Biotech start-up.

Since those early days, I have attempted to understand the complex and frankly unnecessarily overwhelming world of Certification and ISO standards. A foreign language of clauses, conformities and compliance.

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In May 2024, José and I decided to buy Certification Oceania, and spend some quality time (think candlelit dinners with a side of ISO 9001 Quality, romantic!) redefining what it means to be a certification body. This officially started with becoming the World’s first B Corp Certified, JAS-ANZ and IAF Accredited ISO Certification Body (we are very proud of this!).

In our certification journey, we have found that people don’t actually understand the true value behind certification apart from “it will be good for my business”.

Why is this the case?

Well, because they, themselves (business owners), don’t have a good understanding of how it can be a value-add to their business beyond the external recognition. 

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I decided it was time that I, too, become an expert on ISO and bring all of you with me on this journey! So that one day in the not-too-distant future, we all can be popular at parties AND talk about ISO (and get excited about it?!).

Over the next couple of months, I am going to dissect each standard within an inch of its life as a person who is eager to learn more but isn’t an auditor, in a mission to help (myself, yes) but also the people (maybe like you?) who potentially sit in one (or many) of these camps: 

1. Want to get certified but aren’t sure where to start
2. Need to get certified for a Government tender
3. Know a little about certification but would like to learn more in order to be better at your job in compliance and quality assurance
4. Want to improve your business 

I’ll be covering ISO 9001 Quality, ISO 45001 Safety, ISO 14001 Environment and ISO 27001 Information Security. Think of it like a “compliance for dummies” book, explaining complex things simply. I’m going to be using real world examples, break down the jargon and attempt (keyword here, let’s see) to make certification SEXY! 

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At Certification Oceania, our mission is to redefine certification as a force for good, making the process transparent, accessible, and impactful - ensuring businesses don’t just meet compliance standards, but also drive meaningful environmental, social, and ethical change.

One of our go-to sayings at Certification Oceania is, “A rising tide lifts all ships”. Together, through this process, we can learn, ask questions and ultimately “raise the tide” on our knowledge of ISO and compliance (and also have more conversations about it at parties; see you at Richard’s party next Saturday, right? Apparently, he organised ISO bingo). 

If understanding these standards helps even one business feel more confident about taking the next step, that’s a win in my books. And if more businesses start to see certification as something valuable rather than just another boring tick-in-a-box hurdle, then we all benefit.

The more we know, the better we can do!