How it all started – Welcome to the DGR Communications blog
The germ of the idea that would become DGR Communications started back in early 2006 when David (my husband and partner in this business) and I were still living in England. We both had successful careers working in advertising and web design agencies in the Bristol area, but we had been working towards a change of lifestyle and a change of location for a few years, culminating in the plan to move to the US.
In 2006 it all started coming together. We sold our house and started giving away most of our possessions, and in July that year David (after a 2 year wait!) finally got his Green Card. I’m American by birth, via Argentina and England, (sorry…long story) so I didn’t need a visa. After Dave’s visa was approved we quit our jobs the very next day, then enjoyed numerous leaving parties before leaving England’s shores for the last time in mid August. We spent a wonderful couple of months traveling around the world before we landed in Phoenix, Arizona to start our new life in October 2006.
Once we settled in, our thoughts returned to work; what are we going to do? Remember that the main reason for us moving to Phoenix was to change our lifestyles, to be able to spend more time with each other and have more freedom in the workplace. We also realized very quickly that we were going to have lots of family and friends visiting, so we needed the flexibility to spend time with them.
We put our heads together and came up with a plan. Together we have over 25 years experience in marketing, having specialized in branding, copywriting and website strategy & development. Knowing that small business are “big” in America, much more so than the UK, we felt that we could apply our particular knowledge and expertise to helping small businesses improve their communications and develop their brands. We decided early that working for ourselves would also give us the freedom to dictate our own work/life balance.
So DGR Communications was born in late December 2006 at a dining table in a small rented apartment in Ahwatukee, AZ. Just over 3 years on, we still work from home but we’ve moved into our own house with a bigger office with 2 desks (the dining table is still downstairs!) and 2 laptops, but the plan remains the same. David specializes in branding and copywriting and I design, build and develop websites for small and medium size businesses. My background in digital brand strategy allows me to look at things slightly differently to other web designers. So in between regular visits from family and friends from overseas, we somehow find the time to work with small businesses, do freelance work for digital, design and marketing agencies and occasionally, very occasionally, sneak the odd day off together to get out and enjoy everything the lovely state of Arizona has to offer.
If you are interested in knowing more about us, or you need our help then please contact us. We would love to help you develop your business.