We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelly Rocklein. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelly below.

Kelly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Back in 2015 I made the difficult decision to drop out of college and pursue my passion for content creation and video editing. Looking back, I am so grateful for the courage I collected to take the leap, because I wouldn’t be where I am today had I not made the decisions I had.

The specific content creation I was pursuing was UGC (user generated content) for brands. It was like the wild west in advertising on social media at the time, and I had no idea what the industry would end up looking like a few years, or even 10 years down the line.

Well, turns out it was the best niche I would have dove into the deep end for. It took YEARS of trial and error, but eventually I found my way, learned major lessons along my journey, and have even got the opportunity to train the next wave of UGC creators on the internet.

Kelly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kelly Rocklein, I grew up on the East Coast and have been on the West Coast for the past 10 years (west coast, best coast). I’m a self-taught creative marketer who has been able to generate over half a BILLION dollars in revenue for my clients since 2017.

I’m part of the 11% of female Creative Directors, and am proud to be part of that growing percentage! After years of being on both the brand and creator side, I was able to leave my full-time career to work entirely for myself in August of last year (2023).

I have two different businesses (with another one on the way). I have my freelance services, where I provide UGC (user generate content) to brands, and am also a fractional Creative Strategist/Director for DTC brands looking to surpass revenue goals.

My other business is UGC Pro, which kind of happened by chance and on accident. Everyone and their mom started talking about UGC on platforms like TikTok summer 2022 and I made an account to help reset expectations and debunk blatant lies being spread (it started to sound like an MLM, lol). Before I knew it, I had grown 60,000 followers, almost 100,000 across multiple platforms, and have become one of the most trusted resources by students looking to learn how to start a UGC business, get into Creative Strategy, and understand industry best practices.

Our soon to be third business is Hyrea Pro. It is going to be a white glove service for hand selecting professional UGC Creators who have a track record for driving sales with their content. As someone that’s been in the industry for 10 years, one of the most recurring pain points I’ve heard over the years revolves around how challenging it is to find SOLID on-camera talent, that look natural when they deliver lines, while also understanding industry best practices to hedge your bets on a better return on ad spend.

Because of our growing audience with UGC Pro, we’ve been able to source creators for brands and agencies that have created massive success. So much so, we have had a well known agency confirm a campaign received a 10x ROAS from the creators we sourced. The app is scheduled to be completed by our dev team end of July/early August and we cannot wait to officially launch! ESPECIALLY since we have brands and agencies coming and knocking on OUR door.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The best way to fund your business is by remaining a full-time employee at your day job. It isn’t an easy thing to do by any means, but its the best way to build your business and fund it without falling into a scarcity mindset. This is what I did leading up to leaving my full-time career as a Creative Director last summer. Even still, my co-founder, is STILL working full-time at his agency job, and we’ve agreed there’s no need for him to leave anytime soon. He loves his job, he has great work/life balance, and makes a comfortable and competitive salary.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I had to unlearn was the toxic entrepreneur mindset (at least that’s what I call it). What I mean by that is, you don’t need to wake up at 5am, go to the gym 2x a day, and give up socializing to be successful. In fact, personally, I’ve had the most success when I have the right balance in my personal and work life. Now everyone is different, but for me at least, the decision to let go of this restrictive mindset has been better for my mental and emotional health, which in return, is better for my business!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.UGC.Pro
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ugc.pro/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyrocklein/
• Twitter: https://x.com/ugcpro_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gougcpro

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