We were lucky to catch up with Kristina Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kristina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I have worked on with Ascent Living Communities is collecting photos of all the senior living residents from each of the communities and for Christmas turning all those special moments into a 16X24 poster for them to have in their common areas. Staff and residents loved seeing their moments on the poster and it brought everyone together for the holidays.

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 started in social media management back in 2011 right around the time Instagram was introduced. Living in Las Vegas and working for magazines doing social media was where I began, seems so long ago! I then took over the social media for the oldest steakhouse in Vegas, The Golden Steer Steakhouse. I moved to Denver in 2016 where I did social media for Golden Steer remotely and then Oskar Blues Fooderies. I landed the job with Kimbal Musk’s The Kitchen Restaurant Group as their PR & Social Media Manager for 18 restaurants in 5 different markets in 2018. I learned a lot in that role and it gave me the courage to start my own company, Amuse Social, in 2019. I worked with more restaurants and was then introduced to Susie and Tom Finley of Ascent Living Communities, elevated living for seniors in the Denver area in 2020. I enjoyed working with the elderly and the teams at each of their three communities: Village at Belmar, Carillon at Belleview Station and their newest, Hilltop Reserve. I started full-time with them in October of 2019.

I think what sets me a part from other social media managers is that I am not looking to increase followers as my main goal, I am looking for engaging audiences for my clients. Quality over quantity. I am most proud of the engaging followers that each of the senior living communities’ pages has acquired. Especially on LinkedIn!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I definitely had to pivot during the pandemic. Many of my clients were restaurants and they could not afford marketing. A big reason I wanted to leave the food and beverage industry is because I had worked in hospitality since I was 15 and had many serving, bartending and social media jobs in that field. I pivoted over to senior living in 2020 and am so glad that I did!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I definitely started Amuse Social as a side hustle that turned into a full-time job with several clients, but it was definitely a struggle in the pandemic. I was so thrilled when my client and now full-time employer, Ascent Living Communities, asked me to come on full-time. I have learned so much over the last year and am going on 4 months as their Social Media Manager for their three properties.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amusesocial.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k2thetina/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kljohnson18/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-johnson-625a5131/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/K2theTina

Image Credits
Blu Hartkopp