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by Colleen Kowalski on October 14, 2022
October is National Women’s Small Business Month. Exit Planning Institute partners with many businesses owned and operated by women. To celebrate Women’s Small Business Month, we will be highlighting some of the small businesses and women who work with Exit Planning Institute.
Today, we are highlighting Kiley Peters. Kiley is Founder and Executive Coach at RAYNE IX and Founder and CEO at Brainchild Studios. Kiley is also a CEPA and a member of the EPI Faculty. Her course, Marketing for the Professional Advisor Masterclass is available in EPI Academy. Kiley Peters also provides the EPI Marketing Team with strategy and marketing analytics workshops. She is also a member of the organizing committee for our inaugural Women in Exit Planning Symposium which will take place May 24, 2023, in Scottsdale, Arizona after our 2023 Exit Planning Summit.
Meet Kiley Peters:
Kiley Peters is the Founder and CEO of the international award-winning Brainchild Studios, the thought leadership marketing partner for visionaries with big dreams and lean teams. She founded RAYNE IX, an executive coaching and consulting company for service-based small business owners and exit planning advisors. She also created the Work From Home Playbook, a series of online courses guiding aspiring entrepreneurs through the steps of starting a virtual business.
As a serial entrepreneur and national speaker, with over a decade of industry experience, she has worked on digital marketing strategies for over 100 brands ranging from small businesses to global enterprises. Her primary areas of expertise include small business consultation, digital content strategy, and consumer behavior research and analysis.
She is a Faculty Member at Exit Planning Institute (EPI), an Adjunct Professor at Marquette University, a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), and holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from Marquette University and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Who are your female role models?
One of my role models is Sarah Blakely, Owner/Founder of Spanx. She’s a total inspiration. She bootstrapped her way up, she did it her way, she seems super grounded, she’s dedicated to supporting women in business and women and general, and she seems super fun. I think we should be best friends.
Another role model of mine is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The original badass. I took her passing really hard because she paved so many paths for equality that never existed before. Our lives are fundamentally different and have more opportunities than they did before she fought tooth and nail for them. I commonly ask myself, “What would Ruth do?” when in difficult situations. She is a constant beacon of light guiding my heart.
Finally, Paige Peters, my little sister, is my role model. She’s also an entrepreneur and engineer innovating technology that can save people’s lives. I’m so incredibly proud of her every day and I strive to make her proud in return.
How have you been mentored by your managers or bosses to get to where you are today?
I have had many amazing mentors, both men and women, over the years and I’m incredibly grateful to all of them and each lesson they’ve taught me. A few memorable lessons include “Don’t forget, we’re all replaceable,” “You look young, you have to dress older so you’re taken more seriously,” and “Slow down.” And my mom always taught us to not care what anyone else thought. Which has probably played a larger role in my life than I even realize.
How have you acted as a mentor for young women?
It’s a personal goal of mine to support as many women, especially women entrepreneurs, as possible. I am a mentor at the Wisconsin Women’s Business Corporation (WWBIC). I also founded the Brainchild Fund to support women business owners and entrepreneurs in 2020. I run a company that is largely comprised of women and try to find ways to encourage and grow them on a daily basis. And I have taken a few women under my wing and always keep a watchful eye on them, providing them guidance on business and entrepreneurship as they’re working their way through starting their own businesses.
What do you wish someone had told you before you entered the business world?
Don’t try to find a seat at the table. Build your own.
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