Expert consulting for brands with heart
We help entrepreneurs, founders and business owners build brands that matter and scale with intention.
Brands come to us for
Brand Strategy
Great brands lead with heart.
We help brands find their voice, sharpen their message, share their story and craft identities that truly connect. By crystallizing your brand essence and establishing strategic pillars, we create a foundation that informs every growth strategy that follows.
Product + Merchandising
Product should tell your brand’s story.
We blend creative instinct with commercial rigor, balancing what customers want with what the business needs. The result is product that feels unmistakably yours and earns its place in the market.
Strategic Planning
Big ideas need a plan behind them.
We build financial models, architect long-range strategies, identify growth opportunities and map the investments needed to get there. By connecting vision to financial strategy, we chart a path for growth that stays true to what the brand stands for.
Our Process: Brand Therapy
We know that business founders, entrepreneurs, and owners have big hearts and even bigger dreams. Our work is aimed at empowering your success, whether crafting a brand from its inception or injecting new vitality into an existing business. We do this through a process we call Brand Therapy.
Brand Therapy is a thoughtful, strategic deep dive designed to help uncover your brand’s true essence, refine your messaging, and align your vision with your future. It’s part strategy, part creative exploration, and part problem solving—bringing clarity, confidence, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Whether you're evolving, pivoting, or strengthening your brand, we’re here to help you find your voice, stand out, and connect in a way that feels authentic and meaningful.
Who we work with
About our Founder
Hi, I'm Katie.
Some call me their brand therapist. Some call me a friend. Some call me a catalyst. Whatever the word for it, I am obsessed with helping bring a brand’s heart alive.
I started It's A Long Story because I believe every great brand begins with a clear, unique point of view—one that comes straight from its founder. With a background in leadership roles at brands like Banana Republic, Pottery Barn, Gap, and Piperlime, I have spent years shaping product strategies and bringing big ideas to life. But my true passion lies in helping small brands, founders, and entrepreneurs carve out their own space in the market.
I know firsthand that a brand is so much more than just products—it’s a story, a perspective, and a feeling. My approach blends strategic insight with creative intuition to help founders clarify their vision, refine their messaging, and build brands that not only stand out but truly resonate. Nothing excites me more than working alongside passionate entrepreneurs, turning bold ideas into something tangible, impactful, and deeply meaningful.