Today we’d like to introduce you to Kiley Guy.
Hi Kiley, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I graduated from Lamar University in 2008 with a business degree and advertising concentration. I’m a planner so I was certainly prepared to hit the job market. I tried desperately to find that dream job despite the economic financial crisis that was crumbling down at that time. Instead, I landed a job as a piling secretary at a geotechnical engineering company. Not exactly what I had in mind. However, it was a position that allowed me to experience facets of business I had absolutely no experience with (along with the importance of understanding and stabilizing the ground beneath a foundation – a lesson that will forever be vital in my life).
A few years later, I stumbled upon the Texas Creative program at the University of Austin. I just felt drawn to the words on the page like it was the next step in my creative journey, so I decided to apply. When I got accepted, I was terrified. I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave a decent paying full time job with benefits to venture back to school, but I did it anyway. My friends were all getting married and starting families and here I was, going back to school. It was hands down the best decision I ever made. And even though I went into a huge amount of debt to obtain that master’s degree, it was the most worthwhile leap I’ve ever taken.
The two years in Austin and the Texas creative program opened my eyes to a whole new world I had no idea about. I learned the value of intentional design, the power of branding and understanding the “why” in everything you do. When grad school was over, I moved to Chicago – an advertising mecca. Finding an advertising job in that saturated market isn’t easy. Instead, I became a freelance art director and worked on a variety of projects for different agencies and businesses.
When we couldn’t handle the cold temperatures anymore, my husband and I moved back to Texas and I had a whole different outlook on this area. I honestly saw an opportunity that I hadn’t seen before.
I got a job as an Art Director at a local advertising agency which really helped me understand this market and the struggles business owners face when it comes to branding and marketing. However, being in a smaller market allowed me to work in all areas of marketing and ad campaigns, from graphic design to tv commercial production.
Just before that company closed, I broke out on my own and decided to start my own business as a freelance designer. My relationships over the years help me cultivate a decent clientele and a good starting base. In that time, I started having a family. The experience that came with having children and dealing with an array of clients, gave me clarity on the direction I was headed. So many people came to me to design things that served no purpose. They didn’t have a strategy – they didn’t have a solid foundation which made it hard for them to see the value in their ad and marketing campaign because they simply weren’t working as well as they could be. That repeating theme because the basis for rebranding my business and starting the branding agency I have today.
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the pandemic, it hit me. I knew exactly how I was going to rebrand my business and make the shift. That’s when (Beau)heme Collective was born.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I sometimes feel like I take the hardest path, lol.
One of the biggest obstacles for me, aside from graduating in 2008 in the middle of that crisis, is that you really don’t know anything when you get out of school. Experience is everything. I didn’t realize I needed so much experience until I realized I didn’t have enough to get a job. What’s the saying, It’s hard to find a job with no experience and you can’t get experience without a job.
I also did a lot of comparing – not in the sense of jealousy but life trajectory. Regardless of crushing social norms these days, you can’t help but compare the path you’re walking to those closest to you. When all my friends had good jobs and were getting married and starting families (in the time frame I’d envisioned myself doing it) it was hard to walk a different path not knowing then if what I was doing would pay off or just set me back 5 more years.
I wouldn’t change any of that now but you can only see certain things in retrospect. It was hard to be a struggling grad student, racking up more debt and not having much money for a nice wedding gift.
When I finally ventured out and started my own business, it was the same time that I finally got pregnant (after trying for a long time). Trying to balance a career/starting/running your own business while starting a family is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Being an entrepreneur is a 24/7 job and so is motherhood. Some days I know my life would be easier if I would just throw in the towel on my career but it fulfills me in so many ways that motherhood doesn’t – ugh the guilt and the struggle for balance is something else.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the owner of (Beau)heme Collective – a creative branding agency. It’s purpose is authentic brand storytelling through intentional design and strategy.
Our goal is to build brands that carry out the “why” of the business owner behind it. We help brands build a solid foundation that sets their marketing and advertising efforts up for success (and building a strong foundation is something I know a lot about after working with geotechnical engineers).
The name Beauheme comes from my Bohemian roots (My great grandparents came from old world bohemia before it became part of Czech Republic). The spelling of “beau” is for Beaumont. Bohemian is all about going your own way and living in your authenticity and helping business owners live in their authenticity to develop their own secret sauce for success is what we’re all about.
Our services include: Brand strategy & design, custom web design. We also offer a variety of a la carte services for our branding clients (print design, social strategy, promotional items, etc.)
We recently launched a print magazine (Beauheme Press) as an extension of our mission to carry out authentic brand storytelling. It features local business owners, their “why” and the stories of their business. We hope it helps people gain that personal understanding of who these people are behind local businesses. We hope it encourages more people to utilize these businesses and see how much culture exists around us outside of the industrial sphere this area is known for. We also hope people will support these local businesses once they understand more of the story, so they’ll be here to stay for the long haul.
I think I’m most proud of finally having the courage to be myself and do the work that I value you most. I could take on design work and probably make more money shuffling out design but I’d rather do work that is intention and helps set others up for success.
I’m also super proud of the magazine. I’ve always loved all things editorial and now this little far fetched dream of mine is now a reality.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I would honestly consider myself risk-averse in a lot of ways but I also believe in no risk, no reward.
Taking the plunge to go back to school and leave my job felt like a big risk financially. So did taking the plunge and starting a business as well as a print magazine. However, I took a calculated risk approach with many of those endeavors and it made it way less scary. Doing anything blindly can be a recipe for disaster but doing a bit of research and making a plan can make risk-taking much less risky (at least for the risk averse).
I will say, over the last few years, my take on risk has evolved. I think the best things in life come from taking the leap, calculated or not. You never know until you try. The things that scare you and the things that force you to get out of your comfort zone and step into the unknown are what make you evolve as a human. Everything I’ve taken a risk on has taught me something, even the failures. Some of the best business relationships and opportunities are sitting on the other side of your fear and you’ll never find them without a little risk taking.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@beauhemecollective.com
- Website: beauhemecollective.com
- Instagram: beauhemecollective
- Facebook: beauhemecollective
Image Credits
Simone Dosdall
Ivy Lane Portraits
