Client: The Pelora Group
Goal: To develop a comprehensive brand refresh that included a new name and brand identity .
Deliverable: Partnering with Circa, a creative studio based in Nashville, we conducted a robust workshop with key stakeholders to explore where and who the client had been and where and who hoped to be moving forward. Undertaking extensive research and analysis, we developed and presented four fleshed-out concepts for names and brand directions. Because of its layers of meaning and evocative imagery, one name and brand concept resonated the most with the client. We took that concept and built out the story of The Pelora Group.
Link: https://thepeloragroup.com

Client: John Guider
Goal: To forge a partnership between TVA, NPT and a solo-pioneering artist that would ultimately bring the history, beauty and progress of Tennessee into the public eye in a way that would benefit all three entities and the community at large.
Deliverable: Creation of a digital presentation that was used to educate TVA and NPT about the work of a Southern photographer and alert them to his plans for a new artistic adventure that might overlap with their various interests.  The pitch succeeded in moving the artist toward a potential TV documentary that might air nationally. 
Sample: Excerpt from the presentation (without visuals)
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There were rivers.

There were rivers in the Tennessee Valley before there were words.

The words came with the people: the Natives first and then the settlers who came by land and by water.
They braved the frontier that was Tennessee,
keeping record of their stories. 

James Robertson came by land.
He led his group of pioneers to a place they called the Big Salt Lick and settled there, on the banks of the Cumberland on Christmas day, 1779.

John Donelson came by water.
He and some 100 fellow travelers traversed the Holston, Tennessee, Ohio, and Cumberland Rivers, trusting the currents to guide them
to a home they had never been seen.
They arrived in April.

Fort Nashborough was built as were settlements like it,
bigger and smaller,
all along the banks of the riverways in the American South…

Client: Charles Hawkins Co.
Goal: To refresh the brand by distilling the name , developing a new look and feel, and creating content that spoke to the client's unique value proposition .
Deliverable: Collaborating with the team at Circa Creative Studios, we undertook an intensive review of all existing brand materials and conducted a workshop to dig into discrepancies and key questions. What emerged was a clear pathway forward. With a well-articulated value proposition and mission, we were able to hone the name of the company and develop content and visuals to help the client reach its target audience and achieve desired growth.
Link: https://charleshawkinsco.com

Client: Christ Church Cathedral
Goal: To develop a website from scratch that expresses the identity and vision of the cathedral of the Diocese of Middle Tennessee in its search for a new Dean and Rector.
Deliverable: In conjunction with the Search Committee, we devised a strategic foundation and branding concept for the profile, which then informed the design, structure and content of the entire piece. With input from constituents, we helped craft 12,000 words of original content and oversaw decisions around imagery and visuals. As a member of the Search Committee, Varina was the chair of the subcommittee that created the profile and served as a key visionary and author of the piece.
Link: https://christchurchcathedral.my.canva.site/parish-profile
Sample: Content for the Welcome page
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In a world where so much is rushed or transient or divisive or corrosive, the Episcopal Church abides. Championing a legacy of inclusion, it offers itself as a steadfast and welcoming presence for spiritual seekers at all stages of inquiry and ​across all lines of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic standing, sexual orientation, and gender ​identification. We uphold this legacy at Christ Church Cathedral. Our mission is to seek and ​serve Christ in all persons, and we have no shortage of opportunity as population numbers ​continue to increase in downtown Nashville and in the surrounding metropolitan areas. All ​around us: buildings and cranes, taxis and bachelorette parties, new high-rise apartments and ​massive office complexes, with people streaming to and from home, work, bars, concerts, and ​sporting events. All around us, too, on our very doorstep: men in threadbare coats, women ​whose faces are gaunt, human beings in need.

Client: Episcopal School of Nashville
Goal: To create a solidified brand for the founding of a new school, to establish its full communications strategy, and to execute the development of its online and print marketing materials.
Deliverable: Participation in a full branding, communications, and marketing campaign. Willse Ink has been heavily involved in all aspects of the school’s establishment. Specific services have included writing the school’s mission and vision statements, conceptualizing and generating content for mailers and magazine advertisements, establishing the website framework, generating new copy for the website, revising existing copy to create a unified voice, and consulting on strategic development.
Link: http://esnashville.org
Sample: Mission and Vision Statements
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OUR MISSION

Episcopal School of Nashville is an independent co-educational Pre-K through elementary school, serving students of diverse ethnic, cultural, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds. Valuing the education of the whole child, the school encourages students to engage their minds, bodies and spirits as they grow in confidence and communion with others.

OUR VISION

Our aim is to create a well balanced, safe and invigorating school environment where students will discover the joy of learning, cultivate spiritual and civic awareness, and establish a foundation for lifelong health. In addition to a full range of curricular and co-curricular offerings on campus, we will take advantage of our urban location by exposing students to place-based learning initiatives across the city, transforming the broader community itself into a vibrant classroom. Fundamentally, we envision Episcopal School of Nashville to be a diverse community where each member is known, inspired and loved.

OUR LOCATION

In searching for the right location to open our school, we wanted a place that was in the heart of the East Nashville community but that was also easily accessible to Nashville residents citywide. Located at the corner of Woodland and 5th Street, just a couple of blocks from the interstate and only 8 miles from Green Hills, this site is the perfect juncture to allow us to welcome families from down the street as well as from all over the greater Nashville area.

At the footsteps of the city, with its sharp view of the Nashville skyline, St. Ann’s also affords us the urban environment that underpins much of our curricular program. Being right in the city allows our students to engage in place-based learning initiatives that further cultivate the civic awareness and sense of stewardship that we value.

The campus itself, which will feature a secure modular village with classroom cottages and ample green space, gives our children the perfect environment in which to grow in mind, body and spirit. Our close proximity to East Park and the East Park Community Center offers added opportunities for our children to play, discover, and flourish.

The story of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church itself brings a rich history to our new school. Built in 1882, the church has served as a pillar of the East Nashville community for over 155 years. Despite trials brought on by natural disasters, financial struggles, civic unrest and loss of life from major world wars, St. Ann’s has persevered by placing a high value on inclusivity, acceptance and openness. This mindset aligns perfectly with our mission for Episcopal School of Nashville, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to house our school on this sacred ground.

Client: Ceri Hoover
Goal: To harness the rapid growth of an accessories company by articulating its niche and carrying that message into larger markets.
Deliverable: Content creation and consulting that included generating the company’s brand brief to be used in print and online promotional materials and generating a product marketing strategy that involved naming the company’s high-end bags, which we then executed. Other services included establishing the website framework and full content, including writing the founder’s “Story.” Within six months of our partnership, the client garnered extensive media attention and signed a deal with the global fashion company, Anthropologie.
Link: www.cerihoover.com
Sample: BRAND BRIEF
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Ceri Hoover premium leather handbags are deceptively simple. An oversized clutch, folded to perfect proportion. A camel satchel with contrast stitching. They aren’t flashy, but they are sexy. Sourced from the finest purveyors of leather across the globe, including Italy and Brazil, then handcrafted by American artisans, CH handbags promise exceptional quality and exquisite detailing. The eponymous line is the work of founder and creative director Ceri Hoover, who also launched the interior décor company, Cooper Grey, before transitioning into the business of handbags. “Nothing I design is overdone. It feels natural, like you’re not trying too hard.” The effect is timeless, effortless chic. Ceri Hoover bags are available in over 150 stores nationwide and at cerihoover.com.

STORY

I have landed in the cool town and creative hub that is Nashville, but I originally come from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It’s a place of sea oats and wild horses and driftwood. Pebbly sand and salted air. We used to have bonfires on the beach in Corolla, and after school every day I would lie soaking in the rays by the Kitty Hawk pier. The houses and the crusty beach hut restaurants had the most beautiful imperfections that allowed their individuality to shine. It’s an aesthetic—natural and unpretentious and on the edge of things—that has always stuck with me...

Client: Bybee Tibbals
Goal: To update the website with narrative language and evocative imagery.
Deliverable: We developed new language to shift the brand from its appearance as an average, stuffy law firm to a richly personal and localized option. The value proposition was honed and the case studies were made more accessible and entertaining.
Link: http://legendarylifestyles.com

Client: COVA Wealth Management
Goal: To update the website of an independent wealth management firm in a way that would secure the credibility of the firm while better reflecting its distinct culture.
Deliverable: Content consulting for the website redevelopment that included full conceptual vision, framework and content creation for its new website. Specific services included re-writing the company mission statement, generating copy for the landing page, revising the team bios, and distilling vast amounts of information regarding the firm’s affiliation with Raymond James and its complete list of client solutions.
Link: http://www.covawealth.com
Sample: Content for landing page and About page
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COVA is an independent firm handling the comprehensive wealth management needs of individual clients here in Nashville and across the country. What does that mean for you? It means we can help you wherever you are in your life, whatever your financial needs may be. It means we have the flexibility and freedom to help you establish and implement a financial plan without any bias or hidden agenda. And it means that we will look at the entire picture when it comes to handling the financial future of you and your family.

ABOUT OUR FIRM

Under the leadership of Managing Partners Lee Vaughan and John Connelly, COVA is an independent firm that delivers comprehensive wealth management services to individual clients with a full spectrum of financial needs. Having worked together for the wealth management division of a multinational bank, Lee and John were eager to establish an independent firm whose open architecture would allow them to counsel their clients with the objectivity, autonomy and flexibility they desired.

Founding COVA in 2012, the team set about building a firm based on the principles of close client relationship, clear communication, and holistic financial counsel. Knowing clients personally and taking into account the complete financial picture when deriving individualized action plans have become hallmarks of the company’s approach to wealth management. Proudly based in Nashville, TN, COVA works with clients locally and nationwide.

Client: Firma | Landscape Architecture and Planning Studio
Goal: To establish the presence and reputation of a new independent landscape architecture firm by highlighting the founder’s high-profile portfolio and his unique business philosophy. 
Deliverable: Content creation and consulting for a full branding campaign, including the launch of a website. Willse Ink established the framework for the website, wrote the company’s “Philosophy” statement and the founder’s “Story,” and drafted copy for the landing page.
Link: http://www.firmastudio.com
Sample: from Studio portal: Mission
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At Firma, we view each project through four major lenses:
AESTHETICS AND BEAUTY //  ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE // ECONOMIC VIABILITY // SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

At the drawing board, the first question we ask is: Will it inspire? Our mission is to create beautiful places that make people pause and investigate—though only within the parameters framed by the following questions:

1. Will it be sustainable with respect to the environment? Specifically, a high-performing landscape that enhances and protects the site’s natural features?
2. Is it economically viable? Will it be sustainable with respect to project costs as well as long-term maintenance cost? Will it fuel the local economy?
3. Does it have the power to consistently engage people? Will it serve current and future users and strengthen the local community?

 Answering yes to each of these questions ensures the places we craft are healthy, prosperous and visually appealing now and over the long term.

"Places are essentially stages for people to inhabit and socialize. The measure of a successful place is that it is well attended and beloved, because only then will it be nurtured and maintained for future generations to come." 

Client: Equitable Property Company, LLC
Goal: To secure the presence and emphasize the credibility of a commercial real estate company in its fourth year of business with significant growth to represent.
Deliverable: Content creation and consulting for a website re-development project. Willse Ink provided services that included drafting copy for the landing page, writing the company’s “About” statement, consulting on conceptual vision of site, and revising the extensive content categorized under “Capabilities.”
Link: http://equitabletn.com
Sample: Content from About portal
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We all know Nashville is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Forbes has us at #6 for job growth. Our crane count across Davidson County exceeds 150. Numerous real estate companies are tapping into this commercial boom, many of them multinational firms that are headquartered elsewhere. Not Equitable.

Equitable Property Company’s Founder and President, Land Deleot, spent 14 years working for big name real estate conglomerates. In 2012, he decided he wanted to do it differently. He wanted to establish an independent firm that would proudly be based in Nashville. He wanted the freedom and flexibility to meet the unique needs of his clients without being pinned to the agenda of a larger holding company. And he wanted to develop not just properties but relationships.

That’s what Equitable is: a boutique commercial real estate firm led by a team of highly qualified professionals whose mission is to serve the needs of clients and stay on the pulse of urban growth.

To date, the team at Equitable has represented tenants in the leasing and purchase of over 4 million square feet of office, retail, and medical space in more than 14 states, including over 500,000 square feet of office and retail properties in Middle Tennessee. Much of this success stems from the visionary leadership of Chief Operating Officer, Johnson Phillips, who joined Equitable in 2014. Attracted to the creative philosophy and relational atmosphere of the firm, Phillips has been instrumental in acquiring and developing numerous additional value-add properties and has helped pilot the company’s expansion into new markets and sectors.

Equitable has experienced explosive growth since its founding. And yet, the local roots and relational atmosphere that distinguished it in the beginning are what continue to characterize the company today. A boutique firm with a diverse portfolio of industrial, retail, office, multi-family and mixed-use development projects, Equitable is still right here—at the heart of Nashville’s growth.

Client: MEEL
Goal: To educate the media and the public about an innovative wellness company that delivers organic, locally sourced meal kits.
Deliverable: Phase I and Phase II of a promotional campaign that helped the start-up expand its client base and spread its message of family, workplace and community wellness. Willse Ink consulted on the creation of the promotional packet Phase I, including oversight of the conceptual design, drafting the press release, and publishing an article in a local magazine featuring the product. Work on Phase II included drafting a second press release and consulting on marketing strategies for a new branch of the client’s business.
Link: www.familymeel.com
Sample: News Release Phase I
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FARM TO FRONT DOOR:
LOCAL ORGANIC MEAL KITS NOW DELIVERED

 NASHVILLE, TENNESSE—MEEL is a local company that is bringing local food straight to the kitchens of local families. Based on a subscription plan for families of either 2 or 4, MEEL delivers one kit per week, which includes menus, recipes, and all the necessary ingredients to cook two healthy dinners using only local, organic produce and locally sourced meats. The kits are hand-delivered—from farm to front door—making family dinners so much easier and more nutritious.

"Our service allows families to slow down and reconnect with each other,” says Founder & President, Marti Emch. “Pulling off the family dinner, meal after meal, day after day, is no small feat, particularly if you are focused on feeding your family real food. I set out to create a tool to help facilitate and ease this process for busy families. Also, MEEL provides an important community connection by supporting our local farms and small food businesses.”

What is unique about MEEL is that it does all the planning and shopping for you, and it does it using only local foods. Whether a choice cut from Porter Road Butchers or winter squash from Hill and Hollow Farm, the food is always fresh and 100% organic.

Each MEEL kit is delivered on Monday afternoon and includes one vegetarian meal and one meal featuring fish or meat. We also offer a gluten-free option. Subscription plans are monthly though a weekly trial is available, as is a virtual MEEL plan for those outside the Nashville area.

Please see the attached press kit for sample menu cards and a full list of the local farms and business we support. Our current delivery radius includes Green Hills, 12th South, Belmont, and Hillsboro/West End with plans to expand in 2015.

From Farm to Front Door: Everything You Need for Dinner.
 

Client: The Oil Jar: An Aromatic Apothecary
Goal: To establish the name, articulate the value and launch the website of a new company using essential oils to promote client wellness.
Deliverable: Content creation and consulting services that included naming the company and drafting its mission statement as well as establishing the website framework and generating all online content.
Link: www.theoiljar.com
Sample:

THE OIL JAR
An Aromatic Apothecary

It used to be that when you needed medical attention, you went to the local apothecary. There behind the counter was someone who could custom-blend the right compound for you, based on any combination THE OIL JAR of symptoms you described. The attention was personal, as was the cure.

In the last century, at about the time the apothecary was being phased out, a new practice using natural cures was being phased in. It was called aromatherapy, and it used “volatile plant materials” known as essential oils to promote healing. Because aromatherapy gained popularity in the world of modern medicine, when stock prescriptions had replaced tailor-made remedies, it has never enjoyed the customization that was the calling card of the local apothecary. 

THE OIL JAR is changing that. An aromatic apothecary, THE OIL JAR is that rare place where you can reap the benefits of aromatherapy but in a way that is customized to your individualized needs. We do offer standardized blends of oils—compounds we have carefully devised for the most common ailments—but our focus is on personalization and education.

Like the apothecaries of old, we want you to come in and talk to us about your health. We want to dip our hands in our oil jars and come up with what is the perfect solution for you. And, we want to teach you how to use your blend, empowering you in your own healing, one cleansing breath at a time.

Client: Firepot Chai
Goal: To tell the story behind the creation of this tea company in a way that would link wholesalers and customers to the product on a personal level without losing the exotic edge that contributes to the brand’s appeal.
Deliverable: Content creation for the company’s web launch. Spinning off the company’s exiting logo, we created a popular narrative about the relationship between an elephant and a little girl that was subsequently used on the website and in other promotional materials. Willse Ink also drafted the founder’s bio and the company story.
Link: www.firepotchai.com
Sample:
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OUR HISTORY

I brewed the first batch of Firepot Chai in 2001, while cooking at a little Tibetan teahouse in the mountains. Having studied sustainable agriculture for years, I had long been interested in the wonders of natural ingredients and the myriad ways they can uplift and nourish us.

Little did I know that first batch of Chai would send me on a twelve-year tea journey around the world and inspire the development of ethically-minded tea businesses in places ranging from New Zealand to Alaska. Regardless of where I traveled, it was the taste of Chai that I ultimately came to know as home.

In search of the world’s finest teas—whether for my own unique blends or while working as a tea taster or buyer—I have consistently found myself sipping Chai. I have been served hot Chai by a kind old Nepali woman on a high pass in the Himalayan Mountains. I have been warmed by Chai made with Rooibos (red bush) under a starry sky in South Africa’s Cederburg Mountains. I have been refreshed by iced Chai in coastal Ceylon. And I have even apprenticed, very briefly, with a Chai wallah near the Dalai Lama’s monastery in Northwestern India.

But throughout all of this, my favorite cup of tea has always been Firepot Chai: that subtly sweet, transporting taste that first launched me on this incredible journey...

Client: Equitable Property Company, LLC
Goal: To articulate the vision for a new multi-use residential development at Sewanee that would tie into the university’s literary roots and appeal to potential investors.
Deliverable: Determining a theme and a name for the proposed development and drafting content for the investor pitch that would enable others to visualize the community and its unique offerings.
Sample:
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High Ground

Agrarian Inspired Living

Imagine a place at the top of the mountain where you can sit on your porch and watch the fog roll through the valley below. Imagine a place where the sounds are of crickets instead of cars, and the air is palatably fresh. Imagine having a cottage here, on the hilltop, where you can relax, rejuvenate, reconnect: whether on weekends, seasonally, or year-round. Imagine, even, a basket of fresh produce grown on site—kale and tomatoes, butternut squash and peaches—awaiting your arrival at your doorstep.

 In High Ground, a place like this exists, just minutes from Sewanee’s campus but miles from the frenzied pace of the rest of the world. An association of mountain cottages, twenty-three in total, High Ground sits atop the Cumberland Plateau in a secluded spot where the views of sunset are breathtaking and the pace of life is leisurely. The two and three-bedroom cottages have been designed by some of the South’s most notable architects and each has been allocated a perfect spot along the perimeter of the property’s TK acres. Also featured will be numerous communal spaces, including a public garden, orchard, lake, pool, and dining pavilion, along with a wooded walking trail and access to bike paths just off the bluff’s edge.

 In this, High Ground will be as much about community as it is about escape. It will be the kind of place where neighbors warm hands over a central fire pit and kids chase lightning bugs and each other far into twilight. It is the very kind of place envisioned by the Southern Agrarian writers of the early 20th century, many of whom had deep ties to Sewanee. These visionaries—William Alexander Percy early on and later Andrew Lytle and Allen Tate—dreamed of a world where communion with land was valued over accumulation of goods and people were prized over product. Wary of over-commercialization as early as 1930, they wished for a South more pure, more rooted in both soil and soul. Today our wishes remain the same.

 High Ground delivers. Inspired by the essential agrarian virtues of spending time outdoors and spending time together, this is a place with plenty to do—hike, bike, swim, socialize, read, relax, even work—but a place where a state of being triumphs over a state of doing. Of high ground, both literally and figuratively, this is a place where people can not only live but live well. Join us on the mountain.