How to Turn Your Media Experience Into a Celeb Brand-Building Powerhouse

After almost 20 years as an employee at media companies like Condé Nast and Time Inc. (and later on lifestyle brand Goop), Kimberly Kreuzberger knew it was time to move into the next phase in her career. She had constructed a strong foundation of building brand value and generating major revenue for other brands and, combining this with her innate personality traits of grit and creativity, she was ready to bet on herself and take a leap. And she’s been flying ever since. After taking on the role of chief revenue officer at Goop and launching major initiatives, like their first-ever annual wellness event—In Goop Health—Kreuzberger founded Pivot Projects, a consulting company focused on scaling celebrity lifestyle brands. The company has more than taken off—a proud business moment includes turning Chrissy Teigen’s editorial blog into a seamless e-commerce experience for readers converted into shoppers. Her clients have been referrals from agents and managers who see value in building a business around their talent, but who also recognize a need for operational support, revenue generation and financial modeling. ADWEEK: How did you get to where you are today? Kreuzberger: American Cheerleader Magazine was my “big break.” It was my first job in New York City and I was determined to prove my worth. My first assignment was selling the Coach’s Handbook, the Yellowbook distributed to 10,000 cheer coaches across the US for free. I spent many late nights cold calling cheer gyms, mat companies and uniform manufacturers trying to sell them an enhanced listing, which included a logo and 30 words of text for $125. I ended up selling over $100K in ad listings, with full-page ads from national advertisers. I exceeded the ad revenue for this project by 10x. This was one example of grit, hard work and relentless creativity, which has become my playbook as a business owner. In your role, you’re constantly jumping into the unknown/new territory for your clients … what advice can you offer on having (and exuding) the confidence to do so? Take risks and trust your gut. We live in unprecedented times right now and we all have to embrace challenges and lean in. I move fast and am super straightforward. At the end of the day, it’s about creating change to achieve business goals. In my business, I do not focus on making “friends” with A-list talent—I am laser-focused on building value and earning their respect through performance. A relationship with the talent will come over time. What’s one piece of work from your career that you’re the proudest of? Converting Cravings by Chrissy Teigen (the editorial site/ blog) into an e-commerce site was a very proud moment. When you are working with a celebrity that speaks to 50 million readers daily, it's really hard to plan for a DTC launch. I was paranoid about the site crashing and sales being compromised due to tech/ e-commerce issues. We tested thousands of bots hitting the site at the same second to prepare for the launch announcement, but you never know until you hit go. The site launch was a major success—the site did not crash (phew), we received very positive feedback on the site design and product assortment and the Cravings followers went from readers to shoppers with a seamless e-commerce experience. What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken? I have spent almost two decades building IP, brand value and topline revenue for other businesses. Betting on myself and building Pivot has been a calculated risk but liberating—I finally get to select clients and projects I want to work on, embrace new challenges and build long-lasting partnerships. Take risks and trust your gut. As a business, we’re always listening and changing course and that’s the beauty of Pivot. The variety of working with different clients has been refreshing. Building ‘In Goop Health’ [annual wellness summit] was a massive undertaking and I remember telling GP "I'm either going to be fired or promoted, pending how this event goes.” The event and the ongoing summits were a major success—they fostered a community for the Goop readers, allowed Goop experts to meet the reader/ customer base (in multiple locations) and created demand for media partners. What’s one way you’ve invested in yourself within the past year? An hour alone each day has been a game-changer. It allows me to reset and keep going. A long bath, a solo mani/pedi, or a 1-hour session with my healer (very LA of me to mention my healer). How do you view work-life integration, especially now, and what advice can you share with others who may be struggling with it? There’s no perfect answer and it’s very fluid. I’m a “work in progress” as maintaining balance is an ongoing struggle. I try to listen to my body and I’m very aware when I need to take a step back. The work-life integration looks different for everyone, but my only advice: ask for help … it’s impossible to balance it all without a support system. That includes my family (especially my husband), my best friends, my babysitter and my stay-at-home friends that always look out for me. What’s the single best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Lead with radical candor. Be direct and straightforward. Put your ego aside—build trust, respect and value. The rest will follow. What does success mean for you? A community—success to me is not linear. It’s complex and interconnected by so many things. Success means lifting people around me. I’m beyond thankful for my mentors and people who have believed in me and it motivates me to do the same. ‘Real Change Requires a Movement, Not a Moment’—NHL EVP on Diversity in Hockey