Curious how a dream and $500 turned into a billion-dollar brand, embracing Western fashion and impactful philanthropy?
This week on Earned, Brit Starr sits down with Haley Kaliszewski, the former influencer marketing manager at Kendra Scott.
To start, Haley dives into the origin story of the Texas based, woman-founded brand that is Kendra Scott. Coined by the phrase, “$500 and a dream,” the brand has grown from a storefront on South Congress Street in Austin to 150+ storefront locations across the country. The episode offers perspectives on building successful influencer marketing strategies, emphasizing the power of starting small, nurturing existing fans, and leveraging micro-influencers over high-profile endorsements. Haley dives into the significance of organic growth and the critical role of creativity, community relationships, and robust ROI tracking in expanding a brand's reach. Beyond business, we highlight Kendra Scott's unwavering commitment to philanthropy. Discover the impactful initiatives led by the Kendra Scott Foundation, including the Legacy Retreat for families affected by metastatic cancer, and the Kendra Scott Women's Entrepreneurship Leadership Institute at the University of Texas. These efforts underscore the brand's dedication to social responsibility and community engagement.
Check out highlights from the episode below, or or tune into the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!
The following interview has been lightly edited for concision.
Brit Starr: So for a business or brand who wants to put real energy, investment, and focus around an influencer program, what do you recommend as a starting point and what is critical in terms of support?
Haley Kaliszewski: Getting it started is starting with your brand fans. Who already likes you, and who already is talking about you? Those are first and foremost the people you need to be capturing. I don't think an abundance of gifting and a huge gifting program is the right answer. That's a huge expense. Getting product into those people's hands that are wearing you, that are already posting about you, that hopefully have a decent following. They don't need to be the biggest influencers in the entire world. Micro influencers are just as beneficial.
With TikTok right now, I could post something and go viral. It doesn't necessarily need to be these people who have millions of followers and you have a huge spend to get a return on your investment. Starting small is a great way to do it. Try a paid partnership, one paid partnership for the first month. See how it goes. ‘Okay, what did we like about that? What did we not like about that?’ Something I've learned in the last couple of years that I find would be beneficial for someone really starting [new] is to find someone whose content you love. Not just because of the way that their audience is responding to it, but also utilize it organically on your page. What's something you can reshare? How can you get the most bang for your buck in every capacity and that's outside of any sort of paid usage? I'm talking pure organic, no extra money spent. If it does great, or on your channel, maybe you do add on that paid usage if you know a little bit of money to run it as an ad on TikToker or Meta or whatever it may be. Trying your best to get the bang for your buck on every level. Starting with brand fans makes the most sense for everyone.
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