Kara Redman (Founder and CEO of Backroom) has helped founders launch startups, build brands and secure venture capital for the last 10 years. From finding their first investors to making global expansions, Kara has helped startups reach their dreams - without ever niching down.
Kara’s journey is one that very many agency owners can relate to. She didn’t go the academic route or inherit a company. Instead, she took on the entrepreneurial path as a young, single mother. She worked at an agency prior to starting her own, which is where she realized that marketing was an avenue she seriously wanted to pursue.
Backroom has always been about positive change. Kara didn’t abide by the standards of old, stuffy, controlling and toxic corporate culture. Instead, she built out a successful business that puts their people first, which wasn’t nearly as trendy back in 2014. Her people-first approach isn’t a gated secret - part of her business now is to help others achieve the same organizational structure while remaining operationally excellent.
Founder-led growth is a concept that Kara truly embraced last year. She started out with around 3000 followers, never really looking at herself as a social media content creator. Once she began posting though, the feedback was overwhelming. Over the last year and a half, she’s grown to over 50,000 followers and has gone viral multiple times while generating revenue along the way.
Tune into the full episode to learn more of Kara Redman’s journey leading Backroom!
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:00 Intro
2:20 Going against the grain
4:14 The vision for Backroom
7:03 Becoming people-first
9:14 Building the right culture
10:51 3k -> 50k LinkedIn Followers in 1.5 years
15:21 Incremental growth is painful
17:58 Founder-led is a growth hack
Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/
Connect with Kara - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kararedman/