We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kylie Russell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kylie below.

Hi Kylie, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I came up with the idea to create Priceless One Management because I noticed that I was solving a problem that no one else was, which was creating an agency that had a focus on hiring event professionals with multicultural backgrounds. There were so many instances in which I was a promotional model and was the token black girl. I didn’t see enough experiential representation for brands who’s target markets were people of color. I had to change that. I knew that I always wanted to own a business, so why not create one where I can provide jobs for people of color? It was the perfect solution and I now know how important it is to have a specialized agency such as Priceless One Management.

Kylie, 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?

I started Priceless One Management in 2015 while I was a full time professional model. I became a promo model to make money between modeling gigs and realized that the promo industry was so lucrative and fascinating. Knowing that there were no agencies that specifically represented promotional models of color, I set out to start the company hiring friends and other models that I knew. With no investor and a clientele based on referrals, we’ve grown to represent over 2,700 event professionals nationwide, including promotional models, brand ambassadors, bartenders, production assistants, and more! In 2020, we began influencer management after realizing that a lot of our staff were influencers. We’re most proud of being able to provide additional streams of income for people of color while paying competitive rates. In 2021, the first year out of the pandemic, we paid out over $350,000 to people of color through our agency and plan to top that this year! It’s been a journey and it’s so rewarding knowing what we’re doing for staff of color

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When it comes to funding Priceless One Management, it’s simple. We started out with $300. No investor, no loan, no fundraising. As a new business owner that was never formally educated on starting and running a business, I didn’t even know that I could ask for money to start my company. I thought that struggling to make profits and not paying myself for 3 years was the way to do it. This goes to show that we must educate aspiring entrepreneurs of color on how to effectively raise capital to fund their dreams. I believe that this is why a lot of small businesses fail from simply not having resources to help them achieve success. I’ll be honest, I still don’t even know how to effectively raise funds. I’m SO thankful that we eventually started to generate enough income to hire a team and survive COVID through profits, but I still believe that there is so much more that I can do to get ahead. We were denied PPP loans, denied grants, but still we rise and continue to make a way for our staff to be employed. That’s the Priceless Way.

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

Working in Corporate America was a big eye opener for me and knowing how to navigate the professional world. I first became a promotional model for various liquor companies in 2013, worked up to being a lead promotional model, was hired by D’usse Cognac to be an event curator in Florida, and ended my corporate career as a national experiential manager for the brand. Through this journey of 6 years, I had to do flawless business with big names, brands, and budgets. There are certain projects that I would have never been able to handle had I not had prior experience in this corporate position. In 2019, I left Corporate America to run my agency full time, and was immediately contacted to provide the staffing for the company and they’ve been a client ever since. Now, many of those that I worked with under a corporate position have reached out because they saw the good work that I was doing in those roles. It’s helpful to garner great relationships, treat everyone with respect, and most of all, prove that you do good work. Ultimately, this is how my reputation was built, as most of my clients are referrals from others that I’ve worked with or for along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pricelessone.com
• Instagram: @pricelessonemgmt
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PricelessOneMgmt/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pricelessonemgmt
• Twitter: @pricelessonemgt