Balancing Hospitality and Numbers with Kara Alicia
"You can all be consultants in a nonprofit world. But what nobody else has is you. And you are the differentiator in your industry. There's only one you who makes your business." - Kara Alicia
Balancing Hospitality and Numbers with Kara Alicia
Kara, a hospitality pro turned marketing pro, reveals her secret to balancing a thriving co-working space alongside a booming marketing agency. But what unexpected confession does she share about her business journey? Dive into this episode for an eye-opening revelation that will transform how you approach your own business ventures.
This is Kara's story:
Kara's journey into the world of business ventures began with a passion for marketing and sales, which eventually led to the creation of KC Creative. Her deep understanding of the evolving digital landscape prompted the expansion of her services to include social media marketing and content creation. Her involvement with nonprofits, driven by a desire to support and uplift her community, opened new doors for collaboration and partnerships. With a keen eye for relationship-building, Kara's approach to consulting with nonprofits focuses on genuine interest and understanding, paving the way for impactful collaborations. Balancing her marketing business and the acquisition of a co-working space is inspiring for anyone who has multiple passions.
Key Highlights:
Master the art of starting a nonprofit consulting business and make a positive impact in your community.
Uncover effective marketing strategies for nonprofit consultants and amplify your outreach.
Learn the secrets to balancing multiple business ventures and achieve success without burnout.
Discover the importance of hospitality in business and create unforgettable customer experiences that keep them coming back.
Gain valuable insights into financial planning for small business owners and secure the future of your ventures.
Timestamped summary of this episode:
00:00:00 - Introduction to the podcast
Cindy and Jess introduce the podcast, sharing their background in nonprofit coaching and consulting. They discuss their mission of helping others in the industry to scale their businesses past the six-figure mark and provide insights into the unique challenges of working with nonprofits.
00:03:19 - Kara's Background and Business
Kara shares her background in hospitality sales and marketing and her transition to founding KC Creative. She discusses the evolution of her business from high-level marketing to social media management, coaching, and content creation, as well as her recent venture into co-working space ownership.
00:07:58 - Balancing For-Profit and Nonprofit Clients
Kara explains how she initially worked with local clients in Salem, Oregon, and later expanded to the Pacific Northwest. She discusses her experience working with both for-profit and nonprofit clients, highlighting the budget constraints and opportunities for collaboration in the nonprofit sector.
00:10:18 - Relationship Building and Asking for Business
Kara emphasizes the importance of relationship building in business development, sharing tips for approaching potential clients. She encourages consultants to show genuine interest in the organizations they want to work with and to communicate their value proposition confidently and transparently.
00:14:38 - Running a Co-Working Space
Kara delves into the dynamics of operating a boutique co-working space with a hospitality and community-first mindset. She contrasts her approach with larger co-working conglomerates, highlighting the importance of valuing services and maintaining pricing integrity.
00:16:20 - Marketing Strategies and Co-working
Kara discusses how she utilizes search engine optimization for her marketing agency and hires a marketing guru for Google. She emphasizes the importance of a hospitality-first mindset in co-working and shares her strategy of keeping her two businesses separate in terms of marketing and operations.
00:19:35 - Operational Efficiency and Business Growth
Kara explains her strategy of using Google Calendar to organize both personal and professional tasks. She also shares her approach to managing the co-working space, including trading for assistance and janitorial services. She discusses her plans for business growth and her hands-on involvement in business development for KC Creative.
00:22:50 - Long-term Business Vision and Time Management
Kara discusses her long-term vision for her businesses, expressing her desire to run both successfully alongside each other. She explains how she manages her time, with the co-working space requiring minimal weekly hours from her, while her focus on business development and consulting for KC Creative takes up more of her time.
00:23:00 - In-Person Networking Tips and Local Recommendations
Kara shares her in-person networking tip of focusing on the other person and not talking about herself. She recommends taking a walk at Riverfront Park as a must-do local activity in Salem, Oregon, especially for outdoor enthusiasts.
00:24:26 - Work-life Balance and Profitability
Kara reflects on profitability, highlighting how her co-working space initially had low net income but increased revenue after adjusting membership rates. She contrasts the high overhead costs
00:32:25 - Setting Boundaries in Hospitality Business
Kara discusses the challenges of setting boundaries in the hospitality industry, where unexpected situations and client needs require constant communication and availability.
00:34:07 - Building Relationships Through Communication
Kara emphasizes the importance of over-communicating with clients at the start of their journey to build rapport and intimacy, which eventually leads to long-lasting relationships and friendships.
00:34:58 - Surprise and Delight in Hospitality
Kara shares unique ways of surprising and delighting clients through personalized gifts and thoughtful gestures, such as sending handwritten cards and remembering personal preferences.
00:37:38 - Financial Confession and Advice
Kara confesses the challenges of managing finances and advises hiring an accountant or financial planner early on in the business to avoid costly mistakes and ensure financial stability.
00:40:43 - Connecting with Kara
Kara invites listeners to connect with her on Instagram and LinkedIn, where she shares insights and updates about her business, KC Creative, LLC.
Find Us Online: https://www.confessionswithjessandcindy.com
Connect with Kara:
Connect with Kara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karacampuzano?trk=public_post_feed-actor-name
Connect with Kara on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kc_creativellc/
Website: https://kccreativesocial.com/
Connect with Cindy:
Cindy Wagman Coaching https://cindywagman.com
Fractional Fundraising Network https://www.fractionalfundraising.co/
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/cindywagman
Connect with Jess:
Out In the Boons: https://www.outintheboons.me
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jess-campbell-outintheboons/
Transcript:
00:00:00
Welcome to the Confessions podcast. I'm Cindy Wagman Wagman. And I'm Jess Campbell. Where two former in house nonprofit pros turn coaches and consultants to purpose driven organizations. After years of building up our separate six figure businesses from scratch, we've thrown a lot of spaghetti at the wall.
00:00:17
And lived to see what sticks. We're on a mission to help other nonprofit coaches and consultants looking to start or scale their own businesses past the six figure mark by pulling back the curtain. Whether you're still working in sudden on profit and thinking of one day going out on your own, or you've been running your consulting business for years, you understand that working with nonprofits is just different. We're giving you access to the business leaders who serve nonprofits as their clients. You know, the people who truly get it.
00:00:51
No more gatekeeping, no more secrets. This podcast is going to give you an inside look at what running a successful, successful nonprofit coaching and consulting business looks like. Basically, we're asking people how much money they make, how they get paid, and what has and hasn't worked in their businesses. Listen in as these leaders share their insights, their numbers, and the good, the bad, and the ugly. When it comes to building a nonprofit coaching or consulting business, we're going to empower you to make the power moves that give you the income and freedom you set out to create from day one.
00:01:28
You ready? Let's go. Hey, Jess. Hi, Cindy Wagman. We are recording this just a week before make it happen live.
00:01:39
I'm so excited. But of course this will air long after, so if you didn't catch us in person this year, I don't know, maybe by the time this airs, Jess will know if she's hosting another one. So you'll see. We will see. Yeah, yeah.
00:01:55
Stress levels are at an all time high, but it's going to be great. So, yeah, I feel I was just like, story share. I am not the bride that, like, loved my wedding and planning my wedding and all the things, and I, like, quite literally developed an ulcer in my wedding planning process. It was just like, in hindsight, I just should have gone to a courthouse and just not listened to all the outside voices, you know? And so I was like, what is going on?
00:02:30
And I re identified that, like, I have a similar feeling only because, you know, I have high expectations. I am a high achiever. I want to deliver, like, a stellar experience that, and they put pressure on myself to make it, like, no conference, anyone has ever been due. And by definition, it will already be that because there are no other conferences for nonprofit consultants, but it's just a lot. It's a lot.
00:03:01
It's a lot. No ulcers, though. I don't think I have an ulcer this time. Thank goodness. Let's avoid that.
00:03:07
Anyways, anyone can relate to a business. That exactly comes with a lot of moving parts. It's our guest today. Yeah. I'm so excited to welcome Kara from KC creative.
00:03:19
And Kara, you're kind of what I think we would call, like a multi passionate or you have, like, different parts of your business. You do different things. So start by telling us a little bit about yourself and what you do. Yeah, I just have my hands in everything, it seems like. And do I sleep?
00:03:38
I don't know. I think I went to bed at midnight working on another project after working on another project. So, yeah, I'm Kara. I am the founder of KC Creative. A little bit of my background.
00:03:49
I worked 16 years in hospitality sales and marketing. A little operation side before realizing my passion was marketing and sales like everyone else in 2020, had to transition as nobody was traveling or staying in hotels or having events anymore. And I created KC creative and really started on a high level marketing when I first started. So marketing, plan development and strategy, and then quickly realized during 2020 and 2021, the digital world, everybody needed to be online, especially restaurants and any sort of brick and mortar that needed people in their doors, they needed that larger presence. So I rolled out my social media marketing services to include management, coaching, and then now we also do content creation.
00:04:45
And then, yeah, then to add on to that, in November 21, purchased a co working space, making me, what is that, like a serial entrepreneur now at this point, or a small business owner? But it's actually very complementary to my marketing business. And that's the journey. I have a couple kids, a high schooler and an elementary school student. We are just living the life.
00:05:16
Amazing. Yeah, it sounds like a handful. Now, I want to ask you, because from time to time, I get people asking questions like, you know, a lot of people coming from the nonprofit sector, consulting in the nonprofit sector, and thinking, oh, should I also work with for profit businesses? And your journey is a little bit of the opposite where you're coming from, the for profit sector, and you do now work with both for profit and nonprofits. So how do you balance that?
00:05:47
How did that happen even? Was it intentional or accidental? And what are ways that you kind of make that work for your business? Yeah, well, working in event venues and hotels, I've actually worked with a lot of nonprofits, so I know the budget constraints and I know, that they, you know, individuals wear many hats. I saw that.
00:06:09
And Salem, Oregon, that's where I am at, is like the capital of nonprofits. It just seems like it. There's so many around here, and they're all amazing. And what they do, really. When I first started my.
00:06:24
My business, whether it was consulting or hands on, like social media management, I didn't really think there were budgets for nonprofits, but there are, because there's opportunities for grants and. Or collaborations or partnerships or just partnering in other ways. And I didn't do any external outreach to work with nonprofits. However, definitely just with my connections and my involvement in my community, I have had the opportunity with them reaching out, whether it was, hey, we just received this grant, or we have private funding, and we need help. We need you to help train our team for marketing strategy or campaigns we have coming up.
00:07:10
And we try to be creative with how we fund the partnerships. There's also nonprofits. I sit on the board of a major, a global nonprofit, but for the local chapter, and do some work on that end, where it's my time that I'm giving. Yeah, that's so. Okay.
00:07:32
That's super helpful. It sounds like. Are most of your clients, would you say local to Salem, Oregon, or are they spread out? They started that way. And in order for me to grow, I needed to go outside of our community and even state.
00:07:46
So right now, I'm mostly pacific Northwest. Okay. Yeah. Cool. So one of the things Cindy Wagman, I know, is a big fan of, a big teacher of, is going out and asking for business.
00:07:58
And a lot of people, some people start that way, and others start by building an audience first and then asking. And I'm curious, Kara, what did you. Do when you first started in person? Networking. That is the number one way to build a community of cheerleaders, is what I say.
00:08:19
They might not be the person that you're going to work directly with, but they may know somebody. So it's the referrals that will keep your business going. As long as you're doing, you're doing it right, and you're passionate about what you do, and that passion shows. So I grew my following later. Through my past life, I had, or career, I should say.
00:08:42
I attended every networking event. I was actively involved in, our local chamber of commerce. I sat on nonprofit boards or volunteered with nonprofits, and I still do because that's still just a part of who I am. And it was almost like a personal branding. I built that name for myself.
00:09:00
And then, you know, the part that came later was building my, my follower count on social media or just becoming an authoritative figure on the subject matter of marketing and social media coaching and consulting and management. So the biggest thing, and I still do it now with my business, is having trade show booths, attending networking events that are industry specific or just business in general. A lot of nonprofits, our Salem Chamber of commerce here in our city and state is very active. And what I see other nonprofit professionals do well is attend these events. So as consultants who are working with nonprofits, you got to be where the people are.
00:09:44
So just be involved and never stop. Even when you have a waitlist, never stop. Okay, great. Super helpful. I see Cindy Wagman, just, like, nodding with pride over there.
00:09:58
She's so happy. I want to say, told you so. Yeah, she does want to say that. She did say that. So I'm thinking of the folks listening, and I don't know what's in the water, but I feel like there's quite a few people that have been on the cusp of going out and starting their nonprofit consulting business.
00:10:18
They've been in house for a few years thinking about this jump, but they're, like, at the point where they want to make the jump. And I'm thinking that they're listening to this podcast, right? And maybe they sit more in my seat where, like, I've joked about this, like, I would rather clean toilets. I would rather, like, do almost anything than ask someone for help. And that's what, it's not logical, but that's what asking for business feels like for me.
00:10:44
It's something I'm working on. So I'm curious if you could even offer us, like, a script or what you would say to people to whether it's plant the seed or let people know that you're open for business, or this is how you're starting to work people, or how you ask for referrals. I just feel like people like me, we need, like, the roadmap, like, the actual language so that it is a possibility. Yeah, I love that. I wish I had, like, now I'm going to go back after this and write down a script and make a lead magnet.
00:11:21
No, that's my marketing brain. No, really. It starts with your relationship building, because then it makes the ask much more comfortable. And I'm not meaning, like, get to know a person for months, but at least take the time and ask questions about the business. Do not solicit yourself in any way.
00:11:46
So make it seem like you, which you should be, truly be interested. So if you're trying to reach out to a nonprofit as a consultant, truly interested. Research the nonprofit that you're wanting to work with and then ask the questions. Let them brag to. Let the nonprofit brag to you.
00:12:05
That should be your first meeting. And then your second could be the ask saying, I see so much potential. Don't show them what they're doing wrong, but show them how you can help grow their existing amazing efforts. And that should be maybe your second step. Then your third step would be quite literally, I want to work with you.
00:12:35
And that's what I say. If you find that it's a good fit, I want to work with you. Are you open to me sending you my pricing and we can hop on a call or meet in person and to talk about how I can help you with these XYZ packages. I always recommend having, like, three options because people are more than likely to pick, like, the middle option, like it's their choice and going from there. And then when you go to, let's say they approve the proposal and they approve the package, then make it like, here's when is your deadline to sign the contract by?
00:13:21
Or you have seven days to sign this contract or else the pricing might go up or I might not have availability. So you need to sound like or add a little fomo to your sales process. But it always should start. One, with relationship building. Two, saying how if you find that it's a good fit, how well you think that you would work together.
00:13:44
And here's how you can see yourself helping them grow their nonprofit or their membership or their donations, whatever they need help with fundraising. And then three, literally giving the proposal and telling them, I want to work with you. I'm glad this is recorded because I'm. Going to come back to it. Yeah.
00:14:10
You are probably the first person we've had on the podcast who actually has a physical location, like has a business location with your co working space. I would love for you to talk a little bit more about how did you get into that? How does that work? I've actually, like, personally even felt like there's such a huge market, specifically in the nonprofit space for more co working spaces. But I.
00:14:38
All I see are, like, the weworks and the things like that that seem to be hemorrhaging money. So tell us, like, how. How is working as like, a small, independent co working business? Here's. Okay, I'm going to get juicy here.
00:14:56
These big conglomerates like WeWork are, they are in the real estate industry. They are not in the hospitality industry. And co working is about community and if you know my background, I worked 16 years in hotels. Hospitality just comes naturally. Co working owners, operators and managers should have a hospitality first mindset, community first mindset.
00:15:24
I stay true to my prices here with WeWork you see all sorts of specials and promos and we know how that goes. Right? Look at JC Penney's. I feel like they just kind of went under because of all their sales and gimmicks. And we as consultants should know that we need, we value our offer and our service and our product and we should stick to our pricing.
00:15:46
And so I rarely offer any discounts or giveaways, but anyways, that's how I stay in business, but also just part of my community. We are a very boutique co working space, so I have just under 5000 sqft, but I have almost every offering that a large co working space would have. So I have a conference room, I have an event space. The event space also doubles as like open shared space when it's not being used. I have private offices, which I'm in one right now, and this also I can rent as a day rental, which is wonderful.
00:16:20
Some people just need like an office per day to do things like this. And if you know how to market with search engine optimization, I actually, you know, don't specialize in that kind of stuff. So I actually hire another marketing guru to help me with my Google. And she coworks here for another. She works remotely for a large marketing agency out of state and does this as like some side gig.
00:16:49
I try to keep everything internal here, but you have to. Yes, you have to have a business mindset, but in co working, you have to have a hospitality first mindset. I want to come back to hospitality because I see that as a through line, through like all of your businesses. And I think that that's something that business general owners in general might not have at the forefront of their program delivery or like their onboarding or anything. So I want to come back to hospitality just in general.
00:17:20
But I'm curious how you've kind of straddled having these two businesses. I mean, essentially they're very different products. They could have crossover as far as the audience goes. But, you know, I'm just. How have you marketed both?
00:17:36
Like, do you have separate email lists? Do you have, you know, on LinkedIn, you post that on Instagram, you post that. Like, how are you making it work? And, and honestly, how's it going? Yeah, sometimes, you know, operationally, what you don't, what the day to day, what you don't see on social media and stuff.
00:17:55
I'm. I can get over my head, hence late nights or whatnot. But as far as marketing, everything is separate. I maybe cross promote on my marketing channels like twice a year. A lot of times the co working members here don't even know that I own a marketing agency and vice versa, and I keep it that way.
00:18:21
Actually, I don't show my face a lot on the marketing spaces. Social media, I do try to keep those business separate. Yes, I have two completely separate email lists and I have different social media channels. I have different events at each. Yeah, I don't know.
00:18:42
Some people have asked how I do that and for co working space, since it's brick and mortar, most of my lead gen comes from Google. So I pay for ads and a Google strategist to manage my keywords and, and whatnot. Whereas my marketing business, KC Creative, a lot of my large clients actually come from LinkedIn. Even though I have so much fun in email marketing and my Instagram and Facebook, my actual, like, paying clients are from LinkedIn, who probably a lot of them will never, you know, for the light of day, get on Instagram.
00:19:27
There's not a lot of Google. Yeah, Google calendar. It keeps me sane. That's how I organize my life. I have everything.
00:19:35
I don't have separate calendars for personal and professional. It is all in the same one. Even for tours of the co working space, it goes to my same Google Drive. That way it time blocks. I don't.
00:19:47
I have two part time assistants at the co working space. We trade for membership. I don't have to pay anything out. One helps with the mail program, the other does things like wiping tables and watering my plants and making sure inventory is great. And then as far as just operationally, I also trade for a janitor service.
00:20:12
He's a handyman company small business owner. So he has a membership for his business and does our janitorial. This place. I can run this entire co working space off of my cell phone. Even though we're open 24 hours a day, they have digital access to the building.
00:20:27
So. Yeah, that's incredible. I'm curious if you've thought, long term, 510, 20 years down the road, is your vision to pour into one side of the business more than the other? Or, you know, you started the interview saying you're multi passionate, so, you know, maybe it's to run them both successfully alongside one another. Like, what have you thought about as far as the direction these businesses might go in?
00:20:57
As far as them, like, occupying your time? Yeah, the co working space maybe occupies like 2 hours a week of my time. I just really pop in to check in, say hello. I hardly co work out of here unless I have a call like this. Yes, I work from home a lot of the days, even though I have a co working space.
00:21:20
But when you're an owner, you come in and everybody wants to chat with you, which is totally fine. So I allot my time when I come in here physically to say hello to people and make sure everyone's doing okay. And as far as KC creative, there's a lot of growth opportunities. So I actually, the only hands on work that I personally do is business development and the consulting part. I have an actual team that does my social media management, management and some of the content creation.
00:21:55
I love being behind the camera, but I do have a couple team members that are also amazing behind the camera. And if I can't make a shoot, then they do it for me. Yeah. I rolled out one new service this week, which will definitely take a lot more of my time, but I pivoted my workload to where I can do that to make sure I have a full team in place. And that is my fractional chief marketing officer service.
00:22:22
And then I will be rolling out. It's kind of already rolled out, but I haven't pushed it. Event management and on site event coordination, that will take probably one and a half employees. So really I just oversee the project, the vision, and then pass that on to the team. Wow, that's a lot.
00:22:50
All right, Kara, we are back for another round of our rapid fire questions. You ready to play? I am ready. Nervous, but ready. You got this.
00:23:00
Okay. So you mentioned doing some of your best networking in person. I'm curious if you have any in person networking tips, hacks, opening lines that you like to start a conversation using. Absolutely. My biggest piece of advice is to ask them what their name is, their business, and what they do.
00:23:23
Don't. Biggest networking tip is don't talk about yourself at all. Totally. All right. You mentioned that you are a local to Salem, Oregon.
00:23:34
Do I have that right? Yep. Okay. What is a must do, like local job? Is it a lunch spot?
00:23:42
Is it a hiking trail? Like, if we're going to Salem, Oregon, what are we doing? Absolutely. Rain or shine, take a walk at our riverfront park. We have a beautiful, brand new amphitheater and this gorgeous, brand new walking bridge that connects our riverfront park to Cindy Wagman park, which it is an island.
00:24:01
And it's just absolutely stunning. Lots of wildlife. And I love the outdoors. So that would be my number one. Awesome.
00:24:09
And then my last question is, you have two kids, one in high school, one in elementary school. You run two businesses. You've got a lot going on. What's your best hack for managing it all and keeping it all straight? Especially since I am a single slash co parenting.
00:24:26
I hated doing this before, and we briefly talked about it on the podcast. Is asking for help. So if I can't do it, find a community of friends or loved ones that you can lean into. I love that. Such a good way to close out these questions.
00:24:45
Thanks for playing. Yeah, thank you.
00:24:54
I'd love to have a talk about sort of profitability. Right. You've two very different business models, but both with seemingly high overhead. Right. Staffing is a high overhead cost, and obviously a physical space is very high overhead.
00:25:13
Um, how do they compare? How do you think about new, like, how do you just think about profitability overall with these different businesses and new ideas that you come up with? Yeah, it's so funny because I have a physical building, right? So when people just think physical building and they think automatically it's the money maker. And I'm like, oh, I wish.
00:25:34
Because it has so much more overhead and usage and utilities. Um, you know, when I first purchased the co working business, we were barely, like, netting 500 a month, like, literally, which is okay. I mean, this place has never been in the red, so I can give it that. And membership hadn't increased in a couple years. Like, the pricing, nothing had been increased, which is okay.
00:26:02
I kind of came off the pandemic and whatnot. So I think four months into ownership, I increased rates not by much. It was maybe nine to 11% across the board, depending on the level of membership or the conference room. But I was able to increase revenue 40% year over year, that first year of ownership, and then we're still increasing by about 10% year over year from 22 to 23. I have not increased my rates in two years.
00:26:38
So this year will be the year I'm a little nervous just because I love supporting our small business owners and entrepreneurs. But everything else has gone up for me. You know, lease on the building and utilities and just product paper, Inc. Like, everything has gone up. So that's always a fun, challenging, difficult conversation that I'll have to have with our members.
00:27:04
But KC creative, that is my moneymaker. To be honest, I went through, like a hard time in the fall. Everybody was really holding tight. Fall of 23 tight to their budgets. It was just an odd time with, you know, the real estate world and just the market in general.
00:27:23
Nobody was wanting to spend money. I'm like, over here, do I get a corporate job? I'm not sure. You know, and I just held steady help study, because most of my clients are on that retainer, which I'm so glad I ended up switching to that in the long run. That way I know my financial stability.
00:27:46
It was a game changer. Yes. Labor is like 70%, I would say close to it, of my expenses. I don't have a ton of overhead for KC creative, but a lot of software, and we use sprout social. It's a great program for agencies.
00:28:11
It's expensive, but you get what you pay for. And I'm going to need this year, probably a new laptop and some new camera gear. So it'll be fun. But we're expecting a really amazing second quarter. And I'm for KC creative, and I'm looking forward to that.
00:28:31
Love it so much. And I commend you, because as someone that has a lot of ideas swirling in her head, it's hard to keep track of both things. Right? Yeah. And so.
00:28:41
But I think what you've kind of set up, I would imagine that the co working space is in some ways, like, recurring revenue people that have kind of ongoing spots, which is a little bit more steady, and then the project based work that comes along with your KC Cruz creative side. So I can see how you can do it both. But I know you also are a mom, and you've got a lot to juggle. Before we talk about maybe that journey. A little bit, I would love to.
00:29:06
Come back to this idea around hospitality. I love that word. And I was actually listening to a podcast last week when I was walking my dog, and it was saying how I think it's the four seasons, you know, they're competing against Ritz and, like, you know, all these fancy schmancy hotels. And the way that they decided to differentiate themselves was by hiring people who wanted a career in hospitality. And so you can just tell the difference in service from the Ritz Carltons of the world to the four seasons of the world because of, like, they all have the same fancy bedsheets and whatevers, but you can tell on the level of service.
00:29:50
And I think that the same can. Be applied for all of our small businesses. Right. People remember how you make them feel. And if you're hospitable towards your clients, it's a game changer.
00:30:00
And so I'm just curious how you've woven in hospitality into either your customer journey, the buying experience, the program delivery experience, maybe it's even, you go hog. Wild at the end of the year. With some sort of, like, gift. I don't know. But just like anything you can provide the listeners might be super helpful.
00:30:20
Yeah. In the hospitality world, we would joke, this is funny. We sell hospitality, not hostility. I don't know. This is something hilarious that I've always held on to, but really, hospitality is something you cannot teach.
00:30:34
It comes from within. So if you are not hospitable and you want to operate a business, you better find somebody to hire on your team, that is, or else you will go downhill. Because the number one thing that sets your business apart, and I just did a reel on instagram either yesterday or the day before, the number one thing that sets your business apart, because everybody can be a real estate agent. You can all be in an italian restaurant. You can all be consultants in a nonprofit world.
00:31:06
But what nobody else has is you. And you are the differentiator in your industry. There's only one you who makes your business. And if it's not you, then you need to find that person that is a representative of your business that can sell hospitality. So my team, it's funny enough, because I didn't plan it this way, but my one employee and my two contractors all come from the coffee industry, like, working at coffee shops.
00:31:39
And what do coffee shop like baristas have? And is hospitality, is that fun, inviting, warm atmosphere? And two of them come from Dutch Bros, which I don't know if you're familiar with Dutch Bros, but they're like, hey, like, you know, hip hop, rap music, whatever, going on in the stands and just vibing and having fun. And the other one, similar. But it's just I'm naturally drawn to that.
00:32:05
In fact, in hotels, we would always joke that we would look for front desk employees at coffee stands. We would, you know, the best people to hire are these coffee shop people. That's who you want representing you. And working for your business is somebody that's warm and inviting. So how we.
00:32:25
How my business is, both of them is. Yes. I've had to learn to set boundaries of giving too much of my time. Right. Because part of hospitality, especially in the hotel world, because you're open 24 hours a day, is the expect the unexpected.
00:32:45
Knowing what your client wants before they even ask, knowing what your guest is going to come down to the front desk for before they even open their mouth. And that could mean a little bit more long hours or more communication with your clients. So how my customer journey through hospitality starts is usually the first month. And I tell my clients, maybe even the first couple months is we're going to over communicate. You might hear from me every day.
00:33:12
You might hear from me every other day as we first get started, because we need to get to know each other. And that's. I am hands on. Anybody can work with, for example, marketing agency and just grab a bunch of content off of Unsplash and Clipart's not the right word anymore, but. And post it in just random graphic designs.
00:33:34
But we are. We are hands on. We are making things more intimate, more personal, and then after we really get to know somebody in their voice and their brand and themselves as an individual or their team, whomever on their team that we're working with, then we can kind of push cut back on that communication. But because we had so much of that one on one, we've built a rapport with each other. And some of my clients have become great friends because of that, because we treat each other as humans and not dollar signs.
00:34:07
Hmm. I think both Jess and I are here, like, yes, we are. So, for all of this and treating our clients like, special and amazing and all of that, are there any specific little things that you do that you have found, like, in the hospitality theme, that stand out or that really surprise and delight your clients? Like we in our injustice? Slack channel.
00:34:38
Oftentimes, people ask for, like, good gift ideas and things like that. But I'm curious if there's anything that you do that most people haven't thought of that you can share. Yeah. So not everybody is, like, not everybody's love language is gift giving. I did give some of my top clients some really fun gifts.
00:34:58
A couple, like, I've done the cookies and I've done last year. Year I did blankets. They're through a company called Sackcloth and Ashes. They were founded here in Salem. They're like italian wool blankets.
00:35:10
Really nice. Or just different brands. They kind of resemble pendleton blankets. But when you buy a blanket, another blanket is given to your homeless community, like your local homeless shelter. But really, for example, I have total opposite of me.
00:35:27
Landscaping supply company. I don't even work with them anymore. But we worked for. With. For a couple years, but I got to know them and the owner, and he's a military veteran.
00:35:38
Younger, but a military veteran. I got to know what he likes, so I make sure I just send him a quick text, even though it's not a client anymore. Happy veterans day. Like, oh, it's the Marine Corps birthday. Happy birthday, marine.
00:35:51
That's huge. To somebody is just remembering those little moments. I have a client from my convention center days who I remember likes a white Russian. Like the drink. What?
00:36:07
So if I see him out in the community, which I'm not usually doing drinking events, and I always like, do you still like white Russians? And it always sparks up a conversation. That's also part of hospitality, is remembering every kiss that checks into your hotel and or just remembering the little things that your employees, or your external employees, your clients love. And it doesn't have to be a gift. I love handwritten cards.
00:36:41
We write handwritten cards probably once a year to everybody. It's just the little things. Yeah, that was my secret fundraising weapon as well. Just remembering personal things about people goes such a long way. I can't remember where I heard this.
00:36:58
But. The idea is like, the people's favorite sound is of their name, right? Someone else saying their name. And so really just remembering what people like and who they are. And that goes such a long way.
00:37:14
All right, we have gotten to the point in the conversation where we are going to ask for a confession, as per the name of the podcast. So share with us something about your business or about running a business that maybe you wouldn't have shared elsewhere or publicly in a podcast before.
00:37:38
I would have to say hire. If you are not good with numbers or finances or figuring any of that out, hire an accountant ahead of time or financial planner as you're thinking about your business. I kind of had to throw myself into owning my own business just because of the pandemic and losing my career. But I didn't hire an actual accounting team until fall of just last year. After I hit my three year mark in KC creative, I the co working space is all squared away.
00:38:15
It's good because it just operates all on its own. But KC Creative was a different beast. You know, still paid myself like a freelancer, even though I have an employee and some contractors, like, it was not good. I didn't know how much truly, like, how much money I had coming in and what was going. I just knew my business was open and operating.
00:38:34
That would be my biggest confession, is I should have hired somebody to help me with my finances. So I then I had to pay extra, right? Because then they got to fix your mistakes. So I paid extra, went back and did my whole books for 2023. Like, oh, now I know.
00:38:55
Now I know how much I'm spending in XYZ. Maybe I'm having too many coffees every week and so we can put a true budget together. I'm like, nerding out on this, even though this is a subject I absolutely despise because it will only prepare me as I will have probably my biggest quarter yet, my second quarter. And I need to have this in place. I should have had it in place, but I can't go back on the past.
00:39:26
But I would definitely say, especially if you have a full time job right now and you have the finances that are taking care of your financial stability needs, find somebody that you trust or like or an online based service that you can partner with to help you get financially ready to jump all in to owning your business. That's what I would say. Yeah. I'm actually very good with numbers, and I still outsourced my bookkeeping very early on because, yeah, that's something that's best kept for experts. Yep.
00:40:03
Absolutely. Yeah. Kara, where can our listeners connect with you and find you online? I would say I am the most active on Instagram, but just as much probably on LinkedIn, too. So on Instagram, KC underscore Creative, LLC and LinkedIn, Kara, Alicia, it's a l I c I a.
00:40:29
But you can find KC creative as well. And then you'll find me because I cross post on LinkedIn all the time. Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.
00:40:39
Thank you.
00:40:43
Thank you again for listening to the Confessions podcast for nonprofit coaches and consultants. If you enjoyed today's episode, which I sure hope you did, you can show your support in one of three ways. Number one, post a screenshot of this episode to your Instagram Stories or LinkedIn profile and Tag Cindy Wagman and I so we can repost you. Number two, share this podcast with a fellow nonprofit coach or consultant. And number three, leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts that we can continue to grow and reach new listeners.
00:41:13
And, of course, make sure you subscribe so you can get the latest and greatest interviews as they drop every Thursday. And to our fellow nonprofit coaching and consulting friends. Remember, or an open book. And here to answer your burning biz questions. See you next time.