We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kate Glaser a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kate, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is something to be proud of and something that doesn’t come without work and strategy. I have seen success with my brand after 5+ years of consistent devotion, hard work, passion and a drive to never stop. The key to our success is passion-led consistency. I have been able to grow the Hope Rises brand through consistency of my brand and continuing to find creative ways to enhance the brand – whether it’s through influencer marketing, local, national and international givebacks, events or just being vulnerable and showcasing that vulnerability across our social platforms.

We started off Hope Rises with mainly a family and friends audience base and have grown it to a viral, global good news platform with nearly 1-million followers across our social media platforms. For so long, my husband and I ran Hope Rises without compensation and truly getting paid in the belief that one day we would impact tens of thousands. Now we are impacting hundreds of thousands and have grown it into both a business and a nonprofit, and to us, we had a willingness to keep going even past the exhaustion, challenges and at times disappointments.

If you believe in something – don’t stop. If you can help or impact one person, turn that one person into two people and continue on. Eventually, you’ll make it big, as long as you use your passion as fuel.

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

I started my career in storytelling as a television journalist and worked in tv news for 8+ years out of college. As the business evolved, and with me wanting to settle and start a family, I knew I had to shift my career a bit to accommodate my next venture. So, I took a job in PR for one of the largest children’s nonprofits across the globe. But, my love for storytelling was evident, so I knew I wanted to start a community blog, even if it was small.

I started Hope Rises in 2017 as a blog based out of Buffalo, NY (Go Bills!) and it’s been magnificent to watch it grow and expand so much in just 5 years. We now span the globe, igniting hope through stories of love and goodwill. We have raised close to $500,000 for individuals, families and causes we believe in. We work with celebrities, influencers and brands that believe in the power of good and share our similar mission. And we are always looking for collaborations that align with our brand voice.

We have nearly 1-million fans across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube and we continue to grow daily, keeping in mind our heart for charity work and spreading hope.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We have built our brand into a fast-growing, viral social media empire and the biggest piece of advice I can lend is remaining true to your “brand voice”. Determine how your brand will look and feel and also what your targeted audience is, and use consistent storytelling to build your network.

Never giving up and pre-planning your social media pages are key strategies to keeping your platforms growing. Aligning your brand with other growing brands that remain true to your brand is also an incredible opportunity for any small business owner who is looking to grow their online identity.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The pandemic was a major time of pivoting and learning how to grow even through a global pandemic. I left my full-time job at a maj0r nonprofit toward the end of the pandemic to take my side hustle – Hope Rises – full time, and while it was challenging and scary, the pandemic taught me the importance of working for a cause and team that you believe in. Leaning in and adapting is something all business owners need to understand and act on.

Since leaving my full-time job, my husband and I have taken the business we started and grew it triple in size and continue to move at a pace that we control because we are driving the bus.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hoperisesnews.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/hoperisesnetwork
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/hoperisesews
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-glaser-87bb5326/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KateGIaser