Kailey Gingras pictured herself as a famous actress from a young age, but she’s taking center stage elsewhere as one of the shining stars at Brafton as a part of the Project Management team. Her career path didn’t always involve content marketing, but she’s one of the most valuable team members here.

The tale of Kailey’s career journey

After graduating from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York with a BA in Communication – double concentration in Public Relations and TV/Radio/Film – Kailey headed to Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island where she began a career in corporate giving. In this role, Kailey facilitated efforts in sponsorships and contributions to major university events. During her time working at the university, she also earned her MBA with a Certificate in Nonprofit Management.

Life@ #1 May Kailey Gingras

Soon after, Kailey packed her bags and headed to Boston where she began her role specializing in Explore America, EF Education First’s domestic student travel product. Here, she helped facilitate trips with teachers to take students across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Eventually, Kailey found herself working closer in product development by researching, developing and introducing new products into the market.

“In this role, I got deeper into my interest in project management as I saw through the entire process of research, ideation, business development and implementation of the tours I worked on,” Kailey said. “I came to Brafton with an interest to exercise my project management skills in a creative environment.”

Personal accomplishments in project management

From banks and SD-WAN technology companies to financial advisors, construction agencies and even interior designers, Kailey manages clients from a breadth of industries. Immersing herself in such a large pool of diverse clients is what helps Kailey become a better project manager.

“I’m constantly reading and proofing blogs surrounding subjects that I may not have sought out on my own which keeps every day interesting!” she said.

Understanding the big picture and how each one of your team members contributes to each product is essential to successful project management. Kailey can attest to this. One of her most recent accomplishments involved delivering 185 landing pages in a matter of three months.

“It took a lot of organization and teamwork from everyone involved,” she said. “There were a lot of after-hours put in on that scope of work but we got it done!”

According to Kailey, achieving such success stems from organization.

“It can be a lot of moving pieces at all times, but if you are organized and intentional with strategies like documentation, note-taking, time management and checklists you can make sure it gets all done!”

Superior interpersonal and communication skills are also essential in project management. Setting and meeting client expectations are top tier, but effectively collaborating with team members of the project ensures a successful execution.

Life outside of Brafton


When Kailey isn’t working flawlessly through a content scope, she’s probably at home perfecting her calligraphy skills. She picked up the hobby four years ago and continues to learn, grow and watch her style evolve every day.

“I picked calligraphy up in 2015 when I saw some photos and videos on Pinterest,” she said. “I ordered some supplies on Amazon and got to work. It’s crazy to see how much my style and font has evolved since then and from year to year.”

When she’s not practicing penmanship for fun, she’s finding opportunities to share her skills with others.

“I do some occasional commission work for weddings and events including calligraphy place cards, envelopes, signs and seating charts,” she said. “I’ve also recently been teaching myself watercolor which I love incorporating into my designs. Next up, I’m learning how to utilize photoshop and illustrator to digitize my work so that it can be printed at a larger scale.”

Beyond her love for calligraphy, Kailey also loves doing yoga, spending time in the kitchen and concentrating on her health and wellness.

Evolving with the industry


Content marketing has changed vastly over the years, and that’s only expected to continue. To keep up with this evolution, Kailey said industry professionals need to be open to change and willing to adapt.

“I experienced a significant change in the industry since I began my role at Brafton as well as shifts in the way we function as a team of content marketing specialists operationally. There is always something new to consider and we are surrounded by so many talented professionals with expertise in different areas. Take the opportunity to learn from them and widen the breadth of your skills and knowledge!”

Kailey shared that her personal experience at Brafton has made it easy to adapt to this change since there’s always a chance to learn and grow via collaboration.

“Not only do I have the opportunity to learn from my talented colleagues, but I have the opportunity to learn about the wide-ranging industries that my clients work in.”

As Kailey continues to work directly with every Brafton department through the life cycle of her scopes of work, she’s excited to continue learning about marketing strategy, creative insight, consulting best practices and social media management from her colleagues.

Chelsey Church is a senior writer and editor at Brafton. When she's not turning her thoughts into copy, she's enjoying a craft beer, playing with her dogs or listening to her favorite metal tunes. A Cleveland native, she'll never let you forget that the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead.