[RW]: While I knew Firebelly to be thoughtful and rigorous, I was surprised by the speed and sharpness, the overall professionalism, of the process.

[JP]: The process was way more involved than anticipated, but it gave me a better perspective on the amount of work that goes into design. For a newbie to the design process, the hard and quick deadlines were a challenge. I feel really prepared now if I ever need to go through it again. Firebelly did a great job of pushing me along through it. I have nothing but love and respect for the team and results that we got.

[RW]: Do your homework about your organization. Know who you are and what you do, even if you don't have the perfect way to say or show it.

[JP]: Start early and work on getting some deliverables midway through the year. The more that can get accomplished before December, the better. If website redesign is a part of it, aim for October.

[JP]: Firebelly was a great partner, especially for somebody that was thrown in partway through. All in all, everyone was super nice and whomever gets the next grant round is incredibly fortunate. It's tough, but with Firebelly at the helm, it’s an extremely rewarding process.

We had a core team of staff involved in steering the project. Part of their task was to engage the entire organization to give feedback and input on certain decisions.

I expected to get a complete organizational makeover, and we did! We got an “outside” that actually looked like and better represented our insides, and who we are as an organization today.

You know how your organization works, who you will need to involve, and to what degree. Figure that part out beforehand and have a procedure and plan in place so that you’re not figuring that out at the same time.