We recently connected with Kelli Lucas and have shared our conversation below.

Kelli, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I didn’t grow up thinking I wanted to start a business one day. It never crossed my mind a single time until 2020. I was struggling mentally, like a lot of moms during the pandemic. My kids were struggling with virtual school, my husband and I were both working from home, I was leading a design team, and I felt like I was failing all around. I wasn’t getting the support at work that I desperately needed, felt like my voice wasn’t being heard, and like I just couldn’t be effective at my job. I had hit a wall, career-wise. I was extremely burned out, and wondered if I would ever enjoy working as a designer again.

After work one night, I went to a friend’s garage for a glass of wine (again, in the middle of the pandemic). We happened to work together at the time, and were both feeling similarly exhausted and burned out. At some point that night, one of us said “well I guess we’ll just have to start our own company”, so Elizabeth and I did just that – we started working on what would eventually become LunarLab.

We started by creating a business plan and brainstorming names for our business, and there were a LOT of terrible names. We also performed a SWOT analysis to help us clarify our strengths and weaknesses. We defined our brand voice and our core values, then our branding. One of our biggest hurdles was launching during the pandemic during a time where in-person networking wasn’t happening at all. So Elizabeth worked really hard on our social media presence while I started working on case studies. Our first couple of sales calls were a little bumpy as we worked out our messaging, positioning, and pricing. But within our first week in business we signed 2 clients. By the end of our first year in business, our revenue passed the six-figure mark and I was able to quit my full-time job 9 months after our launch.

Kelli, 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 graduated from college with a BFA in graphic design. I love everything about design, so I knew I wanted a career that was design-related. The part I love most is the intersection between design and business. I think this is a skill not enough designers understand or hone.

Our clients often come to us and say “please make our product prettier – it’s ugly”. And we can totally do that. But what we can also do is increase adoption rates, decrease churn, increase profitability, increase efficiency, and decrease labor costs – all through design & strategy. It’ll also be aesthetically pleasing. A redesigned website can increase your business’ conversion rates. A seamless e-commerce site can increase your sales. A more efficiently designed internal system can decrease labor costs for your support team by saving them spent time on repetitive, manual tasks. A well designed mobile app with a robust strategy can make the difference between your startup succeeding or failing.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Our best source of new clients is definitely word-of-mouth referrals from previous clients. We know that our work can directly impact our client’s bottom line, and if we do our jobs right, we can give a leg up to other businesses that in turn make them more successful and profitable. When we do that well, it turns into referrals from our past clients. We supplement that with networking events and marketing, but there’s no better testimonial than when someone else vouches for the impact you’ve had.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Elizabeth and I met back in 2015 when I started working at the same financial services firm she worked at. We were on different product teams (mine was in NYC and Montreal, hers was here in Birmingham, AL), but we sat in the same office. I ended up sitting next to her at the office holiday party and learned she was also a working mom, so we bonded over that. 4 years later, she left that firm to work at a custom software development shop to join their leadership team. I had previously applied to work there but they weren’t hiring designers at the time. A few months later, they posted an opening for a designer and I ended up working alongside Elizabeth on their leadership team – she directed the product management and QA departments, and I directed the design team. It was a great experience getting to see how she worked everyday, and our working styles were very similar – collaborative, logical, supportive, goal-oriented, and most importantly – we leave our egos at the door. The best part was that we got to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses before we started a company together. It made the decision a no-brainer when the time came – we already knew we worked together beautifully.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lunarlab.io/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunarlab.io/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lunarlab.io
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lunarlab
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LunarLab_IO

Image Credits
Audrey Seymour at Audrey Creative (https://www.audreycreative.com/)