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

Hi Kristian, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

At Kristian Gist Creative, KGC, we’re ‘Humans First.’ I was very intentional when I launched this company for myself, my clients, and the people who we’re building these brands for that we focus on the quintessential human experience – we’re real. We have run feelings, we connect to real stories, and we can not create without first taking care of all of our human needs.

I’ve always been a creative person. I grew up reading books, writing stories and poetry, creating music, painting, and I adore the ways in which we creatively communicate and connect with each other. However, as I built a career in corporate and through non-profits, I often experienced intense burnout, unrealistic demands, and a failure to acknowledge that people are the key to profit.

When I was maybe 25 or 26, I was working at a large company in operations. I had a lot of responsibilities but one was ordering catering for meetings and events. I was largely never in attendance but ran the logistics from afar. For one of our events, I placed an order weeks before but at the last minute, the hotel switched the order without letting me know. I had no idea but looked at registration and feedback and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

The next day when I walked into work, I was already feeling kind of down. It was the anniversary of my mother’s passing and I was reflecting on that. However, as I walked down the hall and settled into my desk, my boss came up to me at the time and they were noticeably upset.

The hotel had served a picnic of burgers, corn, and coleslaw at this business meeting instead of the nice salad and steak with plenty of dietary options that I had picked out. The entire morning was spent tearing over the decisions I make as a professional and getting other managers involved. It was the Salem Witch Trials. I was forced to pull up all email communication, contracts, and texts with the proprety to prove that I had in fact ordered the salad and steak. They didn’t need a refund but to find out if I was in the wrong.

This small error was now part of a performance review. Given what else I was dealing with that day, I just felt like a complete failure; however, at the same time, this was an error on the hotel’s part — not mine. This was a different menu option served — not intentionally and maliciously serving peanuts to someone with a nut allergy. The entire thing was blown out of porportion and yet, I was left feeling less than and unworthy of the cubicle that I occupied.

From that day forward, I vowed that if I’m in a position of leadership, I’m treating people with kindness and respect. You never know what someone is going through. I also vowed to never sweat the small stuff — I work in marketing. No one’s life is on the line and I am not launching anything into space. We can fix most things and we can decide what matters most.

Now as the owner of a booming creative agency focusing on connecting people to brands, places, and experiences, I have a mission that focuses on making the human experience the center of everything we do. We do amazing work but we also leave time for life. Many of my clients are women, working parents, and/or transitioning from corporate to start their own thing. They’re passionate about their work but they’re not going to risk their lives or wellbeing for it – we shouldn’t have to. When someone is going through a crisis, needs to make a pivot, or is struggling to find the courage to keep going, I simply remind them that we’re humans first and we respect our human nature while still achievig all of those goals and accomplishments.

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

I’m Kristian, I’m the founder of KGC, a creative agency focused on connecting people to the brands, places, and experiences that they love. I work primarily with start-ups and small businesses and a majority of them our Black-owned or Women-owned brands/companies. I also have the pleasure of working in placemaking with All Together Studio and connecting folks to the destinations they love that are often home to the brick and mortar locations of small businesses.

I’m a storyteller and brand strategist. One of my most popular services is the Brandover, helping entrepreneurs take their business from an idea to launch day. Once that idea is living out in the world, we’re there to support them with ongoing creative direction, public relations, brand activations, event production, and digital marketing. I’ve also had the pleasure of working on some storytelling projects that get people outside and engaged with their local community.

I got my start in the industry almost accidentally. I’ve always been super creative and curious about how brands tell their stories. I love shopping and I’m notorious for getting sucked into a founder’s story at a local boutique, farmers market, or pop up shop. I simply adore it.

As I was making my way up the corporate ladder in sales, operations, and marketing in my early twenties, I’d often have friends come to me for advice as they launched their own businesses. I’d help them create their logo, create a tagline, or write the copy for their website. To make extra cash, I’d write essays and pitch to different publications if I found their material interesting. It was the 2010s so of course I also had a blog of my own. I just knew I had this interest and talent that I wanted to flex and keep fresh.

In November 2019, I gave birth to my son as a single Mom. I knew the challenges that were ahead for me as a single parent and I knew that I wanted to be there for him as best as I could. When Covid-19 happened, I was nearly at the end of my maternity leave but my current job had released a statement that all of our jobs were now unstable. I moved from Chicago to Cleveland to be closer to family and had this moment where I was alone, with a 12-week-old baby born prematurely, and no job, no money, no savings (my high-risk pregnancy full of expensive prescriptions had drained it all). I just started writing.

I’d write in my journal late at night. I joined a friend’s writing group. I started pitching articles to any publication that I could to get money to pay for formula as I struggled to breastfeed. I had a friend who asked if she could hire me to write the copy for her new company. I jumped at the opportunity to talk to an adult about something other than early childhood development and as a bonus, it paid. I found another lead with a client who asked me to develop her new vitamin brand. From there, I quickly did all of the business-y stuff (LLC, Website, Logo) and launched Kristian Gist Creative.

The name may not seem creative but I actually named it after myself because of all of the very mean people who said that I’d never amount to anything, that I was too much, or the world was better without me. Turns out, I actually create a lot of very important things in this world that are perfect for a lot of people.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for me is word of mouth. At least 90% of my clients are referrals. I actually think that comes from being a deeply personal, person which funny enough, has been held against me.

There was a job that I was interviewing for and my goodness, it was like 14 interviews, two projects, and a presentation in front of staff. This wasn’t a C-Suite role, it was probably just above entry-level. The lead hiring manager shared the feedback of, ‘You’re too genuine and authentic. What you see is what you get and we don’t know if people would want that in this role,’ after I didn’t get the job.

I was heartbroken but now I’m in an industry, where that’s valued. People want someone they can trust when it comes to helping build their dreams into reality. Small business owners want someone they can trust, who is ready to understand their business and build their brand as if it were their own.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn, “You have to say ‘yes’ to every opportunity that comes your way.” I started my business with a newborn in a pandemic as a single parent. Initially, if you wanted to work with me, I was going to make it work. I took care of my son during the day, worked a bit during nap time, and then once he was down for the night, I powered up my laptop and went to work building pitch decks, meeting with clients, writing copy, or brainstorming ways to grow. I also offered my services at a super discount. Any little bit helped when you’re just getting started and building your portfolio but I also knew what it was like to have to worry about rent, groceries, bills, AND your dreams. Hiring a brand strategist is a serious investment so I wanted to make myself affordable for people.

However, there was a lot of value in what I was producing. One of my first brands had quickly gone viral and was taking on investors. I think I charged them $500.

I also learned that not all money is green. Some people simply aren’t ready. They may not see the value in what you’re producing or they aren’t ready to commit to the work it takes to build a successful business. It’s a lot of hard work but it is not impossible — nothing is.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kristiangistcreative.com
• Instagram: @kristiangistcreative
• Facebook: @kristiangistcreative
• Linkedin: @kristiangistcreative

Image Credits
Photo 1: Rita Ambrosi Photo 2 + 3: Priscilla Chan Photo 3 + 4: The Branded Babe Club