About us
Get to know a little bit about us and our business.
what we believe
You are your brand. You are your business. You have poured your heart and soul into it and it’s a reflection of you. As the face of your own business, you must show up with integrity, authenticity, and consistency.
We constantly evolve. No matter how specific we are when we set out, change is always ahead. That change shouldn’t be something that scares us or makes us nervous.
Greatness can be achieved. When women raise each other up, support, and praise each other, amazing things can happen. No comparing, no negative vibes, no drama. Just women coming together and doing good.
Many women building their own businesses spend hours and hours trying to find the right words to talk about their business but they just aren’t getting the message across to their audience. Define + Design Co. helps women building businesses create their business story and tell it to the right people in the right places through brand and social media coaching, helping them connect with their audience confidently and give their business the boost it deserves.
our business story
Define + Design Co is a brand and social media coaching business that helps our clients get clear on who they are, what they do, and how they communicate to their audience.
Established in 2018 by Melissa Macfarlane Heidmiller and Julia Walsh, we started off with a small idea that grew into something that we completely love. By bringing together what we each do best, we have been able to build a business with services that compliment each other, allowing us to provide our clients with a completely cohesive brand and communication experience when it comes to their marketing and social media needs.
Why do we work so well together? We’ve been friends since the third grade. We both love to laugh, and people tell us we’re both compassionate, caring, and have a way of just getting sh*t done without any hassle. We completely trust each other and couldn’t imagine being in this business with anyone else.
Define + Design Co is more than a side hustle that turned into a full time gig. For us, it’s a business that allows us to do the kinds of things we each love doing, and it’s a collaboration that comes from a similar set of values. We both want the same kinds of things out of life and support each other in our goals of getting there.
Friendship and family is a huge part of who we are. When you work with us, you’re not just working with a business. You’re working with friends who care about you – the person, not just your business. Because in our opinion, that’s the best way to do business.
Years of Friendship
Years in Business
Projects
Text Messages A Day
our life stories
About Melissa Macfarlane Heidmiller
Melissa brings with her over 10 years of experience in working with clients to help them identify strengths, value, and interests through her time in career coaching and consulting. She has helped hundreds of clients create positive and targeted brands to help them reach career goals. In 2018 she career coached herself, asking “What do I love best about my business?” and realized her passion for brand design in business. She then shifted her focus to supporting small business owners to help them better understand and communicate their value to assist in the development of brand strategy and communications. Melissa has previously been a published writer featured in newspapers across Southwestern Ontario.
Melissa lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her husband Mark, son Richard, and cat Betty. She’s living the laptop life in her home office which means a flexible schedule that allows for snuggles with her kiddo when needed, donuts, and 10am tea time.
Melissa’s areas of expertise: Brand Development + Management, Copywriting, WordPress Design, Content Planning + Strategy
About Julia Walsh
Julia has been in the design space for just over 10 years, where she has been able to leverage her both her creative talents and strategic planning skills. She began dabbling in social media for business in 2015 where she quickly learned the value of targeting and engaging audiences to drive sales. Her process-oriented approach to design transferred smoothly into social media management when she made a career leap of leaving her 9-5 role for setting up her own business, Jewel & Anchor. She loves working closely with clients to understand what their value is and what their target client motivators and needs are to create effective and easy social media strategy plans.
Julia lives in Barrie, Ontario with her husband Garret, two daughters Zoe and Sloan, and dog Brooklyn. Julia is everything you imagine a mompreneur to be: amazing at multitasking, able to switch from serious to fun in the blink of an eye, dependent on coffee, and full of kindness and love.
Julia’s areas of expertise: Social Media Strategy, Social Media Management, Content Planning + Strategy
Every business has a story.
What’s yours?