Rising Stars: Meet Jenrette Fowler of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenrette Fowler.

Hi Jenrette, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Design has been part of how I function for as long as I can remember. In high school, I gravitated toward yearbook because of the layouts and photography. In college, I was designing t-shirts for Greek organizations while quietly building logos and websites for wedding professionals on the side. It was never a grand plan – I just kept going back to it.

After college, I moved into wedding photography which I genuinely loved. But over time, the pull toward design grew stronger. The creative work I was doing on the side started to feel more like the work I was meant to be doing. So in 2018, I made it official and launched Salt and Spruce Creative as a full design studio.

The transition wasn’t always easy… wedding photography was a huge party of my identity, and stepping away from it took time. But I found clarity on the other side which allowed me to do my best work for my clients who were ready to invest in how they show up.

Today, Salt and Spruce is a boutique brand and website design studio serving creative, service-based businesses. Our work is rooted in strategy first. Things should look considered and cohesive, but more than that, they need to work.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth definitely isn’t the word I’d use.

Going all-in on the studio required a leap of faith that felt uncomfortable for longer than I’d like to admin. There’s so much uncertainty that comes with building something on your own. No team to defer to, no safety net… just you and the work, and the hope that it’s enough.

Running a solo business also comes with growing pains that no one really prepares you for. Learning to wear every hat (designer, project manager, bookkeeper, marketer) while still doing the creative work you love is a balancing act. I’ve had to get honest about where my energy goes and what’s worth protecting.

Then there’s family. I’m a mother and a wife, and that changes the equation in every way. There have been seasons where the boundaries between work and home felt blurry at best. Late nights, nap time sprints, you name it. Learning to build a business that fits my life (rather than the other way around) has been one of the most important and ongoing lessons of running Salt and Spruce.

None of it has been without its hard moments. But I think the struggle is part of what shaped how I work with clients today. I understand what it feels like to be in the middle of something you’re still figuring out.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Salt and Spruce is a boutique brand and website design studio serving creative, service-based businesses – wedding professionals, photographers, interior designers, florists, and others who are ready for a brand that actually reflects where they are now.

The work spans brand design, website design, Showit template customization and ongoing creative support. Most clients come to me because something feels off – their brand no longer fits, their website isn’t converting, or they’ve grown past the DIY stage and need something more considered. My job is to figure out what’s not working and why, before anything is designed.

That strategy-first approach is at the core of everything. Good design should do something. It should attract the right clients, communicate the right things, and hold up over time. Aesthetics matter, but they follow the thinking.

What I’m most proud of is the transformation clients experience on the other side of a project. When someone comes back months later and tells me their bookings have increased, that they’re attracting more aligned clients, that the way they show up now actually feels like them… that’s the work doing what it was meant to do.

I’m also proud of the relationships that have carried forward over years. Some clients started with a template customization and came back for a fully custom site as their business grew. Others have launched second businesses and wanted to build that new brand together from the start. That kind of trust is something I don’t take lightly.

The experience of working together matters just as much to me as the final result. I want the process to feel calm and collaborative, not chaotic or overwhelming. Most of my clients are busy running their own businesses. My role is to make this part feel manageable.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I don’t think of myself as a natural risk-taker. I’m someone who thinks things through, weighs the options and prefers a considered decision over an impulsive one. As uncomfortable as it is, building and owning a business requires risks. Two stand out as turning points in my business.

The first was investing in the business before it felt financially justified. Early on, that meant spending money on tools and education when the return wasn’t guaranteed. There’s a discomfort in betting on yourself, especially when cash flow is limited at the start. I’ve found that investing almost always preceded the growth, not the other way around.

The second was getting intentional about who I serve. Not by narrowing the industries I work with, but by getting clearer on the type of client and the kind of work I do best. I work with creative, service-based businesses across a range of industries, and I genuinely love that variety. I work with a specific business owner – one who’s ready to be intentional about how they show up, who values the process as much as the outcome, and who wants design that actually works for their business. Getting clear on that made a real difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://saltandspruceco.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/saltandspruceco
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/saltandspruceco/

Image Credits
Ale Santana https://alesantanaphotography.com/