From Corporate Leader to Community Champion: How Mary Hoffman Built a Values-Driven Creative Agency

A case study in purposeful pivoting and community-centered business growth

In an era of market volatility and economic uncertainty, many business leaders are questioning how to maintain growth while staying true to their values. Mary Hoffman, CEO and majority owner of Faucet Head Creative, offers a compelling example of how strategic pivoting combined with community focus can create both business success and meaningful impact.

The Evolution of a Leader

Mary Hoffman's path to entrepreneurship demonstrates the power of strategic career transitions. After spending decades in retail leadership, focusing on "training, developing, recruiting, market introduction for new brands," she found herself at a crossroads during the 2020 pandemic (Hoffman, 2025). Rather than viewing the furloughs as downtime, Hoffman saw an opportunity to apply her business expertise to her husband's 25-year-old creative agency.

"I started digging in to see what I could do to actually help grow Faucet Head and look at it from a business perspective as opposed to it being a creative running a business, and we all know creatives are amazing, but they have a tendency to have a hard time with the background of the business," Hoffman explained in a recent interview (Hoffman, 2025).

This strategic approach led to her gradual acquisition of company shares, culminating in majority ownership in 2024. The transformation wasn't just about ownership structure—it represented a fundamental shift in how the agency approaches client relationships and community engagement.

Redefining Marketing for Small Business

Faucet Head Creative's approach to marketing challenges the DIY culture that has emerged around digital tools like Canva and Wix. While these platforms offer accessibility, Hoffman argues that authentic brand representation requires deeper understanding and human connection.

"Our true North with any one of our clients is to be able to provide the ability for a client, a customer, or a future client to land on their webpage without even meeting anyone from the team and get a sense of their mission, their values, their overall energy," Hoffman describes (Hoffman, 2025).

This philosophy manifests in their discovery process, which goes far beyond typical website questionnaires. "We're asking questions that people are like, why do you care about this? Like, what? I want a website. Why are you asking me these questions? You know, who cares? What shows I watch on TV? You know, like, who cares what magazines or digital periodicals I look at?" (Hoffman, 2025).

The agency's focus on authentic representation through visual storytelling positions them uniquely in a crowded marketplace where many businesses struggle to differentiate themselves online.

Strategic Pivoting in Uncertain Times

The current economic environment has presented significant challenges for Faucet Head Creative's traditional client base. "We started out as, our bread and butter was attorneys, law firms and manufacturers. I don't think I need to go into great length as to how the current political environment has affected those clients," Hoffman notes (Hoffman, 2025).

Rather than simply reducing services or cutting costs, Hoffman made a strategic decision to pivot toward serving a different market segment while maintaining relationships with existing clients through consulting services. This dual approach demonstrates sophisticated crisis management—preserving valuable long-term relationships while developing new revenue streams.

The pivot led to the creation of Signal Tower Microsites, a division specifically designed to serve small business owners with limited budgets. "We have a division now called Signal Tower Microsites, which gives people the affordable ability to have a professional team get them online with a professional website. It's a one page website," Hoffman explains (Hoffman, 2025).

This innovation addresses a significant market gap: small business owners who need professional representation but lack the resources for comprehensive branding packages.

Building Organizational Culture Through Professional Development

Hoffman's commitment to team development extends beyond traditional training approaches. As a student in Abundance Leadership Consulting's Managing Professional Relationships course, she has gained insights that she's implementing across her organization.

"This is something, this is a tool that I wish I would've had because I think that I can reflect back on some situations that I had in the workplace or with specific team members that I wish I would've had this knowledge or this insight to actually evaluate the situation a little bit differently," she reflects (Hoffman, 2025).

The course's impact extends beyond management applications. "Even if you may not be necessarily a direct manager or you don't have direct reports, the course actually serves you in other ways too. It actually helps with just working in teams and understanding different, diverse personalities in the workplace," Hoffman observes (Hoffman, 2025).

This approach to professional development—investing in relationship skills for entire teams rather than just leadership—represents a progressive approach to organizational culture building.

Community Impact Beyond Business Metrics

Perhaps most significantly, Hoffman has expanded her leadership impact beyond traditional business boundaries through partnership with the Ohio Prison Entrepreneurship Program. This initiative involves mentoring women inmates in business development and life skills.

"He partners with Ohio State, and he actually has a curriculum for inmates on starting up your own business... He's now opening it up to the Ohio reformatory for women in Marysville, and I'm going to go and mentor there," Hoffman describes (Hoffman, 2025).

This community engagement reflects a broader philosophy about leadership responsibility during challenging times. "I know that sometimes we wanna just hide under a rock during hard times, or we just throw our hands up and say, there's nothing I can do. You know? And I felt like that for a bit, but I started digging and figuring out ways that I could get out there and do something that I felt that I could make a difference in," she explains (Hoffman, 2025).

Lessons for Contemporary Leaders

Hoffman's journey offers several key insights for leaders navigating current market conditions:

Intentional Pivoting: Rather than reactive cost-cutting, strategic pivots can open new markets while maintaining core values. The development of Signal Tower Microsites demonstrates how market challenges can inspire innovation that serves underrepresented segments.

Investment in Relationships: Hoffman's emphasis on professional relationship development, both through formal training and authentic client discovery processes, highlights the continued importance of human connection in an increasingly digital marketplace.

Community-Centered Leadership: The expansion into community mentoring shows how leaders can create impact beyond traditional business boundaries, often leading to unexpected personal and professional fulfillment.

Authentic Brand Representation: In an era of template-based marketing, Hoffman's approach demonstrates the continued value of deep, authentic brand development that goes beyond surface-level visual design.

Conclusion

Mary Hoffman's leadership of Faucet Head Creative illustrates how businesses can maintain growth and purpose during uncertain times through strategic pivoting, community focus, and investment in human relationships. Her approach challenges leaders to consider not just what their businesses do, but who they serve and how they contribute to their broader communities.

As markets continue to evolve, Hoffman's model suggests that sustainable success comes not from purely defensive strategies, but from thoughtful expansion into new areas of service that align with organizational values and community needs.

References

Hoffman, M. (2025, Q2). ALC ChangeMakers Podcast Interview. In Jennifer Sconyers (Host), ALC ChangeMakers Podcast. Abundance Leadership Consulting.

For more insights on values-driven leadership and professional relationship development, visit jennifer-scanners.com. To learn more about Faucet Head Creative and Signal Tower Microsites, visit faucethead.com and signal-tower.com.