Time for a rebrand? Mayhaps.

Rebrandifying Designstorms. Not a mid-life crisis per se, but definitely a Jack Handy-esque Deep Thoughts moment of introspectiveness.

Like most (all?) small business owner/operators – for a verylongtime we’d been so busy small-step speed-running on that hamster-wheel of day-to-day have-to’s, we hadn’t put a lot of mental energy toward future planning and all that big-picture visionary “Who are we and where exactly are we headed?” stuff.

We were winging it. And winging it’s cool. Until it gets confusing. Or chaotic. Then it’s time to whoa-Nellie and pull the reins in a bit for a stop-and-reconsider breather. Because the business grew so fast, we were making big-‘mportant decisions on the fly, grounded in hands-on experience and trusty intuition – both solid – but without a lot of big-picture strategic-ness behind them. We were realizing that some things that make perfect sense to us, may not be clear to people who are less intimately acquainted with our mini-empire (we use the word loosely). Like having one name for our design business (Designstorms), but another for the shop out front (Storm Inspired) – seemed commmmpletely logical to us because we’re up to our chins in both, but turned out to be somewhat confusing to the general homebuilding/renovating/shopping public we’re here to serve. And as confusion is not one of our core values, we figured it was time to rethink some of that.

We have a tendency to pour all our time and every ounce of energy into the work itself, dreaming up inspiring new spaces for our clients, because that’s our jam. So our own proverbial housekeeping (admittedly our non-jam) keeps getting pushed off, landing in the file marked “When we get to it,” when we all secretly know we never will unless we force ourselves to make it an A-#1 Super-Tip-Top Priority. Soooo, we finally lined up a Strategic Planner Person, and made articulating our vision/mission a top-of-the-list priority for 2019.

We liked our smallishness and the spontaneity of it all. But we also recognized that while it was working for us now, maybe our freewheeling approach needed more structure to facilitate our growth trajectory in near future (diagonal arm here at about a 45-degree angle, elbow to fingertips). All that flying by the seat of our pants got us some plum projects and nice press, but we figured it was time to get more official/businessy about it all. We believe that’s what they call “having a plan.”

So we’re saying farewell to our startup era and moving into Phase Dos. Enter: Designstorms 2.0. Which we shall henceforth call: Amy Storm & Company.

Based on client feedback, a breeze through some competitive analysis and the reco of our trusty consultant-person, we’ve heretoforth decreed one simple, telegraphic name for both our design services and storefront: Amy Storm & Company. (Party horns and flying confetti here.) That setup doesn’t quite capture the monnnnnnths of tedious info-gathering and thoughtful consideration that went into the decision, but trust us when we say there was a whoooooole lotta think-talk around this one.



While the “Amy Storm” part seems obvi, it’s the “& Company” that we dig the most, because it feels like we’re stretching our arms out around all the hard-working, uber-talented, class-act peeps who have gotten us to this point and continue to bring it daily. It’s a brand-name nod to everyone from our contractors, architects and subs, to our internal crew and top-secret merch sources – even our kiddos, who take the occasional shift in the shop. These folks are the reason we get out of our pj’s and into something (usually) more presentable every morning, and roll in to the office, genuinely excited about the day ahead. And if any of you are reading this, please know that we can only do what we do because of you, and we insist that you all scootch in for the team picture (or company name, in this case).



While on this li’l detour down the road marked “strategic business planning,” we also felt it important to put actual words to the sentiment behind our social commitment. Yes, it’s a thing now. Everyone’s doing it. But giving back has been a priority for us from the get-go – waaaay before it was a thing – and we continue to serve the community both locally and in farther-flung places that are near and dear to our hearts. (We see you, Cuba.) Anyway, we were happy to finally formalize a “short version” which we’ve added to our site – ‘cause if you ask us about it in person, we will without a doubt go on so long you’ll start wondering where the Pause button is. (There is none.)

As for the store, which has been in a dusty, buzzsaw-loud state of under-construction-ness these past few weeks – it’s finally D-O-N-E done, and stocked with the start of our new private label line.

And that means many of the finds you’ll find here you won’t find anywhere else. (Score!) We’ll be adding Amy Storm & Company-designed custom rugs, fabrics and textiles, to name a few, as well as collaborating with various artists to display and sell unique art pieces like wood and metal sculptures and original art on canvas as well as unique photography and more. Lotttttts rolling in over the next several months, so stop by and bring friends who like custom rugs and cool art-finds and whatnot. It’s one way to make them like you even better. You’ll forever be known as the one who brought them to the place where they found the thing.

 

Lonnnnnng story less-long: let’s recap.

2004 - Designstorms is founded, part time work as a stay at home mom, kids go to school and it grows like gangbusters.

2017 - Storm Inspired shop is added, open to the trade, the generally curious, and anyone who likes the kind of things we like (but doesn’t want to take the time to scour the ends of the earth looking for them).

2019 - We tap the brakes and rethink a few foundational elements – then get to work redesigning evvvvverything from our website, water bottle labels and store price tags, to our Amy Storm-mobile (kidding) and the sign out front.

2020 - Grand Re-Opening as Amy Storm & Company – HAPPENING NOW. Stop by and be one of our first Grand Re-Open-ees. Can’t wait to show you around! Until next time... thanks for reading!

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