Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Burnett and Jeff Breazeale.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
After meeting in college at TCU, we went our separate ways to start our careers at established agencies, but after only a few short years Jeff and I both had the drive to do our own thing. We’d stayed in touch after graduation and with little more than a computer and a two folding tables from Sam’s Club, we set up shop in the back room of my house in Dallas. From the start, we focused our business on doing great creative work for clients we’d enjoy collaborating with. In hindsight, we didn’t have much of a plan, but we worked our tails off on every project we could get our hands on, and our client list steadily grew.
20 years later we have a full-time staff of 18 and work for clients across the country to help them create strategic brand messages and dynamic creative materials. In 2016 we added a third partner to the business. Zach Hale is an incredibly talented young designer who will help bring Matchbox into the next 20 years. It’s really the same formula it’s always been, just on a larger scale. We’ve kept Matchbox to a small very tight-knit group and can’t imagine having it any other way.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Is running any small business a smooth road?? Challenging employees, financial pitfalls, unreasonable and demanding clients, economic ups and downs, and the daily challenges of maintaining a healthy partnership and growing a business, every day is a new challenge. I think that’s part of what we love about it though… We would be bored if every day was the same.
Some challenges are tougher to get through than others, but at the end of the day working as a partnership has always provided someone to lean on or run ideas by. Jeff and I are very different, and we tend to solve problems in different ways. Sometimes that in itself can be our biggest struggle, but I think in the big picture it’s forced us to make thoughtful decisions that have kept us going this long.
Please tell us about The Matchbox Studio.
Matchbox is a creative shop that helps businesses develop strong brands. From brand strategy to identity design to marketing and digital, we build brands from the ground up to reach their target markets and drive sales. Our reputation in our industry is as a high-end creative talent. Our work is recognized regularly in national and international awards and publications, but we’re most proud of the relationships we’ve developed with our clients and employees.
Many of our clients have been around a long time, some as long as a decade or more. Right now the client that we’re having the most fun with is the State Fair of Texas. We design everything for the Fair, from the brand and identity to the cups, t-shirts, trash cans, and a thousand other pieces. It’s a collaborative partnership that has allowed us to do our best work, and have a ton of fun doing it.
At the end of the day though none of this would be possible without the amazing team we’ve put together. We’ve worked incredibly hard to create a culture that nurtures not only great design but also provides the freedom and camaraderie to make working at Matchbox fun and rewarding. It’s a cliche, but Matchbox really is a family. We like each other, we look out for each other, and we enjoy coming into work every day. Of all we’ve accomplished, our culture may be the thing we’re most proud of.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing. It’s been a great ride. We’re proud of the work we’ve done and the relationships we’ve made along the way. There have been bumps and bruises, but we wouldn’t have gotten where we are without learning from them and growing.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3013 Canton Street Dallas, Texas 75226
- Website: https://matchboxstudio.com/
- Phone: 214-939-3100
- Email: liz@matchboxstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thematchboxstudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matchboxstudio/
Image Credit:
Steven Visneau
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