One of the best parts of doing interviews for Kinsta Talks is getting to sit down with people I already knowâbut havenât yet had the chance to really dig in with. That was the case with Kelsey Parks, a local friend, fellow WordPress Meetup organizer here in Durango, and the co-founder of Psyche Digital.
We recently sat down to talk about her journey into marketing, what sheâs learned from years of working with startups, and how her agency helps founders build the kind of systems that donât just surviveâthey scale.
From Startups to Systems
Kelseyâs path into agency life didnât begin with marketing degrees or a traditional agency climb. It started with startupsâand with chaos.
âI got completely addicted to the unemployable startup founder,â she told me. âThe oddballs in a warehouse, making cool things happen from thin air.â
After stints in D.C. and Chinaâwhere she helped Chinese companies position themselves for North American marketsâKelsey eventually returned to Southwest Colorado and teamed up with her childhood friend (and now business partner), Kate. The two had stayed connected since the third grade, and they launched Psyche Digital together to serve companies during one of the most intense phases of business: the early growth stage.
Why Systems Matter
Kelsey works with founders who are often at a critical junctureâwhat she calls the âweâre going to make it or weâre not going to be here in a yearâ phase. Rather than overwhelm them with trendy marketing tactics, Psyche Digital focuses on something more sustainable: building repeatable systems.
One line really stuck with me:
âAnother thing thatâs important to startup founders is knowing that the work weâre doing isnât going to be lost when they bring in their own marketing team.â
That mindsetâtreating systems as something founders can keepâfeels like the kind of long-term thinking a lot of fast-moving businesses forget to prioritize.
On AI and Interns
We also talked about AI, of course.
Kelsey doesnât see AI as a threat. She sees it as a tool. Specifically:
âI think of AI as part of my workforceâmore like an intern in my workforce.â
That framing resonated. Use AI to gather ideas, generate outlines, or even write draftsâbut then let your experts take it from there. Itâs not about replacing creativity. Itâs about removing bottlenecks.
Meet Her at the Meetup
In addition to running an agency, Kelsey co-hosts the Durango WordPress Meetup with me. Sheâs been instrumental in building a welcoming space for folks working with WordPress across the Four Corners.
If youâre a local and havenât joined us yetânowâs a good time. We meet monthly, and our conversations are always lively (and occasionally spicyâlike Kelseyâs favorite Sichuan food from her days in Chengdu).
Watch the Full Interview
You can watch the full interview on YouTube here:
đ„ How Psyche Digital Helps Startups Build Systems That Stick