The Aligned Business® Podcast with Kelsey Kerslake

Is your business brand new? Rather than going behind the scenes of one brand today, I’m giving you my top tips and tricks for building your brand if you’re just starting out. If you’re interested in getting your name out there, getting those first clients, and starting your first business, this episode is perfect for you. But even if you’re further along in your business, this advice will be great...

This week we have a very special episode of Behind the Brand — we are going behind the Pinegate Road brand! I wanted to take this time early on in the show to give you a general understanding of how I have built the Pinegate Road brand over the past several years, go into our own core values, and our BIG WHY behind the studio. If you're building a business of your own, are interested in behin...

Are you brand’s foundations in place? This episode is with Maura Day, founder of design studio MDRNHAND who is also a surface designer at Crate & Barrel. We’re going behind-the-scenes into how she started to create her own company, as well as into details about what it’s like to be a smaller part of a large, corporate brand. By looking at both her business and the corporation she works for we’...

Do you know what your core values are? Amanda Loveland is a business coach for women in their 20s and 30s who want to make a difference in the world and make money while doing it. In this episode she talks about how she solidified her brand’s why and core values and what a difference that made to the energy of her business. We also dive deep into what it means to build a “hustle-free” business so...

Is your business supporting the lifestyle you want? With her company, Get Polished, Chelsea Hibbard creates beautiful, branded templates for Blogger and Wordpress. She works with a developer to make these integrations awesome and easy to use. Chelsea has done an amazing job of building her business around her life, rather than the other way around. I think many of us want our businesses to support...

Do you ever worry that everyone else has it all figured out and you don’t? Ashley Beaudin is the founder and creator of The Imperfect Boss, a social media movement of people sharing some of the imperfections behind their businesses. In a world where people mostly share their perfect moments and highlight reels, it’s really refreshing to hear some of these stories and understand that we’re not alon...

Are you struggling with your personal style? It’s an area of my life (and really, my business) that I’ve been neglecting for the past few years which is why I’m especially excited for today’s episode. I really wanted to talk about personal style in relation to finding your happiness in your life and growing your business, alongside tips and tricks for finding your personal style if you’re in a pla...

What does life look like six months into running my business? That’s what I’m going to be sharing with you in today’s episode. Also, because it’s the beginning of the year I wanted to talk about my word of the year and how I’m building that into my business. This was a really good chance to catch up with all of you and I’m also sharing my insights about growing a confident business. These are the...

Are you curious how people expand their businesses to open a brick and mortar shop? Liz Maute Cooke of Lionheart Prints explains her journey from creating her prints as a fun hobby to building it up to where it is today. She now has a storefront in New Orleans that you can go visit and shop from in-person. Liz goes really in-depth about how she actually built Lionheart Prints and she has great ins...

Are you planning to get your financial life sorted out in 2017? Today's guest is Jenny Karlsson and she is a pet photographer turned financial coach for creatives. Before starting her business she got an MBA which gave her a really solid foundation to build on. She talks about the very thorough process she went through to set herself up financially before taking her pet photography full-time....

Do you struggle to keep track of everything for your business and personal life? Emily Marko is a Visual Problem Solver. Emily began her career in corporate graphic design but when she was introduced to the world of “graphic recording” and “visual practitioners,” she was instantly hooked. Eventually she started her own business and developed processes to help her clients solve problems, capture id...

Could hiring a business coach be the next step in unleveling your business? Eryn Goldman is a business and marketing specialist through her business Eagle + Mouse. She really built her business around relationship building and she has great advice for being really intentional about this when it comes to marketing your business in a non-sleazy way. If you’re thinking about hiring a business coach o...

Do you want to live a creative life while working a corporate job? Autumn Hachey does content marketing for Leon’s Furniture and she got to where she is without a degree or much experience. Her story is proof that if you have a big dream, then tenacity, creativity, and hard work will help you get there. She has great advice for turning your corporate job into your dream job and creating compelling...

Are you looking to create more passive income in your business? Kelsey Baldwin of Paper + Oats built up her business from a design studio to a product shop and now she sells courses full-time. In this episode we talk about why she decided to start building courses, and how she differentiates herself in the market. She’s also a single mom raising her daughter by herself while doing all of this, so...

Are you curious about how other designers run their freelance business? Jess Levitz os one of my mastermind members and a hand letterer extraordinaire! She’s the owner of June Letters Studio and also started the inspiring FreelanceWisdom.com website. We sat down to have an in-depth conversation about her journey working for brands to transitioning into freelancing. Jess shares really valuable insi...

Are you a creative entrepreneur who struggles with anxiety? Ciara Sames and I have been blog friends for a really long time. This episode is a little bit different; we recorded the first half live together at Designer Vaca, but then Ciara had some really cool things start happening after that conference. She began making some really big life changes and we wanted to update you on all of that. In t...

Do you want to incorporate personal development into your daily life? Brad is another local Cleveland podcaster and we met recently at a networking event that I mentioned in a previous episode. We sat down to talk about his journey with personal development, how he started his podcast, and the intentional choices he’s making around how he wants to live his life. Brad has a sales background, so if...

Forging your own path will make you happier than listening to what anyone else thinks you should be doing. That’s a major takeaway from my interview with Meg Sheeley, the founder of Summerfield Delight and SquareSpace Design Guild. Meg and I have had similar journeys in our careers, even attending the same design school although she studied online and I was in the in-person program. She shares so...

Is it time to start delegating more in your business? Today’s episode is an interview with my virtual assistant, Sarah Starrs. She has an interesting journey that led her to reevaluating her priorities and values, which ultimately led to her setting up her business. We talk in-depth about our experiences of burn out, the impact it had on our lives, and the importance of doing less - and some pract...

Do you want to solidify your brand or grow your personal brand? Jordan Brantley is the owner and founder of The Business Bar. She's a branding expert and this episode is full of insights about building the brand of your creative business. We talk about why laying strong foundations for your brand is absolutely critical for everything else you do in your business - and that that includes much...

Are you ready to start growing a team for your business? I’ve always felt a real kindred connection with today’s guest, Jamie Starcevich of Spruce Road. Although she doesn’t offer web design anymore, we have somewhat similar design businesses. We talk about so many things and she shares her insights into managing teams, working from home, moving around while she grows her business, and the transit...

Do you want to run your business in the most authentic way possible? I’ve known Caroline for years but this is the first time I’ve talked to her in-depth about the process of running her business and how she’s gotten to where she is now. She’s able to share such amazing insights because she’s literally made it her profession to deep dive into her values and really follow her intuition. Caroline of...

Do you worry about how you can juggle anything else while running your business? Dondrea Owens was an accountant before she choose to leave her job to pursue a stationery business. Stationery is near and dear to my heart as that’s what I was doing professionally in corporate America before pursuing Pinegate Road full-time and I love all things stationery. She also has two little kids so as I prep...

Are you curious what it’s like to leave your corporate job and strike out on your own? Today’s episode is a little bit different. I didn’t want the Pinegate Road Podcast to just be interviews with inspiring people; I also wanted to share my journey of how I’m working through running my business and working from home. Episode 10 seemed like the perfect time to update you on how things have been goi...

Do you want to create a creative business based on your passions? I have a really cool guest today; you might know her as the owner and designer behind the shop Sugar & Type. She talks in-depth about how she organically grew her business over the years and how she went from freelancing to working a full-time job to now owning her own shop and running that full-time. There are a lot of parallel...