About Kara
Over the last 15+ years I've helped founders and marketing professionals launch startups, raise over $10M in funding, build brand equity, merge, acquire, and go global.
Over the last 15+ years I've helped founders and marketing professionals launch startups, raise over $10M in funding, build brand equity, merge, acquire, and go global.
Over the last 15+ years I've helped founders and marketing professionals launch startups, raise over $10M in funding, build brand equity, merge, acquire, and go global.
I'm Kara. I'm the founder of Backroom, a brand strategy consultancy for leaders who can feel the problem but can't afford to get the fix wrong.
If a brand decision is expensive, political, or hard to reverse - that's my game.
Most brand work assumes stability. I assume pressure. When companies are scaling, merging, raising, launching, or cleaning up what got built too fast, the brand becomes the most important business decision nobody's making. I help you make it.
I built a proprietary diagnostic called the Brand Pressure Assessment: a 10-dimension scoring system that tells you exactly where your brand holds up and where it breaks under pressure. Sometimes the engagement starts with the diagnosis, other times the fix.
My work spans 15 years across B2B, enterprise, and founder-led brands from Hellmann's, StubHub, and the U.S. Department of State to the companies you've never heard of that are quietly building empires. The common thread: leaders who care more about getting it right than getting it easy.
What I do:
→ Brand Pressure Assessments (the diagnostic)
→ Positioning, brand architecture & identity systems (the build)
→ Executive brand advisory & workshops (the guide)
→ M&A integration, portfolio strategy & brand consolidation
→ Founder-to-scale transitions & go-to-market resets
Take the free Brand Stress Test.
Featured in The Marketing Millennials, Baltimore Magazine, Sprout Social, and named a Favikon Top 20 Brand Expert.
If you're navigating a moment where the brand can't afford to break, I want to help.
I'm Kara. I'm the founder of Backroom, a brand strategy consultancy for leaders who can feel the problem but can't afford to get the fix wrong.
If a brand decision is expensive, political, or hard to reverse - that's my game.
Most brand work assumes stability. I assume pressure. When companies are scaling, merging, raising, launching, or cleaning up what got built too fast, the brand becomes the most important business decision nobody's making. I help you make it.
I built a proprietary diagnostic called the Brand Pressure Assessment: a 10-dimension scoring system that tells you exactly where your brand holds up and where it breaks under pressure. Sometimes the engagement starts with the diagnosis, other times the fix.
My work spans 15 years across B2B, enterprise, and founder-led brands from Hellmann's, StubHub, and the U.S. Department of State to the companies you've never heard of that are quietly building empires. The common thread: leaders who care more about getting it right than getting it easy.
What I do:
→ Brand Pressure Assessments (the diagnostic)
→ Positioning, brand architecture & identity systems (the build)
→ Executive brand advisory & workshops (the guide)
→ M&A integration, portfolio strategy & brand consolidation
→ Founder-to-scale transitions & go-to-market resets
Take the free Brand Stress Test.
Featured in The Marketing Millennials, Baltimore Magazine, Sprout Social, and named a Favikon Top 20 Brand Expert.
If you're navigating a moment where the brand can't afford to break, I want to help.
I'm Kara. I'm the founder of Backroom, a brand strategy consultancy for leaders who can feel the problem but can't afford to get the fix wrong.
If a brand decision is expensive, political, or hard to reverse - that's my game.
Most brand work assumes stability. I assume pressure. When companies are scaling, merging, raising, launching, or cleaning up what got built too fast, the brand becomes the most important business decision nobody's making. I help you make it.
I built a proprietary diagnostic called the Brand Pressure Assessment: a 10-dimension scoring system that tells you exactly where your brand holds up and where it breaks under pressure. Sometimes the engagement starts with the diagnosis, other times the fix.
My work spans 15 years across B2B, enterprise, and founder-led brands from Hellmann's, StubHub, and the U.S. Department of State to the companies you've never heard of that are quietly building empires. The common thread: leaders who care more about getting it right than getting it easy.
What I do:
→ Brand Pressure Assessments (the diagnostic)
→ Positioning, brand architecture & identity systems (the build)
→ Executive brand advisory & workshops (the guide)
→ M&A integration, portfolio strategy & brand consolidation
→ Founder-to-scale transitions & go-to-market resets
Take the free Brand Stress Test.
Featured in The Marketing Millennials, Baltimore Magazine, Sprout Social, and named a Favikon Top 20 Brand Expert.
If you're navigating a moment where the brand can't afford to break, I want to help.