Chelsea Krost, millennial influencer, Forbes contributor, author, sought-after speaker, media personality, and a 10-year pioneer in her field of marketing and branding as a LinkedIn Rated Top 20 Millennial marketing and branding strategist, has a long track record of being a powerhouse public figure, that’s ahead of her time. Her leadership skills and entrepreneurial spirit are equally untouched and unmatched, as she has worked her way to the top, and has been featured on some of our favorite TV and news segments, magazines, and continues to pave her own way, all while raising the bar for millennials across the globe. Krost is the millennial go to influencer and marketer and has sat on the board of Cosmopolitan Magazine as a Millennial Board Member and has held many other opportunities as a brand ambassador and spokesperson for brands such as MasterCard, Skype, TurboTax, Illy Coffee, IBM, and Intel, plus a few others. We can continue with her massive amount of success, but we’d rather you hear it firsthand from Krost herself, as we had an amazing time chatting with her on everything that she has been able to consistently conquer within the past ten years.
MillBuzz: Your passion has been to empower millennials, and you are one of America’s leading millennial influencers, a LinkedIn Rated Top 20 millennial marketing and branding strategist, media personality, author, sought-after speaker, Forbes Contributor, and #MillennialTalk chat host on Twitter. At the age of 16, did you see yourself being so successful at such a young age?
Krost: That makes me laugh still because, absolutely not. My 16-year-old self was truly both passionate and frustrated. Passionate always about communication, and having open dialogue, and learning from one another, and always passionate about empowering others instead of belittling others, because I was a victim of bullying all throughout elementary, middle, and high school, and I hated the whole cyberbullying thing. I was like, if only we all lifted each other up instead of tearing each other down. That mindset, that thought process, really reign true when suddenly, all these media publications from broadcast to the Today Show and Time Magazine are talking about millennials, A.K.A., teenagers because the term millennials didn’t exist at the time in 2007, where we were lazy, entitled, never going to supersede our parents, and the demise of the future. We were being talked about in such a negative way and I thought, wow now we’re being bullied by the press and media aside from millennials bullying each other. I was so frustrated and so upset. I just felt that this was not the true representation on my generation and my peers that were so hungry for success and everyone was studying so hard for SAT’s and ACT’s and having a list of twenty colleges we were sending our applications to, and I just said “wow, I don’t think that this qualifies as lazy.” So, on that frustration and passion, I channeled into creativity and put together my first radio talk show idea, and a radio talk show pitch, and that was the start of Teen Talk Live which really was the catalyst to my career. So, that was a very long way of saying absolutely not, that was a passion project. Never did I think of it as an incredible opportunity to launch a career at such a young age.
MillBuzz: When you say changing the millennial stereotype from entitled to entrepreneurial, what does that mean to you?
Krost: That has been one of the biggest stereotypes we’ve heard in the past decade. I do a lot of work with how to understand the millennial mindset in the workplace, as more millennials are coming into leadership roles. As millennials are now starting to move up the ladder, we’re really starting to make a change, and a lot of that change has seen pushback from the older generation. Some people are open and receptive to change, and some people are super scared of change, and I think that’s when they tend to talk negatively, and it’s really because their scared of change. I’ve always said whether you’re a brand looking to market to a consumer or you are a CEO trying to retain millennial talent in the workplace, you have to understand the millennial mindset. Millennials are truly entrepreneurial at heart because we are the first generation to grow up with social media. Millennials grew up during that “wild wild west” time, with everyone figuring out how to leverage social media for business. How many millennials were able to take that opportunity by the reigns and create their own influence or large following to monetize courses, webinars, or content like videos? I do believe millennials are entrepreneurs at heart, and always looking for that opportunity to collaborate and create and think outside the box. I always say if we can change that stereotype and really acknowledge the mindset of this generation, what a different way of looking at how we operate verses thinking that we’re this entitled lazy group of people.
MillBuzz: You’ve been seen on GMA, Today Show, Anderson, Wendy, Bloomberg, Tyra, Meredith, and you’ve keynoted at some pretty major events. So, at the age of twenty-seven, how do you stay so diligent, devoted, and dedicated to your craft without losing focus and giving up?
Krost: As an entrepreneur, I’m definitely not perfect and there’s no such thing as a perfect entrepreneur or business owner, or perfect thought leader. We all have our good days and bad days, and for anyone not to talk about the bad days, they’re lying because everyone has their ups and downs, and in entrepreneurship, it is such a roller coaster ride. Within that roller coaster ride, when you really understand who you are, and what your purpose is, and what’s your why, meaning why are you doing this, why you care to do it, and why what you’re doing is necessary or needed for your audience. If you can really stay authentic to that who, what, when, where, and why, then that drive should always remain, if that why is fueling your passion and fueling your drive, then it does help for you to stay motivated and consistent. If we deviate from our why or maybe we’re just not clear about our why, you won’t stay hungry for success or driven towards your goals and your mission in your business. What kept me dedicated is always being very clear of my why, and over the past ten years, I have not done the same thing over and over again. I do similar things but because of the evolution of social media over the past ten years, I’ve been able to shake, shift, and revamp from within, to offer different or new service packages, or work with a different clientele so that I’m always staying true to my brand, and my expertise, but always bringing some fresh offerings into the mix that keeps it interesting, and work doesn’t get mundane and redundant.
MillBuzz: What are you currently working on and what’s next for you?
Krost: I have some really exciting things going on. Just within the past two weeks, my second course on LinkedIn launched. In 2018, I became a LinkedIn instructor which is really exciting. So, I create different video courses that are published on LinkedIn’s learning platform, so it’s really becoming a published author with LinkedIn. My first course Millennium Marketing launched in 2018, and two weeks ago my second course launched on personal branding. On February 14, 2019, my third course will launch on LinkedIn, which is on Influencer Marketing. Those are all exciting projects that are happening now, and right around the corner. In addition to that, three weeks ago I got back from Asia, where I taught several trainings at their first ever digital boot camp for female entrepreneurs. That was in Malaysia. The boot camp, FEM boot camp, and I have partnered to see how we can future scale the boot camp to see how we can offer it to more women across the globe. Some of the places we have in mind for 2019 are Singapore and Australia, and that’s really exciting. As much as I’m all about empowering the entrepreneur, of course as a female entrepreneur I have a big initiative and passion for helping women further succeed in business. It’s actually really disgusting that in 2017 85 billion dollars worth of VC investments were shared for new business ventures, and of that 85 billion, only 1.9 billion went to women led businesses, and only .02% went to women founders of color, so that’s not okay with me, and I believe if women aren’t taking more initiative to help more women in business, then we’re not going to see more change. That’s a big passion and pursuit for me for 2019. Within the past few weeks, the launch of my first crypto currency launched, so I am getting into more of the crypto market and I do have a crypto coin called Krost coin. My plan is to use the investment growth, to expand capabilities for additional trainings across the globe for more women in business. More trainings, more resources, more networking opportunities and of course, more importantly, to actually become a VC for women led businesses, where Chelsea Productions can start to invest in other businesses run by women. These are all the top big projects and a big podcast that I’m launching with a co-host coming up in the new year.
MillBuzz: It’s the holidays so we have to ask, what is your favorite holiday tradition?
Krost: That’s a great question. Within my family we have everything: gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, Jewish, Christian, and Catholic. We’re one big happy family and we do not discriminate, so we have one big holiday party where there’s a Christmas tree, there’s a Menorah, there’s music of all kind, and we’re all celebrating the holiday season. It’s less about religion and more about family and showing our appreciation and love for each other. We’ve been doing this holiday tradition for several years now, and we do white elephant where everybody brings a gift for like $30, and we’re all trying to steal the gift from each other. There’s a nice amount of wine that happens before we start white elephant, so it’s always a very funny experience. We just love to eat, drink and be merry. It’s also been a tradition since I was born that my family goes on a family vacation for Christmas and the New Year, so between those two, it’s always a good time and always a great reboot on that vacation, because usually we go somewhere beach oriented, and everyone plops themselves on a lounge chair and reboots for the New Year, and that’s exactly what I can’t wait to do this year.
To continue following Krost’s journey, be sure to visit her website at ChelseaKrost.com and on social media @ChelseaKrost. Also, be on the lookout for the Krost Coin coming soon. Krost says, “This could truly be the catalyst for change that brings more opportunity
than ever to Millennial Entrepreneurs and Women in business.”
