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MY STORY

HI, I'M KILEY.

And I’m a serial entrepreneur.

I have donned many professional titles over the years including Founder and CEO of Brainchild Studios, Founder & Small Business Strategist at RAYNE IX, Founder of The Make Business Personal Accelerator. Adjunct Professor at Marquette University and Faculty Member at Exit Planning Institute. Podcast Host and National Speaker to name a few.

But those are all just titles to make it easier to identify the things that I choose to spend my time and energy on.

What you should really know is that I want to collect experiences and I believe people matter most.

And that includes you, business owner. That includes you too.

I believe everyone deserves the right to find their true purpose in life and be emboldened to act upon it. I also believe that we must live a life aligned with our personal values to truly be happy. And I believe experiences allow us the opportunity to truly understand and craft our beliefs and turn them into truths.

That’s why I’ve taken my nearly 20 years of experience in learning and understanding human behavior, digital technologies, and psychologically driven messaging as a digital marketer and business owner and parlayed it into my work as a small business coach, strategist, and consultant.

I am dedicated to helping women small business owners fulfill their life purpose and build businesses and lives that align with their personal goals and values.

I’ve done this for myself by creating a virtual agency that has provided me the flexibility to do my work remotely, in yoga pants and a t-shirt most days. I spent six years building Brainchild Studios, my international award-winning research and digital content strategy agency, alongside a group of AMAZING badass women and then shut it down at the end of 2022 after successfully executing a 12-month exit strategy.

My team taught me so much about life, leadership, and compassion and make me want to be better for them day after day. We have created opportunities that didn’t exist before. Played a role in giving a voice to and advocating for a review of “how things have always been done” and we’re damn proud of everything we accomplished.

But running a business is hard.

Like really hard. The highs are super high and the lows are super low. I have made a handful of really great decisions (hi team) and I’ve made hundreds of bad ones (sorry team).

Luckily for me, the good ones have stuck around to outweigh the bad.

I know what it’s like to file legal trademarks and move your business to another state because you thought someone you trusted would try to steal it. To hire people you thought would be the future of your company just to have to fire them a few months later. To pinch pennies so you can make payroll. To fight tooth and nail for PPP TWICE to ensure your business stayed afloat during this horrid pandemic that seemingly never ended.

To wake up at 3am with a head full of ideas that you just have to get down while your significant other thinks you’re insane. To have those tough talks with your significant other when they think you work too much. (And when you know they’re right but you don’t want to admit it.) And I know how painful it is to fire a client and how a “yes” from one client can change your entire future.

I also know what it’s like to watch people you handpicked to love this thing you’ve created grow as people, colleagues, and ambassadors of this thing you’ve created. And how liberating it is to be able to go golfing on a Friday afternoon in the Wisconsin summer and not have to ask permission because you own the company.

And how being able to offer people employment is such an incredible gift. And how your team becomes like a chosen family over time. And what it's like to realize that this business started as an idea in your head and now, somehow, it’s this real, legit, internationally recognized entity that supports global clients and people’s livelihoods are dependent on it.

Like wow. What a life we lead.
It’s also why no one understands entrepreneurs except a fellow entrepreneurs.

All that being said, it’s recently come to my attention that my purpose is to help women build their businesses and their lives to be unapologetically their own. And that’s now what I’m set out to do. Whether it’s building their business or transitioning from them on to the next chapter, I’m here for it.

Work with me as a strategist or consultant at RAYNE IX or book me to speak at your next event!

Check out my podcasts, Welcome to Eloma and Make Business Personal, listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

P.S. I’m an open book, so if you’d like to talk about my deep-rooted love for travel, long-form improv, audiobooks, long walks and my recent obsession with gardening, count me in.

I also married my high school sweetheart October of 2022, so I’m happy to share the draft of my pending Hallmark movie script if you’re a sucker for romantic comedies too!