Intro +History
Way back when, before we were ever dating or married or ever knew what would become of this life (cuz we totally know now, aha) there was this rockin’ photography business in the area that really knew their stuff.
Enter Char Photography.
Way back when, before Char Co. began their branding jazz, they were the best of the best in the photography world.
I was such a teeny-bopper fan girl, stalking the blog & dreaming of the day I could get them as my photographer.
I remember meeting her for the first time when she took my sister Jana’s wedding photos & thinking she was the real deal.
Fast-forward half a dozen year + some more and you got us, The Chris & Claude Co. A small 2 year old company, with lots of vision + passion + dreams + an amazing team working for us, but needing someone to walk alongside us and channel it.
These last two years have been amazing. To all of you crazies who supported us, rooted for us & hired us, Thank You. It’s been a mighty fun ride. But along with the fun ride & beautiful spaces & striking photos, it has been a boatload of work.
Learning & Training & Building a Business while raising a family while being on Borough + Church + Ministry Committee is not for the faint of heart. Chris is amazing at building things – building teams, building family, building businesses, building buildings 😉
So when it comes to committees, he’s on a good handful, and does a mighty good job at them too. We want to do things well, but felt that our business was being stretched thin & we weren’t able to put into words where we wanted it to go. So while we were building our business, and having a high old time of it, we needed someone to walk alongside us & give us direction.
We knew we wanted to be Creative Space Designers, we knew we were passionate about city-wide transformation, we knew we wanted to create inspiring spaces for everyday living, but weren’t quite sure how to get there. Lancaster County has some pretty amazing construction companies, and although they are fabulous & greatly needed, we weren’t sure we wanted to just be another construction company in the mix.So how could we set ourselves apart & get where we wanted to go?
Enter Char Company.
Last Fall, we started playing around with the idea of having our company Branded. Branding is the process of figuring out who you are, where you are headed, who you are wanting to work for, what you are wanting to give your client, and so much more. At it’s essence, branding is Who We Are.
So we threw this whole Branding Idea around a few times & decided ‘naw’… Threw it around a few more times and decided ‘yaw’…
We knew we trusted Char Co. & decided to go for it (teally, really, a good decision & no regrets.) Meetings and workbooks and emailing-back-and-forth and more meetings and the photo shoot and the beautiful spaces being documented and everything finally in writing and in our heads and in our hearts.
They called the process ‘Story’ – aka Branding. but we know it was so much more than that. It was like mini-business-counseling sessions. Kinda like we ordered branding & the restaurant brought out STORY with a side of business coaching.
It’s amazing, it really is, what happens when we sit and process and answer questions that we probably could have asked ourselves, but would never have thought to ask.
Bless this Season of Life’s Heart, running a business with tiny toddlers is not the most ideal for sitting & processing & breathing deeply all day. AKA. We really needed Char Co.Annndd now. For the good stuff!
WHY do we do what we do?
We want people to thrive in their everyday lives and believe life is an experience that’s meant to be lived to the fullest.
When people break out of the ordinary, continue to inspire and be inspired, and enjoy community with friends, and family, the everyday becomes extraordinary.
It is our passion to participate in changing communities and restoring cities by transforming homes and designing creative spaces.
We BELIEVE
We believe that spaces should be a reflection of the owner. Where we live, work, and play must tell our personal stories.
We believe in Restoration – taking what was considered undesirable & broken, and transforming it to something beautiful and purposeful.
We believe in putting the customer first. By investing in and caring about each client, we seek to serve with excellence.
We believe that places we work, live, and play should be experiential, allowing us to enjoy the everyday.
Above all else, we believe in sharing the hope found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the one who has made this whole thing possible and to Him we give all the glory.
With love, Claude
