MEET KELSEY

Kelsey had her life planned out. She was going to make it on Wall Street in New York City just like her parents had, so she dove into the college courses and internships that would make her dream a reality.

But when she found herself toiling away at an 80-hour-a-week internship at 20 years old, she recognized that a life spent climbing the corporate ladder wasn’t for her.

“There’s so many people that want to do things and they’re so passionate about something, and they’re too afraid. They’re like, ‘No one else is doing this — like the social norm — I’m just going to stay in the job that I don’t really like and maybe in a year or two when this happens’…But life is too short. It’s kind of now or never.”

After traveling to Bali to fulfill another long-time dream of becoming a yoga teacher, and then moving to Australia for a little R & R, she realized that this life was far more her speed. But when she went looking for activewear that reflected the tropical life she now lived and would take her from yoga mat to surfboard without a quick change, she came up blank. She either found high quality in plain colors or bright colors in cheap materials

So, without any experience in fashion design or launching a business, she decided to create her own activewear brand specializing in tropical, bold prints that work for the gym and the ocean.

In February 2018, Kelsey launched Kavala Collective.

She knew right away that building up a presence on Instagram would be key for expanding her brand and reaching her target demographic, but although she built up a sizable following, very few of those converted to sales on her e-commerce store.

In an effort to improve her sales and connect more effectively with influencers, she decided to give Start & Scale a try.

The earlier lessons helped her to fill in any gaps she may have missed in the first stages of her business. Kelsey says that she wishes she had had access to the course from the very beginning of her brand, emphasizing that it would have streamlined the process and would have saved her so much time.

But the modules on growing an audience are where she found the most value for her brand, reaffirming things she already knew but taking them so many steps further.

And after implementing what she’d learned, the effect was immediate.

Before Start & Scale, Kavala Collective took in only about 80 sales over the course of an entire year. Just a few months after implementing what she has learned from the course, with particular emphasis on influencer marketing, she made nearly 120 sales in a single month, bringing in A$18,000.

“My sales have just exponentially grown, and they’re still going up and up. We are looking to hit $25,000 in revenue this month.”

After the remarkable success she has experienced, Kelsey encourages anyone who hopes to sell products online to check out Start & Scale.

“I wish that I discovered this before I started the branding and everything. It would have just been so much more efficient and I feel like I would have saved thousands and thousands of dollars. … To everyone that’s starting an online store, is just so easy. It’s a no brainer.”