I didn’t set out to build an agency. I didn’t even know I was supposed to.
What I knew was this — I liked making things. I liked solving puzzles. I liked the feeling of turning chaos into something people could understand, appreciate, and use. I didn’t have a grand vision in the beginning. Just an old computer, curiosity, and a bit too much stubbornness.
Most people meet me today and think Arete Digital must have been this well-planned, step-by-step project with vision boards and business plans. Nope. Arete was born out of necessity, not strategy. Clients would come to me with websites they hated, brands that confused even them, or no online presence at all, and I found myself stepping in to help — first as a freelancer, then as something more.
The Early Days (aka What Was I Thinking?)
In the early days, Arete Digital wasn’t even called that yet. It was just me, bouncing between projects, saying “yes” to anything that would pay the bills. Church flyers. Party invitations. Random logo fixes. Anything.
But over time, the pattern became obvious. It wasn’t just about designing pretty things — clients were coming to me because they were overwhelmed.
- Founders who had spent every dime launching but still couldn’t get customers to trust their brand.
- Hotel owners who had good rooms and excellent service but couldn’t get bookings because their online presence looked like it was stuck in 2007.
- Fashion startups who needed to look like they belonged on runways but were working with peanut budgets.
These weren’t just design jobs. These were people with real businesses trying to survive — some trying to scale, some just trying not to shut down.
So I stopped calling myself “just” a designer. I started thinking like a partner. That’s when Arete Digital was truly born.
The Turning Point
As more projects came, so did the lessons.
Arete started to become less about design and more about direction. Less about making things look good and more about making sure they worked.
We stopped just taking briefs and started asking real questions:
- “What’s the actual problem you’re solving for your customer?”
- “Why should anyone trust you over the next option on Google?”
- “Do you even need a website right now, or do you just need to talk to people?”
It changed everything.
That shift is what shaped Arete Digital into what it is today. We don’t just build websites or slap logos on business cards. We help businesses figure out who they are, what they should be saying, and how to make people actually care.
How Arete Digital Has Helped Startups Over the Years
If you’ve worked with us — or heard about us from someone who did — you already know.
We’ve helped restaurants go from empty dining rooms to fully booked weekends.
We’ve helped hotels that were invisible online become destinations people actively search for.
We’ve helped fashion startups look like premium brands without spending premium budgets.
We’ve helped service businesses — plumbers, auto shops, contractors — go from struggling for leads to getting steady calls without running flashy ads.
But the real win? It’s not just the pretty portfolio pieces (even though we have plenty). It’s the businesses that didn’t shut down. It’s the founders who got to keep going, to keep building, to keep feeding their families and paying their staff — because we figured it out together.
Some clients who started out with us barely scraping by are now opening second locations. Others have grown their teams, raised funding, or built communities around their brands.
And the best part?
We didn’t do it by trying to make them look like tech startups or luxury brands if they weren’t. We just helped them show up as themselves — but sharper, clearer, and more confident.
What Makes Us Different?
I’ll be honest with you — Arete Digital is still not the biggest agency out there.
We don’t have floors of staff or venture capital breathing down our necks.
We’re small, and I like it that way.
Because that means when you work with us, you’re working with me. Not some account manager who doesn’t even know your name. Not an outsourced team that disappears when things go wrong.
You’re working with someone who knows what it’s like to be scrappy, to make every dollar count, to wonder if this month’s sales will cover next month’s rent.
I’ve been there. More times than I’d like to admit.
And that’s exactly why I care. Not just about your project, but about you making it. About your business actually working, not just looking good.
The Name
People always ask, “Why Arete?”
Arete is a Greek word that means “excellence, virtue, fulfilling one’s potential.”
That’s what I wanted — for myself and for the people I work with.
Not perfection. Not hype.
Just helping people build something excellent in their own way.
Today
Today, Arete Digital helps businesses all over — hotels, restaurants, shops, fashion brands, service businesses, you name it.
We’ve worked with solo founders who were at the edge of quitting, and we’ve worked with teams looking for that next level.
And every single time, the goal is the same:
Make it make sense.
Make it work.
Make it last.
That’s me.
That’s Arete Digital.
Not perfect, not flashy — just here to help you keep going.
