It’s not often someone can say they are doing exactly what they dreamed of and set out to do career-wise, but Alisa Weldon, co-founder of well+done DESIGN, does get to say just that.
The business is thriving – its clients include Whole FoodsFoundation, MX3 Homes, Austin Cake Ball, iFly Indoor Skydiving, Scott Wynne Outfitters and many others. But it’s also giving back, donating time and services for nonprofits such as Make-A-Wish Foundation in Austin that make all the difference.
Walk into the sunny well+done office in South Austin and you’ll get an enthusiastic welcome from the canine members of the staff, Winnie (Chief Cuddle Officer) and Pickles (Chief Security Officer), and you’ll probably also pick up the vibe in the air. This is no cubicle farm with top-down orders; it’s a collaborative workplace with a buzzing hum of creativity and efficiency.
“I always wanted a small creative agency,” Weldon said. “This is what I dreamed of doing 20 years ago. I don’t want to be in business managing a team of people, I wanted to have great minds come together with talents and abilities, and work together as a unified group, equally. And with the four of us, we have that.”
Weldon grew up in Friendswood, Texas – a town where, coincidentally, a lot of creative leaders now living in Austin hail from originally. Ranked as one of the top tennis players in the state, she spent six hours a day in high school practicing in order to capture a scholarship to college. Her plans changed when she came out, and moved to Austin. In Austin she learned her proclivity for design could lead to a career.
Weldon may have said goodbye to tennis as a career – although you can still find her on the court every week – but she didn’t let go of the hard working, competitive streak that got her to the top 30 in the state. She began applying it to her design work, and rose quickly from working on signage and branding with Central Market in 1994 to working leading the small business team as Art Director at T3. While her time at T3 was eye opening and evolving, it also made her realize she missed having a direct connection with the clients.
“I believed that the landscape of creative services for businesses could change. Rather than have a lot of ‘butts in seats’ like in the bigger agencies, I wanted to form a small agency with specific talent and partner with niche talent for specific client needs,” Weldon said.“I believed that the landscape of creative services for businesses could change. Rather than have a lot of ‘butts in seats’ like in the bigger agencies, I wanted to form a small agency with specific talent and partner with niche talent for specific client needs,” Weldon said.
Weldon took a shot at that in 2001 growing VoxGroup Advertising & Marketing as Creative Partner with another business partner. who now leads the creative team at C3 Presents. When that partner wanted to focus more on event marketing in 2006, Weldon took the direction and approach she built with VoxGroup and launched well+done (after her name sake), along with L Style G Style.
In fact, well+done and L Style G Style were formed and launched on the same day for two purposes. Acting as the creative team behind L Style G Style and a creative agency for all other clients, Weldon was able to fulfill her passion for community while generating results for her clients with creative problem solving via branding, advertising and direct marketing.
The magazine was a successful professional move – it was the first glossy magazine in Austin to highlight community and business leaders who make up the LGBT community as well as straight allies – but it was also a personal leap for Weldon. There was a period of time before launching well+done when she was in the closet in her professional life, worried that her business would lose retainers if her clients knew she was gay.
“After years of avoiding questions in meetings about my personal life, I vowed that I would never be in that position of being in the closet again, “ Weldon said. “Launching L Style G Style makes you very public very quickly,” she said. “For me right now, it’s nice to just be a creative person who happens to be gay. Which is what the magazine was about – it’s what you do in the community not who you are that should make all the difference. I’m lucky that I’ve been embraced the way I have and I’m proud of the work I’ve done to drive a more inclusive city with the profiles of others.”
Weldon’s core pillar of promise with L Style G Style was a commitment to support and connect to community. The publication has always donated space in its pages to highlighting and profiling nonprofits, and has held fundraisers for those organizations over the years raising more than $500K since 2007.
On the horizon, well+done plans to focus on helping companies differentiate and position themselves through messaging, brand identity, direct marketing and building a strong online presence.
Weldon and her team are focused on delivering a clear return for their clients’ creative investment. The collective team of Greg Efird, Chris Thiele and Nicholas Tilley have a depth of experience which have impacted such companies as MTV, VH1, ABC News, Dell, Hoover’s, Seton and notable political campaigns.
“I think people are excited to work with us,” Efird said. “I want to do great work with fun people, and we do that here.”
well+done DESIGN
1412 Collier Street, Building B, Austin, TX 78704
512-443-6677
