BFS Apparel
Madeline Hall—also known as the Buffalo Food Slut—is on a mission to help people improve their relationship with food and their bodies. She healed her own disease with a healthy diet and an exercise regimen. Today, she sells activewear designed to help others do the same. Along the way, Madeline—a former personal chef—fell in love with Buffalo’s amazing restaurants and showcases them on her website and social media.
When Madeline reached out to me, she’d long been selling apparel via her Instagram profile, where she’d built an audience of more than 5,000 hyper-engaged followers. The question everyone asked? “Do you have a website?” She figured it was time to launch a proper e-commerce website and a blog so she could spotlight all of the things that mattered most. The catch? She wanted something she could easily update herself. Easy as Sunday morning.
I was proud to give her the web presence she deserved.
Kind Words
“Working with Kristen Johnson was an absolute pleasure. I tried to build the website myself and it just wasn’t coming out how I wanted. I phoned my advisor at the Small Business Development Center at Buffalo State College asking for help and she was like, “I have the woman for you!”
After that, it couldn’t have been any easier. Mind you, this was all during the hot stages of COVID and everything was locked down. I was able to Zoom with Kristen and she took the time to get to know me and my background. She asked questions about the business, how it started, what is your style, what are your favorite colors, etc. We talked for over an hour. After that, we emailed back and forth. She would send me emails with bullet points for me to finish. At first, I was moving super fast. We could have had it done in two weeks. But I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was. She worked with me on my pace, until I was ready for the launch.
After launching my website, I found things I wanted to change or add and she helped me the whole way. When I was fully finished, she taught me how to do everything in case I wanted to change things around. I was so nervous about understanding my e-commerce and inventory, but it was super easy!
I can’t tell you how amazing it felt to launch my website! Though Kristen built my website, I was a huge part of the process and it was my ideas coming to life. She has so much energy and passion for what she is doing. Man, I wish I could be a computer whiz. Not only is she a computer whiz but she knew the vibe and even how I wanted my words to come out.
Working with local small business owners at the end of the day is always rewarding. I wasn’t just a number, I was a person who she cared about and wanted to help be successful.
Thank you so much Kristen, you truly have so much passion for what you’re doing and it shows!”
The web design process
Because Madeline was starting from scratch, I began our work not in Squarespace, but on a piece of paper. I sketched out a storyboard for her website, indicating text, photos, icons, buttons, and even how her products and their categories would be referenced on her homepage. I divided each page on her site into sections like “services” or “about” to help us frame the narrative. Then, I created a digital document that I shared with Madeline so we could begin writing her website’s copy and product descriptions. Once I optimized the copy for search engines and it met with her approval, I began design work in Squarespace to bring her vision to life.
It was important that Madeline’s homepage showcase her best-selling products and give shoppers an easy way of accessing product categories like Tops, Bottoms, and Accessories. But we also needed to call attention to her mission, her focus on wellness, the Buffalo restaurants she so adores, and the colorful Instagram profile that launched it all.
