In this episode, we speak with Amy Jarczynski, founder and CEO of Kiss & Tell, a wedding and group travel booking platform that aims to revolutionize the way guests communicate and book events. Amy shares her background and how her experiences working in consumer tech inspired her to create a platform that solves the pain points of booking and managing group travel. Amy talks about how Kiss & Tell was created in response to the dissatisfaction of guests with the current personal wedding website model, and how her previous work at the Knot in travel and international partnerships gave her the insight to know that the key to getting everyone to a wedding or gathering was tying everyone together in a social conversation.

We also discuss how Kiss & Tell is making a difference for the Latino community, with the company being nominated by angel investors for the first-ever Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund and winning. This partnership has led to Kiss & Tell becoming a perk for all of Google's 300,000 plus employees, offering a free engagement trip if they book their wedding with Kiss & Tell.

Amy shares her experiences as a Latina and a female in tech, and how it has influenced the company's mission to include underrepresented folks in the products and pain points they are solving. She also talks about Kiss & Tell's solutions, which include building and booking event venues, packages, and group stays, as well as communication tools such as segmented group conversations like WhatsApp. Lastly, we get some insights on how she finds diverse talent, and how long-standing networks exist for different demographics.

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Founder Bio:

Amy Jarczynski is the Founder & CEO of Kiss & Tell, an award-winning wedding and group travel booking platform that ties everyone together in a streamlined conversation. She is an industry expert who for over a decade witnessed booking and deal flow problems impacting consumers and the industry while she spent 13 years growing and scaling The Knot's (www.theknot.com) global presence. Kiss & Tell enjoys broad industry support, high user conversion rates of wedding guests to future event hosts and the recognition of winning both Google For Startups Latino Founders Fund in 2022 (post-revenue) and Capital Factory's $100K Challenge in 2017 (pre-product). Amy is passionate about travel and bringing people together with loved ones around the world, while always finding joy in the journey. A problem solver at heart, she's deeply committed to creating a robust and lasting solution, helping people gather globally. When not traveling or working, Amy loves spending time with friends and family, people watching or lingering over good wine and food.

Time Stamps:

02:45 Amy's background and professional journey with Kiss & Tell

06:43 Leveraging Google for startups and supporting underrepresented folks

09:18 Exploring the benefits of Kiss & Tell

13:30 What does it look like to engage with Kiss & Tell

16:57 Building the platform from a technical perspective

21:12 Rebuilding a platform during covid-19

23:59 Hiring talent to build a platform

27:52 Onboarding event venues and hotels building trust and improving user experience

29:49 Investigating a payment glitch during site rollout

33:35 Partnerships and strategies for growing destination wedding awareness

36:57 How to get in contact with the Kiss & Tell team

Resources:

Company website: https://kissandtell.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doyoukissandtell/

Pinterest: https://co.pinterest.com/DoYouKissAndTell/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoYouKissNTell