// Kyle Sexton: A Business Story

Kyle Sexton loves business. Kyle’s first business was selling dollar bills for two dollars each in sixth grade. By learning to fold a dollar bill into a ring that a person could wear, he discovered that people valued watching the transformation as much as owning the outcome.

While attending the University of Oregon – as other students preferred the party scene over studying – Kyle avoided both by reading and writing business plans. He landed a summer job as a real estate apprentice for a developer who was willing to teach him everything he knew about business.

Still in his teens, Kyle had 12 employees and a promising house-painting business. By aligning employee bonuses with perfect customer ratings and testimonials, he enjoyed springs and summers of great success, but his lack of leadership training ushered in falls of utter failure.

Broke and broken from two years of employer burnout, Kyle sold his business and retreated a hundred miles from home to a college where he could help coach men’s basketball and practice with the team for three seasons. He took advantage of every opportunity a smaller college offered, including running for student council and serving the college newspaper as photographer and sports editor.

Fully recharged, he traded his new skills in graphic design and layout to a local health club for a chance to sell memberships on commission and learn the membership business. A year later, he was bundling membership packages, running campaigns and training employees to sell value-based membership tiers.

Back in his hometown of Salem, Oregon, Kyle began looking for leadership opportunities. He found it working for Mike McLaran at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce. It’s been said that great leaders give meaning to the work, and after a very short while working for a great leader, Kyle found the meaning in the work. This fueled many changes to the structure and model of the chamber, propelled by popular benefits and national acclaim.

The son of a teacher and coach, Kyle now coaches and teaches people who want to transform their organization’s marketing from boring to booming, from scattered to aligned, and from noisy to powerful.

Business and organizations are looking for answers to their questions about the future. Kyle Sexton brings fresh perspective on marketing strategy, membership development, social media and team leadership. 

// Summary

Kyle Sexton loves business. Kyle’s first business was selling dollar bills for two dollars each in sixth grade. In his freshman year at the University of Oregon – while other students preferred the party scene over studying – Kyle avoided both by reading and writing business plans. He landed a summer job as a real estate apprentice for a developer who was willing to teach him everything he knew about business.

Back in his hometown of Salem, Oregon, Kyle began looking for leadership opportunities. He found it working for Mike McLaran at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce. It’s been said that great leaders give meaning to the work, and after a very short while working for a great leader, Kyle found the meaning in the work. This fueled many changes to the structure and model of the chamber, propelled by popular benefits and national acclaim.

The son of a teacher and coach, Kyle now coaches and teaches people who want to transform their organization’s marketing from boring to booming, from scattered to aligned, and from noisy to powerful.

//  Short Bio

Kyle Sexton is an award-winning marketing strategist and international speaker and author on the topics of membership development, marketing and innovation. He was recognized in 2011 by Chamber Executive magazine as one of the most influential innovators in the chamber of commerce industry.

He is the chamber industry's foremost authority on membership tiers, and guides organizations through the transition from a traditional dues method to value-based tiers. His research and methods have been featured in industry publications, as well as national conventions and regional conferences. 

Kyle's innovative social media accelerator has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and is the author of Follow You Anywhere and ReMembership - New Strategies for Remarkable Membership Organizations. 

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// Full Bio

Kyle Sexton is an award-winning marketing strategist and international speaker and author on the topics of membership development, marketing and innovation. He was recognized in 2011 by Chamber Executive magazine as one of the most influential innovators in the chamber of commerce industry.

Kyle is the author of:

• Remembership - New Strategies for Remarkable Membership Organizations
• Follow You Anywhere - 22 Little Lessons for Team Leaders

Kyle is the chamber community's foremost authority on membership tiers, and guides organizations through the transition from a traditional dues method to value-based tiers. His research and methods have been featured in industry publications, as well as national conventions and regional conferences.

Formerly the director of business development for the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, Kyle was recognized as the 2007 Chamber Staff Person of the Year by the Western Association of Chamber Executives. Kyle's innovative "Face2Face" platform on SalemChamber.org propelled the site to be the top-ranked local or regional chamber of commerce site on the web, as measured by Alexa.com. His innovations have been featured in The Wall Street Journal. 

Kyle serves as faculty for the Institute of Organizational Management since 2008: 

• University of Arizona
• Loyola Marymount University
• Villanova University
• University of Wisconsin
• University of Georgia

He leads courses on:

• Marketing Strategies
• Rethinking Communications
• Integrating Strategic Technology Solutions
• Tech Trends & Tools
• Sponsor Solicitation

Kyle is a former faculty member for the Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE) Academy, and former member of the Board of Directors of The American Chamber of Commerce Executives. He also served as Chair of the Membership Development Advisory Board. He is a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from ACCE's Circle of Champions sales division with over 1,000 memberships sold.

He has been marketing and selling memberships since 1996. Prior to working in for chambers of commerce, he was the Director of Marketing & Corporate Services for a chain of Gold’s Gym locations in Western Oregon. His work was honored with the 2001 Gold's Gym International Award for Outstanding Advertising from among 600 franchises worldwide.

Kyle received the 1994 Pioneer Award for his first business venture, a College Pro Home Painters franchise which he operated for 2 years while attending the University of Oregon.

Kyle lives in Salem, Oregon, with his son, Wyatt.