We recently connected with Kelly Thompson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. 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 started my business after our oldest daughter got engaged. For over 10 years, we were blessed to be a homeschool family which meant lots of activities, friendships and connections created through that life as a homeschool mom. That was the identity I had adopted and treasured after being able to leave corporate America and be home with my kids. Although I was happy for her, it was a wake up call and it really hit me that one day all of my kids (I have 4) would be all grown up and moved out (that’s the goal right?).

I started thinking about what I would do without all of the day-to-day business and endless chores (looking forward to that part!) that took up a lot of my day. I had a part-time job teaching but I knew I wanted more freedom – time and financial.

My parents owned a retail store in downtown Manhattan when I was young, and I grew up watching them work all day at their 9-5’s then run the store on evenings and weekends. In fact, several members of my extended family own(ed) businesses and I knew it was something I wanted to do one day but life kept me too busy to make any real plans in that direction.

So after the engagement celebration, I did 2 things: I started planning a wedding and I started really thinking about what else I wanted to do.

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.

Sure, my name is Kelly and I’m a marketing coach for mid-life moms with a coaching business. After our daughter got engaged, I did kind of a self audit of my skills and passions. I always loved writing so the next weekend, I decided to take some courses and learn website copywriting. I created a website, started a blog and after a while, I started getting some clients. I loved what I was doing but I found it difficult to get a consistent flow of clients to make a consistent flow of cash! I started doing research about social media marketing (something I was never into) and hired a mentor. I was fascinated by what I learned about marketing and sales psychology (I have a master’s in psych) and after implementing what I learned, I was able to attract clients, double my sales and build a business that aligns with who I am.

I had friends asking me what I was doing so I started helping them. And it worked for them too! I gradually pivoted my business and started teaching women how to grow their businesses using effective marketing strategies that align with who they are without being chained to social media.

The rest, as they say is history. I absolutely love that I get to help women package their genius so they can have more money and more time to spend with their families!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I initially started marketing my business on social media and honestly, I didn’t know what I was doing. I had followed some gurus on different platforms and they all said the same things – if you want to grow your audience, post often and post consistently. So I did just that. I created a few profiles and started posting content all the time. Sometimes 3-5x a day! As a busy mom, it was overwhelming and time-consuming but I kept at it for far too long hoping it would help me stand out in the market and get clients.

Even though the reality was that I wasn’t getting many new clients from posting! In fact all that constant posting left me with little time to focus on the things that really matter, like serving my current clients at the highest level!

I knew I needed to find another way to market or I would have to give up on my dream. So I started doing some research and lo and behold I found out that there are many other ways to get visible to your dream audience that don’t involve being chained to my phone checking to see if anyone liked or commented on a reel!

All that to say, having a large following on social media doesn’t equal having a large bank account. Focus on connecting with people in a real way and helping them with whatever service you’re offering. Do that and the audience will naturally come to see what’s up in your corner of the world.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve always felt very confident in my ability to get things done. Starting my business was no exception. I figured I could Google my way into learning how to run a profitable online business. Boy was I wrong! I wasted a lot of time trying to diy everything and learn things through freebies and low ticket masterclasses. Did I learn some things? Yes. But I could’ve accomplished so much more in much less time if I would’ve just invested in myself and hired a coach. Now I understand that time (a non-renewable resource!) is way more valuable than money.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kellythompsonandco.com
• Instagram: @kellythompsonandco
• Facebook: @thekellythompson