This week’s Monday Muse is creative brand strategist Kayd Roy. She’s a force to be reckoned with when it comes to building out a brand and has more energy than the energizer bunny. No joke. She’s busy all the damn time and still finds time to have fun, a family, take time out of her day to mentor/guide/inspire others over coffee or drinks. Seriously. She will meet you to chat anytime!

You're truly a "Jane of all Trades" when it comes to a creative career! Can you share with us what it is you do and how you got started?
I help launch and organize businesses through strategic design and thoughtful experiences. On the daily I create trend concepts for Target, am the Director of Design for the boutique fitness studio Fly Feet Running, Co-Founder of a career-growth event series called The Catalyst Circle and run a full-service design studio with clients nation wide. Since a young age, I was always around art projects thanks to my parents and began teaching myself Photoshop in middle school. I’ve said yes to almost every opportunity and this is where it’s landed me!


How to you get it all done? What does a typical day look like?
First, whenever my toddler wakes up that’s when I also wake up (trying to squeeze in every last moment of possible sleep). I drop her at daycare and the majority of the day I’m at Target HQ working on design concepts for Beauty, Essentials, Electronics and Pets. Half the day is spent in meetings and the other is spent pinning ideas to a wall creating a design strategy to drive the businesses forward. In the evening we’ll do dinner, a small walk and then it’s off to bed for my daughter, which is when the real work begins. A small but mighty team of freelancers pitch in on the projects I create for clients so it’s a lot of organization, communication and prioritizing while also catching up on the latest Netflix show. 


You're a small business owner as well as a corporate employee. What made you decide to do both?
It’s not easy, and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to everyone. My small-biz experience is where I get my energy. It allows me to be nimble, try new strategies, swiftly adjust course if something is not working, lead a team and be a part of other peoples stories. My corporate gig allows me to focusing in on areas of career-growth I wouldn’t necessarily get by being independent. 


What have you worked on that you are the most proud of and why?
There’s been a lot of really great projects but the one that takes the cake is Fly Feet Running. In a corporate environment, or even at a design agency, you only get to be a small part of the puzzle, very rarely the full thing. So when Kristin & Ben brought me on I helped further develop their brand in design, naming, class structure, website, social, floor plans & environment design, apparel and basically anything else that need that needed some design thinking. Through their leadership and trust I was able to prove that what I had been doing for much smaller businesses could be scaled up and still successful.


What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?
Figure out the goal of your business. Is it something to keep you busy? Is there whitespace you can develop in? Is this your get rich quick solution? Is this a business you want to pass down to your family? Is it for more control? Once you can articulate why you are going into business it will help you make the right decisions.

Rapid Fire Questions:

• Introvert or extrovert? Super extrovert. hiiiiiii

• Coffee or tea? Coffee. Lots of cream

• Early riser or burn the midnight oil? Party all night long

• Paper or digital calendar and to do list? Todoist.com is how I can manage it all

• Your design style in 3 words or less: All-in. Underestimated. Jazzed.

• Favorite IG account to follow: For years and years and years it's been Kate over at Wit&Delight. Now that we've all grown up, it's fun to see what her kiddos are doing and how she's grown from her #ootd days.
  

Thanks so much Kayd! If you have a business that could benefit from Kayd’s work, you can find her at KaydRoy.com. Drop her a note and meet her for coffee!