We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Krystal Allen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Krystal below.
Krystal , appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
Birthed in 2017 as a result of an unjust termination, K. Allen Consulting – now a multimillion dollar, international consulting firm is the manifestation of my decision to bet on myself, build my own table, heal, and expand my impact as a Black woman within educational leadership. I spent nearly 6 months after what was a traumatic professional work experience reflecting and also engaging in opportunities organically presented to me to train, facilitate, and also coach other educational leaders across the country. My mentor Dr. Richard Streedain and also my husband Kenny Allen Jr. helped me understand and see during that timeframe that my gifts and talents were undeniable and could be monetized. As I contemplated it, prayed, and also sought faith-based counsel, I made the decision to found K. Allen Consulting in January 2017 and haven’t looked back. I spent years 1 & 2 working part-time within a school and a nonprofit to secure steady, consistent income meanwhile spending other time in my weeks building my clientale as a consultant, building the firm’s brand, and expanding my impact within other regions of the United States outside of the Southeast where I was residentially based. This all paid off as the firm ultimately grew significantly to include very satisfied clients across many different industries, including Amazon and Google in addition to school districts, nonprofits of all sizes, hospitals, small and large businesses, and also government agencies. I remember capturing behind the scene photos of workshops with my phone, interviewing coaching clients and workshop participants with my phone, and even building my own website during those first 2 years. By year 3, I began to build a team of contractors. By year 4, I welcomed salaried employees. 2023 marks Year 6, and I couldn’t be more proud of where we are, what we are accomplishing within the realm of building the capacity (knowledge, skill development, and tool/resource provision) of those we serve and support every single day; and what’s ahead for us.
Krystal , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
K. Allen Consulting is an international education & management consulting firm that provides customized workshops, strategic planning services, and executive coaching across all industries. As a Founder, my background is rooted within education having been a former teacher, assistant principal, and principal within K-12 education. At this time, I currently serve as KAC’s CEO, as well as Author of “What Goes Unspoken”, a nonprofit board member of several national education and also community engagement nonprofits, and a local philanthropist supporting BIPOC communities throughout the Southeastern United States. “What Goes Unspoken” is a rivoting text that guides educators in best practices and strategies for centering and operationalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion across varying identities (race, gender, neurodiversity, etc.) within schools, education nonprofits, education agencies, and ed forprofit companies.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
What has worked well for us in growing our clientele has been our ability to define and imagine an optimal client journey, our ability to establish goals and metrics for each step of our client’s journey with us to ensure quality control, and our ability to make the necessary adjustments to ensure that each client has great care, a premium experience, and feel more enhanced, enriched, enlightened, or fulfilled in what they were hoping to receive from our firm’s services.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Here’s the advice that I’d give to anyone working to grow their social media following” ….then you can proceed with using 100% of the full response I provided. Be as authentic as possible in your content and focus deeply on providing content that aligns to your target audience’s needs, pain points, and interests. It is important that you have clarity as to what you are hoping to achieve via use of a social media platform. You do not need to occupy space in every social media platform imaginable, but you do need to be precisely where your people are (where your target audience mostly lies). Remember that it’s not the volume or quantity of posting that drives your business’s success, it’s the quality of what you share to drive your brand messages and bottom lines.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kallenconsulting.org
- Instagram: @k.allen.consulting
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/k.allen.consulting
- Twitter: @k_allen_consult
Image Credits
Michael Carson Photography (Headshot in Yellow Suit) The Optimist Dreamer Photography (The Lecture Hall Photo)