What We Do
We are a Tennessee-based branding studio dedicated to building intentionally designed brands for creative businesses. When it comes to business, we value branding that turns your prospects into paying customers. We don’t just design “pretty things” — we believe in having a problem-solving mindset when creating strategically branded visuals for your business. The main services we offer are brand identity design, website design, and brand photography.
We are Amanda Kail and Cassidy Phillips, co-founders and lead creatives at Foxtrot Branding. Amanda, graphic designer, and Cassidy, brand photographer, both work together to run Foxtrot Branding, as well as collaborate on website design projects. We are both passionate about candidly getting to know our clients’ businesses so that we can create compelling designs, websites, and photography that take their business to the next level.
Starting a Business
We connected over the summer of 2018; Amanda was beginning her last semester of college, about to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts/Graphic Design, and Cassidy had just graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Professional Communication. Amanda had already begun dreaming up the plans for Foxtrot Branding and needed professional photography done for her business, so she hired Cassidy, who was doing freelance photography at the time. We did a photo session together and, after chatting, realized that we had similar visions of freelancing and our design talents were very complimentary. Since we were both planning on launching design businesses of some sort, we concluded that combining our offerings into one business would offer us both more opportunities, as well as better serve our ideal clients.
After deciding to launch our branding business together, we were quickly thrown into the mountain of hurdles that every entrepreneur and startup faces: how to price our services, which services to offer, how to manage our money, how to get a business license, and the list goes on. We co-worked on projects at each other’s houses and met with clients at coffee shops, which worked for us to an extent, but we knew there had to be a better solution for us, even at that young stage in our business.
A Change of Scenery
We knew of the Biz Foundry but didn’t exactly understand what the organization offered, or if their resources would fit within our extremely tight budget. We decided to reach out anyway and, soon after connecting with Tiffany, realized that co-working out of The Biz Foundry would prove beneficial to our business for so many reasons. The coworking space offered us a designated space to work on projects and take care of daily business, and the conferencing rooms were an ideal solution for meetings and presentations with our design clients.
We found that having a designated place to work and conduct business out of was a game changer for our productivity and professionalism. Gone were the days of desperately trying to keep our client’s attention over the coffee shop grinder or working on client projects from our sofas with the TV remote at an arms reach.
Making Connections
While The Biz Foundry’s physical resources proved extremely helpful to our business, the true value from our membership has come from the connections we’ve made. If you have ever been an entrepreneur or started a business, you understand that connections are everything, particularly in a service-based business. By simply being in a co-working environment, you are surrounded by a diverse group of people; seasoned businesses that rent private offices, other freelancers and startups, and The Biz Foundry staff and board, all of whom are a wealth of resources. By simply being present in the Biz Foundry’s environment, you will inevitably find yourself making powerful business connections.
By being a member at the Biz Foundry and attending various networking events, Foxtrot Branding has now had the opportunity to connect and work with serial entrepreneur Kellie Fitzpatrick who owns the highly successful women’s accessory brand Lenny and Eva, The Wholesale Playbook, and several other businesses. We’ve also worked with the Tennessee Center for Rural Innovation (TCRI) on various projects, and Alane Boyd, serial entrepreneur and founder of BGBO CO and BurgerFit. The Biz Foundry’s connections absolutely helped us cultivate these essential business relationships early on in our business, which has greatly aided our growth and development.
The Biz Foundry
As the entrepreneur and startup culture in Cookeville is growing, we are so excited to see The Biz Foundry offer such rich resources to our community. If you are considering whether a membership would be beneficial, or even a reality for your business, we would 100% recommend connecting with them. Besides their memberships, they offer events, mentors, and opportunities that will elevate and grow your business. We are so thankful for the opportunities and guidance we’ve been given by The Biz Foundry, and we can’t wait to see how many more entrepreneurs like ourselves they will help uplift in the Upper Cumberland.
