Hi! I’m Kate Kennedy,
I’m a Chicago-based podcast host, pop culture commentator, and most recently, New York Times bestselling author!
After spending almost 7 years in corporate marketing and advertising, my life changed one day when I decided to put “turn off your curling iron” on my doormat so I wouldn’t burn my apartment down. I started selling them and named my business Be There in Five after my favorite thing to text when I’m running back inside to see if [said curling iron] is off.
The business took off, we sold thousands and thousands of doormats reminding people of things they forget about when running out the door, and about a year in, I left my corporate marketing job. Since then, I’ve ramped up, ramped down, pivoted, added/subtracted products, and worked hard to outsource a great deal of the process so I could focus on other creative projects while having the freedom of self-employment.
So I wrote a #1 new release book about my love/hate relationship with social media (Twinkle, Twinkle, Social Media Star), started doing pop culture commentary that led to a pop culture/influencer focused podcast (Be There in Five Podcast) that charts weekly in its category. I like to pair my years of corporate market research experience with my self-employed levels of content consumption to create easily digestible breakdowns and analyses of pop culture events, deep dive style. We live in a fast news cycle, and pop culture stories easily vanish from their hyperbolic high-level time in the mainstream media’s spotlight. Be There in Five podcast is dedicated to finding the stories and experiences that lie within easily trivialized elements of the zeitgeist, not only to analyze and criticize for entertainment’s sake, but to celebrate these seemingly frivolous topics’ far more important role: allowing us to connect with and learn from each other.
The best way to keep up with me, my current projects, and random pop culture commentary is on Instagram, @katekennedy.
How did we get here?
Be There in Five started as an Etsy shop with a simple mission: reminding people of the important things they forget when running out the door. To remember their lunch, that they look amazing today, and to [most importantly] not burn down their house. Traditionally, door mats welcome guests in your home, but I wanted to create something unique that saw you on your way out.
While these door mats were the start, Be There in Five means more to me than selling products. It's a tongue-in-cheek representation of not having to be perfect; an intentional tribute to one of my biggest flaws. It's for those of you like me, who always run a little behind, pay way too much attention to detail and try to be everywhere at once. It's for those of us that look pretty together but endure a comically hectic process in order to appear that way. I want to relieve some of the pressure we put on ourselves, to find some humor in the organized chaos. I want to make it okay not to be a DIYer, a fitness goddess or a Martha Stewart in the making. I won't pretend it didn't take me 4 months to figure out how to get 4 words on a rug. I am a big believer in using the internet for inspiration, not to feel inadequate, and I want this to be a relatable brand that reminds us to not take ourselves too seriously.
In a world where many things make me count the minutes, Be There in Five is dedicated to all the thoughts and things, people and places, ideas and ideals that make me lose track of time.
And to all the people out there like me, who only know one thing for certain: we’re on our way.
The Whole Long Story :
Kate Kennedy is a Chicago-based entrepreneur, author, and podcast host who is best known for inventing the 'remindoormat.' In 2014, as a hobby, she decided to paint "turn off your curling iron" on her doormat in an attempt to not burn down her apartment. Realizing that this was an innovation in a somewhat stale category that only contained welcome mats that see you into your home, she decided to create a line of products designed to see you on your way out. She named it Be There in Five as a salute to people like her, who tend to run out the door and forget important things in the process. Starting with 'turn off' reminders for hair and kitchen appliances, don't forget your lunch, and telling people they look great today, Be There in Five launched a line of reminder, affirmation, and custom door mats for people on the go. A couple months in, the mats took off, and after selling thousands within the first year, Kate had to quit her corporate marketing job to run the business full-time.
She and her mom painted the first 1,000 doormats by hand out of their living rooms and now have grown to an online store & wholesale distributor. Be There in Five Mats are always available on bethereinfive.com. Be There in Five remindoormats have been featured in Glamour, Good Housekeeping, RealSimple, HuffPost, BuzzFeed, Self, Martha Stewart, and many more.
Most recently, after having difficulty dealing with the necessity of online self-promotion for a small business to survive, Kate was inspired to return to her roots; writing. Growing up, Kate was an amateur poet; starting with winning the Richmond Times-Dispatch poetry contest at the age of 13, followed by a lifetime of rhyming birthday cards, toasts, speeches, and even college essays. She’s always wanted to write a children’s book to utilize this skill set as an adult, and upon finding the humor in the advice she was seeking in order to succeed on social media, she decided nursery rhymes needed a little updating. She wondered, what if a mom sarcastically explained to her child the ridiculous ways we all use the internet, told by swiping through the social media accounts of beloved nursery rhyme characters? Would Mary have a Little Scam? Would Little Bo-Peep have a GoFundMe for her lost sheep? Would Humpty Dumpty film his egg-falls-off-wall-stunts? Could there be a parody book on this topic for a source of laughter, but also come full circle about what’s important and serve as a broader piece of social commentary? After taking several months to write formal submissions, do market analyses, and research the publishing industry, Twinkle, Twinkle, Social Media Star was signed by Ulysses Press in March 2018 and published in November 2018. It debuted as the #1 New Release in multiple categories on Amazon and is currently being rolled out to retailers nationwide, at a bookstore near you. For more about the book, click here.
She’s sure you’re thinking, huh, that’s a lot of jobs. Can’t she pick one? She often thinks this herself, and is the first to tell you she never expected to venture out of her corporate job to pursue the flooring biz (every parent’s dream!). But when life teaches you that you’re capable of things that weren’t within your realm of thinking, it’s impossible to continue arguing for your limitations; to put your career in a box. If one can move from PowerPoints to painting rugs, why can’t rugs translate into engaging your following with pop culture commentary, then turn into a podcast, and inspire a book? Kate is a big believer in your business pursuits and brand sharing one common denominator; your genuine interest. For her, this approach led her back to her roots, to something she loved but thought was dormant and void of commercial use; her poetry, almost 20 years later. She loves to share her story, a jungle gym of a career evolving in real-time, to encourage women to harness their curiosity, pursue a side hustle, and to let life show you that it will exceed your plans if you allow it to.
Kate has a marketing degree from the Pamplin School of Business at Virginia Tech, is a former Black Belt (Six Sigma, not karate), and prior to starting Be There in Five, was an Ogilvy Award nominated market researcher, spending 6 years in the field of advertising effectiveness for major retailers and CPG manufacturers.
