Helping professional service firms prosper and thrive

We help firms and their leaders achieve their potential by designing and implementing powerful strategic plans based on their unique values, purpose and desires.

Consulting, Coaching and Speaking

I consult, coach and speak for one reason – I love to help people succeed.  Jo 

Do you want to . . .

  • build a strong, cohesive team? 
  • attract and retain top talent?
  • improve productivity and profitability?
  • attract and retain great clients?
  • live a fuller, richer life?  

 Jo Smith Associates can help you achieve these goals and more.

We help leaders achieve their potential using the following steps:

  1. Assess your current situation.
  2. Identify your desired state.
  3. Create powerful goals that are consistent with your purpose and passion.
  4. Design strategies and action steps to achieve your most important goals.
  5. Implement your plan.

Sound simple?  

It is, until life and the details get in the way. With our experience in leadership, business and people, a variety of tools and techniques we have acquired and designed over several years, we can help you and your business achieve your potential.

Contact Us to discuss your needs and learn more.

Sincerely,

Jo Smith, CMC
President
503.913.0499
josmith@josmithassociates.com

We help professionals who want to build dream practices 
and live fuller, richer lives with courage, clarity and focus.

Is this you?

Call 503.913.0499 to schedule a conversation.

Jo Smith CMCA
Consultant, Coach and Speaker

We designed brands from inside a SaaS company before we built a studio around it.

What We Do

All Services

01

Brand Identity

  • Positioning sprint & strategic brief
  • Two creative directions presented
  • Primary mark, colour system, typography
  • Secondary elements & brand guidelines

$18,000 – $28,000

02

Marketing Sites

  • Wireframes & full-fidelity Figma designs
  • WordPress / Kadence build
  • Calendly + HubSpot integration
  • On-page SEO via Rank Math

$22,000 – $38,000

03

Full Engagement

  • Everything in Brand Identity
  • Everything in Marketing Sites
  • Unified strategic brief anchoring both phases

$38,000 – $65,000

We don’t do: e-commerce, consumer brands, logo-only projects under $15K, or companies that haven’t shipped to paying users yet. Not an apology — a filter. If you’re not sure whether you’re a fit, the 15-minute call will tell us both.

We designed brands from inside a SaaS company before we built a studio around it.

Meet the Studio

Marcus and Priya spent five years as the first two in-house designers at Meridian, a B2B SaaS company that grew from 40 employees to nearly 300 before its Series C. They built the brand from scratch, ran the marketing site through three full redesigns, and watched what happened when design agencies — even good ones — handed off work that had no relationship to the product, the sales process, or the investor narrative.

We went independent in 2022 specifically to be the studio we wished Meridian had hired. That means we know what a VP of Sales means when he says “the site doesn’t close deals.” We know the difference between a positioning refresh and an identity overhaul, and when you need one versus the other.

$28M+

raised by clients within 12 months of working with us

4 of 5

portfolio clients raised follow-on funding post-engagement

10–14

weeks from kickoff to launch, full identity + site

Marcus Leal

Creative Director

Priya Okonkwo

Strategy Director

Sam Koh

Senior Designer

Dani Reyes

WordPress Developer

Olu Fashola

Project Coordinator

Marcus Leal

Creative Director

Priya Okonkwo

Strategy Director

Sam Koh

Senior Designer

Dani Reyes

WordPress Developer

Olu Fashola

Project Coordinator

A disciplined process.
No surprises on your calendar.

Every engagement follows the same sequence. You’ll know what’s coming, what we need from you, and when decisions are required — before a single design begins.

Typically 10–14 weeks from kickoff to launch

01

15 mins

Marcus or Priya joins — not both. We’re testing for one thing: does the timing make sense for you to do this properly? We end every call with a clear next step or a clear reason why it’s not the right moment. Proposal within 48 hours if it is.

02

1-2 weeks

Deep dive into your product, customers, competitive landscape, and go-to-market. We interview your sales team, read your win/loss notes, and talk to customers where we can. The output is a positioning brief that drives every creative decision.

03

1–2 weeks

Two distinct creative directions — not variations, actual alternatives. We present the rationale behind each, you choose one, we refine. One round of revisions is included; additional rounds are billed at our day rate.

04

3-4 weeks

Full brand system delivery — primary mark, colour, type, secondary elements, and brand guidelines. Simultaneously: wireframes and full-fidelity Figma designs for your marketing site. Everything built to a shared strategic foundation.

05

1–2 weeks

WordPress / Kadence build with Calendly, HubSpot, and Rank Math integrated. UAT period, pre-launch checklist, and a 30-day warranty window post-launch for bug fixes at no additional cost.

Work that performs after it launches.

Conductor — Real Estate Operations

Full identity + site, 2023

$28M+

Raised post-engagement

Collectively, across our five main portfolio clients in the 12 months following launch.

34%

Conversion lift for Vell

Free-trial CTA conversion rate increase in the first 60 days post-launch.

4 / 5

Follow-on funding rate

Portfolio clients who raised a follow-on round within 12 months of working with us.

90+

Lighthouse score, every build

Performance floor on mobile across all Lighthouse categories. Non-negotiable.

Outcomes worth talking about.

  • $4.2M Seed Round ↑

    “We interviewed four agencies. Waypoint was the only one that had an opinion about our product before the second call. That’s when we knew.”
    Daniel Reeves
    VP Operations, Conductor

  • 34% Conversion Lift ↑

    “The site launched six weeks before our Series A close. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Investors kept mentioning it in diligence calls — completely unprompted.”
    Amara Singh
    CEO & Co-founder, Hatch

  • Series A Pre-Brand ↑

    “I used to spend the first 30 minutes of every morning reconstructing what got decided the day before. That’s just gone now. Acta routes everything to the right place before I’ve had coffee.”
    Kwame Osei
    Head of Growth, Vell

What we actually think

When they say “the site doesn’t close deals”

PROCESS · 5 min read

By Marcus Leal, Creative Director

Why your Series A brand is already behind

BRAND STRATEGY · 8 min read

By Priya Okonkwo, Strategy Director