A group of anonymous web and graphic designers executed what many freelancers no doubt fantasize about during those dark nights when invoices are well past due and all hope seems lost: publicly embarrass a client into paying up.
But unlike Mark Rober — the mind behind the glitter bomb for porch-package thieves that stole the internet this week — these designers didn't take credit for their bold act. Still, it appears to have had the intended effect.
On Tuesday the website of frequent Best of Nashville pick, Germantown coffee shop Steadfast Coffee, read as follows (a screenshot of the message can also be seen above):
"Dear Steadfast community, We are the freelance creative professionals who created all of Steadfast Coffee's branding, including its logo and website. Unfortunately it's been more than 2.5 years since we finished our work, and Steadfast's owner still has not paid us a high 4-figure amount of money for the work we did - all while running a business on the fruits of our labor. At this point, since this website is technically part of a work package that has not been paid for, we believe it's within our rights to share our story here in the hopes of garnering enough attention to finally be paid, once and for all.Media Inquiries: steadfastdebt@gmail.com"
Reddit and Twitter threads followed exactly as you might expect, and reviews by sympathetic — but uninvolved — parties quickly appeared on Steadfast's Facebook and Google pages. By Wednesday
the site was back to normal, with black-and-white beauty shots of beans and brews (although cached versions of the hijack are easy to find). An email request for an interview with the anonymous group was declined.
"Yesterday our team received an agreed upon partial payment towards the debt," the group said in an email. "The owner has communicated he will pay the remaining balance before the New Year. We don't wish to make any further comment on this matter."
Steve Pearson, Steadfast's owner, was traveling out of the country, and replied to a few quick emails, corroborating that, "This issue has been concluded and the vendor balance owed paid by year’s end, as originally agreed." On follow-up, he elaborated: "Suffice it to say the balance owed was paid in full within the timeframe originally agreed to when the balance owed was made known to me (5 months ago)."
It's unclear where the breakdown occurred over the past two-plus years, and why Pearson only learned about the debt five months ago.
Steadfast has gone through a number of changes in its short history. In 2016 the SoBro Steadfast Commons closed due to lack of funding. In addition to opening the Germantown coffee shop, Steadfast expanded into wholesale sales from its Franklin roastery. Jamie Cunningham, Sean Stewart and Nathanael Mehrens, once partners in Steadfast, left the company and are now owners of Stay Golden, which opened in East Nashville this week and has another location on Sidco Drive.
