Latest / Build Your Own Fairytale / From Freelancer to Full-Time Entrepreneur

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From Freelancer to Full-Time Entrepreneur · Build Your Own Fairytale

0:10
Kristen: You have a great life, maybe even perfect life on paper.
0:14
Kristen: Yet, do you ever feel like you're not doing enough either at home or at work?
0:18
Kristen: Have you followed all the so-called"rules" yet somehow feel like you're missing something?
0:23
Kristen: Don't worry.
0:24
Kristen: You are not alone.
0:26
Kristen: Because guess what?
0:27
Kristen: The traditional path society let us to blindly follow were not designed for today's women.
0:33
Kristen: We are dreamers.
0:35
Kristen: We are doers and we get to write our own stories.
0:39
Kristen: And this podcast is about taking ownership of your beautiful life, prioritizing your dreams and building your own fairytale.
0:46
Kristen: Hi, I'm your host.
0:47
Kristen: Kristen Lettini.
0:48
Kristen: Join me each episode and we'll learn from real people who have boldly gone before us and share candid stories from their journeys.
0:54
Kristen: Because this is a team sport.
0:56
Kristen: When one of us wins, we all win by carving out new pathways for ourselves, our friends and our children.
1:02
Kristen: There's room for everyone to build their own fairytale.
1:05
Kristen: And listen, I get it because I'm a wife, a twin mom and a cat mom.
1:09
Kristen: I've worked in a small company and I've worked in a massive global company.
1:13
Kristen: I've gotten the degrees.
1:14
Kristen: I've been the primary breadwinner.
1:16
Kristen: I've also stayed at home with my kids briefly.
1:18
Kristen: I called in my summer of fun though.
1:20
Kristen: Technically it started out pretty far from that with the whole family getting COVID.
1:24
Kristen: But anywho- now I've changed my current status to entrepreneur, which is super exciting and scary at the same time.
1:31
Kristen: I'm calling time on sitting around and waiting for someone else or some one to swoop in and make it all happen.
1:38
Kristen: Because unlike those stories, we own the pen to this one.
1:42
Kristen: So consider yourself sprinkled with fairy dust and let's go.
1:46
Kristen: Welcome back everyone.
1:47
Kristen: We're here for another episode of build your own fairytale and we're on a roll with season two.
1:52
Kristen: I am so excited.
1:53
Kristen: This week's guest is Kelly Kempel, owner of Hidden Path Creative, a graphic design studio, creating package designs for product based businesses.
2:02
Kristen: What might surprise some is that Kelly didn't start out with a passion or a vision to be an entrepreneur herself.
2:08
Kristen: She shares how it all went down and the baby steps she continued to take that led her there amidst a global pandemic.
2:15
Kristen: Without further adieu let's hear Kelly's story.
2:18
Kristen: Kelly, welcome to the podcast.
2:19
Kristen: So excited to chat with you today.
2:21
Kelley: Thank you.
2:22
Kelley: Thanks for having me.
2:23
Kelley: I'm really excited to talk as well.
2:25
Kristen: Yeah.
2:26
Kristen: And I know we're gonna talk branding and package design, but first I thought we could start with a really tough question, really hard hitting here.
2:33
Kristen: Uh, could you tell us what fairy tale or fictional character you relate to?
2:38
Kelley: Yes.
2:39
Kelley: So I had to think about this one a little bit and um, as I was thinking about it, you know, I had my favorite fairy tales.
2:48
Kelley: Growing up, I loved watching Sleeping Beauty, but I would say, but like the fair, the fairytale heroin that I identify with most is probably Meredith from Brave.
2:58
Kristen: Ooh, okay.
3:00
Kelley: Like, she was such a, she's such a strong force.
3:04
Kelley: Like she had her own idea.
3:07
Kelley: Of how she wanted to do things and I really appreciated that, that she kind of, she bucked the system a little bit.
3:16
Kristen: She did.
3:16
Kristen: I like that.
3:17
Kristen: And you know what?
3:18
Kristen: I feel like Mereda doesn't get enough credit.
3:20
Kelley: no
3:20
Kristen: I guess.
3:21
Kristen: Cause they've been really have music with it.
3:22
Kristen: I don't know.
3:22
Kristen: But I like Mereda.
3:23
Kristen: I like it.
3:24
Kristen: Solid choice.
3:25
Kristen: OK,
3:25
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
3:26
Kelley: Also, I wish I could have her hair that like massive red hair.
3:30
Kelley: Just so beautiful.
3:32
Kristen: it is beautiful.
3:33
Kristen: So Okay, so we know you like mea, she sort of bucked the system.
3:38
Kristen: I know.
3:38
Kristen: We'll share with our listeners.
3:39
Kristen: You run the successful business.
3:41
Kristen: But tell us, did you always have dreams of being an entrepreneur and how you got to this place today?
3:47
Kelley: Yeah.
3:47
Kelley: So no, I did not always have dreams to be an entrepreneur.
3:51
Kelley: Um, you know, I grew up, um, In a fairly like normal family, but my dad was always an entrepreneur and yes, so he always was running some sort of family business.
4:06
Kelley: He started off like being a part of his family trucking company and of all of that into a warehouse and fulfillment business.
4:13
Kelley: And I saw how much time and energy and effort it took to run your own business and so.
4:25
Kelley: From a young age, seeing that I thought that, you know, to like run your own business was to spend a lot of time and energy in that.
4:35
Kelley: And then there was also that pressure of being responsible for a team of people and their livelihood.
4:43
Kelley: And I kind of just thought I didn't want that pressure.
4:46
Kelley: So I'm like, Oh, I'll, I'll go into like more of a corporate environment where those things are taken care of for me.
4:53
Kelley: but I quickly learned that I like that achievement.
4:58
Kelley: I like taking charge of things.
5:01
Kelley: I like being able to have my own ideas and implement them.
5:07
Kelley: So I started off in corporate retail doing brand design and packaging, and I quickly was like, Well, I'm gonna take charge of this.
5:18
Kelley: I wanna grow with the company.
5:20
Kelley: I want to, you know, lead people and manage the team.
5:24
Kelley: And you know, it's funny that like, those are the things that translate really well to owning and running your own business.
5:32
Kristen: Wow.
5:32
Kristen: So what was it about?
5:35
Kristen: Package design and what ignited that passion for you in that space?
5:42
Kelley: growing up I was always that kid in the art room.
5:46
Kelley: I took like every art class imaginable.
5:50
Kelley: And you know, really loved creating those tangible things.
5:56
Kelley: So I went to college for graphic design.
5:59
Kelley: Thinking that I can then take that art and turn it into a career.
6:06
Kelley: I didn't wanna be a starving artist.
6:07
Kelley: I didn't have like a strong passion for telling my own story through art.
6:15
Kelley: I liked the structure of an assignment and then turning that into something which really fit with graphic design.
6:24
Kelley: And as I was in school, I, I did really love creating like icons and these, strong visual elements that represent an idea or a message, which really icons and logos do that.
6:40
Kelley: But I think like maybe around like junior year I took a packaging design class and it was this like culmination of.
6:46
Kelley: Creating flat visuals, putting them together with three dimensional forms, and then it's like something that like somebody chooses to pick up and take into their house.
6:57
Kelley: And that idea just, I was like, Oh, this is so exciting and so that really ignited that love of packaging design
7:07
Kristen: that is really cool.
7:08
Kristen: You reminded me of a story I blocked it out.
7:11
Kristen: But I tried to pursue a minor in graphic design when I got to college cuz I kinda had similar like, Oh I like creating and that would be cool if it was on like the 3D version of it and I could not get into the graphic design program without a portfolio.
7:26
Kristen: And I was like, how am I gonna have a portfolio without taking a graphic design class?
7:29
Kristen: Like it was the circle of how the heck do I get in?
7:31
Kristen: So, I did not pursue that avenue, but I did have a brief interest.
7:37
Kelley: Yeah, that's always tough, like the portfolio piece to get in.
7:41
Kelley: I feel like I was lucky that I did traditional art and used that as the portfolio But it's definitely like a mind shift to go from drawing with your hands on paper to making something on a computer like.
7:55
Kelley: In some ways, they feel like completely different mental approaches.
7:59
Kristen: Yeah, for sure.
8:01
Kristen: So, okay, so you had this, you discovered what you loved, you were working for a company and you got to work on some pretty big, some pretty cool brands, right?
8:08
Kristen: So
8:09
Kelley: Yes.
8:10
Kristen: can you share more about that and then how that morphed into doing some things on the side on your own?
8:17
Kelley: Yeah.
8:17
Kelley: The retailer that I started with right out of college was Dick Sporting Goods.
8:22
Kelley: I was like, the.
8:24
Kelley: Third member of the team doing branding and packaging design there.
8:28
Kelley: And they were not the national presence they are today, This was like 2003, 2004.
8:36
Kelley: So, you know, they were just starting to expand to many different cities and open up that market.
8:45
Kelley: And so they had several brands that they either owned or licensed.
8:51
Kelley: And I was on the team that did the identities and the packaging design for all of those products.
8:59
Kristen: That sounds pretty cool.
9:00
Kelley: It was very cool, very cool.
9:02
Kelley: And you know, as time went on and they brought in more brands, we got to work on.
9:08
Kelley: Bigger brands.
9:10
Kelley: So, by the time I left, I was doing mainly packaging design for the golf products.
9:17
Kelley: So golf balls, golf equipment, golf apparel.
9:21
Kelley: And let me tell you, like, those are fun.
9:24
Kelley: One of the big Brands that I worked on there was Max Fly.
9:27
Kelley: which meant that I got to do golf ball packaging with all the foils and embossing and like all those special treatments that make a box look totally tricked out on shelf and to grab somebody's attention because when you're asking somebody to spend, you know,$40-$50 on golf balls, that packaging needs to look like it's worth$40-or$50.
9:52
Kristen: Yeah, and I need to, I need to share that my husband's a golfer, and so I've taken, I have twin daughters who are eight.
9:57
Kristen: I've taken them to Dick's to buy like a Father's Day or a birthday present for my husband, and they are definitely all about the package, like this one's shiny, this.
10:05
Kristen: One's pink.
10:06
Kristen: This one's whatever it is about the package and the colors and all that.
10:10
Kristen: Like we are all about it and so we'll bring it home.
10:12
Kristen: My husband's like, those aren't necessarily the ones that I would've picked, thank you.
10:16
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
10:17
Kristen: But anyway, I just appreciate you sharing that with the details packaging, cuz we are definitely into that.
10:24
Kelley: That's so cute.
10:25
Kelley: And really, I mean, that's what it is, like when you're designing packaging, you're trying to connect emotionally with the customers that are coming into the store.
10:32
Kelley: So just like your little girls are going in, I want something shiny and pink like, Yeah, don't we all?
10:38
Kelley: Um,
10:39
Kristen: Yeah.
10:41
Kelley: and speaking of which, after Dick's, I went to Kohl's.
10:46
Kelley: So I was at Kohl's for about 10 years before I started my business.
10:49
Kelley: And by the end there I was managing all of the branding and packaging design for their private brands.
10:56
Kelley: And let me tell you like those are some really cool brands.
10:58
Kelley: One of my favorites.
11:01
Kelley: I have a few favorites.
11:02
Kelley: I worked with Lauren Conrad on her line, which was really awesome.
11:06
Kelley: That's shiny and pink, like that's, that's the epitome there.
11:10
Kelley: And then like the dream one for me was working on nine West.
11:15
Kelley: So yeah, a couple years before I, before I left there, Kohl's entered into a licensing agreement with Nine West to create exclusive apparel under their brand.
11:26
Kelley: And this is definitely like a full circle moment for me because early in my career, I had a wonderful boss at Dick Sporting Goods, Molly.
11:36
Kelley: And when her and I would go do trend trips in New York, one of the stops we would make is we'd go to the nine West store and see like, They had the better shoes in New York and it was the whole like Fifth Avenue experience and, you know, everything was like shiny, beautiful, and you felt like a better version of yourself when you're trying on these beautiful shoes.
11:57
Kelley: And as a young professional woman, that's when I felt like, like I kind of made it in my career.
12:02
Kelley: Like, I can go buy myself some nice nine west shoes.
12:06
Kelley: So to be able to then, Expand their brand into fashion apparel and create the packaging and experience.
12:17
Kelley: Like, I walked into that project going like, I know what I want this to be like.
12:21
Kelley: I want this to feel like that experience of walking into that Fifth Avenue store and like how bold that brand felt.
12:31
Kelley: And how great it felt to, you know, buy something for yourself to.
12:37
Kelley: To make you feel really confident.
12:40
Kristen: Yeah, there's something about the experience, the label, like it's not just a more expensive shoe, right?
12:48
Kristen: To an extent, but it's, it's the experience you get when you put it on and the energy you feel because you're wearing those shoes, you're carrying that purse, you're whatever the product is, you know, So,
12:58
Kelley: exactly.
12:59
Kelley: Exactly.
13:00
Kristen: okay, so it came Full circle.
13:02
Kristen: That's pretty cool.
13:03
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
13:04
Kelley: and yeah, but at the same time, I had been there 10 years, so I was getting ready for something new, something different.
13:12
Kelley: And, you know, I was starting to think about what that was and, I was thinking, maybe it's going to a smaller business and really diving deeper into a brand champion, a brand.
13:23
Kelley: While I was at Kohl's, I was managing the identities for over 20 brands.
13:28
Kelley: I was leading a team of six to eight people and I was thinking, you know, I still loved leading that team.
13:37
Kelley: I just was thinking like maybe less brands, maybe go a little bit deeper, maybe look at like more of those, those touch points and.
13:46
Kelley: Then we had a pandemic and nobody was hiring
13:50
Kristen: So was that the turning point for you
13:52
Kelley: It was,
13:53
Kristen: Okay.
13:53
Kelley: it was searching and, yeah, I was looking, But then the pandemic hit, like marketing's the first thing to usually get put on hold in times of financial uncertainty for companies.
14:07
Kelley: And at the same time, I would say like for the past five plus years, there's been a real shift in how people are shopping and the access that people have to create and build their own brands and products.
14:28
Kelley: So, kohl's shut all their stores for a period of time because they weren't selling essential goods.
14:36
Kelley: And my team was working on projects on products that were gonna be sold six, eight months from that point in time.
14:46
Kelley: And was so much uncertainty.
14:48
Kelley: They were just trying to figure out how to.
14:51
Kelley: Sell the products that they had that day.
14:53
Kelley: They were like, We can't even think about bringing in products six months from now.
14:57
Kelley: Like, we don't know what the store's gonna look like So the amount of work we had really went down and it was just one of those like, Crazy times when everybody was like, We're not sure what's happening.
15:10
Kelley: We're not sure What the next steps are gonna be.
15:14
Kelley: And I still had a job.
15:16
Kelley: I was, trying to keep my team morale going, keep the energy going, and like, you know, here are things we can do to support the business even though we've got a much lower workload than normal.
15:30
Kelley: But then at the same time I was like, I'm looking for this change.
15:35
Kelley: I have more time on my hands.
15:37
Kelley: I went online onto a, a freelance job board and made a couple pitches for a couple projects that people were looking for packaging designers for, and I landed my first client for my business that way.
15:51
Kelley: Um, it's actually my client August, and they've got a great skincare line right now.
15:56
Kelley: They have three products and I did the packaging for their first product as they were a startup, and the project went really well.
16:07
Kelley: I was like, Oh, this is great.
16:09
Kelley: Like maybe I could do a little bit more of this.
16:13
Kelley: I think I picked up another client or two, Okay, this is going well.
16:18
Kelley: Maybe I should be doing this instead of looking for a different role somewhere.
16:23
Kelley: And that was kind of that like aha moment for me where I was like, Okay.
16:29
Kelley: Yeah, I could do this instead, and this would give me, like the change that I'm looking for, this would give me a little bit more flexibility in my schedule that I was kind of craving.
16:40
Kelley: And so I kind of like fell into it a little bit.
16:45
Kelley: Not like, not with this plan of building a business, but with this idea of like, let me figure out a little backup plan for the moment
16:53
Kristen: right.
16:54
Kristen: Same.
16:54
Kristen: as your employer.
16:55
Kristen: Let me figure out what I can do right now.
16:57
Kristen: So, one thought I have is it was nice that you had some extra time.
17:01
Kristen: Cause I feel like in a lot of cases people got even crazier.
17:04
Kristen: I know for me, like work just got crazier with Covid.
17:07
Kristen: Right?
17:08
Kristen: So having a little bit of extra space feels like a blessing in disguise with Covid.
17:13
Kristen: And then when you said I just went on a freelance sport, was this like a fiber, Upwork type thing?
17:18
Kelley: It was up work.
17:19
Kristen: Okay.
17:19
Kristen: When you go on one of those words, you're not necessarily thinking like, Oh my gosh, I don't have a business name.
17:24
Kristen: I don't have a business bank account.
17:25
Kristen: It's just like, Hi, I'm raising my name.
17:27
Kristen: I can do some work for you.
17:29
Kelley: That was pretty much it.
17:30
Kelley: I was like, I was like, Oh, I can, yeah, I can do this.
17:34
Kelley: Oh, I, There are plenty of people in here that are looking for packaging design.
17:39
Kelley: There are more people building their own.
17:41
Kelley: Products than ever before because it's, you know, it's so much easier to go onto a website and find a supplier, and particularly if you wanna do something that's like not something that you're making with your own hands, whereas it's just as easy to make something with your own hands
18:00
Kristen: Yeah, Well, I like it kind of takes those excuses out of it to say like, I couldn't do that.
18:05
Kristen: I don't even have a business name.
18:06
Kristen: I don't even have a website.
18:07
Kristen: Like it takes all of those excuses out just by saying, Let me see what's here.
18:11
Kristen: Let me put my name in, see if somebody wants to hire me.
18:14
Kelley: exactly.
18:15
Kristen: Okay.
18:16
Kelley: Yeah.
18:16
Kelley: So I did that on the side for, I don't know, about six or eight months before I really said, I'm gonna do this full time.
18:25
Kelley: And in that timeframe, I did all the things that you're talking about.
18:31
Kelley: I just kind of like did them like one at a time.
18:33
Kelley: I went and I filed for my LLC with the state.
18:37
Kelley: I picked out a name for my business, I should say.
18:40
Kelley: I picked out a name for my business and then I filed the LLC with my state, and then I got my business bank account.
18:48
Kelley: And you know, in the meantime I put up a quick website.
18:52
Kelley: And then a little later on, I built it out with more pages and in a design that felt more aligned with where I was going.
18:59
Kelley: And so I just kind of did small iterations over the course of about a year.
19:04
Kelley: So it took me about a year from when I started picking up freelance jobs to going full-time in my business.
19:13
Kristen: Okay, and when did you give notice or potentially collect a severance?
19:18
Kristen: Because the position was no longer needed?
19:20
Kristen: I mean, one can hope,
19:22
Kelley: Yeah.
19:22
Kelley: So, lemme backtrack a little bit.
19:26
Kelley: So, in September, 2020, my husband and I, we ran off to San Juan Mountains in Colorado.
19:35
Kelley: We eloped with just an adventure photographer.
19:39
Kelley: Our dog and the two of us, it was fantastic.
19:43
Kelley: Highly recommend
19:44
Kristen: Okay.
19:45
Kelley: Um, but while I was driving back, I got a phone call from my boss, like we were, we were literally on the road.
19:53
Kelley: We've got a camping trailer, camping trailers hooked up to the back of the truck.
19:56
Kristen: I'm like the happiest day of your life and now
19:58
Kelley: Yes.
19:59
Kelley: Super excited, feeling great.
20:01
Kelley: Um, Driving home and my boss calls me and says, I need to let you know that, we let go two of the people on your team today.
20:10
Kelley: He didn't know it was coming.
20:13
Kelley: I didn't know it was coming.
20:15
Kelley: But it was the second round of layoffs since the pandemic started and they had done a round of layoffs prior to the pandemic starting, and they did a restructure.
20:25
Kelley: And that was the wake up call for me.
20:26
Kelley: Like if I'm gonna go out on my own with, and I was, I, I probably had had clients for about six months at that point.
20:33
Kelley: If I'm gonna go out on my own, like I need a plan and I need to just figure out how to make it happen because if they're letting go two of my best people, and they got a great severance and, You know, they both have landed really well on their feet cuz they're two really incredibly talented designers.
20:52
Kelley: Um, but yeah, I was like, Yeah, I gotta figure this out.
20:58
Kelley: So.
20:58
Kelley: I sat down and said like, what would it really take for me to do this full time?
21:04
Kelley: And that meant, What did I need?
21:08
Kelley: Like what did I need equipment wise?
21:09
Kelley: What did I need time wise, but what did I need to do financially to do this?
21:15
Kelley: And that meant what's the income from the business that makes this viable that while I'm doing this part-time, what proves that I have a business model.
21:24
Kelley: So I came up with a number and I said, I gotta hit this three months in a row to prove that the business is viable.
21:32
Kelley: And I did that January, February, March of 2021.
21:37
Kristen: Excellent.
21:37
Kelley: Yeah.
21:38
Kelley: And so once I did that, I was like, okay, this, like I can do this.
21:43
Kelley: But, you know, put a couple other things in place like paid off a little bit of debt and.
21:50
Kelley: I have to give credit to my husband there.
21:52
Kelley: He's in banking, so he's like, I'll support you in doing this, but, you know, let's make sure we're being smart about it.
22:00
Kelley: So the creative in me didn't wanna be that practical, but
22:04
Kristen: Well, it's nice you had him to balance you out with the numbers.
22:06
Kristen: You can work on that,
22:07
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
22:07
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
22:09
Kelley: ..Yeah, so once I did that, I think it was April, 2021 that I put in my notice.
22:16
Kelley: And, the nice thing was I was able to promote somebody on my team there to take over the manager role, which was exciting for me to, you know, see that and know that like the team was left in really capable hands.
22:31
Kelley: And then I had some clients lined up and just started running
22:37
Kristen: That's awesome.
22:38
Kristen: One thing I wanted to ask is when you gave that notice or preparing to give that notice, even though you knew you had done your due diligence and you had a plan and financially you guys were ready to go?
22:49
Kristen: What was the inner monologue or like, was there any fear of what your employer would say, your colleagues would say like, Oh, she's nuts, she's running off and trying to do her own thing.
22:58
Kristen: Like did, did those thoughts come up for you?
23:00
Kristen: Cuz I know I struggled with some of those as well.
23:02
Kristen: So
23:03
Kelley: Yes, Yes.
23:04
Kelley: Those thoughts definitely came up.
23:05
Kelley: I was definit.
23:07
Kelley: Being a little bit of a, an overachiever and a perfectionist, I was like, Am I really doing this?
23:12
Kelley: Am I really gonna be able to do this?
23:15
Kelley: And yes.
23:16
Kelley: What, what are my colleagues gonna think of me?
23:19
Kelley: What it, you know, what are those like leaders that I look up to?
23:22
Kelley: What are they going to think?
23:24
Kelley: And is this really something that I can do?
23:27
Kelley: But I would also say that like I got a lot of really great support.
23:32
Kelley: My colleagues, my former boss and, you know, former teammates, they were all really excited for me.
23:38
Kelley: They all had confidence in me, which not that that was unexpected, but it's so nice to hear because it, it bolsters your own confidence to hear that the people whose opinions that you value have confidence in you.
23:56
Kristen: Yeah, I mean, you're taking a huge leap of faith.
23:58
Kristen: You're betting on yourself, so it does not hurt to have other people be like, Yeah, you can go do it.
24:03
Kristen: So.
24:04
Kristen: Awesome.
24:04
Kristen: Cause I know that was part of like the biggest fear for a while.
24:07
Kristen: I was like, What will they say, And in the end, it turned out to be overwhelmingly positive, but it was such like, Ooh, this isn't what most people do.
24:17
Kristen: Right.
24:17
Kristen: This is a little different.
24:19
Kristen: And that is sometimes hard for people to with.
24:24
Kelley: Totally.
24:25
Kelley: And I think having that background where I have family that has, you know, owned and run their own businesses like that is helpful and supportive and exciting, but, You know, you still have somebody who says like, I'm really excited for you.
24:41
Kelley: did you think about this and sometimes it's, Yes, I did.
24:44
Kelley: And sometimes it's like, Oh no I didn't.
24:47
Kristen: yeah.
24:47
Kelley: thank you for bringing that up cuz now I will go think about that.
24:50
Kristen: Yeah, so, So along those lines, do you have any advice for someone who may be thinking about starting their own thing or walking away from something to try something else?
24:59
Kelley: I mean, I'm a firm believer of like, just start.
25:04
Kelley: It doesn't have to be perfect.
25:06
Kelley: If you're waiting for something to be perfect, you will be waiting a long time to start.
25:14
Kelley: And so I am a huge fan of Get out what you can.
25:20
Kelley: You only have to launch with one offer, one service, one product, and sell that and see how it goes.
25:28
Kelley: It's, it's baby steps.
25:30
Kelley: There are no overnight successes.
25:33
Kelley: They just look like that because all of a sudden all of that momentum that somebody has gained, just kind of.
25:43
Kelley: Takes them to a next level that is like so much more visible than when they started.
25:48
Kelley: So that is one of my biggest recommendations.
25:52
Kelley: But also find a mentor and that mentor doesn't have to be in the industry that you're in.
26:01
Kelley: But that was one thing that I did.
26:04
Kelley: I got a mentor through, Tempo, Milwaukee, which is a local women's leadership group that I'm involved in, and I was partnered with a wonderful woman, Christina, and she had run and owned her own business.
26:20
Kelley: She was a leader at a small marketing agency in the area.
26:25
Kelley: And I just met with her once a month and she would check in and one, it helped me accountable to making progress, but two, she would say like, Oh, since you just did that, have you thought about meeting with an accountant or, you know, every month she kind of had like some sort of idea of.
26:46
Kelley: Something else I could do to move forward and because she had been there,
26:52
Kristen: Let's say she was a couple steps ahead of you, so it was kind of fresh in her mind and she wanted to see someone else succeed.
27:00
Kelley: Exactly.
27:01
Kelley: Exactly.
27:01
Kelley: She wanted to give back.
27:04
Kelley: So that was super helpful.
27:05
Kristen: Yeah, and I'm sure it was probably helpful for her too to hear like even if she was still only a few steps ahead, like to hear the fresh energy and excitement from you just starting out.
27:15
Kristen: Like I'm sure she got just as much as she, she was giving, you know,
27:18
Kelley: I, hope so.
27:19
Kelley: I hope so.
27:22
Kristen: Awesome.
27:22
Kristen: And I'm thinking too just about, and we were talking about that inner monologue and the discussion you have about taking these leaps of faith, but there's also gotta be some carryover, some similarities in the work you do in branding and package design with also just sort of selling yourself or picking yourself when you're going out for, for new business.
27:44
Kristen: Can you speak to some of
27:46
Kelley: totally, you know, the interesting thing about.
27:51
Kelley: Branding is, I think a lot of people think that it's about, like my personal brand is me, me telling you who I am, and there's a component of that in branding and impersonal branding.
28:07
Kelley: But where it really works is when I'm sharing about myself through a lens that's meaningful to you.
28:16
Kelley: So I'm gonna use an example of like how I chose my business name, because I think that that's, that's helpful, which is one of the things that I've learned like over and over again as I've worked with clients, like internal clients in the corporate space and worked with clients, in my own business.
28:37
Kelley: It always seems like design and branding is something that's like magic that happens behind the curtain.
28:44
Kelley: We will have a, you know, an upfront conversation, right?
28:48
Kelley: Draw out all of this information about like who you are, what your product is, what your business is, and then I'm gonna go take that and I'm gonna turn it into something and I'm gonna come back.
29:00
Kelley: But I'm really just using that information to uncover something that is already there and use that truth there, but it's most meaningful when it's in relation to the viewer.
29:15
Kelley: So instead of choosing a name for my business where I said it's Kelly Ke.
29:23
Kelley: Designs, which is all about me.
29:26
Kelley: I went and said like, what is the experience that I want my clients to have?
29:33
Kelley: And it's, I want them to understand that like, this may seem mysterious, but there's a way through it and we can uncover that together and I can show my clients this thing that seems very mysterious, but I can and kind of uncover.
29:52
Kelley: For them and I can guide them through it.
29:55
Kelley: And so I went down a lot of paths with the naming that were different things, but that's how I got to Hidden Path Creative, which is the path to find your brand seems hidden, but we're gonna, we're gonna go uncover that together.
30:10
Kristen: I like that.
30:11
Kristen: And I've, I've sat in a number of meetings in my corporate days of, yes, we'd have the same things.
30:16
Kristen: Like, Tell me about this thing that you are launching and you sit with the designers and they're, you're answering all the questions, and it does feel like, Huh, there's some magic right?
30:25
Kristen: When they take it and bring it back with their proposals because I told you all the same things that I know and now it looks amazing, or it sounds amazing, right?
30:32
Kristen: So
30:34
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
30:34
Kristen: bit of a hidden path.
30:35
Kristen: I like that
30:36
Kelley: It is.
30:37
Kelley: It is.
30:38
Kelley: But it's definitely like, I don't know.
30:40
Kelley: I think it's so important to.
30:43
Kelley: Have that relationship with your customer, your audience, and put something out there that's really gonna connect with them and attract them so that it's more of like a conversation with them rather than talking to them.
31:01
Kristen: Yeah, and you know what, this is kind of a tangent, but thinking back to just like regular interviewing, I did, two episodes in season one with Emily Landgraf about career coaching and prepping for interviews, and she talked about the Star method, right?
31:15
Kristen: So situation, task.
31:17
Kristen: Analysis result.
31:19
Kristen: But as you're talking through, I'm thinking of that results piece cuz you're telling them in the interview what you did or why you think you'd be great cuz you did well in the past.
31:28
Kristen: But that last piece that are is how you tie it back through their lens of like, and this is why I'd be great for this role with you.
31:35
Kristen: So I like how it's kind of.
31:37
Kristen: Totally different topics, but very similar concept of, you have to think of it through their lens.
31:42
Kristen: It's not just look at me.
31:43
Kristen: I'm a great designer.
31:44
Kristen: I'm a great candidate for your role.
31:46
Kristen: Whatever it may be.
31:48
Kristen: Yes, you wanna share about you, but you need to put it through their lens.
31:52
Kristen: I like how you said that.
31:53
Kelley: Yeah, I'm not super familiar with that star method, but that sound like that sounds exactly
31:58
Kristen: I always had to work on that last pieces, and this is why it's great for you.
32:02
Kristen: So yeah, I don't know why that just came mind for me.
32:04
Kristen: So, okay.
32:06
Kristen: In thinking of, we can use this for our own personal, brand new, regardless of industry.
32:11
Kristen: I'm thinking, I do have a number of crafty friends, and I'm sure some listeners, if there are folks who have these creative interests but maybe haven't monetized it yet.
32:22
Kristen: It, Do you have any tips or ideas that they can explore, especially as we're approaching the holiday season?
32:29
Kristen: Um, maybe not up to like a full blown package design yet, but things that could get them started and ultimately get to some, something bigger with you, but
32:38
Kelley: Yeah,
32:39
Kristen: about.
32:40
Kelley: so I mean, again, it's like start small, like get, get your items out there.
32:45
Kelley: But if you are making something that could be a great gift for somebody else.
32:51
Kelley: It's so interesting.
32:53
Kelley: So it's like on social media, when you ask a question or you put up a poll box, your mind is triggered to just like answer that question or you know, click that yes or no.
33:05
Kelley: Well, in packaging, especially around the holidays, it can be as simple as adding a two from.
33:14
Kelley: To your product.
33:17
Kelley: So like let's say you make soap and you wanna start selling your soap.
33:25
Kelley: If you take a little ribbon and a two from tag, I mean it could be like a cute two from TAG that you go get printed on like Mo with your brand colors.
33:36
Kelley: Or you could go get a, like a craft two from Tag from like your local Michael.
33:44
Kelley: Tie it on your soap with a little bow.
33:46
Kelley: All of a sudden that looks like a gift and all of a sudden somebody passing your table or looking at your Instagram because you totally take a photo of that and put that on your Instagram, that ribbon and that two from tag immediately cues to somebody.
34:03
Kelley: This is a gift.
34:05
Kelley: also, who do I wanna write into that two line?
34:08
Kelley: So psychologically we wanna fill in that blank and that immediately tells somebody like, This could be a really great gift.
34:16
Kelley: I just need to think about who I would give that gift to.
34:21
Kristen: That is crazy simple, but makes so much sense.
34:26
Kristen: I'm like, I wouldn't have thought just slapping a two from tag on there was gonna make that big a difference.
34:31
Kristen: And maybe it was like super cute colors, but.
34:34
Kelley: And that's the thing.
34:34
Kelley: You can put some super cute colors in there.
34:36
Kelley: You can pick a ribbon like material and color that you know matches your brand or is a little contrast to your brand.
34:42
Kelley: So it stands out and visually attracts attention, but yet it's totally simple.
34:47
Kelley: But keep an eye out this holiday season while you're shopping.
34:50
Kelley: You might be surprised at how many like products you see out on the shelf that have that.
34:59
Kelley: Cause a lot of companies, a lot of retailers will just add that to some of their bigger giftable items, like the items that they wanna sell as a lot of gifts during the holidays.
35:08
Kristen: Yeah.
35:08
Kristen: Okay.
35:09
Kristen: It's gonna be like car shopping once.
35:10
Kristen: In on one, you see it everywhere.
35:12
Kristen: So now we're gonna see two from tags everywhere,
35:15
Kelley: Yes.
35:16
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
35:17
Kristen: That's cool.
35:18
Kristen: All right.
35:18
Kristen: And I guess even like if you're posting that picture to Instagram or whatever social channel, it's not even like a hard, like, Please come by this.
35:25
Kristen: It's just like, Look at this cool thing I made.
35:27
Kristen: Let me know if you.
35:28
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
35:29
Kelley: Exactly.
35:29
Kelley: If you're interested, shoot me dm.
35:31
Kelley: I know that there are a lot of buy sell Facebook groups.
35:35
Kelley: That's another, you know, quick way to pop something like that on there and see if anybody's interested.
35:41
Kelley: You know, get a couple email addresses.
35:43
Kristen: I love the simplicity because sometimes like you see, you have friends, or you see people with such talent and there's so many obstacles like, Oh, well I couldn't possibly, because, you know, plug in the excuse
35:54
Kelley: right?
35:55
Kelley: I don't have a business name.
35:56
Kelley: I don't have a website.
35:57
Kelley: I don't have this, I don't have that.
35:59
Kelley: And really, you just have to start, like you can start with your own personal Facebook or your own personal Instagram.
36:05
Kelley: Say that I'm making something and if anyone's interested, and go from there.
36:10
Kelley: And then, As you see those little wins, add in something, add in a business name.
36:19
Kelley: You can take a poll of like the people that have already bought your products.
36:21
Kelley: When you have business name ideas too, like it's a great way to then create that community and that connection to your brand.
36:28
Kristen: Ooh.
36:28
Kristen: I like that.
36:29
Kristen: Yeah.
36:29
Kristen: People love feeling like they contributed, right?
36:31
Kristen: I would like,
36:32
Kelley: do.
36:33
Kristen: I helped name that company,
36:35
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
36:35
Kelley: I help name it.
36:36
Kelley: I help make it like I help put it on the map like that.
36:40
Kelley: I've loved them since they started.
36:41
Kelley: Like people love to be a part of that.
36:43
Kelley: You're right.
36:44
Kristen: They do.
36:46
Kristen: And can you tell us too, like the difference now that you are running your own thing, doing well, you're a newly wed, right?
36:54
Kristen: You had that beautiful wedding during the pandemic.
36:56
Kristen: So what does balance look like?
36:58
Kristen: Is it easier, harder, just magical?
37:02
Kristen: What that looks like and how you manage that
37:04
Kelley: It's all of it.
37:05
Kelley: It's easier and harder all at the same time.
37:08
Kelley: Um, so it's great cuz it's, you know, I'm able to work my business around my life versus working my life around my work, which, which I love.
37:18
Kelley: But it also means that, you know, I have those spurts of creative energy where.
37:24
Kelley: It's after dinner and I pull up my laptop because I just have to get something out of my head.
37:28
Kelley: So what I try to do is I try and keep a regular daily routine, get up in the morning, go to the gym, walk the dogs, then get down to business.
37:39
Kelley: But pretty much once my husband gets home, I try and turn the work off so that, you know, we take the, we take the dogs for another walk and spend some time.
37:52
Kelley: Relaxing, doing things together, you know, whatever.
37:56
Kristen: Cuz so many people will, I think, wanna start their own thing so they can have that flexibility, that freedom.
38:02
Kristen: But then if you get bogged down in like 24 7 work, then you really didn't accomplish what
38:07
Kelley: Right.
38:08
Kelley: It's real easy to like, especially working from home and doing things on your phone with social media, like it's real easy to have that encompass like all of your waking hours.
38:21
Kelley: So just saying that like, this is my cutoff time, but I think also like having a routine that not just at six o'clock I'm turning off, but once I make dinner, It's off.
38:36
Kristen: Yeah, I like the routine and intentionality, right?
38:39
Kristen: Intentionality came a lot in season one.
38:41
Kristen: Two of just like, whether it's what you eat or what your business routine is like, you need to be intentional.
38:46
Kristen: Otherwise, your day is easily gonna get sucked up with scrolling through social media or some other nonsense activity.
38:51
Kristen: Like there's a time and a place for all of it,
38:54
Kelley: Yes.
38:55
Kristen: how much and when is, is up to.
38:57
Kelley: That's the one thing I don't miss from my corporate life.
39:00
Kelley: And one of the reasons why, I wanted something a little different, which is somebody else defining what to do with my time.
39:08
Kelley: You know, I like a lot of corporations, like a lot of meetings and that's just a lot of people telling you what to do with your own time.
39:17
Kristen: Yes.
39:17
Kristen: Meetings about meetings, about meetings.
39:21
Kristen: Yeah,
39:21
Kelley: Mm-hmm.
39:23
Kelley: So That was one thing just for me that I was just like, I wanna be able to say like, this is what I'm doing with my time, so that I'm doing something of impact and of value with it.
39:35
Kelley: Or if I'm spending time scrolling social media that I'm the one that's decided to waste the time
39:40
Kristen: Yeah.
39:41
Kristen: Because maybe it's gonna lead to something valuable.
39:43
Kelley: Exactly.
39:45
Kelley: Exactly.
39:46
Kristen: Got it.
39:46
Kristen: I totally feel you on that.
39:48
Kristen: So what do you have dreamt up for the next part of your fairy tale?
39:53
Kelley: So I just came back from an awesome retreat with a few other women where we were talking about, we were brainstorming how we can create new offers within our business.
40:06
Kelley: So I've got something it's gonna be a group program for product business owners that I'm building for early next year.
40:14
Kelley: I'm looking to launch in February, so I'm really excited about that.
40:19
Kelley: I think it's gonna help a lot of, product business owners in a bigger way than what I can do with just one on one work.
40:27
Kristen: Very cool.
40:28
Kristen: We'll be watching we waiting to see.
40:31
Kristen: In the meantime, please tell our listeners where can they find you, follow you work with you.
40:36
Kelley: Yes.
40:37
Kelley: My business is Hidden Path Creative.
40:38
Kelley: You can follow me on Instagram at Hidden Path Creative, all one word.
40:43
Kelley: I am fairly active on LinkedIn, Kelly Ke and, uh, if you're interested in working with me, you can drop into my website, hidden path creative.com and just click on that contact form and get a conversation.
41:02
Kristen: Awesome.
41:03
Kristen: I love it.
41:03
Kristen: Kelly, thank you so much for sharing.
41:05
Kelley: Oh, thank you so much for having me.
41:07
Kelley: I've really enjoyed chatting with you, Kristin.
41:13
Kristen: I loved Kelly's connection back to Meredith from brave.
41:16
Kristen: Like that's what we're doing here.
41:17
Kristen: Right?
41:18
Kristen: Finding our own way, sort of bucking the system a little bit.
41:21
Kristen: If you will, to build that fairytale.
41:24
Kristen: My top takeaways from this discussion.
41:26
Kristen: Number one, even cool jobs can leave us wanting more and that's totally okay.
41:31
Kristen: Number two.
41:33
Kristen: When the world gives you a pandemic and blows up your plan, a you gotta go with plan B.
41:38
Kristen: Sometimes that backup plan is just the thing you need.
41:40
Kristen: And all you have to do is start by raising your hands.
41:43
Kristen: No fancy business plan required.
41:45
Kristen: And number three, it's about baby steps.
41:48
Kristen: There are no overnight successes.
41:50
Kristen: You just don't see all those little steps that people take.
41:53
Kristen: To get to there.
41:54
Kristen: When you finally see them making a big.
41:57
Kristen: Also Kelly just launched her own podcast, product, packaging, and profit.
42:02
Kristen: So definitely go check it out.
42:03
Kristen: If you want to dive deeper into the package design with her.
42:07
Kristen: Last, but not least.
42:08
Kristen: I want to thank you again for being here.
42:10
Kristen: It means so much to me that we're on this journey together.
42:13
Kristen: And if you know, someone will benefit from this episode, please go ahead and share it with a friend.
42:18
Kristen: I'm not giving up on my dreams and I hope you won't either.
42:21
Kristen: I'm Kristen Lettini and THIS is Build Your Own Fairytale.