Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Mason.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey was by no means linear, but consisted of small steps/choices/leaps of faith (emphasis on leaps of faith) that led me to the most fulfilling work I’ve ever done.
The reader’s digest version is: I went to business school and got a BBA in Entrepreneurship. Since I was 15 (when I first started working) I always knew that one day I wanted to own my own business and work for myself. But, remember how I said this was nonlinear?
After graduating with a business degree, my first job out of college was customs brokerage at a logistics firm. Can’t say it was a great fit, but I worked there for about 3 years until I decided life was too short to continue working somewhere I didn’t enjoy, doing work I didn’t enjoy. So naturally, I quit without a plan but decided to get a part-time job at a rock climbing gym (my #1 hobby) while I “figured it out”. I started working the front desk, checking people in, selling climbing shoes, teaching people how to climb. Over the next 7 years, I went from being a part-time front desk worker, to assistant manager, to social media + events manager, and eventually to regional marketing manager.
I had done social media for years for different rock climbing gyms in the industry, as well as did volunteer social media work for a networking group here in Dallas. I always posted on my personal pages for fun, not really thinking anything of it.
One day a friend told me “you know, you’re really good at this. you should do your own thing.” And the rest is history.
That same week I decided on a company name, created an instagram, and slowly started posting. Graphic design, reels about where to go/eat/drink, lifestyle content, and shortly after I landed my first client. Since then, my business has grown and evolved, but at the core, its always been the same: to highlight small businesses. These days, my emphasis is on woman-owned small businesses, and I’m really proud that my clientele list consists of that.
I’m now coming up on 3 years of Petit Knock, a creative studio that offers social media management, content creation, consulting, and UGC.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t always been smooth, but I always take the lesson and have learned so much.
When starting a business for the first time, there is always a learning curve, and thats what I would say the struggles were. Learning to be confident in my pricing, learning to just say no when a client isn’t a good fit, and prioritizing work-life balance. All my struggles have led to these invaluable lessons.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Oops! Maybe I answered a little bit of this already in the opening question.
My name is Kelly Mason and I am the founder of Petit Knock, a creative studio that offers social media management, content creation, consulting, and UGC for small businesses, with an emphasis on female-owned businesses.
What I’m told sets me apart from others is my positive attitude, easy to work with, fun spirit, and great work ethic – that I’m not only creative, but work hard and when I say I will do something, I always do it.
What I would say sets me apart is my creativity, vision, organization, resolute, and my ability to combine all of these factors – equal parts left brain and right brain which creates the perfect balance for being a business owner that does creative work. I have so much fun doing this kind of work, and it shows.
I would say I’m most proud of just starting. Feeling the fear, and doing it anyway.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I, for the most part, identify as risk-averse. Which is funny, because when looking at my journey, I have quit a job on more than one occasion without having another job lined up – I just always knew it would work out one way or another.
Risk is scary, of course. It’s uncertain. “Is it a good decision, is it a bad decision?” But you can’t really know until you just do it.
How I view risk is: I would rather do something and regret it rather than NOT do something and then regretting that I didn’t do it. You never know until you try.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://petitknock.xyz
- Instagram: petitknock
Image Credits
Photos by Atali Samuel Photography.
