Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Perry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kelly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I took the plunge into full time freelancing not exactly knowing what I wanted to build long-term. Because I had so much varied experience, I needed to zero in on what exactly it was I wanted to be the focus. I could do anything, but what was it I wanted to do?

At the time I was severely burnt out, so when I had the opportunity to take on my first freelance client I took it. They were part-time and super easygoing, which allowed me to dedicate a lot of time to rest and recovery. It was a great opportunity for me to begin building client relationships (and pay my bills!) while also nourishing my creative self and putting some roots in the ground to build my business.

I stated by dedicating every Friday to working on my business, treating my own business as I would a client: Developing a brand identity, doing competitive analysis, brainstorming services I could offer. I spent a lot of time evaluating where my strengths were and what people were already asking me for. This period also helped me identify the boundaries I needed to have around work in order to prevent getting burnt out again. I still prioritize client-free Fridays to make sure I have dedicated time to reflect on and build out my business.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a Creative Operations Consultant, I focus specifically on process improvement and project management within the creative space. I work closely with designers, creative directors, art directors, brand and marketing teams to assess and optimize their creative processes. That can mean anything from developing graphic design assets for a national brand campaign, managing pre- and post- production for photoshoots, or developing the infrastructure to be able to ensure alignment and timely approvals that will save their budget.

I am also an Asana Services Partner, which gives me the opportunity to work across industries to help teams make the most of their Asana project management platform. I’ve worked with several small businesses and nonprofit organizations who have been having trouble implementing the platform effectively for their business. I work closely with those teams to build and implement Asana processes based on their team’s unique use case.

I’ve spent the last ten years working with start ups and nonprofits, building processes across every vertical you can imagine: finance, philanthropy, operations, brand, marketing, web, sales. It’s molded me into a really versatile generalist who understands how to bridge between departments and design solutions with the appropriate business function in mind.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I’d say it’s likely a combination of approach and demonstrated impact. I maintain a human-centered approach to the work I do, but I’m also a very data-driven person. As people, our work and how we do that work are very personal. To me, it’s really important to acknowledge and reciprocate that vulnerability in order to create a sustainable process that teams will engage with.

Throughout my client engagements, I keep detailed reporting to establish a baseline and ensure that we are seeing results. This helps me propose data-informed suggestions, and provide my clients with the numbers to show them if the changes did or did not have the impact we expected. This makes it easy to know whether or not something is working, and to pivot quickly when it isn’t. I believe that is a great way to build trust. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what I, personally, feel is the correct solution – it matters if it is having a positive impact for those doing the work.

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

I’m currently in the process of building some online courses through my website that can help me reach more people and provide accessible training for those who are more do-it-yourself types.

I’m finding there are a lot of resources either don’t exist or don’t accommodate certain learning styles or business use cases. A lot of what I’ve learned about starting and running my own business have been the result of trial and error or very niche experiences in my work history. For example, my experience working in finance at start ups has given me some practical accounting knowledge that I likely wouldn’t have learned otherwise – so I’m creating an online course leveraging Notion to help solopreneurs track their finances in an easy and templated way.

Or sometimes I’ll learn something completely new about a platform through working with a client from a problem I’m helping them solve, and it will inspire me to create a free one-pager for those who may be running into the same problem.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kellyperryconsulting.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyjaneperry/

Image Credits

Fethawie Tekleab