Debbie Hulbert, Keigh Design
(formerly Executive Insight)
Debbie Hulbert used to be very unhappy with her career. She commuted from Bainbridge to the downtown Seattle offices of a very large, very old, global company. As a marketing professional, she served corporate clients and managed large marketing and communications projects for them, such as helping integrate corporate cultures after an acquisition. She also witnessed what is often the cold, impersonal side of traditional business and HR practices.
“I really was disillusioned with big business and how it treats its customers and employees,” says Debbie. In 2005, after about 12 years in the corporate rat race, she decided to leave the secure paycheck and start her own strategic marketing and design business. And she decided to work only for small businesses that are “doing good”—making the world a better place simply because they’re there.
This spring Debbie rebranded her business as Keigh Design (Keigh rhymes with “day”). Previously she offered her services as a branch of her husband’s financial consulting firm, Executive Insight. “Our images didn’t really fit well together brand-wise,” notes Debbie. “We still work together, but my rebranding better reflects my aesthetic and creativity.”
Debbie Hulbert - Founder, Keigh Design
Helping local businesses compete
Debbie has clients all around the U.S., but loves helping local entrepreneurs create their brands and build a Web presence that looks good enough to compete with “the big guys.” A number of local small businesses have benefited from Debbie’s expertise in developing their brand and identity, websites, and email newsletters. To a great extent that is because Debbie describes herself as “a designer who uses strategy to inform the way I work.”
“It’s not enough to build a good website,” she notes. “It’s important to have a strategy as to what you’re doing. I am very patient with helping people articulate who they are as a business and ‘finding themselves’ visually.” One of her tools is a 20-plus item questionnaire covering topics such as goals, strategy, and five-year plans that she asks each client to complete. She used it herself for her own rebranding.
A “transformative process”
One client Debbie has helped is attorney Jenny Coates. “When I first talked to Debbie, I hadn’t even selected the name for my business yet, let alone thought about a branding identity or website design,” says Jenny. “I wasn’t even sure it was possible to create an identity that would truly represent me as a person while also conveying the solid, professional image it seemed a law practice should have.”
“After asking some probing and thought-provoking questions, Debbie did what seemed impossible to me…she came up with a visual design that represented me and had a professional, sleek feel that I could comfortably use to sell my legal services,” Jenny adds. “Debbie was incredibly supportive and helpful to me during this transformative process of figuring out my new, personal professional identity, and I am forever grateful to her for it.”
Debbie is also one of the original leaders of Bainbridge Business Women. She met Barbara Reininger, the founder, through a client, and built BBW’s website and Facebook page. When Barbara left Bainbridge Island this year, she left the leadership of BBW in Debbie’s hands.
The decision to create her own business has brought Debbie many rewards. “My clients are really shining a light, and I am proud to say I’ve helped them do so,” she says. “I love what I do. I can look at myself in the mirror again without being ashamed of who I work for. I am aligned with my moral compass.”
Contact Debbie Hulbert of Keigh Design:
T/ 206.661.4526
E/ debbie@keighdesign.com
Facebook: Keigh Design
Website: http://keighdesign.com
This profile was written by freelance writer/editor Nancy Goll (www.nancygoll.com)
