Kit Studios Manager - Chicago (On-site)

Kit is the email marketing platform experts choose to grow their audience, deepen their relationships, and build a business around the work they love. For coaches, YouTubers, authors, podcasters, and other creatives, there isn't a better marketing hub to rely on to grow audiences, automate email marketing, and sell digital products — all within one platform.

More importantly, there isn't a team more committed to helping creators earn a living. We're on a mission to help creators earn $1 billion using our creator marketing platform. We have always been 100% independent and 100% remote.

We are proud to have built a product that our customers love, and we look for people who have enthusiasm and belief in our mission, vision, and values to join our team. We're also embracing AI thoughtfully — both in how we build and how we hire to ensure our team is adaptable, innovative, and ready for what's next.

The role

Kit Studios is Kit's in-house creator studio space where creators can record high-quality podcasts and video content in a professional production environment, free for creators on our Creator and Creator Pro plans. We're rebuilding Kit Studios Chicago, and we need someone to be its heartbeat. This role is about building community, creating memorable creator experiences, and becoming a trusted face of Kit in the Chicago creator scene.

As a Kit Studios Manager, you'll manage the studio—greeting creators, running the space, and making sure every visit feels welcoming and professional. But the real work happens in the relationships you build: getting to know creators, understanding what they're working on, connecting them to Kit's tools and community, and identifying opportunities to pass along to our sales team.

This role is a great fit if you're a creator, excited about the creator economy, love making others feel seen and supported, and get excited about rolling up your sleeves to create content alongside creators in the studio. Ideally, you're already embedded in the Chicago creator economy yourself — a passive or part-time creator, or someone deeply connected to that community — so you already speak the language of the people you're bringing into the studio.

Your support system

You'll report to Haley Janicek, Head of Creator Community at Kit.

You'll work closely with Kit Studios team members in Boise and New York, Sales when you identify strong creator leads, and cross-functional partners in marketing, support, and operations. You'll have regular access to Haley and the team, but you'll also be trusted to build relationships and make decisions independently.

You sit at the mid-funnel: Marketing owns top-of-funnel acquisition, Sales closes the deal, and you're the connective tissue in between — responsible for surfacing and tracking qualified leads from studio visits and handing them off cleanly to sales.

What you'll do

• First Week: Meet Haley, the Kit Studios team, and key stakeholders across sales and marketing. Learn the booking system and day-of logistics, connect with other Kit Studios coordinators to understand what great creator experiences look like, and start connecting with the Chicago creator community. Get access to Customer.io and start learning how Kit Studios uses it to track regional utilization and reach Chicago-area customers. Start learning our internal systems and tools — Notion, Slack, Claude, Kit.com, etc. Get oriented on the studio's physical space — including day-to-day tidiness expectations and who to contact for building and vendor issues. Familiarize yourself with the studio equipment — Shure, ATEM, Rode, etc.

• First Month: Manage the Chicago studio independently, including creator greetings, bookings, basic technical troubleshooting, studio organization, and vendor coordination. This also includes light studio upkeep, such as tidying common areas, taking out trash, and coordinating cleaning or maintenance as needed. Serve as Kit’s primary POC with building management and own management of the internal booking system, including direct communication with everyone who books. Build relationships with creators who visit by learning about their work, challenges, and goals. Identify creators who may benefit from Creator Pro or a deeper partnership and connect them with Sales. Drive studio awareness and utilization by sending Customer.io campaigns and encouraging customers to use the studio for training, recording, and events. Own the goal of reaching 120 bookable sessions per month by the end of 2026. Capture photo and video content at the studio and become comfortable appearing on camera to help market Kit Studios Chicago and Kit more broadly.

• First Six Months: Be known as a go-to person in the Chicago creator community. Consistently deliver excellent in-studio experiences that result in strong NPS scores and testimonials. Build authentic relationships that lead to natural conversations about Kit's tools and value. Host or participate in creator events, meetups, or community-building activities in Chicago that align with our company goals. Identify and funnel qualified creator leads to the sales teams. Keep the Chicago studio running smoothly—managing bookings, supplies, equipment, and day-to-day logistics. Be on pace to hit our year-end target of 120 bookable sessions a month. Know the Kit customers with 10k+ subscribers within the Chicago radius — who they are, what they create, and how to bring them into the studio. Be fully established as the point person for studio vendors and building management — resolving facilities issues (HVAC, maintenance, etc.) and holding the building accountable to what it's responsible for under our lease. Support the continued build-out of the Chicago studio now that we've taken over the full space. Explore additional ways to drive utilization and revenue — for example, listing the space on Peerspace when it's not booked by creators.

• First Year: Be the face of Kit Studios in Chicago and build a thriving creator community around the studio—people who come back, refer friends, and become advocates. Drive meaningful creator engagement that leads to testimonials, case studies, and organic growth. Shape how Kit shows up in the Chicago creator scene as we continue to grow. Have a track record of curating studio events and content based on what you've learned about the Chicago creator audience. Be working toward 100% of Kit customers within the designated Chicago radius having experienced the studio for training, recording, or an event

What will S.E.T. you up for success

Skills

• Strong relationship-building and community development skills—you know how to make people feel genuinely welcome and valued

• Natural conversational selling ability—you can spot opportunities and introduce ideas without being pushy

• Excellent hospitality instincts—you create environments where people want to return

• Comfortable with tools like Google Calendar, Slack, and booking platforms

• Clear, warm communication in person and in writing

• Good judgment about when someone's a fit for deeper Kit engagement and when to loop in the sales team

• Hands-on experience operating studio recording equipment — Rode mics, Shure headphones, ATEM Mini switchers, teleprompters, and similar standard podcast/video gear. You should be able to run the room independently from day one, not ramp up into it.

• Familiarity with Customer.io (or comparable email/CRM tools) — comfortable building and sending campaigns to a defined customer list

• Comfortable on camera and capturing content — you're a natural at creating and appearing in content that markets the studio

• Comfortable liaising with vendors and building management to get facilities issues resolved

Experiences

• 2+ years in community building, hospitality, event coordination, customer-facing roles, or creator-facing work

• Experience building relationships that lead to business opportunities (doesn't have to be formal sales)

• Bonus: background in content creation, podcasting, or working with creators

• Bonus: experience launching or managing a new space, program, or community from scratch

• Bonus: deep ties to the Chicago creator community

• Ideally embedded in the Chicago creator economy — a passive or part-time creator yourself, or someone with genuine standing in that community

Traits

• Genuinely excited about creators and the creator economy—you believe in what they're building

• Warm, approachable, and energized by meeting new people

• You listen well and remember details about people and their work

• Comfortable working independently and building something new without a playbook

• You take initiative and ownership—you don't wait to be told what to do

• You care about the details that make experiences feel special

• Comfortable spotting opportunities and having natural conversations about how Kit can help

What won't set you up for success

• Preference for purely remote work—this role requires in-person presence in the Chicago studio

• Discomfort with relationship-building or community-facing work

• Preferring highly structured roles with established processes. This role requires comfort building systems and making decisions independently

• Approaching creator relationships transactionally rather than authentically

• Preferring behind-the-scenes work over face-to-face interaction

• Discomfort being on camera or reluctance to create content

Working hours and location

Kit Studios Chicago is located downtown, on Goose Island. You'll work on-site approximately 25 hours per week (specific days/hours will be determined based on booking volume and community needs). Hours spent supporting studio events may fall outside the standard 25 weekly operating hours and will be scheduled and compensated in addition to them.

Compensation + perks + benefits

Kit has standardized pay based on position, no matter where you live. For this role, we're hiring at our level 2 ($40 per hour). Level is determined based on experience and our interview process.

Perks + benefits include:

• 401k with a 5% match

• Five (5) days of paid time off during each year of employment

• Ten (10) paid holidays a year

• Forty (40) hours of paid sick time each year, including mental health + well being days

• Twelve (12) part-time weeks (240 hours) paid parental leave and flexible scheduling in your child’s first year

How to apply

We usually receive a large number of applications, and our goal is to follow up with you within two weeks. You’ll hear from us either way. Here’s what you can expect from the rest of our hiring process:

1. A phone screen with our recruiter (30 min)

2. Hiring manager interview (45 min)

3. Take-home assignment

4. Panel interview (60 min)

We’ll keep you informed through every step. To get started, complete this application, including a cover letter and answers to the questions on the next page. We read every single application, and your cover letter and responses help put your experience into context.

Kit is an equal opportunity employer

We value diversity in all of its forms. Research tells us that applicants who are female or non-binary, as well as applicants who are people of color, are less likely to apply for roles they do not feel 100% qualified for. If you think you meet more than 50% of our requirements but fewer than 100% of them, please apply.

We’re imperfect communicators, so think of our job postings as the starting point for discussion rather than proof that you shouldn’t apply.

Kit does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other reason prohibited by law in provision of employment opportunities and benefits.