Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathryn Humphries and Carla Nikitaidis.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Kathryn: During the summers in college I interned in New York for Ralph Lauren, Teen Vogue, and Lonny, and after I graduated I worked in New York for four years.
I’ve always been interested in editorial content, as well as in creative marketing for small brands, and PR presented a way to have a foot in both worlds. My first job out of college was working with Carla at her boutique PR agency CMN PR, where we specialized in launching decor and lifestyle startups. A couple of years later I landed an in-house role at Gap on the global social media team before ultimately moving home to Houston and starting my own PR & marketing consulting business KWH Creative. Over the past five years, I have worked with some amazing female-founded businesses based in Houston, including MIRTH, HOUSE of HARPER, Courtney Barton, and Rigby, just to name a few.
Carla: I’m originally from Connecticut and lived most of my adult life in New York City before making the move to California – and after a few years in San Francisco I’m now settled in L.A.
PR was not a career path that was ever on my radar but I was always really interested in journalism, publishing, the news, and loved discovering new brands and trends.
After a brief stint working on Wall Street after college, I landed my first PR job in New York and it just immediately clicked. Unlike most PR careers where you pick one lane or industry and stick to it, my path has been diverse. My experience spans from beauty & fashion, to home & lifestyle, food & beverage, and consumer tech. I’ve worked with leading consumer brands, global retailers, and scrappy startups – both on the agency side and in-house. I ran my own boutique agency, CMN PR from 2009 – 2013, which is how Kathryn and I originally met. These transitions all happened organically. I’m a lifelong learner and one of my favorite aspects about choosing a career in PR is bringing new ideas to life, learning about new industries, and working with incredible leaders and innovators.
Starting All You Need Method
Kathryn & Carla: We have always stayed in touch and would often talk about how the media landscape and PR industry have changed significantly over the past decade. The old model of working with a traditional media relations agency is becoming less and less effective, especially for the influx of entrepreneurs who need guidance but aren’t at a stage in their business where they are ready to invest thousands of dollars in an agency or consultant. We saw a huge opportunity to create a “new way” to approach PR and building a brand. We had been talking about this concept for a while and then when March 2020 hit, we saw the immediate need for it, and we started All You Need Method in September 2020.
Our goal with All You Need Method is to educate, inspire, and empower small business owners and creative entrepreneurs to take their success into their own hands. Our Method combines 20+ years of experience and provides an accessible way to learn how to put a foundation in place to grow into a recognizable brand. We provide guidance by teaching our Method through our digital course, the All You Need Method Starter Kit, and through 1:1 Strategy Sessions and custom projects.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting a business is no joke! Especially as a solopreneur or, in our case, a team of 2. We have faced all of the same struggles that our clients have, which helps us empathize and better understand the tools and inspiration we need to provide to help them build their brands. One constant struggle is not having enough hours in the day – which is a feeling most people can relate to. When you’re starting a business you are doing everything, from setting up your website, to picking your brand colors and fonts, and posting to Instagram. Delegating is helpful, but not always an option if you’re on a tight budget, which many new businesses are.
Starting a business is also an evolution. Over the past year we have gained a better understanding of how we can help small business owners and creative entrepreneurs, which has helped us evaluate and update our services. As a new business, you have to be nimble and willing to listen and make changes, even if that means putting new developments on hold in order to get the fundamentals down. It can feel like 1 step forward and 10 steps back, but getting it right in the early stages is crucial to long-term success. Which goes back to why we started our course: to help small business owners and creative entrepreneurs build a solid foundation that allows them to grow successfully.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about All You Need Method?
All You Need Method is a resource for small business owners and creative entrepreneurs. We offer an online course and personalized support through Strategy Sessions and custom projects. We specialize in working with teams of 1, or small teams, who need guidance on their PR and brand strategy, but are not ready to invest in an agency or consultant.
We want to make PR, brand strategy and social media feel way less overwhelming. And we want to empower small business owners and creative entrepreneurs to be the face of their brand. We created All You Need Method to help artists and interior designers, home decor and fashion brands, lifestyle bloggers, health & wellness experts, jewelry designers, fitness instructors, stylists, clean beauty brands, food & beverage companies, store owners, children’s toy collections and new consumer products, just to name a few!
We’re proud of building a brand that is approachable, friendly, and relatable. We know what it takes to build a business and we are here to support you.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
At the end of the day, we are here to help people turn their dream into a reality. We want people to see their business idea become a reality, and to build a brand that people know and love. We know how liberating this can be from firsthand experience. There are so many wonderful business ideas out there and oftentimes people get stuck because they don’t know where to start, or because the cost of a consultant prices them out of taking their business to the next level. We’re here to change that.
Pricing:
- Online Course, All You Need Method Starter Kit, $99 – https://all-you-need-method.mykajabi.com/all-you-need-method-starter-kit
- 1:1 Strategy Sessions over Zoom – $350 for 1 hour – https://calendly.com/allyouneedmethod/all-you-need-method-strategy-session
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@allyouneedmethod.com
- Website: https://www.allyouneedmethod.com/
- Instagram: @allyouneedmethod
Image Credits
Studio Saragusa
Harlow & May Studios
