We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anne Gillaspie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Anne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Fix and Form. Two very simple and overly used words in our vocabulary, however, not what I thought the name of my branding agency would be. After starting out as AG Brand + Marketing I knew I wanted something fresh, new, hip, modern, you know, all of the words you’d use when you’re seeking a brand refresh. It’s been almost a decade since I’ve owned this business and through the slow and isolating years of Covid, I knew the time was upon me to rename and refresh the brand for what it was destined to be. A much larger strategic branding agency instead of simply a container for my personal brand consultancy work. When I set out to rename my business I wanted something “stupid dumb” as I call many ideas in my work with clients. It has to translate well to the public who are not in the same industry or even headspace as me. I wanted it to be so obvious and also wanted two word, something & something. After many many ideas and words and concepts. I stumbled upon the word “fix” as I love the X in words. It’s intriguing and looks very sexy on paper. But then I realized in the most simple statement I could make that the work I do is literally FIX and FORM brands. I fix existing brands in refreshes and form new brands in creating a new business. So literally we Fix and Form brands at Fix & Form.

Anne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi! I’m Anne Gillaspie, owner and chief strategist of Fix & Form | Strategic Branding Agency. In 2014 we moved from my native state of Colorado to Austin, TX where we wanted a new scene for life, work, and play. I left my big “corporate job” as a national brand manager of a major franchise organization and started interviewing in Austin. I thought I wanted to work on the agency side but nothing was as enticing as I’d hoped it would be. Austin, naturally, a startup business incubator of a city, brought about many new friendships with neighbors and networking, and through these relationships I realized I wanted to found my own business to do branding consulting work for me, myself, and I. The networking, startup scene, and electricity of Austin really gave my first two years in business the boom it needed to prove to myself that I could do this… and LOVE it. Now almost ten years later, and a brand refresh of our own in 2021, we are expanding and scaling up from a consulting business to a full blown strategic branding agency. I am a mom of three young kids and in owning my business, was able to be primary parent and raise them while running my work load, and that was the best gift I could’ve given myself. With them all school aged, I can put forth more time into my business to expand and truly serve clients with the vast amount of branding services I know they want and need, and can now receive under the single experience we’ll provide at Fix & Form.

I love what I do because I truly help all of my clients fix and form the business of their dreams. Whether they’ve been doing it for years and need a new spark, new name, fresh energy, or they have been sitting on the idea and just want to activate to get it started, I give clients the gift of energy around the work of their dreams. Fix & Form offers deep brand strategy workshops that many call “business therapy” and after completing this brand foundation, we then offer visual branding services with logo, website, and all graphic design needs, as well as marketing services with social media management, copywriting, and content strategy. We’ll take you from step 1 through all the steps needed after to fix or form your brand.

We pride ourselves on being transparent, collaborative, understanding, and caring with all clients. Many consider us good friends after the work we do because it is personal, and bonding, and requires a level of trust in work that isn’t always there with people you meet on the daily. We enjoy partnering with clients in our subscription services for the long haul after our initial project comes to an end. The fun never has to stop!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I am a relationships person, and most all I work with matter greatly to me. When we work together, I will send hand-written thank you cards and show appreciation through notes and gifts. I love the process of meeting someone new and forming a bond of trust where my work can allow them to truly dig deep to find their why. Because of the nature of my work, referrals and word of mouth are my most effective growth strategy. I ask every client and business partner and collaborator for a review on Google, and keep asking until they do. :) And also I check in quarterly with business contacts and past clients to bring awareness to my work and ask for referrals and additional projects.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In this journey of client work, there are some who take advantage more of your time and don’t always offer to compensate for it. I have learned this lesson a few times in my decade of business. Learning the early signs of a client who might ask more of you and expect that additional hours are given that are outside scope, and when acknowledged, learning to walk away because that boundary makes you stronger and a better business owner. Now, managing projects for a team versus just myself, this lesson in being resilient in work, and holding boundaries, having conflict resolution, and walking away when necessary is something that will be mandatory to keep a positive team culture and work environment for others who are trusting me with their time in dedicating it to my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fixandform.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thatbrandingteam
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/fixandform
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annegillaspie
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@fix.form.branding