Features

Schipper Design changes name to Waltz Creative

Kathy Schipper and Beth Welch remain co-owners of the San Juan Bautista marketing company.
(Left to right) Director of Client Services Heidi Ash, Co-owner and managing partner Beth Welch and Creative Director Zack Shubkagel Rovella. Photo courtesy of Waltz Creative.
(Left to right) Director of Client Services Heidi Ash, Co-owner and managing partner Beth Welch and Creative Director Zack Shubkagel Rovella. Photo courtesy of Waltz Creative.

After more than a year of strategic planning, San Juan Bautista marketing company Schipper Design has rebranded itself and changed its name to Waltz Creative. The move comes with the retirement of Kathy Schipper.

Kathy Schipper. Photo courtesy of Waltz Creative.
Kathy Schipper. Photo courtesy of Waltz Creative.

“I think when someone who has started a company and the company is named after them, you carry a certain amount of responsibility, and the rest of the staff, obviously they’re dedicated to the business, but there’s kind of a stopping point,” Schipper said. 

Founding the company in 2004, Schipper has recently taken an advisory role. She said rebranding now is the appropriate thing to do, enabling the staff to carry the company forward.

Co-owner and managing partner Beth Welch said there has been a positive response to the new name from the community and its clients. Among those is Edith Ramirez from the city of Morgan hill who said “Bravo!!! Nicely done! Fresh, edgy and creative! Morgan Hill has thrived because of the support and leadership you provided our economic development efforts.” 

Waltz Creative held a virtual open house event on July 14 where they revealed the new name to its clients. Following the official name change on July 15, Schipper said she received more positive comments from the community and former clients and employees.

“It was like a reunion of so many different people,” Schipper said. 

What might be a sudden change to the outside world, the rebranding has been in the works for some years. It took a lot of research and efforts to define the company as a whole.

Staff photo wall. Photo courtesy of Waltz Creative.
Staff photo wall. Photo courtesy of Waltz Creative.

Schipper said she had been exploring different names that would fit with the company’s core values, but as catchy and clever as they might have been, they didn’t quite connect. 

Among the short list of names was Pivot, but that got snatched by another company, and Agent Creative felt too formal. Schipper had a much longer list in her phone but said after staring at any of those names too long she came up with reasons why they didn’t work.

She then stumbled upon the word Waltz. 

“I knew immediately that is the word we were looking for,” Schipper said. “The immediate reaction was so unanimous that we knew it was right.”

Welch said the name is a metaphor for how the company approaches design and the relationship with its clients—working in collaboration.

Welch, who runs the day-to-day operations of Waltz Creative and has been a co-owner since 2019, said other than the name, nothing else would change. The company will still be co-owned by herself and Schipper, who will continue to participate as an advisor. 

 

BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is working around the clock during this time when accurate information is essential. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s news.

Noe Magaña

Noe Magaña is BenitoLink Co-Editor and Content Manager. He joined BenitoLink as reporter intern and was soon brought on staff as a BenitoLink reporter. He also experiments with videography and photography. He is a San Benito High School alumnus with a bachelor's in journalism from San Jose State and a Liberal Arts Associate's Degree from Gavilan College. Noe also attended San Jose City College and was the managing editor for the City College Times, the school's newspaper. He was a reporter and later a copy editor for San Jose State's Spartan Daily. He is a USC Center for Health Journalism 2020 California Fellow.