Originally posted on Canvas Rebel on 8/26/24
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samantha Nardelli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Samantha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Talk to us about building a team – did you hire quickly, how’d you recruit the first few team members? Any interesting lessons?
Shanty Town Design has been around since 2013, and from the very beginning, I’ve had various people involved, though there were periods where it was just me at the helm. My journey started during my last year of college when I decided I wanted to start my own business. I already had the name picked out and was freelancing, which gave me a clear idea of the services I wanted to offer. I worked at another agency to learn as much as possible while freelancing on the side, and when the time came, I left that job to focus fully on my vision.
The transition was almost seamless, as I had enough work to keep me busy. I took care of the legal aspects and account setup while brainstorming branding, messaging, and the website with my initial business partner. We adopted a “fake it till you make it” mentality, presenting our work as a collaborative effort under the business name rather than as individual freelancers.
Networking played a crucial role in our early days, not just for work but for team members as well. I was working on a lot of projects with community partners and constantly pushing our business and we quickly started recruiting interns from my alma mater. Keeping in touch with my college professors proved invaluable for finding talent, from design interns to marketing assistants.
When my business partner moved on to another opportunity, it was just me for a while. I outsourced work to designer friends when I got busy and eventually formalized our intern program. During a phase where we created our own products, I relied on paying friends for assembly and vending at markets. I also collaborated on side projects with friends and colleagues, forming temporary ventures.
By the end of 2016, business picked up, and I moved from interns to part-time help for other parts of the business such as project management and operations. In late 2018, I decided to establish a more formal agency structure to reduce the constant training load and ensure long-term commitment from team members. I continued to handle most of the business development work myself, supported by part-time project managers, designers, and developers.
The pandemic in 2020 brought unexpected changes as you could image. My boyfriend (now husband) was laid off, and to give us flexibility to spend more time together, I taught him web development skills to share the workload. This experience highlighted the benefits of flexible schedules for both of us. We reached a point where we could offer full-time positions to some team members, leading to significant business evolution.
From 2021 onwards, we laid out long-term goals for the business, prioritizing flexibility for our team. Inspired by “No Rules Rules” by Reed Hastings, I embraced new leadership principles, emphasizing unlimited time off, frequent scheduled checkins, how to give and receive feedback, and flexible work arrangements. Our remote team now enjoys the freedom to travel, prioritize time with family, pursue hobbies, and freelance, all while maintaining job stability and delivering high-quality work for our clients.
Managing a team felt like a natural progression through the years, and I learned a lot about what people want in their careers. I wouldn’t do anything differently, as the experiences helped me understand what needs to be consistent and what can be flexible in our work. Documenting my standards for training has ensured we consistently deliver value to our clients. Team culture is paramount, as a happy team translates to excellent client service.
Recruiting, however, has been a learning curve. Our best hires often come from personal referrals and Facebook groups where I’m active. This helps vet candidates who fit well with our team. We’ve tried various interview approaches, learning from mistakes to perfect our process. I still rely on my alma mater professors for recommendations, and they’ve never steered me wrong.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m the founder and creative director of Shanty Town Design. My journey started early when I took my first graphic design class during high school. During college I got heavily involved in web design and development along with general community event marketing and was hooked. I’ve always had a left/right brain balance where I love the creative side of design and marketing, but I’m also a total nerd for the techy and data side. It’s like a never ending puzzle I get to work on. I began freelancing while still in school, where I gained invaluable experience and insights into the industry.
During my final year of college, I realized I wanted to start my own business, though I hadn’t realized it would grow into the agency it is today. It was a very natural journey of discovery from day one. I also had a lot of moral support from friends, family, and colleagues who believed in my mission.
The agency as it is today offers a range of services that include:
- Web Design and Development: We build accessible, aesthetically pleasing, and functional websites using WordPress and Divi Theme Builder.
- Growth Marketing Services: From strategic SEO to social media management, we help businesses get their marketing goals into action and deliver results.
- Branding & Graphic Design: Creating visually compelling logos and support graphics that communicate a business’s visuals and message.
We solve a variety of problems for our clients, including:
- Establishing a Strong Online Presence: We help businesses create a robust digital footprint that attracts and retains customers.
- Improving User Experience: By designing intuitive and accessible websites, we ensure that users have a positive experience, which can lead to higher conversion rates.
- Enhancing Brand Identity: Through strategic design and consistent messaging, we help brands establish a unique and memorable identity.
- Streamlining Operations: Our expertise in operations and automation helps businesses optimize their workflows and increase efficiency.
What truly sets Shanty Town Design apart is our holistic approach to projects. We don’t just create designs; we build comprehensive digital strategies that align with our clients’ business goals. Our commitment to understanding our clients’ needs and our collaborative work ethic ensures that we deliver solutions that exceed expectations.
We meet you where you’re at.
Our processes allow us to develop solutions that work for your business. We don’t push a one-size-fits-all productized solution to online marketing. We discover what your business needs and develop the route to get you where you are going.
We’re different.
We’re creative marketers, yes, but we’re also accountable project managers, experts in operations and organization, technical problem solvers, and excellent networkers. We’re on your side 100% of the time.
We’re reliable.
You’ll be surprised and how fast you can hit your goals now that you have a marketing team delivering results for less than the cost of a full-time senior marketer. You know that ongoing support you’ve been dreaming of? We’re it.
We’re your secret weapon.
Possibly one of the most significant benefits of using Shanty Town is how we think holistically about our clients and their businesses. We’re not just designers, just tech folk, just data folk, just content creators. We’re all of the above. Every decision we make for your business considers every other part of your business.
One of my proudest achievements is transforming Shanty Town Design from a freelance operation into a full-fledged agency with a talented team. We’ve honed our processes, improved our operations, and built strong connections that bring in excellent referral work.
Looking ahead, we aim to continue growing while maintaining our core values of compassion, curiosity, and authenticity. We’re not just a service provider; we’re a partner dedicated to helping businesses succeed.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn was the belief that I didn’t need documented processes or SOPs. When I started bringing on more serious team members, I expected them to ‘just figure it out.’ I would get frustrated when they didn’t do things the way I did or, worse, when I had to step in and do the work for them. It took me some time to realize that the issue wasn’t with my team; it was with me.
I had to understand that we did have specific processes for everything we did, but they were all in my head. Translating these unwritten processes into clear, written instructions was extremely challenging. I’m the type of person who just gets things done, often without consciously thinking through each step. However, I realized that between starting a task and completing it, there are often at least 20 subtasks that are not always obvious to others.
Around year six of running Shanty Town Design, I did a lot of self-reflection and recognized that not everyone shares my mindset or approach. I did a lot of soul searching about times when I wasn’t good at a job and what I needed to improve. I also enrolled in a coaching program, focusing on team and operations, to understand what I was doing wrong in not setting my team up for success.
I discovered that I had been playing Superman—swooping in at the last minute to save the day. This habit stifled my team’s growth and prevented them from learning and mastering tasks. But I was ruining my team’s growth and prevented them from learning and mastering tasks. I learned a lot in that program about what I was doing wrong and how I was stifling growth. Through the coaching program I also learned about tools, exercises, and quick processes I could put into place to get myself out of the way and allow my team to take charge.
One of the best exercises I ran was a ‘Rapid Fire Team Knowledge’ quiz. I schedule san hour with each team member and asked them 100 basic questions about the company. “What does WCP stand for?” (Website Care Package), “What is our hourly rate?” ($100), etc. I was SHOCKED when many of them didn’t know. But it wasn’t their fault; I had all this information in my head and wasn’t sharing it. I had to figure out quickly how to get things down on paper and make sure my team was in the loop on absolutely everything. Otherwise they’re just working blindly.
It was also incredibly challenging to let go of certain parts of the business and our creative projects. I kept thinking no one could do things as well as I could, or if they couldn’t figure it out immediately, they weren’t the right fit for the role. In reality, I wasn’t giving them a chance to figure it out. Taking a step back from something you put so much of yourself was very hard to unlearn. But then I’d think about how previous leaders allowed me to make mistakes and figure things out on my own. I needed to do the same for my team.
I still struggle with this sometimes, but I’ve made significant progress, even earning an award from the coaching program that recognized a major shift in our team dynamics. Understanding that my role as a leader is to empower my team, provide them with the necessary tools and knowledge, and then step back has been a game-changer for us. It’s been a difficult lesson to unlearn, but an essential one for the growth of both my team and the business.
Any advice for managing a team?
I’m really proud of the things we’ve put into place when managing our remote team. I’m happy to share them as they’ve made a huge difference for us!
For Organizational Tools and Processes:
- Project Templates: We created templates for all our repeatable project flows in ClickUp, our project management software. This provides consistency and efficiency across all projects.
- Clear Leadership Structure: We established clear leadership roles so the team knows who to go to for specific questions. Leaders are trained first and then pass their knowledge to the rest of the team.
- Streamlined Client Communication: We handle client communication through a single email inbox now, allowing any team leader to access and manage client interactions.
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Our team writes out all our SOPs. We even had a ‘challenge’ one February where, if everyone wrote 10 SOPs in a month, the whole team got an extra paid day off. This was a great way to encourage participation.
Fun Culture Activities & Frequent Checkins:
- Daily Surveys: Using an app called Daily Bot, the team inputs any tasks or blockers they have. This keeps everyone on the same page and addresses issues quickly.
- Gratitude and Goals Check-ins: Daily Bot also sends out optional gratitude and goals check-ins, to foster a positive and focused environment.
- #Watercooler Slack Channel: We use this channel for playing trivia, sharing music or photos, and casual chats.
- Weekly Team Calls: We hold weekly all-team calls where we express gratitude and discuss pain points through our “Rose & Thorn” ritual. These calls also go over business matters, project updates, and social time for engagement.
- Monthly Check-ins: Our Business Manager conducts monthly calls with each team member to discuss their workload and make sure they feel supported.
- Quarterly Performance Reviews: I conduct quarterly performance reviews and 1:1 goals check-ins with each team member.
- Anonymous Quarterly Surveys: These surveys gauge team morale with questions like, “How confident are you that you know the goal of every project?” and “How well does the team work together?”
- Yearly Team Surveys: These surveys include questions like “3-5 Achievements from the past year,” “2-3 Disappointments from the past year,” and “Focus Areas for the next 6-12 months.”
- Kudos and Rewards: We use the Kudos feature in Daily Bot, and each quarter, the top three team members receive a gift card.
- Celebrating New Clients: Whenever a new client signs on, our #watercooler channel alerts everyone so the team can share the excitement.
We also share our data with the whole team, such as our current Client Satisfaction score, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and any positive client feedback. This transparency helps everyone understand how their work contributes to our overall success and keeps them engaged and motivated.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://shantytowndesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shantytowndesign/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shantytowndesign
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/3523670/
Image Credits
Personal Photo by Tia Leigh Photography at Studio 515 Scranton/Pepper Lavender Events
