I didn’t plan any of this.

In 2007, I was a Creative Director. Good job, interesting work - then the economy went sideways and so did the position. I got laid off during the meltdown and ended up at Star Time Supply, a wholesale watch parts company operating out of an old bank building in Houston stuffed floor-to-ceiling with inventory. They had over 15,000 SKUs, a phone that rang constantly, and a website that hadn't changed since dial-up was a thing.

They hired me to make catalogs.

I had a different idea.

What if we put the whole operation online? What if customers could find what they needed, place an order themselves, and we could stop answering the phone all day? E-commerce was still relatively new in 2008. I had zero experience building an online store. But I pitched it anyway: give me a shot and I'll double your sales in five years.

The owner, Charlie, looked at me like I was out of my mind. "Are you crazy?" Eventually, he said yes.

Nine months later, we launched with nearly 10,000 SKUs live. I wrote the copy, shot the products, built the email list, ran the weekly promotions, and put the systems in place. First month was modest - a few thousand dollars. But it grew. And grew.

Five years in, we were doing over $360,000 a month in online sales. The kicker: I was running the whole operation three days a week. Not because I was cutting corners. Because the systems actually worked. The emails went out automatically. The SEO traffic kept coming. The store handled orders without anyone picking up a phone.

You don't need a big team or a big budget. You need the right setup. Clear messaging. A site that does its job. An email list that stays warm. Automated follow-up so nothing falls through the cracks. I've been helping small businesses build that setup ever since - and Star Time Supply is still running the same systems I built more than a decade ago.

I came to all of this through graphic design, not business school. Art degree from UT. I grew up on the west side of San Antonio. I think in pictures and stories before I think in spreadsheets. That's actually been an advantage - the businesses that succeed online are the ones that communicate clearly and look like they mean it. The technical stuff can be learned. The judgment about what actually moves customers is harder to teach.

I brought that judgment, and the systems, to a rotating cast of startups and small businesses after Star Time. Fractional marketing director work - strategy and execution, without the overhead of a full-time hire. That's what Bronstad Design is.

You deal with me start to finish. No account managers. No junior hand-offs. The person who writes your proposal is the person who builds your site and answers your questions when something comes up.

That's how it works here.