Meet Kristine McPherson | Brand Consultant and Marketer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristine McPherson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristine, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure” by Marianne Williamson. When I was in high school, one of my counselors spoke this to me and reminded me to not dim my light. From her perspective, I was holding back on how great I could be in order to be still be in the same space as my peers. I have carried this quote with me throughout life and it has applied to so many situations. It has reminded me to think less about not being able to accomplish things, but think about how great it can be if I just tried. What if things turned out amazing beyond imagination. You won’t know until you push past that initial fear.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started working right after grad school. I remember doing interviews during the last few weeks of school and being excited to get started. My first day at work, I was pulled aside by one of the managing partners at the agency and she gave me so much encouragement by saying “when I saw your resume, I was excited to know this is the type of talent we are attracting.” I was very excited to know that someone else saw something before I had a chance to see it in myself, but it also reminded be that there is no reason to be small. Sometimes, we hold accomplishments to ourselves because it is for no one else, but at the start of my career, this was absolutely a great kickstart. This, similar to the quote, stays with me throughout the years as I have tried and failed and tried and failed and did it some more. During my internship at Wieden+Kennedy, I saw the infamous “Fail Harder” wall and realized, you are allowed to make mistakes or end up in wrong situations because you learn more about yourself, about your capacity to handle situations and of course, about what you didn’t get right so you can correct it and move on. At this level, I know how to accept and be proud of these failures because without those, I wouldn’t be here today.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love the Baldwin Hills Overlook. I’m from Brooklyn, NY where hiking meant walking to the train. Now that I am in LA, I am doing my best to take advantage of the hills and valleys and making outside workouts more of a thing. Pacific Palisades also has a few good hikes that I have been doing over time.

LA is a good starting point but I have also taken an Amtrak up to Santa Barbara, a car ride down to San Diego, a weekend trip to Palm Springs and still know that there is so much more to see.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In my first read of Unmistakable: Why Only Is Better Than Best by Srinivas Rao, I learned so much I had to go back and read it a second time. In short, when you are the only person who is able to do something, meaning that you have something unique and special to you, you become a commodity. Being the best only lasts for so long because there can always be someone or something better, but when you are the only, you become the person people need to go to and that keeps you at the top if the list. This book also showed me various ways to look at situations, forcing me to think outside of the box when purposely choosing a more difficult choice and giving myself no other option than to make it work. This way of thinking stretches you beyond your comfort zone as opposed to choosing the easier and more palatable route. It has pushed me to think about situations from many perspectives and expand my belief that I am able to make things happen.

Website: www.kristinemcpherson.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seenaskristine/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristine-mcpherson-88168716/