Exploring Life & Business with Andrea (Magee) Davis, Kimberly Prepetit and Britni Danielle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea (Magee) Davis, Kim Prepetit and Britni Danielle.

Hi Andrea, Kim and Britni, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

Andrea: I’ve been coaching women in business for over a decade, first in direct sales and then in online business overall. Once my type of client shifted, I started to see the same needs over and over. As a business owner, I had grown accustomed to wearing many hats, but I thought it would be great to take that burden off of entrepreneurs and provide a full service of branding and design support under one roof. Then I called my friends.

Britni: We’ve known each other for over 20 years since college (Fight On ‘SC!). We’re sorors (Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc), friends, and now business partners. About four years ago, Andrea had the idea to merge all of our skills together — I’m the writer, Kim’s the web designer, and Andrea is the marketing/operations genius — and the House was born.

Kim: I’ve always loved art and been interested in all things design-related. My background in technology made website design a no-brainer for me, which I originally just picked up as a hobby. I built a few websites for friends and family just as favors and because I really enjoyed it! Andrea came to me with the idea of coming together and leveraging this skill to start a business, which I originally thought was a pretty crazy idea. But the more I thought about it, I figured why not? I was already doing it, so it wouldn’t hurt to make some extra coins at the same time!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?

Kim: I wouldn’t exactly call it smooth…there’s definitely a vast difference between having a hobby that makes you a little money on the side and having a full-fledged business. Having a particular skill doesn’t necessarily mean you have all the knowledge needed to operate a business successfully, which is why many small businesses just don’t survive. Knowing that you can’t do it all is half the battle, the other half is having the resources to hire help. As a team, we had to step out of our comfort zone and figure out how to manage the things we weren’t familiar with until we had made enough money to hire experts in those areas. Another tricky thing is establishing processes and SOPs. Even still, we’re defining, revising and refining how we operate as we learn new lessons with each client. And lastly, I think one of the hardest things to come to grips with in any business is that everybody is not your ideal client. As my dad used to say, “all money ain’t good money” — so defining your ideal client can be a challenge as well as turning down clients who are more than willing to pay good money for your services.

Britni: Life is never a smooth ride, so you know business isn’t. While we’ve had a lot of early (and sustained) success, there’s definitely been some growing pains. We’ve had to adjust from just taking every job to being more discerning about the types of clients and projects we actually want to take on — and of course there’s always money. We began by undercharging for our services and we’ve since aligned our prices with the result and experience we provide our clients. Overall, though, it’s been a great experience and I’m glad we stepped out on faith to start this venture.

Andrea: In the practical sense, we are friends who have started a business. And while it hasn’t been a hardship for us, you want to make sure that you enter this kind of partnership with someone (or people) you trust implicitly. We know each other so well that sometimes it feels unnecessary to have certain conversations, but we have them anyway. Navigating the schedules of 3 busy individuals (plus a team) can be a challenge, so we’ve recently adjusted our meeting structure and cadence to help us increase efficiency and productivity week to week while remaining accountable to one another. Additionally, we have overcome cycles of overwhelm by being organized, relying on a fairly robust tech stack and system of operations and instituting regular office closures for weekends, holidays and mental health days.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?

We’re the House of 334. We’re a Black woman owned creative agency that works with service-based businesses, membership driven organizations and non-profit organizations.

We help service-based businesses increase conversions and non-profit organizations increase donations by developing clear messaging, captivating websites and cohesive brands they love so that they can focus on the work they do.

We also help chapters of Greek letter and similar membership-based organizations establish a polished, and easily maintained website presence by providing custom websites or affordable templates that can be quickly adapted to the needs of the chapter.

We are most proud of the fact that we are a Black woman-owned company who works together with its clients to bring brands to life with a professional digital presence. We are passionate about helping people, inspiring our community and doing great work. We’d want readers to know that working with us is just that…working WITH us. Achieving results is a collaborative effort. And we make it enjoyable.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?

Don’t be afraid to reach out! We’d love to hear from you and are open to potential clients, collabs and support opportunities. And spread the word! If you know anyone who could use our services, please send them our way!

Feel free to slide into our DMs on Instagram or Twitter, send us an email, or contact us through our website at houseof334.com as a small business or non-profit, or bit.ly/thetemplateshop to browse a beautiful collection of pre-designed websites for membership organizations.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.houseof334.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/houseof334
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/houseof334
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/houseof334