Proud to be an Osprey-Owned Agency!
To quote Kevin Malone, “Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?” Stephen Freeman (’13), Jacksonville Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and the founder and leader of KAIROS DIGITAL SOLUTIONS, this month’s #LocalBusinessShowcase, knows this all too well. Freeman joined us in Jacksonville after starting his coursework at Valenica College. His girlfriend (now wife) got a job in Duval, so with a few classes short of his associate degree, he registered as a transient student at the Florida State College at Jacksonville, then transferred to the University of North Florida. He majored in English at the UNF - College of Arts and Sciences and minored in philosophy. He got into marketing through writing and used the UNF connection at Web.com to get his foot in the door as a copywriter. Less than six months later, he’d been promoted to an operations supervisor role, overseeing a team of over 20 writers. His next stop was as an account director for Connect Agency, a company he’d previously freelanced with. They were early in their life stage trying to bring “chaos to order,” an area where Freeman excels. In his four years with the company, they landed some big-name clients, tripled their revenue and expanded their workforce to 12 employees. Once the company found order and started to pivot to optimization, Freeman decided he was ready for his next challenge. Freeman partnered with his brother to found Kairos Digital. This agency does everything from digital marketing, copywriting, e-mail campaigns, social media management, video production, graphic design, logo creation, website development, search engine optimization and more. Five years into their lifespan, they’ve already earned countless awards and honors for their marketing campaigns. Freeman credits his success to his tactical approach. Early on, he was certified as a StoryBrand guide, and they incubated inside a local coworking space, which allowed them to build relationships with a handful of solid organizations like Rethreaded and WJCT Public Media. They also put emphasis on SEO. Freeman said, “We take the time to sharpen the axe first with the messaging” before they start working on the ever-adapting tactics. He enjoys working with his smaller team, as their close-knit office is built on culture and allows for amazing collaboration. Their campaign for WJCT’s Jacksonville Today newsletter integrated daily stories with the highest engagement into the confirmation page of Facebook Lead forms, which required users to complete the form for access. This helped grow the total subscribers from under 3,000 to an astounding 20,000 in under a year – growth which earned them the Netty Award for the best digital campaign of 2023. Outside of work, he spends time with his wife and five children. He also serves as a deacon for his church, and continues working on his writing, focusing primarily on poetry and short fiction.