Alumni

Visual Communications Grad Launches Dreamhouse Brand Design and Marketing Firm

Visual Communications Graduate Mallory Phillips recently launched Dreamhouse, a Cleveland, Ohio-based firm offering digital marketing, brand design, events, concept design, and sponsorship and fundraising strategy services. We recently chatted with Mallory, who is working with not one, but two different FIDM Grads in her new role as entrepreneur. 

What led you to start Dreamhouse? I started planning events in high school. My love for this kind of work drastically shaped my career aspirations during my first few quarters at FIDM. Once I got to LA from Florida, I started to volunteer at every possible event: Grammy's parties, LA Fashion Week, album release events, fashion shows...anything. I worked hard, stayed late, and asked lots of questions of the people in charge. This started to feed my hungry appetite for on-the-job, industry experience. I interned for Biz Bash award-winning event planner, Kimberly Seeherman, and later took a part-time job with a prominent marketing company in Sherman Oaks doing corporate social media and event marketing... all of this while being a full time student. 

Upon graduating, I was given the opportunity to coordinate a fundraiser for Women's Campaign International in Beverly Hills. This event featured performances by John Legend, and had a star-studded red carpet of models, actors, and sports stars. This brought my own career to a whole new level. I worked with two incredible women for the next few years, doing events (primarily for non-profit organizations) in Beverly Hills until I moved to the magical land of Cleveland, Ohio in 2015, and started Dreamhouse. This was my opportunity to take all of the creative and business skills I'd learned during my 4.5 years in Los Angeles and build something of my own. In November 2015, I started to construct my Dreamhouse. 

We hear you are working with a fellow FIDM Graduate at Dreamhouse. I recently brought on Katherine Payment (pictured above, right) to head up our social media marketing department. Katherine was a PD Student at FIDM and majored in Visual Communications. Katherine and I met in Survey of VCOM and became friends in the subsequent quarters and have spent lots of time dreaming up this company and making it happen over the past few years. She graduated in 2013 and has since beat cancer (she was diagnosed with leukemia a few weeks after graduating FIDM), interning in social media marketing, and working freelance doing design and marketing. She is a sassy lady with a big heart and I'm so grateful to have her as a friend and on my team.

And you are also representing another FIDM graduate as well, right? Courtney McCrone is the owner of 23 Skidoo. This spunky ball of sparkles and eyeliner graduated in 2013, from the Fashion Design program. She and I met on the first day of school at FIDM and become fast friends. We used to have "business meetings" in Downtown LA where we'd jot down all the notes and sketches and plan out our dreams. Upon graduation, she moved back to Cleveland to start her fashion brand. I joined her for the launch to handle the marketing and design of her pop-up shop brand activation. This is when we started working together on a professional level and also when I started to fall in love with Cleveland. Now I do marketing consulting for her brand and also help to develop her social media presence. 

What other types of clients do you work with? I have a variety of clients in different industries all over the country. A few recent clients include FOUNT Leather Goods, a hand-made, American-made accessory company, Six Shooter Coffee, an artisanal coffee roaster and café in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as an orthodontist in Alaska, a cleaning company in Florida, a video production company that works with non-profits, and a furniture designer who makes items from reclaimed materials. We've learned to be pretty versatile as we work with so many different kinds of businesses. We believe that everything a brand produces should be done excellently, communicate clearly and intentionally, let the consumer “get to know” them better, and add value to the consumer's life. This creates lasting relationships. This impacts lives. This builds dreams. 

The thing that motivates me about my work is this: I love to see people develop their dreams, and start to believe that they can really happen. I have the distinct honor of being able to help people accomplish and succeed at what they set out to do. It's a privilege that daily fills me with gratitude and inspires me to strive harder at impacting the lives of the people with whom I work.

Categories:  Visual Communication Alumni Careers