— ABOUT / 001 —
15 years in marketing.
One studio of my own.
— hi, I'm Tessa.
— THE STORY —
From fashion houses to law firms
and back to where I started.
"I've worked across pretty much every industry you can think of — and somewhere along the way, I figured out that branding was the thing I actually wanted to be doing."
My background is a bit of a mixed bag. I studied fashion marketing at university (which I still recommend to anyone who'll listen), spent years working across creative industries — a global production music library where I was Head of Marketing & Content, fashion brands, music labels — and also some unexpected detours into corporate land (international law firms, insurance giants, the lot).
It sounds eclectic, and it is. But all of it taught me something useful: how brands work at every scale. How a £50m insurance firm thinks about its identity. How a music label talks to its audience. How a fashion brand builds a feeling. Different industries, same fundamentals.
After a decade and a half of building marketing strategies, rebranding companies, managing global teams, and writing every kind of press release imaginable — I started Studio 26 to do the part I genuinely love. Branding. Social media that actually feels considered. Email that reads like a person wrote it. And the chance to do it all on my own terms — for the kind of clients I've always wanted to work with.
If you're a small business or founder looking for someone who'll think properly about your brand (and won't disappear into 47 stakeholder meetings) — I'd love to hear what you're building.
— Tess x
— BACKGROUND —
15 years in marketing & brand.
Most recently Head of Marketing at a global production music library. Previously across fashion, law, and insurance.
— EDUCATION —
BA Fashion Marketing.
University of the Creative Arts, Kent. Plus a fashion promotions diploma from London College of Fashion.
— WORKING IN —
Adobe, Figma, Mailchimp.
Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premier Pro, MailerLite, Hootsuite, Squarespace. Tool-agnostic — I'll work with what fits.
— BASED IN —
Rayleigh, Essex, just outside London.
Working with clients globally. Mostly remote, with occasional in-person sessions in London.
— HOW I WORK —
A few principles.
Few clients, full attention.
After years of managing global teams and juggling 18 brands at once, I now work with a few clients at a time — on purpose. The work is better that way.
Strategy before aesthetics.
Pretty isn't a strategy. Every visual decision starts with a conversation about who you are and who you're for.
Quality over quantity.
Two strong directions, not forty-seven options. Three considered Instagram posts a week, not seven rushed ones.
Built to last.
Brand systems that work for years, not just months. Documented properly, considered carefully, and built to grow with you.
Honest, always.
I've been on the agency side and the in-house side. I know what good and bad looks like. If something isn't working, I'll say so. No theatre, no upselling.
Still reading?
In that case, we should probably talk. The next step is a 30-min call — relaxed, no preparation needed, and absolutely zero pressure.