Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan and Kimberly Habbyshaw.
Ryan and Kimberly, please share your story with us.
Our story starts at an ad agency in Boston. Arnold Worldwide, where Kimberly and I worked together as a brand experience producer and designer team. We designed, executed, and managed trade shows and branded events for the Arnold client list at the time which included Progressive Insurance, thetruth.com, Ocean Spray, Southern Comfort, and Carnival Cruise lines to name a few. We were in our early 20’s and having a blast. After 6 years of learning from some extremely talented people, we parted ways with Arnold and headed out on different paths.
I to IDEO Cambridge and Kimberly to Jack Morton. I pursued my interests in product design and Kimberly followed her passion for event planning. The real turning point in life was during a project I was working on for IDEO from 2012-2014. The project was focused on designing and developing a life planning toolkit for 25-35-year-olds. It was such a relevant project because we were in the age bracket and starting to more seriously plan our lives together. This project was a life-changer because it forced us to research life goals and make a plan.
The plan we developed involved taking some big risks before the age of 35. Once the project came to an end we both left our agency jobs and here we are… 4 years later with a retail shop, wholesale line, and design studio with over 30 clients. The hardest part was naming our business but we landed on a word that constantly reminds us why we started it all in the first place. Loyal. Loyalty is what got us where we are today. Loyal is a passion project and what it has become is a result of what we love to do. We love making things, We love helping clients solve challenges, and we love being part of a neighborhood community.
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?
It has been surprisingly smooth at times and expectedly turbulent at others. We have learned to adapt to the ebbs and flows of an independent business. Some days are high highs and some are low lows. As long as you’re working hard and staying focused and true to yourself the outcome will be the best it can be. One thing we find ourselves talking about more than we’d like is the impact the internet is having on our local Main Street communities.
Kim and I are both very active in the Union Square community and often discuss the impact large internet-based companies are having in our neighborhoods. Retailers are disappearing, family-owned businesses are shutting their doors after years of service, and those locations are remaining vacant due to yearly increases in storefront rents. Yes, with these new challenges there are some new innovative ideas popping up around town and we love them, but it’s important as community members to support the things we love so they can continue to grow.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with LOYAL – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Loyal is a design company with two main components: ‘Loyal Supply’ which consists of retail and wholesale product sales and ‘Loyal Union’ which is our product design and branding studio. Loyal Supply (opened in 2014) specializes in well-designed goods of all types – some designed and made by ourselves and some made by designers we respect and admire. As designers, we often come across products that are so well executed we just want to tell the world about them.
Loyal Supply is our way of highlighting and supporting the international, national, and local design community. We offer products that fit in your pocket along with full office furnishing solutions. We also offer a growing collection of Loyal brand letterpress products that are designed and manufactured on site. This year we are focused on growing our line of stationery products to include notebooks and a variety of calendars. The supply company is a key component of our design ecosystem and acts as a showroom for our design aesthetic and capabilities and an open door to our local Somerville community.
Loyal Union (opened 2016) is a design studio that specializes in building brand experiences through visual identity systems, communications, art direction, packaging, wayfinding systems and modular architectures. We work to build long-term relationships with clients and help them apply their brand to all types of environments and media. Our client list includes local breweries, national distributors, restaurants, coworking spaces, and incubators in and around the Boston area. This portion of Loyal is the fastest growing part of our business. We recently expanded the studio to a loft building just a short walk from our Union Square storefront.
It has been an exciting 4 years since we started Loyal. It’s amazing to see it grow year after year and fun to think about where we might end up. We are trying to do things a little different than the traditional design studio. Yes, it’s a lot of work but we do it because we love it. Two posters come to mind that we sell in the shop – One reads… ‘All Work & All Play’ by Chris Chew and the other ‘Humans Being Human Beings’ by Zak Jensen. They are both local designers that understand what it means to be loyal to your passions and do what you love. Their anecdotes have become part of the DNA of the shop and studio.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Being married and working together is the ultimate partnership. Kim and I continuously support and guide each other through the curves that life and business. We are lucky to have each other on this adventure. We are also lucky to have our family and friends as our cheerleaders and guides along the way.
There have been some very special people that have come into our lives and have taught us everything we know. The person who guided Ryan through his junior design years at Arnold, the person that introduced us, the people that believed in us and encouraged us to leave our full-time jobs and start designing full time, and the person who listened to all of our wild ideas and helped us write our story.
So many people have guided us and encouraged us to follow our passions and follow our hearts. More recently, the customers of our shop have been a huge part of our growth. The customers that get to know our story, share it with others and bring new people to our shop have had the biggest impact on Loyal. The people who walk through our door and the conversations we have are one of the best parts about having an open door to the public.
Contact Info:
- Address: 21A Union Square Somerville, MA 02143
- Website: loyalsupplyco.com
- Phone: (617) 996-6930
- Email: info@loyalsupplyco.com
- Instagram: loyalsupplyco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loyalsupplyco/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/loyalsco
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/loyal-supply-somerville
Image Credit:
Jane Messinger, Joyelle West, Tony Luong
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager 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.
