I’m Heather Hathaway, a Southern California web designer and brand strategist creating distinctive, conversion-focused Squarespace and Showit websites for service businesses, creatives, entrepreneurs, and growing small businesses.

I blend strategy, design, storytelling, conversion thinking, and custom visual direction to create websites that don’t just look beautiful. They make it easier for the right people to understand what you do, trust you, and take the next step.

Because your website shouldn’t just look like your business.

It should make people understand why they want your business.

Great Design Begins With Understanding People.

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We Don't Just Design Websites…

We build the place where your brand finally makes sense.

The strategy. The words. The visual direction. The hierarchy. The tiny decisions that make someone stay longer, understand faster, and think:

Yep. This is who I’ve been looking for.

Beautiful matters.

But clarity, credibility, differentiation, and conversion are what turn a beautiful website into something that actually works for your business.Because great design isn't decoration. It's communication.

Technology Evolves. Human Connection Endures.

There's never been a faster way to build a website. With AI and automation becoming part of nearly every creative workflow, launching online has never been more accessible.

But creating a website that genuinely connects with people?

That still begins with empathy. With strategy. With understanding how people think, what builds trust, and why someone chooses one business over another.

Technology is an incredible tool. But thoughtful design, creative direction, and meaningful storytelling remain deeply human.

That's where great brands are built.

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Great websites are rarely won by one dramatic design decision.

They’re built through dozens of smaller ones.

The hierarchy that makes your offer easier to understand.
The headline that actually says something.
The imagery that creates the right emotional signal.
The mobile layout that feels intentional instead of squeezed together.
The button that appears exactly when someone is ready to click it.

I look at your brand direction, messaging, visual hierarchy, user journey, mobile experience, and conversion path together so the website feels cohesive from the first scroll to the final call to action.

Not because your website needs to be complicated.

Because it should feel incredibly easy to the person using it.

Every Detail Matters.

OTHER DESIGNERS USE MY WORK TOO

Trusted by 460+ Designers.

More than 460 website designers have joined White Label Website Insiders, the membership I founded to give designers professionally created website templates, systems, training, and resources they can use inside their own businesses.

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Members use my Squarespace, Showit, and Systeme.io templates to launch template shops, expand their offers, streamline client projects, and build new revenue streams.

Which means something I’m particularly proud of:

“Within a month of listing my website templates, I made my first sale, and more followed. Even better, the first template I customized led to two clients reaching out for one-on-one customization work, opening an entirely new revenue stream for me.

Joining White Label Website Insiders has been one of the smartest business decisions I’ve made.”

Joanne Martinez
White Label Website Insiders Member

client testimonials

“Heather is absolutely brilliant at what she does. The templates are gorgeous and easy to make my own, but it’s her heart and dedication that make this such a special investment.”

Naomi Andrea Madeo
White Label Website Insiders Member

Meet the designer

I’m Heather Hathaway.

Web designer. Brand strategist. Educator. Founder. And someone who can disappear into a creative rabbit hole over one typeface for an unreasonable amount of time.

But before I built websites, I built classrooms.

I hold a Master’s Degree in Education, and years spent teaching gave me an unexpectedly powerful foundation for design.

Teaching forces you to understand people.

Where they lose attention.
Where they get confused.
What makes something click.
How information should be organized.
And how to take something complicated and make it feel simple.

Those are the same questions I ask when I design a website.

Today, I use that background alongside branding, conversion strategy, web design, technology, and visual storytelling to help business owners turn scattered ideas into something people can understand and remember.

Because I don’t want to give you a prettier version of everybody else in your industry.

I want to uncover what makes your business yours and build from there.

460 +

designers have joined us

150+

active members

3

platforms to build on

50+

trainings & videos to help you learn every platform

THE CREDENTIALS

Experience that goes deeper

Master’s Degree in Education
A professional background rooted in communication, psychology, teaching, and making information easier to understand.

Squarespace Circle Member
Part of Squarespace’s professional community for experienced designers and developers.

The Website Launch Kit

My free 5-Minute Homepage Checklist helps you spot unclear messaging, missing trust signals, weak calls to action, and conversion problems hiding in plain sight.

It’s interactive, fast, and designed to show you exactly where your homepage may be creating friction.

FREE instant downld!

download the free guide

Your New Website in Three Simple Steps

STEP 1

Strategy & Direction

We start with your business, audience, offers, goals, existing website, and what isn’t working.

Before I design anything, I want to understand what someone needs to know, feel, and do when they land on your site.

That gives us the strategic direction for everything that follows.

STEP 2

Design & Build

I translate that strategy into your visual direction and build your website in Squarespace or Showit, with thoughtful attention to hierarchy, imagery, messaging, conversion, and the mobile experience.

You don’t need to coordinate a maze of freelancers or spend your nights trying to make seventeen browser tabs agree with each other.

I handle the pieces as one connected experience.

STEP 3

Refine & Launch

We refine the details, test the site across devices, prepare everything for launch, and make sure you know how to move forward confidently once the website is live.

Most custom website projects are completed in approximately 4–6 weeks, depending on project scope and how ready your content is when we begin.

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A Few Things You Might Be Wondering

Yes. Many clients come to me because they know their current brand or website isn’t right, but they can’t yet articulate what the new version should look or feel like.
Part of my process is identifying the visual direction, messaging hierarchy, imagery, and brand cues that help the website feel cohesive and distinctly yours.
You do not need to arrive with every creative decision already made.
Yes. Brand direction and custom visual development can be incorporated into website projects when needed.
Depending on the project, that can include typography, color direction, photography direction, graphics, and AI-assisted custom imagery created specifically to support the visual world of the brand.
Yes, selectively. AI supports my creative and strategic process, but it does not replace it.
I use tools including Midjourney and Visual Electric for visual exploration and custom imagery when they create something more distinctive than traditional stock photography.
AI can generate possibilities quickly. Deciding which idea fits the brand, audience, strategy, and larger visual system still requires human creative direction.
My approach combines web design, brand strategy, visual storytelling, conversion thinking, and a professional background in education and communication.
I’m interested in more than making individual pages attractive. I look at how information is organized, what someone needs to understand first, where trust is built, what creates unnecessary friction, and how the visual direction supports the positioning of the business.
More than 460 website designers have also joined White Label Website Insiders to use my templates, systems, and design resources in their own businesses.
After you inquire, I’ll review your business, current website, goals, project needs, and desired timeline to determine the best-fit service.
If the project is a fit, you’ll receive clear next steps covering the recommended scope, process, timeline, and investment before you commit.

Heather Hathaway Design Studio creates custom Squarespace and Showit websites for service businesses, creatives, entrepreneurs, and growing small businesses.
Projects are not restricted to one industry or aesthetic. The visual direction is developed around the individual business, audience, positioning, and goals rather than forcing every client into the same recognizable design style.
Heather Hathaway Design Studio is based in Southern California and works remotely with web design clients across the United States.
The strategy, design, feedback, and launch process can all be completed remotely, so clients do not need to be located in California.
Yes. Brand direction and custom visual development can be incorporated into website projects when needed.
Depending on the project, that can include typography, color direction, photography direction, graphics, and AI-assisted custom imagery created specifically to support the visual world of the brand.
Yes, selectively. AI supports my creative and strategic process, but it does not replace it.
I use tools including Midjourney and Visual Electric for visual exploration and custom imagery when they create something more distinctive than traditional stock photography.
AI can generate possibilities quickly. Deciding which idea fits the brand, audience, strategy, and larger visual system still requires human creative direction.
My approach combines web design, brand strategy, visual storytelling, conversion thinking, and a professional background in education and communication.
I’m interested in more than making individual pages attractive. I look at how information is organized, what someone needs to understand first, where trust is built, what creates unnecessary friction, and how the visual direction supports the positioning of the business.
More than 460 website designers have also joined White Label Website Insiders to use my templates, systems, and design resources in their own businesses.