04 · OMG Kenny — Kenneth Alford

You're out here throwing paint at the wall. I help you turn it into a Picasso.

Operations, marketing, funding, deals: I work with creatives and business owners closing the gap between the work and what the work earns.

OMG Kenny

The Route

St. Louis

I got exposed to Rich Dad Poor Dad at 19. My grandfather had actually handed me that book back in high school, before I was ready for it. When I finally read it, it exposed my mind to business: big business, small business, the cash flow quadrant, all of it. I spent my whole 20s going into every part of it, from the marketing side to the operations side. Partly because it was fun. And partly because I saw what it means, especially for the Black community: in order for us to build wealth, we have to have our own and build our own.

Detroit

The tech side started back in St. Louis. I'm the kid, maybe 12 or 13, who took his computer apart to move a DVD drive from one machine to another, because it was fun. My grandpa gave me a computer and showed me one time how to get into the BIOS, and I was off. But I kept that side of me in the dark. Moving to Detroit in the middle of junior year took me out of that environment, and that's where I learned to cultivate it and embrace it instead of hiding it. Back then, being into tech and business wasn't the cool thing. I became the tech and business guy by honestly learning to love myself.

Now

So here's what you get with me now: somebody who spent years reading the books, listening to the interviews, and testing things on my own businesses first. In a room with a funder or a brand, I can talk margins, deliverables, rights, and renewals. With you, I talk straight. Maybe I can't hand you a million dollars. But I can help you start and have everything in place that would allow you to get there.

What I Do

Grants & Funding

Most people hear about a grant nine days before the deadline and try to become fundable overnight. I help you get ready ahead of time: find the programs that actually fit what you're doing, shape the story and the budget so they agree with each other, and submit something a reviewer can actually say yes to.

Brand Partnerships & Deals

A brand deal isn't just a check with a logo on it. It's a contract. I read the parts that cost people money later: rights, deliverables, exclusivity, renewal terms. Then I negotiate for the version of you that's going to exist three years from now, not just the one signing today.

Business & Operations

A stressed-out business is usually an owner doing random things all week with no real structure or strategy behind it. I come in and ask: what's the goal? Then we reverse engineer everything from there, pricing, offers, the workflow between somebody being interested and the money being in your account, so you're focused on the things with the highest impact.

Marketing & Promotion

Everybody asks how to get more eyes on their stuff. I think that's the wrong question, because eyes don't pay invoices. Buyers do. I like to test small first, $10, $50, $200, see what sticks, then double down on what's actually working instead of burning money on noise.

How I Work

If any of that sounds like your situation, here's what working with me is actually like.

Questions first: I don't show up with a package. I show up with questions: what's the goal, what are you trying to accomplish? I'm not emotionally attached to your business, so I can usually see the pattern you're too close to see.
Constructive, always: If you just want somebody who will agree with you, I'm not your guy. You'll get constructive criticism from me, because that's the thing that actually grows a business.
Scared money don't make no money: You'll probably lose in business more times than you win, and the wins make up for the losses. If you're afraid to take a chance or test something, we probably won't work well together.
In practice: One of my clients, an author and publisher, had a dozen ideas going at once. We set quarterly goals so we always knew what we were working toward. She started coordinating and delegating better, and she still runs that way today. That's what structure does.

Start the Conversation

Tell me what you're working on and where you're trying to go. I read every message myself. The first call is a real working session: we look at your actual situation, and you'll leave knowing your next move whether we end up working together or not. If I'm not the right person to help, I'll tell you that straight up. Let's talk.

Or email hello@omgkenny314.com