Meet Kai Cromwell | Founder of New Seas

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

Hi Kai, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Growing up, I’d always wanted to start my own business, but truthfully I’d never thought it would be THIS business. I started a small fashion brand in college, a fun introduction, before heading to graduate school. But funny enough, I actually dropped out of grad school 3 months later – I realized I no longer wanted to study oceanography.

I had been learning SEO on the side for a few months, and started to apply for jobs with my undergraduate degree (GIS & Geoscience) as well as in SEO. A few hundred applications later, I landed myself a Junior SEO position at a small marketing agency. After just 10 days, my manager quit & I was promoted (with just 10 days of real experience in the field). Fast forward another 2 weeks, COVID-19 happened, forcing us to go remote. Over the next few months, I came to realize that I didn’t care for the way my company operated and I wanted to explore other industries.

I reached out to a family friend who put me in touch with one of their old friends, a fellow SEO. We freelanced together for about 2 years, working on everything from personal brands for Fortune 500 CEOs to the world’s top dating coach to renowned fitness influencers.

But around the 2 year mark, we started to grow apart – I wanted to do even more, not just in business but in life as well. I boarded a plane to Europe to continue freelancing, surf, and explore the world. At some point on my flight, I got this idea that “Hey, I now have all of this SEO & business operations experience – maybe I should start my own company!” I was starting a new life as I traveled for the next 9 months, why not also start a new career path?

I spent the next 9 months traveling through 13 countries, surfing & playing volleyball, and working as much as I could to grow the business. Though I learned a ton from my first agency job and my freelancing gig, I always wanted to be the best SEO I could be, not just earn a paycheck. And that’s really been the guiding principle behind my SEO agency, New Seas, to be the best eCommerce SEO agency in the world.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
New Seas is an eCommerce SEO agency that works exclusively with Shopify brands. Our clients range from $5m-$50m in annual revenue and exist in all kinds of niches from women’s accessories to health supplements and outdoor luxury furniture to makeup equipment. SEO is a bit of a black box, many brands simply don’t understand how it all works. That being said, I’ve made it a top priority to operate with 100% transparency, ensuring they know what’s going on every step of the way. Agencies of all kinds tend to get a bad reputation, and for good reason. But with regular communication & transparent practices, I’ve managed to break that stigma with our brands. In the past 14 months of our existence, we’ve only parted ways with a single client – I’m focused on building years-long relationships with brands to help them grow. And finally, I don’t want to work with 100+ brands, I’m much more interested in a boutique approach with just a handful of brands, where I personally work with founders and their teams.

As funny as it sounds, I owe most of my success to Twitter/X. Since September 2022, I’ve amassed 6.5k followers on the platform and I’ve signed every single brand as a direct result of my presence on there. It’s frustrating to grow a social media presence, and it took many months before things started to come to fruition. Everyone (including me) expects overnight success in business, which simply isn’t going to be the case. I didn’t make any money for the first 6 months of my business, and then suddenly around that time, everything I’d been doing seemed to fall into place at once.

Off that same point, I’ve learned that success in practically any field is simply the number of inputs/reps over a given period of time. If I complete 10 tasks for 1 week straight, I’ve only added about 70 inputs. But if I do those same 10 tasks for 6 months straight, I’ve added about 1800 inputs, giving me a much higher chance of success. The same can be said for lifting weights or playing a sport, the more you practice, the better you’ll be.

As far as what I want the world to know about my brand & story, I don’t consider myself to be all that special. I just showed up every day for months and continued to put the work in, and now I’m only just starting to reap the benefits. I’d also like to say that while building a business has been difficult, it’s also one of the most rewarding & teachable experiences I’ve ever had. If you ever want to find out what you’re made of, go build a business – it’s a true test of character to show up even when nothing’s going right.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I spend most of my time in South Bay so Hermosa Beach & Manhattan Beach are top of my list. We’d grab food along the beach, then walk the boardwalk between the two piers, and finish off with some drinks at Shellback’s Tavern. For a night out, I would take anyone to Main St. in the Venice/Santa Monica area. Given a few extra days, I’d venture further into the city – Koreatown and Hollywood are two of my favorite neighborhoods with amazing food & culture. I’m also an avid concertgoer, specifically house & bass music, so there’d have to be a stop at Academy, Exchange, or Shrine on some night.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Building a business is not everything it’s cracked up to be. Most of the time, especially early on, you’re working 14+ hours, incredibly stressed, and regularly losing sleep. I spent much of this alone because I was solo traveling, but I talked to my parents nearly every day and they supported me every step of the way, encouraging me to continue going even when I thought about giving up. They’ve been an invaluable part of my success and I’m eternally grateful for that mentorship & support.

I’d also like to give a shoutout to an organization called Client Ascension, an incredibly well-built community of other young agency owners & entrepreneurs. I learned a ton from them, but the community aspect truly was the best part. Within minutes of sending a message or connecting with someone, we could learn from each other, promoting a sense of camaraderie that simply can’t be matched. Each of us went through the highs & lows of the process together, and the knowledge that someone else was either also going through it or had already been through it provided a calming sense amidst all of the chaos, profit-less months, and sleepless nights.

Website: https://newseas.co

Instagram: kaicromwell

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-cromwell/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaiCromwell

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@searchkaicromwell/