I’m Joanie,

I help small business owners with quality products and services, but little time to market themselves. I combine my design and marketing skills with teaching experience to create tailored plans to help move your business forward.

My background as an art director, marketing manager, and teacher – working in tiny startups and giant multinationals – has set me up well for the work I enjoy doing today.

The backstory

When I left University and the Academy of Art in San Francisco, with a heaving portfolio in hand, I was ready for the big bad ad world. That portfolio landed me an Art Director job before I even collected my diploma.

Later, jaded by the industry, I followed a career path that brought less ‘Mad Men’ and more practical marketing experience.

I worked in startups and corporate marketing, then ran my own design firm. I gained vast experience – managing huge marketing budgets and designing campaigns across all types of media. From giant billboards to print magazines, TV, and digital media.

Later, after moving to the UK and starting a family, I began teaching art, blogging in the early days, and writing for national print and web publications.

My children were young, life was full, and lots of plates were spinning – but then, unexpectedly, they all came crashing down.

I suddenly became a lone parent, and needing a fresh start, I packed up my kids and our dog and moved across the country to Somerset. It was a welcome respite from the expense and clamour of the Home Counties – a slower pace, a warmer community, and room to breathe.

Somerset welcomed us with open arms, and its countryside was healing.

Around that time, I noticed paralysing confusion among friends who were entrepreneurs. The growth of social media platforms, an unending barrage of new apps, and constant noise left them overwhelmed and stuck – endless options that led to inaction instead of momentum.

While they were overwhelmed, I loved jumping into all the shiny new things. I beta-tested apps like Pinterest and Notion. And I was an early Squarespace user, realising it was a great fit for small businesses that found WordPress too tricky to manage.

At that time, I found my love of teaching and my marketing & design experience merged into what I do today. I design marketing for independent businesses and teach entrepreneurs who want to DIY their marketing how to create and manage it.