In episode 131, I sit down with Maiya Holliday, founder and CEO of Mangrove Web Development, a Certified B Corp agency that’s been building websites for change-makers since 2009.
Maiya shares her evolution from self-taught coder to agency leader, how she built Mangrove into a values-driven, fully remote team long before it was trendy, and why B Corp certification serves as an operating system rather than a marketing badge.
We dive into the realities of serving nonprofits and purpose-led organizations, how to balance mission and margin, and how AI is reshaping collaboration between designers and developers. Maiya’s insights are both grounding and inspiring for anyone building a business around impact and intention.
Key Bytes
• B Corp certification can provide structure for how an agency operates—not just a label to display. • Nonprofit clients aren’t “low budget” if you help them tie digital to their mission, revenue, and reach. • AI is changing agency workflows fast, but curiosity, ethics, and experimentation keep it human. • Merging two purpose-driven teams isn’t about scale—it’s about shared values and vision. • Mangrove’s evolution shows that you can stay small, focused, and deeply impactful.
Chapters
00:00 Intro: From coder to CEO 01:00 The origin story of Mangrove Web 03:30 Becoming a Certified B Corp 06:00 Lessons from the certification process 09:00 Staying accountable to B Corp principles 11:00 How competition has evolved in the B Corp space 14:30 Why Mangrove focuses on nonprofits & foundations 17:30 Pricing and positioning in the nonprofit world 20:00 The role of AI in Mangrove’s workflow 23:00 How design and dev are converging 27:30 Internal AI tooling vs. client-facing tools 30:00 Building trust as a strategic digital advisor 32:20 Rapid fire: remote work, creative parenting, and common myths 34:50 Closing thoughts
Resources Mentioned
https://www.ai4np.org/
Maiya Holliday, CEO and Founder of Mangrove Web Development, is a creative leader and collaborator who crafts digital solutions to augment the impact of changemakers. She is a self-taught coder with over a decade of hands-on experience. Maiya aligns folks toward actionable goals that help articulate and communicate their organization’s purpose and impact on the web, with people, planet, purpose, and equity at the core. She has led over 200 website projects for changemakers and purpose-driven organizations.
Maiya led Mangrove to become a Certified B Corp in 2016 and has since championed the cause of socially and environmentally conscious businesses, deepening their impact. She values working alongside a diverse team of talented people who are passionate about what they do.
A Bay Area native, Maiya now lives in the mountains of Truckee, CA, with her husband Shaun and little humans Terner and Miles. You might also find her in Oakland or Australia, where she tends to show up on a regular basis.
Contact Maiya on LinkedIn, the company's LinkedIn page, or their website.
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