5 Things I Like About Working With Kelly, Part 2

We’re in production on a new brand for an amazing client, and I’ve got to say that I’m enjoying our current workflow.

When I joined Kind & Funny for real just under a year ago, I was walking into a fully functional business and trying to find out exactly where I fit. Some of that was figuring out what it is I do here, and some of it was making sure I wasn’t disrupting what Kelly had already established that worked for her.

It’s still an ongoing process as we take on different clients with different challenges, but there are some very clear things I like about our work and our work style, especially when I look back on how I’ve worked in the past.

Here are 5 more things I like about working with Kelly (you can read part 1 here):

1. I don’t have to multitask like I used to

We work in what we call an “intensive” process, meaning we’re completely immersed in and focused on one piece of work at a time. (While we sometimes have a few projects in different stages, at the heavy lifting stage we both get to stay locked in).

I find this incredibly effective, and it’s led me to buy in more and more to the idea that multitasking isn’t as much a real thing as it is rapidly switching back and forth between many tasks, losing focus and efficiency and potential each time you switch.

I remember work meetings where I was trying to focus on the task at hand while worrying about the previous meeting and also watching email pile up out of the corner of my eye. I can feel the stress of those moments as I type this. It doesn’t feel great.

When I know exactly what we’re working on, I can think about it anywhere. Inspiration for copy or strategy can strike at any time, as it often does when I’m at the movies. Because of this, I can do actual remote work by staying attached to the idea instead of having to stay attached to a computer in case an email comes in. This has changed my life.

2. Interviewing clients is incredibly fun

All of our projects begin with a Soul Search, which is a deep-dive interview with our client to discover who they are and what they want. I absolutely love these.

Kel and I have been settling into a really good routine on these where she owns the structure of the interview and our regular list of questions while I listen, take notes, and jump in to get clarity on a point or to take things on a quick detour here and there. For me, this is based on the format I used to interview hundreds of musicians during a past career, and helps make sure we cover all of the must-have questions while being open to pulling at any interesting threads we discover.

Kelly also does the setup for the interview, which is incredibly important because she is a natural at helping people feel at ease and encouraging them to speak from the heart about what they want for their business, which ultimately gets a more complete and honest picture and allows us to make a more uniquely compelling brand.

3. I get to do most of my best thinking right up front

After that Soul Search we produce a Game Plan for the client, which is a high-level strategic overview of what we heard, what we think they need, and how we propose to do what they need. It’s pretty comprehensive so clients can take it and use it themselves, but more often they choose to work with us to actually do the project because they can see that we understand them, their goals, and their audience.

Before I was part of the team, Kelly would be emotionally exhausted after a Soul Search because of her high level of empathy, and it was difficult to immediately turn her notes around into a strategy, so this was a clear place for me to add value. This Game Plan is one of my primary contributions to the Kind & Funny process, and I think I’m pretty good at it because I’ve had a lot of practice.

The Chairman of my last company was a big fan of starting just about anything—brainstorms, project proposals, budget planning, etc.—with written strategic briefs. (I likely owe a lot of my career progression to the fact that I really like writing exactly those kinds of documents.) Now, with the benefit of a 12 year masterclass of having those briefs get read and debated and critiqued, I am able to quickly get Kelly’s initial impressions from the Soul Search and go to work on the Game Plan right away, boosting efficiency, keeping our ideas top of mind, and setting the strategic direction for the project. Then I get to kick back a bit and watch Kelly do her thing.

4. When Kelly is rolling, I play video games

When Kelly gets in the zone of designing, building websites or visuals or social media campaigns, the best thing I can do is stay out of the way and let her cook.

Sometimes this means “don’t bother me at all and go away,” which is when I go to the movies or play pickup basketball, but sometimes this means “don’t bother me but stay close by in case we need to hash something out or you need to write some copy,” which means I get to sit tight and play Elden Ring or The Talos Principle 2 orBaldur’s Gate 3 or Civilization 6 until I need to jump into action.

I find this to be like keeping my brain in idle while not exactly being idle, but ready to shift into gear as needed. I contrast this with my previous description of work, where I’d often be working on one thing with two other things on my mind and another thing coming up in the afternoon. Instead, I’m staying immersed in the project, which allows me to both quickly jump in where needed and also keep my unconscious working on it in creative ways.

I think the main difference between hopping back and forth between “work and other work” and “work and video games” is that video games have a pause button, which leads me to the next thing I like.

5. It reminds me of working on a magazine deadline

When I ended work at my last company I was the Senior Director of Marketing & Business Development, but when I started I was an Assistant Editor.

Twelve times a year the editorial and design teams would produce a magazine, and the final stretch of that production was deadline week. Everyone knew their role in the workflow, and it was understood that getting a great magazine to the printer on time was the collective priority, so other projects would move to the back burner.

When I was in charge of getting new business I didn’t like so much that the other work had to slow down, but when I was an editor I absolutely loved it. What I found was that yes, the focus allowed us to create efficient workflows, but more than that it allowed for more creative collaboration and better work as well because everyone was working on the same project, and even if one person finished their specific part, they weren’t getting distracted by doing something completely different. Instead, we would just see where we could help each other, or recharge for our next role in the process.

I always sought to create that same kind of work structure and atmosphere on my sales and marketing teams, but I was never fully able to crack the code. Getting to experience it here at Kind & Funny is a wonderful treat.

Do you want to think together about how you can be better at your work, or solve some specific work challenges you’re having? Call me! jed@kindandfunny.com.