Linda Stephens

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Increase Visibility

And attract the clients you want most.

Our strategic approach focuses on deep listening — to you and your best clients. We reveal the distinctions that separate your firm from the pack. We re-imagine these into marketing initiatives that feel both resonant and fresh, familiar and new.

This is handcrafted marketing.

We’re a co-op of creative professionals with a range of expertise in AEC marketing, communications, brand strategy and digital design. We combine our skills to bring a fresh perspective to your brand and move your business strategy forward.

Linda Stephens

I started writing before I knew how to write, creating my own alphabet to take dessert orders at Thanksgiving dinner…and the orders were always correct!

Communication is in my DNA.

Following a communications career in the visual arts, design and technology, I landed at a respected architecture firm as the Director of Marketing doing all-the-things:

    • directing RFQ/RFP responses
    • designing + managing a library of proposal templates
    • strategizing award applications
    • creating custom project announcements
    • leading a website redesign
    • Etcetera. Etcetera. Etcetera.

I get professional services marketing.

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Linda led our firm through a collaborative and insightful brand positioning exercise that served to clarify our strengths in the marketplace, as well as identify new opportunities for growth."
Kimberly Bares, PLACE Consulting

I collaborate with other creatives to serve clients and solve their marketing challenges.

Whether you need to refresh your message or imagine an entirely new website, capture more client endorsements or up your game on LinkedIn, we can help.

Over the years, I’ve built partnerships with some super-talented people. Today, we collaborate as a team to help clients imagine new possibilities.

Creative Collective

We are curious first, listening deeply and skillfully to capture data that matters.

We sense your magic, identifying the particulars that make your firm special.

We reveal the golden nuggets that attract your best clients, over and over.

Our data + magic approach is the foundation of your solution…

  • the genesis of fresh messaging, logo + identity design
  • the beginnings of a new website
  • the source of a revitalized proposal, content and digital strategy
  • the rise of an enhanced LinkedIn presence

This is handcrafted marketing.

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What we do

A collective of skilled creatives, our capabilities run the spectrum of brand assessment, strategic development and marketing communications including:

  • brand review
  • competitive assessment
  • survey + interview discovery
  • brand clarity + strategy
  • messaging + copywriting
  • logo + identity systems
  • website design
  • digital communication
  • content + thought leadership
  • client experience
  • training + coaching

brand review

a thorough assessment of current brand elements and marketing to identify strengths + opportunities

competitive assessment

a comparative analysis of the marketplace to understand where you stand and pinpoint how you can stand apart

survey + interview discovery

capturing insights from key stakeholders, staff, partners and clients to identify differentiators + potential opportunities for optimal positioning

brand clarity + strategy

with a deep understanding of what drives ideal clients to select your firm, we craft a brand strategy to attract more best-fit relationships

messaging + copywriting

handcrafted messaging highlighting the specific value your best clients are seeking

logo + identity systems

from a minor logo refresh to a completely reimagined brand standard

website design

custom design, photography + video, optimized user experience and SEO

digital communication

brand strategy provides the foundation for an impactful approach to social and digital marketing

content + thought leadership

highlight your expertise in handcrafted social posts, articles and white papers

client experience

strategies designed to expand and deepen relationships with right-aligned clients including go-no-go, client feedback + endorsements

training + coaching

program examples: “Be an All-Star on LinkedIn” “Showcase Your Expertise + Build Relationships with LinkedIn” “Creativity for the Win! Up-leveling Your Proposal Responses”

We hired Linda knowing something needed to change but didn't have a clear idea of what it was. The Brand Positioning Process she facilitated with our team was definitely a forcing mechanism that helped us figure out how to make the complexity of what we offer simpler and more accessible. Now, having a core message to focus on as a through-line to all our work has really helped create better alignment and more understanding as to which opportunities are – and aren’t – right for us.”
Nicole Chavas, President + COO, Greenprint Partners

Featured work

Project Management Advisors
(PMA) is a national real estate advisory firm providing consulting services as the owner’s representative, managing projects across a diversity of markets.
Services
brand review
competitive assessment
client interviews
messaging + copywriting
digital communication
content + thought leadership
training + coaching
 
We initially hired Linda to help us refresh our messaging and develop copy for a new website project. This successful collaboration introduced us to Linda’s creativity and expertise in leveraging messaging and content to support PMA's strategic brand positioning efforts. On an ongoing basis, Linda now contributes to many of our marketing initiatives including generating proprietary content gathered through interviews of leaders from each of our regional offices and updating our marketing materials to better reflect the refreshed messaging. Linda’s down-to-earth perspective and depth of experience are invaluable to PMA’s marketing efforts."
Jill Tarby, Vice President Marketing, PMA
Aurora Lighting Design
offers imaginative lighting solutions and responsive team collaboration to deliver luminous projects around the globe.
Services
brand review
competitive assessment
client interviews
messaging + copywriting
website design
 
After making a strategic office relocation to Chicago, we wanted to refresh our marketing and business development efforts by refining our message and developing a new website to showcase our growing project portfolio. We brought Linda in to help us assess our current positioning and define a path forward. Her process is collaborative and thorough, gathering input from the internal team as well as key clients and providing valuable perspective on how we could best differentiate ourselves from competitors in our market. Once our new positioning and messaging were created, she brought in a designer who helped us refresh our logo identity and create a new website. Linda provided valuable direction and insight on this project. We look forward to further opportunities to continue this collaboration."
Leslie North, Aurora Lighting Design
ARI Resources,
a staffing firm for the AEC industry, needed a website to succinctly explain what they do and who they serve.
Services
brand review
competitive assessment
client interviews
messaging + copywriting
logo + identify systems
website design
digital communication
 
When I met Linda, I was looking for an identity refresh and a new website for my small consulting practice. She and her team of talented creatives delivered so much more! They led us through a masterful process that helped us delineate and clarify who we were and the value we delivered to our clients, a deep dive experience I recommend to any business. The outcomes were then translated into amazing messaging, graphics and a website that beautifully communicated our value to the market. When I transitioned to become the talent leader at a 200-person firm, I brought Linda along to serve as an advisor on all of our internal and external initiatives. Her unique ability to comprehend a breadth of communication styles and synthesize them into powerful strategies and messages helped us to achieve significant goals in a short period of time."
Sonia Cooke, SCRM-SP President, ARI Resources, Inc. (retired) Vice President of Talent Management, Project Management Advisors, Inc.
S Projects
is an Owner’s Representation firm founded by an architect to serve mission-based organizations.
Services
brand review
competitive assessment
client interviews
messaging + copywriting
logo + identify systems
website design
 
I was establishing a new practice as an owner’s representative and wanted to kick things off with a new website. I’d known Linda for years and reached out to her to help me clarify my thoughts and turn them into brand. Her process was not only valuable in helping me to define my positioning in the market, it was fascinating too! it resulted in a refined message that fit my vision like a well-made suit and also generated testimonials from key clients. We collaborated with a web designer to create a logo, brand standards and the website and, honestly, I couldn’t be happier with their deliverables."
Todd Stevens, AIA
Ostrander Construction
is a well-established general contractor specializing in commercial interiors.
Services
brand review
competitive assessment
client interviews
messaging + copywriting
logo + identify systems
website design
 
Holcim
is the number one building materials and solutions provider in the world and the leading cement producer in the US.
Services
website copywriting
messaging + copywriting for trade event
case study development + copywriting
 

Selected clients

  • Anser Advisory
  • Argonne National Laboratory
  • ARI Resources
  • Aurora Lighting Design
  • Bailey Edward Architects
  • Betty Henry Communications
  • Boosh Design
  • Bulley & Andrews
  • CCS International
  • Canopy architecture + design
  • Clark Dietz, Inc.
  • Cushing Co.
  • DB Sterlin Consulting Engineers
  • General Electric
  • Grant Thornton
  • Greenprint Partners
  • Heritage Architecture Studio
  • Holcim US
  • IBC Engineering
  • Inhabit Interiors
  • Interactive Design Architects (IDEA)
  • Intuit Dance
  • Kelso Burnett
  • Madison Construction
  • Masterbrand Cabinets
  • Matthei & Colin
  • Mortenson Construction
  • O’Kelly Kasprak
  • Ostrander Construction
  • PLACE Consulting
  • Project Management Advisors, Inc. (PMA)
  • Reality Home Inspection
  • S Projects
  • Schuler Shook
  • Sigrun
  • Walsh Construction
  • Wojcik & Associates Architects

Let’s find your brand magic. Send an email→