Hey, guys! We’re here today to share an update on the A Beautiful Mess staff! We want to introduce you to everyone who is working so hard at our growing brand. You’ll see lots of familiar faces here but also get to meet those people whose jobs are behind the cameras (and computers!).So let’s start off with our team members who work in the studio!
Elsie Larson (me!), Founder and Creative Director
I started A Beautiful Mess in 2007, but didn’t truly find my groove until I teamed up with my sister and business soul mate, Emma, in 2010. Today I mainly focus my energy on the creative side of the business. I oversee the look and feel of A Beautiful Mess’s online content as well as products and side projects (like our apps, books, and products). I would say I have just enough free time to keep redecorating my home but never enough to get bored. 😉
Emma Chapman, Co-Owner and Editor
Emma is my sister and the co-owner of A Beautiful Mess. She oversees the business side of what we do and made it possible for us to be where we are today! Recently Emma has also taken on an editorial role for both the blog and our online education program. Most people know Emma for recipes, which she is amazing at (see here for proof), but what people don’t often know is that she has a talent for business. She’s a forward thinker and pushed to create our first app despite family and friends discouraging the risk. She’s also a real big sucker for photos of baby pigs.
Trey George, Business Development Manager
Trey was hired to manage our sponsorships program, so that covers pitching and managing sponsored content, ads, ad networks, and overseeing our ad server. Also, his role has expanded to overseeing the development and updates of our apps (we have another app coming out later this season). He’s extremely talented, and we have a lot of happy hours celebrating his many accomplishments!
Philip Bowles, Director of Technology
Philip oversees the development behind our websites. Our new shopping site was his first big project. Currently we are working on updates for the blog, so when you see them happen later this year you’ll know that it was Philip (and not just magic) that made those updates happen. In addition to being the only person on our staff who understands CSS, Philip is hilarious and about to become a dad!
Sarah Rhodes, Director of Photography
Sarah does most of the photos you currently see on A Beautiful Mess. We met her as the photographer for both our weddings, and when it came time to hire a photographer we knew she was the perfect fit. Sarah developed the A Beautiful Mess Actions with me. She also makes videos and entertains us daily with her amazing sense of humor!
Laura Gummerman, Staff Writer
Laura is a staff writer for the blog and produces weekly posts that include home and fashion DIYs, healthy recipes, lifestyle articles, and purrrrfect cat-related projects. She also helps out around the office by managing the support emails and making sure everyone learns how to make lattes.
Spirit animal: Snow Leopard
Road snacks: Latte and Cheez-Its
Favorite movie: Charade or The Way We Were
Celebrity crush: Old School—Robert Redford, New School—Christian Bale, Young Buck—Liam Hemsworth
Non-blog hobby: Singing karaoke by making my husband play Amy Winehouse and The Cardigans songs so I can sing along.
Childhood hero: Audrey Hepburn, always and forever
Jeremy Larson, Staff Videographer
Jeremy has been creating videos with original music for ABM since last summer. At first it was just for fun, then freelance, then we offered him a part-time position because we loved working with him! We love the travel videos he’s created for us (see Austin, Nashville and Palm Springs), and currently we’re creating a series of cooking videos together, so stay tuned!
Spirit animal: Llama
Road snacks: Coke Zero
Favorite movie: The Deer Hunter
Celebrity crush: Brad Pitt
Guilty Pleasure: Bar Rescue
Non-blog hobby: Cooking
Childhood hero: Dinosaurs
Joshua Rhodes, Project Assistant
Joshua first started working with ABM as a contributor. His an exceptionally skilled craftsman. You’ll be seeing lots more projects created by him with step-by-step instructions as the year goes on. We’re so excited to have him around and bring our projects to the next level.
Spirit animal: Basset Hound
Road snacks: Sunflower seeds, Mamba
Favorite movie: The Sting
Celebrity crush: Martha Stewart
Non-blog hobby: Painting, running
Childhood hero: Hardy Boys
And now, our writers who work from home …
Mandi creates incredible projects for us (from big to small!). She has an eye for interior style and great ideas for budget living. See Mandi’s full archive here.
Katie Shelton, Writer
Katie writes beautiful hair tutorials and kiddo projects for the blog. She also manages the “At Home With” feature. One of our favorite ABM traditions is Katie’s yearly Halloween costume ideas for families (see 1,2,3). See Katie’s full archive here.
Rubyellen is an inspiring mother of four with a contagious enthusiasm for handmade living. Her beautiful home is proof of both. Her most popular post of all time was her a-frame tent project. Our personal favorite was her paint-by-number pillow project. This Spring Rubyellen is working on a series of gardening tutorials for beginners! You can see Rubyellen’s full archive here.
Rachel Denbow, Writer
And last, but not least, just for fun …
Until last year our team was made up of 100% dog people. But slowly, the cat people are creeping in.(DOG PEOPLE)
(crazy CAT PEOPLE) This gif. haha!
If you have any questions about our staff, let us know in the comments section! We’ll be sharing updates every season or two as our team continues to grow! xo. Elsie (Emma + the ABM team)
P.S. If you’re taking Candice’s DSLR workshop, you’ve already met her. But in addition to being a teacher’s aide in ABM workshops, Kimber Hodson works remotely as our official proofreader for everything you see on the blog and the shop. When we post about all our teachers, you’ll learn a little more about her. But we had to give her a quick shoutout. LOVE us some Kimber!
Credits // Author: Elsie Larson, Staff Photos: Sarah Rhodes. Edited with Liv from The Signature Collection.
Hi! I really enjoyed this entry and am a longtime fan of this site and business. However, I do want to caution you against using the phrase “Spirit Animal” so flippantly. Spirit Animals are not a joke; they are a longstanding tradition in some First Nations cultures. The journey of finding what one’s spirit animal is is a long and arduous task and is not just something that can be answered by an Internet quiz or with a joke.
There is already a very low understanding of First Nations cultures and traditions, and too many people treat FN culture like a joke. Please reconsider using this phrase.
So great to see how much of a team effort goes into such a great blog! Good work guys!
http://hungry-n-foolish.com/
… after a week I finally get to write this comment! … ABM people is so great to meet you all! Thank you for your work! Wishes for more inspiration and magic moments in your life. xxx greetings from Greece!
Super fun. Loved reading this.
gahhh… I know now, why I love ABM so much, it has a lot a very talented person as a team. waht a great post.
It’s great to be “introduced” to everyone!
This was so much fun to read, especially for a new reader/follower/fan! 🙂
What a great team! And funny pictures!
http://porlasramasblog.blogspot.com
Little late to the party here, but I loved reading all the tidbits. You guys are all great. Special thanks to Trey- I immediately googled his spirit animal and it cracked me up.
That’s exciting to know more about everybody behind the blog! You guys are very inspiring and love to read all your articles.
This is awesome! I would love to be part of a growing blog such as this one! You all seem like cool people to work with.
Abby
abbsterocity.tumblr.com
Great blog post! Request: reading this actually got me really curious about how you and Emma feel like your business spirit has developed over the years. I think it’d be really inspiring to hear about your processes, how thinking about the next content, projects, team roles, investments etc. may have evolved, about how your confidence in making the “right” decisions has come about too! And also if there are any reads that you’d recommend to small business owners! Jesse x
Dream staff! You guys are so so awesome.
i love this!! so good to get to know everyone. you guys are amazing!!
xxoo,
nikki
www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com
Love this post! I have shared your blog with just about everyone i know…I always find myself smiling while I am looking at your pics and links…Nice to meet all of you!
Great post! Can you have Jeremy do some videography tutorials please?! I love those videos
I love this! It’s so great to read profiles about each of you. As a reader for a few years now, it’s so cool to see how your brand has grown and where your business is at today. I’m excited to watch it continue to grow. It definitely inspires me in my own life 🙂
Oh, I love posts like this from you guys. It’s always so nice to see what’s going on behind the scenes. This crazy cat girl loves the gif, too 🙂
Cute post!
http://talisatalksbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/rmk-brightening-jelly-sheet.html
I’m so glad you did this! I have so many similarities to your staff and loved it!