Kristine Kletke

I attribute my success to the mentorship I received early in my career from Chan Blake, who constantly encouraged me to work for myself and own my own business. His voice was always in the back of my mind as I built my career. The pivotal conversation with my grandma when she was in hospice also shaped everything - she told me that at the end of your life, you don't wish you worked more, you wish you followed your dreams and spent more time with people you love. That inspired me to take the leap and start my own company. But honestly, I am successful because I have an amazing team of really good people. We all work together, we take care of each other and take care of our clients, and we do things differently. We have core values like no ego, unlimited time off, and we're the keepers of our own schedule. I don't micromanage or babysit - we just know what needs to get done and we get it done. The fact that most of our clients come from referrals shows that this approach works.

The best career advice I ever received came from my mentor Chan Blake, who would sit behind me as I worked and constantly tell me to work for myself and own my own business. His mantra of 'work for yourself, work for yourself, you should own your own business' stayed with me throughout my career. The other profound advice came from my grandma when she was in hospice. She told me that when you get to the end of your life, you don't regret working too much, you don't wish you worked more - you wish you followed your dreams and spent more time with people you love. That conversation was the pivotal moment that gave me the courage to leave my well-paying job as a pharmaceutical representative and start my own company.

As a small business owner, the biggest challenges we face are rising costs, especially rising healthcare costs. It's a constant balancing act - trying to manage those rising costs while making sure we're taking care of our people and getting things done for our clients, and keeping costs down for them too. The workforce is always a challenge, making sure that the people who are working for you are happy in their jobs and happy as humans, giving them enough time off while still getting everything done. We have unlimited time off, and we try to take care of each other, but you're always trying to balance wanting to make sure you're taking care of people with keeping costs where they need to be and keeping profits where they need to be so that you can grow and take care of the people around you. You also have to be able to give back - I'm on several boards and we try to give back to nonprofits, and you have to take care of yourself to be able to do that too.

The most important value to me and my company is no ego - that's one of our core tenets, and I really feel like we all embody that. I'm honestly uncomfortable when things are just about me. I believe that when the brand is elevated, it elevates everyone because we're all working together. When we won the Women-Owned Business of the Year award, I wanted the whole team up there because this is about all of us, not just me. Family is also incredibly important - I left a well-paying job as a pharmaceutical rep because I was traveling too much and missing things with my children. We all put our priorities with family and mental health, and really taking care of each other. We're the keepers of our own schedule, we don't micromanage or babysit - we just know what needs to get done and we get it done. Giving back is another core value - we try to give back as much as possible to nonprofits and the community. I'm very proud that my team is made up of great humans who all take care of each other and take care of our clients.