When Leslie Brown and Erin Crawford co-founded Ontogeny Advertising & Design in September 2009, they shared a yearning to accomplish more. By nurturing that seed with countless phone calls and miles driven from client to client, Brown and Crawford have seen their virtual agency turn 3 years old.

Ontogeny’s virtual model means Brown and Crawford are the only full-time employees. This helps to minimize costs while enabling them to work with a vast network of specialists in copy writing, print, design and web development. This mix of professionals has helped Ontogeny assemble a team for any size job for any size business.

It’s a model that has found an increasingly prominent place in the industry.

“It’s growing as you see bigger firms lay off employees and then hire them back as independent contractors,” said Brown, a former U.S. Marine who counts about 10 freelancers in Ontogeny’s stable. “We can put together a team to fit whatever our clients need.”

Both women draw from personal experience having grown up in families who founded numerous businesses over the years.

“We both come from entrepreneurial, hard-working families,” said Crawford, who worked in her grandmother’s antique shop as a girl, then later in her mother’s coffee shop before earning her own degree in graphic design from Winona (Minn.) State.

Contact us to learn more about how Ontogeny can help market your business.