We recently connected with Kim Robinson and have shared our conversation below.

Kim, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

The mission of my business is the same as my purpose and passion in life—connect with others and help however I can.

When I reflect on the last twenty-five years of my life, building relationships with people, connecting around their passion and helping them is central to everything I’ve done.

These values helped me thrive as an adolescent who was always “the new kid in town.” Later in life, these values helped me find community, cultivate meaningful friendships and build an amazing career. And ultimately, they led me to my business “3pts” (pronounced “three points”).

I’ve spent the last two and half years meeting, connecting with and helping hundreds of creative entrepreneurs (artists and makers who produce a tangible “product” or work) to learn about their passion and the unique challenges they face. They struggle to develop, sustain and grow a business for themselves because of the various external and internal challenges that come with navigating “business” (sales, marketing, operations, etc.).

Being a creative and developing a business requires two different sets of skills. In business, many creative entrepreneurs are unaware of what they don’t know. They do their best with what they have, but they’re never able to reach their potential.

After multiple prolonged efforts, they get frustrated and burnt out. Their dream turns into a nightmare. They struggle to sustain their business or move it out of the messy middle they’ve been in for years.

My time learning from the community has helped me understand their needs. They need help developing their business and navigating the obstacles that come with it. They need inspiration and confidence. They need a solution that makes growing a business as easy as it is to start a business.

My business, 3pts, is that solution. It’s a platform that empowers creative founders with confidence, clarity and direction to build and grow a successful business for themselves. We work to bridge the gap between creativity and business practice to help founders achieve their goals and thrive.

Kim, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m an artist with business chops.

Before starting 3pts, I worked in music, culture and media in one capacity or another for about twenty years. My passion for connecting with other music and culture die-hards attracted me to my previous jobs.

I’ve worked at record stores, played in bands, DJ’ed, worked at instrument stores, worked for music/culture media companies, been an event producer and talent curator, produced videos, been a door person and so many other roles that inform who I am today.

From 2015-2020, I worked at Red Bull in the culture marketing department in various roles which was like getting an MBA. I learned SO much and it set me up in ways I didn’t know for the future.

Here’s how I break it down:

What do I do for a living? I help creative entrepreneurs develop and grow their businesses.

What is 3pts? A platform that empowers creative founders with confidence, clarity and direction to run and grow a successful business.

How do you do it? We provide guidance, resources and community to help creative founders overcome challenges and build thriving businesses.

– We provide business services to help founders

– We bring resources to bear for our founder community

– We tell stories that educate, inspire and entertain

– We develop and produce workshops and programs

– We create space for people to connect and help each other

The heartbeat of our business is our popular weekly newsletter where we share 1 idea, 6 resources, 6 opportunities and 5 pieces of news to help our community in and out of their business.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

When you’re just starting out, you have to focus on developing individual relationships and finding communities to learn from and help. This will provide you with key insights to further develop your brand, products and customer service. And it acts as a launch pad to help you find the people who care and will rally around your business and help it grow.

People follow, engage with and buy from people/brands that they know, like and trust. You can’t do this by just endlessly posting on social media. As a small business owner, your greatest asset is YOU, so you should get yourself out there to meet and build relationships with various communities. And in turn, you set yourself up for short-term and long-term success.

The best way to simplify this strategy is to “build offline” and “amplify online.” It’s how I’ve built my customer base and planted seeds that are now paying dividends for the community and 3pts.

The best businesses effectively blend offline and online to achieve their larger goals.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ve been moving and changing my entire life. I hated it as a kid but now value it as it’s been critical to navigating entrepreneurship and the various cases of the “feels” that hit you throughout the journey. I’ve lived in various places and every time I’ve had to move it felt nerve-racking, but I’ve learned each time that the benefits were well worth it. I approach entrepreneurship with the same mindset.

Contact Info:

• Website: 3pts.co
• Instagram: instagram.com/3ptsco
• Linkedin: @kimrobinsonjr

Image Credits
First Photo (me solo next to the steps): Chaz Cruz Second Photo (me teaching a class): Micaela Skoknic