We were lucky to catch up with Ashleigh Keith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ashleigh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I did everything my parents told me to do – went to college, got my degree, got a job, and got my own place. Pretty much in that order. I was lost in what I wanted to do with my life and I had no creative outlets. I went to a school in the south so my creative skill at the time was balancing a high alcohol tolerance and a full course load.

I was in for a rude awakening when I graduated and entered into the corporate world. I absolutely hated it. I craved for something creative to take my focus away from the fact that I felt like a failure. So I bought a Nikon D3000 on Amazon and started to learn all that I could about photography.

I don’t think that I really took it that serious. I would second shoot for weddings and events for photographers in my area and did a few senior photoshoots for some friends from college – but it just wasn’t a good fit.

So as I usually do when I’m not immediately fantastic as something, I stop doing it. After that was a social media management business that I tried to start but I won’t dare talk about now. That was such a horrible box that I tried to put myself in. I was grasping at straws. Spending my lunch breaks at home on my couch crying because I knew I’d have to go back to work soon. Traditional work wasn’t fiting for me and I couldn’t find a creative lane that worked either.

But I knew one thing – every time I logged into my Squarespace account to update my website or publish a blog post – I loved it. I loved the platform, I loved playing with my design and I loved that I still knew how to code. I was rusty, but me and that code block got reacquainted real quick and I found myself spending more time learning about web design than social media (which I actually hated back then).

I remember the moment that it dawned on me that web design could be my lane. That what if this was the universe bringing me back to that 12 year old me who was a little designer in the making. I decided to do it. What’s the worse that could happen? I had already “failed” at other creative paths so what’s one more? Maybe failing my way through my “interests” will get me even closer to what I really wanted to do.

Everyday I ask myself why in the hell would I purposely put myself through this. The late nights, the vulnerability, the writing, the experimenting, the fine details, the systems, client management, etc. I think the biggest thing that I learned is that great work doesn’t always come in times of inspiration. That even when I don’t feel inspired to design, or whatever I am designing looks horrible – if you just keep working at it and refining it, it can turn into something amazing.

From that serendipitous fourth try at a business, The Fourth House developed into a brand rooted in the meaning of home (which, ironically enough, is what the fourth house of astrology stands for), simultaneously challenging me to reach for the stars but also stay grounded in my foundation.

Ashleigh, 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?

I’m Ashleigh Keith, a creative problem solver specializing in creating intentional and visually compelling brand experiences for new and seasoned businesses around the globe. As a designer with a Bachelor’s in Psychology, I focus on the human experience behind every design. From eye tracking studies that show how people read online to the science of persuasion, my process focuses on putting people first, then crafting visuals that will attract, engage, and excite them.

I’ve been a designer at heart since I was a kid – choosing to at first express myself through coding Myspace profiles and developing a love for interior design. As time passed and I got older, I lost site of design and most of my creativity. I started down the path of academia and I thought it was the path of least resistance.

After staring at a pile of half filled out grad school applications, I decided to step away from academia and create the business I was itching to build. One where women would have the power to grow & scale businesses that fill them with awe and excitement.

But it took several tries for me to build the business I envisioned. From a failed wedding photography business to a web-only studio, with different names and brands attached to them, each step just felt like a missed opportunity.

So with my fourth business, The Fourth House Co, I decided to do things differently. I studied and studied the brands that I admired and the designers that worked with them/for them, and I quickly realized that the brand’s those designers were building weren’t only meant to look good on a billboard or a business card – they were designing experiences. Every experience with a customer, big or small, meant something: psychologically, emotionally and visually.

I started to develop this philosophy that also helped validate the name of my new business. I approach every brand like building a home, and with each component of the home (inside and out) representing a different component of a compelling and story driven brand. This framework allows me to communicate and teach my clients that their brand is more than just the external expressions that the world sees, and that the most important aspects – the long lasting bits that you can really sink your teeth into – are the ones that you can’t always see. And they aren’t always the flashiest. But they make the world of difference.

Every house is different. The same tools and materials may be used, however, every house is as unique as are the people that live in them. And how the occupants of that house choose to maintain and further develop/design, or add and remove new things to their home is very unique to them as well. I think that is what sets me apart from other designers and it’s a skill/mindset that I actively hone and develop every day.

While more and more designers are incorporating basic brand strategy into their process, I’m more focused right now in investing in my clients to think more strategically about how to use their own brand in the best way that fits their personality and what they in vision for their business. Whether that’s through workshops, templates, or even adjusting my own process a bit to better serve them and the way that they think and process information – I find ways to tailor this experience of brand building as much as I can so they can understand the true power in brand story telling and world building.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A hard lesson that I had to unlearn was feeling like I had to know all of the answers at every interaction with my clients. From our first discovery call before they even were a client, during our strategy workshops, and all throughout the process, I felt that I had to 100% know everything about their business, industry, etc. or that I wasn’t good enough. I always felt like I was being put on the spot or that I was on display (I wasn’t). I thought people came to me for answers to their problems and through a lot of trial and error I realized that is very far from the truth. Client’s come to me because of my ability to help them add structure to the visions they have in their brain, and then to tell that story emotionally, psychologically, and visually.

I made the change to let go of feeling like I had to know every single fucking thing. I showed up curious to every meeting. I asked more and more questions (a lot of them dumb). I dug into what my client’s would say and asked questions just as much as I answered them.

I realized that what my client’s are really paying for is my curiosity. I’ve made a career at not being afraid of being curious and trying new things.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being able to explore and discovery new things. I love to look back on my previous work and see the types of things that were inspiring me then. I also love being able to take inspiration from industries, movements, styles, etc and apply them to projects that you would never think of. But it’s through not being afraid to experiment and fall on my face that I think is what’s helped me build the audience and clientele that I have. The design world is such a beautiful and expansive place, and I’m not worried about finding my place in it. I want to see it all, and let it all inspire my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thefourthhouse.co
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thefourthhouseco