🎙️ Episode 6: Networking ROI: Lessons from Humble Beginnings I Chayale Kaufman

This week we speak to Kila Calfman, founder of the Jewish Content Network, a giant in the Jewish advertising and media buying industry. From cold calling in her bedroom after work to building a media empire, this episode is full of grit and drive to build and succeed. Listen this week on Jewish Grit. [Music] So tell me a little bit about your personal growth and your professional growth. >> Started off grew up in Muny. Uh started off in working for a local, not local, a national newspaper. I was a secretary. That's where my love of sales developed. That's where it all started. Um I was there a couple months and I wanted more opportunity. So I asked my boss, "What can I do to have more opportunity here?" And he said, "Start selling ads." >> Start selling ads. So now when you got this first job, >> okay, did you like did you do anything in high school with newspapers? >> Nothing. I was not. I I loved creativity. I always creative writer. >> Okay. You were a creative writer? >> I used to get like an A for creativity and like a D for grammar. I was very resourceful and innovative, you know. I was always like that idea person um and figuring out how to make things happen. I wasn't lazy, very motivated. get things done, figure things out. But sales definitely not. I was never like thought I could do sales, but here I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna try it." So, I would come home from work. I wouldn't really do it in the office. I felt uncomfortable. I did my regular day job there. Came home at night, locked myself in a room, and start like cold calling from like the yellow pages. I was so driven. I was like making $18,000 a year. That's what we made then, working full-time. And I was like, I need some growth. Like, I need to do something that's going to excite me. and like make me want to like surpass and surpass. So that's what I did. I was a young girl. I didn't have any other major responsibilities. >> You were single at the time. >> I was single. I came home and this is what I did. I I cold called and I slowly got myself some meetings. I actually would get through to owners like at that time of the day. It was like 5 6 o'clock at night and they were all finishing their day. >> So it worked out great. Um, like I made some really amazing connections in the beginning and that's when I discovered the taste of like expanding your your net worth like through relationships. That was definitely my first taste of it. >> Brought on some really great clients into the into the paper that I worked for. Then that's where it all started. Then I got married and I realized like, okay, this is not even enough like and I was moving out of town. So what was I going to do? I went over to my boss again and I said, I want to stay here. like what can I do more that now I can like bring even more to the table here. So, I was moving to Lakewood and I said, "You know what? Can I start a Lakewood section?" >> And we put together some writers. We grew the paper um significantly at that point. Again, I was I was resourceful. I was excited. I always had that like energy of like I'm going to do this. And that's really like the stages that I went till being there for a good couple of years. Selling, selling, selling. Grew up a beautiful database of clients. I became their best friends. I would go to their simas. It was like the life of sales and I absolutely loved it. I got like a real high from it. And then the internet world really started like coming into our into our lives and I realized there's huge opportunity because nobody in the Jewish world understood from marketing online, Jewish marketing online. I stepped in Bar Hashem brought in a partner. We built a company. To this day, we're the largest Jewish network. You know, we're the largest advertising agency that really represents thousands of from organizations and businesses. And we take care of all online, print, all kind of marketing, advertising literally throughout the world on whatever. >> I'm going to go back to the cold calling. Okay. So, you must have a certain knack to >> I don't think I did. I think I was just very motivated. So, if someone would have said like, okay, in order to grow here, you have to wash the windows. I would have washed the windows. Meaning like >> you were ready and willing to do >> I was very ready and willing. Yeah. I think that's my more my personality. Like if someone would say, okay, now you need to pivot and do this. I I'm a very quick pivot. Like, okay. So, we'll just change directions. I'll do, you know, so I think >> a lot of like growing in an industry or even in a new industry is not being stuck and being able to like jump at an opportunity. It's like look, here I am. I'm going to try to be successful. Something says I need to pivot. Don't think too much, just pivot. So, like I could figure it out. I'll connect to the person. I'll It's not necessarily that like >> I learned the skills of sales or, >> you know, so I hear you. I hear I think it's more about like the root of the personality or the root of >> the root of the willingness more than knowing how to sell. >> You told me before you have you have such a large family. Okay. Uh and yet your husband was sitting and learning here you are doing this business. >> How do you balance it all? >> The work life balance honestly doesn't really exist. I know like everyone likes to say like I've got you like that terminology. >> I don't think the question is really fair. I don't think there is such a thing as a work life balance. Again, if you're working for somebody and you're in a 9 to-ive job or even a 9 to4 job, your work life balance is much more structured like you know like I'm here 9 to5 I go home I could disconnect when you're building a business when you're working for yourself. There's no 9 to5 and there really is no work life balance but it doesn't mean that you're not truly focused where you are and what you're doing and that's really how I live my life. Meaning like on a Sunday afternoon if for business I have to be somewhere and do something that's totally fine and I'm here I'm present and then I come home and I'm making lunch with my kids and and decorating cupcakes I'm there with them. I'm fine. I'm not hard on myself. Like I don't give myself a hard time and say like where's your work life balance? No, I'm here. I'm present. I'm happy. I'm enjoying what I'm doing. To me like I don't overthink this whole work life balance thing. And I think that in the beginning years for sure if you're going to want to like advance and really become like an expert in your field or become like referred by everybody or known, you're going to have to fight for it. But like as long as I'm the way I run my I live by a calendar >> like it's like my like my husband knows he'll send me a Google Meet for like lunch if he wants to go out for lunch in my calendar. I'm going to show up. If he puts if something's there then I know that it's part of my structure of my day. my daughter's plate. It's in the calendar. It's non-negotiable. So, nothing else is happening. Then, >> what was like some real good takeaways that you've learned along your journey? >> I think the fake it till you make it is probably the best all the time, even today. Of course, it's like you you give off the energy that you that you create for yourself. So, like >> energy is a real thing. You know what I mean? So, >> if you come in with like, I got this, >> the people around you say she's got this, right? >> You know what I mean? So, I think that's that's amazing. I also listen to tons of podcasts whenever I'm always listening something and like it could be a two-hour podcast and I'll come away with like two minutes of it that I absolutely loved and I'll like clip that two minutes for myself sometimes and see that or I'll share it with other people like it will remind me to remember these two minutes of that piece. So I I think that not being scared to start from the bottom and not just not being scared but like willing to like do the things that other people wouldn't do or starting from the bottom somewhere without feeling conscious about it. You know, sometimes there's like an a confidence that's unc uncalled for. Like we think like, >> you know what I mean? Like I tell my son, unless he was thinking like, "Mom, what am I gonna do?" Like maybe I'll go into his like >> he's already thinking like up there. I'm like, "No, no, you're going to start like from the bottom." You know, like starting from the bottom is such a healthy place to start. >> It's not embarrassing. >> Not embar like, "Oh, this is who I want to be like. This is what I don't want to be like." Just people watch and keep your eyes open. Um, I think I think it's so healthy to like put yourself in a situation where it's not your ideal yet. It's okay. You're not going to find your perfect job, the perfect industry right when you start. Don't even expect it. >> But every like every part is really a step towards like your next stage. >> So what would you tell your younger self? >> I think the same thing I tell myself still like every day is a stay humble. You don't know what tomorrow's going to be. And there are times when even in business I'll have a big win. I literally will take such a deep breath and say, "Hashem, just Hashem, just keep me humble." Like, just keep me humble. It's really my prayer. I think that comes out of like when we have a win, a success, a story that we made news or that went viral, right? Something like it's it's a braha. It's like such a braha. And I to me that's like my prayer is like keep the braha, keep the blessing, and hashem, I promise I'm going to stay humble. What is the best advice you've ever received? You gave us a great advice of fake it till you make it. But what's the best advice you've ever received? Cuz you said you you listen to all these podcasts. >> We are not in control. There's a God up there. He's in control. Like being open to that understanding like there's a light in front of me. Find your path. Understand you're not 100%. You're not in control, >> right? >> Like you know, walk like just walk the right path. understand that do what you're supposed to be doing and be the best version of yourself and >> really really it it changes everything. It just gives you that like what we call manuka which is a real self peace and inner peace inner peace >> and it's the biggest blessing. So >> yeah it it's so challenging. >> It's so challenging but I'm telling you I used to handle stress so differently. Like I really used to eat me up. I had like >> I would be so tense and the anxiety would eat me up and I thought I was in control of everything. And that's really what happens when you think you're in control of it. Like you can't handle the stress. It eats. >> So what what helped with the shift? >> So the shift it's really a it's >> like what was there a point in time that really moment was a moment that you could think of? >> This is recent. This is a few years of like just like a recent low a low and it's you're like I there must be another way like there has to be another way to live. Like I want I want to be so much more fulfilled and happy with what I'm doing. Why am I why is the stress eating me up alive? >> Again it's like learning there's a God. There's a reason I may not understand it now. I'm preaching. I still I sound like I'm preaching but I still feel it because I still learn because I really worked on myself. It wasn't like, >> you know. So, >> right. It's it's it's it's difficult. >> I know. >> It's really difficult. >> So important. >> So, what would you say is a good Jewish grit? >> Well, what does grit mean to you? How's that? >> Just determination, motivation, not getting like not falling, you know, from bumps like just like a like a fight, right? >> Yeah. Just so >> hanging in there. >> Yeah, hanging in there. >> Just doing it. So then how would you put Jewish life into it? >> Okay. Maybe no guilt. >> Okay. >> I think Jewish moms especially have to guilt, right? >> And I used to let the guilt like eat me up and today it's like no, not guilty. >> Okay. >> Like I'm here now and I'm here. You know, if my husband has to fill in homework sometimes, that's fine. >> Yeah. >> Um but I think the Jewish guilt is somewhere that could really disturb the grit. Mhm. >> Because it's like if you know if something's holding you back then you can't keep pushing forward. So I think that also understanding that like I'm here in this place where I where I am now because this is exactly where I'm supposed to be, >> you know. So I think that helps me also like if you're going through a challenging situation or you feel like no right now this is where I'm supposed to be and it's okay if I'm dealing with something I'm not comfortable with and like moving figuring out the step forward and not letting that like pull you back so that you can't move forward you know I think moving forward is like the biggest gift that we can give ourselves. >> So the last question is what makes you the most proud to be a Jew? I'm amazed at our community, how we come together for each other. >> I mean, look, Olami, right, what you're doing. >> I think it's there's I think that's what so much of Yiddish kite of being from and being Jewish is about is that the community life is so rewarding and gives us so much to live for. Like, you wouldn't want to move somewhere in Timbuktto and not have >> you can't you can't thrive without a community. And I feel like we're we're naturally planted into a community without even any effort. It's like >> you're here, we're going to care about you, >> right? >> You know what I mean? And there's so many people. Everybody cares about everybody. So even if you just maybe never tried or you never asked the right questions or you never are open, >> we're one organism. Like we're one. We really are. >> Really are. And like even I see like when I need advice and I'll call someone who you would think is like an unreachable person but like you call I call I'll I'll email can I ask you an important business question. The guy is like running who he'll answer. You know what I mean? Like he'll be like he'll give 20 minutes of his time. I think it's amazing like there are people that really we as people we care about each other >> right >> and we have to make sure we keep caring because the minute >> we don't like >> Yeah. you know >> that we lose our special quality. Right. >> Exactly. >> It's really special. Well, thank you so much, Kyla, for taking the time and sitting with me today. >> So fun. >> This is really amazing. Thank you. Moving forward. >> Amen. A mean. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you for listening to Jewish Grits and Olm mentorship podcast. At Olam Mentorship, we believe that everyone needs a mentor. What better way is there to tap into your personal and professional potential than with a Jewish mentor at your side? Learn more at olam.org/metorship.