Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Steidle.
Casey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It’s hard to fully pinpoint a certain point in my creative journey that led me to become a Creative Director and Founding Partner for Doughy, a vegan, clean-ingredient cookie dough company.
To be fully honest, I always felt so lost in my career. I discovered I was creatively talented in a lot of ways, but never hit that feeling of “this is exactly where I am supposed to be.” Maybe it was a mix of confidence and experience, but I always felt slightly out of place wherever I worked. I couldn’t sit still anywhere; I was itchy. I worked several jobs, from being a photographer for Eva Longoria to designing at agencies and sometimes working in production. But still, even with great experiences, I couldn’t seem to shake a feeling that there was something out there that would catch my soul on fire and feel more high stakes, meaningful, and fulfilling.
The way I met Kelly Ramey, the CEO, and Founder, is really a Craigslist love story. Kelly and two other girls poached me off Craigslist to fill the last room in their Santa Monica apartment. In our kitchen, she was always making this healthy, minimal-ingredient cookie dough that the rest of the house and I could not get enough of. Vegan or not, it was the best cookie dough I had ever had. Kelly would constantly find me in the kitchen sneaking bites and then begging her to make more.
The stars aligned years later as we, one night over dinner, decided to take her culinary genius and business experience with my creative skill set and make a CPG brand rooted in heart, soul, intention, and love of craft. Bringing a healthy option that actually tasted good was something we knew people were begging for, and we were passionate about doing it.
Aesthetics mean a lot to me, which of course comes with the territory of being a Creative Director. I feel pretty obsessed toward the love of craft and intention – something that I feel sometimes is slipping in our society. We live in a time where people just want things fast and cheap and creative isn’t always valued or celebrated. You can see it in the way some cities have developed in the modern world, versus when you visit the charms of an old town in Italy. That while aren’t perfect, are crafted with intention and aesthetic intention, even with their imperfections. I am part Italian and spent summers there growing up, so I think that had a major influence on me. Italians are notoriously all about what feels good. So much so that in the Italian language, words would be changed so they didn’t sound ugly and instead roll off the tongue more beautifully.
Doughy is intentional – from the branding to the product. I wanted the packaging to feel special to look at as well as enjoy. I designed it to feel like a piece of art that sparks joy as soon as you see it, followed by the incredible treat inside that is crafted with carefully selected, very minimal ingredients. We are selective with the farms we source from to provide those ingredients that come together in every package. And we are selective in our entire brand’s visual experience. It’s intentional on feeling.
I knew once I couldn’t stop thinking about how to make the business better every single day that I had found what I had been looking for my whole career – passion and intention. And to be able to do it with a friend of mine is extremely special.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not! Is any journey ever? A major struggle I hit was battling some pretty scary health stuff. I had to move back home for a year to heal and recover from a medical injury that left me in a pretty shocking state. It was the hardest time of my life, and I was pretty unsure if I would ever get through it or what was next for me. Luckily, I am healthy now, which I am grateful for every day. But on the other side of it, gaining confidence and just believing in yourself to do something new, at the risk of looking or feeling like an idiot, is also always some major growing pains that set in along the way.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in art direction, design, and branding. It’s the Italian in me that’s emotional and loves to story tell through visuals. I am the most proud of my work with Doughy because it is so dear to my heart. It made me fall in love with the craft of design even more, and in a way that I didn’t expect in an industry that I never thought I would fall into.
What does success mean to you?
If you’re happy, healthy, safe and using that freedom to follow a dream or a passion, that is an amazing form of success to me. Everyone wants to achieve their wildest dreams, but I think the act of facing your fears and never giving up on yourself in pursuit of those dreams to me is a successful life experience. The lessons, highs and lows, laughs, tears, etc., make for an incredibly rich human experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.caseysteidle.com
- Instagram: @caseysteidle
