It's your story,
WE JUST MAKE SURE IT'S HEARD
We believe in a holistic approach that encompasses every aspect of you and your business – not just your product or service. We like to dig in deep and get our hands dirty alongside you and your team. No matter what you need – from content creation or business development to project management or brand development – our team and resources are here to help you grow and nurture your business.
We’re your Kin
Creative Director, Consultant
Jen Wakeland
The Kinship is a team of passionate thinkers, creatives, listeners and developers. Our purpose is to help you tell your story by working to hear and understand you as a person and as a business. We are dedicated to getting to the heart of what makes you and your business tick, and figuring out the steps needed to reach your goals and realize your plans. From there we will work alongside you and your team to achieve them.
Our story
K
The Kinship team provides an extreme hands-on holistic approach to marketing. While we call ourselves a marketing company, we believe we are much more than that. Our approach seeks to understand the ‘why’ of your business first, then the ‘what’ and the ‘how.’
In 2012, we started Salt City Emporium, a children’s clothing company that served as a proof of concept and ran parallel to the Kinship. This allowed us to experience marketing and business in the new digital era, just the way our clients do. We were able to create a successful business using effective marketing and branding solutions, then offer that hands-on, first-hand experience to our growing client base.
Our consulting approach uses a tailored combination of messaging, branding development, tech support, SEO, social media, buying, merchandising, wholesale, product launches and web development to grow your business and reach your goals.
We have business development at the heart of every plan. We’re not only content creators and branding experts – we also have the numbers and benchmarks to back up our decisions and drive your business forward.
Jen’s keen eye for storytelling and passion for helping small business owners led her to start the Kinship in 2012. Before that, she spent several years in the franchise world, working first as a Field Rep traveling all over the country, and then as Director of Operations. She holds a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship, is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses group, and taught Banking on Women’s Marketing Module for three years.
Jen has worked with several hundred small business owners in various roles as a consultant, speaker, educator and member of advisory and investment boards. She feels that her calling is to help entrepreneurs manifest their ideas and passions into reality.
Jen lives with her husband of 12 years and their two children on a farm in a small town in western Washington. They have several dogs, horses, goats, cats and chickens on their 13 acres, and try their hand at a small fresh cut flower garden each year.
Kinship Team
Liasions
Jen’s keen eye for storytelling and passion for helping small business owners led her to start the Kinship in 2012. Before that, she spent several years in the franchise world, working first as a Field Rep traveling all over the country, and then as Director of Operations. She holds a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship, is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses group, and taught Banking on Women’s Marketing Module.
Jen has worked with several hundred small business owners in various roles as a consultant, speaker, educator and member of advisory and investment boards. She feels that her calling is to help entrepreneurs manifest their ideas and passions into reality.
Jen lives with her husband of 12 years and their two children on a farm in a small town in western Washington. They have several dogs, horses, goats, cats and chickens on their 13 acres, and try their hand at a small fresh cut flower garden each year.
The Kinship team provides an extreme hands-on holistic approach to marketing. While we call ourselves a marketing company, we believe we are much more than that. Our approach seeks to understand the ‘why’ of your business first, then the ‘what’ and the ‘how.’
In 2012, we started Salt City Emporium, a children’s clothing company that served as a proof of concept and ran parallel to the Kinship. This allowed us to experience marketing and business in the new digital era, just the way our clients do. We were able to create a successful business using effective marketing and branding solutions, then offer that hands-on, first-hand experience to our growing client base.
Our consulting approach uses a tailored combination of messaging, branding development, tech support, SEO, social media, buying, merchandising, wholesale, product launches and web development to grow your business and reach your goals.
We have business development at the heart of every plan. We’re not only content creators and branding experts – we also have the numbers and benchmarks to back up our decisions and drive your business forward.
Our team
Client Liaisions
The Kinship isn’t here to manage from above – we want to be involved in the process and get our hands dirty right alongside you and your team. From scaling your business to launching a new product or refining your business model, we’ve got you covered. Now let’s get to work.
Get to
work
Once we’ve gotten to know each other, we’ll work together with you and your team to determine your pain points, goals and dreams, then create a data-driven holistic plan to realize those goals and grow your business.
Define your Goals
Because of the intentional, hands-on nature of our process, we strive to work with business owners that we truly feel connected to. We’ll schedule a call to make sure our approach and team is the best possible fit for you and your business – and vice versa.
Get in
touch
Our Process
Jenny Manes
"Jen’s understanding of small businesses, and all that it takes to keep it functioning successfully, is flat out amazing.
Her ability to see the big picture and to know precisely what is the next step in the development of a small business, and her clearly articulated explanations and generous guidance has helped me in shoring up my existing business."
Madly Wish
“It's difficult to find words to describe something that is....everything. In the last 12 months, it's been the difference between 'me' and 'we'. A lighthouse. A safe haven for thoughts, brainstorming and someone to ride with on the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship.”
Snuck Farm
“Jen and The Kinship team have been integral to both my personal and business success. Through working with Jen, I’ve been able to see how creating a business that is an authentic expression of who I am and what I value is not only viable, but essential. Jen’s coaching has helped me define and understand my why, then has effectively communicated that to my customers through my brand. Starting and growing my business has taken a tremendous amount of courage and resolve that would’ve been difficult to tap into, to the extent needed, without the help of The Kinship. Jen keeps me going even when I’m ready to quit, asks the tough questions that spur growth, and most importantly, keeps me focused on my why."
Wylder Goods
“Jen is an incredibly driven and motivated business owner, who has a unique and diversified skill set when it comes to project development and implementation. We relate to her boot-strapped, hands-on approach to business and her focus on scalability in success.”
House of Jade
"We can’t express how much the Kinship has transformed our business. We can say with certainty that we would not be where we are today without them! The best part of working with them has been making goals and then being held accountable to meet those goals.”
Petersen Family Farm
“The Kinship is true to its name. Jen and her team are not only creative and knowledgeable, they care so much about the long-term success of my business that they feel like family.”
Kind Words
LET'S CHAT!
We love hearing from you, and your time is super important to us, so let us know what you are thinking, struggling over, or excited about. We understand, and will get back to you promptly. Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter, this is a great place to connect, receive updates on our simply.kinship series launch and more.
