Entrepreneur of Impact: Hope Caldwell
We're delighted to introduce you to Entrepreneur of Impact Award winner Hope Caldwell of KLH Group. She is one of the amazing, everyday entrepreneur heroes doing good things for the world & her community during the COVID pandemic. We hope you're just as inspired by her story as we are!
Tell us a bit about your business & how it came to be.
KLH Group is an event production firm specializing in social impact within the luxury event market. Born from a desire to inspire the event industry, I started KLH Group for one simple reason; “To restore people to their full expression of humanness”.
KLH Group provides services to our clients through 4 pillars of business. Destination Services, Event Design, Social Impact Events & MkaKati (Strategic Philanthropic Consulting)
Through Destination Management, we offer unique luxury events for corporate brands visiting the Charleston area by coupling destination services with valued aligned community engagement.
Our Event Design team will take a traditional or non-traditional space and transform it to create something that is uniquely our clients while representing their brand in style and sophistication.
Social Impact Events allow us to facilitate one of a kind experiences for corporate groups by pairing production management with community engagement opportunities delivering socially responsible team building events that guests never forget.
Where the social impact event is an important pause on a company’s everyday operations, MkaKati is a pathway that runs in tandem with its operational goals. Through this service, we help our clients maximize their charitable impact and corporate social responsibility initiatives by developing cohesive philanthropic plans for an entire fiscal year — and beyond.
How was your business affected by the COVID pandemic? What shifts did you have to make in order to continue operating?
In March 2020 our revenue was projected to be the best since inception 5 years ago. Not only were sales at their peak, but we were preparing to impact over 100,000 kids' lives. That all changed when all events in 2020 were postponed to future years. Much like the rest of the world, business as we knew it changed. Thankfully our cash flow was in a strong place. We’ve been able to retain our employees and actually hire two talented individuals. To continue operating we took a hard look at costs and cut back on all the extras. 4th Pillar of business, MkaKati This new pillar helps with cash flow when no other events are happening, but it also is a value added for our current clients and keeps the lines of communication open. “The Great Pause” has given us time to reflect and focus on big picture business goals.
You were recognized by the community as an Entrepreneur of Impact! Tell us about your efforts to create a positive impact during the COVID crisis.
This means so much to us! Creating a positive impact during COVID came very naturally to KLH Group because that is what we do daily. Nothing changed - we just leaned in a bit more.
From delivering gift cards to families facing a pediatric cancer diagnosis to hosting “On the Record” interviews with inspiring humans doing good during this time, creating a positive impact came naturally.
By far my favorite impact we made was for a handful of warriors from the Southeast. Of the 100,000 kids we were preparing to impact, 7 kids felt the effect of our cancellations. Here’s the video & here’s the story:
The latest blow delivered by the Coronavirus pandemic really knocked us down - more for what it did to a dozen amazing kids than to us.
We had scheduled a huge clubhouse build at The Cloister at Sea Island, and at the end of that day these dwellings would have been move-in ready for 7 young cancer patients. But safety concerns in the age of coronavirus forced us to postpone this event. It broke our hearts to tell these kids they would have to wait - too much of their lives has already been put on hold. Instead of folding and walking away, we called in an empathic reinforcement from someone who knows a thing or two about being cracked and broken: Humpty Dumpty.
And then we hailed some fairytale royalty for, you know, a bit of star-studded, sparkle effect.
On the day originally earmarked for clubhouse construction, the 7 kids participated in a live read-aloud (over Zoom, of course) with Queen Elsa of Arendelle. In advance of the storybook session, each child received a copy of Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat's "After the Fall," a cleverly-crafted and brilliantly-illustrated tale of Humpty Dumpty's life following his infamous incident. As the children followed along, Queen Elsa shared with her audience how the book's brave protagonist faced his newfound fear of heights and discovers that "life begins when you get back up." Following the reading, each child got a one-on-one call with Elsa.
We simply could not let May 6 come and go without some replacement fanfare. The kids (as well as our KLH Group team and partners) had watched this date on the calendar with grand anticipation. It is our hope that the intermediate storybook event restores a little hope, speaks to inner heroes, and applies a loving bandage to a crack on the heart.
That batch of clubhouse kids will still get their sweet sanctuaries, as soon as we are able to get the build event rescheduled. When they do, they'll be over the moon... and maybe Elsa can return to tell us about the cow's experience with that (hey, diddle diddle).
What quote or motto you live by?
Actually, it’s from Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of a man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
What does the world need more of?
To be restored to a full expression of their humanness
In 3 words, what does it take to be successful as a business owner?
Heart, Risk, Resilience
If you were to impart one tidbit of wisdom to up-and-coming entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Get real comfortable with being uncomfortable. Know your Why. Align the mission of your company to your why – that way when things get tough (which they will) you’ll have a “North Star”.
We help women entrepreneurs build powerful, purposeful, and profitable businesses. Through actionable education and meaningful opportunities to connect, we cultivate growth-minded entrepreneurs to achieve personal success, while positively impacting their local community, economy, and causes they care about. We believe entrepreneurship is a force for greater good and our mission is to help YOU succeed. Join us inside the Hatch Tribe Collective!