Kiri Reflections on Ad Age 40 Under 40 Award - Episode 259
DESCRIPTION
Last week, Kiri was announced as an honoree for Ad Age 40 under 40. In this podcast, she shares a few lessons she learned along the way since she founded Bobsled seven and a half years ago. These lessons may be helpful for anyone looking to find their journey in life or career.
Make sure you tune in to find out more!
“You only do your best work when you’re really challenged.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Last week, Kiri was announced as an honoree for Ad Age 40 under 40. In this podcast, she shares a few lessons she learned along the way, which may be helpful for anyone looking to find their journey in life or career.
She shares that the first step for everyone should be to decide “Which mountain you want to climb.”
Discovering your personal values is something that Kiri feels passionate about and has been a helpful filter for life and career decisions, like selling her company, Bobsled Marketing to Acadia earlier this year.
What brings you energy, and what people you want to be around, can help you find your values.
Second advice - As much as possible, focus on your strengths and delegate weaknesses. Lean into your strengths and outsource your weaknesses to someone else.
Another lesson she learned is - You only grow during tough times. She borrowed this quote from David Brooks, “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life”. You only do your best work when you’re really challenged, Kiri shares. She is glad she went through a period of “suffering” at the beginning of her business journey and looks back at the time in the beginning when she started Bobsled and was trying to figure out everything while working and living in a one-bedroom apartment with her husband who also worked with her. Those days now seem like the greatest learning experience in her life. Embracing the periods of stress and stretch, those experiences will help you grow and teach you something new.
Investing in content and thought leadership. When Kiri started Bobsled, 7 and a half years ago, she was a total beginner and started from scratch. She started her blog trying to teach herself about Amazon since the best way she learns is by writing about something. Putting in the hard work during the years, snowballed into where she is today - meeting her heroes, having interviews with the media, etc.
A peer group. She had several peer groups she invested in during the years. A startup group of entrepreneurs and for her personally, having that group of people was incredibly important.
Making time for things that are important, not urgent. If a task or a project is not urgent and not important, you don’t do it. If something is important, but not urgent, it may require your attention. There are a lot of things that can pass your desk and demand your attention and you have to develop a muscle around what’s important and urgent. Keeping consistency going in creating content weekly, and committing to something that’s important.
Kiri recommends figuring out your personal values and using that as a foundation of a roadmap for your life or career.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Connect with Kiri Masters on LinkedIn or via email
Learn more about Bobsled Marketing, an Acadia Company
How Acadia’s Kiri Masters built a business out of selling on Amazon on adage.com
