Redefining Success (Again)

How Right-Sizing Sets Us Free

A few months ago I sat in my office in front of my desktop, and sent out another round of invoices, responded to emails, ignored slack messages, and put out fires across the 20+ client accounts my studio was working on. 

Although it was a normal day as far as scaling an agency is concerned, I hit a wall.

I was exhausted. And I felt like I’d lost the thing that drove me to start a business in the first place.

Over the past few years as Nowaday Studio has grown, there have been beautiful things, exciting things, shiny things. But I’ve also found myself inevitably moving out of being able to work with clients directly, and into a non-stop push for more. 

The cost of growth is high. I know social media (and the digital world in general) makes it look sleek and smooth. But the reality is, when you’re chasing growth, you’re making a million little decisions every day and if you’re not careful, one day you can turn around and realize that what you’ve been building isn’t what you thought.

And I realized that’s not what I want. Growth at all costs was no longer serving us.

So.

We’re making a shift. And that shift involves a choice.

We’re choosing focus, right-sizing, and integrity as we enter a new season at Nowaday Studio.

Let’s dig into the why, the how, and everything you’ve probably wanted to know every time you see a small business make an announcement like this.

People at the Centre 

Human decisions over headcount math.

Every person on my team (both past and present) has given this business an incredible gift of their creativity and talent. Saying goodbye is one of the hardest parts of this new path forward.

I built Nowaday on late-night coffee and the thrill of making brands honest, but somewhere between payroll and five contractors turning into nine, the studio started breathing heavier than I could. 

My team was my why. Every invoice I signed felt like setting an extra place at the table. When revenue dipped, I reached for lines of credit because family eats first. Slack never slept, neither did I. Spreadsheets blurred, and the mission – truthful marketing – shrunk to a single, relentless question: can I make payroll by Friday?

This past spring the spreadsheet finally shouted back: rent, platform fees, salaries, my own pay at zero, mortgage hanging by a thread. I stared at the numbers and heard something beneath the panic – a whisper that sounded like the girl who quit her agency job six years ago to do this right. 

I chose to listen. One by one I called my team, offered references and thanks for their incredible work. Each goodbye hurt, but the relief arrived instantly, like a breaker switching off factory noise.

Right‑Sizing for Depth

Smaller roster, bigger results.

What does right-sizing mean? It means that myself and my partner Ryan (who also happens to be a senior graphic designer with 20+ experience) are digging into what we do best. 

And a big part of that is letting go of Social Media Management – a package that has morphed and shifted in recent years due to platform shifts and algorithm rules.

I’m tired of the look of defeat on client’s faces when the content calendar and posts we’ve spent weeks refining “don’t perform well.” I’m tired of explaining why “going viral” doesn’t mean success.

I know there’s a better way, and I feel incredibly passionate about providing marketing direction and support that goes beyond social media. 

Nowaday Studio is shifting to a brand strategy first creative approach and our cornerstone offer is our Brand + Web + Strategy Suite.

Both myself and Ryan believe that successful marketing and business growth come from having a strong foundation in both brand visuals and strategy before anything else.

And it’s what we do best.

Our Brand + Web + Strategy clients experience exponential growth in awareness, sales, and audience investment. It’s an offering we’ve refined and expanded over years of working together and when we bring our combined experience in marketing strategy and brand design, we know we’ve got something special that WORKS.

Winnipeg Roots, Global Standards

Local heart, world‑class process.

Ryan and I also have a desire to grow our studio depth. We want to invest in our creative process, travel, and bring the best that the world has to offer to our clients through expanding our understanding and knowledge of how to build brands that last.

Over the past few years, our client roster has expanded beyond Winnipeg and we can’t wait to see this expansion continue to grow.

While our headcount may be smaller, our dreams are big and we want to use this shifting moment to invest in learning and expanding our own knowledge of how other creatives and boutique agencies work, and find inspiration that we can bring to each project we work on.

So, What's Next?

Today we stand in the messy middle: fewer hands, clearer head, a studio still unpacking boxes of possibility. 

Ryan and I are sketching new dreams: slower launches, deeper partnerships, campaigns that sound exactly like us. 

They’re not real yet, but the path is. 

So, if you value transparent marketing and brands that keep their word, walk with me; we’ll build the next chapter together, out where the noise can’t drown us.