Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandra Kimball.
Hi Sandra, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born to young parents who wanted to be young. My grandmother stepped in and raised me from day one and that has shaped much of who I am today. We were poor, quite poor. I didn’t always have a jacket or proper fitting shoes, but My Grandmother ensured that I believed that I could do anything I set my mind to.
On the day of her funeral, I learned of the many sacrifices she made for me. Prior to caring for me, she managed the Shamrock Hotel, which was a luxury hotel in Houston catering to the elite and royalty.
In order to care for me, she had to leave that role and began cleaning apartments. When my daycare shut down suddenly at 8 weeks of age, she enlisted the help of some neighbors, who would become like family. For eight years, my time was split between Houston and Mexico City.
I was dreadfully shy as a child. I cried every day of Kindergarten. A girl named Rebecca changed that in third grade. She was a known clepto and I knew when my gifted pillbox was missing that she had taken it. I decided to confront her after school and some have said I never stopped pursuing justice after that day. I found my voice.
We moved that year to a town with less than 2000 people, Flatonia Texas. I felt like such an outsider there. The “city” girl looked, dressed, and spoke differently. The kids hated me until they figured out that I was useful to them because I was an athlete.
Flatonia was a place where kids could roam freely until dark. We explored every square inch of dirt. We rode our bikes the entire perimeter of all the little towns. We learned to dance in old dancehalls and were outnumbered by cattle. These were my formative years and I was raised as much by the town as my aging Grandmother, which was a tremendous blessing because my family was riddled with substance abuse issues and dysfunction.
At 17, I graduated on a Friday and was moved into my apartment, and worked at my new job on Monday. I was eager to start a new chapter. I’d been working on my resume since 16. My job as a typesetter and darkroom technician at the local paper didn’t pay much, but it got me the experience that I needed to get “real jobs” through college.
I had a corner office and designer suits at 19. I managed a region of Texas for the Attorney General’s Property Accounting office. When I traveled to visit my Liaisons, they had to pick me up from the airport because I was too young to rent a car. That was the year my Mom was told she had 6-8 years to live. Work became my escape.
I didn’t know then that I was creative. I was forcing myself to be corporate; working 9-5, planning my retirement in Excel spreadsheets, and looking for affirmation for my hard work. It was terribly unfulfilling, but I was more concerned with security than happiness.
I had some great successes that delayed my realization that I was an entrepreneur at heart. While at KPMG, I joined a team that sealed a $100M investment in the firm from a major telecom company. The high from those types of wins wears off quickly when you’re creative.
In 2000, I met my husband to- be on campus. He ran over me with his bike. We later had our first daughter and I decided to try my hand at real estate. I joined a boutique brokerage and wore all the hats. I remember coming into my Manager’s office with my own cards, stationery, and envelopes that I had designed. She was not happy that I had created my own brand. I was a little ahead of my time.
I studied Multimedia Design but marketing luxury properties was my first real taste of the creative world. I built a website and was one of the first Texas agents to incorporate IDX, which enabled buyers to peruse listings from my page. As a result, I had buyers from all over the globe. I enjoyed the creative side and loved helping people realize their dreams. The money was phenomenal but I spent most waking hours working. I missed out on a lot of life and my husband and I lived two separate lives.
In 2009, I nearly died in childbirth. My Mom had passed four years earlier. Something about that kind of loss changes you. I didn’t want to live “lukewarm” anymore. I was determined to find my passions and live them out every single day.
I spent the next six years working in startups, getting a divorce, and working with horrible CEOs, and amazing mentors. I failed and failed and failed in spite of “outward success”. I could not find my place, but I began to realize my strengths and talents were very unique. I was thrilled to be asked to speak for a conference later that year and even more ecstatic when a Design firm out of Los Angeles offered me a Marketing Partner role as a result. There was one caveat- they wanted me to move to California.
I was dejected. This seemed like such a great fit. I remember going to a Board Meeting and just sulking through it like a child after getting the news. But I soon realized that I had run my own company and could simply do the same thing again – offering marketing services to my network. Within two weeks, I was overwhelmed with work and I LOVED every minute of it.
I always stress to people that their “failures” are merely learning opportunities. During that six-year stint of bad CEOs, I was fortunate enough to be a PR client of PRIME’s not once but twice. I stayed in touch with the Principals and when one left for New York, Nicolia asked me to come on board to run the Marketing side of things.
We immediately had unspoken chemistry where I filled in the gaps for him and vice versa. When I found myself unsure of something, he’d immediately pop into my email with the answer without my even asking. Where I had been missing the public relations aspect in my offering to clients, Nicolia had never been able to offer the wider scope of marketing services that filled out the virtual CMO range needed for the modern company.
PRIME has a reputation as a tech PR firm, which is still accurate. We serve deep tech clients like cybersecurity and AI companies, but we’ve since expanded our clientele to legal, medical, cleantech, AgTech, executive coaching, hospitality, and chemical analysis companies. We even launched a condensed particle accelerator startup!
What I’d been missing in my career was the strategy and my curiosity is constantly satiated because we have to deep dive into these varied industries. I pop out of bed every morning with no alarm before the sun comes up. I hit the boxing gym and I’ve got two hours of work in before most people get to the office.
I haven’t found a new energy drink- I’ve found my passion.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about PRIME PR?
PRIME is known for providing public relations and marketing services to deep tech clients, but we are truly in the business of transformation companies.
Today, we are the virtual CMO for over a dozen companies including legal, medical, AgTech, CleanTech, Cybersecurity, Hospitality, and consumer service industries. We provide everything marketing from conception to acquisition. We serve startups to Fortune 100 companies. Every day is different and every day is a total blast.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Get Backed – Baehr Loomis; Brand Bible – Debbie Milman;
Brand Under Fire – Hunt;
Joe Rogan podcast
Pricing:
- From $125/Hr, referral only
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.prime-techpr.com
- Instagram: @sandrahkimball
