Concetti, a Detroit-based interior design strategy studio, has joined forces with Jessica Bondalapati, owner of Lady Bondo, to enhance the company’s strategic, human-centric design process for commercial clients.
This team expansion will allow Concetti to offer brand strategy services in-house, including workflow and operations, addressing the growing demand among local small businesses.
“For 10 years, we’ve been strategically transforming built environments for local businesses and have consistently seen a need for branding support,” says Rachel Nelson, CEO and principal designer at Concetti. “We’re committed to creating environments that build brand credibility, attract the right people and align with the business’ overall vision, so strong brand expression and operations are needed. Some businesses don’t have that, and that’s where the Concetti team comes in.”
Bondalapati brings nearly 14 years of experience to her new role as Concetti’s operations manager. She began supporting small businesses in 2012 at D:hive, where she co-developed the business development program that later evolved into Build Institute. Then, in 2017, she launched her consultancy, Lady Bondo, to help businesses, like Corktown Business Association, American Express, and Karmanos Cancer Institute, grow through operations improvement and program development. This allowed her to work with Build Institute again in 2021 as a client, which connected her with Concetti as the company was designing Build Institute’s Corktown headquarters. Bondalapati and Nelson saw an opportunity to combine their businesses and passions for supporting local businesses with strategic design – both operationally and in the built environment.
“In my new role, not only am I supporting Concetti’s internal team, but I will also be continuing to support the small business community through the company’s commercial design service,” says Bondalapati. “After owning my own business and working with hundreds of small businesses across the city, I fully understand the unique challenges they face and what it takes to solve any problems they may have. I’m so eager to use my operations expertise to help local brands strengthen their internal processes and lead them to an authentic and efficiently designed workplace that drives growth.”
To support the brand strategy offering for businesses, Concetti also hired brand strategist Lucas Bash, a College for Creative Studies graduate who specializes in brand expression and graphic design.
