Lately CEO Kate Bradley Chernis is very aware of the boys’ club attitudes that have dominated not only her work in tech, but also her career as a Rock ‘n Roll DJ. But none of the roadblocks in her way have stopped her from putting on her Formula 1 helmet and racing through and around those roadblocks. In her conversation with Claudia, a.k.a. Ms. Copywriter, who is no foreigner to the barriers that many minorities and women face in the workforce, Kately reveals what pushed her to launch Lately, some of Lately’s secret tips, and how women can find themselves on the podium of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Is there anything worse than having your friend complain, on a near thirty-second-basis, how much they hate their job? To her dismay, Kately found herself becoming that person. As bad as it might be for your poor friends who have to hear you whine day in and day out about your ridiculous workload, annoying boss, and poor salary, it is even worse for you. Kately was struggling with these dilemmas when her dad gave her some advice. Taking her by the shoulders, he said, “You can’t work for other people, and there’s no shame in that.” For people who struggle to work under others, there is another option for you: Do your own thing! And here’s some more advice: don’t start tomorrow, or next year, or once you finally feel like you can. Start right now. Don’t plan, just do something.
That’s how Kately found herself marketing for huge corporations alongside small and medium nonprofits. What did she learn? That there were huge marketing no-nos going on across all these businesses. But with Kately’s help (and her magical, gigantic spreadsheets), she was able to get the companies a 130% Return on Investment (ROI) year over year, for the years she worked with them. And while Kately’s spreadsheets were undoubtedly helpful, she knew, with the help of some colleagues, that there was an even smarter way to do it. And that brings us to Lately.
At Lately, we want to organize. We want to organize your analytics, your calendar, your taglines, your everything. But hey, we know that doesn’t sound sexy. Just like it doesn’t sound sexy when your new boyfriend offers to get the brakes on your car fixed. But if he distracts you with a champagne toast, and gets your brakes fixed in the meantime, the next time you start up that engine, mechanics have somehow become the sexiest thing. So that’s what we’re doing. Our champagne toast is our Autogenerator, which generates tons of social posts from longform content so you can get more Tweets, posts, and comments out there. Behind the scenes we’re organizing all of your marketing. Should we dim the lights now?
Whether you’re a marketer, work at a marketing agency, or a CEO who knows what’s good for them, Lately can help you find patterns and track that can help you grow. At $50 a month, Lately is the easiest tool for you to build your company and keep your marketing on the right track.
Sadly, it’s no surprise that while startup life is always hard, it’s always a lot harder for women and minorities. With only 2% of funding going to female founders, you can’t blame people for getting disenfranchised. But that’s no reason to give up. Investors invest in people, not just companies. Even though women are incredibly intuitive, often we don’t listen to our guts, for fear of being wrong or mocked. If you’re a woman to likes to go with your gut, surround yourself with empirical colleagues who can help keep you on the right track.
As for Kately’s advice for women entrepreneurs, especially in the tech field? “Be authentic, confident, and speak the truth.” Kately’s authentic self is a cowboot-wearing, makeup-less woman who swears on a basis that would get her dropped from most news shows. But when you’re comfortable and confident with who you are, and don’t change yourself, you are giving room for other entrepreneurs to do the same. And as for speaking the truth, Kately is not afraid to call it like it is. When a potential investor falls asleep not once, but twice in a meeting (cough, cough, RUDE) he’s for sure going to hear about it. Why is that important? “I don’t want the next person in line to have to deal with it,” Kately says. In an industry where women can be unsupported by men, Kately is making sure the next time a female founder goes into a meeting with that man, at the very least he’ll think twice before taking a nap.
