Originally launched under the name Blog Moxie™ in February 2003, Moxie Design Studios has grown to become one of the most popular blog and small business design firms in the market. Katherine Scoleri and Joelle Reeder are the design duo also known as The Moxie Girls™ — like vodka n’ olives, they’re a perfect match! As pioneers in the blog design industry, Kathy and Joelle take a lighthearted approach to design and believe it doesn’t have to be stuffy to be professional.
Not only are they business partners, they’re best friends! Joelle and Kathy are the proverbial ying n’ yang: blonde/brunette, east coast/west coast, married/single… The girls met in 2003 through their blogs and after two weeks and a mutual admiration-fest, Blog Moxie™ had opened it’s virtual doors. Five years later, their business and friendship are still kicking! Blogging builds businesses and friendships… the proof is in the dark chocolate Frangelico-laced pudding. Mmm… pudding.
Kathy and Joelle are also the authors of the fun new book, The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie (Wiley Publishing, October 2007) and have spoken on panels at high-profile design and development conferences like South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas.
For press inquiries or interview requests, please contact us.
For literary or publishing inquiries, please contact Andrea Somberg at andrea@harveyklinger.com.
Kathy has a deep background in the arts, trained by a brilliant artist in high school where she developed her first solid portfolio full of painting and figure drawings. That portfolio awarded her a scholarship as an undergraduate at Rosemont College in Pennsylvania, where she trained as a traditional artist and graduated with a BFA in Studio Art. Her senior thesis exhibition consisited of abstract furniture sculpture and in the process gave her hands multiple blisters from a hot glue gun.
Years later she found herself immersed in html and css books teaching herself how to make art in a digital format. After a few odd jobs, Kathy landed a cushy position at a corporate giant consulting firm developing and designing B2B eCommerce websites. There, she honed her skills in the art of usability standards as well as coding the perfect stylesheet. Later, she seized an opportunity to branch out on her own and in 2001, began her climb into the world of freelance web design. Since then she has designed hundreds of websites, learned the ins and outs of a multitude of content management tools and had the opportunity to discover the world of weblogs and made some very good new friends.
Kathy also enjoys water polo, black tie galas, and owns a winery in northern Italy… Ok no not really, but she does have a mean handbag collection.
Camp Cupcake
Joy Unexpected
Often touted as a “Jane of All Trades”, Joelle was born into a creative household, with a background in theater, ballet and art. Classically trained in both piano and voice, choosing a career path was nothing short of a challenge. Throwing out her original childhood aspirations of becoming a “singing dancing doctor”, Joelle also shelved the desire to be the next Diana Krall when she fell in love with graphic design. After an brief tour of duty in design school and a few hundred pots of coffee, she delved into the young, tender underbelly of graphic design — the Internet.
After a handful of years with an internet presence, in early 2000, Joelle took a job with a prominent European haircare company. With a wonderful and talented mentor, she began quickly polishing her skills. Moving on as a freelance production artist for a major direct marketing company in early 2002, Joelle worked with such clients as DirecTV, SBC, Yahoo! and Sony. Moxie was conceived in 2003 and she has since spent her time learning to love web standards, putting the smack down on CSS, staying current with and even setting blogging and website trends.
Turn ons: cross-browser compatibility, Miles Davis and a perfectly-crafted, slightly dirty Grey Goose martini.
Turn offs: Internet Explorer, people who clap for themselves and Ray Liotta.
