---
title: "Kena Peterson: Bright Ideas Website Design"
date: "2021-07-07T09:04:41"
url: "https://www.godaddy.com/resources/skills/kena-peterson"
---
# Kena Peterson: Bright Ideas Website Design

*Kena Peterson operates [Bright Ideas Website Design](http://www.brightideaswebsitedesign.com), an agency based in Parker, CO that offers an array of services rooted in web design. Catch up with her on [Facebook](http://Facebook.com/BrightIdeasWebsiteDesign), [Instagram](http://Instagram.com/kenalou) and [LinkedIn](http://Linkedin.com/in/kena-peterson-b514b25).*

## The who:

**Given a business name is so central to a brand, we tend to put a lot of importance on it. How did you arrive at a name, and how do you feel about it now that you’ve been in business a while?**

I know how important naming your business can be — and I thought long and hard about what name would show my creative and fun side while still telling my audience what my business does. I liked the idea of using a light bulb and thought it conveyed creativity, excitement, lightheartedness, openness and more. The name “bright ideas” just seemed to fit!

**With some brands, location is a key component. Is there anything about the place you live and work that’s shaped your own brand?**

I didn’t really consider the location as a key component of the branding of my business because most of the work I do is for businesses located across the country. These businesses might not even know where Parker is located. For me, location didn’t shape my brand.

**How would you describe your professional experience and background?**

I graduated from college with a Technical Communications and Journalism degree. I worked in local government doing communications and public information for five years before I opened my own website design business.

![](https://www.godaddy.com/resources/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/banner.jpg)

Not only did I learn about writing, branding, public engagement, calls to action, graphic design, special event planning, video production and website design, I was able to take these skills and experience and use them to help my website clients and consistently build my business.

**Could you describe the scope of your operation?**

I’m a one-person website design company who loves working with small businesses. I help with branding and brainstorming and love working with the decision makers. I contract with local SEO professionals, video producers, photographers, social media experts and more to be able to offer my clients a full branding experience.

**Some entrepreneurs describe an*****aha!*****moment, the instant they decided it was time to take things into their own hands. Could you describe any of those moments you’ve had?**

I knew it was time to start my own business almost 15 years ago. I had one infant in daycare as was due with my second baby when I realized that I wanted to be able to experience my children’s “firsts.”

I also found out that having two children in daycare was going to be far too expensive. I no longer wanted to be confined to a traditional 9 to 5 job while daycare raised my children.

> I relied on what I had learned at my jobs and the relationships I had made within the community to make the idea of owning my own business a reality.

Now I can still be creative, work with professionals, grow as a business owner and still be a mom to my three children. It’s awesome to be able to dictate my own schedule and decide which jobs to take on.

## The what:

**What kind of projects do you prefer to work on?**

My favorite projects to work on are website redesigns and new website projects. I also enjoy branding/graphic design projects.

**Could you describe your typical client (if you have a typical client)?**

Small businesses with one or more owner/decision-makers. I especially enjoy working with nonprofits and arts-related businesses. Municipalities are also typical clients for me.

**Sometimes we’re in a position where it’s necessary to turn down projects. What do those situations look like for you, and how do you manage them?**

It used to be very difficult for me to turn down projects — but now I have more options. As I have grown my business, I am at a point where I don’t have to take every and all clients.

If the client is going to be too demanding or unrealistic, I try to find a work around or a different solution. If that doesn’t work, I usually send them to another person I recommend.

**Performance is always important, but sometimes we have to pay close attention to value as well. How do you position GoDaddy products and services for your clients?**

Performance and value in regards to web products is incredibly important to me. This is why I exclusively use GoDaddy hosting and domain services for all of my clients.

> I ALWAYS recommend GoDaddy for a variety of reasons including price, customer service, ease of use and availability.

I also use the updating software under GoDaddy Pro for every client. I find GoDaddy Pro to be incredibly valuable as it does backups, monitors uptime/downtime, updates plugins and more.

**Could you describe a project that you feel exemplifies you at your best?**

I really love working with nonprofit groups. One of my favorite projects is the website and branding work I recently did for the [Aurora Cultural Arts District](http://www.auroraculture.org).

![](https://www.godaddy.com/resources/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5D3_8823-1-200x300.jpg)

## The how:

**An obvious metric for measuring our own success is how much you got paid versus how much time it took. In your experience, what are the advantages and drawbacks here?**

When I look at whether a project was successful or not, I look at a few different things. Did the project go smoothly? How as the communication? Was the timeline followed? Did the client pay in a timely matter?

> If I can answer mostly “yes,” then I feel like it was successful.

While sometimes frustrating, I know that in the end, if my client is happy with their new website, the project was a success. Sometimes things take much longer than expected. I would say that most of the time, my ratio to time spent versus how much I got paid are pretty even.

**How does GoDaddy Pro fit into what you do? Could you recommend any ways to get the most value out of it — especially to someone just starting out?**

GoDaddy Pro is a game changer! It acts as a giant project manager, password keeper, updater, monitor and more. Having everything in one dashboard where I can monitor everything is amazing and so helpful.

> Before this service was available, one would have to login to each and every website individually and monitor through email.

If I received an email reminding me to update to the latest version of WordPress, I would have to manually login to each and every website I managed. GoDaddy Pro makes every day that I work better and more organized.

I would recommend logging in and adding each and every website to the dashboard and enjoy watching GoDaddy Pro take care of the details.

**Imagine you could travel back in a time machine to a point where you were like,*****Forget this. I’m done!*****What advice would you give yourself?**

I have had a few moments where I wonder “what am I doing? I should just quit!” I didn’t enjoy these moments but they did make me step back, take a deep breath and think about WHY I decided to get into business for myself.

> I could be ultimately creative. I could work when I wanted. I could spend time with my family….

Once I think about all the great reasons to own my own business, one cranky client becomes just a small bump in the road. There is also something incredibly special about your children seeing you work for yourself. I believe it gives them a sense of pride and teaches them the power of an entrepreneurial spirit.

**What’s your parting shot for people who want to be like you when they grow up?**

I would suggest surrounding yourself with people who have similar goals. I belong to a few different networking groups with other entrepreneurs and I find their support invaluable.

Learning from others who will likely run into the same hurdles or who have already jumped over those hurdles helps me grown as a business owner.