222: Turning Your Big Idea into Profit: A Guide to Building and Selling a Business

Kaelynn: 0:00

I like to call myself a professional quitter, because I'm really good at just like quitting anything that I feel like isn't aligned with my future goals or isn't aligned with the lifestyle that I want for my family, which is why I've been through all these different evolutions, but it's gotten me to this place where I'm just constantly optimizing and tweaking and improving the work that I'm doing so that it's like it brings me the maximum joy and fulfillment and makes me the maximum profit possible.

Camille: 0:35

So you want to make an impact. You're thinking about starting a business, sharing your voice. How do women do it that handle motherhood, family and still chase after those dreams? We'll listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know this is Call Me CEO. Welcome back everyone to Call Me CEO.

Camille: 0:58

This is your host, camille Walker, and today we are talking about managing our ideas. And today we are talking about managing our ideas not only managing them, but manifesting them into money, profit and seeing that blossom of a seed that is in your brain. And Kaelynn Priest is the professional at making it all come together Marketing, building business. She is the maven of money and I cannot wait for you to hear her story. It is so impactful. She's so young. I can't believe she's done everything she's done. I'm like, wait, how old are you? So we're going to talk about her story, the business that she built and sold, and also offerings that she has now to help you take your seed of an idea, which I know you have many, and turn it profitable. So thank you so much for being on the show today,Kaelynn.

Camille: 1:46

Thanks for having me. Camille, I'm excited.

Camille: 1:48

Yeah, so let's talk about first introduce yourself. Where do you live? How many kids do you have? And then we'll get into your business like how it all started.

Kaelynn: 1:58

Yeah, Okay, so I'm in Salem, Utah, down south for those of you who are in the Utah County area, I'm just past Spanish Fork and I have three kiddos ages seven, five and two. So we have a second grader now. So I just am barely getting into the years of where my kids are starting to go to school, but until now it's been their home with me. We've had a nanny, lots and lots of layers of support to make it so that I can have time to work on my business and be able to close that tab in my brain and then be mom instead of trying to do all of them all at the same time, which I have experienced and many of you listening probably have too. And so, yeah, it's. I mean, I've already been through seasons of like tiny, tiny babies at home and just starting to move into having kids that go to school.

Camille: 2:43

So lots of exciting things going on. Oh my goodness, that is really exciting, and I love that you talked about closing the tab, because isn't that how it feels sometimes, where you're like, okay, I need to physically. And I think if you do that with purpose, it's so much better, because then, rather than oh, I have all these tabs open, I'm trying to be everything all at once. We know that that's not the best way of doing it, so thank you for giving me that visual of closing the tab.

Camille: 3:09

So talk to me a little bit about starting your first business, like let's go back to the beginning of where did that come from, what were your ideas and how you were able to make it so profitable?

Kaelynn: 3:20

Yeah, I love this. So I guess something that maybe possibly gave me a little bit of a leg up. People loved and navigating, hiring employees and finding manufacturers and sourcing and all that good stuff. So going into college, my married years, I sort of had this thought in my head that I would love to have a way to make a second income for our family. I would love if it didn't require me to work full time. And there is a big question mark all throughout my teenage years Like is that even possible? You know, instagram wasn't even a thing yet, which is crazy to even think about.

Kaelynn: 4:10

But the very first business that I started was a floral design business where me and my best friend just started doing wedding flowers for local people. And then, after I had my first baby, it was like I really love this creative endeavor. I love how it makes me feel. I love how I feel energized and excited when I have something on my to-do list that feels like a creative expression. And so from there I was like you know, what would be really cool is if I had a product business where I can just make the product, market it, ship it, package it while my kids sleep, and that'd be awesome. So the first product I ever sold was a wooden baby gym and I started listing them on Etsy and you know it took time for it to grow and scale. But a couple years later we had manufacturers overseas. I had I didn't ever really have like a big team of employees, but I'd outsource a lot of the hard things like product photography and a little bit of Instagram management and things like that. And so all of a sudden I was like a CEO of this brand. That wasn't, it wasn't really like I set out to be that in the beginning, but just over time it became more and more necessary to get more support and to get more financing and to, like, things were growing and scaling. So I was kind of just like walking behind, keeping up with it. So, from there, because I loved that brand so much and was able to watch it grow and had developed this really cool expertise about how to build a business that's profitable and scalable, like you said, I decided to sell that product business. That would have been February of 2023 that we sold the business.

Kaelynn: 5:51

And then I was like you know, what's really cool actually is helping other women, sort of like taking the knowledge that I gained from like going to the school of hard knocks and just being able to show them the ropes and walk them through it through coaching. So that's when I started creating a course and coaching offers, which is what I do exclusively now. Before I started out teaching Etsy sellers, but now I'm kind of like you know what? I love teaching women who want to be a leader, who want to be a thought leader, who want to create content that creates a positive impact in the world beyond just selling their offers.

Kaelynn: 6:26

I love helping women learn how to market on Instagram in a way that's like so fun and feels like the most creative expression of their job but also does serve and sell their offers, and so that's where I'm hanging out now. So I like to call myself a professional quitter, because I'm really good at just like quitting anything that I feel like isn't aligned with my future goals or isn't aligned with the lifestyle that I want for my family, which is why I've been through all these different evolutions. But it's gotten me to this place where I'm just constantly optimizing and tweaking and improving the work that I'm doing so that it's like it brings me the maximum joy and fulfillment and makes me the maximum profit possible.

Camille: 7:10

Okay, I have so many questions because I'm like okay, did you?

Camille: 7:15

first of all, I think knowing and seeing an idea that will sell is a talent. Starting a business and knowing how to make it profitable and be able to sell to someone else is a talent, and knowing when to exit is a talent. So let's just back up a little bit, because I feel like those are things that aren't always front of mind when people have an idea or a product or even a service that, well, a lot of times it's more a product or an online something that they want to sell, which I recently started a new business venture with the idea of selling it. But I think that that comes with experience of like okay, where is this gap? So take us back to the, the play gym for babies. How did you see that gap of knowing that that was a viable product in the first place?

Kaelynn: 8:08

Yeah, so I basically was shopping for one because I wanted one for my son and found options.

Kaelynn: 8:15

I was shopping mostly on Etsy because I hadn't really seen this anywhere in like the general market or any big box store or anything. There are some now which is kind of fun to see, but I saw I must've seen one somewhere and then had a desire to have one. The ones that I could find were all like $200 plus and shipped from like Lithuania and like all these overseas countries, and I was like this is like five pieces of wood. There's no like. I bet I could make that. That's how every I like, that's how every good Etsy business starts right. Like I bet I can make that. So I was literally like 38 weeks pregnant. Grant was almost here.

Kaelynn: 8:51

I got home from work I was working full time just over the summer wrapping up an internship and I got home from work and I was like to my husband Nate hey, we're going to go to Home Depot tonight and see if we can find pre-cut pieces of wood that we could just, you know, like drill some holes in and put some screws in and tie some ropes and see if we could make one ourselves.

Kaelynn: 9:10

So we did and it was like honestly really hard because neither of us have any craftsman, woodworking abilities, and then from there I kind of had I was like on the hunt for a product that I could be able to easily create and produce, that had a high profit margin, and so I instantly saw it. As soon as I made my first baby gym, like I knew exactly what the costs were, I knew exactly how long it took, and I had seen other products on the market and I knew what they were selling. For you do the math, you subtract, you know what the profit margin is, and so I had a lot of other requirements in the product that I was looking for to possibly sell, and that just happened to be the one and happened to, I think, through God's help and miracles, be the product that I ended up sticking with for the next five years growing and scaling the business.

Camille: 10:00

That's amazing. So you create this first one. You like how it looks From there. Were you making more prototypes or did you immediately say let's find someone to make this and like what was the process of that in between?

Kaelynn: 10:25

still wrapping up our degrees, and Nate and I would put Grant to sleep because he was born pretty soon after this first prototype, and we'd put him to sleep and then go out to my parents' garage and chop and saw and drill and paint wood until 2 am in the morning a couple of times a week. So this went on for about 18 months before we found a manufacturer overseas. So and I think Nate and I did the math one time we made like 650 baby gyms in my parents' garage over that time. What was really cool, though, is the first any of you who have done research about manufacturing overseas. The big ask is that you have to buy a large quantity in advance, and so we had sold 650 in the lifetime of the business, in 18 months, and the minimum order quantity for a shipment of baby gyms was a thousand.

Kaelynn: 11:11

So it was like that's pretty much double what we've already done, and that was a really scary investment. It costs more than we'd ever paid for anything before, like it costs more than our degrees. It costs more than any car we bought to that point. So it was a scary investment, but we put the money up and the shipment of baby gyms arrived, and we sold through that shipment of a thousand in like four months. And so it was really cool to see how because I, you know, basically like fired myself from being a manufacturer and could move into being the visionary and the marketer how much faster the business grew. I could very literally see how I was shrinking the business by accident by trying to do it all myself. And then that was just the beginning of when it started to scale. And then we started placing bigger and bigger orders and more and more and expanding our product line. But that's how it began.

Camille: 12:06

It was very organic and it sounds all like organized and pretty now, but it was very scary and very yeah Well, there's two things about getting overseas manufacturing that I would wonder about is did you get the sample first, where they sent you, okay? And then did you also worry about your model being copied, because I know that that's a big concern for people sending over the sample and getting and they're like, oh, this is selling, and then your idea can be stolen Like. What was your experience like with that?

Kaelynn: 12:36

So I think my product may have been different. It wasn't like a baby gym was my own invention. If it had been, we would have done very. We would have handled it very differently and probably had some legal protection, non-disclosure agreements and things like that. But there were actually already manufacturers making wooden baby gyms and so I ordered a sample. They sent me the version that they already make and then I tweaked it so that it had the dimensions that I like that I think look better aesthetically, and we changed out some of the materials, again just for the aesthetic purposes, and then ordered another sample with my requests and then placed the large order from theirs, which is smart, because I feel like those are things where, if it's your first time, many times you know that people don't know to ask those questions or to protect themselves that way.

Camille: 13:19

So it sounds like you did it all the right way. Did you have someone coaching you through that? To know Honestly, no, I was still writing solo.

Kaelynn: 13:29

Well, I should say this. So I have brothers who just happened. Like I said, this business thing is like a big family thing for us, Like lots of businesses started and lots of business experience. So it was actually a brother of mine who sat me down one day and he was like you've got to stop making baby gyms in the garage. Like you have no idea how much easier it could be if you ordered them overseas.

Kaelynn: 13:51

And we did all the math to figure out what the shipping would be and it turned out that the cost of just the materials for Nate and I to make a baby gym was more than what it would cost for the completed product from China. It was where we were ordering from To be shipped and shipped Everything, like the box they shipped it in. We had them add, like this beautiful cotton drawstring bag, like all in Wow, that cost landed in my parents' garage was less than just what it costs for us to purchase the materials here. So again, lots of people have opinions and thoughts about the ethics of that, but for me it was like I have a kid at home. This is just my small business. I was thrilled to have still an amazing profit margin for a better product. Honestly, that was being crafted by people who know what they're doing, so it was totally a no-brainer for us, although it was a scary investment at first.

Camille: 14:48

What do you think is something you learned the hard way? Was there any big hiccup that you're like, ooh, I wish I would have known.

Kaelynn: 14:55

Yes, where should I begin? The one that's coming to my mind right now was any of you who may have experience with e-commerce or product businesses is the ultimate headache is forecasting demand and knowing exactly how many to buy, because there's a lead time of three months from when you place the order to when it arrives. It could be longer than that or shorter, depending on what the product is, and so that was a constant challenge for me of being able to just predict how many we would sell in the next three months and how much we would grow, and then how much I needed to order in time for when it to get here. That you know. So we had stockouts all the time. I'm sure every time we had stockouts it affected our sales negatively, but it was just me trying to figure it out on a day-to-day basis, again, with no coach, with no professional CEO on the board. This was just me trying to figure it out, so that was a huge, huge headache.

Camille: 15:49

Now, I love that you talked about really staying in tune and in alignment with what your heart is telling you to do for your family and for yourself and what feels right. So, with the idea of selling the business, was that something that you went into the business knowing you wanted to do or was that something that, as it grew and you saw this huge, massive growth and potential that you're like, wait, maybe we should sell Like what did? What order did?

Kaelynn: 16:14

that come in? That's a really good question.

Kaelynn: 16:16

I think that I had a seed of like a dream that it could be possible one day, because I'd watched my parents do that so closely that picture frame business I was sharing about.

Kaelynn: 16:27

They sold, you know, a few years after I graduated and so I had in my mind like it can be possible even for like mom and pop businesses, like it doesn't have to be like this big international brand, but it could be possible.

Kaelynn: 16:39

And so I think I had like a hope when I started Poppy Seed Play, but I don't think I acted very seriously on it until we were probably a few years into it and then I started to see, like you know, what's actually really valuable is making this a brand that's recognized.

Kaelynn: 16:57

And that a brand that's recognized and that has all the aesthetics and looks the way and has the customer and community reach that someone could come in and I've already established the relationships with the manufacturers, with the wholesalers and all the things they could just come in and this would be a really cool lifestyle business for someone. So it did start to turn into that. There were probably like two years where I kind of decided that was my exit strategy and then started moving things around so that it would be as profitable and attractive to a potential buyer as possible, but it was definitely not something that I was like from day one. This is going to be something that I sell and it's going to be amazing and it's going to be this exact product, but I was open and excited about the possibility of it.

Camille: 17:48

Yeah, and did you have someone helping coach you through that part at all, like the acquisition of the business or having an attorney represent you, like all of that?

Kaelynn: 17:57

Yeah, I chose to hire a broker to sell the business just because, I mean, it's expensive, but I just my hope was that we could find someone who would pay full price for it and that you know, even after paying the broker his percentage, that it would still be more advantageous and also take a lot of headache and stress off of our shoulders. So that's what we did and I would do it again in a heartbeat, just for the sake of the experience of the sale being super positive, which it was.

Camille: 18:27

Wow, I mean I've got to say this is probably one of the smoothest I know. There's so much we're leaving out because this does not include, like the headaches, of things. I know along the way but it sounds like you did it so well, like for not knowing I'm being really new to it. It's like gosh, this really worked out.

Kaelynn: 18:47

Didn't it Like that's so cool? It really did.

Camille: 18:50

So, from start to finish of selling, how many years did you from conception to selling? How many years was it that you had the business?

Kaelynn: 18:59

So I think it would have been five and a half years Okay.

Camille: 19:03

Which is again. A lot of times, people take five years to become profitable. The fact that you wow, that's amazing. So now that you've done product and you're switching more into online offerings and coaching and services, do you think you'd ever go back to a product again, or do you feel like it was too much of an exchange for your time?

Kaelynn: 19:25

This is such a good question. I at this moment have like a big fat red X in my brain over any product business, which sounds funny, because it's like, wait, you just told us this amazing story about how great it was, right, kaylin, but it was super challenging and I was over my head a lot of the time. But I think the biggest thing is that I've just realized how cool this world is that we live in, that I can create offers that are just as profitable with almost no costs, right, because with product business, you're looking at at least 30 to 50% of your sales going straight back into the next order of inventory, which obviously is great, because then the business can grow and scale. But it was just like a constant headache on my brain, which I think is why I've landed in coaching and I'm having so much fun with it, because I feel like I can move faster. It feels more creative, it feels more expansive. The impact is very different as well.

Kaelynn: 20:23

I really like feeling like I'm genuinely changing the way that women think and feel about their lives and their businesses. Not that product businesses can't create that kind of impact too, but this definitely feels like my happy place. I think it feels like where my zone of genius is and I'm grateful for my product business because I think it was kind of like the vehicle that got me here where I could say like I have reputable business experience. This is not my first rodeo, but yeah, I don't think a product business is like my zone. Knock on wood, I am open to it. I never say never, but for right now it's a no.

Camille: 21:01

Yeah Well, I appreciate that because I feel, like with any woman I've ever talked to, whether they wanted to be a business owner or not, that we all go through different seasons of being attracted to certain things that feel like the right time in the moment for whatever the thing is, whether it's going back to school, whether it's having babies, whether it's starting the business, starting a new hobby, like there are seasons of our lives that ebb and flow so much differently than a man's life.

Camille: 21:30

It just is that way. So the fact that you had that season, I think you're right in saying that it was a vehicle to delivering you, to understanding your zone of genius, cause sometimes we have to go through understanding that growth to even understand where, how we got where we were. You know, and I agree with the coaching part of helping women to think differently and see the success and the possibility so differently. That is my love too, so I'm like we are so in the same vision and I love that, which is a perfect segue to talking about helping women take those ideas that are in their brain and making them profitable. Let's talk about that.

Kaelynn: 22:10

Let's do. It's one of my favorite things to talk about. Yes.

Camille: 22:14

Okay. So, first off, with this new direction that you have and you're helping different people do different things, let's imagine that someone listening right now is literally thinking in their mind Ooh, I have this idea of a business that I want to do, but I have no Instagram following. Or if I do, it's like my grandma and my sister. Where do I even start? How could I do it? I'm so small, I don't. I'm not cute on camera, whatever those like stories are. What would be your first line of advice that you would give to this person?

Kaelynn: 22:49

Let me see if I can pick just one Cause I have like 25, but there's a there's a client of mine that's coming to my mind who I think is the perfect example of this. So she has, basically, she doesn't realize that she is a unique genius in food preservation. She has this amazing garden and she's like canning stuff all the time and preserving food and freeze drying and it's just like she knows it like the back of her hand and she's sharing about it on Instagram and just like sharing about it, like just this is what's happening in my life. And she came into a group of mine where we're helping her figure out how to turn that knowledge that she has, that's so intuitive and natural for her, into a curriculum, into digital products, into workbooks, into guides, into courses that she can monetize because she has so much knowledge in her brain. So the first thing that I would say and I think this is where the sticking point is for so many women and I've experienced this too is almost just like a willingness to accept or witness that you do have unique genius in something, because I think most women will be like but I don't, I'm just a regular old person, right, and so for the person who's in this situation, who's listening, I would say take that idea, whatever it is that you have, that you're like yes, I'm like pretty good at this, and just change the way that you say it and just say like I'm really good at this and I know more than the average Joe about this. I heard a big name business coach say at one point if you know 10% more than the average Joe, then you know enough that you could create an offer and monetize it and sell it as an educational product. And I think that most women probably even know a lot more than 10%.

Kaelynn: 24:42

And we just don't. We don't want to brag, we don't want to sound like we're being like you know, but I think it's important for women to first and I think this is something that happens over time, I don't think this is necessarily something that happens overnight but put your feet on the path with the intention of like I am a leader, I have something really important to share, no matter how niche or random or obscure it is. There are women in the world who need my heart, my knowledge, my brain, my approach, my gifts, and that, to me, is actually I mean equally exciting as figuring out a way to monetize that. But I think it's really important in our world for women to learn how to put themselves on a leadership path. Just like you know, men do this very naturally and intuitively.

Kaelynn: 25:36

It feels kind of like for me at least I'll speak for myself it felt a little bit new. It felt a little bit like is this okay? Like, am I just supposed to be a mom and just stay home with my kids? Is it okay if I do that and be someone who really, really helps people and creates an impact in the world? So that's where I would say is, if you start with the heart of creating a positive impact, then I think you know the questions about how are still going to be there, but at least for the sake of starting to talk about it and starting to market it in whatever way there's so many ways that you can market it and talk about it but at least in that way it's like you're approaching it from a place of I'm dead serious about this, instead of like this is just my side gig, I'm just a little hobby business, and I wish I would have had that approach when I started in the beginning.

Kaelynn: 26:28

The beginning of the coaching business now, or the beginning of which one.

Camille: 26:34

Okay, yeah, I love that you bring this up, because never in the history of time has there been such equal access to creating digital product for profit. So that alone, the fact that we have that and it gives us so much flexibility and it levels the playing field.

Camille: 26:52

You don't have to submit a resume to someone to say, hey, is it okay if I create a product that could help teach someone about XYZ? You don't have to, and that is such a gift, and it can also be a bit overwhelming if you're thinking, well, okay, but where do I start? That's why you hire a coach, like one of us that's been there. But it's so exciting because, like you said, you really can take whatever that expertise is and turn it into something that other people would love to learn, which is really exciting.

Kaelynn: 27:27

Absolutely. Yeah. I think all the time about how what marketing a business, an educational business, would have looked like, even like 10, 15, 20 years ago. It's like you would have had to either pay for Google ads or put an ad in a newspaper or stand on a street corner Like those were your best options for marketing. And it's so cool how, like the you know I I'm speaking to myself when I say this, but I think about myself early in my years of being a mom and having this like secret desire to like be someone who does something really cool and be super tight with my kids and be a super present mom. But it's like we you very literally can't do that. That wasn't an option not that long ago, but you could.

Camille: 28:12

you could now, if you want to, sitting on your couch it like makes me so happy because this is literally my passion is helping women to understand that and to learn the opportunities that are out there, and sharing episodes like this, where people have done it in so many different ways, is so exciting and so inspiring. So I want to ask, as we take now that we've kind of laid the groundwork of, obviously there's apps and there are different ways of building a store. I just shared an episode. Today's October 9th. There's an episode where we talk about digital product and how do you create a stand store.

Kaelynn: 28:50

That's a very popular one right now.

Camille: 28:51

I want to go back to that one, but let's talk about messaging on Instagram and taking that idea and now turning it into something where we're talking about it in a way that markets our true story of the messaging, because I feel like that can be really tricky, especially where everything is very video heavy. Now, not everyone loves to be on camera. Like what are some tips and tricks that you would suggest for someone to maybe play with as they want to get their message out there?

Kaelynn: 29:21

Yes, this is one of my favorite questions. I love talking about messaging. I like to say that, especially if you're a service provider, sometimes it can feel really hard to articulate what like what do I actually do for people? And so this is where I would start. If someone is listening to this and they're like, what is, what is my messaging? I would start by asking you this question what's your authority story? What's your authority story?

Kaelynn: 29:47

And it will basically be whatever result you have created from your own life, from your own experience, whether that's a business, whether that's your canning process, whether that's your sleep training method or model. It's what is the thing that you did that got you a result that's different than what most people get. Tell the story of it, and I really like thinking about it that way, because it makes it so, like you know, there's marketing books you could read. There's copywriting books you can read, and I'm not saying that I don't think you should, but I just think that it can be so simple. It can be as simple as well. Here's what I did that worked for me. Here's what I did for someone else that worked for her. What I did that worked for me. Here's what I did for someone else that worked for her. Walk us through the process what was it like for you before, what was it like for you during? What was it like for you after? That's like a really strong marketing strategy. If you're starting out with nothing else, that's what I would start with. And also so cool because you don't have to come up with this like crafted, like convincing language. You can just talk about your own life in a super natural, intuitive way.

Kaelynn: 31:01

Because I find this a lot for the women who I coach that when they, when they sort of come to Instagram with the purpose of like now I have to sell my offer, we resist the heck out of that because women generally, we don't think of ourselves as being salespeople. We generally connect it to being sleazy or dishonest or like sneaky or slimy. But instead it's like what if, instead of you approaching your marketing from like I'm just going to go sell my thing now, if it was just, I'm going to just talk to people, I'm just going to tell my story, I'm going to try to say something that would help someone in my audience somewhere feel loved, seen or heard, and that was your entire marketing strategy. It's going to, first of all work so much better for our feminine hearts, where, like, that's what we're designed to do, and I think that we can develop like the really succinct and specific messaging over time. But I think for the girl who's just getting started, that's what I would recommend Just getting your story out there and practicing saying it over and over, because that's all marketing really is is just saying the same things over and over and maybe say it in different ways.

Kaelynn: 32:15

But I think if we can at least loosen the feeling of like now I have to be like super convincing. And what if people think something about me? It's like no, no, no, this is just you showing up to tell your story, just like if this was your personal Instagram feed. It doesn't have to be a big deal, but I do think we have to get in the reps of you, like as if you were at the gym, like lifting weights, where I do think posting content every time is like a bicep curl and your muscles get stronger and stronger over time. The first couple of times it might feel uncomfortable, you might feel a little bit sore. Afterwards it might feel unnatural, it might feel like not something you would have ever expected to do, but over time, your muscles get stronger, over time, your marketing brain gets stronger, and so we ultimately just have to start where you're at right now.

Camille: 32:59

I love that and I love that you've said it's about thinking about how can you serve the person through your story or the result that you have, because when we think of it, less of selling and more of serving or another way.

Camille: 33:12

I've heard it said that I really like is it would be a disservice not to share what you have to offer because you really are trying to help people.

Camille: 33:22

There's never been someone that I've helped or coached that they're out only for the money, like because you're not going to be successful. If that's your driving force of the why and women don't generally function with that being the primary source anyway and so if you can lean into that of how can I serve or help or share, it makes it less about. Am I saying this perfectly? Do I look okay, and it turns more of those arrows pointing out rather than pointing in, which I think is it takes practice and even I can say that and still show up on one day and be like, oh, I don't even know what to say today. Like it really takes concerted effort. You know it's not like it's this perfectly easy thing, and I've been creating content for 14 years online. My trick and something that was really interesting, is that because I have a blog it's called mymommystylecom I don't even talk about it that much, but the way that I built it was all free content.

Camille: 34:24

And my educational background is family and consumer science education. I literally came to the website to teach you things I would be teaching in a classroom and it's all free. And isn't this great. It's free. The difference is teachers get paid, and so why shouldn't you, as someone who's creating free and amazing content, find a way to monetize, because it doesn't all have to be free.

Camille: 34:52

And so I had a business coach once who said to me I have a really hard time convincing bloggers that they need to charge money for content because they're so used to giving everything away for free and you don't have to. And that really took me some time to wrap my head around that, because for so many years it was just creating free, free, free, free content, where now platforms, thank goodness, are giving content creators money for their content. If it's performing well, you can be on like the content creator platform, which they'll pay you for views, which is so cool. But for the most part, that's not the way that the rodeo was began. It was just like that long ago yeah, not that long ago, but now there are so many more ways where people I feel like are being more accustomed to and comfortable with paying you for content, and it doesn't have to be a lot of money. For you know, I just interviewed someone recently who sells $4 recipes for her cakes. I love that she's making so much money selling these cake recipes and I'm like girl.

Camille: 35:59

I've been sharing recipes for over a decade for free. People are paying for recipes and I'm like, well, why not? Why not If they? If it's something you've invented and you created, it's your intellectual property. She's making money for these really special cake recipes. So I think that sometimes in our own minds we can think it's too oversaturated. What I have to share isn't unique. There's nothing here that I can do that hasn't been done before. But that's not true. It's that secret sauce that only you have, that story that only you have that can be packaged in a way, and I feel like that's not true.

Camille: 36:30

It's that secret sauce that only you have, that story that only you have. That can be packaged in a way, and I feel like that's something that you're really good at. Is that marketing side of how to turn that into something profitable Totally?

Kaelynn: 36:39

Yeah, and I think it's like I said this I was just coaching a client the other day and she's like but you're so good at this? And he's like I've been doing this for a really long time. Like please don't go compare yourself to someone who's been putting in the reps for seven years, like that would be like oh, I'm so sad I can't run a marathon in three hours, even though I've never run a mile. Like that's just not fair. That's just mean to be honest to yourself and so and mean to that person too.

Camille: 37:03

Cause I think so much we discount years and years that no one knows about where, no one showed up and no one could see the work behind it, and so I think it really is discrediting yourself and them. That's such a good point. Yeah, I totally agree. So what would you say moving forward with as far as like tactics and tools with Instagram, is there anything that is really working well right now that you think is helping people with more visibility? Perhaps?

Kaelynn: 37:33

That's a good question, Okay, so let's go two different. Let's go two routes on this one. Because first, I want to say that a lot of my clients get really wrapped up in like I only have 600 followers, Like how is someone going to buy from me? I don't have a big audience. I don't have 10,000 followers. I don't have a big audience. I don't have 10,000 followers, I don't have 100,000 followers. So I'll give you my own little case study.

Kaelynn: 37:54

You probably saw this, Camille, but I just pivoted my Instagram account three-ish months ago where, you know, I had a following that I've been building since I was like an Etsy coach, and so a lot of people in my audience were Etsy business owners and I just I decided that I wanted to start talking to coaches and service providers. So I just launched a completely new Instagram account. It was kind of like to my old account, like hey, I'm leaving. If you want to come follow me still. If you're even still here, if you're even still listening, come follow me over here.

Kaelynn: 38:22

And so now I have an audience of like 600 followers which, I'll be honest, was a little bit vulnerable for me at first, because it's been a long time since, which, I'll be honest, was a little bit vulnerable for me at first, because it's been a long time since you know our brains are so connected to that vanity metric of like. That number means something about me. It means something about how good I am at what I do, about all the things. So I had to go through another exercise of disconnecting myself from that number. But my sales are higher than they've ever ever been. So it's like just to give someone convincing evidence that you can still make a very healthy, amazing not even just healthy like mind blowing to women generations before us right Income from a tiny, very connected, highly engaged Instagram audience. So that's the first thing that I want to say.

Camille: 39:11

But I've thought about that so many times. Oh, because when I did my rebrand, like four years ago, I was like yeah, I should just start new, because my account is so old that the engagement is just poop. So I've thought about that so many times. I'm like, oh, maybe I should just start over.

Kaelynn: 39:28

It's like it's intimidating because it's well and also it's. It's not just intimidating, but it's like. This is the account that I have poured my heart and soul into for a long time, and so setting that down feels like putting an old scrapbook, like you know, like that's the perfect way of seeing it.

Camille: 39:47

An old scrapbook, yes, and you know we could.

Kaelynn: 39:51

We could talk about that too, but I also want to say that I think that, as far as visibility goes, this is my favorite approach, because, honestly, I have not cracked the code for visibility I have 600 followers right now but I do think that this has rung true for me through my entire business experience that the way you grow your audience is by serving the one you have, by showing up, by being super involved, by asking questions, by caring about the people who are following you, and not just from like. I'm going to try to maximize my engagement. It's like no, I really care about what you think. Like let's talk about something. Let's like open a can of worms and I do this all the time in my stories Like tell me what you think about this, tell me what your experience has been with this. So it's like people follow me.

Kaelynn: 40:39

The people who follow me like feel like they know me and I feel like I know them, like we're genuine friends, instagram friends and so I don't have any hacks for you about how to go viral, because if I did, I would be utilizing them right now, but I can say confidently that something that's worked really well for me is focusing on the audience that I currently have and trusting that my audience will grow organically as a result of that, whether it's through you know reels being seen through the algorithm, whether it's through me going to a networking event and she meets me and a friend of a friend connects me, or she sees me speak somewhere or hears me on a podcast, or whether that's just that she happened to find me on Instagram. There's so many different ways. So I just trust that the visibility is on its way and I think it's a good thing and it's like on my mind it's something I desire. It's not like I don't want new followers, but for me it's worked really well to just really intentionally and lovingly serve my current audience.

Camille: 41:36

Oh, I love that, I love that advice, and I actually have noticed that you are really good at networking and getting on stages. That's how I first was connected with you. Do you have any advice on visibility for that, like, what's given you that ability to be on those stages other than your massive success, which obviously and you're amazing.

Kaelynn: 41:57

That's so nice of you. That's super nice of you. It's honestly something I have to work at.

Camille: 42:02

I am 100% an introvert and people don't really believe me when I say that I really, really am.

Kaelynn: 42:08

Like it feels like if I'm driving to a networking event, my heart starts pounding, like I can feel it right now. My palms get sweaty. It's it's not. It's not natural for me. It's. It feels like it pushes me out of my comfort zone every time.

Kaelynn: 42:24

But I do also know that I want to have a wide impact in the world, whatever that looks like, and so in order for me to have a wide impact, people have to be able to find me somehow, and so it's something I'm actually very intentionally working on putting myself on more podcasts Again, not natural for me.

Kaelynn: 42:44

Speaking at events feels really hard. Going to events, even not speaking, but just being there in the room, is something I'm like intentionally choosing to work on because it's not natural for me. And so, whether it is for you or not, I would say, first start with where you are locally, because those are some of my like. They become my best best friends women who I've met at events, who are doing the same thing as I am. And I have best best friends who are not involved in business at all either, right, but like there's something about getting in a room with a woman who knows how to like talk the lingo about Instagram and visibility and email marketing and content creation. That just feels like, oh, thank you Someone, someone gets my brain, yes, and so I would say first start locally putting yourself in the physical room. Putting yourself. That might mean buying a ticket, that might mean bringing a girlfriend with you so that you can feel like you have a wingman, but put yourself in the room because that would be, I think, the easiest way to start.

Camille: 43:40

Yeah, I agree with that, and I feel like. I don't know how other states are, but I get the impression that we have a major advantage here in Utah.

Kaelynn: 43:48

I think so.

Camille: 43:48

There's a lot of entrepreneurial spirit and opportunities for women to get together. And if you're listening to this and thinking I don't have that, then maybe think about being someone that could put something together at a local library, or even a get together and have a coffee or a chat or a lunch. Don't think that people aren't there wanting it too. So one way to do that that I found that other people will do this is they'll go to Facebook and look for local places Also. Another really good way to do this is to go to threads and just do a little shout out that says small women business owners. I want to get together with people near me I live in Charlotte or wherever you are and see what happens, because threads for me has been a huge connecting place and opportunity for growth right now, way better than Instagram, believe it or not?

Camille: 44:42

So check it out.

Kaelynn: 44:44

Yeah, that's good for me to know I'm going to do that.

Camille: 44:46

Do it because I I think I have maybe like 10,000 followers over there and on my Instagram account I have 40,000 something and I get way more engagement and comments and activity on threads.

Camille: 45:01

So, maybe I just need to start a new Instagram account, okay, but for whatever reason, threads is like hopping. People that are there are looking for growth and connection, and so go there and make it physical if you don't have opportunity near you. That's just my advice for today. Yeah well, this has been so great. I could talk to you forever. I feel like we've had so many good nuggets of wisdom and thank you for being so honest and open with us. Please let our audience know where they can connect with you.

Kaelynn: 45:33

Yeah, come follow me on my new Instagram account. It's Kaylin K-A-E-L-Y-N-N. Priest P-R-I-E-S-T. Come follow me on Instagram. That's, honestly the best place to connect with me, and I am always doing something different. I really like to have a lot of variety in my business. I'm not someone who can just sell the same membership for the next five years, Like. I like to switch it up. I like to have conversations, I like to find out what women need and craft my offers in that way. And so come follow me, watch my stories. That's where you'll find out. That's where you'll find out what's going on in my life and business. Perfect.

Camille: 46:10

I love it. Well, thank you so much. This has been absolutely amazing and if you are listening right now and you've been inspired, please go and leave a five-star rating and review. That's a great way for other people to be able to find us and to subscribe so that other women can be inspired by amazing messages like this from Kaelynn. Women can be inspired by amazing messages like this from Kaelynn. Also, if you want to connect, I am on Instagram, at callmeceopodcast and camillewalkerco. Thank you so much for being here and we'll see you next time. Hey CEOs, thank you so much for spending your time with me. If you found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment. In a five-star review, you could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. Continue the conversation on Instagram at callmeCEOPodcast, and remember you are the boss.