We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kinley Schmidt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kinley below.
Kinley , looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I get my work ethic from my father. He is the last of 7 children and comes from a low income family. He worked his way through high school to put himself through college. He never ended up finishing college because he needed to begin working full-time.
He never let his background stop him from becoming successful. His ambition drives him to be better everyday through adversity and hardships. He is an entrepreneur himself, and he has taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to. He is my biggest supporter and always believes in my dreams (no matter how big or small).
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am the founder of a women-only social event organization called Gals Need Pals. I am 27 years old, grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and got my bachelors & masters degree at the University of Utah.
After college, I moved to Spokane, Washington without knowing anyone but family. I moved in what I like to call the “heart of the plague”— May 2020 & height of COVID. I was a third grade teacher, and my social interactions consisted of talking to my colleagues who were predominantly older than I was or 8 year olds. After 2 years of living in Spokane and still not having any friends, I asked this question, “how the hell do you make friends as an adult?”.
Long story short, that was a question a lot of people had, so I started my organization to help adult women meet, mingle, and create genuine friendships. Gals Need Pals hosts events twice a month in both Spokane and Seattle for the sole purpose of making friends. Our events range from 15-100 women and each event is different. We try to
make our events unique with lots of variety to be as inclusive as possible to reach a larger populations. These events can be wine tastings to sporting events.
We utilize social media such as Instagram to reach our audience and advertise our events. We find that using social media helps us stay connected with our community. We love working with local businesses to make these events extra special by either providing goodies to the girls or allowing us to host in their establishment.
Events can be found on our Instagram, Facebook, or website! We post events one month out from the event.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think three qualities that have been most impactful in my journey are perseverance, innovative, and kindness.
The best advice I can give someone is to dream big, then make those dreams a reality. Nothing can stop you from following your dreams. As my dad always says, “plan your work, work your plan”. Never take no for an answer, it is just no for right now. As women, we are capable of anything we set our minds to. My last piece of advice is to be kind. It seems simple but kindness can be underestimated. I think kindness is the most powerful tool in your toolbox.
How would you describe your ideal client?
At Gals Need Pals, all we ask is that you are a woman over 21 years old. If you have ever moved to a new city or all your friends left after college or just simply not sure how to make friends as an adult… Gals Need Pals is for you. We also like to think of ourselves as an organized girls night, so you do not have to worry about hosting!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.galsneedpals.com
- Instagram: @galsneedpals
- Facebook: Gals Need Pals
- Linkedin: Kinley Schmidt
Image Credits
Jennifer Debarro
Elizabeth Spring
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
