If you've followed IronGlove Studio® over the past two years, you might have noticed we've been relatively quiet on social media and our blog. While our digital presence may have been lacking, behind the scenes we've been undergoing a profound transformation that I'm excited to share with you. Some of these changes were not easy, and not everyone would be happy in the end, but we're not here to please everyone. Over the past seven years, we've transformed from a one-person band to a trademarked company with employees and intellectual property. How did we get here?

Part of this transformation was moving from "just another web development agency" to a hybrid software firm with proprietary processes to stay competitive. While that sounds good at face value, some days it feels like we're completely starting over in the first year, as being a one-trick pony (only websites, mostly custom WordPress) won't be sustainable over time. We needed to transcend this technology and level up, which we're now doing. This transformation hasn't been easy, but the questions raised over the past several years have continuously been, "Why aren't we doing all this custom work for the business community? Why just for private clients?" That's a good question, and it deserves a good answer, which I initially didn't have, and it came out as: "I'm not quite sure." That wasn't a good enough explanation for our stakeholders.

The Power of Pause

Sometimes, the most significant growth happens in moments of quiet reflection. In early 2023, we made a conscious decision to step back and re-evaluate not just what we do but how we could do it better in terms of sustainability, cost-effectiveness for customers, and unique solutions to everyday business problems while still maintaining professional standards in our field. As a founder, I found myself at a crossroads: continue with business as usual and risk eventual failure, or take the time to truly understand our strengths and reimagine our future. We chose the latter.

Reflecting on our journey, we became deeply engrossed in our projects, which unintentionally narrowed our vision of future opportunities. It was a founder's trap, something that small businesses struggle with daily: too busy to market and innovate, yet can't afford not to. While a repeatable service model has benefits, it doesn't ensure sustained success. Many businesses learned this lesson the hard way during the COVID-19 pandemic: having cash in the register or the bank no longer equates to being stable. To thrive in today's dynamic landscape, we must remain flexible and open-minded about change and adapt to new trends and technologies.

The transition is complicated because the market is flooded with questionable offers and fraudulent services from local and offshore players struggling with their own operations. This situation complicates our efforts and those of other legitimate firms like ours by harming customers through lies, manipulation, and poor service offerings. As a result, any new companies entering the market must prove themselves tenfold. I understood that we needed to diversify and elevate ourselves above the noise to be seen and heard. I realized that this would be a difficult and painful process.

Building from Within

This period of introspection led to some bold decisions last year, and not everyone working with us from the start made the cut. We realized that we needed to build a stronger foundation to deliver the exceptional service our clients deserve. Implementing these changes meant bringing more talent in-house and creating a team that truly understands and responds to our client's needs in real-time. The old method of using local and offshore contractors was no longer viable for this journey, as while they were good with their craft, many weren't fully invested in the outcomes for our clients as I had hoped. The solution was clear: employees were needed, and contractors would only be used for specialized skills and internal support.

Today, I'm proud to say that we've assembled a predominantly U.S.-based team, including a dedicated designer, developer, digital marketing specialist, and account executive working closely under one roof. I still develop with the team to support internal and external efforts while providing DevOps support. While we maintain strategic partnerships with specialized contractors for specific technologies like .NET and related enterprise solutions, our core services are now delivered by a tight-knit local team that fully embodies our values and vision. I'm now able to provide tools, training, support, and growth opportunities to my team and help them be the best professional versions of themselves.

Evolving with Purpose

Our transformation wasn't just about team structure, though. We've spent countless hours researching and implementing alternative technology stacks that allow us to deliver high-quality solutions at more accessible price points across small businesses through enterprise solutions. This adaptation isn't just about staying competitive—it's about making professional digital services accessible to small and medium-sized companies that have traditionally been priced out of the market. Our greatest weakness was the inability to work on small projects under $5,000 due to technology stacks, flexibility concerns, margins, and responsive timing. With an in-house core team, those concerns are no longer a reality, and we're now in a place to deliver those services, starting this year.

We've also expanded our capabilities to include comprehensive digital marketing services, all managed in-house. The investment in this infrastructure has been quite heavy, with self-hosted in-house server solutions to monitor, report, and analyze data. These integrations mean we can offer more cohesive solutions, ensuring your development and marketing strategies work perfectly. We've canceled 90% of our cloud services with third parties and brought those services in-house, including custom software solutions for our team. Additionally, we're working on custom AI solutions to assist with data analysis and reporting so that our small team can be more efficient.

Additionally, we started strategically purging clients in 2023 into 2024 to better align with our mission, values, and goals. Some clients were not a good fit for us, while others were abusive and manipulative. Our existing team was becoming fatigued with the constant messaging, erratic behavior, verbal abuse, lack of responsibility for decision-making, and echo-chamber politics that frankly make them unworkable for most firms. So when opportunities presented themselves to terminate these types of relationships, I was more than willing to let them go in favor of realigning our agency to attract those who value a local team with data-driven solutions. I'll expand upon these lessons learned in later articles.

A New Chapter

Perhaps the most visible symbol of our transformation is our new website, which is launching alongside this post. This wasn't just a redesign but a complete reimagining of how we present ourselves and serve our clients. Every pixel, every word, and every feature has been carefully crafted to reflect our evolved identity and enhanced capabilities as a small, local team. We dropped WordPress in favor of a more custom PHP, JavaScript, and React solution to give us the flexibility to have enhanced messaging and complete control over SEO. We started planning this in mid-2023 and have spent tens of thousands of dollars on reviewing what's worked, what hasn't, how we can best utilize our strengths, and how to improve upon our weaknesses while balancing the right messaging to attract those who are most compatible with our enhanced offerings.

More importantly, we've planned numerous software products for the SMB (small and medium-sized businesses) community and a few enterprise solutions focusing on real-world problems. We're also working on realistic AI integrations for some of those products to enhance their ability to be a force multiplier for smaller companies. Our focus is on data sovereignty, self-hosting, ease of use, and realistic price points for those who need access to this technology. Leveraging our state and federal certifications and our history of working on NGO and government projects places us in a great position to develop solutions for local, county, and state agencies while maintaining complete data privacy for the public.

Looking Forward

As we emerge from this period of quiet planning and growth, we're stepping forward with renewed purpose and a clear vision for the future. Our transformation hasn't just been about building a stronger team or improving our technology stack—it's about creating a foundation for lasting partnerships with businesses that share our values and commitment to excellence.

We're now positioned to deliver:

  • Solutions that truly understand Pacific Northwest business culture and challenges
  • Enterprise-level capabilities scaled perfectly for SMB needs
  • Data-driven strategies backed by our in-house expertise
  • Custom AI and software solutions that respect data sovereignty
  • A genuine commitment to your business's long-term success

The silence of the past two years has given way to a clearer and more purposeful voice. You'll hear from us regularly through case studies, insights, and stories that demonstrate not just what we do but why it matters for businesses like yours.

Join Us on the Journey

There's something powerful about working with a team that truly understands your challenges, values your vision, and has the expertise to bring it to life. If you're ready to explore how our evolved capabilities and dedicated local team can support your business goals, let's start a conversation.

To our existing clients who've been part of this journey, thank you for your patience and trust. To those considering partnering with us, we look forward to showing you what intentional, focused growth looks like.

The future of digital solutions doesn't have to be about choosing between quality and affordability or between technical excellence and personal service. At IronGlove Studio®, we've built something different—something better. Let's create something extraordinary together for 2025 and beyond.