Selling the Building ‘Behind the Teal Doors’

Ashley Knepper
Nov 18
4 min read

The place that once housed my thriving business and the dreams that built it.

Recently, after finalizing its sale, I took my daughter, Elle, back to visit a building that once held such a big part of my life. It was the space in downtown Norfolk where I operated my marketing agency during the second half of a fourteen-year journey, until closing the company in 2021. For so long, those teal doors represented everything I built, supported by so many special people. The long days, the big ideas, the challenges, the celebrations, and the moments that shaped me — all of it lived behind those teal doors.

Even after closing the company, I had to return from time to time as the building’s owner. And every visit hit me with emotion — sometimes from the moment I parked the car, other times only after I stepped inside. Each time brought a familiar wave: pride, nostalgia, and that deep ache that comes from revisiting a chapter you poured so much of yourself into.

But this visit — this one with Elle — was the first time I walked through those doors since closing and felt steady. It felt like closure. It felt like stepping into a new version of myself — one who could honor that chapter without being swept away by it.

Walking Through the Past With My Present

When I closed the business in 2021, I was pregnant with Elle. She never toddled through those hallways or peeked into meetings the way her brothers did. The boys visited often—spinning in the conference room chairs, grabbing snacks from the kitchen, interrupting client calls for quick hugs — but even then, they were so young. They don’t remember much of it now.

And in some ways, that bothers me — not out of regret, but from that tender place where you wish your kids could remember the version of you who built something from the ground up. The woman who led, created, mentored, and made meaningful things happen behind those teal doors.

But that version of me didn’t disappear.

She’s still here — just focused on a different season until I’m ready for what’s next.

Standing in front of the teal doors with Elle brought a sense of clarity. I unlocked them, stepped inside, and instead of feeling overwhelmed, I felt grounded. Proud. Strong. The space no longer felt like something I’d left behind — it felt like something I’d grown from and got to take with me.

A Stroll Through Old Favorites

After we left the building, we wandered through downtown and I showed her some of my favorite spots. We stopped at the coffee shop I frequented and treated ourselves to something sweet. From there, we walked the old cobblestone streets — the same ones where I once took baby bump photos, first with her brothers and later with her. Walking those familiar paths with her hand in mine was a quiet reminder of how much life has changed since those days.

As Elle twirled down the street—full of curiosity, asking questions, and noticing things that once felt so familiar to me—I realized how fully the years behind those teal doors shaped the mom she knows today.

Saying Goodbye to the Teal Doors

Selling the building this year was bittersweet, but it was also empowering. Those teal doors held so much of my thirties — the dreaming years, the building years, the stretching years. They are where I learned what I was capable of.

And now, they represent closure.

I walked away from this visit feeling peaceful and complete — not because I’ve forgotten who I was then, but because I’ve become someone stronger now. A mom raising three young kids. A woman who chose balance and presence when it mattered most. And someone who still carries the instinct to build, tucked safely inside.

The teal doors will always be part of my story, but they no longer define it. They shaped me, taught me, and pushed me — and now they make space for what comes next.

As my kids grow older, I feel that familiar spark returning. A quiet curiosity. A renewed sense of possibility. I don’t know yet what my next venture will look like — and I don’t need to. For now, I’m still exactly where I’m meant to be. And I’m empowered knowing I will bring a stronger, wiser, more grounded version of myself into whatever comes next.

Thank you for reading. And to those who walked through the teal doors with me — team, clients, collaborators, friends — thank you for believing in the work and for helping shape that chapter. Every role mattered then, and it still matters to me today.

Below are pictures from our visit, along with older photos of me and the boys in those same familiar spots, taken during a completely different season of life.