Photograph ByALIENATED PRODUCTIONSKelli MaxwellEmber Marketing Group | founder16
Since Kelli Maxwell was little, she knew that shewanted to be her own boss, but she wasn’t surehow. “Defiant” is what the adults that raised Kelliwould describe her as. She comes from a Montanaranch family with a strong work ethic and entrepreneurialspirit. She worked for a financial firm for tenyears and in that time, she worked her way into theposition of marketing director. She also discovered thatshe had a talent and love for marketing, but insuranceis boring and old-school advertising methods likenewspaper and local tv were on their way out. Kellididn’t feel fulfilled. It was during this time that shecreated her first company, Ever After Events, APrincess Party company, where Kelli and her teamwould dress up as popular princess characters andperform at birthday parties and events. This is whereKelli’s gift for working with people and creatingauthentic content blossomed. She started taking onseveral freelance clients and decided to quit herfull-time job and make the leap to starting her agency.So, Kelli founded Ember Marketing Group, whichspecializes in Authentic Brand Amplification. Creatingvideos and content tailored to each client, the agencyhandles all aspects of digital marketing from contentcreation to ads, copy, and PR. In the last year, Kellifounded another brand of her business, Ember Marketingthe Group. This organization is designed forstart-ups and small businesses with no marketingbudget. A subscription-based private group, it providesknowledge, tips, and action items to market start-ups aswell as one on one monthly strategy sessions with eachmember.Helping Clients to GrowAccording to Kelli, Ember Marketing Group workswith clients from every industry. From custom epoxyfloors to home builders to realtors to gyms to pharmaciesand coffee companies and more. Kelli takes pridein working with PEOPLE. She sees first-hand that somany agencies just offer cookie-cutter marketingpackages and create generic industry-related content,without even getting to know their clients. EmberMarketing Group focuses on spending so muchtime with its clients that Kelli and her team canauthentically market them and their companythrough videos, photos, captions, and copy that isperfectly on brand for them. All of the marketinggroup’s packages are customized to each client’sspecific needs and brand. The agency has continuedto grow and expand along with services andplatforms such as TikTok. Ember Marketing Groupdoesn’t believe in locking people into contracts;Kelli prefers to let her work speak for itself asproven by her track record. Once a client signs onwith the company, they don’t leave, in fact most ofher client base has been with her since the agency’sinception. The agency does an exceptional jobgoing above and beyond for each client and positioningthem as THE expert of what they do,through the content it produces for them.“ Photo by Niko Cordero Gallegos ”Tackling ChallengesPersonally, Kelli’s biggest challenge was learninghow to delegate and manage her time to ensure thatit is spent doing what she is best at, which includesmeeting with people, strategizing, and filming withher clients. She had to fill in the holes on thebackend for bookkeeping, social media management,processes, and systems to grow. She currentlyhas two independent contractors on her team andone full-time employee. As an agency, she foundher biggest challenge was the huge disconnectbetween the established businesses that can afford17
Change language