Client turned candidate gets a fresh start with KDA Coaching

For 27 years, Connie Ryan served as the CFO at Peterson Milla Hooks Advertising (PMH), a retail advertising agency based in Minneapolis, MN. When the agency ceased operations in the Fall of 2024, Connie found herself lacking the skills necessary to find a new job in today's competitive environment and needed to reinvent herself.

Based on her exceptional experiences working with the Keva Dine Agency to place candidates at PMH, Connie knew who to call when it was time for her to return to the job market after all those years. After attending the bespoke "Branding You" coaching series, Connie was ready to overcome many obstacles, including facing ageism multiple times, and land the job she wanted with the type of organization she sought for her next career phase.

Keva Dine places the "best" candidates at PMH

For the last twenty years at PMH, Connie worked with the Keva Dine Agency to find and recruit creatives to fill open roles. When the agency took on a major new account, it needed to ramp up from seven people to 70 within a very short timeframe. At that time, Keva was instrumental in finding top-notch writers, art directors, and creative directors to help PMH meet its recruiting goals.

"Keva has this special gift. She can figure someone out very quickly and filter out people who just won't fit the agency or the role. As a result, the hires she placed with us were among the best people we ever hired. I mean it, the best," Connie said

Since the agency was owned and operated by a renowned Creative Director, it was essential to Connie that he didn't feel they were wasting his time presenting candidates who didn't possess the skills and talent he expected. Because she is a creative herself, Keva was able to place approximately 25 people at the agency over those years.

"Keva has an exceptional eye for good creatives. For example, she could look at the portfolios of people wanting to join as an art director and tell me immediately who was just okay, good, or amazing. She was right every time," stated Connie

Starting over after 27 years prompts the need for career coaching

Twenty-seven years is a long time to spend at one company. Connie knew that. She was also sure that if the agency hadn’t ceased operations, she would have been there until she was ready to retire. For that reason, Connie hadn't bothered to establish her personal brand. She never imagined she needed to. 

"I've worked at the same place for my entire career. I wasn't just starting out, but it was like I was. I was at a complete loss. I hadn't done a resume in 27 years and had no LinkedIn page. I had no idea where to begin or what to do," Connie admitted. 

As part of their working relationship, Connie received regular emails and newsletters from Keva advising on best hiring and job search practices. She also followed Keva on social media and was familiar with all her career and coaching offerings for candidates. When it was time for Connie to level up and boost her brand presence, she immediately called Keva.

"When I saw in Keva's content materials that she offered 'Brand You Coaching.' I immediately thought, yes, career coaching is what I need," Connie said.

However, it wasn't just Keva's career coaching options that made Connie ask Keva for help; their personal connection while working together to place talent at the agency also played a role. 

A personal connection spells success in advertising

"Keva's very personable and has a great sense of humor. She likes to bring that element of fun into work. Whenever we worked together, Keva always interjected quite a bit more personality into it than my relationships with the other recruiters," said Connie.

While adding fun and humor doesn't seem like a requirement for recruiters, according to Connie, making personal connections and getting to know the people you are working with makes a big difference when your clients are in the advertising industry. For Connie, Keva brought good energy to their interactions, and they clicked at a personal level. 

"While it may not matter in the finance or banking industries, the people working in advertising are more outgoing. They like a good story and a good laugh, and they like to have a deeper connection to the people they work with. So, I always enjoyed partnering with Keva," Connie explained. 

Brand You Coaching creates a bridge to a new career

When Connie called Keva for help, she knew she needed a new resume and a LinkedIn profile, but it didn't stop there. Although she had made personal and professional connections with hundreds of people in the creative industry throughout her career, Connie had never formally created a network to fall back on. Additionally, while Connie had interviewed plenty of people, she hadn't interviewed for a job in nearly three decades. She needed a story to tell that could help her overcome the ageism bias that exists in most industries today.

Once she started working with Keva, Connie was surprised at how much time and energy it takes to prepare for a job search. During her coaching sessions, Connie met with Keva at least once a week, received materials to complete, and participated in interview preparation sessions. 

"Keva really cracks the whip. The Brand You Coaching program is very formalized with tasks and checklists of things you must accomplish every week, and when it was time to check in with Keva via Zoom, she expected that I would have completed those tasks and that I was ready to tackle the new list for the next week. It was a full-time job, but I needed it," Connie said.

With help from the team at Keva Dine Agency, Connie had a resume that reflected her experience and value; written and formatted to appeal to hiring managers and automated systems, a LinkedIn profile that attracted connections, an understanding of what she was looking for, and a way to tell her story that communicated competence and flexibility. During her mock interview sessions, Connie learned how to tell her story and gained valuable insights into her goals and job requirements.

"What really helped me were the soul-searching questions Keva asked during the coaching sessions. And, if I didn't have someone putting my feet to the fire to finish the tasks I needed to complete, I would have procrastinated," Connie stated.

The job search takes off with new networking skills

One thing Keva emphasized with Connie was the importance of networking. Although it didn't come naturally to her initially, formalizing a networking strategy for Connie to communicate with the people she had worked with during her long tenure in the creative industry paid off.

Naturally, she experienced some of the same frustrations as every job seeker, plus some extra friction due to ageism. In one instance, she had already attended three interviews in six weeks—one of which was a three-hour panel interview—when the in-house recruiter called her to tell her, "We are looking for someone who is ascending in their career, and we feel like you're descending."

In moments like that, it was Keva Dine's support that kept her in the job search.

"I would become despondent, but Keva stayed supportive and advised me to help reframe the conversation away from my age and toward the value I'd bring to the organization," Connie mentioned.

After searching for nine months, networking paid off for Connie. Through her newly established LinkedIn network, she found a role at an agency that was inclusive and appreciative of her experience. Her LinkedIn profile played a significant role in her ability to get hired, as she and the company's president shared 35 mutual connections.

As Controller of Ingredient, a food marketing agency, Connie is excited to work somewhere with leaders in her age group and a diverse staff of talented individuals spanning ages and demographics. The agency also fits the criteria she and Keva established as her ideal workplace.

"I want to work in a privately owned agency that employs kind people and fosters a pleasant work environment where people can do their best work," asserted Connie.

When asked to describe what it's like to work with the Keva Dine Agency for recruiting and job search counseling, Connie said,

"KDA is great. Keva's very good at what she does. I'd say she's a hustler, a bloodhound, or a dog with a bone—all of those describe her and how she advocates for the people she works with. She does not stop, even when you feel like giving up. You're going to love working with her."