Meet Janet Hoover and Stefani Harris of The Essential Website

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janet Hoover and Stefani Harris.

Janet and Stefani, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Our story is fun and adventuresome (at least we think so)! We “met” virtually in an online web development course and became quick friends. That course enabled us to start our own businesses, and we, of course, remained friends, helped each other with our individual businesses, bounced ideas off each other, and more.

After a while (about 3 years), we decided to join forces (because two brains are better than one, right?) and voilà! The Essential Website was born. Now, here’s the fun part…

We started a business together (one of us in Fort Worth and the other in Houston) and had never met in person! Yes, we’d had plenty of Skype sessions, calls, and had worked “together” for quite a while, so we had a great working and personal relationship. We decided to finally meet and brain-storm – no, not in Fort Worth or Houston, but in Paris (France that is). That was almost two years ago now, and it’s been magical ever since!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Being in business for yourself is amazing, scary, stressful, and wonderful. When you have a partner to share the load, it’s great…but it also brings a new set of challenges. Like figuring out who’s responsible for what, learning to let go (when you’re used to doing it all), worrying about how to pay two people instead of one, etc. If you find a partner as dedicated as you are, has the same goals, is positive, and fun (yes, that should be a requirement) – you’re golden! If you’re not happy or clash with your business partner, that will cause problems (in all areas). Us meeting, our personalities, and how the stars aligned for us worked out beautifully.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Essential Website – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The Essential Website is all about working with small businesses that are ready to grow. We design and develop professional, functional, work-the-way-it-should websites. What we do is pretty darn amazing (if we may say so) because not only do we provide our clients with the best tools for their online home, we make sure they are set up for success by showing them how to navigate their new site with personalized tutorials as well as access to our Clients Only website full of even more tutorials and other helpful resources. Security and optimization (think SEO, load time, etc.) is something else we’re passionate about. Each website we create has all of what we consider to be “the essentials,” and each one is customized to our client’s needs and brand. Our clients put their biz in our hands, and we take that very seriously. We’re proud of every project and our clients love us because we take care of every detail, making the whole process easy and fun!

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We’ve got exciting things in the works! Things like a new service that is specifically for animal rescues and veterinarian clinics (If you know us, you know we LOVE animals. In fact, we’ve adopted 6 dogs between the two of us.) and a Website in a Week service for businesses with small budgets or those that need a simple, professional website – and fast. We also have a few other surprises you should be on the lookout for. A girl can’t tell all her secrets at once!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theessentialwebsite.com
• Email: info@theessentialwebsite.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialwebsite/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theessentialwebsite/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShineAndThrive

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.