We recently connected with Sydney Walden and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Sydney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, folks often look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight – but that often obscures all the nitty, gritty details of everything that went into the growth phase of your business. We’d love to hear about your scaling story and how you scaled up?
I went to school to be an elementary school teacher and after a few short teaching years I started to feel a pull that was telling me I wasn’t where I was supposed to be career-wise. I’ve never had an entrepreneurial influences growing up, so I wasn’t even sure what my options were when leaving teaching, I just knew I had to get out! I became a VA for a small women owned business that I connected with in a local Facebook group. I did anything and everything for them, but I HATED most of it. The parts I loved doing were the creative tasks; social media, event set up, designing flyers, etc. This sparked my interest and after extensive research into what creative jobs there were out there, I discovered brand design. I dove in head first and invested in as many courses as I could, listened to every designer podcast out there religiously, and just learned EVERYTHING there was to know about design as fast as I could. I got my first inquiry from a woman in Australia, but she wanted a website, so I agreed to do it at a discounted rate so I could learn as I designed and built it for her. This started my website venture! As I’ve grown in my craft, and perfected my skills in year two of business – I’ve decided to rebrand myself. I started my brand and website design company under the name Tiny Design Studios. Tiny is the nickname my husband used to call me, and now the nickname he uses for our daughter. I thought it was a sweet sentiment to name something I am so proud of after my daughter, but after 2 years and lots of growth, I was feeling misaligned with my brand and I couldn’t quite put my finger on where the disconnect was. I finally realized I had outgrown the word TINY as it was holding me back and making me come across “small” or “cute” or as a beginner. **This is why your branding strategy is so important!!** So I did some soul searching and some strategy with another professional for myself, and uncovered the true WHY behind my business, and nailed down my ideal audience. I am SO excited about my new company – Rouse Design Studio!
And that brings us to today!
Sydney, 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 am Sydney Walden – I am the founder and lead designer for Rouse Design Studio. Rouse is a boutique brand and website design studio that crafts elevated and high-converting designs for the build environment professionals. We love to work with interior designers, architects, custom home builders, contractors, and more! For designers, architects, PR firms, salons, and home builders, the visual appeal is their forte – they have mastered the art of crafting beautiful physical spaces and presenting themselves in the best light. But there’s one crucial area where they might be falling short, and that’s where I come in. We love working with the built environment because of how truly beautiful your craft is. We are just crafting the face for you!
We begin our client relationship with a coffee date to get to know the business and the businesses big needs! Where do you feel like you are vs where you want to be? Then we begin the project by digging into the businesses brand DNA and uncover their values, voice, and intentions. Next is the fun part! The design begins for branding first, then we’ll implement the branding into the website design, using the brand’s strategy to help construct the copy. Finally we’ll develop the website and help you get launched!
One thing you can always count on, and that we are always complimented on, is reliability and timeliness throughout the project. We have strict due dates and timelines in order to best meet the needs of all of our clients!
I love to build lasting relationships with my clients to ensure that we work well together and so that we can continue our designer/client relationship in order to maintain consistency for the brand!
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
We check in regularly with our clients because more often then not they have A LOT of touchpoints with their clients that need to get on brand. We like to maintain our relationship so we can design templates for social media, client packets (onboarding, project details, post-project information packets, invoices, proposals), client gifts for after the project, and more!!
I also just am so inspired by my clients and their drive to continue to grow, and I just love watching them work! I engage on social media with all of my clients because I am truly so proud and excited to see their projects come to life!
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
My biggest tip for growing your clientele is do your research. Niche down to the ideal audience you want to reach, and then find out where they hang out, what they talk about, what they worry about, how they act, how they speak, and talk TO THEM, where they are, and tell them how you’ll solve all of their worries! Read the books they read, figure out what jargon they often use, and find out what they would find the most value in from you!
Also, be a person! Not a salesman, not a business, but be a human. I love engaging on social media and speaking with clients as if they are a friend. This creates a trusting relationship that allows the client to let me know what they’re thinking or feeling without being super nervous or overwhelmed by our relationship. I try to gear my social posts towards relating to potential clients instead of selling to them!
Contact Info:
- Website: rousedesignstudio.com
- Instagram: @rousedesignstudio
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rousedesignstudio/
Image Credits
Payton Doney Photography