How Stephanie Audette Connor Built a Brand Design Studio That Awakens the Soul of Small Businesses

Meet Stephanie Audette Connor, founder and brand architect of awen&co, a graphic design collective based in Worcester County, Massachusetts that has helped over 260 small businesses build brands that are bold, strategic, and impossible to ignore. Stephanie didn't set out to be a business owner. She got fired from a newspaper job, took an admin role to keep the lights on, and spent three years quietly building her design studio on the side before walking away for good in 2015. By the time she made the leap, the runway was already built.

Today, awen&co is a team of four designers offering brand identity, web design, graphic design, murals, and more across New England and beyond. Stephanie brings equal parts creative intuition and spiritual grounding to every project, and the result is branding that doesn't just look good but actually means something. Her clients aren't looking for a generic logo. They want their brand to stop people in their tracks, and that is exactly what she delivers.

Please share a brief introduction and your business:

Brand designer, creative director, working mom, and honestly, a little bit witchy, that's me, Stephanie Audette Connor! I'm based in Worcester County, Massachusetts, where I live with my husband, our five-year-old boy, and a calendar that somehow always stays full.

When I'm not obsessing over typography and color palettes, you can find me hiking a trail, dancing like nobody's watching, or deep-diving into a human design chart. I'm into astrology, mediumship, and all things that exist a little beyond the veil. And honestly? That spiritual side isn't separate from my work. It's the secret ingredient. The way I connect with a client's brand, uncover its essence, and bring it to life is pure intuition. It's awen.

Speaking of which, that's the name of my studio. awen & co is a brand-focused graphic design collective based in Worcester County. Since 2015, we've helped over 260 small businesses across New England build brands that are bold, strategic, and impossible to ignore. We do brand identity, web design, graphic design, murals, and more, with a team of four incredibly talented designers who each bring their own magic to the table.

We're not just making things look pretty. We're awakening the soul of your brand and unleashing it on the world. And we have a whole lot of fun doing it.

Are you a mamaprenista?

My best advice is simple: stay present wherever you are. When you are working, work. When you are with your family, be with your family. It sounds easy but it takes real discipline, especially when you love your business as much as I do.

The mom's guilt is real and I do not think it ever fully goes away. But when my son knows that when he walks through that door he has all of me, that matters more than anything.

Take us back to when you launched? What was your marketing strategy?

Marketing strategy? I wish I could tell you I had one. I didn't even have a business plan. I just knew I had a skill, I needed clients, and the only way to get them was to get out of my comfort zone and start talking to people.

So that's what I did. I networked. A lot. I showed up to events, introduced myself, and put myself out there in ways that did not come naturally to me.

And sometimes I got a little bold about it. I remember approaching a local spa and essentially telling them that their branding didn't make sense. Just said it. Honestly had no idea how that was going to land. She hired me on the spot.

That spa has become one of my favorite success stories. When we started working together they had three massage therapists and a small space. Now they have their own larger location and a team of over twenty. Watching that kind of growth in a client's business, knowing your work played a role in it, that's why I do what I do.

So no, nothing went according to plan. Mostly because there was no plan. But it worked.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Honestly? No. I never had some grand vision of being a business owner. I mean, okay, I did have a lemonade stand as a kid and I sold bracelets to anyone who would buy them. But that felt like play, not a plan.

What I did know, pretty early on, was that I really didn't like being told what to do. I chafed against it. Working for other people, inside other people's systems and processes and creative decisions... it just never sat right with me. I had opinions. I had ideas. And I wanted the freedom to actually use them.

So entrepreneurship wasn't the goal. Freedom was. The business was just the vehicle that got me there. 

What accomplishments are you the most proud of to date in your business?

There have been some really exciting milestones along the way. Being asked to be featured on Design Rush for one of our designs was a full pinch-me moment. To have your work recognized on that kind of platform, it validated everything I had been working toward.

 But honestly? That's not what I'm most proud of.

What I'm most proud of is my team. Building a group of talented, passionate designers who not only do incredible work together but actually genuinely like each other. These women spend time together outside of work. They show up for each other. There's a real sense of camaraderie that I never take for granted.

And I work hard to protect that. I'm intentional about making sure we prioritize our health and our downtime, because I've seen what burnout does, and that is not the culture I want to build. I want awen&co to be a place where creativity thrives because the people behind it are actually taken care of.

You can have all the accolades in the world, but if the people around you aren't happy and healthy, what's the point? That's the thing I'll always be most proud of.

What is one thing you wish you had known when you started your Entreprenista journey?

Honestly I cannot answer this one yet because I just signed up and I am so new here! Ask me again in a year. What I can tell you is that I am genuinely excited to dive in, start connecting, and see where this community takes me.

When hiring, what is your go-to interview question?

If you had all the money in the world, and money wasn't an issue, what would a day in your life look like?

What did you do before starting your own business?

I went to Massachusetts College of Art for graphic design, which I loved. After graduating, I did the expected thing and worked for a few small local agencies, learning the craft, figuring out the industry. Then I landed at a newspaper, which honestly felt stable at the time. Until I got fired. And not for anything I did. The newspaper industry was just falling apart, and I was collateral damage.

Getting fired was humiliating in the moment, but looking back? Best thing that ever happened to me. It was the kick I needed to stop building someone else's dream and start building my own.

I wasn't reckless about it though. I took an admin job at a financial advisor's office to keep the lights on, and for three years I worked that job by day while quietly building my design business on the side, networking, taking on clients, laying the foundation. By the time I left, it wasn't a leap of faith. I had already built the runway.

That's the origin story of what is now awen & co.

What made you take the leap to start your own business?

I did the 'right thing' after graduating with my BFA from MassArt — got the agency job, then another one, then another. And honestly? It was soul-crushing. I kept finding myself coloring inside other people's lines, watching my creativity get watered down by committee opinions and client chains I had no say in. I knew I was capable of so much more.

So I stopped waiting for permission. I started taking on my own clients, built up enough momentum to walk away from the day job, and in 2015 I opened my own studio. Best decision I ever made. Since then I've worked with over 260 businesses helping founders who, like me, refused to be put in a box to build brands that actually mean something. That solo studio transitioned to awen&co, a graphic design collective, and we're just getting started.

Do you have any recent wins?

Yes! I am so excited about this one. One of our package designs was submitted to the SCA Coffee Design Awards, and I just have to take a moment to celebrate that because it is a big deal.

The SCA, the Specialty Coffee Association, is incredibly well respected in the industry, and to have our work recognized at that level is something the whole team is proud of. Package design is such a specific and challenging discipline. You have a small canvas, and you have to work hard. It has to be beautiful, communicate the brand, and stand out on a shelf all at the same time.

We poured a lot of love into that project, and having it submitted to a competition of that caliber feels like a real milestone for awen&co.

What's one app on your phone that you cannot live without?

The Insight Meditation app, hands down. As someone who loves her work a little too much and has a hard time shutting her brain off, this app has been a game changer for me. It helps me unwind at the end of the day and actually fall asleep at night. For any fellow overthinkers out there, I highly recommend it.

Who are your customers?

My customers are small to medium sized business owners who are done playing small. They're the visionary founders, the passionate makers, the service providers who have been pouring their heart into their work and know that their brand isn't doing them justice. They're ready to show up in a way that actually matches their ambition.

Most of my clients are across New England, but honestly, great brands don't have geography. I've worked with over 260 businesses at this point — salons, theaters, sailing clubs, wellness brands, food and beverage companies — the industries vary, but the common thread is always the same: they believe in what they're building, and they want the world to feel that too.

These aren't people who want a generic logo slapped together in Canva. They want a design that's intentional, strategic, and deeply rooted in who they are. They want their brand to stop people in their tracks. Those are my people.

What's your top productivity tip?

Honestly? Rest. That's my number one productivity tip and I know it sounds counterintuitive, but hear me out.

For a long time I was obsessed with how much I could get done in a day. I wore busyness like a badge of honor. And what I found is that when I am depleted, my creativity suffers, my decision making suffers, everything suffers. Rest is not the opposite of productivity. It is part of it. Once I stopped fighting that and started actually honoring my need for downtime, the quality of my work went up significantly.

Beyond that, I am a big believer in staying organized, prioritizing tasks so you are always working on what actually matters, and having daily check-ins with my team. That last one is huge. A quick touchpoint every day keeps everyone aligned, cuts down on back and forth, and means nothing falls through the cracks.

So the short version: rest well, stay organized, and communicate with your people.

What's your favorite business tool?

Milanote, without a doubt. As a creative person, I think visually, so traditional project management tools that are just lists and text have never really worked for me. Milanote is like Pinterest on steroids. It lets us organize projects, build moodboards, and lay everything out visually in a way that actually makes sense to a design brain. It keeps our whole team on the same page and makes the creative process so much more intuitive. Once you try it you will never go back to a boring spreadsheet. (Don't tell my husband I said that, he's an accountant!)

What's your approach to work-life balance?

I would love to tell you I have this all figured out. I really would. But the honest answer is I am not sure I ever will, and I have made peace with that.

I love what I do. I genuinely love it. And when you love your work it is really hard to put it down. I am always thinking about a client project or a new idea or the next thing for the business.

What I have figured out is where my non-negotiable is. When my son gets home from school, that time belongs to him. I close the laptop, I put the phone down, and I am just his mom. Everything else can wait.

I think work life balance looks different for everyone. For me it is less about a perfect split and more about being fully present wherever I am. 

How do you avoid burn-out?

Rest and play. That's it. That's the answer.

I have been really intentional about building both into the culture of awen&co. Once a month we take a full day off as a team to do something fun, restful, or rejuvenating together. And every Friday we have a creative hour where everyone works on personal projects, no client work, no deadlines, just pure creative expression for the joy of it.

When you run a creative business your imagination is your most valuable asset. You cannot pour from an empty cup, so we fill ours up on purpose.

What advice do you have for aspiring Entreprenistas?

Just keep going. Seriously. There will be moments where it feels hard and slow and like maybe you made a wrong turn somewhere. Keep going anyway.

And never stop connecting. This one is huge. Some of my best clients and opportunities have come from the most unexpected conversations. You never know who you are talking to or who they know. The person you meet at a networking event, the woman you chat with in line for coffee, they might just have the perfect referral for you waiting in their back pocket.

Show up, stay consistent, and keep putting yourself out there. The right people will find you."

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Stephanie's story is a reminder that the best businesses are often born not from a grand plan, but from the courage to stop coloring inside other people's lines. We are so excited to have her and the awen&co team in the Entreprenista community and cannot wait to see what they build next.

Want to connect with founders like Stephanie? Visit Entreprenista League to explore our community and discover more stories of women building businesses that truly matter.