Our Stories: Stacey Kehoe

Stacey Kehoe is a communications director, magazine editor, property investor and travel blogger. Her passion for life and adventure has seen her take on a variety of challenges in her career to date, and earlier this year she was nominated as a finalist for the FSB London Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Stacey started her company, Brandlective Communications, in 2011 when she identified a need for small to medium sized companies to increase their online presence. Brandlective Communications specialises in social media management, content marketing, blogging, website development and online marketing campaigns, working specifically with SMEs and entrepreneurs.

Stacey studied at the New Zealand School of Travel and Tourism in her hometown of Auckland. Starting out her career in business travel, she quickly became more interested in the business development side of things, and fostered a particular interest in marketing.

At 22, Stacey indulged her passion for travel by taking 6 months off to tour South America and Western Europe, before settling in London and beginning a new role with American Express Travel. The financial crisis in 2008 resulted in three redundancies for Stacey. With a tough job market and an ever declining travel industry, she received the push she needed to pursue her interest in marketing and took a commission-only marketing role.

By 2009 Stacey had developed a strong interested in social media marketing and identified this as an area for growth. With the support of her employers, she began taking on freelance clients. By 2011 her base of freelance clients had grown so much that she left her full time role to start Brandlective Communications.

Five years on, the company now has a staff of 10 and a client base that stretches across the UK, Australia, USA and Canada, but the focus remains on providing outstanding service to SMEs and start ups. Stacey enjoys working with small businesses and making their ideas come to life.

In late 2015 the company also launched BrandMag, a quarterly publication aimed at small business owners with tips to improve their online marketing.

This year has seen Stacey form a new company, Blackbridge Properties, with her partner. This foray into property investment aims to generate passive income to help Stacey and her partner maintain a healthy work-life balance as they move through their 30's.

Future plans for Stacey are many and varied; she aims to create a flexible lifestyle that allows time for business, travel, family and trips back home.