Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kristen Kenner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kristen, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar your firm earns is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

Like most businesses, my first dollar came from friends and family. It wasn’t until I took my business seriously and started investing in tools and resources that gave me exposure to new audiences that I earned my first non-family dollar.

For years, and even until this day, much of my marketing has been word of mouth. Friends telling friends, “Hey! My friend Kristen is a beast at resume writing and helped me land my last job. If you need a resume update I can definitely connect you two.” Don’t get me wrong, I love this form of marketing (it’s free and boosts your reputation!), but I needed to advance my outreach if I wanted to reach new clientele.

To do that, I created a social media page, threw some dollars behind Google Ads, and created a website. I’ll never forget, the lead up to going live with the website was incredibly nerve-wracking. I had friends check, re-check and triple check the website for errors or typos. I had social posts and emails queued up to announce that the website was going live. Fear started to creep in and I thought, the only people that are going to check out the website are friends & family. Why would a stranger click on my page?

I had to remind myself that I’m excellent at what I do and had the results to back it up. Others quickly realized that too and when my website went live, shortly thereafter I received a notification of my first sale. And then my second. And then my third. And so on. People whom I’d never met before and only knew me from my marketing efforts were heading to my website and purchasing my services.

The feeling is truly indescribable. I’m blessed to have the support of friends & family, but there is something truly special about people recognizing your talents and deciding to invest in you. Now, many of my clients are what we call “net new”. These are not family members or friends of friends, rather these are people who came across my website, saw me speaking at an event, watched a webinar I hosted, follow me on social media, etc.

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 take jobseekers from hunting to hired. I provide the tools, resources, and professional materials needed to achieve career clarity and land a new role faster. My done-for-you services include resume writing, LinkedIn profile optimization, and cover letter writing. I also offer full-service career coaching. During coaching I work one-on-one with clients to understand their career goals (e.g., work-life balance, financial freedom, career growth, industry transition) and create an action plan to achieve those goals (e.g., resume updates, effective job search strategies, mock interviewing, salary negotiation coaching).

I got into this industry at the advice of friends. Early on in my career I was gung-ho on earning a high salary. I proudly job hopped my way to earning six-figures by my mid-20s. As the “job hopper” of my friend group I was often asked “how did you do it?” or “how are you landing these jobs so quickly?”. The answer? I understood the job search game. I understood that having an ATS-friendly resume was the first step to getting noticed. I understood what I needed to highlight in interviews to impress recruiters and hiring managers. I understood that asking for the salary I wanted was the only way I was going to get it.

Now, I teach what I know to my clients. I’ve had clients take salary leaps from 40K to 120K. I’ve had clients transition from the classroom to tech. Most importantly, I’ve had clients thank for me helping them realize how to navigate their career and job search with ease. In the past 5 years I’ve worked with 300+ clients and each and every client knows that I am their personal cheerleader and make it my mission to help them understand the strategies for a successful job search.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Reputation is everything. It’s important to me that my clients feel they made the best decision by choosing to invest in me. To that end, I always go above and beyond. Perhaps a client only booked a resume service, I’ll still throw in a cover letter because I know those go hand-in-hand. Maybe they only booked a LinkedIn profile optimization service, I’m still giving you my networking templates to help you use the platform effectively. Have an interview coming up? I’m sending you that pep talk email beforehand with tips.

These are the actions that remind my clients that I’m not in this business just for money, I’m in this business to help others get ahead. There’s room for all of us to win. There’s room for all of us to earn a healthy living.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients will always be referrals. To know that clients thinking highly enough of me to recommend friends, family, spouses, colleagues, etc. is amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.careersbykristen.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/themodmentor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themodmentor
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kristenkenner/