We are so excited to have Kelli Schutrop on the podcast!
Kelli has been a huge cheerleader and supporter of all things Simon Says over the past decade. Kelli is the CEO & Founder of Thoughtful Resound – a thought leadership activation firm that unlocks new revenue streams for growing B2B companies through thought leadership, social selling, personal branding, and beyond.
As an experienced sales and marketing leader, she has a passion for accelerating business growth, and has 15 years of expertise spanning digital marketing, brand marketing, consultative selling, on-camera hosting, and speaking. Kelli’s career highlights include scaling start-ups, growing marketing functions, establishing sales structures, and consulting business leaders globally on their growth strategies.
She regularly hosts fireside chats with industry leaders, conducts speaking engagements, sits on boards and committees, and partners with growth-minded B2B organizations. She studied Public Relations & Marketing at the University of Northwestern–St. Paul, and currently resides in Minneapolis, MN.
Kelli has an unreasonable love for ice cream, is always looking for the best new foodie spots, and enjoys traveling the world with her family on new adventures.
Resources:
LinkedIn
Thoughtful Resound Website
Transcript
John Simon Sr. 00:06
Music. Welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 00:14
and I'm Dina Simon.
John Simon Sr. 00:16
Our guest today is Ellie shootrop Kelly is the CEO and founder of thoughtful resound, a thought leadership activation firm that unlocks new revenue streams for growing business to business companies through leadership, social settling, personal branding and beyond. Kelly, welcome to our podcast.
Kelli Schutrop 00:36
Thanks for having me. Dina and John, excited to be here.
Dina Simon 00:39
Well, we're excited to have you. Why
John Simon Sr. 00:41
don't you take a few minutes and tell our audience a little bit about yourselves and where you lives, and maybe a little bit about what you like to do in your spare time? Sure.
Kelli Schutrop 00:50
So by way of background, I am in Minnesota. I was actually born in Bozeman, Montana, for fun, people who live in Montana, yeah, I know most people don't know that. I'm actually when I was really young. My dad has a lot of family here, so they moved back here. So I was raised here, actually just an hour west of the city, in a town called Hutchinson. Now I'm in southwest Metro Chanhassen area, and this community, this network, here in the in the Twin Cities, is so vibrant and lovely, and so spent my career building, you know, just relationships here. And in a nutshell, my background is about 15 years in marketing and sales, all for scaling B to B companies. So oftentimes, leading marketing from the ground up, leading sales structures from the ground up, just having a lot of fun in that realm, and now I have my own company, really, in this world of thought leadership, activation, right, sales and marketing, consulting, and on the personal side of things. I am married. My husband is an entrepreneur, has multiple companies, and so we talk a lot of business, and it's a lot of fun. And I've got a little guy who's three and a half years old, and a dog named Wolfgang, who is, as you can imagine,
Dina Simon 02:03
large, very, very large, with the name Wolfgang. Yes, I can't believe your son's already three and a half. I
Kelli Schutrop 02:09
know. I know. Yeah, we're starting to see the hockey bug in him, which isn't something that my husband and I had growing up so much. So we're very excited just to explore and see what his interests are as he grows up. Yeah, and
Dina Simon 02:21
how are you seeing the hockey bug? Like he likes to watch it? Oh,
Kelli Schutrop 02:24
good question, you know. So given in Minnesota, when it hits a little bit cooler, it's not as easy to just say, well, let's just walk a few blocks to the park. I mean, it it is and it isn't right. And so we've got a lot of fun activities downstairs in our lower level, and one of them is just a little, you know, play tight hockey net, and he's obsessed. He's obsessed with it, and so starting to show a little YouTube, yeah, yeah. So we may, we may get him involved in some things, here and there, and then other things I like to do for fun. I'm a big foodie, so if I'm ever in a city or traveling foodies the the jam, and I also do really love travel and adventure. So we've spent time in a variety of countries and a lot of places here in the US as well. And
John Simon Sr. 03:06
I also read that you have the love for ice cream.
Kelli Schutrop 03:09
I do. I do, I do. And if there's people here in the Minneapolis area, my favorite place is milk jam, Creamery. It's amazing. Fun flavors, good textures, crazy names. They change up. Actually, they do themes every month. And I recall just a few months back, it was something related to women in leadership, or something like that. And they highlighted a few local women, and I recognized some of the names. It was very cool. They must have gotten to collaborate with them and develop like a flavor. So Sarah Edwards, for example, yeah, really big in the the fashion scene here in Minneapolis. She was one of them that I realized. And it was just very cool so that they do a nice job tying back to the community too.
Dina Simon 03:50
That is awesome. Well, I think they should do one for you. Oh, I would love that. That would be fun.
John Simon Sr. 03:56
And that's one of the great things about local businesses that you can do that national companies probably wouldn't even begin to think about doing. But we talked about entrepreneurial the people who own it, apparently they own a foodie or restaurant or something, so they can combine all of that and and do special things for for special people in the community. Yeah. And I
Kelli Schutrop 04:18
love seeing that. I love seeing how companies, even if they are national, how they can make a really personal touch with their customers, prospective clients, their community. It's just, it's a smart way to not only drive business, it's logical, but it also just makes people feel that much more connected to the brand and a part of it, yeah, sure.
John Simon Sr. 04:38
Sure. Tell us a little bit about, apparently, you have some regular fireside chats that you host with industry leaders. Can you talk a little bit about that? Sure?
Kelli Schutrop 04:47
Sure, yes. So when it comes to fireside chats, I'll actually give you a little bit of the backstory of how I got into that process, because I hope that it sparks some ideas for for people listening. So if you rewind back. Three and a half years to the start of the pandemic, my little guy was being born the day that everything shut down in Minneapolis, which was a really great time for my family, actually, just to incubate and kind of shut it out the rest of the world and learn what it was like to have a newborn. And I was in a consultative selling role, and, you know, my clients didn't know what was going on there, all in the staffing industry, serving a variety of markets and industries themselves. And so it was a really nice time to step away. But when I came back in to conversations three months later, after my maternity leave, naturally, I'd already been working with people across the country, and I should share I was at a company called parka, which is a sister company of versique, which Dina is a, you know, long time alumna, yes, going, going back in the day, bersik is an executive search and consulting firm, and so I led marketing there for a number of years. Great group of people. And then the bersik Family of Brands launched a digital marketing agency that specialized in the staffing industry called parka, and I stepped into a sales role. And so my function was to develop relationships with staffing firms, really, mostly across the country, not as much in the local footprint, because bersik plays in so many different areas, and they do a great job. And so as I stepped back in from my maternity leave being over, we were in and out of the office, mostly out of the office, and I just had this desire to build community in a different way, because I wasn't getting that in a day to day capacity in the Minneapolis market, because we're all in our houses. And so I was having a conversation with a longtime client, a staffing firm owner, who just thought about business a bit differently and loved talking to him, and I asked him, I said, John, this just feels to me like a type of conversation that if we were sitting at a high top at a restaurant and, you know, at at the end of a conference or something, and people were walked by, they would want to hear this, because they would learn from it. Would you ever be open to me recording it and sharing it? You know, we won't even gate it. We won't put it behind a form. There's no subscription necessary, but just to share with people some of the thoughts that you have. And he said, Absolutely, let's do it. And so it kicked off a series, and I called them Fireside Chats because I wanted them to be informal and informational, and I wanted to learn from them, but I also wanted the audience that would listen to them to learn from them. And so I hosted them once a month, and chose a different individual in that space who was doing something innovative that I could help really elevate their voice and bring it to a different audience. And then over time, this is the piece that, you know I like sharing with people, just to give them ideas for their audience, because you've got insights that you can share with your audience and or you have the ability likely to facilitate conversations right where you can elevate other voices that are going to benefit your your perspective and current clients. And so over time, I started having more and more people reach out to me to host webinars or speak on podcasts. I started pitching to conferences, and I had less time to host fireside chats, which prompted the innovation of, if I can only do this once a quarter, how do I really make it worth the audience's while, and I turn them into panels. So if you think about, you know, a typical conference where you've got a moderator and three or four people on a panel, that's what I did. And so brought together groups of people to talk about a common theme, and it was a lot of fun, you know, it actually created a lot of positive ripple. You know, thoughtful resound is the name of my business, and really, that's the purpose, and the meaning behind it is, if you strategically create content or value for your audience, it will ripple back to elevate them, but also create opportunity for your business. And so thoughtful resound. I found that very natively, a number of years ago, that it created a resound in the industry, and people were learning and getting excited about topics, and the panelists were having their brands elevated. And so I digress. It was, it was very fun. And so now I look to do those in whatever space I'm in, looks different, right? If I'm focusing on a different market or wanting to elevate a different people group or subset of the industry? Yeah,
Dina Simon 09:07
I love that one. I hope you do continue them, because I know they were super successful, and there was so many good ideas that were born out of the pandemic. And I actually didn't know, I go back to the timeline, I can't believe that your son was born right then I forgot about that and that, you know, just the magic of timing. That's crazy. So, um, so thank you for sharing that. And then John, so yes, Kelly and I met back in the day. So Kelly, it was,
Kelli Schutrop 09:33
I mean, it was 12 years ago. There too was, yeah, I started at the family of companies back when it was McKinley group for those in the local area, yep, which was established in 2001 I joined the company in 2012 and then it went through a rebrand, and company split to a few different brands in 2013 but you were with them even prior to 2012
Dina Simon 09:52
Yeah, yes, I was. And then yeah, so that we've known each other that long. And then John, both van. Seek and parka, huge supporters of Simon Says. Give Kelly has always been a huge supporter. When we had our fashion show, she was the model, so we was very fun. Yep, and she did meetings with our kid advisory board on social media back in the day. That feels like so long ago, doesn't it? It does. Yeah. So you bet you've been around through the through all of that. So thank you for that. You've always leaned in with with helping out, and so appreciate that. And you do have just an amazing brand of reputation in the community. And as you said, we do have a very vibrant community if we're tapped in, and we do elevate others as they elevate us. Yeah,
Kelli Schutrop 10:38
that's so true well, and even I think about Simon says, Give the backpack drive. You know, those have been so fun over the years to see how, how things have just expanded and evolved. I am I remembering this correctly that there was a world record. There was looking at Mall of America a few there was
Dina Simon 10:55
2018 we did a Guinness World Record for stuffing the most backpacks in an eight hour period of time. It was crazy. So fun. I love that. I know
John Simon Sr. 11:04
I had an opportunity on one of my trips up to the Twin Cities. Mandy was working inward for chic and her internship, I think, summer, and she had to take me there because she wanted to show me everything. And the one thing I remember about it, they had the greatest break room that I'd ever been to in my entire life.
Kelli Schutrop 11:24
They did a very nice job. Yet the company had been in one space for years and years and years, and then switched buildings to be a bit more central, and they were in an office that felt very classic office space 90s. And so the founders said, We've got to get into a space that looks really cool. And you know, it was a whole team of recruiters and sales folks and people that were really connected, and there was a lot of coffees happening outside the office because there was only so many conference rooms, but there's a lot of confidential conversations. And so, yeah, when they they stepped down a floor, a couple floors, yep, and gutted half the floor, and just created this really beautiful cafe environment where people could essentially have the non confidential coffees, so to speak, right there. And very fun kombucha on tap, drinks on tap, like they did a nice job,
Dina Simon 12:10
exactly, yeah. And
John Simon Sr. 12:13
occasional beer there, yeah, it was, it was pretty casual,
Dina Simon 12:18
yeah, yeah. And then Kelly was there when Manny was doing her internship. And, and I know Mandy loved seeing you there, so just a friendly face and and all of that. Yes, yeah. I'm
Kelli Schutrop 12:29
trying to think how old she would have been in 2012 I mean, I feel like I've seen her grow up.
Dina Simon 12:33
You have. So she in 2012 she was 10, yeah, yeah, yeah. She might
Kelli Schutrop 12:39
like a kindergartner, a little but I remember she was little, like she had a little kid, yeah,
Dina Simon 12:45
well, actually, so she would have been, yeah, she would have been nine going on 10, because she was born in 2003 so Wow.
Kelli Schutrop 12:52
And now she's College. Now she's
Dina Simon 12:56
junior, junior. Yeah, we still, we still have a little time. Okay, yes. So you talked a little bit about your business, and so share with us, because you just recently hung your own shingle, went out on your own. And so just tell us a little bit more about the clients. Like, what's your ideal client that you want to work with? Tell us just a little bit more about that, and then we can dive into some other topics. Sure, sure.
Kelli Schutrop 13:19
So the reason I created thoughtful resound was actually because I had a few different long time connections, mentors of mine, who were or are senior leaders within their businesses. And a couple different people came out of the woodwork and said, If you ever consider and there's two scenarios, one, equipping salespeople to build a personal brand in a way that really helps drive business organically and authentically and relationally. My company would be interested in having a conversation. And then another individual came out of the woodwork and said, if you would ever be interested in helping us evaluate our marketing, we have someone in place leading marketing, but it's only part of their their function and their role, you know, like, there's, there's just a lot that we should probably be doing, but we don't really know how to think about it differently. And so it planted the seed in my mind of intrigue, right? Because my every role that I've had following maybe a year out of school, I started, I studied marketing and public relations at Northwestern in St Paul, here in Minnesota, and went to Olson, that agency out of school. And then, as everybody does in staffing, found my way in staffing and started building marketing for the ground up for a few different brands, and then, again, switched into sales. But in every role I had, I worked directly with the founder and CEO who had this vision that was broad stroke, but very exciting. And they said, I don't really know what to do to make it happen, but go ahead, you know, like, tell us what resources you need, and let's make it happen. And so I got to be very entrepreneurial all the way throughout my career. Yeah, and really loved championing brands. That had great cultures and were building really great things, and oftentimes it was in the B to B service space, right? So businesses selling to businesses of services, and oftentimes not in the budget option in the market. So those tend to be the clients that I work with now. So companies that are established doing great work, but are looking to take it to the next level. And so fast forward, I decided to step out on my own and start this company, and it is a fractional consulting model. So I bring on three, maybe four fractional consultants at a time that I work with on the half day plus basis. Every week, I have advisory clients as well, and then offer workshops. So thought leadership workshops, key leader workshops, really with the intent of this passion I have of saying, okay, you've got deep expertise in your company, in your personal career history, that if we unlock that and kick it over the sales conversation, beyond the sales conversation, you're going to attract more opportunity for your business, because if you educate that audience, when they have A need for what you offer, they're already going to think about you as the trusted expert. And oftentimes companies do a really nice job in that kind of a space, right? You're service based, you're highly consultative. You do an amazing job when you're in the sales conversation, and it goes well, but the idea is to get ahead of those even if it's not sales related, it's it's adding value to your audience, providing them with insights. So that is what I do now,
Dina Simon 16:28
nice and so often the marketing side, like having that outside expertise come in to really take a look at things, is is just so valuable, because you do become so myopic. I shared with John my snafu in my newsletter that went out
Kelli Schutrop 16:44
that'd be in my day. Have you shared it yet in a podcast episode, or is that what you're doing right
Dina Simon 16:49
now? No, but I think I'll share right now, because it's so funny and such an educational thing. So yeah, so I'll share with our listeners. So my newsletter that I sent out for the first of November was really to be thinking on two things, as you're planning for budgeting for next year, and Kelly, you and I both know this, growing up in staffing companies spend so much time and money on the recruiting dollars, and then they forget about what to do from a retention perspective. And so we all have traditional benefits, but looking at what can be, you know, fun benefits out there that maybe don't cost a ton. We just actually talked about their seek. They have this beautiful space where they bring, you know, have coffee and food and beer, beer on tap. You know, like, just what can people do within their environments that is a low cost entry for the corporation, but such a benefit to the employees. So I shared in my newsletter that I had read, and I had read this, I had read in like a Harvard Business Journal, something about a company bought Netflix subscriptions for all their employees, because with the cost of streaming and cable and all that going up. That's, you know, that's like a huge value add to the employees plus their family. And what a win. Win. So I made a reference on the Netflix and chill, thinking that that meant I, you know, binge watching your favorite show on Netflix. I send the newsletter out, and within 10 minutes, my client called and goes, Hey, and you know, it's not a client. They'll call me out very often, so like, hey. And she goes, has anybody talked to you about your newsletter yet? And I go, No, why? And she goes, Do you know that reference? She goes to, she laughed and said, I know that you don't know what this reference means. However, it doesn't just mean binge watching your favorite show on Netflix. It actually means something else in the online dating world. And I just screamed, I like, Oh my gosh. And so I did ask her, I go, What do you think I should do? Because I knew I was not going to just let it sit out there. So we kind of laughed about it. So I did immediately go and send another retraction out, basically to say, Oh, my like, I, you know, sorry about my ignorance. I did not know that this, this term, had another connotation to it. And then Kelly, you responded like saying, oh, gosh, that made me laugh. And way to go for handling it. Well, that means a lot. That means a lot coming from you, and I actually had so many people, because in it, I said, for those of you that knew the other reference, I'm sure you got a good laugh. And then those of you that didn't know it, I'm sure you've googled it now, and now you're chuckling because it was kind of 5050, half of the audience was like, I had no equipment and that. And they also use that term. So that also goes back to with everything that you do with clients like to stay mainstream on these types of things like it's impossible,
Kelli Schutrop 19:54
right? Well. And the reality is, I think the reason why that went so well afterwards was be. Because of how you handled it, and it just speaks to, you know, public relations and marketing, and you easily could have tried to redact to email or just sent update, you know, and just to hope people read the new version. But the reality is, I think everyone craves relationship and authenticity regardless of what avenue that is. I mean, yes, there's environments. Maybe you're hosting a workshop, or you're doing client client presentation, where it's a bit more buttoned up, but the reality is, everybody is human, and I think it makes people feel that much more comfortable with you. Anyone if they're like, Oh, they're human too. And this was actually quite funny, you did a very good job how you handled it and just made it real. Yeah, thank you. Well,
John Simon Sr. 20:39
I think one of the things that tells us a little bit about the age of the audience who are listening to the podcast. Because I had no idea whenever Dena called me and told me about it the other day. So, you know, the younger people would pick up on that right away.
Dina Simon 20:55
Exactly, yeah, I told Mandy about it, and she's like, mom, like, and I was like, Well, next time I'm saying these types of references, and, you know, there is a different meditation, please make sure you tell me, because I would even ask her, you know, like, on a Sunday, are you doing? Are you netflixing? And, you know, and she, she was like, I knew you didn't know what you were saying. Oh, so
Kelli Schutrop 21:16
she was like, Yes, Mama,
Dina Simon 21:17
I didn't correct you exactly. And I like, Okay, well, next time you need to educate me. So I, so I'm ahead of the curve. That's why we have children, so they can ahead of the curve. Yes, yeah, I
Kelli Schutrop 21:27
that's the thing is, I don't, I don't think it's possible to know all the things, so you just got to react. Well, when, when the things happen?
Dina Simon 21:33
Yeah, oh, that's
John Simon Sr. 21:35
crazy. Kind of funny. Sometimes the grandchildren will send me a text and, and they'll abbreviate things. And I have to go, I think you'll figure out with the abbreviation. And I try to figure it out in my head. And then I go, and I just put it in and say, oh, okay, that's what they mean, because they shortcut just about everything. Well, if
Kelli Schutrop 21:54
it makes you feel better, I've needed to do that too. So, yeah, there's like, a whole new there's a whole new generation. We start talking about Gen Z. There's terms that I am not familiar with until I go and do a Google search. Yes, same, same. Keep happening. It will.
Dina Simon 22:10
So we talked about your career, a little bit about your life. So legacies to us is not something we leave behind,
Kelli Schutrop 22:16
but it's what we're doing, you know, building our legacy, and certainly you have a legacy with your son and your family and what you're doing for business, but what anything else comes to mind when we talk about legacies? Great question, you know, and that's, that's one of those that people don't tend to talk about unless maybe they're, oh, you know, you're a good example, right? Like, if you're a part of leading a nonprofit, people see that and and just get to experience it a bit more up close, you know, to get personal for a moment, my husband and I, we both went to a faith based school, and faith is a really big part of our lives. And we both felt, even when we were in high school, so we didn't know each other, that we would, for lack of a cheesier term, be blessed, to be a blessing. And so I've always had it on my radar of as I grow in my career, I want to find organizations and associations and people that are doing great things. And I feel so passionate about the business space. My brain just lights up when we talk about business growth and marketing and sales strategies and all of the pieces. And so I know that that's where I that's the sweet spot that I live in, and where I can drive impact. And it is so fun to see friends and people that I know doing amazing things, right? Simon says, Give is a great example. So there's a few different associations or organizations I should say that I'm pretty actively involved in. So I'll mention one, actually, Dina, I think I just, actually, yes, I just alerted you to this one on LinkedIn not long ago. It's called The Real hope project. And so I have a former roommate who launched this with her husband. I mean, it was an idea she had in her mind for a long time. She launched it now, six years ago. And the idea is that there are so many kids in every state, but, you know, she lives here Minnesota, but initially, so many kids in Minnesota that are eligible for adoption. And this is, you know, close to Dina's hearts, and especially kids in the system that are not in that shiny phase anymore, that are not tiny little babies or even toddlers, and they need forever families. I mean, everybody needs a forever family. And so this nonprofit, the real hope project, basically partners with social workers and all of the logistics behind the scenes that I don't know much about. And they create a one minute video reel of these kids that are eligible for adoption in their environment that they love. So it might be playing basketball, it might be at the Minnesota science museum, or wherever it is, and people just kind of can get a glimpse and a feel of the personality behind the kid. And so they then tour churches and other places to share these and they have had hundreds of kids matched with families that are and they're now adopted. They've had, I believe it's over 1000 families express interest in starting a foster process as their own family unit or adoption. And actually, my friend, they adopted a six. Teen year old a few years ago. He's now a senior in high school, and so anyway, there's someone that, or they're an organization, that they're starting to expand nationally. It's just really fun to be a part of it. And recently, they hosted a what they called Night at the Oscars to highlight the results. And it was at just a really kind of ritzy, cute movie theater. We set up kind of a red carpet environment, and they asked if I would host the red carpet. So I got to see on there with with a microphone on camera, and ask people why they were supporting. And it was really amazing getting to meet, you know, one of the girls, the very first girl i i asked she was the very first real so now she's a young adult. She was adopted through this process. And you know, someone else who was a parent of like, she met her son through this process, they adopted him, and people at support. So anyway, there's a few different organizations that we support financially and just with our time, but that's one that that I think is just so cool. It
Dina Simon 25:52
is, and I'm not allowed to get involved, because I'd want to adopt all of them. But I just I when you showed that on LinkedIn, like I did look into the organization, oh my gosh. And so I didn't know how close you knew the founder, but obviously that is something we can talk offline on, if there is something that I can do, but just amazing. So John, the reel is like a movie reel. So the one minute reel is that I'm telling their story. And can you imagine, I, you know, that just, I'd be crying at all. So,
Kelli Schutrop 26:22
oh yes, it's, it's, it's nuts just to watch them, because they're so lighthearted and fun too. And the the one you know, and we can shift topics whenever you left, but, but the one piece I'd like to add is the families that have come to be interested in fostering and adoption because they saw the video, not because they were even in the process to begin with. Yeah. Said, you know, once I got into the process, I realized how much of it is a paragraph of all the challenges that children have gone through, or a page. And you do need to mentally prepare yourself for things that that kids have gone through, and that's very important to you, being able to help raise them well and know that you're you're prepared to equip them, but what they've shared is like, but there's so much more to them. I mean, there's so much more to all of us than the life experiences we've gone through. And so anyway, I just love that. It's like set to Pepe music, and if the kids maybe are non verbal, you know, maybe on an autistic spectrum, they have the caseworker talking about things that light them up and still footage of the child playing, and so it's very cool to see. It
Dina Simon 27:23
is very cool. And for our podcast listeners that don't know why it's so passionate to me, it's because I myself am adopted, and I have a daughter who is adopted, and Mandy's birth mom was also adopted. So yeah. So it runs very deep into my personal life, but, and we've, actually, we've talked about it, what? And I would love to do, actually, a podcast on adoption, so we can, we can further the conversation. But I love that you're so engaged in that. And I know you do a lot of other things within the community, but was super excited to see that connection that you're, we're working with them. Yeah, they're, they're
Kelli Schutrop 27:56
a great group. It's fun. I I've always had a soft spot in my heart for anything that that has to do with kids. I mean, even when I was in high school, I was working for the local rec center, teaching gymnastics and soccer and, you know, just, just those kinds of things have always been exciting to be a part
Dina Simon 28:12
of. Did you and your husband both go to Northwestern and meet there?
Kelli Schutrop 28:16
We did, you know, I will, I will tell you briefly we met cliff jumping. Actually, we didn't meet at school. We had a mutual friend that invited us cliff jumping the quarries in St Cloud. I haven't been back since, but it was beautiful. Yeah, so we were both invited to this and met each other that way, and were friends for two and a half years before we started dating. But we were both majors in marketing. I suppose I was a major in public relations, minor in marketing, but we were both in the senior capstone classes. Capstone classes together, and we hadn't met until then, but we actually did a few group projects and did well in them, and just yeah, really clicked and got along. And I loved his mind for business, because it was something that I was very nerdy and passionate about as well. So now we've nearly 12 years this summer that we've been married,
Dina Simon 29:01
yeah, because you were just getting married when I met
Kelli Schutrop 29:03
you. Yeah, I do. I do recall when I started at the resiq family of companies, then McKinley group. No one knew me by my maiden name, because it was just going to be a month and a half before I was married. So I just put the new name on it. And I, I remember thinking, Okay, we're
Dina Simon 29:18
going for it. Yeah, there's no change it. Now, my
Kelli Schutrop 29:21
business cards are formal. So anyway, I digress. Yes, yes, we did meet. There.
John Simon Sr. 29:26
You have a great story, a great background, and I love the part about the kids and the involvement that you and your husband have with that and just how they do with the reels and the red carpet. And talk about a win, win deal, not only for the children, but for the adopted parents, or the parents who, if nothing, take them in for a few months and help them get on the right track. Yeah,
Kelli Schutrop 29:51
yeah. And for those, those families that maybe aren't in that position to they've got a lot of financial donors. I mean, like, you know what Simon says, give like, there's so much for. Impact that you've got in your mind that you want to accomplish. But everything takes dollars, and so to have supporters of nonprofits that you're passionate about is really important. And so, yeah, it's, it's fun. I mean, Dina, I feel like you, well, you and John could spend a whole episode on the amazing nonprofits that that you've touched and been a part of or know about. I mean, it's, it's pretty cool to see those
Dina Simon 30:22
it is. It is, yeah. Kelly, anything else that you wanted our podcast listeners to hear or know about from you? Yes,
Kelli Schutrop 30:28
there was one thing that I had in the back of my mind. Deena, you had sent over a couple idea question prompts before you hopped on, and one that really stood out to me was, what would you tell someone getting into your field. So my field is marketing, right? But I would tell anyone, especially in the business realm, whatever it is you're studying, to really network. And I know that is such a cheesy thing to say. I mean, even, even someone who maybe has had the same career path for the last 40 years and just experienced a layoff and has not formally needed to apply for anything until now. Really making authentic connections when you don't even need to is what drives the world like it's what makes the world go round. And I'll just tell a brief story. I remember senior year in college, I'd done a number of internships. I was really interested in two companies. I'll send that agency and Best Buy corporate. And so I'd asked my professors, actually, the reason I was interested in these I'd ask two professors, a public relations professor and a business professor, I'm seeing all my peers apply for everything, and it feels, it feels like not the best results are happening, you know, like they're not hearing I don't want to do a spray and pray approach, you know my background, because, you know, these are small class sizes, maybe 2030, kids. And so I said, Is there anything that comes to mind? And they each recommended someone who was an alumni five years out. One was it Olson? One was at Best Buy. And I started doing informational interviews, and I would highly recommend them. Even now, it does not matter your age. There's a little bit of a shiny factor when you're a young graduate that you take advantage of. It lasts for many years. But just the concept of reaching out to someone saying, I really like what's in your career background, this is something that I'm passionate about too. Might I buy you a coffee? You know, I would love to just bar you for 30 minutes, buy you a coffee. Hear the things you're passionate about. And I had done that at Olson and Best Buy, and Olson like to say pop first, so they made me offer, and I was excited to be there, really cool experience. But at Best Buy, the reason I'm telling this story is just to give a tangible example. In my senior year, I was working at Best Buy corporate in Roseville, because that was the we'll call it Capstone store for corporate. They tested a lot of things there, and I figured that if I did a job my senior year, that was the best place if I was trying to network in, because I knew executives would come in. And so I met someone one time of selling cameras. The individual looked about the right age and demographic and said, Why don't you go help them? I work for the company. I'll just be here. And so I asked him what he did, and I shared with him in like two sentences that I was a marketing major, and turns out he was a vice president, actually, SVP, of of marketing, one of the marketing functions looking Best Buy. And I figured, shoot the shot right, like, be respectful. It's okay if it's a no, but what's the worst that can happen? So I told him, You know, I'd really love to come to you for 15 minutes, buy you coffee, hear what you've liked about your career path at Best Buy. And he said, Yes, gave me a business card of someone to schedule time with. I didn't know if that would turn into anything. Turns out, it did. So I had a 45 minute networking information interview set up for weeks and weeks out. And about a week prior, I got a call from the person that I scheduled it with, saying, Could you come out for four hours instead of 45 minutes? And I said, Yes, I would love to. What does he have in mind? And she said, and this is, I will tell you, this is based off of no more than a five minute interaction. Literally, she said, he knows that you're interested in public relations and marketing, and he set you up on a series of informational interviews across the suite of of teams here. And so I got to spend four hours sitting down with directors and vice presidents, sat in like this tiny little room, and they just kind of came and went, you know, half an hour to 45 minutes each. And it was one of the coolest experiences. And I didn't even register how, how massive that was at the time being a senior in college. So anyway, obviously, not every story turns out that way. I've made asks that haven't panned out, but I will say it built my confidence. I've stayed in touch with some of those individuals. So I just would say that that would be my final parting thought of put it out there, right? It's not going to happen unless you put yourself out there. Take the risk. Be okay. Be respectful. It's okay if they say no, but it's built something in me where, if somebody is ever at a stage where they're looking to learn more about what I do, I want to be generous with my time, because I benefited so much from networking on the other side of it, and I still do. I mean, the reason I. Started my company is because two mentors approached me and said, Would you consider this? And I'm now working with both of them. They're both clients today, and so would highly recommend that, you know, put yourself out there, network, get to know people, add value, where you can wait.
John Simon Sr. 35:13
What great advice that is. And as you said earlier, it was a five minute interaction you had with someone, and it turned into really a career achievement. Yeah, right, yeah. How
Kelli Schutrop 35:25
many years later, I'm still excited, so excited about that happening and and it also speaks volumes to that person who gave their time, took the took the time, right, right? Like that. Never I could have had the nicest ask him the world and had the best resume on paper, whatever. I mean, I didn't even show him a resume, right? Like he, he, he took the time to make something happen, because he saw a spark of potential in in a young kid, right? Yeah. And so I think that speaks volumes. It
Dina Simon 35:55
does. And so two messages, one, to be prepared when you're in that, like when you're young and you're trying to figure out what you want to do. I love the informational interviews and be ready to make the ass the the internship piece too, like you were interning, like you or, well, you were working in the store, but in that store, I done internships, yeah, and but working in the premiere store that you knew you'd be able to get to network with people so kind of like an internship. But the other is the leaders being able to lean in and provide those amazing experiences for this next generation of people getting into the workforce. There's such a need out there for so I love that story, right? Well,
Kelli Schutrop 36:34
and even those two people that took the time to meet with me, they were five years into their career, and at that time, I mean, I looked at their LinkedIn profiles and thought they had accomplished the entire world by then, you know. And, and thinking back now, they couldn't have been more than 2425 years old, sure, doing cool things. And and having a conversation with someone who is a fresh grad, or not even a fresh grad yet. And then at the end of every conversation, I would say, if I truly was interested, right? I've really enjoyed learning about XYZ. Is there someone else on your team or on a different team that I could learn more about ABC? And they would always say, yeah, let me think about it. And then they'd circle back with an intro, right? And so that's, that's a way to kind of ripple into a company and learn more about it without it feeling transactional or Hi, here's my resume. I'm
Dina Simon 37:23
one of my Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love it. Kelly, we have taken a ton of your time, but this was so amazing. We could talk for hours. I We are just so appreciative that you wanted to be on the podcast. We're so excited about your new business. And just, I know you're busy already, right? Like, so your plate is full and overflowing, because everybody does want to work with you, so I'm very excited about that. Make sure that you give me any of the contact information and stuff that you want me to have out there so people know how to get in touch with you.
Kelli Schutrop 37:52
Wonderful. Thank you, Deena and Don for having me on so fun to connect with you in this venue and just share a few stories and hear your stories too.
Dina Simon 38:01
Yes, it was great. Well, thank you. Great. Thank you. I would like to thank Kelly shutrop for joining us on the podcast. She is the CEO and founder of thoughtful resound, and I've known her for over a decade. We were so excited to have her join us. I'm so excited about her new business adventure, and she's already rocking it, but check her out. I'll make sure in the show notes that you know how to find her. And I wanted just to share a quick story. Recently, I saw Kelly at a women's conference. I had arrived a little bit late because I had had some business meetings in the morning, and I tried to sneak in the side of the ballroom with about 250 women. And Kelly saw me, and she made sure that she found a spot for me. And I love this analogy because it reminds me so much of Kelly. So she wasn't putting this conference on. She was a guest there herself, but she saw me, and she wanted to make sure that I found a seat at the table. And so I love that analogy, because she always is leaning in to support people in life and in their businesses, and she always wants somebody to have a seat at the table. So I love that analogy. And Kelly, I thank you for doing that for me recently. And as always, I'd like to thank my father in law, John Simon, for being my co host. And until we talk again, you.
Music. Welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 00:14
and I'm Dina Simon.
John Simon Sr. 00:16
Our guest today is Ellie shootrop Kelly is the CEO and founder of thoughtful resound, a thought leadership activation firm that unlocks new revenue streams for growing business to business companies through leadership, social settling, personal branding and beyond. Kelly, welcome to our podcast.
Kelli Schutrop 00:36
Thanks for having me. Dina and John, excited to be here.
Dina Simon 00:39
Well, we're excited to have you. Why
John Simon Sr. 00:41
don't you take a few minutes and tell our audience a little bit about yourselves and where you lives, and maybe a little bit about what you like to do in your spare time? Sure.
Kelli Schutrop 00:50
So by way of background, I am in Minnesota. I was actually born in Bozeman, Montana, for fun, people who live in Montana, yeah, I know most people don't know that. I'm actually when I was really young. My dad has a lot of family here, so they moved back here. So I was raised here, actually just an hour west of the city, in a town called Hutchinson. Now I'm in southwest Metro Chanhassen area, and this community, this network, here in the in the Twin Cities, is so vibrant and lovely, and so spent my career building, you know, just relationships here. And in a nutshell, my background is about 15 years in marketing and sales, all for scaling B to B companies. So oftentimes, leading marketing from the ground up, leading sales structures from the ground up, just having a lot of fun in that realm, and now I have my own company, really, in this world of thought leadership, activation, right, sales and marketing, consulting, and on the personal side of things. I am married. My husband is an entrepreneur, has multiple companies, and so we talk a lot of business, and it's a lot of fun. And I've got a little guy who's three and a half years old, and a dog named Wolfgang, who is, as you can imagine,
Dina Simon 02:03
large, very, very large, with the name Wolfgang. Yes, I can't believe your son's already three and a half. I
Kelli Schutrop 02:09
know. I know. Yeah, we're starting to see the hockey bug in him, which isn't something that my husband and I had growing up so much. So we're very excited just to explore and see what his interests are as he grows up. Yeah, and
Dina Simon 02:21
how are you seeing the hockey bug? Like he likes to watch it? Oh,
Kelli Schutrop 02:24
good question, you know. So given in Minnesota, when it hits a little bit cooler, it's not as easy to just say, well, let's just walk a few blocks to the park. I mean, it it is and it isn't right. And so we've got a lot of fun activities downstairs in our lower level, and one of them is just a little, you know, play tight hockey net, and he's obsessed. He's obsessed with it, and so starting to show a little YouTube, yeah, yeah. So we may, we may get him involved in some things, here and there, and then other things I like to do for fun. I'm a big foodie, so if I'm ever in a city or traveling foodies the the jam, and I also do really love travel and adventure. So we've spent time in a variety of countries and a lot of places here in the US as well. And
John Simon Sr. 03:06
I also read that you have the love for ice cream.
Kelli Schutrop 03:09
I do. I do, I do. And if there's people here in the Minneapolis area, my favorite place is milk jam, Creamery. It's amazing. Fun flavors, good textures, crazy names. They change up. Actually, they do themes every month. And I recall just a few months back, it was something related to women in leadership, or something like that. And they highlighted a few local women, and I recognized some of the names. It was very cool. They must have gotten to collaborate with them and develop like a flavor. So Sarah Edwards, for example, yeah, really big in the the fashion scene here in Minneapolis. She was one of them that I realized. And it was just very cool so that they do a nice job tying back to the community too.
Dina Simon 03:50
That is awesome. Well, I think they should do one for you. Oh, I would love that. That would be fun.
John Simon Sr. 03:56
And that's one of the great things about local businesses that you can do that national companies probably wouldn't even begin to think about doing. But we talked about entrepreneurial the people who own it, apparently they own a foodie or restaurant or something, so they can combine all of that and and do special things for for special people in the community. Yeah. And I
Kelli Schutrop 04:18
love seeing that. I love seeing how companies, even if they are national, how they can make a really personal touch with their customers, prospective clients, their community. It's just, it's a smart way to not only drive business, it's logical, but it also just makes people feel that much more connected to the brand and a part of it, yeah, sure.
John Simon Sr. 04:38
Sure. Tell us a little bit about, apparently, you have some regular fireside chats that you host with industry leaders. Can you talk a little bit about that? Sure?
Kelli Schutrop 04:47
Sure, yes. So when it comes to fireside chats, I'll actually give you a little bit of the backstory of how I got into that process, because I hope that it sparks some ideas for for people listening. So if you rewind back. Three and a half years to the start of the pandemic, my little guy was being born the day that everything shut down in Minneapolis, which was a really great time for my family, actually, just to incubate and kind of shut it out the rest of the world and learn what it was like to have a newborn. And I was in a consultative selling role, and, you know, my clients didn't know what was going on there, all in the staffing industry, serving a variety of markets and industries themselves. And so it was a really nice time to step away. But when I came back in to conversations three months later, after my maternity leave, naturally, I'd already been working with people across the country, and I should share I was at a company called parka, which is a sister company of versique, which Dina is a, you know, long time alumna, yes, going, going back in the day, bersik is an executive search and consulting firm, and so I led marketing there for a number of years. Great group of people. And then the bersik Family of Brands launched a digital marketing agency that specialized in the staffing industry called parka, and I stepped into a sales role. And so my function was to develop relationships with staffing firms, really, mostly across the country, not as much in the local footprint, because bersik plays in so many different areas, and they do a great job. And so as I stepped back in from my maternity leave being over, we were in and out of the office, mostly out of the office, and I just had this desire to build community in a different way, because I wasn't getting that in a day to day capacity in the Minneapolis market, because we're all in our houses. And so I was having a conversation with a longtime client, a staffing firm owner, who just thought about business a bit differently and loved talking to him, and I asked him, I said, John, this just feels to me like a type of conversation that if we were sitting at a high top at a restaurant and, you know, at at the end of a conference or something, and people were walked by, they would want to hear this, because they would learn from it. Would you ever be open to me recording it and sharing it? You know, we won't even gate it. We won't put it behind a form. There's no subscription necessary, but just to share with people some of the thoughts that you have. And he said, Absolutely, let's do it. And so it kicked off a series, and I called them Fireside Chats because I wanted them to be informal and informational, and I wanted to learn from them, but I also wanted the audience that would listen to them to learn from them. And so I hosted them once a month, and chose a different individual in that space who was doing something innovative that I could help really elevate their voice and bring it to a different audience. And then over time, this is the piece that, you know I like sharing with people, just to give them ideas for their audience, because you've got insights that you can share with your audience and or you have the ability likely to facilitate conversations right where you can elevate other voices that are going to benefit your your perspective and current clients. And so over time, I started having more and more people reach out to me to host webinars or speak on podcasts. I started pitching to conferences, and I had less time to host fireside chats, which prompted the innovation of, if I can only do this once a quarter, how do I really make it worth the audience's while, and I turn them into panels. So if you think about, you know, a typical conference where you've got a moderator and three or four people on a panel, that's what I did. And so brought together groups of people to talk about a common theme, and it was a lot of fun, you know, it actually created a lot of positive ripple. You know, thoughtful resound is the name of my business, and really, that's the purpose, and the meaning behind it is, if you strategically create content or value for your audience, it will ripple back to elevate them, but also create opportunity for your business. And so thoughtful resound. I found that very natively, a number of years ago, that it created a resound in the industry, and people were learning and getting excited about topics, and the panelists were having their brands elevated. And so I digress. It was, it was very fun. And so now I look to do those in whatever space I'm in, looks different, right? If I'm focusing on a different market or wanting to elevate a different people group or subset of the industry? Yeah,
Dina Simon 09:07
I love that one. I hope you do continue them, because I know they were super successful, and there was so many good ideas that were born out of the pandemic. And I actually didn't know, I go back to the timeline, I can't believe that your son was born right then I forgot about that and that, you know, just the magic of timing. That's crazy. So, um, so thank you for sharing that. And then John, so yes, Kelly and I met back in the day. So Kelly, it was,
Kelli Schutrop 09:33
I mean, it was 12 years ago. There too was, yeah, I started at the family of companies back when it was McKinley group for those in the local area, yep, which was established in 2001 I joined the company in 2012 and then it went through a rebrand, and company split to a few different brands in 2013 but you were with them even prior to 2012
Dina Simon 09:52
Yeah, yes, I was. And then yeah, so that we've known each other that long. And then John, both van. Seek and parka, huge supporters of Simon Says. Give Kelly has always been a huge supporter. When we had our fashion show, she was the model, so we was very fun. Yep, and she did meetings with our kid advisory board on social media back in the day. That feels like so long ago, doesn't it? It does. Yeah. So you bet you've been around through the through all of that. So thank you for that. You've always leaned in with with helping out, and so appreciate that. And you do have just an amazing brand of reputation in the community. And as you said, we do have a very vibrant community if we're tapped in, and we do elevate others as they elevate us. Yeah,
Kelli Schutrop 10:38
that's so true well, and even I think about Simon says, Give the backpack drive. You know, those have been so fun over the years to see how, how things have just expanded and evolved. I am I remembering this correctly that there was a world record. There was looking at Mall of America a few there was
Dina Simon 10:55
2018 we did a Guinness World Record for stuffing the most backpacks in an eight hour period of time. It was crazy. So fun. I love that. I know
John Simon Sr. 11:04
I had an opportunity on one of my trips up to the Twin Cities. Mandy was working inward for chic and her internship, I think, summer, and she had to take me there because she wanted to show me everything. And the one thing I remember about it, they had the greatest break room that I'd ever been to in my entire life.
Kelli Schutrop 11:24
They did a very nice job. Yet the company had been in one space for years and years and years, and then switched buildings to be a bit more central, and they were in an office that felt very classic office space 90s. And so the founders said, We've got to get into a space that looks really cool. And you know, it was a whole team of recruiters and sales folks and people that were really connected, and there was a lot of coffees happening outside the office because there was only so many conference rooms, but there's a lot of confidential conversations. And so, yeah, when they they stepped down a floor, a couple floors, yep, and gutted half the floor, and just created this really beautiful cafe environment where people could essentially have the non confidential coffees, so to speak, right there. And very fun kombucha on tap, drinks on tap, like they did a nice job,
Dina Simon 12:10
exactly, yeah. And
John Simon Sr. 12:13
occasional beer there, yeah, it was, it was pretty casual,
Dina Simon 12:18
yeah, yeah. And then Kelly was there when Manny was doing her internship. And, and I know Mandy loved seeing you there, so just a friendly face and and all of that. Yes, yeah. I'm
Kelli Schutrop 12:29
trying to think how old she would have been in 2012 I mean, I feel like I've seen her grow up.
Dina Simon 12:33
You have. So she in 2012 she was 10, yeah, yeah, yeah. She might
Kelli Schutrop 12:39
like a kindergartner, a little but I remember she was little, like she had a little kid, yeah,
Dina Simon 12:45
well, actually, so she would have been, yeah, she would have been nine going on 10, because she was born in 2003 so Wow.
Kelli Schutrop 12:52
And now she's College. Now she's
Dina Simon 12:56
junior, junior. Yeah, we still, we still have a little time. Okay, yes. So you talked a little bit about your business, and so share with us, because you just recently hung your own shingle, went out on your own. And so just tell us a little bit more about the clients. Like, what's your ideal client that you want to work with? Tell us just a little bit more about that, and then we can dive into some other topics. Sure, sure.
Kelli Schutrop 13:19
So the reason I created thoughtful resound was actually because I had a few different long time connections, mentors of mine, who were or are senior leaders within their businesses. And a couple different people came out of the woodwork and said, If you ever consider and there's two scenarios, one, equipping salespeople to build a personal brand in a way that really helps drive business organically and authentically and relationally. My company would be interested in having a conversation. And then another individual came out of the woodwork and said, if you would ever be interested in helping us evaluate our marketing, we have someone in place leading marketing, but it's only part of their their function and their role, you know, like, there's, there's just a lot that we should probably be doing, but we don't really know how to think about it differently. And so it planted the seed in my mind of intrigue, right? Because my every role that I've had following maybe a year out of school, I started, I studied marketing and public relations at Northwestern in St Paul, here in Minnesota, and went to Olson, that agency out of school. And then, as everybody does in staffing, found my way in staffing and started building marketing for the ground up for a few different brands, and then, again, switched into sales. But in every role I had, I worked directly with the founder and CEO who had this vision that was broad stroke, but very exciting. And they said, I don't really know what to do to make it happen, but go ahead, you know, like, tell us what resources you need, and let's make it happen. And so I got to be very entrepreneurial all the way throughout my career. Yeah, and really loved championing brands. That had great cultures and were building really great things, and oftentimes it was in the B to B service space, right? So businesses selling to businesses of services, and oftentimes not in the budget option in the market. So those tend to be the clients that I work with now. So companies that are established doing great work, but are looking to take it to the next level. And so fast forward, I decided to step out on my own and start this company, and it is a fractional consulting model. So I bring on three, maybe four fractional consultants at a time that I work with on the half day plus basis. Every week, I have advisory clients as well, and then offer workshops. So thought leadership workshops, key leader workshops, really with the intent of this passion I have of saying, okay, you've got deep expertise in your company, in your personal career history, that if we unlock that and kick it over the sales conversation, beyond the sales conversation, you're going to attract more opportunity for your business, because if you educate that audience, when they have A need for what you offer, they're already going to think about you as the trusted expert. And oftentimes companies do a really nice job in that kind of a space, right? You're service based, you're highly consultative. You do an amazing job when you're in the sales conversation, and it goes well, but the idea is to get ahead of those even if it's not sales related, it's it's adding value to your audience, providing them with insights. So that is what I do now,
Dina Simon 16:28
nice and so often the marketing side, like having that outside expertise come in to really take a look at things, is is just so valuable, because you do become so myopic. I shared with John my snafu in my newsletter that went out
Kelli Schutrop 16:44
that'd be in my day. Have you shared it yet in a podcast episode, or is that what you're doing right
Dina Simon 16:49
now? No, but I think I'll share right now, because it's so funny and such an educational thing. So yeah, so I'll share with our listeners. So my newsletter that I sent out for the first of November was really to be thinking on two things, as you're planning for budgeting for next year, and Kelly, you and I both know this, growing up in staffing companies spend so much time and money on the recruiting dollars, and then they forget about what to do from a retention perspective. And so we all have traditional benefits, but looking at what can be, you know, fun benefits out there that maybe don't cost a ton. We just actually talked about their seek. They have this beautiful space where they bring, you know, have coffee and food and beer, beer on tap. You know, like, just what can people do within their environments that is a low cost entry for the corporation, but such a benefit to the employees. So I shared in my newsletter that I had read, and I had read this, I had read in like a Harvard Business Journal, something about a company bought Netflix subscriptions for all their employees, because with the cost of streaming and cable and all that going up. That's, you know, that's like a huge value add to the employees plus their family. And what a win. Win. So I made a reference on the Netflix and chill, thinking that that meant I, you know, binge watching your favorite show on Netflix. I send the newsletter out, and within 10 minutes, my client called and goes, Hey, and you know, it's not a client. They'll call me out very often, so like, hey. And she goes, has anybody talked to you about your newsletter yet? And I go, No, why? And she goes, Do you know that reference? She goes to, she laughed and said, I know that you don't know what this reference means. However, it doesn't just mean binge watching your favorite show on Netflix. It actually means something else in the online dating world. And I just screamed, I like, Oh my gosh. And so I did ask her, I go, What do you think I should do? Because I knew I was not going to just let it sit out there. So we kind of laughed about it. So I did immediately go and send another retraction out, basically to say, Oh, my like, I, you know, sorry about my ignorance. I did not know that this, this term, had another connotation to it. And then Kelly, you responded like saying, oh, gosh, that made me laugh. And way to go for handling it. Well, that means a lot. That means a lot coming from you, and I actually had so many people, because in it, I said, for those of you that knew the other reference, I'm sure you got a good laugh. And then those of you that didn't know it, I'm sure you've googled it now, and now you're chuckling because it was kind of 5050, half of the audience was like, I had no equipment and that. And they also use that term. So that also goes back to with everything that you do with clients like to stay mainstream on these types of things like it's impossible,
Kelli Schutrop 19:54
right? Well. And the reality is, I think the reason why that went so well afterwards was be. Because of how you handled it, and it just speaks to, you know, public relations and marketing, and you easily could have tried to redact to email or just sent update, you know, and just to hope people read the new version. But the reality is, I think everyone craves relationship and authenticity regardless of what avenue that is. I mean, yes, there's environments. Maybe you're hosting a workshop, or you're doing client client presentation, where it's a bit more buttoned up, but the reality is, everybody is human, and I think it makes people feel that much more comfortable with you. Anyone if they're like, Oh, they're human too. And this was actually quite funny, you did a very good job how you handled it and just made it real. Yeah, thank you. Well,
John Simon Sr. 20:39
I think one of the things that tells us a little bit about the age of the audience who are listening to the podcast. Because I had no idea whenever Dena called me and told me about it the other day. So, you know, the younger people would pick up on that right away.
Dina Simon 20:55
Exactly, yeah, I told Mandy about it, and she's like, mom, like, and I was like, Well, next time I'm saying these types of references, and, you know, there is a different meditation, please make sure you tell me, because I would even ask her, you know, like, on a Sunday, are you doing? Are you netflixing? And, you know, and she, she was like, I knew you didn't know what you were saying. Oh, so
Kelli Schutrop 21:16
she was like, Yes, Mama,
Dina Simon 21:17
I didn't correct you exactly. And I like, Okay, well, next time you need to educate me. So I, so I'm ahead of the curve. That's why we have children, so they can ahead of the curve. Yes, yeah, I
Kelli Schutrop 21:27
that's the thing is, I don't, I don't think it's possible to know all the things, so you just got to react. Well, when, when the things happen?
Dina Simon 21:33
Yeah, oh, that's
John Simon Sr. 21:35
crazy. Kind of funny. Sometimes the grandchildren will send me a text and, and they'll abbreviate things. And I have to go, I think you'll figure out with the abbreviation. And I try to figure it out in my head. And then I go, and I just put it in and say, oh, okay, that's what they mean, because they shortcut just about everything. Well, if
Kelli Schutrop 21:54
it makes you feel better, I've needed to do that too. So, yeah, there's like, a whole new there's a whole new generation. We start talking about Gen Z. There's terms that I am not familiar with until I go and do a Google search. Yes, same, same. Keep happening. It will.
Dina Simon 22:10
So we talked about your career, a little bit about your life. So legacies to us is not something we leave behind,
Kelli Schutrop 22:16
but it's what we're doing, you know, building our legacy, and certainly you have a legacy with your son and your family and what you're doing for business, but what anything else comes to mind when we talk about legacies? Great question, you know, and that's, that's one of those that people don't tend to talk about unless maybe they're, oh, you know, you're a good example, right? Like, if you're a part of leading a nonprofit, people see that and and just get to experience it a bit more up close, you know, to get personal for a moment, my husband and I, we both went to a faith based school, and faith is a really big part of our lives. And we both felt, even when we were in high school, so we didn't know each other, that we would, for lack of a cheesier term, be blessed, to be a blessing. And so I've always had it on my radar of as I grow in my career, I want to find organizations and associations and people that are doing great things. And I feel so passionate about the business space. My brain just lights up when we talk about business growth and marketing and sales strategies and all of the pieces. And so I know that that's where I that's the sweet spot that I live in, and where I can drive impact. And it is so fun to see friends and people that I know doing amazing things, right? Simon says, Give is a great example. So there's a few different associations or organizations I should say that I'm pretty actively involved in. So I'll mention one, actually, Dina, I think I just, actually, yes, I just alerted you to this one on LinkedIn not long ago. It's called The Real hope project. And so I have a former roommate who launched this with her husband. I mean, it was an idea she had in her mind for a long time. She launched it now, six years ago. And the idea is that there are so many kids in every state, but, you know, she lives here Minnesota, but initially, so many kids in Minnesota that are eligible for adoption. And this is, you know, close to Dina's hearts, and especially kids in the system that are not in that shiny phase anymore, that are not tiny little babies or even toddlers, and they need forever families. I mean, everybody needs a forever family. And so this nonprofit, the real hope project, basically partners with social workers and all of the logistics behind the scenes that I don't know much about. And they create a one minute video reel of these kids that are eligible for adoption in their environment that they love. So it might be playing basketball, it might be at the Minnesota science museum, or wherever it is, and people just kind of can get a glimpse and a feel of the personality behind the kid. And so they then tour churches and other places to share these and they have had hundreds of kids matched with families that are and they're now adopted. They've had, I believe it's over 1000 families express interest in starting a foster process as their own family unit or adoption. And actually, my friend, they adopted a six. Teen year old a few years ago. He's now a senior in high school, and so anyway, there's someone that, or they're an organization, that they're starting to expand nationally. It's just really fun to be a part of it. And recently, they hosted a what they called Night at the Oscars to highlight the results. And it was at just a really kind of ritzy, cute movie theater. We set up kind of a red carpet environment, and they asked if I would host the red carpet. So I got to see on there with with a microphone on camera, and ask people why they were supporting. And it was really amazing getting to meet, you know, one of the girls, the very first girl i i asked she was the very first real so now she's a young adult. She was adopted through this process. And you know, someone else who was a parent of like, she met her son through this process, they adopted him, and people at support. So anyway, there's a few different organizations that we support financially and just with our time, but that's one that that I think is just so cool. It
Dina Simon 25:52
is, and I'm not allowed to get involved, because I'd want to adopt all of them. But I just I when you showed that on LinkedIn, like I did look into the organization, oh my gosh. And so I didn't know how close you knew the founder, but obviously that is something we can talk offline on, if there is something that I can do, but just amazing. So John, the reel is like a movie reel. So the one minute reel is that I'm telling their story. And can you imagine, I, you know, that just, I'd be crying at all. So,
Kelli Schutrop 26:22
oh yes, it's, it's, it's nuts just to watch them, because they're so lighthearted and fun too. And the the one you know, and we can shift topics whenever you left, but, but the one piece I'd like to add is the families that have come to be interested in fostering and adoption because they saw the video, not because they were even in the process to begin with. Yeah. Said, you know, once I got into the process, I realized how much of it is a paragraph of all the challenges that children have gone through, or a page. And you do need to mentally prepare yourself for things that that kids have gone through, and that's very important to you, being able to help raise them well and know that you're you're prepared to equip them, but what they've shared is like, but there's so much more to them. I mean, there's so much more to all of us than the life experiences we've gone through. And so anyway, I just love that. It's like set to Pepe music, and if the kids maybe are non verbal, you know, maybe on an autistic spectrum, they have the caseworker talking about things that light them up and still footage of the child playing, and so it's very cool to see. It
Dina Simon 27:23
is very cool. And for our podcast listeners that don't know why it's so passionate to me, it's because I myself am adopted, and I have a daughter who is adopted, and Mandy's birth mom was also adopted. So yeah. So it runs very deep into my personal life, but, and we've, actually, we've talked about it, what? And I would love to do, actually, a podcast on adoption, so we can, we can further the conversation. But I love that you're so engaged in that. And I know you do a lot of other things within the community, but was super excited to see that connection that you're, we're working with them. Yeah, they're, they're
Kelli Schutrop 27:56
a great group. It's fun. I I've always had a soft spot in my heart for anything that that has to do with kids. I mean, even when I was in high school, I was working for the local rec center, teaching gymnastics and soccer and, you know, just, just those kinds of things have always been exciting to be a part
Dina Simon 28:12
of. Did you and your husband both go to Northwestern and meet there?
Kelli Schutrop 28:16
We did, you know, I will, I will tell you briefly we met cliff jumping. Actually, we didn't meet at school. We had a mutual friend that invited us cliff jumping the quarries in St Cloud. I haven't been back since, but it was beautiful. Yeah, so we were both invited to this and met each other that way, and were friends for two and a half years before we started dating. But we were both majors in marketing. I suppose I was a major in public relations, minor in marketing, but we were both in the senior capstone classes. Capstone classes together, and we hadn't met until then, but we actually did a few group projects and did well in them, and just yeah, really clicked and got along. And I loved his mind for business, because it was something that I was very nerdy and passionate about as well. So now we've nearly 12 years this summer that we've been married,
Dina Simon 29:01
yeah, because you were just getting married when I met
Kelli Schutrop 29:03
you. Yeah, I do. I do recall when I started at the resiq family of companies, then McKinley group. No one knew me by my maiden name, because it was just going to be a month and a half before I was married. So I just put the new name on it. And I, I remember thinking, Okay, we're
Dina Simon 29:18
going for it. Yeah, there's no change it. Now, my
Kelli Schutrop 29:21
business cards are formal. So anyway, I digress. Yes, yes, we did meet. There.
John Simon Sr. 29:26
You have a great story, a great background, and I love the part about the kids and the involvement that you and your husband have with that and just how they do with the reels and the red carpet. And talk about a win, win deal, not only for the children, but for the adopted parents, or the parents who, if nothing, take them in for a few months and help them get on the right track. Yeah,
Kelli Schutrop 29:51
yeah. And for those, those families that maybe aren't in that position to they've got a lot of financial donors. I mean, like, you know what Simon says, give like, there's so much for. Impact that you've got in your mind that you want to accomplish. But everything takes dollars, and so to have supporters of nonprofits that you're passionate about is really important. And so, yeah, it's, it's fun. I mean, Dina, I feel like you, well, you and John could spend a whole episode on the amazing nonprofits that that you've touched and been a part of or know about. I mean, it's, it's pretty cool to see those
Dina Simon 30:22
it is. It is, yeah. Kelly, anything else that you wanted our podcast listeners to hear or know about from you? Yes,
Kelli Schutrop 30:28
there was one thing that I had in the back of my mind. Deena, you had sent over a couple idea question prompts before you hopped on, and one that really stood out to me was, what would you tell someone getting into your field. So my field is marketing, right? But I would tell anyone, especially in the business realm, whatever it is you're studying, to really network. And I know that is such a cheesy thing to say. I mean, even, even someone who maybe has had the same career path for the last 40 years and just experienced a layoff and has not formally needed to apply for anything until now. Really making authentic connections when you don't even need to is what drives the world like it's what makes the world go round. And I'll just tell a brief story. I remember senior year in college, I'd done a number of internships. I was really interested in two companies. I'll send that agency and Best Buy corporate. And so I'd asked my professors, actually, the reason I was interested in these I'd ask two professors, a public relations professor and a business professor, I'm seeing all my peers apply for everything, and it feels, it feels like not the best results are happening, you know, like they're not hearing I don't want to do a spray and pray approach, you know my background, because, you know, these are small class sizes, maybe 2030, kids. And so I said, Is there anything that comes to mind? And they each recommended someone who was an alumni five years out. One was it Olson? One was at Best Buy. And I started doing informational interviews, and I would highly recommend them. Even now, it does not matter your age. There's a little bit of a shiny factor when you're a young graduate that you take advantage of. It lasts for many years. But just the concept of reaching out to someone saying, I really like what's in your career background, this is something that I'm passionate about too. Might I buy you a coffee? You know, I would love to just bar you for 30 minutes, buy you a coffee. Hear the things you're passionate about. And I had done that at Olson and Best Buy, and Olson like to say pop first, so they made me offer, and I was excited to be there, really cool experience. But at Best Buy, the reason I'm telling this story is just to give a tangible example. In my senior year, I was working at Best Buy corporate in Roseville, because that was the we'll call it Capstone store for corporate. They tested a lot of things there, and I figured that if I did a job my senior year, that was the best place if I was trying to network in, because I knew executives would come in. And so I met someone one time of selling cameras. The individual looked about the right age and demographic and said, Why don't you go help them? I work for the company. I'll just be here. And so I asked him what he did, and I shared with him in like two sentences that I was a marketing major, and turns out he was a vice president, actually, SVP, of of marketing, one of the marketing functions looking Best Buy. And I figured, shoot the shot right, like, be respectful. It's okay if it's a no, but what's the worst that can happen? So I told him, You know, I'd really love to come to you for 15 minutes, buy you coffee, hear what you've liked about your career path at Best Buy. And he said, Yes, gave me a business card of someone to schedule time with. I didn't know if that would turn into anything. Turns out, it did. So I had a 45 minute networking information interview set up for weeks and weeks out. And about a week prior, I got a call from the person that I scheduled it with, saying, Could you come out for four hours instead of 45 minutes? And I said, Yes, I would love to. What does he have in mind? And she said, and this is, I will tell you, this is based off of no more than a five minute interaction. Literally, she said, he knows that you're interested in public relations and marketing, and he set you up on a series of informational interviews across the suite of of teams here. And so I got to spend four hours sitting down with directors and vice presidents, sat in like this tiny little room, and they just kind of came and went, you know, half an hour to 45 minutes each. And it was one of the coolest experiences. And I didn't even register how, how massive that was at the time being a senior in college. So anyway, obviously, not every story turns out that way. I've made asks that haven't panned out, but I will say it built my confidence. I've stayed in touch with some of those individuals. So I just would say that that would be my final parting thought of put it out there, right? It's not going to happen unless you put yourself out there. Take the risk. Be okay. Be respectful. It's okay if they say no, but it's built something in me where, if somebody is ever at a stage where they're looking to learn more about what I do, I want to be generous with my time, because I benefited so much from networking on the other side of it, and I still do. I mean, the reason I. Started my company is because two mentors approached me and said, Would you consider this? And I'm now working with both of them. They're both clients today, and so would highly recommend that, you know, put yourself out there, network, get to know people, add value, where you can wait.
John Simon Sr. 35:13
What great advice that is. And as you said earlier, it was a five minute interaction you had with someone, and it turned into really a career achievement. Yeah, right, yeah. How
Kelli Schutrop 35:25
many years later, I'm still excited, so excited about that happening and and it also speaks volumes to that person who gave their time, took the took the time, right, right? Like that. Never I could have had the nicest ask him the world and had the best resume on paper, whatever. I mean, I didn't even show him a resume, right? Like he, he, he took the time to make something happen, because he saw a spark of potential in in a young kid, right? Yeah. And so I think that speaks volumes. It
Dina Simon 35:55
does. And so two messages, one, to be prepared when you're in that, like when you're young and you're trying to figure out what you want to do. I love the informational interviews and be ready to make the ass the the internship piece too, like you were interning, like you or, well, you were working in the store, but in that store, I done internships, yeah, and but working in the premiere store that you knew you'd be able to get to network with people so kind of like an internship. But the other is the leaders being able to lean in and provide those amazing experiences for this next generation of people getting into the workforce. There's such a need out there for so I love that story, right? Well,
Kelli Schutrop 36:34
and even those two people that took the time to meet with me, they were five years into their career, and at that time, I mean, I looked at their LinkedIn profiles and thought they had accomplished the entire world by then, you know. And, and thinking back now, they couldn't have been more than 2425 years old, sure, doing cool things. And and having a conversation with someone who is a fresh grad, or not even a fresh grad yet. And then at the end of every conversation, I would say, if I truly was interested, right? I've really enjoyed learning about XYZ. Is there someone else on your team or on a different team that I could learn more about ABC? And they would always say, yeah, let me think about it. And then they'd circle back with an intro, right? And so that's, that's a way to kind of ripple into a company and learn more about it without it feeling transactional or Hi, here's my resume. I'm
Dina Simon 37:23
one of my Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love it. Kelly, we have taken a ton of your time, but this was so amazing. We could talk for hours. I We are just so appreciative that you wanted to be on the podcast. We're so excited about your new business. And just, I know you're busy already, right? Like, so your plate is full and overflowing, because everybody does want to work with you, so I'm very excited about that. Make sure that you give me any of the contact information and stuff that you want me to have out there so people know how to get in touch with you.
Kelli Schutrop 37:52
Wonderful. Thank you, Deena and Don for having me on so fun to connect with you in this venue and just share a few stories and hear your stories too.
Dina Simon 38:01
Yes, it was great. Well, thank you. Great. Thank you. I would like to thank Kelly shutrop for joining us on the podcast. She is the CEO and founder of thoughtful resound, and I've known her for over a decade. We were so excited to have her join us. I'm so excited about her new business adventure, and she's already rocking it, but check her out. I'll make sure in the show notes that you know how to find her. And I wanted just to share a quick story. Recently, I saw Kelly at a women's conference. I had arrived a little bit late because I had had some business meetings in the morning, and I tried to sneak in the side of the ballroom with about 250 women. And Kelly saw me, and she made sure that she found a spot for me. And I love this analogy because it reminds me so much of Kelly. So she wasn't putting this conference on. She was a guest there herself, but she saw me, and she wanted to make sure that I found a seat at the table. And so I love that analogy, because she always is leaning in to support people in life and in their businesses, and she always wants somebody to have a seat at the table. So I love that analogy. And Kelly, I thank you for doing that for me recently. And as always, I'd like to thank my father in law, John Simon, for being my co host. And until we talk again, you.