Styleberry News: The Downsizing of a Dream

My friends, Styleberry is changing. Evolution is a natural part of business, and Styleberry has evolved over and over again since the early 2000s, always seeking to align with my life, with what our clients need, & the market at large. 

So why now? What’s changing? Let me tell you the story…

10+ Years Building the Dream Mansion

The last 10 years have felt like building a dream mansion. The details are impeccable. The systems and talented team make it function beautifully. The technology is like nothing my neighborhood has ever seen. It sure is something special…

But, it’s a lot of upkeep. & for quite some time now, I have been pulled to seek a simpler life. 

While I have built a big, beautiful company with some of the most talented women on the planet, that big, beautiful company has taken over my days. For the last decade, I have given Styleberry my all, often at the sacrifice of myself and my family. 

I’m also acutely aware I have just 2 years left with my amazing daughter, who will soon leave the nest, and with my son, who will follow shortly thereafter. How will I spend these last couple of years with my children at home? Stressed, squeezing work into every corner? Or is it time for an overhaul? 

These questions have weighed on my mind for a long time.

Then, at the beginning of the year, I also started to see the market changing. As a strong tracker and lover of economics, I could see something was shifting, and I could feel it, too. Now I know that tariffs have indeed hit our industry harder with each passing week, but this decision was so much bigger than that. 

Part of it? Yes. All of it? No. The timing of it simply felt like the nudge I had been waiting for.

Downsizing to the Cottage with the Garden in the Back

What I realized is that instead of the enormous mansion I’ve built, what I really want at this stage in my life is a cottage, with only the essentials I need and a garden in the back that I can manage on my own. To move slowly and be fully present, both at home & with my clients.

The motivation is there. So now I’m doing it — I’m letting go of my big, beautiful labor of love and digging my hands back in the dirt, helping a different sort of beauty begin to grow. 

The downsizing of a dream, so a new one can take form. 

What Does that Mean for Styleberry?

After 10 years of growth and our best year on record, I have decided to downsize Styleberry back to a solo design practice model. This decision has been multifaceted and easily the hardest of my career — but there’s beauty to be found yet.

At this time, our primary design service is our signature, life-changing, Design Strategy Consults. 

If you’ve wanted to work with us before and the moment or level of service wasn’t quite right, I encourage you to take a look again. This new version of Styleberry is all about meeting you where you’re at, solving problems, getting you unstuck, and helping you fall in love with your home again.

& Finally, a BIG Thank You to My Favorite People

As you can imagine, this is a bittersweet announcement, and it has been an honor to provide the most tech-forward design services available to the San Antonio community and beyond for so long. I want to take a final moment to express my gratitude to YOU and to all the people who made Styleberry so beautiful, inside & out: 

To Kennedi: Thank you for giving me seven years of creativity & making my big ideas come to life in better ways than I could ever imagine. You helped my dream of becoming the first Design Studio in San Antonio to introduce VR to our market come true. I’m so excited for your next big endeavor! 

To Liz: Thank you for being the incredible systems ninja that you are. Six years of workflows, new ideas, and implementation–you are the best studio manager of all time. Ever. In the history of Ever. 

To Colleen: Thank you for sharing your gift of color & pattern play with me and our clients for three beautifully creative years. You are an incredible designer. I know you will continue to create art wherever you land.  

To Jaquilyn: Thank you for being my word fairy-godmother. Everything sounds better with your magic finishing touch. Many thanks to you, Kait, and Cait, for thousands of pages of beautiful words, and to Allie for making it all beautiful. You are exceptional.  

To Kristy: Thank you for your wise financial guidance and helping me navigate the world of taxes and forecasting. Thank you for teaching me how to CFO & for always leading me in the right direction. Especially now.

To Sherry, Morgan, (Drew) and Brooklyn: Thank you for the many years of financial support, and making my P&Ls look so pretty at the end of the year. 

To Taylor and Courtney: Thank you for helping us with the beast that is MyDoma. We are forever grateful for your assistance in so many ways. 

To Madeline and Brittany: Thank you for sharing your creative image-making gifts with me. You have captured our team and our work authentically, and you’ve provided me lasting proof of our creative efforts. 

To Karissa, Kyra, and Susie: Thank you for making my socials look so pretty and for implementing my wild ideas so I didn’t have to be glued to Insta. 

To Ariel, Rylie & Amy: Thank you for making my internet home as pretty as my real world home! She has served us so so well! 

To Kelly, Cassandra, Karissa, Muffin, Araceli, Karissa, Andrew, Steve, Alex, Amaris, and Carolina: Thank you for your showroom and delivery support, for gathering all of our materials, and the ongoing correspondence that helps us get our clients just the right thing. 

To John, Phillip, & crew, and Collier & crew: Thank you for your exceptional building skills and for taking our detailed plans & renderings and making them real. Seeing what was once a dream in our heads become something in real life never ceases to take my breath away. Ever. You make dreams come true. 

Lastly, to our clients: Thank you for trusting us with your big dreams. We have carefully held each one, listened, dug deeper, and brought forth the most beautiful work because of you. I hope each of you know that you helped me build a dream company, create dream jobs, and encourage growth for so many wonderful people, on top of delivering work we are so very proud to have created. To say we care for you is an understatement. I hope you love and cherish your beautiful home for many years to come.  

Wow, this has been a beautiful chapter, and we thank you for being a part of our story! I am so grateful. 

I’m not crying, you’re crying! (Or are we all crying?) 

Cheers to the next chapter…

Xoxo,
Shawna