In today’s
Website Planet interview, we spoke with Stacey Swan, founder of Coffee and Flow Creative. What started in 2019 as a general virtual assistant business has transformed into a thriving web design studio specializing in Showit. Stacey shares how she found her focus, why Showit became her platform of choice, and how she helps designers and entrepreneurs bring their websites to life with ease and creativity.
How did Coffee and Flow Creative get started, and how has the company evolved since its launch?
Coffee and Flow Creative started as a Virtual Assistant Business back in 2019, and actually started under a completely different name. I was doing everything from helping businesses with spreadsheets, to Pinterest to website design. I knew I needed two things in order to start my business: a website and a way for people to pay me. I started researching website platforms that I could start with for free. Since I wasn’t 100% confident in my business name or my focus, I wasn’t ready to invest in anything at that time. I ended up starting with Wix which was a great choice at the time. My goal at this time was to do everything I could as far as being an “assistant”. Once I started doing lots of different projects I knew the ones that I was most excited about were website design. That’s when I knew the direction I had to go.
After lots of notes and ideas, I decided on the business name I wanted to stick with – Coffee & Flow Creative. My next step was to purchase a domain and start researching a more permanent home for my website. That is when I found Showit. The freedom of the website platform, the community, and the other designers were all perfect for what I wanted.
Over the last few years I have shifted the majority of my website design business to support other Showit designers behind the scenes. I help them with full site development, mobile optimization, template customizations, client revisions, and any other miscellaneous tasks that they need done with Showit. I also still provide assistance to other entrepreneurs such as photographers, coaches and more with their Showit website needs. A lot of the time I make website updates, create new pages or refresh existing ones, provide SEO work on their sites, and other tasks that they need done.
What types of clients do you typically work with, and how do you tailor your services to their needs?
When I work with other Showit designers my main goal is to make it as easy as possible for them. I believe I am here to help them and get things off of their plate. I follow their procedures, use their systems, and make sure I know what is important to each designer. Each designer is different and looks for different things during the design process. The more I work with a designer, the more I am familiar with their style and it becomes a seamless process.
When I work with entrepreneurs looking for help with their Showit site, they are typically hiring a professional website designer because they don’t have the time (or desire) to make the updates on their own. They know what they want and they don’t have time to do it themselves. I value time (my own and my clients) so I typically record videos of what I’m doing or what I’m thinking in order for them to understand. This lets us skip the “meeting” and get right to work!
What led you to specialize in Showit, and how has that shaped your design approach?
My number one goal in finding a website platform was to find a place where I had 100% creative control. I didn’t want to work in a website builder that required coding or forced me to build in a specific layout. Showit is a blank page where you can place things anywhere on the page, anywhere you want. This has given me endless opportunities to design how I want. I can see inspiration from out in the world, in magazines, other websites and translate them into beautiful and strategic website designs.
What upcoming trends or developments are you most excited about in the world of web design?
The possibilities are endless when it comes to design! The Showit platform is always coming out with new updates and modifications to the platform to make things better. Although you don’t need to know code in order to use Showit, there are things that can enhance your site by using code. By using AI you can easily tell the bot what you want to accomplish and it will give you a code to put into your site. It is very exciting!
