Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Walker. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Kayla Antoinette Walker is a May 2017 graduate with a Bachelors of Arts in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Clark Atlanta University originating from Columbus, Georgia.
Kayla is making her own lane in the beauty industry and currently works for Impressions of Beauty as the Marketing Manager, where she manages 40+ college influencers and 500+ college ambassadors for their various brand client partnerships. In addition, she is the Trade Show Manager for Aunt Jackie’s Curls and Coils, where she manages all of the natural hair trade shows domestically and internationally and all product and sample requests. She has also been able to work on various projects and work with brands and companies like xoNecole, BrownGirlsLove, and MYAVANA.
Kayla is also a beauty and lifestyle influencer and her platforms are focused on her hair, makeup, plus size fashion, and lifestyle content. She encourages every woman to always be confident and find their inner “bad bitch” and embrace her and live every day like you’re the baddest because YOU ARE!
She has worked with brands such as Palmer’s, Vaseline, African Pride, Brassy Bra, Forever 21, and Sally Beauty – just to name a few. Kayla’s career is focused in the beauty industry, where she has expert experience in social media, event planning, and college marketing. She aspires to change the narrative and way people look at the beauty and fashion industry to be more inclusive of all shades, sizes, shapes, and hair textures.
Since her high school years, Kayla’s love for mentoring and empowering women continues to be a major priority in her life. She has a passion for speaking on various topics such as the importance of education, maintaining friendships, and balancing work, school, and extracurricular activities with her mentees. Kayla now strives to impact as many women in her community as possible to leave a legacy.
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?
Although Kayla is now making strides in the beauty industry, it hasn’t always been easy. After graduating college, Kayla worked as a Business Sales Executive for AT&T. Kayla quickly learned that a role in sales was not her niche and had no desire to pursue a career in sales. After struggling to succeed in her role due to lack of passion, depression, and moving to another state, Kayla finally got a breakthrough and left her corporate job. It was very challenging to feel stuck in a role and not knowing how to switch career paths and actually do what she loves.
Kayla was finally able to pursue her passion of working in beauty after leaving AT&T but still encountered various challenges as switching from corporate life to a full-time contractor/freelancer was not easy and did not provide the desired compensation at first. After months of searching for additional clientele, Kayla was able to land her role as the Trade Show Manager for Aunt Jackie’s Curls and Coils and traveled across the country and internationally to manage events and shows for the brand.
Kayla ran into more challenges in 2020 as her role of being an event manager was affected by COVID-19, and all shows and events for 2020 were canceled and had to reassess her skills and capabilities to make the most of her work during this difficult time.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a contractor and freelancer and specialize in a variety of marketing services focusing on event management and influencer marketing primarily. I am also an influencer and content creator focused on beauty, plus size fashion, and lifestyle content.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My advice is to sit down and really think about what it is that you’re passionate about and what you do well and then figure out how to make it happen. Almost all of my job opportunities have been because of social media. Use social media as a networking tool and make connections! I love making industry friends and connecting with them at events.
I would also highly recommend getting on LinkedIn if you aren’t already. Connect with people in your industry and companies you might want to work at. LinkedIn has hundreds of thousands of job postings available as well. Lastly, email etiquette will take you a LONG way. Being able to articulate yourself via email and actually craft a very well-written email to a brand/client/etc. Will take you very far.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@kaylawalker.com
- Website: www.kaylawalker.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thekaylawalker
