Winning Ideas from Winning Women
with Carol Nix

When Carol Nix was 8 years old, she won a Christmas card contest sponsored by a local radio station in her hometown near Asheville, NC. Little did she know that this would be her first stepping stone on the way to a lifelong career as a graphic designer and greeting card developer.

To say that Nix has been busy since her “radio days” would be an understatement—to say the least. She built the award-winning design and interactive media firm of NIXdesign and has a branding software suite [LivingSuite™] in the works, two retail products on the shelves, and a newly-signed contract with one of the largest greeting card distributors in the country.

The genesis of NIXdesign came in 1992, when Nix opened a loft studio in downtown Raleigh and began her quest to provide local and regional companies with nationally award-winning design solutions. The firm grew to over $1 million in billings and eventually averaged a staff count of approximately 10 employees. In 2003, when the economy was taking its historic downturn, businesses were forced to reconsider their bottom line. In response to clients’ budget cuts and advertising cutbacks, Nix strategically restructured the studio to weather the storm. However, she also began to reevaluate her desire to run a company full time.

Carol Nix

“At critical points in life, everyone considers not only where they are but where they want to be,” said Nix. “I began to realize that I still had aspirations and dreams that extended beyond the everyday management of a thriving business. It was that realization that led me to where I am today.”

Today, Nix still operates NIXdesign—but has revised its business model so that it now serves as a marketing consulting firm. She works directly with her clients to develop branding, corporate communications, Web sites, and interactive media. Additionally, the firm recently expanded into corporate video development, which includes scripting, designing, and producing cinematic video productions for conferences, tradeshows, and presentations.

“I have a passion for working with videography, motion graphics, and music,” explained Nix. “We have produced some cutting-edge video work as a sales tool for these corporations as well as for the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. There’s nothing that really sells a business like handing a potential client a DVD about your company.”

Although Nix is the only full-time employee of NIXdesign, she is able to manage large-scale projects by working on a contract basis with a carefully chosen team of technical experts and copywriters. This provides her clients with a dedicated team that is customized for each project and allows NIXdesign to tailor its solutions to clients much more efficiently and productively.

“A firm utilizes its employee base, which, by necessity, is limited,” explained Nix. “I have a team of amazing technical experts and writers who can dedicate themselves to each project and are fully compatible with the specific needs of our clients.” The reduced overhead also keeps costs down and allows NIXdesign to deliver outstanding quality for its clients, which range from those in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries to legal, retail, and technology.

The new structure of NIXdesign has also allowed Nix to develop another “dream” business that allows her the opportunity to design greeting cards and specialty products. She formed a new company in 2004 and named it Fountaincards—a corporate and personal greeting card company. The name “fountain” is derived from several sources:

it is a family name, it references the “flowing of creative ideas” and it is a metaphor for fountain pens, which make up a large part of Nix’s collection of classic and modern writing instruments.

Fountaincards provides an alternative to communicating with clients, coworkers, employees, and colleagues: custom-designed greeting cards. “I identified a very distinct need for corporate greetings ¬that allowed my clients to touch there customers, coworkers, and colleagues with something more than e-mail or corporate stationery,” said Nix. “Sometimes humor or a compelling message is much more personal and demonstrates that you have given a lot of thought to your selection, which is a big shift from our standard telecommunications today. Saying ‘thank you for your business’ with a custom-designed card is not a commodity. It’s a ‘soft’ business communication mode, essentially.”

Nix has just released another corporate card line aimed at women in business, which is a strong target market nationally. The line is called “Workin’Gal” and provides both humorous and timely greetings for this critical market niche. “I’ve gotten a lot of response from this line already,” said Nix. “This is a great market because there are not very many greeting card options available that address this audience specifically. Professional women often communicate by sending a quick note or the appropriately-chosen card. It reflects on them as business people and offers an alternative way to stay in touch with key contacts.”

Nix has just signed with Constance Kay Cards in New York City to distribute her various lines of cards nationally and internationally. “This is not only a vote of confidence in the work, it is a huge distribution opportunity that doesn’t come along every day,” explained Nix. “This will be a great partnership for Fountaincards. They have the experience and vision to be able to handle the sales side of the business, which allows me to focus on keeping the work fresh and on target. I look forward to seeing the growth of Fountaincards as a result.”

Nix has come a long way since her award-winning Christmas card entry. And, it looks like her trek is not only continuing—but also picking up steam. “A creative person looks at everything with an eye toward conception, development, and design,” said Nix. “It’s just our nature to want to improve things and make the world a little better.”