The Yoga Shed: A New Look, a New Website and a New Way of Doing Business
For several years, Katie Kennison managed to run The Yoga Shed while doing her best to avoid the digital world. No website. No online booking system. Just a small business built around personal relationships and a decidedly old-school (sorry girl) approach to scheduling and payments.
But Katie was ready to grow, and that meant making some changes.
She came to QuickFlip Media with a plan to create a new logo, establish a brand identity, develop photography and video, design business cards and build a website that could handle online scheduling and payments.
It was a chance for us to put nearly every tool in our toolbox, and every member of our team, to work on one project.
Getting to Know The Yoga Shed
Our first step was visiting Katie's studio in Baton Rouge.
The Yoga Shed isn't your typical yoga studio. It's a women-only space where classes are intentionally small, often limited to just four students.
Along with yoga, Katie offers Reiki, sound healing, Ayurvedic health counseling and private sessions. The atmosphere is personal, comfortable and welcoming.
We wanted to make sure that feeling carried over into everything we created. We studied the colors and textures of the space, talked with Katie about her vision and began developing a visual identity that felt like a natural extension of her business.
Creating the Visuals
A website needs good photography and video. We can't stress this enough. People want to see the business, the people behind it and what they can expect when they visit.
We scheduled a photo and video session at The Yoga Shed to capture the space and the experience. We also planned a separate portrait session for Katie, who had a specific location and feeling in mind for her photos.
A third shoot gave us the opportunity to record a testimonial from one of her regular clients. Having original photography and video made an enormous difference. Instead of relying on stock imagery, we could show visitors the actual space, introduce them to Katie and give them a better understanding of what makes The Yoga Shed special.
Finding the Right Look
The branding was one of the biggest parts of the project.
We worked through the logo, color palette and typography until we had a look that Katie loved and that could be used consistently across her website, business cards and future marketing materials. Once the branding was approved, we moved into the website mockup. The design needed to feel soft and inviting, so we leaned into rounded shapes and curves rather than sharp corners. We also added animated shapes that move gently in the background, along with scrolling and hover effects that give the pages a little personality. It's a playful design, but it still feels calm and comfortable.
And because we'd already created the branding, photography and video, we had everything we needed to bring the site together.
Making the Website Work for Katie
Here's where the project went beyond design.
Katie had been managing her scheduling and payments largely with paper, pen and cash. As her business grew, she needed a more efficient way to keep track of appointments, availability and payments.
We built an online booking system that allows clients to browse services, schedule sessions and pay online. The site also accommodates special events and gives Katie room to expand her offerings.
But we had another important consideration: Katie needed to be able to manage the website herself. That's one of the reasons we like building websites with Wix.
We've worked with a variety of website platforms, and we've found Wix to have one of the more approachable interfaces for business owners who want to manage their own content. A beautiful website isn't particularly helpful if the owner is afraid to touch it. We wanted Katie to feel comfortable making updates, adjusting her schedule, managing bookings and adding new offerings without having to call us every time something changed.
Teaching Katie to Take the Wheel
We didn't finish the website, hand over the login information and wish her luck.
We scheduled several training calls to walk Katie through the different parts of her new system. We covered how to make changes to the website, update content, manage the booking calendar, adjust availability, handle online payments and take care of the day-to-day technical tasks involved in running the site.
And we made sure she had opportunities to ask questions and get comfortable with the process. For someone who had spent years avoiding digital tools, that education was just as important as the website itself. Our goal isn't to create websites that require clients to depend on us for every little change. We want to give business owners the tools and knowledge to take care of their own businesses.
Of course, we're still just a phone call away if something comes up.
The Finishing Touches
With the website and branding complete, we designed Katie's new business cards and connected her with Downtown Duplicating for printing.
We're big believers in using local printers whenever possible. Having someone you can talk to about paper, finishes and printing options can make a real difference in the final product.
After all the work that went into developing the brand, we wanted the printed materials to look just as good as the website.
What Katie Thought
One of the best parts of this project was seeing Katie's reaction to the finished work.
We sat down with her to talk about the experience, the changes to her business and what it was like finally taking that leap into the digital world.
A Website She Can Grow With
What made this project particularly satisfying was being able to handle everything together. Our team developed the branding, captured the photography and video, designed the website, built the booking system, created the business cards and trained Katie to manage it all. Each piece was planned with the others in mind, which made the process more cohesive and gave us a consistent look from start to finish.
Katie now has a professional online presence that reflects the business she's spent years building, along with tools that can make the day-to-day work easier as she grows.
And after nearly a decade of avoiding the digital world, she's got a pretty good place to start.
Want to talk about your website, branding, or digital presence? Send us a message to info@quickflipmedia.com
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