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

Kristina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

We love feeling exclusive-who wouldn’t? We have designed an innovative process with KP Marketing that is unlike anything in our industry. A process that helps us better understand you and your business as a whole. During our intake process, we have developed a “Lookbook” for our clients. After paying your deposit and signing an NDA, we get right to work! We create an entire E-Book full of designs and strategies to give you a glimpse of what your brand could like if you continue to move forward with us. Our intake process was overhauled by our COO,Alicia Stevenson, in an effort to create a more efficient and effective flow. Our new intake process helps us decide if you’re ready for the KP Marketing experience or if you still need some help growing and solidifying your business-which we help you with too! Our “Lookbooks” contain actual designs and strategies related to your services. For example, if you chose a Social Media Management Package, you would receive a preview of social media templates, color schemes, and a sample strategy. Our Lookbook is really one of a kind and designed to excite and motivate our clients while giving them a “sneak peek” of what’s to come!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Kristina Peck-CEO and Founder of KP Business Marketing located in Charlotte North Carolina-most people now call me KP. My story is kind of crazy-so hang on and enjoy the ride! Just a few years ago I was at my very lowest. I worked a job that I hated, had zero self-love, and had lost my passion for Nursing. I was struggling with mental illnesses and truly hit rock bottom. It felt like I was drowning in a puddle full of self-pity. I was barely keeping my head above water. In June of 2020, my family packed up our lives in New York and moved just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. IT was a fresh start-exactly what we needed. I had gave up my Nursing career in the midst of COVID and decided to spend time finding myself. I found a therapist and learned how to cope with my Bipolar Disorder and Depression. Once I accepted my mental illnesses and started a treatment plan, I turned into the woman I was always supposed to be. Brilliant, thriving, happy, passionate, and successful. I finally got out of my own way.
I was everything I dreamed of being but wasn’t sure how to become.

By chance, luck, or whatever you want to call it, I met the CEO of a large online networking community for women called, “The Pretty Women Hustle Network.” The CEO, Jakia, offered me a Social Media Marketing Internship & my passion for Digital Marketing was born. After a few months of managing the PWH platform, I was promoted to Executive Director and Director of Marketing. I double the Pretty Women Hustle Network’s digital footprint in just a few months. I created and maintained digital strategies along with assisting Jakia with event planning, developing her website, and more.
I went from a depressed, overworked, unfulfilled Nurse, to the very definition of an EntrepreneHER.
In November of 2020 I blossomed my entrepreneurial gifts into my own brand-KP Business Marketing. I was eating dinner with my family while telling my husband how much I truly enjoyed what I was doing. I loved the Marketing industry and was really excited about my new positions. My husband suggested I started my own agency-at first I thought he was crazy but as the weeks went by, I really started thinking more and more about it…until one day, I just did it. I created a rough outline of my business plan, how I was going to operate and grow and where I wanted to be in 5 years. My agency took off WAY fast than I could have ever imagined. We grew from 5 clients 2 years ago to almost 30 current clients today. In total, through various services, we’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs grow their brands strategically and effectively.
My Digital Marketing Agency is now a 3x Award-Winning Agency and has been featured on news outlets like: The Charlotte Talk Zone, FOX40, FOX43, The Market Watch, SNN, WE Magazine and several others.
I still live in Charlotte where I am a wife to amazing husband, AJ, and a Mommy to my baby girl Gianna and my little boy, AJ II.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I really had to unlearn my negative talk. I had it engraved into my brain that I was truly not destined for greatness. That working 12+ hours a day and missing time with my family was all I deserved-it was all that was meant to be. The thing is, the more you talk down to yourself or about yourself, the further down you go. If you think you’re only deserving of XYZ, then that’s all life will hand you. It’s a vicious cycle and truthfully, I needed a lot of therapy, read a lot of self help books and practiced being kind to myself-which sounds silly but I promise it works! I think once we get stuck into a routine, the thought of breaking it becomes uncomfortable and scary. But good things never come from comfort zones. If you continue to stay inside your “box” and refuse to venture outside of it, you’ll never learn, you will never grow, and you will fall victim to your everyday routine. I challenge you to do two things: 1. Start everything morning by writing down 3 things you want to accomplish. It doesn’t matter how big or small-just write them down.
2. Be kind to yourself. Practice self love and self care. Taking care of yourself physically is important but taking care of yourself mentally is even more important and necessary for healing your old thought patterns.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Networking and just being myself. Far too often we try to be something we’re not. We try to keep up with the Joneses and lose ourselves in the process. If you visit my social media pages, you’ll see I keep it real. I not only share my success stories but my failures too. I share my life as a whole-being a mom, balancing work and mom-life, spending time with my husband, and I even shared that one time I forgot about picture day and sent my son to school with a Spiderman t-shirt and yellow crocs.

I don’t drive fancy cars or live in a castle. I’m just like you. I’m unorganized, chaotic, tired and honestly hilarious. Being genuine allows people to trust you. They grow to love you for who you are and are more inclined to work with you. Plus, I always spoil my clients. I’m such a foodie so if you like food, this is the agency for you-food is always at every meeting!

Despite what others are doing, stay away from “Lifestyle Marketing” and focus on just being you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kpbusinessmarketing.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kpbusinessmarketing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KPBusinessMarketing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-peck-b74141201/

Image Credits
Chantelle Jordan Photography and Picture Project CLT Selfie Museum