Brand Makeovers: Josiah & Meg Mothershed Of Mothershed Design Co. On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Spread the word! Promote your new brand on social media, run advertisements, and engage with potential customers. By building brand awareness, you can increase recognition and start building a loyal customer base.
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Josiah and Meg Mothershed of Mothershed Design Co.
As a husband-wife team, Meg and Josiah are partners in love, life, and business. Having been together for nearly a decade and running a business for six of those years, this dynamic duo has expanded to an international client base and achieved recurring six-figure yearly sales, all while maintaining freedom over their time and a relentless passion for the design field. Josiah and Meg use their unique talents and skills to help small businesses succeed by building brands and websites that stand out, attract the right customers, and drive growth.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Josiah: After years spent working as a graphic designer for agencies and in-house teams, I was feeling frustrated and unfulfilled. Having been involved in every step of the design process, I knew what it took to run a project from start to finish and felt I could do it better. So, in 2016 I struck out on my own and formed Mothershed Design Co. shortly after Meg and I got married.
Meg: At the time Josiah started the studio, I was working as an in-house graphic designer at a nonprofit. While it was a great job as a recent graduate, it left me craving more. Having always wanted to own my own business since I was six years old, joining Josiah at MDCo. was a no-brainer! I quit my job and joined him in the business full time in 2016 and we’ve never looked back.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Josiah: One of the biggest lessons we learned early on is to ensure all the decision-makers are involved in a project from the start. By doing so, you ensure everyone’s voice is heard and can receive the necessary approvals every step of the way (and avoid any potentially awkward faux pas)!
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?
Josiah: About four years into business, we really began hitting our stride! This came with the development of our Brand and Website Packages.
Meg: We created these packages based on our small business clients’ needs. We offer several tiers of brand and website packages that make it easy to receive exactly what you need and nothing that you don’t.
Josiah: Prior to developing this new business model, we spent a lot of time quoting custom projects and less time producing great design. As a result of our packages, we’re able to help more small businesses than ever before!
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Josiah: We’re currently working on several rebranding projects for new clients! Rebrands are our bread and butter. We love taking an existing brand that feels outdated or poorly designed and transforming it into one that reflects the value the business provides and stands out from the competition!
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
Meg: Trying to accomplish too much too fast is a sure-fire way to burn out. While we may experience pressure from outside forces, ultimately it’s up to you to set your own boundaries.
Josiah: Stop worrying about others’ expectations and start with one area of focus and put your time and energy into making that successful, rather than jumping from task to task.
Meg: There’s tremendous power in staying small and going for sustainable growth. Sustainable business growth is focusing on realistic, maintainable growth, rather than going full-steam ahead 24/7 and burning out in the short-term. Businesses that focus on small-scale, sustainable growth can be more adaptable, preserve their autonomy, maintain lower overhead, and have greater potential for profit.
Josiah: By not giving in to the pressure to grow too much too fast, you can hit realistic revenue goals, have the time to weigh business decisions, truly enjoy your work, and avoid losing the passion that got you into business in the first place.
Meg: In our years in business as Mothershed Design Co., we have experienced just how much a small business can truly accomplish working as a team of two from a home office, including expanding to an international client base and recurring six-figure yearly sales, while maintaining the freedom of entrepreneurship and relentless passion for our field.
Josiah: Our emphasis on sustainable growth is what keeps us going and helps us attempt to achieve that all-elusive work-life balance.
Ok, let's now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
Josiah: Think of your brand as your company’s reputation. When your business comes to mind, what do people think of? If the way you’re presenting your business to the world doesn’t match up to how you want it to be perceived, you need to make a change.
Meg: Marketing, on the other hand, uses the brand that you’ve built to develop content that speaks to your target audience and gets your product or service in front of the right people.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
Meg: In working with many clients, we know that what worked in the past won’t necessarily work forever. A rebrand can help you reach new audiences and demonstrate the skills, products, and services you’ve refined overtime.
Josiah: Don’t lose business to the competition. Knowing when it’s the right time to take a step back and give your business a hard look is what will ultimately keep you in business. It takes an investment of your time and resources to build something of value that lasts.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
Josiah: We know what it’s like to start your business with a dream and a shoestring budget. However, as your business evolves, so should your brand! Your products or services may have changed, your audience might be different or more niche, or you may be headed in a different direction entirely.
Meg: If the way you’re presenting your business to the world no longer speaks to your audience or represents the quality of your services or products, it’s time to level up your brand.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
Meg: We would recommend a rebrand to a company that has defined goals and a clear vision for the business they’re trying to build. Without a plan, a rebrand is not likely to get you where you’re trying to go.
Josiah: Typically, we’re working to rebrand companies that have been in business for at least several years, if not longer. These clients have enough years in business to know where they’re going and what they’re trying to achieve.
Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.
Meg: The first two steps to a successful rebrand are to evaluate your company’s positioning in the marketplace and define your key differentiators. Are you speaking to the right audience? What are your product or service’s key differentiators? Why should someone choose your business over another? By answering these all-important questions, you can define your brand’s positioning and stand out from competitors.
Josiah: Next, refresh your logo and update your website to ensure your business not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. With a professionally designed brand and website, you can get more qualified leads to encourage sales, build and maintain your online presence to attract the right clients, and eliminate stress and confusion and get back to growing your business.
Meg: Finally, spread the word! Promote your new brand on social media, run advertisements, and engage with potential customers. By building brand awareness, you can increase recognition and start building a loyal customer base.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
Josiah: The recent Burger King rebrand is a great example of a successful “brand makeover.” Burger King’s refreshed brand has a retro, nostalgic feel that appeals to audiences both young and old. It’s simplified with a focus on taste appeal, which coincides with the fast food chain’s move to using less artificial ingredients. The rebrand is practically universally loved, which is incredibly hard to accomplish with such a well-known brand.
For other businesses looking to replicate Burger King’s rebrand success, I’d recommend a back to basics approach that emphasizes authenticity and appeals to your primary audiences.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Josiah: At Mothershed Design Co., we believe in small, sustainable growth. We have found that’s the key to our success, both professionally and personally. Constantly doing creative work can be both incredibly rewarding and challenging. It’s easy to quickly become burned out doing something you love.
Meg: Our goal as a business is to support other small businesses through branding and web design while maintaining the motivation that made us want to start a business in the first place—freedom over our time and spending that time doing something meaningful.
Can you please give us your favorite "Life Lesson Quote"? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Meg: Something we constantly remind ourselves is to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Josiah: As both entrepreneurs and creatives, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is crucial to achieving your dreams. If you only pursued what you were familiar with, you’d never experience anything new. You would stay in the same place with the same people in the same situations.
Meg: It can be downright scary to go after what you truly want, but life is too short to be left wondering, “what if?”
How can our readers follow you online?
Meg: You can discover our brand and website packages at MothershedDesign.com or follow along on Instagram at @mothershed_design.
Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.
