I’m Nikki Beasley.
I revamp websites for established business owners.
When you’ve been in business for years, your website has a history. It’s tied to decisions, relationships, reputation and work that already has value. When you ask me to help with it, I know what I’m being invited into.
I’ve been self-employed for more than 30 years, through freelance work in film and television, running my own e-commerce business, consulting with business owners and now Revamp Project Studio.
You’re not changing things on a whim, and I don’t take that lightly.
Where it started.
I built my first e-commerce site in 2008 for Healthy Gourmet Gifts, the boutique gifting business I ran for ten years. Customers and suppliers noticed and started asking if I could help with theirs.
Those website questions often led to bigger conversations about the business, the kind you can’t always have with the people close to you. What was changing in the business? What were they trying to do? What did the website now need to support?
Once we knew what needed to change, it often made more sense for me to carry it through than hand them a plan and leave them to DIY it or find a copywriter, designer or developer. That combination of business thinking and hands-on website work eventually became Revamp Project Studio.
Some of those early website clients are still with me today.
A few things that explain how I work
1975: Puts the whole show together.
At age eleven, rounds up the neighbourhood kids to stage Jack and the Beanstalk in the backyard, with pre-show bingo, a concession stand and my brother checking tickets at the door. Sells out.
1978: Sees what starting over takes.
We arrive in Canada from Cape Town, South Africa, on a stifling hot July day. My father had run a family business there, part event space, part catering, part liquor store and bar. In Canada, both my parents take factory jobs.
By fall, I’d talked my way into a job at Mary Brown’s even though I was underage, and bought my first winter coat.
1982: Let’s her fingers do the walking.
Hired to answer the phones at a DJ company, I discover there aren't many calls. After exhausting the office supply of Harlequin romances, I open the Yellow Pages and start calling companies I think ought to be throwing staff parties, like McDonald’s and London Life. Nobody asked me to.
The calls turn into bookings, and the owner creates a premium Pink Ladies division with pink tuxedos, pink equipment, a pink truck. For a while, I'm one of the Pink Ladies behind the decks.
1987: Becomes the one they book.
At Clinique's flagship Eaton Centre counter, customers begin booking me when they need more privacy than the cosmetics floor can offer. Upstairs, in a quieter space, I work with people dealing with difficult skin conditions or recovering from plastic surgery.
1989: Says yes to the left turn.
Our Clinique team is being recognized for outstanding performance, and I’m due to meet the Lauders when an offer comes in to work on Friday the 13th: The Series. I have to decide that day.
I say yes, show up in full makeup and long red nails, and learn how to make things explode on cue. The nails are soon covered in glue and black powder. Before long, I’m coordinating effects projects and a shop full of skilled people building prosthetics, stunt rigs and everything in between.
1994: Keeps complex projects moving.
Works freelance on TV series and feature films, like Johnny Mnemonic, with writers, directors, producers and editors, shaping story from script to screen.
Supervising post-production, I keep the teams, budgets and deadlines on track even when things change at the eleventh hour. Once, that meant getting on a plane and hand-delivering the show to a broadcaster in New York. Delivery made, I head to Katz’s for lunch.
Pop-up businesses between projects.
Film and television work comes in projects, and while on hiatus I usually have some new business idea on the go.
At one point I run a frozen-meal service called TasteBuds, stocking family freezers with homemade meals, especially for new parents.
I start another called Cape Town Takeaways for South African expats who miss their Sunday-morning koeksister doughnuts, taking phone orders for frozen batches with the syrup ready for soaking. I also train as a personal chef and cook dinner parties in people’s homes.
2008: Builds the business and the website.
I launch Healthy Gourmet Gifts and build the website to sell online, handling the copy, images, code and back end myself.
The first order comes in from Xerox the day it goes live. I manage the site for ten years, changing it whenever I see an opportunity or a need, and come to appreciate how valuable that freedom is.
2010: ‘Who built your site?’
Customers and suppliers notice the e-commerce site I’ve built. For a small business, it’s unusually sophisticated, right down to live chat.
When they find out I built it myself, they start asking how I did it, then ask for help with their own site. I share what I know, from product photography to choosing payment processors, and gradually the work grows alongside my own business.
2018: Starts consulting, keeps stepping in.
One late night, right in the middle of the holiday season at Healthy Gourmet Gifts, I realise I’m happily working on someone else’s website instead of my own.
By then, inventory costs are rising and margins are shrinking, so I decide to close Healthy Gourmet Gifts.
I move into small-business consulting full-time, but the work rarely stops at advice. If something needs writing, building, fixing or setting up, I often just do it. It’s faster and more useful than handing clients a plan and leaving them to DIY it or find someone else to carry it out.
Eventually, I build Revamp Project Studio around exactly that: figuring out what needs to change, then helping make it happen.
What clients say.
“When I decided to add retail to my wholesale business, Nikki helped me set up e-commerce and create an entirely new revenue stream. That became especially valuable during COVID.
Knowing Nikki’s there puts me at ease. Her honesty and no-BS approach are refreshing.”
Stephanie D’Amico, Samora’s Fine Foods
“Nikki hones in like a heat-seeking missile on what truly matters for your business. She helped me simplify my cluttered site and focus it on what was actually driving the business.
After that first revamp, we nearly doubled our annual revenue in just over six months.”
Catherine Hudson, My Bark Avenue Academy
At this stage.
Ideas and opportunities have a window. Your website shouldn't be the thing that slows you down when you're ready to act.
You don't need beginner advice, hype or whatever is fashionable this year. You need help that is right-sized for what you want to do and respectful of the work that got you here.
You've built a business people value. My job is to make sure your website represents it and supports what comes next.
Let’s talk about what yours needs.
Not sure if it’s time?
Start here.
This takes around two minutes, no email opt-in required.