Meet Team Kinsta: Head of Growth Jesse

Pro tip: just because you don't land the job you applied for doesn't mean the door is closed. Read on to see how our Head of Growth Jesse Luimes turned a 'no' into a 'yes,' the tools she used to prepare to take on a manager position, and why 70% is the magic number when it comes to job hunting.

Tell us about your Kinsta journey: how did you get started in your field, and what brought you here??

My career has had a few twists along the way.?

I originally studied classical music at university, but during my master's, I realized I much preferred promoting my performances to playing in them. After graduating, I immediately worked on finding a way to pivot into marketing. I started by doing marketing and communications for classical music-related companies to get a foot in the door. And since one of my previous employers was a university, I was able to enroll in a bunch of evening classes in marketing and PR for free.

I wanted to break into tech because of how innovative and fast-paced the industry is. After stumbling upon Kinsta on weworkremotely.com, I knew the company culture, focus on people, and dedication to quality was something I wanted to be a part of.?

The only role available in marketing at the time was Marketing Assistant and though I was too experienced, I applied anyway to get my name in the door. The interview process was a joy, and while I was unsuccessful in this role, I was glad to keep in touch with the hiring managers after the fact.?

A few months later, I was presented with the opportunity to become Growth Content Marketing Specialist and I couldn’t have said yes faster. Nowadays, I’m Head of Growth at Kinsta.?

I’ve been at Kinsta for almost 1.5 years and the whole experience has been incredible.

What are the main responsibilities of your role?

The marketing department at Kinsta is critical to the growth and success of our company. As the Head of Growth, my focus is split between centralizing all of our lead generation strategies and leading a team that is focused on creating demand, increasing brand awareness, and optimizing our website. The growth team is filled to the brim with talented marketers who cover paid ads, social media, PR, email marketing, lead generation, affiliate marketing, content creation, and more!

What’s been the best part about working at Kinsta??

Hands down, it’s the people. Everyone is incredibly kind, knowledgeable, and will bend over backward to help you out. Not only that, but you can find Kinstanians on all continents except Antarctica, meaning everyone has unique stories, traditions, and skills. It’s a really interesting group!

And of course, I’d be crazy not to mention the remote aspect. I’ve always dreamed of being able to work for a company where I could travel and work at the same time, and with Kinsta’s flexibility and unlimited PTO, it’s now possible! I haven’t gone full digital nomad, but moving somewhere for 1-3 month increments is always on the back of my mind.

Shameless plug - if these benefits speak to you, check out our careers page . We’re always hiring!

How did you prepare to step into a leadership role? Were there any conversations you had or books you read that were particularly helpful??

Moving into the Head of Growth role was both exciting and nerve-wracking. I had management experience prior to Kinsta, but my teams were always made up of part-time students who more or less performed the same role. This was the first time I had the opportunity to manage a group of 6 full-time team members who each provided expertise in different areas of marketing.

I wish I had a more thoughtful answer on my preparation but I basically just read every article I could find on management and growth marketing.

I’m also grateful to have had a lot of good managers during my career whom I can continually look up to for advice and mentorship. Kinsta’s VP of Marketing Andrea Zoellner had a lot of great book recommendations like “Thanks for the Feedback” by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen and “Inclusive Conversations” by Mary-Frances Winters. Kinsta’s HR team also puts on monthly leadership workshops to help managers develop their skills in feedback, team building, engagement, motivation, performance management, and more. In summary, every resource I could possibly need is within reach. ??

Another shameless plug - Kinsta’s Reverse Engineered podcast is filled with advice. The episode with Cory Miller (“Why You Should Strive to Make People’s Lives Awesome”) and Brad Miller (“Creating Great Culture is Key to Business Growth”) are especially interesting to those in management roles.

Thinking back to your first month in your current position, were there any major highlights or challenges that you faced??

Working at Kinsta has been a career highlight in general but moving into my new role felt extra special.?

One of my favorite parts of this new role is being able to interact with more team members on a weekly basis. There was probably a circle of around 10 people that I would frequently work with within my previous role, but that number has grown significantly since. As I mentioned earlier, Kinsta’s people are next level so this is definitely a highlight for me.?

As for challenges, there were two main ones I faced moving from being a member of Kinsta’s Growth Team to managing Kinsta’s Growth Marketing team.?

First, the number of projects I was now involved with seemingly doubled overnight. While I found it tough to wrap my head around them at first, I’m lucky to be able to rely on Kinsta’s rockstar project manager Serena Wu, our in-depth documentation, and VP of Marketing Andrea Zoellner for any questions or concerns I had.

And then, of course, there’s that pesky imposter syndrome. It’s can be easy to fall into the mindset that your promotion was all a mistake and that you’re not deserving of your job, especially when faced with new challenges. My best advice would be to realize that this feeling is more common than you think. Talk to your manager or a trusted colleague. Focus on the facts, validate your past achievements, and reframe your thinking. And remember that it’s impossible to know everything. Learning new skills and growing as a person is involved in every role so give yourself a break. ?? ?

What advice would you give to your younger self?

There are two things I would want my younger self to know:?

#1 - I used to think that when applying for a new job, you had to have at least 95% of the required skills and experience they’re looking for. So in the past, even when I found really cool jobs that I felt I could grow into, this mindset prevented me from applying. Now I understand that a job description acts more like a wish list and if you have ~70% of the skills and an eagerness to learn, that’s more than enough. Take a chance and apply. :)?

#2 - Write down your personal and career goals. I always thought the concept was silly until I tried it on a whim. Not only are goals nice to reflect on, but writing them down helps you see the journey ahead of you, stay on track, and make decisions. For instance, if you want to be Director of Inbound Marketing at X company in X years, you can work out what experience and skills you’ll need to have and how to get there. Don’t get me wrong, reaching your goals is still challenging, but at least the challenge is more organized.?

What’s something you accomplished recently that you’re proud of? (Work or personal)?

I’m still a beginner but I’m excited to be working on a new skill: tap dancing! I didn’t grow up doing dance but I’ve always found the artistry to be beautiful. And as a huge musical theatre fan, tap dancing seemed like the first genre to tackle. My goal is to work up to one of my favorite Broadway tap numbers but I think I’m still at least 1-2 years away from that.???