Class Visit: Kinsey Designs
screenshot of Kinsey’s landing page.
Kinsey generously spoke about her experience starting her own brand consulting company after graduating from MSU Denver’s Communication Design BFA. After working for Monigle, Kinsey decided to strike out on her own.
There were notable themes from Kinsey’s presentation. The importance of relationships with clients is the foundation of her process and her business. Beginning with a strategy session, Kinsey gets to knew her clients, their business, and their goals. Through that conversation, she offers some initial suggestions and delivers a business brief. This is such a brilliant business strategy! It not only allows her to be paid for her proposals and initial ideas, it also delivers high value to clients as through the conversation they get more clarity on their business position, goals, and ways to further develop their brand presence. The trust that is built in this initial consultation carries through Kinsey’s whole process, creating a lot of freedom for her and a lot of trust and safety for her clients.
The other notable theme is one around development and evolution of processes and philosophies. In the seven years Kinsey has been in business, her own brand and practices have evolved. She has invested in a significant amount of continuing education to support her personal and professional development (and of course growth in each of these domains influences the other!). This evolution and depth of development of her own processes and philosophies has allowed her to create a business that clearly brings her joy and pride.
Kinsey openly discussed her own evolution out of time, draping names of authors, mentors, and TED talkers as she went. It was inspiring and in some ways overwhelming to realize the amount of time and effort she has invested in order to grow her business to such a successful and stable place.
One of the things that struck me most as Kinsey spoke was her confidence. Whether speaking about the development of her brand, the ups and downs of starting her own business, or her soon to be launched substack newsletter, Kinsey radiated a grounded but passionate presence. I found myself wishing I could work with her and have her support as I work to discover my own brand and pitch. Her confidence, passion, and clear regard for her clients makes her feel both like clearly an expert in her field, but also someone safe to trust with a something so personal (and sometimes heavy) as a solo business.
