June Check-In: On a Personal Note...

get to know us

Jun 16, 2026

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Hi! It’s a big month for us. Behind the scenes, we’ve been working on a little refresh and we’re excited to share that registration to the All You Need Membership is officially open.

As we enter year three of our Membership, we’ve been taking a deep dive into our members and have to say: we are pretty darn proud of the community we’ve built. The lifestyle brands, creators, and creative businesses inside the Membership are based all over the country and even globally. They’re doing partnerships with brands like Clare V. and Weezie Towels, landing press in magazines including Garden & Gun, Rue, and Apartment Therapy, starting Substacks, and growing impressive Instagram followings. We can’t wait to see who else will join us!

As we move forward into an exciting new chapter, we wanted to use this Check-In to introduce ourselves in a more personal way. We hope you enjoy reading about how we got here, and we’d love for you to introduce yourself in the comments.

Keep reading for a June Action Item, Quick Tip and more about us (including a fun “Take Ten” with our favorite food and drinks).

Kathryn & Carla

p.s. Please “Heart” this post! It helps other small business owners and creators find it.

Stay Visible This Summer

There are many opportunities to stay top of mind this summer with your customers and audience, even if they (and you) are traveling or outside of a normal routine. Instead of pressing pause over the next few months, create and stick to a simple plan that helps you build momentum going into the fall/holiday season.

Inside our free Summer Momentum Series we are sharing short video lessons, worksheets and a replay of our Summer Momentum Workshop and Q&A. For full access to the series, sign up here.

Slide Into DMs

If there is a brand or content creator you’d like to partner with, don’t be afraid to DM them. Sometimes a direct message is the easiest way to connect and get a response. The key is to keep your DM short and to the point, always personalize it with a first name, and mention something specific about why you’d like to collaborate with them. Authenticity goes a long way when it comes to securing partnerships.

Allow Us to Reintroduce Ourselves

Instead of our usual member spotlight, we wanted to share a little about our story and how we got here.

We both have established careers in communications, but with different skillsets and areas of focus. Carla has 20+ years of experience in communications strategy and entrepreneurship, working with startups and brands including Williams-Sonoma, Mattel, Airbnb, Amazon, and IDEO, among many others. She has worked in-house, on the agency side, and has built her own consulting practice (twice).

Kathryn has 15 years of experience in PR and marketing across lifestyle, home, and fashion. She has worked both in-house and alongside founders to build brands from the ground up, develop influencer programs, and develop messaging and content strategy. She worked on the global social media team at Gap, and is the founder of KWH Creative where she supports emerging lifestyle brands.

We first met in New York in the late 2000s. After college graduation, Kathryn moved to New York and lined up an interview with Carla for a position at her PR firm. A former colleague (who is still a mutual friend) connected us when Carla was hiring, and Kathryn joined Carla at CMN PR.

Our careers and lives took us down different paths and moves to different cities - Carla to San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Kathryn to Houston - but we always stayed close and in touch.

Like many people, the pandemic became an unexpected turning point for us. In 2020, founders, creators, and small business owners in our networks began reaching out with the same questions: Where should I focus right now? How do I transition to a digital-first business? What should I be posting to social media? How do I get press?

Our first move was to create a digital course that covered the fundamentals of building a brand and getting started with PR. People loved it. But the more we listened, the more we realized what people really needed wasn't just information. They needed ongoing support, structure, and community.

That’s how the All You Need Membership came to be. It’s an annual program and community for founders, creators, and lifestyle brands who want to grow through PR, partnerships, and content. Instead of an online course you take and forget, the Membership gives you a community working alongside you, real-time feedback and gut checks, quarterly planning sessions that allow you to work ahead, and monthly lessons and resources that are designed to go at your own pace.

We’ve had such a positive response to the Membership, and we are so proud of the community we’ve built. It’s still just the beginning, and we can’t wait to see what is next.

And on a fun, personal note, sharing our “Take Ten” from our Ariel Okin interview.

Take Ten: Our Favorites…

Food:

Kathryn: It’s impossible for me to choose one! If you go out to eat with me I will want to order everything and share. French fries with mayo always make me happy.

Carla: I share Kathryn’s enthusiasm for food. : ) I recently traveled to Italy for the international Truffle Festival in Alba and that was an incredible experience. I love to eat locally wherever I go, whether that’s tacos in Houston, escargot in Paris, or fresh seafood in Rhode Island in the summers. I also love a good burger!

Drink:

Kathryn: French red wine or an extra dirty Tito’s martini (extra dirty, extra dry, extra snacks)

Carla: Organic wine, a spritz on a sunny afternoon, or Tito’s martini (straight up with a twist)

Film:

Kathryn: You’ve Got Mail

Carla: Troop Beverly Hills

Hotel:

Kathryn: Predi Son Jaumell in Mallorca

Carla: My neighborhood gem is The Proper Hotel in Santa Monica

City:

Kathryn: London

Carla: a tie between Paris and Rome. Stockholm and Milan are a close second.

Bedding:

Kathryn: Parachute sateen sheets, and Biscuit printed shams.

Carla: Simple white organic cotton sheets layered with a chic blanket, extra pillows, and a cozy throw in fun colors and patterns. I currently have a print from the Matouk Schumacher collection in my bedroom and it brings me joy.

Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it):

Kathryn: black coffee in the morning, a whole milk flat white in the afternoon, and turmeric ginger tea in the evening

Carla: I dream of drinking Italian coffee everyday. It just tastes better! When I’m home in the states it’s black coffee with coconut milk or an almond milk cappuccino with cinnamon.

Playlist:

Kathryn: my dinner party playlist

Carla: My music is all over the place. I simply cannot sit still if I hear any 90’s

Hip hop or rap, 80’s jams, jazz, The Temptations, Abba, I love oldies. Taylor Swift, Whitney Houston, Madonna, and the list goes on.

Weekend Activity:

Kathryn: walking to get croissants and coffee with Jim and Annie

Carla: Beach walks with my dog Sunny and going to my favorite pilates class.

Design Book:

Kathryn: Beata Heuman: Every Room Should Sing

Carla: The Big Book of Chic