Making a living as a creator shouldn’t be some elusive thing. And what’s the best way to learn how creators are making it work? To go behind-the-scenes. These bi-weekly interview issues are like having coffee with your favorite creators. If we haven’t met before, I’m Amanda Smith. I write about solopreneurship and the creator economy.
Good morning. When we picture high-earning creators, it’s easy to jump straight to big brand partnerships and deals. But there are plenty of other paths to succeed as a creator or solopreneur today.
This week’s interview is one such example. She made $300K in the first three months of business, while working part-time. The VC boys flocked and she said no.
Since then, she’s become a top 2% LinkedIn creator, a fractional head for Fortune 50, and a best-selling published author about her approach to networking and business-building.
I’m excited for you to read this one.
🌀 What’s new in the creator world?
World Cup “biggest content moment to date”
TikTok reported the FIFA World Cup generated over 24B views.
X cracks down on creators who steal content
On those who abuse its creator revenue-sharing program by soliciting engagement and copying content.
Box office hits are being directed by YouTubers
On sub-million-dollar budgets.
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Creator profile: Monique Kelley
Handle: Monique Kelley
# of followers: 15K+ LinkedIn
Annual revenue: She hit $300K in the first 3 months
Acquisition channel: LinkedIn & professional network
Biggest lesson: “My brand is working with awesome people who I know and know me.”
Monique Kelley
Monique Kelley has spent the past 23 years in communications across agencies land, corporate, and consulting. She set out to become a nutritionist but struggled with schooling, yet she found her own way to healthcare through comms.
Kelley landed at an investor relations firm in a media role and her first client was Pfizer. Her job was spreading education and disease awareness for products such as an Alzheimer medication and chemotherapy pill. She’s been hooked on healthcare ever since.
As Kelley moved from one agency to the next, she realized the value of networking and how important industry relationships are. “It’s what I call earning your keep with people and it’s carried me through this industry,” she said.
She also had an epiphany about being clear on what she could bring to the table. Kelley moved into a corporate comms environment with the only person with a product marketing comms background. “Everyone saw me as an outsider, but I saw me as the most valuable player because I had something different that I could bring to the table to create an entire offering that the office didn’t have.”
Which she did. In nine months, we went from $400,000 to four million and was the top revenue driver of the Boston office of Weber Shandwick at the time.”
It’s about aligning your skillset to where it matters, she believes. And in the agency world, where it matters is revenue. “If you’re clear on your professional value, your job is to align it to the right organizations.”
Kelley moved in-house, adding value to C-suite, marketers, people in omni-channel, the sales team etc. When she started adjuncting at Boston University, she realized how important it was to be able to teach her students what she’d done with her clients that morning, not years ago – so she launched her consulting business.
Kelley did $300K in three months working part time and even turned down VCs. “I’ve not had one day of a lull. I work with Fortune 50 and global biopharma companies like Johnson and Johnson, AbbVie, and Japanese pharma. How? I’m really clear on what I can do, and these are all people that I’ve known and worked with at some point in my career.”
She currently works across LinkedIn executive storytelling, internal comms, piloting initiatives, and aligning with heads of strategy on a change management plan for AI for a Fortune 100 company. She likes working in enterprise comms at bigger companies because they have the resources to drive greater change.
Top 2% LinkedIn creator
Kelley posted on LinkedIn every day, seven days a week, for years.
“I talk about work that I do to help clarify what communications is and why it’s important, especially for the pharma industry. I also talk about what it’s like to build a business, what’s on my mind, and what others aren’t saying.”
She had an old boss warn her not to post personal content on LinkedIn, yet that’s how she got invited to speak at a huge pharma conference that’s usually only for director level.
“I get messages from people asking how I was able to have two careers that I started from scratch after a 20-year career.” She said while Chief Comms Officer or VP of Comms sounds better than CEO of Monique Kelly Consulting, following her energy and her heart has led her to create the life she never could’ve had climbing corporate.
“Don't be afraid to do things your way, even if your way means you don't have all of the bells and whistles or you're not checking every box that every other creator says you need,” she said.
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Amanda
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