From Passion to Cultural Powerhouse - The Kicks & Fros Story w/ Melissa Carnegie

How do you build a thriving community from the ground up? On the debut episode of Making the Moment, host Aja Bradley-Kemp welcomes Melissa Carnegie from Kicks and Fros. Discover the inspiring story of how Melissa's authentic passion for natural hair and sneakers grew into a vibrant community that empowers individuals and celebrates unique style. Learn about her journey of building Kicks and Fros and the power of turning your passions into something impactful.

🎧 Subscribe & Share
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and share with your fellow visionaries.

💼 Work With Us
Interested in booking a guest, sponsorship, or collaboration? Contact us at mtm@conversatecollective.com.

📍 Connect with Us:

• Host: Aja Bradley Kemp

Follow on Instagram | Listen on iHeartRadio | Watch on TikTok

🎙️ Making the Moment is produced by Conversate Collective.

Transcript

Introduction  

We've all seen them, those experiences that stop us in our tracks, the moments that flood our feeds, shift culture, and bring people together. I'm Aja Bradley-Kemp, and I've helped generate millions in revenue and billions of impressions by creating scroll-stopping moments for some of your favorite brands and celebrities. 

This is Making the Moment, the podcast that brings you the untold stories, unfiltered insights, and big ideas from the architects behind the moments that matter. In each episode, I'll show you how to design experiences that not only captivate audiences, but also drive tangible value for your organization. 

Whether you're looking to build buzz, boost loyalty, or drive revenue, I want to help you design customer experiences that truly make an impact. This is for the moment makers and the culture creators. Welcome to Making the Moment.

Welcome to Making the Moment.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     0:00

Hi, my name is Aja Bradley-Kemp, and today we're diving into the intersection of sneaker culture, community building, and brand marketing with someone who's redefining the space for women. Our guest today is Melissa Carnegie, the powerhouse founder of Kicks and Fros, a lifestyle brand and community that's not only empowering women in the sneaker community but also collaborating with some of the biggest brands out there from Nike to Brand Jordan, Puma, Toyota, you name it, she's worked with them.

From her start in PR content creation to leading a movement that blends style, community, and marketing innovation, Melissa has built a brand that moves the needle both culturally and commercially. And today, she's giving us an exclusive look into how she does it. Melissa, welcome to the show.

Melissa Carnegie       1:38

Thank you for having me.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     1:39

You started doing this over a decade ago, and when you started, your focus was content creation. Now you've built this brand that is recognized by some of the biggest marketing brands in the world, household names. What sets you on this path? 

Melissa Carnegie       1:56

I think I've always been into community building. I grew up in a very small town where your community was everything so that was something that's always been a part of me. I joined a sorority in college so that was more community and team building. As the president of that sorority and then PR, really got introduced to that in college. Intro to PR class I was a Broadcast Track major, and that made me switch. 

I was just interested in telling brand stories, helping elevate them and I was excited to make that switch. After college, I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, during a time where finding a job was very hard. That's when I got into blogging just to kind of keep my writing fresh.

I was introduced to it by a friend who thought it could be cool for me because I had a lot of people asking me about my personal style or what to wear on a date or products to use on their hair. She thought it could be a cool way for me to just send people directly to one spot where I talk about all these things and it was the way I can keep my writing fresh while I was on the job hunt. 

That's how I kind of got introduced to PR, to the blogging world. That was 2009. I graduated college in 2008, moved to Charlotte around that time. So in 2009, I was introduced to blogging and beauty and the hair care space, especially with natural hair. I had a natural curly fro at the time so that's when I was introduced into that world as well. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp    3:44

And that's how Cantu discovered you, right?

Melissa Carnegie      3:47

Yes, through blogging, through talking about the products organically with my community online, digitally, and being recognized in different ways by Essence magazine for my hair, for my natural curls. Cantu recognized me. I attended a brunch they had around some of their new product launches, I continued talking about those products and eventually started working for them as a content creator. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp     4:16

I think that's amazing because you were probably one of the first definitely a pioneer in that space where 2009 to 2011 was really that era where influencers started to gain notoriety. They were showing up at the front row of Fashion Week and their impact was really starting to be felt from a marketing perspective of how brands were viewing them.

And also just that consumer perception overall where consumers were putting their focus and brands were really starting to respect the work that you guys were doing. To go from being behind the scenes, so to speak, and creating content to now really influencing a brand strategy, you were definitely a pioneer in that space. Did you have anybody at the time that you consulted with when you were making this move or got advice from or were even able to model what you were doing after?

Melissa Carnegie       5:21

I don't think so. I kind of felt I just wanted to do what felt right at the time. I felt like I wanted to learn how to build a brand, how to create products and, how to story-tell in that way and how to strategize in that way and work with other creators. At the time I was a full-time creator. I was freelancing for a few small businesses and I thought it was just a great opportunity to learn more. It was a brand I already loved and already could talk about in my sleep so it just made sense, yes. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp    5:58

So after working in hair care, at what point did you start feeling this itch to create a community and really go into the sneaker space?

Melissa Carnegie      6:12

I think the whole time, I never stopped being a content creator so the whole time I was working full-time in beauty and hair care, I was still creating content on the side. Whether that was about my personal style, whether it was about me traveling for my full-time jobs and behind the scenes of what I was doing there. I was always creating. I never really stopped creating. 

Once I noticed like a lot of women were reaching out to me about my sneaker style, they loved when I shared sneakers on my blog or they loved when I wore outfits where I was wearing sneakers and they were inspired and wanted to find their sneaker style or figure out a way to add sneakers within their wardrobe or what types of sneakers. 

That's when I felt maybe I can start this digital community where women could go and find inspo. That was kind of the main thing where yes, can come to me but then they can go to this page for inspiration and to find their tribe and their community of like-minded women in the space. 

I started thinking about that in around 2016 and 2017 kind of created Kicks and Fros online, which means on Instagram, I started an Instagram page to send people for inspo and that grew into a larger community, grew into a lifestyle brand where we sold merch and we developed a sneaker cleaner and we are where we are today.

Aja Bradley-Kemp    7:46

I want to talk about all of that, especially the sneaker cleaner. But I have two questions for you because you mentioned that once you transitioned from blogging to full time with the brand, you still were creating content. What drove you to do that? 

I think it's a really interesting mindset for your generation, you are millennial, I'm a Gen Z, especially in the PR and marketing space, in those early days of social media and content creation, there was still very much a behind the scenes type of personality versus in front of the brand personality.

I just think it's really interesting that you could have just sat on this new job that you had, just focused on that and creating content for that, but you were still very much inspired to continue building your own brand essentially and creating content back then. So what was it that compelled you to do that?

Melissa Carnegie      8:53

I still loved it so the love for it was still there. I still wanted to do it, I still enjoyed being creative on my own and having that creativity with my community. I just didn't want to abandon them like okay I got this job, I'm leaving now. But the spark was still there to want to do it.

I still enjoyed doing it I still had amazing opportunities that came from it and I still was able to get paid from it as well. I didn't want to like just abandon that stream of income. I still felt creative, I still wanted to do it, it kind of let me separate the two. And when I took the role I explained that I would still be creating content. 

I made sure that was okay before accepting and it was. They understood what I did and didn't want me to stop doing that and through that I was able to even do some front-facing stuff for the brand as well. It kind of just worked out but the spark was still there, the creative juices were still flowing, it was something I still enjoyed doing.

I had parameters around like the beauty space on what I could do and what I couldn't do because of my job. But other than that the spark was still there so I still wanted to be creative in that way. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp    10:15

It wasn't that men weren't welcoming in the sneaker community and that you had hardships there trying to overcome that. But what I think is important, especially for the marketers and entrepreneurs listening to this, is that even if you don't see a space for you in a particular area, it's okay to build your own table. Is that something that you consciously thought about while you were building and starting Kicks and Fros? 

Melissa Carnegie       10:51

I think because I started Kicks and Fros in a unique way, it wasn't in a way where the community was like, oh, we know this about sneakers, we do this, we do this. It was built in more of a community way. It was never like, oh, we had these hurdles we had to jump through. It was like, even men were like, oh my God, I love this, I want to buy a crew neck. I want to get this to my girlfriend. I want to wear this. Can I wear it?

It was more accepting of what we were doing. It was more enjoying the lens that we created through sneakers. So it wasn't much of I felt any hurdles that we had to jump over because it was so strictly male-dominated. I felt like the men were like, oh, come, we love this fresh perspective, we want to hear from women more. 

We know you guys love sneakers but just haven't found you in this space or wasn't as many of you speaking about it and talking about it. I felt like that grew and so men were very interested in our perspective and what we had to say. On the brand side we had to just package ourselves in the right way and let them know what we did exactly in the sneaker space.

But we wanted to bring our perspective and what we loved and what we enjoyed wearing, sneakers being comfortable for our lifestyle in the moment but also, we're knowledgeable and we know things about the sneaker community and sneaker world as well. I think of I think the angle we came into it was a little bit different, so it wasn't I get that question a lot like what hurdles or what issues.

I'm like the men were very accepting they wanted us on podcasts, they wanted to talk to us, they wanted to invite us to events. It was really accepting of what women had to say. Women wanted to find their tribe and find like-minded people who love sneakers too so the community aspect but also styling sneakers. I think when men put their sneakers on with sweatpants or basketball gym shorts and that was it.

But women coming in and like changing the perspective of how you wear them and how you style them, whether that's with ball gowns or suits or everyday street wear. I think that was what made us a little bit different in that lens. They were interested in wanting to know, I wouldn't have thought to put these sneakers with that or wow, you put it on with this suit or whatever it was.

We just kind of gave a fresh perspective in that way and I think that was like the attention grabber of wow okay, I like how they're putting things together, what they're doing over there when it comes to sneakers. And then the merch as well, so creating merchandise around sneaker culture.

I would see a lot of the things happening in New York, in Chicago, in L.A. and I'm like, why don't we have any of those things in Charlotte? Why don't we do those things here? I know there’s community around it. I go to Sneaker Drops when they have them, when I go purchase these sneakers and have to stand in line so I see the community out there.

I see the women out there waiting for them to invite me or waiting to find out if someone is going to bring this here maybe I should just bring it, I should just do it myself. If you're waiting around for someone to create it for you when you have all these thoughts and ideas, you can create it. You can create it in your tribe and your community will come.

Don't think oh I’m going to create this and no one's going to be here to support me. I think that's the wrong mindset. The mindset is created. Those who are supposed to be with you, those who want and are yearning for this same community will then come and join you and want to be a part of it. 

Don't wait around for people to invite you in. We didn't wait around for even the men to invite us in and say, oh, we want your perspective, we want to hear from you. It was like, we're here, we're going to create our own space and you could come and play with us or not. 

I think that was the same thing with me through blogging as well of just trying to create my own space for brands and companies to notice what I can do and that worked out for me. So that’s what we did over it at Kicks and Fros, as well. Especially for women, especially for black women in the space. I felt like especially with sneakers a lot of black women are designers, are head of marketing, are directors of PR. They do all these things behind the scenes within the sneaker space and they needed to be recognized and I felt like we could help do that Kicks and Fros.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     15:51

Where did you guys do your first event? I know you said you started it online but then at some point you moved into hosting events and doing events. Where did you do your first one? 

Melissa Carnegie       16:02

That's a good question. We were all strictly online, creating an online digital kind of space. So events weren't necessarily in my mind at first. It was just oh, we're just going to be online, we’re going to create this community. Then the pandemic hit after that so it was huge digitally. We did a lot of lives, a lot of in-person type of things. 

But I believe our first event we held so in Charlotte there’s this sneaker store that has a community space in the back of it and we had our first event there. The space is called Be Social. We had our first event in that Be Social space and I believe it was just like a panel conversation around women in the sneaker space.

It was like this panel conversation, we had women attend. We had like some fresh bites and stuff like that and women were able to just network and enjoy each other learn a little bit more about Kicks and Fros but also other like-minded women in the community too.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     17:13

Were you ever concerned about, because you were starting this in Charlotte versus like you said you saw things happening in New York and L.A. and Chicago and these big markets. Was there ever any concern of, are they going to come if I do this event or are we going to build this community because I'm here in Charlotte versus being in a different market? 

Melissa Carnegie       17:35

We did a lot of online, if we had this in Charlotte, would you come? Would you be interested in this type of event or this type of event? So we did a lot of research with our community digitally on Instagram and our newsletter, just kind of searching and seeing if this would be something they were interested in.

So once I got that yes, we've been looking for this, we've been wanting something like this, it was kind of a no-brainer to start having events locally and that's how I knew we’re good, we have people that signed up via our newsletter, we have a local Charlotte community, I have creator friends that I've built through the years that were there to support and help so sharing what we were doing. I thought it was a no-brainer so I never had that doubt of nobody would come.

I was like maybe it'll be three four people, I'm fine with that, we are just starting out. I didn't expect like this big crowd but we had a great turnout, we had about 25 people. It was good, people were messaging us after asking about when the next event was happening. So I really felt like it was exactly what we were supposed to be doing.

Then we got hot and heavy in events after that and took a brunch tour on the road. It was a really cool and interesting way to introduce Kicks and Fros to different people in different cities. Our first brunch, which was like one of our first events as well, the first was a super small kind of panel but the second one is where I invited other creators.

It was invite only, women in the sneaker space and had this brunch and then at the end, ask them like, what do you guys think, do you have any feedback? This is something that I want to take to other cities but also have in Charlotte. They gave me great feedback on how to move forward and then we were able to take that on the road.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     19:36

Where did partnerships start to come in? You've worked with Nike and Foot Locker and Athletes Foot, all of these brands, where did those brands start to come into play in the Kicks and Fros ecosystem?

Melissa Carnegie       19:56

During the pandemic that's when a lot of brands would start asking us about content creating, creating around different things that they were doing or different sneaker drops that they had coming out. That started a little bit of recognition around certain sneaker releases or our storytelling they really enjoyed.

As far as events, after that first event, we had a photographer, learned a lot. Again from my full-time job and I was able to package that brunch idea up into a deck, and I started pitching it right away. I started sharing it with sneaker boutiques in the area, local sneaker boutiques that had space to where we could come in, black-owned restaurants in different cities to where they can be highlighted and we could also be a part of their space, different sneaker brands, beauty brands. 

I even pitched it to Cantu because this was still like our hair care audience, but you're introducing hair care to them in a different way. So you're kind of introducing yourself to a new audience within exactly who we were speaking to so they were really interested in that as well and supported us since day one too. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp      21:23

How have they evolved and changed from when you started first doing them till now? I guess, what were some of the lessons that you've learned along the way producing these events, these community events?

Melissa Carnegie       21:37

They've grown. I've learned along the way. Especially with a community-based brand I really enjoy keeping it nice and tight and small, with about 25, 30 women in the space. I feel like everyone could talk to everyone when it's a smaller amount, you can really work the room and network and meet new people within the community when it's that smaller amount.

We did a very large one, which was great, it turned out to be a great event but it took that small community out of the event. It turned into a bigger production, which was cool, I got to see it from a different lens. I always like to keep them nice and small to where community can navigate and meet each other and talk to each other. 

I learned a lot about pitching brands and introducing them to the sneaker world, which is fascinating to them and it's a different lens. That has been really cool, introducing whether it's hair care brands, whether it's other beauty brands, whether it's cars—I work a lot with Toyota.

Introducing them to the sneaker world and also Slingshot which is like this motorcycle four-wheel car that I was ambassador for, so introducing really cool different brands into sneakers has been interesting. Not necessarily a challenge, a challenge into is something new for them to navigate but also fun and exciting.

So I would say introducing kind of newer brands to sneakers, keeping things kind of nice and tight, not growing too fast or not making them too big, too quick, I think has been like a great learning for me. Meeting with different hospitalities within restaurants because we do a lot of these within restaurants, because I'm all about keeping the food hot and warm and making sure people get a nice, great meal. 

We try to support Black-owned businesses in every key city that we work within so making sure they have a space and making sure we have what we need for our community to enjoy their restaurant and want to come back and want to learn more about it. I would say making sure we're keeping that community base in each city we go in, introducing new people to the brand. Not growing it too quick staying where you are with what works for you not thinking you have to go larger scale just because you're growing year to year. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp     24:31

There are a couple of things that you said that are really important there because number one, I think with when it comes to an audience and finding you new ways to connect with a specific demographic. You don't naturally think, oh, I want to reach women let me go to a sneaker community to connect with them.

Most brands if they're focusing on women they're thinking about beauty they're thinking about fashion, they're thinking about fashion and environments where that might be the focus. I think that's an important lesson for marketers and entrepreneurs who are trying to grow their own brand is, look at where the adjacent areas that your target audience is. 

It all makes sense, it all fits together because sneakers are a part of our everyday lifestyle. It's a part of our fashion, it's a part of how we move around in the world and there's a natural interest there. I think that's one great lesson. The other thing that you said that I think is really important is about the size as well. 

We don't always have to do an event with hundreds of people to feel like we've gotten the reach that we need to get. Sometimes there's more value in keeping it small and keeping it tight like you said. What do you think, from these events that you've done are some of the elements that have really helped brands or if you even have any case studies or examples? What are some of the elements that you feel really help make the experience stick that can really help build that engagement and that advocacy with customers when doing these events?

Melissa Carnegie          26:37

I think that like you mentioned, a lot of brands, you go to these events with other like-minded brands and you're fighting for attention and space because it's so many similar brands to you. 

Whereas in our events, you have control, we're just talking about your product, your brand is front and center at our event so that makes things a little bit different when it comes to what we're talking about, making sure your messaging gets across, making sure they understand. Also we're curating who's in the room as far as smaller business owners, larger business owners, content creators.

So we know who's going to be in this space and how they create so you're getting your product into the hands of people that may work with adjacent brands. We had one woman attend that was a host for the Hornets or a woman that is a designer at Jordan. You never know who you're getting your products in the hands of, I would say it's kind of like a key element that is great for us because of the types of people that we invite.

And then of course content creators with larger followings from macro to micro, are in the room so you're getting that as well and they're going to create afterward. They're interested, they want to learn more, they have questions and then I also think about the surveys that we send after.

If we're working with a brand we always try to ask questions of, did you try the product, did you like it? Out of the ones we send, which one did you like the best? Did you create content around it? Can you send us the link? We're always trying to make sure that you're getting that return on investment as well and the product is not just going into a gift bag and they're never talking about it again.

We’re making touch points throughout the event but even after the event to making sure it's staying top of mind. Women are interested, we always give out sneakers so that's also a key thing at some of our brunches that when we get a pair of sneakers so that's always a surprise and delight and that comes from the relationships that I’ve built with these different brands and them being supportive and interested in what we're doing to support us in that way.

That's something they're also getting, a new pair or a pair that's a classic in front of different types of women with different walks of life and different backgrounds, to then go wear them in their communities or style them or people see them in them and they are able to share and also create some purchases around that. I think it's different touch points in different ways organically for your brand and product to kind of be seeded through our events.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     29:48

In the early days, even though you had an online following, you had a community in the hair care space and you were obviously known for your own sneaker style, but when you were starting to build these events in the early days and you were going out for brand partnerships, were there any challenges or difficulties in selling this in or connecting with brands? 

Because a lot of times, especially the caliber of the brands that you're talking to, there's a lot of the mentality of let's see how the first one goes, let's see how you do the first one. And then maybe we'll jump onto the second one. There's not a lot of people who want to be first at something new and investing in something new. Did you face any challenges in that way or was it easy because you already had a bit of a presence when it came to sneaker style?

Melissa Carnegie       30:45

A little bit of both. I mean, of course we pitched a lot. We have brands that never responded but that’s okay, that doesn't deter us from not wanting to. But the good thing is I had contacts because I'm a content creator, that was something I was able to bring over to Kicks and Fros.

I was able to introduce them to this community that I was able to bring over to Kicks and Fros. I was able to introduce them to this community that I was now building. I had already had one brunch with no sponsors, something that I was coming with it already done before, with how many people we've reached, with how you could come in and it can make sense for your brand or your business.

I think the way I came in and me already having contacts from the content creator side was very helpful. I went to those contacts first before trying to introduce any new brands or businesses to Kicks and Fros. But yes it has been difficult to help them see what does this have to do with sneakers?

But because Fros is in our name, I think a lot of hair care brands understand and they're like, okay, especially a lot of natural hair care brands. Black women come to these events. This is a segment of our community that we aren't talking to in a way. I was like, yes, they're not in the beauty space. Some of them do love beauty but they're in this different space where no one is chatting with them about that.

It's always interesting once we kind of break it down to get their perspective from the beginning when introducing them to it until afterward. But it's always been cool, it's always been some kind of support in some way, whether it's not dollars, it's product, or figuring out and seeing how they can be a part.

That comes even from like liquor brands wanting to be introduced to women in the sneaker space, not just beauty, not just the sneaker brands but also different avenues, car brands. It's a lot of different avenues interested in how they can make their mark within sneakers in a cool way after being introduced and explain and having several conversations around what Kicks and Fros is and what we do exactly.

It's some of a good mix of you never hear from people again when you reach out and that's okay. I saw something, was reading online about Kendrick and the Super Bowl and everything that's going on with the songs he had an album. DJ Mustard who's one of their creator, his popular beats, sends him 5 to 10 or even more beats a day.

So you can't just go and say, okay I never hear from these brands, they never reach out to me, they never say anything back to me. You’ve got to keep going, you’ve got to keep reaching out to many brands and pitching to as many brands as you can, taking phone calls, introducing them to your brand, helping them to understand even if they don't know at the beginning.

Helping them to understand how they can be introduced to a new audience, where the segment could take them, who would be in the rooms with us at these different types of events to help them to understand. You can't just say oh I did it, oh I sent it out, nobody responded, well I can't do that event anymore.

Scale it to a way where you can create it on your own and then show them what you've done and say, okay, now do you understand? Now do you see what I can do? A lot of times after that, they definitely want to come in and support but you can't just stop because you don't hear back from them or you have hurdles along the way. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp        34:57

That's great advice. If you were starting a new community today in 2025, what are some tips that you would give to brands, to entrepreneurs, small brands that are starting fresh today. They have a product or a service but they have a desire to build community around whatever it is that they do. What are some tips that you would give them if they were starting fresh today, with no contacts to lean on, and all they have is an idea, they see an opportunity?

Melissa Carnegie       34:49

Start where you are. Build where you are. Don't try to look at the next person or think you should be farther than you are. Build where you are, whether that's a super small town or a large big city, build that community where you are. Build where you can own so create a newsletter, create a blog or a website. Start and build the things that you can own.

We don’t owe any social media platforms they can go away tomorrow. We've seen that happen with TikTok; leave, come back, maybe leaving again, so build the things that you can own because you can always reach your community via newsletter, you can always reach your community via your website.

Also get out in your community where you are, network with your community. Meet your website. And also get out in your community where you are, network with your community, meet different people in your city where you are, team up and build together with other communities. 

That's a way that I introduced Kicks and Fros to other adjacent communities as well, partnering with like-minded creatives in Charlotte. So wherever you are, partner and team up with other creatives, introduce your community to a larger community by partnerships. I would say that the biggest one is just create where you are.

Don’t go out and try to be bigger or want to be bigger or grow too fast. Stay consistent with your growth and where you are. That's been something that's worked great for me and for us of not necessarily worrying about what everyone else is doing and staying consistent in my growth to where I am. 

I don't need to grow bigger than what I am. I enjoy being a small business. I enjoy operating this way and I know the steps to take it larger and I will get there when I need to. But for right now, I feel like this is the sweet spot and exactly where we need to be. So don't be afraid to just start. Just start and just do it.

I think that's the biggest thing, we’re often in our heads a lot, should we start the thing or should we do the thing? Yeah, create where you are, start with the places where you have ownership over your audience, your newsletter, your blog and just create, just be creative. Some things will fail, some things will be great but just be creative and try it. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp          38:08

That's great advice. Speaking of growth, you mentioned, you guys are growing and you know where you want to go. Since you started Kicks and Fros, it has grown and it has evolved and you're currently in another growth period because you're releasing products now, right?

Melissa Carnegie       38:27

Yeah. We started out with a sneaker money pouch, which is a pouch that says sneaker money that women could carry as a purse, carry in their purse or in a travel bag. We've done T-shirts and sweatshirts, different apparel. We have socks, but we've developed a sneaker cleaner and just that came from me when I was younger. Me and my brother bonded over cleaning sneakers. I felt like women, we purchase sneakers, we buy sneakers a lot but do we know how to keep them clean?

Women are also mothers, so they have kids who run down sneakers so they need to keep those clean as well. We wanted to develop a product that was easy to use, no fuss, got your sneakers from dirty to clean in some easy steps. So we created our sneaker cleaner, almost a year and a half ago.

We worked with a chemist out of Chicago, came up with it and did some storytelling around it as well worked with a marketing agency that one of my friends started. She was a mentee of mine and then she became a friend and started her own agency. We did some storytelling around that concept of me cleaning sneakers with my brother when I was younger and how this love for sneakers kind of came full circle for me.

We sell it online, we do pop-up event quarterly around how to clean your sneakers, we've partnered with Jack Daniels and been a part of some HBCU homecomings where we were out doing sneaker cleaning touch-ups. We've done events locally here in Charlotte, we do giveaways, we have our office space here in Camp North and in Charlotte where we host events or open up on select weekends for our community to come in and support us by purchasing our merchandise too.

It’s the things that I've wanted to see kind of so. So, me being a consumer of sneakers, kind of the things that I wanted to see, it's sneaker money pouch. I was going to a sneaker ball. I wanted to have a conversation starter. 

I was going by myself so I needed to wear something where people would talk to me or want to come up and talk to me so I don't have to go like networking and talking to all these people the whole time. So I created a pouch and that was definitely something where women would come up to me like where'd you get that, where can I get one and that kind of started our merch store 

Aja Bradley-Kemp     41:20

That's very smart, it's a good conversation starter. Thinking back on your trajectory, is there ever a moment that you think if you would have listened to self-doubt, did you have any self-doubt? Is there a moment that you think of that if you went one way or decided not to pursue this, that things would have gone in a different direction or you wouldn't have been able to create something for your community? 

Melissa Carnegie       41:48

Yes. I think even with creating Kicks and Fros as a whole, having self-doubt around, can I manage another community or business, or do I have time, can I manage this? I wrote Kicks and Fros down and it just kept coming to me and I kept trying to push it away, self-doubt.

I kept trying to push it away saying, no I don't have time, no I don't want to do this, nobody's going to be interested, it's not cool, it's not fun. Something kept saying, girl no, just do it, just create something and see how it goes. If I had let that self-doubt continue to creep in and continue to take over my mind, Kicks and Fros wouldn't even be here. It would have just been still a thought written down in a notebook. 

So, yes I feel like you definitely have to fight through self-doubt, imposter syndrome can creep in as well, why me to do these things or why was I chosen to do this? I think both can kind of creep in from time to time, but you definitely have to fight through it because if I would have let self-doubt win, Kicks and Fros wouldn't even be what it is at all, it wouldn't even exist.

Events for Kicks and Fros wouldn't even exist because I know we mentioned did I think people wouldn't come? It was a point yes but that was from hearing other people share their stories about trying to share events. But thankfully and luckily I had experience with you, being a part of Cantu, working different events, bringing them to life. But I knew I had to start where I was and it didn't have to be this big grand thing. 

It could be something super small and great for me at the moment on what I can do in my bandwidth. So yes, you do have self-doubt, you do have imposter syndrome from time to time. But you just have to fight through those things and I think if you, if you fight through them, if you push them to the side, really, really great and magical things could happen for sure.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     44:06

So where can people buy all these products and the cleaner?

Melissa Carnegie       44:11

www.kicksandfros.com on our merch shop. We have everything listed out there, we currently have a Black History Month sale going on so you get, not the cleaner, but you get some of our products at a discounted price. We have our cleaner by itself, it also comes with a brush if you want to get the whole kit but it works really well and I think people like it along with our other merch, just making a statement with their sneakers, wanting something comfortable to wear with your sneakers.

I think we provide a good mix from tote bags, to pouches, to socks, to sweatshirts and t-shirts, a good mixture of products on our website too. You can find out about our events on our website as well, we do a lot of sneaker customization workshops locally. That was something we also took on the road but you're able to book a session at our office and come customize with a friend or two or with your significant other.

It's a really cool experience, a lot of people love it. Of course women are the drivers of coming but once they bring their significant other they always have more fun than their wives or girlfriends and are like wow I didn't think I would have this much fun or this is so therapeutic or very relaxing.

Those are always cool, I get to meet some really cool people there. Then we just launched a Kick bar so this is where you bring your own sneakers and you get to accessorize them, whether you want to write some inspiring words on them with paint pens or change out your laces or add lace charms. 

We have some cool accessories in our office that you can accessorize your own sneakers with. That was something cool and new, we just launched it maybe a week ago. We had our first session yesterday so that was really cool. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp     46:12

Oh, cool. That's exciting. So many great opportunities for brands to be able to connect with different types of consumers. And it sounds like it's just not for women, at least when it comes to the events, everybody's welcome. 

Melissa Carnegie       46:44

The fellas got on me about that.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     46:48

Oh, did they?

Melissa Carnegie       46:50

Yes, they're like how can I get invited to these brunches, how can I come to events? That's always really cool I think is to know and understand that they love it and support what we're doing for the community as well yes.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     47:03

Yeah and if you live in the Charlotte area sounds like some great fun activities that you can do with your girlfriends or with your significant other. You definitely want to be following Kicks and Fros and following Melissa. Now before you go, we like to ask all of our guests because the podcast is called Making The Moment, what was a moment for you either in your career or with building Kicks and Fros, what was the moment for you where you felt this?

Melissa Carnegie       47:38

This movie called Air came out around Michael Jordan's journey to signing with Nike and Jordan Brand. It was coming out on Amazon and they tapped Kicks and Fros to create a brunch around it in Atlanta. So that was one moment where I was like, oh yes, we are definitely making our mark in sneaker culture. It was such a cool experience to be able to put that on. 

Then I would say community members reaching out to us via email, via DM and just saying, how can I help? These are my skills, this is what I can do, how can I help? That was another moment where I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

That just makes me feel good about it when our community members will, will reach out to us via DM or email and just say these are my skills, this is what I do, how can I help Kicks and Fros, how can I help you. That really made me feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be doing what I'm supposed to be doing because our community wants to pour back into us and help us get to that next level. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp     49:10

That's amazing. It shows the momentum is really built when people are reaching out to you saying, I want to get involved so that's amazing. Congratulations on everything that you've done with Kicks and Fros., very proud of you and love to see how much it's growing and the impact you're having. Thank you for joining us today. 

Melissa Carnegie       49:31

Yes, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

 Aja Bradley-Kemp     49:35

Where can we follow you, stay in touch with what's going on with Kicks and Fros, stay updated on everything? 

Melissa Carnegie       49:43

If you go to our website, www.kicksandfros.com we have weekly newsletters. You can find all things Kicks and Fros, everything that's going on is in that newsletter as well as some like exclusive type of content and giveaways and discounts and things like that, interviews. Also Instagram, Kicks and Fros, Melissa Chanel, we are all over the internet. 

So feel free to reach out, DM us, email us, sign up for that newsletter. That's where you can reach us. And I'm in Charlotte, so you're at Camp North End, we have an Airstream office out there. Just knock on the door and it's usually me inside so you'll get to chat with me and see me there as well.

Aja Bradley-Kemp     50:31

Ladies and gentlemen, get your crew together and go do some of the workshops they're a lot of fun. I can't wait, when I'm coming to Charlotte I'm going to do it. 

Melissa Carnegie       50:41

Yes, come I can't wait.  Yes. They'll love it. 

Aja Bradley-Kemp     50:44

Melissa, this conversation has been packed with so much insight, from building authentic communities to navigating brand partnerships and staying ahead of the culture curve. Thank you so much for sharing your story and strategies with us today. And to our listeners, if you found value in this episode, make sure you like and subscribe and share it with your fellow marketers and entrepreneurs. 

Don't forget to follow Making the Moment on all social channels and turn on those notifications so you don't miss the next event you dive into. Lastly, make sure you're following Melissa and Kicks and Fros on Instagram and sign up for her newsletter and until next time, don't be afraid to make your mark and make the moment.