Meet Pernille Kjeldsen | PR & Partnership Director

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

Hi Pernille, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk has played a huge role in most of my life and career. I’m the kind of person that acts upon my feelings and desires more than being rational and logical, which is not always a good thing. But it has brought me to where I am today, which I’m grateful for. To me risk taking is a necessary part of my life. I have so many dreams and goals I want to achieve, so risk taking is just an inevitable part of it. Even though I know by taking a risk that it can end up failing, I also know that it will teach me a lesson and keep me from doing the same thing again. Sometimes it means learning the hard way but the personal growth I experience ends up being worth it. I’d rather live my life like this, a bit like a rollercoaster, than being stuck in the same place both physically and mentally. The biggest risk I’ve taken so far was when I moved to LA from Denmark four years ago without having a solid plan. I had a feeling that this place would feel more like home to me than Copenhagen did, however, I didn’t have a job or any friends when I first moved here. Everyone back home looked at me like I was insane for making the move, but I just had a very strong feeling inside telling me that everything would work out once I got here. Also, it wasn’t the first time I moved to a foreign country and it had always ended up being the best experiences.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I got my Master Degree from Copenhagen Business School in Communication and Leadership and I already back then knew that I wanted to work with PR. I started out in the Fashion world and by a coincident landed an intership at a gallery in New York. I didn’t know anything about art back then, but quickly got so intrigued and fascinated about this amazing, sophisticated world of art. From that moment I knew this was where I belonged. I think I have an advantage in knowing most aspects of how to run an art business. Not only do I handle PR and Marketing, I have throughout the years got a solid knowledge in every single aspect of how to become a succesfull artist. I wouldn’t say it’s an easy world to enter, but to me it’s more than a job, it’s my passion. My career is my priority right now and LA is the perfect place to be for that reason, as you’re surrounded by likeminded, hardworking professionals.

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?
When I visited LA for the first time 11 years ago’ I realized it’s only 8 years ago! I was so fortunate to meet a group of awesome local guys that showed me all the local non-touristy places. That made me fall in love with the city. I’m not a big fan of overcrowded tourist attractions, to me the more low-key local gems are what gives me the best experiences. When I have friends visiting from Denmark I always try to give them the full tour of all my favorite local spots in the different neighborhoods of LA. I always end up having planned too many things (as I still tend to forget how time consuming the traffic here is). I feel it’s important to give my friends a great experience and show them why I felt in love with LA. It’s a feeling that I try to pass on. One of my favorite days I have planned for pretty much all my friends is to wake up early, get morning coffee at Go Get’ em Tiger in Larchmont Village, go on a long hike at Los Lioness trail, drive up PCH, eat late breakfast at Malibu Pier, walk at the beach, drive to Venice, show them the Canals and Abbot Kinney, watch the sunset and have a drink at Erwin Hotel and end the day with dinner at Gjelina. Another favorite thing to do is to stroll around downtown in the Art District. I love that it changes for every time I’m there. New art, new murals, new galleries and small, cute coffee shops and restaurants.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I feel it’s hard to choose one person as I, luckily, have such a strong community of people around me that supports me in my pursue of a fulfilled life. My family has always been very supporting in my life choices – also when it meant that I moved to the other side of the world. The fact that they are able to put their selfishness aside and support me means the world to me. I remember first time I got back home to visit, my sisters said ‘to see you this happy and confident in your new life is worth more than having you around us’. It was the biggest acceptance I could get. Well, maybe they were actually tired of having me around all the time – who knows 🙂

Instagram: @pernille_k
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pernillekjeldsen/
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