EP #33 The Creative Mind Behind Stratifi

Ever wondered what it takes to build a brand that truly stands out? Marie Linne von Berg, owner of Stratifi Creative, pulls back the curtain on effective brand building and website development in this engaging conversation.

Marie shares her unexpected path to entrepreneurship after graduating from VCU with degrees in creative and strategic advertising. When faced with a job offer that would relegate her passion to a "side responsibility," she boldly declined—unknowingly setting herself on the path to founding a thriving marketing agency. What started as a simple contract agreement blossomed into Stratifi Creative, now a six-person team helping businesses communicate their value through bold brands and effective websites.

With refreshing honesty, Marie challenges the marketing industry's tendency to oversimplify complex processes into "three simple steps." She explains that truly effective websites require an integrated approach addressing user experience, design, functionality, performance, and SEO simultaneously—insights that set her apart from competitors who might promise quick fixes.

Beyond business talk, we explore Marie's deep roots in Fredericksburg, where she enjoys boating on Potomac Creek with family and strolling through the historic downtown with her husband. Her balance between work and outdoor activities reveals the lifestyle that keeps her creativity flowing. Marie also shares powerful advice about the transformative impact of mentorship, crediting various mentors for both practical guidance and emotional support throughout her entrepreneurial journey.

What truly distinguishes Marie is her partnership approach to client relationships. Rather than pushing services through aggressive sales tactics, she focuses on building meaningful connections and creating win-win scenarios. She even encourages new entrepreneurs to embrace DIY marketing until they're ready for professional help—a philosophy that prioritizes client success over immediate profit.

Ready to communicate your value more effectively or simply curious about marketing strategies that actually work? Connect with Marie at stratificreative.com or follow @StratifiCreative on Facebook and Instagram for regular marketing insights from this local business leader who's redefining success on her own terms.

Marie Linne von Berg

Stratifi Creative

[e-mail]

stratificreative.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back to another episode of the
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of
our favorite local brands.
I'm excited to introduce you tomy guest today.
She is the owner of StratifiCreative, Marie .
Welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having me, Dori.
Well, I'm excited to learn moreabout you and more about your

(00:36):
business.
So let's start off there.
Can you share with thelisteners a little bit about
your business?

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Yeah, Stratifi Creative helps business owners
communicate their value throughbold brands and effective
websites.
We provide full servicemarketing services in addition
to those, but we really believethat having a strong foundation
of a effective website and abrand that stands out is key to

(01:05):
helping businesses grow and taketheir business to the next
level.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Amazing.
And you are based in theFredericksburg area, right, I am
Amazing, amazing.
So Fredericksburg is lucky tohave you build their websites.
It's important to make a goodfirst impression, so tell me how
did you get into this?
Talk to us a little bit aboutyour journey.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah, so I initially I graduated from VCU and I
double majored in creativeadvertising and strategic
advertising and I got out of.
I got an internship just likeyour typical new grad, and the
internship offered me a fulltime position.

(01:52):
But they had said that designand marketing would be my side
responsibility and I had gone toschool for this.
I wanted to do this.
I love helping businesses withtheir marketing and their brands
and their websites, so I didn'twant it to be my side
responsibility.
So I ended up saying no, um,and after that they offered me a

(02:12):
contract.
So at that point in time I hadno idea that I was starting my
business.
I just took the contract, um,and had the thought of I wonder
if there's other businesses outthere that don't need a full
time marketing person or don'tneed a full time web person or
any of these areas, and if Icould help them fill that gap.

(02:34):
So I saw a need there andstarted looking for other
companies and organizations inthat opportunity or in that
situation and kind of discoveredthis opportunity and it's grown
into what it is today.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
That's amazing, congratulations.
I love that story and the bestbusinesses are created kind of
by accident and based on a need,so I love that so much.
So tell me, are there any mythsor misconceptions that you hear
about your industry or aboutyour business?

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, I was talking about it today in my networking
group.
You hear a lot of marketerstalk about three simple steps
whether it's three simple stepsto succeed on social media, or
three simple steps to have abold website, or three simple
steps and I find myselffrustrated with that messaging

(03:35):
because and I think otherbusiness owners do it's not that
simple.
So sometimes dumbing it downessentially to three steps, yes,
that's really helpful forclarity of message and it's
really helpful to not feeloverwhelmed, but then the
reality is is when you get intoit, there is a lot more that

(03:56):
goes in, for example, to aneffective website.
You have the user experience,you have the design, you have
the functionality, you have theperformance, you have the SEO,
and if you're only focusing onone of those areas, then it's
not going to produce the resultyou're expecting.
So I think the myth for me isthat it's not as easy as three

(04:19):
simple steps.
It's a lot more complicatedthat and it takes an integrated
strategy to really get the mosteffective result.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you for clearing that upfor us.
Nothing is as simple as threeeasy steps All right?

Speaker 3 (04:32):
well, don't we all wish?
That's why those are soengaging and appealing.
When you hear that is becausewe all want it to be as simple
as three.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Simple steps Right.
In reality, it's just a hook.
Yeah, true, yep, so clearly youare very busy with your
business, so tell us, whenyou're not working with your
clients and creating amazingwebsites, what are you doing for
fun?

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, so I am from Fredericksburg and my whole
family is here, so we do a lotof things all together and very
close with them.
My parents live out on PotomacCreek and so there is boating
and skiing and jet skiinginvolved, so we love to be

(05:19):
outside.
My husband and I we like tohike, really do anything
outdoors.
I sit at a desk all week.
My goal when I'm not working isto not be at a desk and be
outside and be active and move,and we're both into fitness as
well.
So the gym and all that kind ofstuff just be out and about

(05:40):
Nice.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Nice, fernersburg, really is such a great place to
live.
It's we've got, you know, lakesand and trails and good
restaurants and everything thatdowntown has to offer, but we're
also so close to the beach fora day trip and the mountains,
and then dc for all the culture.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
So, yeah, we live downtown, so uh walking around,
then DC for all the culture.
So yeah, we live downtown, sowalking around and looking at
all the historic homes is afavorite activity, as well as
going downtown and getting foodand really just walking around
and being outdoors.
The dog park's great.
People there probably know meand my dog, so yeah, Nice, nice.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
I love that.
So I imagine there were somehurdles.
All businesses have hurdleswhen they are first getting up
and running.
So my next question is what issome advice that you wish
someone had told you, or advicethat you would give a new
entrepreneur?

Speaker 3 (06:45):
advice that you would give a new entrepreneur.
Yeah, I think this is probablyadvice I was given and that has
been really beneficial to me.
So something I would share isthat mentorship is huge Having
people in your life that havebeen there and done that and can
really speak into how you'regrowing, how to structure things
, best practices.
I've had various mentorsthroughout the years, whether

(07:09):
they lean more on the personalside, more on my specific
industry or just business ingeneral, and I think all of them
have played a key role ofproviding helpful advice but
also being an encouragement,because running a business can
be frustrating and you can feellike you're stuck and you feel

(07:30):
like you're beating your headagainst the wall and not getting
the results you want.
So, having somebody that canspeak to hey, I've been in that
position and I've been there andthis is how we moved past that,
or this is how I failed thismany times until I finally
succeeded and just to be able toencourage you and drive you
along.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
That is such great advice.
I love that.
It's so important to networkwith people and be surround
yourself with people who havekind of had the success that you
are looking for, but at thesame time being the mentor for
others who have not yet reachedyour level.

(08:11):
So it's really great advice.
I love that, yeah for sure.
So what is something that youwish the listeners knew about?
Stratifi Creative.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
Let's see.
I would say that I am not asalesperson.
I love what I do.
In regards to being creative,that's been something that I've
been doing since I was reallyyoung.
I love running a team.

(08:45):
I have a team of six and theyare all amazing, so talented,
and I love my clients thoseclients that I have long term
relationships with and theyrefer other business to us and
we're able to help them in theirbusiness.
They come to us with questions,just like problem solving or or

(09:06):
business questions, and we'reable to consult with them, and
so it's really that partnership,and so the thing that I would
pull out of there is I don'tthat the typical, traditional,
like sales is not my vibe.
I'm more about a partnership anda relationship building and

(09:27):
really developing that win-winsituation when we work with
people.
So if somebody doesn't need ourservices and is not interested,
that's fine.
And another thing is whenbusinesses, entrepreneurs, are
starting out, a lot of timesthey might not be able to afford

(09:49):
an agency and sometimes theyhave to be DIY and scrappy and
do it themselves, and I'm allabout empowering that.
Go for it.
Build your own site, build yourown brand and then, when you
get to the place where you'relike I really need this to take
me to the next level and I feellike what I've put together.

(10:10):
It worked for me in thebeginning, but now it's not
serving me because it's notreflecting the caliber and the
level I'm at.
That's when we love to partnerwith clients.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
I love that.
I love that that's reallypowerful and I love that you
approach everything with awin-win attitude, so that's
awesome.
Yeah, so if the listeners wantto connect with you, learn more
from you or work with you,where's the best place to find
you?

Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, so stratificreative.
com is our website, but we arealso active on social media, so
you can find us on Facebook andInstagram at Stratifi Creative,
and we'd love to connect withyou and just follow along to
hear my journey and or pick upsome marketing tips along the

(11:02):
way.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
Amazing.
Marie, thank you so much forjoining me on the podcast today
and sharing Stratifi Creativewith us.
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast in sharingStratifi Creative with us.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
Thanks for having me.
Thank you for listening to theFredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tofxbgneighborspodcast.
com.
That's fxbgneighborspodcast.
com, or call 540-534-4618.