Kelsey Gilbert-Kreiling
Founder of Week of the Website / Squarespace Designer / Author & Speaker
Chicago, IL
www.weekofthewebsite.com
instagram @weekofthewebsite
YouTube
Twitter
LinkedIn
Q What do you do?
“Hi! I’m Kelsey- I’m the co-founder of Week of the Website, the most innovative, trusted and loved Squarespace agency for creatives.”
I work with a team of incredible designers and developers to help bring our client's website ambitions to life. I co-host a podcast called No Surprises with my partner Mallory where we chat about agency life, interview other creatives, and laugh a lot. I lead our agency partnership efforts and business development, as well as heading up our development team.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I grew up in Las Vegas and moved to Illinois to go to school at Knox College, where I expected to get a degree in International Relations. After a film studies class led to a photography class, and photography led me to studio art, I got a job in the costume department. I fell in love with making and transferred to Columbia College Chicago, where I got my BFA in fashion design. After a brief stint designing wedding gowns and running an online fashion publication, I moved into the world of digital, where I encountered way fewer pins on the floor but the same amount of creative enthusiasm. I worked in social media for a digital agency for a short time, and eventually started building websites for restaurants and bars, first on Tumblr and then on Squarespace.
My business partner Mallory came along in 2014. She and I teamed up to create Week of the Website with the goal of developing a web design process that was efficient, fun, and satisfying for all involved. Nine years later, we get to work with incredible clients accomplishing great things and collaborate with our brilliant team building gorgeous and usable websites.
Though our team is mostly remote, this year, Mallory, her dog Dexter, and I moved WOTW out of our homes and into an office in the gorgeous Wicker park, where we balance collaborative work with coffee. So much coffee.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
It's massively important to me that our clients feel important, understood, cared for, and empowered. It's equally important to me that our team feels the same way- I think our clients leave our engagements feeling like they have been a part of a true collaboration and their business has a new tool to grow and succeed. In addition to fantastic design, our team brings so much honesty, clarity, and generosity to their client work. We're wildly lucky to have them.
Q What are you working on right now?
I'm writing a book about Squarespace for a technical publisher to be published Fall 2023. We're beginning to record a new season of our podcast No Surprises nosurprisespodcast.com , growing our agency partnerships and launching our new hosting and maintenance program with Squarespace Enterprise.
Q What’s your style?
I get so excited about bright, fun websites. Other than our internal projects and agency website www.weekofthewebsite.com, I don't get to design as much as I used to, but www.rick-martinez.com is one of my favorite launches over the last few years.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
I love reading, writing and drawing animals for my son. Someday, I'd love to write children's books!
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Time - Every day I leave my office with an unfinished to-do list. I wish I could add a few hours to my day to knock all of it out, but it seems like my tasks are more like boomerangs. Each one begets more!
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
I would love to have someone just follow me around to tidy up- hang clothes, put away dishes, match up baby socks.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I had started working with collaborators earlier instead of stubbornly insisting on doing everything myself. Collaborating with other designers and project managers has become one of the most meaningful parts of my career.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Growth! We're almost 9 years in as an agency and at a really interesting point of change. I'd love to hear what years 10-15 are like for a business like ours. I would love to chat with women who have grown a business as they've raised a person, and I'd really love to ask the folks at Late July Snacks why their corn chip bags are so hard to open.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
We love to build Squarespace websites for creatives, agencies, and folks who are ready to go to the next level.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
One of my favorite collaborations is with Amber from AFMKTG. We've worked on some incredible projects together like alphayachts.com and hensonranch.comOur teams are really compatible and I feel like we all get really excited when we work together!
I also am fully obsessed with building websites for authors who have books coming out! Jessica Knoll jessicaknoll.com and Terry McDonell www.terrymcdonell.org are two that are really special. I love reading so much, and am writing a book as we speak, so anytime I get to work with clients in the publishing space, it's extra exciting.
Q What is your rate?
WOTW Projects begin at $5900 with engagement lengths from 1 - 4 weeks.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
To learn more about Week of the Website, head to our digital home at www.weekofthewebsite.com. If you want to chat about a project or collaboration, kelsey@weekofthewebsite.com is the best way to reach me!
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Taylor Elyse Morrison is doing incredible things at Inner Workout. She has a book released in 2023 that is fantastic!
I was super lucky to take a letterpress printing class in college with Jullian Barthold and Meg Lewis. Both of them do such brilliant and happy work, it always inspires me!
My husband Zack Gilbert is an indie maker and fractional CTO, bringing startups to life. He's one of the most creative people I've ever met, and even though we work in totally different technical spaces, his work is incredible.
My team of devs- Susan Lee, Justin Mabee, Shelly Morse, Jeannine Gallagher and Alex Lucke come up with the coolest ideas on the daily. And of course, my creative partner and collaborator Mallory Ulaszek, the ultimate multi-hyphenate, constantly inspires me.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
I come up with the best ideas in the 20 minutes between my natural wake up time and my son's first "Oh Wow" of the day.
This member profile was originally published in April 2023