When my oldest son was little, our nights often ended the same way—reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff before bed. It was his favorite, and we didn’t just read it—we performed it, complete with voices for each goat and, of course, the mean, ugly troll. When he was two or three, we visited a petting zoo in town, and he found a little stuffed goat that he, fittingly, named Gruffy.
Around that same time, as my little side business was starting to take shape, I needed a name. Between the story we read every night and that stuffed goat in his arms, it just clicked—and the rest? Well, the rest is history.
But branding isn’t just about a name. It’s about telling a story that feels like you. And as much as we’ve spent the past decade helping other businesses find and refine their voice, doing the same for ourselves has been a journey all its own. Sometimes, telling your own story is the hardest job of all.
The Road to Rebranding
GruffyGoat started with a simple mission: help small businesses build websites that didn’t break the bank. We saw agencies charging eye-watering prices for work we knew we could deliver more affordably—and we wanted to be the trusted partner that business owners could count on long after their site went live.
For a while, that vision guided us well. We grew. We took on more projects. We expanded our team. But somewhere along the way, we started running a little too fast on the hamster wheel, churning out websites without stopping to ask if we were still headed in the direction we wanted to go. Growth can be a powerful thing, but not when it happens at the cost of clarity.
I won’t sugarcoat it—the past 2 years have been full of transitional changes. My business partner and I amicably parted ways. I had to make difficult staffing decisions to realign GruffyGoat with what I wanted it to be. And in the middle of all of it, I realized our brand—our identity—wasn’t quite right anymore. It had become too sterile, too safe, too disconnected from the heart of what we set out to do.
We weren’t just building websites—we were supposed to be long-term partners, the team our clients could count on so they could focus on what mattered most. But somewhere along the way, we lost sight of that. We got caught up in churning out projects, moving fast, and checking boxes instead of staying true to what made GruffyGoat different in the first place.
So why didn’t our own brand reflect that?
Bringing the Brand to Life
The decision to rebrand wasn’t about chasing trends or keeping up with competitors—it was about getting back to who we are. I’ve always loved the storybook aesthetic, that sense of character and warmth that draws you in. I knew that’s what I wanted for GruffyGoat, but I also knew we were too close to our own product to see it clearly.
So, for the first time, we stepped into the client’s shoes.
We brought in an outside designer—someone whose work already aligned with the vision I had in my head but couldn’t quite articulate. And let me tell you, being on the other side of the creative process? Eye-opening.
The first few iterations weren’t quite right. Having those honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversations—saying, I love this, but it’s not us—wasn’t easy. As designers, we know how much heart goes into creative work. We feel the pain of every revision. But we also know that getting it right is worth the extra time, the extra investment, the extra revisions.
And then, finally, we landed on it.
A brand that felt like home. A brand that told our story. A brand that was us.
A New Website That Feels Like Us
If our old brand and site were minimal and forgettable, our new one is anything but. It’s fun. It’s personable. It’s approachable. It doesn’t try to impress the wrong audience or chase trends that don’t fit. It’s designed to speak directly to the kinds of businesses we love working with—small business owners who need a tech partner they can trust, creative agencies who need a reliable white-label team, and companies who want more than a transactional website build.
Most importantly, it’s not sterile.
For too long, the website was functional but lacked personality. This redesign brings it to life—it’s an experience, not just a page on the internet.
What’s Next for GruffyGoat?
Rebranding doesn’t mean the journey is over—it means we’ve found our footing again. And that’s a good place to be.
We’re not trying to grow for growth’s sake. We’re not chasing the biggest clients or the flashiest projects. What we are doing is doubling down on what we love: supporting small businesses and creative agencies, building long-term relationships, and making sure the people who work with us feel like they’ve found a team who truly gets them.
And that’s what this new brand is about.
A story that’s still unfolding, a journey that’s far from over, and a reminder that sometimes, the best thing you can do is come back to the heart of why you started it all in the first place.
Welcome to the new GruffyGoat. We can’t wait for you to be part of the story.
