We were lucky to catch up with Kirsten Tay recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kirsten, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been one of the most interesting investments you’ve made – and did you win or lose? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment I ever made in my business was hiring a mentor.

When I first started my business, I was doing it aimlessly and haphazardly. I had an idea that I wanted to pursue social media media management, with a focus on Pinterest management, but I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to get there. I knew the Pinterest platform fairly well, but wasn’t confident in how to market a business on the platform other than my own blog. So I started doing some research and found a Pinterest course that I ended up investing in. The course was incredibly in-depth and included monthly coaching calls with the course creator.

I ended up learning so much about Pinterest, business, and even mindset, finances, and personal life, from this creator that when she offered 1:1 monthly mentoring as a service offering, I jumped on it immediately. I wanted to learn everything about business from the way that she was successful in business. I never planned on hiring a coach or mentor, but when I found this course creator, I knew that I wanted to learn everything that she knew about Pinterest and business.

And this decision ended up taking my business to a place I never expected in all the best ways! I hired this creator as my mentor for a year and a half, and it was the best thing I ever did for my life, and my business.

My client bookings skyrocketed, I was able to charge more for my services, we streamlined my finances and business in Pinterest workflow, I learned how to create a proper Pinterest strategy, I started getting active in my marketing, and essentially learned everything a new entrepreneur I needed to learn about becoming a successful Pinterest manager and strategist, from this mentor.

This mentor changed the entire trajectory of my business and I honestly don’t know where I would be without her guidance in my life and business!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Kirsten Tay and I’m a Pinterest manager and strategist for lifestyle brands, bloggers, and e-commerce shops.

A handful of years ago, I moved out to Los Angeles to pursue film acting and being an actress. And after getting severely burnt out from the starving artist lifestyle, I started a blog on the side as a creative outlet. I started marketing my blog on Pinterest and grew the blog by 5000% in just a few short months. From there I decided to transition my creative side hustle from blogging to social media management with a focus on Pinterest management and strategy. That was in 2018, and now four years later in 2022, I own The Pin Bar – a Pinterest management and strategy consultancy.
I offer a monthly Pinterest management services, where I will completely take Pinterest marketing off your hands and save you time, expand your reach and grow your audience and business on Pinterest. I also offer Pinterest VIP days which is an entire day dedicated to setting up a single client Pinterest account from start to finish. In addition, I also offer Pinterest account strategy sessions and account audits.

The problem that I find I sold for most of my clients is first and foremost, helping them save time by outsourcing. A lot of the lifestyle brands that I work with simply don’t have the time to optimize and market all of their content on yet another platform. I take Pinterest marketing completely off their hands and market their content and products for them monthly. This saves them time, and expand their reach online while growing their audience and their business without them having to do a single thing.

The number one thing that sets me apart from other Pinterest managers is how well I understand the platform. I’ve studied Pinterest in-depth for four years now and there isn’t a whole lot I don’t know about marketing successfully on the platform. My specialty is helping lifestyle bloggers and lifestyle brands continue to grow their business and community and even make money, with Pinterest marketing in a way that is easy and saves them time.

The main thing that I would love potential clients to know is that you CAN be successful marketing your brand and blog on Pinterest! Pinterest is not over saturated, there IS room for you and your business. Pinterest marketing is such an underutilized form of visual Marketing that essentially grows your brand on auto pilot, and is still the number one traffic driver for millions of businesses. If you don’t have the time to market on Pinterest, outsource it to an expert who can save you time, and market your content for you. As business owners and bloggers and e-commerce shop owners, you put a lot of work into the continent and products that you create. Show that concept and products on a platform that has been dubbed the “happiest and most inspiring place on the Internet” and GROW your business like never before.

If anyone has any questions about marketing their lifestyle brand or lifestyle blog on Pinterest, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me through email or on social media! I am more than happy to help lifestyle brands understand how to use Pinterest successfully for their business because I truly do believe in its power!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is that you experience things in such a different way from the rest of the world. When you have that artists eye, you see the world through an entirely different lens. As a result of this, the memories I have, the experience as I go through, the struggles they face, are all colored in a uniquely creative way.

This has allowed me to use my memories and experiences and struggles and challenges as an asset in my business and my life. As a creative I’m always looking for new solutions, different ways to approach work, and ideas are just endlessly spilling out of me. And when I look at the world through that creative lens, all of these memories and experiences and challenges can be used for good, and can inspire my work in business in the best way when I channel it properly.

So the biggest reward is seeing things from a different perspective. It’s helped my business get to where it is today from that unique and creative lens.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

And I moved out to Los Angeles a handful of years ago to pursue acting. But when I got severely burnt out from the starving artist lifestyle, I wanted to go in a different direction, so I started a blog as a creative outlet. I marketed my blog posts on Pinterest and quickly grew my blog by over 5000% in just a few short months. I realized then the power of Pinterest marketing and decided to switch my pursuit from blogging to social media management with a concentration in Pinterest management.

At the same time, I was working a 9-to-5 job with my Pinterest management business on the side, and I did this for a couple years. I wasn’t sure at first whether I wanted to keep the business as a side hustle or pursue it full-time. I did eventually decide to pursue it full-time but ended up waiting another year before I finally made the leap!

But I did eventually make the leap and convinced myself that it needed to happen now or never. So I quit my 9-to-5, and threw myself wholeheartedly into pursuing and growing my business.

And now I get to do creative work that I absolutely love every single day and help small businesses grow their brands through the Pinterest platform. My business is my heart and soul and it’s the greatest pursuit I’ve ever taken on.

My advice to anyone who’s struggling or questioning with leaving at 9 to 5 to pursue their side hustle… Just do it. Make the leap and take the risk because it won’t always be there. Sometimes life presents you a golden opportunity to pursue it and when that happens you have to take it! Trust yourself and take the risk. It is more than worth it, I promise.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kirstentay.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepinbar_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirstentaythepinbar
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstensieg/