Kimia Kalbasi
Transcript
Danielle (Scrunch) (00:10):
Thank you so much for being here on the Scrunch Creator Economy Show. It's so fabulous to have you.
Kimia Kalbasi (00:16):
Absolutely. I'm so excited to be here.
Danielle (Scrunch) (00:18):
So good. Now I just like to start out by telling everyone how you got started. So, you know, after I, you know, had a look at your profile started following you on Instagram, I can see that you have you know, so much experience and you've been doing this for quite a while now, which is kind of cool for creators. Like you were there in the beginning. I love that. And you know, you are amazing at building communities. You've done so many brand partnerships, but how did you actually get started with Kim's cravings? Like, how did this idea happen? Was there a career beforehand? Tell me how you got here.
Kimia Kalbasi (00:55):
Absolutely. Oh, I love telling this story. So where to begin? So for as long as I can remember, ever since I was a little girl, my dream job was to be a journalist. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Cause I think that whatever you truly wanna be as a little kid is indicative, indicative of what you really wanna become. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So, my dream job as a kid was to become a journal journalist. I remember I loved watching the, the news with my family, like knowing what was happening in the world. And as I was getting older like I always knew I loved storytelling, connecting with people, writing all that. And I remember when I was 15 years old, my parents introduced me to the law of attraction. Mm. like the Secret. And I remember
Danielle (Scrunch) (01:37):
Meeting, I love this already. Yes.
Kimia Kalbasi (01:40):
Hear that. That you know about it. So I ma I remember I made my first vision board of what I wanted my career to look like, what I wanted, what kind of charities I wanted to be a part of, what I wanted my homes to look like, what I wanted my husband to be like, all that. And so having that vision board in mind, and like, I always knew what I loved, like writing, like, like I said, connecting with people, events and like all that, like pop culture and everything. So as I was getting older, I remember right before I went to uc, Santa Barbara, I originally got in as an econ major, but I changed to communication before I went there. And then, you know, up until then I had always had random jobs like, you know, tutoring or hosting at restaurants. I even worked at in and out for a couple years. But because I had changed my major, I, before I went to college, I was like, okay, what do I wanna do with my communication major that would help me figure out my career path? So I took on this PR internship at the time, and I remember I thought it was so cool driving from like Orange County to LA for an unpaid internship. Yeah. <laugh>
(02:47):
Breaking into the world of pr. And I remember at the time my, the, my boss at the time, her name was Kelly, spelled with an e y at the end, I'll explain why the spelling of her name was important, because, you know, usually Kelly spelled k e l l y, but this one was K L l E Y. So anyways I was interning there, I was going great, all that. And one day she took me out to lunch with her friend Kat. And Kat at the time was writing for this food and travel oh, no, sorry. Kat at the time was writing for us Weekly. And back then I loved celebrity pop culture and all that. And I was totally enamored, enamored by Kat. And I was asking her, oh, how did you get into US Weekly? And she was like, oh, to be honest, Hollywood is such a soul, second industry, I'm actually trying to get out of it. And I was like, okay. For sure. And it's fast forward after college, my first job was at Oracle, you know, Kohl's calling, selling technology and hardware. And I,
Danielle (Scrunch) (03:47):
I mean, that's such good, like selling is such a good tool to have in the toolkit, but yes, I, I know it's sell a storying for a creative <laugh>,
Kimia Kalbasi (03:55):
A hundred thousand percent. Looking back at it, I, I am so grateful. That was my first role college mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. But at the time I did not realize it. So I I remember halfway through my tenure at Oracle, I was on LinkedIn prospecting, and I stumbled upon Cat's LinkedIn profile, and I saw that she was no longer writing for us Weekly, but rather was writing for this food and travel site called The Daily Meal. And then in my head I was like, oh my God, I would love, I love food travel writing. Like, I wonder if I can write for them too. So I sent her a, a warm message on LinkedIn and I was like, oh, hey Cal, like a long time ago talk, see and outright asked her if I could write for the Daily meal as well. And then she was like, oh, [inaudible] here from you. Like, yeah, it'd be a great way for you to expand on your writing portfolio, but just so you know, it's like unpaid. And I was like, here we go again with the all this
Danielle (Scrunch) (04:41):
Yeah. <Laugh> love, love story <laugh>.
Kimia Kalbasi (04:44):
Yeah, exactly. I was like, am I sure I wanted to do this? So at the time I was looking for a creative outlet and like I was, you know, I already had like a full-time job, so I was just excited to have a creative outlet at the time. So then from there, I remember she introduced me to the editor-in-chief at the time, who was name is Chelsea, who to this day is one of my good friends. And everything I'm telling you about is at this point, the internship was like 2012. And then everything from like Oracle days is like 2015. So anyways, Kat connected me to Chelsea the editor-in-chief at the time. And next thing I know, because I'm in their, the daily base the daily base writing for this food and travel site called The Daily Meal. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And I was a part of their daily base.
(05:27):
I started getting all these invites to all these restaurants, all these cool press parties, all these ho hotel launches, all these like, cool things. And I was writing articles as if it was like my full-time job pumping out articles. And because I was going to so many cool events and restaurants and hotels at the same time, I was also documenting everything I was doing on social media and show, show showcasing my journey and creating content. And I remember one day there was this event that Chelsea couldn't go to and it was like the opening of Taco in Santana Row in the Bay Area. Wow. And she was like, oh, hey Kimia, can you cover this? And I was like, oh, for sure. So I was reading the press release and I saw that it came from this woman named Kelly with spelled with an e y.
(06:15):
And then my head, I was like, oh my God, how funny would that be if this is my first boss from my first internship <laugh>. Yeah. And then I scrolled down and said, Kelly Colan, founder of Melrose pr. And I was like, oh my goodness. Then that working came in full circle because of Kelly. I met ca ca connected me, Chelsea, here's Chelsea bringing me back full circle. She like, Kelly and Kelly and I were like, hop on the phone right after like laughing and to this stage, she'll like even asked me for advice on like influencer marketing and branding and all that. And I'm like, girlfriend, I learned so much from you <laugh>.
(06:41):
That's so cool. Yeah. So then as I was writing so many articles and creating so much content, I remember a friend from high school reached out to me and she was like, oh, hey Kim. Like, I see you go to all these like amazing places. Have you ever thought about starting a food blog? And then that's when the light bulb ticked. And I actually still have the notes in my phone. I was, because my page at the time was Kimi, it was more of a personal page, like, you know, pictures of me and my friends, like going out, like the restaurants I would go to were like all these cool things I was doing. And at that time, this was like 2015, so I had like a little under 2000, 3000 followers around then. So then my head, I was like, okay, either I can start a whole new page or I can build this community that I already have. So then I was like, you know what, I wanna build from this. So I changed my handle. I, I still have the notes in my phone where I was like hungry Heart feels for meals. And then like,
(07:34):
And then my cousin Parisa is the one who suggested Kim's cravings cuz she's like, oh, you love alliteration and like cravings can expand outside of food. And I was like, oh my God, I love that idea. So I changed. That's so cool. Cravings, thank you. And then ever since then have been nonstop, you know, with the creating content and that's how, that is the origin of Kim's craving.
Danielle (Scrunch) (07:54):
Oh my God, that's so cool. And I, I absolutely love how it wasn't like you know, oh my God, I just knew I wanted to be a creator.
Kimia Kalbasi (08:02):
Yeah. I fell my laugh. No <laugh>, I'm, I'm here to tell the full circle story.
Danielle (Scrunch) (08:07):
Yeah. That's so cool. And, but I love as well, like, you know, I love how you set out to become a journalist and that was, you know, what you had on your vision board and what you're excited about because I feel like creators are the modern day journalists.
Kimia Kalbasi (08:21):
Oh my god, Danielle. That's exactly what I tell people. That's exactly, you beat me to the punchline <laugh>. The whole moral of the story was the fact that I believe that today's social media content creators emulate the modern day journalists. Like fashion bloggers are like Harper's Bazaar and food bloggers are like Bon appetit. So you nailed it. You picked up on, you picked up on the whole motto of my story.
Danielle (Scrunch) (08:45):
Oh, I love it so much. And I also love the, the progression as well, like going through, you know, unpaid internships, doing like sales jobs, you know, cutting your teeth in the PR world, going to all of these free events. Like, it's really interesting because I think it meant you saw the business world as well as the content creation world. So you also know like the mechanics of what actually happens in this world, <laugh>.
Kimia Kalbasi (09:09):
Absolutely. Exactly.
Danielle (Scrunch) (09:11):
So how did you go from going to all of these amazing places, doing these internships, writing for the Daily Mail, now you are a legit, you know, influencer creator. How did you then start to scale that up and like get paid brand deals?
Kimia Kalbasi (09:28):
Absolutely. It's actually funny people always, whenever I told people Daily Meal, they always thought I said Daily Mail. Like the gossip column. They're like, oh,
Danielle (Scrunch) (09:35):
Daily
Kimia Kalbasi (09:36):
Food. But it's, so I even remember like at one time I, I, I was at an event and I couldn't find my name tag and it's because they had it under Daily Mail
Danielle (Scrunch) (09:44):
<Laugh>. Oh no, that's what I thought you were saying. I was like, oh, I wonder if the Daily Mail started out more in like food and Oh, that makes so much more sense now. Nice.
Kimia Kalbasi (09:53):
So funny. Yeah. We're just gossip something about like the latest avocado of toast. Yeah,
Danielle (Scrunch) (09:58):
Exactly.
Kimia Kalbasi (09:58):
<Laugh>. It's big news. It's
Danielle (Scrunch) (10:00):
Big news. Yeah,
Kimia Kalbasi (10:01):
Exactly. It's like the reason why they say millennials can't buy Half Toast <laugh>. Exactly. I was like, click, click baby article back in the day. But in terms of how I learned to monetize, oh my goodness, that is a million dollar pun intended <laugh> question because Yeah, it's like I, nobody like handed me like an influencer playbook of like,
Danielle (Scrunch) (10:24):
Well I don't think there was one. I'm like, yeah. Especially like how early you started as well.
Kimia Kalbasi (10:30):
I remember I would like, I was so keen to learn how to monetize this. Like I would network with other creators. I would go to so many different events that has to do with like the creator economy mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. And that's how I like, I would like, essentially I was a sponge, like anywhere that I could learn. And then also, granted I was living in SF when I started this and then at the time I was also working for this startup and with that startup I transferred to their New York office. And this is where everything really when I moved to New York, that was like the catalyst because like there were so many events in sf, but at the time, like sometimes in New York, I'd go to like multiple events in a night or in a day while I still had my full-time job at the time. And I would just like network my butt off like, like I said, meeting with other creators or just like doing all the research I could to essentially like, oh, like I wanna network with more PR people or like more brand peoples to like learn how to, you know, make money off of this. But yeah, for years I was not making a penny off what I was doing. I even remember my parents would call me across the country, they'd be like, come here, like, focus on your full-time job. Like what do you do
Danielle (Scrunch) (11:35):
<Laugh>? Little did they know <laugh>.
Kimia Kalbasi (11:38):
Exactly. Like what, like what did you want this blogging thing? You're not even making penny off of it. I'm like, no, I'm gonna make it work. And yeah, so basically the whole premise of the story is also like networking and yeah, just like learning from other people, people like, through their experiences. Cuz I remember there was like this creator event where they had like a series of panelists of bigger influencers and more of like the macro creators and they were talking about their experiences. So I would like go to a lot of those kinds of events where I could network with them mm-hmm. <Affirmative> and essentially get a glimpse sense to their world of how they learn how to monetize.
Danielle (Scrunch) (12:16):
Yeah. And I feel like that was kind of the way it happened back in the day. Like everyone just had to share information, network with each other, learn from each other. Like now I see there's courses, you know, and things that you can do. But I think back in the day it was so cool cuz it was actually like everyone was in it together and learning together.
Kimia Kalbasi (12:34):
Right. Exactly. Exactly. No, no gate keeping here. But
Danielle (Scrunch) (12:39):
No, exactly. I love that. So what's been your like favorite brand collaboration to date?
Kimia Kalbasi (12:46):
Ooh, that's a great question. One of the ones that really stuck out a very memorable one is when I worked with Uber on the launch of their Uber Visa gift card. It was really cool. They, I remember I was living in New York at the time and they flew us out to LA and they like had this very like, luxurious itinerary where like they took us to Nobu, they took us to like a concert. They went, we went, even went to Katy Perry's old house and like there was this like launch party and Kevin Hart was there. It was just like, so, and like we all like stayed at the s l s in Beverly Hills. It was like, so like, wow. But it was like so fun cuz it was like such a fun trip because there were so many other people on there on that trip that I got to meet.
(13:27):
So that was definitely one of my favorite ones. And then because it also stemmed into a, a larger partnership campaign where after that I got to go to south by Southwest with through Uber to help them bring brand awareness to the Uber visa card just a few months later. And I got to go to Austin, Texas for that. So that's definitely one of the ones that are so memorable. And then another one I remember actually through another event when I was living in New York, I met my future agent and I remember she land helped me land my first like big brand deal with bomb based sapphire. And I remember like, it was like the biggest, it was my first biggest deal and I was like, oh my goodness. So that was, it was also another one that I will never forget because I was like, oh my God, this is like, I was like, wow, you can make, I
Danielle (Scrunch) (14:18):
Can do it. I can make this happen. Yeah.
Kimia Kalbasi (14:19):
<Laugh>. Yeah, exactly.
Danielle (Scrunch) (14:21):
What's it like working with an agent? How did you find like going from managing it all yourself to like having an agent and what did they do and what was that like?
Kimia Kalbasi (14:30):
Absolutely. So I've gone through, so I currently, I, it's funny, something I've learned about myself is that I definitely enjoy the, in mechanics of it more. Like if you asked me this <inaudible> I've been like, oh my God, I love creating content. But I, what I love the most is the behind the scenes and actually ironically, the not sexy part about
Danielle (Scrunch) (14:47):
The business side of it. Yeah.
Kimia Kalbasi (14:50):
I'm like, I would love, love to be a Chris Jenner for other content creators, but Oh
Danielle (Scrunch) (14:53):
Yeah, that'd be so cool. <Laugh>.
Kimia Kalbasi (14:56):
And like, you know, especially because so many brands can't, I like, take advantage of creators and all that and like, you know, they don't know the business side of it and like Yeah. You know, they don't really understand contracts or like all the fine print or like the usage of their content, how it's gonna be leveraged. But I'm, I'm totally like, I'm talking about so many other topics outside of your question, but No,
Danielle (Scrunch) (15:20):
That's right. That's fine. I mean, it's interesting too cuz it's, that is like, I think one of the things that people don't realize about being a creator is that there is this whole like business side, like, you know, it's so different depending on the brand you work with. Like, you can get into like sticky situations. So it's worth mentioning.
Kimia Kalbasi (15:37):
Absolutely. And I've worked with three about three or four agents throughout my influencer career. Currently, currently I'm managing all myself because I've learned that I like doing, I love having full control from like, starts from like planting the seed of the relationship mm-hmm. To closing the deal and like negotiating and all that. Like again, definitely I always looked at it as like an extra arm of opportunity and I'm grateful that the agents I've worked with that, like, even when I would score the deals myself, they wouldn't expect me to cut it with them. But yeah. Because I actually like the behind the scenes of it way more than solely the content creation side of it. But anyways, in terms of how I've liked working with an agent, they've definitely like opened up my eyes in terms of like what to look out for.
(16:23):
Like, you know, like things like like how much would you charge? Like if your content were to be leveraged for paid ads, like that's a whole different login. Yeah. Outside of organic, like even there's like other opportunities like, oh, how much would you charge if you were like to like model for some of our like digital campaigns or so and so, so on and so forth. But there are a lot of moving parts, but mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, there are definitely pros and cons to working with an agent. Like, because a lot of times there can be things lost in translation because you're, you know, a lot of times you'll be looped in sometimes you're not looped in and
Danielle (Scrunch) (16:59):
Then Oh
Kimia Kalbasi (17:00):
Yeah. And then sometimes things that can like, should have taken like, like an hour end up taking two weeks.
Danielle (Scrunch) (17:06):
Oh gosh. Yes.
Kimia Kalbasi (17:08):
Yeah. So that's why it has pros and cons and then of certain agents like ha have a higher, take a higher cut than others. Mm-Hmm. If I, I mean if you're a total, if you're a, I highly recommend it for those people who are like mega influencers and like literally their content engines. Like they need to focus on more of like the creative aspect of the business. Yeah. Or they need somebody to like manage, like planning the more partnership deals and so on and so forth. Mm-Hmm.
Danielle (Scrunch) (17:33):
Yeah. And it's interesting, I assume like some talent managers have different networks, so you'd kind of get, you know, better deals or different deals depending on who your manager was as well.
Kimia Kalbasi (17:44):
Right, exactly.
Danielle (Scrunch) (17:45):
Mm-Hmm. So how have you seen this whole industry change? Like you've got, I love, I love talking to you because you have seen such the progression, you know, you kind of were there in the early days. How have you thi seen things sort of change over the last like five years?
Kimia Kalbasi (18:02):
Oh my goodness. Like one total of 180 of change. Yeah. I well, like where did it begin? We'll definitely gone over the days of like those one-off transactional posts where it's like, you know, and then also I think, I mean some brands are still struggling with this, but learning that content takes time. There's like so much production value and time and effort and like, there's so many things behind the scenes to that people don't realize. I think more people are becoming educated because everyone to some extent is an influencer or creator, but learning brands understanding that creators need to be properly compensated for their work. Mm-Hmm. I mean like sadly I'm still witnessing some brands that are like, oh, like product for post. I'm like, excuse me, products don't pay the mortgage
Danielle (Scrunch) (18:49):
<Laugh>. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I called my landlord and they don't accept lipsticks as payments. Sorry, <laugh>.
Kimia Kalbasi (18:55):
Exactly. So that's definitely something that I'm, I'm, I've learned or that I've like witnessed. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> also the like, the shift of like, like I think the fact that so many creators are becoming essentially spokespeople for these brands mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, like they're their own like, line of co-branded products and like they're becoming extension of the brand. They're essentially like their own, like they're almost like the brand C M O
Danielle (Scrunch) (19:27):
Yeah. That's really interesting.
Kimia Kalbasi (19:29):
Oh, absolutely. And there's so many brands out there that are hiring content creators and influencers to scale content for them. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So that's another interesting thing cuz you also hear a lot of terms like content creator being turned thrown around influencer. I think Blogger has kind of like died down because people don't really read blogs as much as they used to.
Danielle (Scrunch) (19:51):
Yeah.
Kimia Kalbasi (19:53):
Well more all about video now and like short form content. Even like long form content is making a comeback given that like TikTok has increasing its watch time or it's like, you know, duration. So yeah, I'd say a lot. And then another key takeaway is the fact that static image is not, you know, is not as prioritized as it used to be. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and people like are needing to show their personalities. Cuz you know, and also I'm like mad at respect for video content creators because it's so much more time consuming and you have to like be all
Danielle (Scrunch) (20:25):
Yeah, totally. It's full on, isn't
Kimia Kalbasi (20:28):
It?
Danielle (Scrunch) (20:29):
I know. And I'm always like, you know, everyone's like, you know, it's fine. You can just show up with, you know, natural. And I'm like, no, I can't Amy, I need some hair and makeup going on if I'm gonna be on video
Kimia Kalbasi (20:39):
<Laugh>. Right. I know. Exactly. But yeah, no, the fact that people can make lucrative careers out of this, like Yeah. Quite frankly the like for me, even though it was always like a side, it used to be always a side gig mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. but I always had like a full-time job on top of doing it. But then I learned to branch off and I've, and also even though I had the, the foundation of my career was tech sales and create content and like social media, but I learned to, because I was like trying to get off tech sales, I leveraged my hobbies to get into full-time marketing roles. Yeah. And then there I've for like, I've been freelancing for quite some time now where I work on brand campaigns and, and I also consult other brands and companies on their social strategies and influencer marketing programs. And look, I want people to know that this, I mean, it can, it really can make a lucrative career. Like I bought my first home like three years ago. Like the fact that you can truly make a lifestyle that you want out of this mm-hmm. <Affirmative> there's no limit. I mean of course it's like so glamorized, like there's so much blood, sweat, and tears behind it. I mean no blood. Yeah. But you
Danielle (Scrunch) (21:57):
<Laugh>. Yes, definitely.
Kimia Kalbasi (22:00):
Like people there is so much opportunity and even though it's so saturated there, there's room for everyone.
Danielle (Scrunch) (22:08):
I love that so much. Cuz that was gonna be my next question to you. Like, you know, because it is, does feel like, and I don't know always, I never know if it's because I'm in it that I feel like there's so many or whether there are just genuinely so many creators and influencers now, but to know like Yeah, true, true. So yeah, I was actually thinking that, like, do you think that there's opportunity for people who like, you know, are in stuck in this corporate day job and they wanna start a career as a creator? You know, do you think that there's still room for that?
Kimia Kalbasi (22:39):
Oh, absolutely. There's room for everybody and there's like, there's a niche for everyone. Like you can be somebody who like only eats sweet potatoes and you know how to make every kind of dessert imaginable out sweet potatoes. And there there's an audience for that.
Danielle (Scrunch) (22:53):
Yeah. I love that. It's like, find out the thing that you love and create something around it.
Kimia Kalbasi (23:00):
Exactly. Because at the end of the day, like everyone, it's, I remember Gary v had this quote where he's like, it's not about who does it first, it's not who does it best and every, yeah. Like how many more food bloggers do we have? How many more content creators for fashion and beauty and health and wellness do we have? Like, but everyone has their own, for instance, like, let's say, let's say you're a food blogger as well, like how Danielle ca captures content is different from how s content and like the way we speak about it and so on and so forth. And like your angle could be like cooking in mine could be like restaurants or whatever. So yeah, the opportunity endless.
Danielle (Scrunch) (23:35):
I love that so much. So let's wrap up with where do you think the future is heading for creators and the Creator Economy? Any kind of of insights for what we can all expect next from creators?
Kimia Kalbasi (23:48):
Oh, absolutely. Ooh. I would say it's a weird question. I would say honestly with the, with the prioritization of video content, I wouldn't be so, I, like, I could honestly see creators like having like their own movies and like TV show. Yeah. People don't really, I mean, of course like Netflix and who is still there, but I think, I think like the, our traditional celebrities are gonna kind of be what's the word? Kind of dissolved in some capacity. And I feel like today's celebrities are the today's content creators.
Danielle (Scrunch) (24:29):
That's so interesting. Like, imagine a channel that was just creators, like how cool and how interesting and how like, you know, I feel like you'd have so much more content. Like, you know, you hang around waiting for the next episode of something to Air like the next week. But like imagine how much content creators would push out. That'd be so cool.
Kimia Kalbasi (24:49):
Oh, absolutely. I'm like, pass the popcorn.
Danielle (Scrunch) (24:52):
Yeah, totally. Well Netflix, if you are listening, you heard it here first. <Laugh> amazing. Kimia, thank you so much for sharing your experience on the Creator Economy Show. You are incredible. Thank you so much for your time.
Kimia Kalbasi (25:07):
Of course. This is so much fun. I was gonna say, shout out to Netflix if they wanna hire me for like, you know, the buying the scenes and like scouting the, for that
Danielle (Scrunch) (25:16):
I can only hope Netflix is watching. <Laugh> Amazing.
Kimia Kalbasi (25:21):
Had so much fun.
