Meet Kahlia Grant — The Social Media and Content Manager of Guild of Guardians
We’re on a mission to onboard hundreds of millions of gamers into digital ownership via NFTs, by building the world’s most popular mobile RPG where players can turn their passion for gaming into real assets.
It’s a bold ambition, and bold ambitions require relentless focus, teamwork and some of the best talents in the industry. In this ‘Meet the Team’ series, we take a behind-the-scenes look at the team who are passionately building and spearheading the next frontier of gaming.
Meet our Social Media and Content Manager, Kahlia Grant — entrepreneur, ethical fashion advocate and the ‘jack of all marketing trades’ of Guild of Guardians! An adventurer at heart, Kahlia has worked in marketing across a wide range of industries around the world. With her rich experience and passionate drive to make a difference, Kahlia is taking Guild of Guardians to new heights!
We are proud to introduce our Social Media Queen, who isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and get her hands dirty, with her trusted Chihuahua Archie in tow…
Tell us about yourself, Kahlia!
Hello! I’m Kahlia. I am the Social Media and Content Manager for Guild of Guardians! I live in Melbourne, Australia.
I grew up in a small-ish town in northern NSW, Australia, but moved around a lot throughout my life. I’m obsessed with travel and spent a large chunk of my 20’s and early 30’s travelling and living in different countries. I’ve lived in Australia (Duh), America, Canada, the UK (twice) and Germany. But alas, I returned to Aus in 2020, and like many locked-down Australians, I adopted a pandemic puppy. His name is Archie! Archie is a cheeky little chihuahua and the coolest little dude you’ll ever meet!
I’ve been in marketing for over 10 years and have had the opportunity to work across a massive range of industries. I lived in London from 2017–2019 and was introduced to a whole new world of tech, specifically FinTech, where I worked for a start-up challenger bank. Never in a million years did I think I’d ever work for a bank!
During this time, I discovered a newfound passion for challenger technology. I’ll forever be an advocate of technology that challenges outdated conventions and creates new opportunities for marginalised groups.
At the end of 2019, I moved to Berlin, Germany, where I was introduced to the glorious world of Web3; and I worked for a small blockchain start-up as a Growth Lead. I was responsible for growing a Web3 ecosystem of developers to build dApps on our blockchain.
I’d describe myself as a typical, hedonistic millennial where I’m mostly motivated by good food, wine and adventure! I’m big into diving, snowboarding and music festivals, and those activities are pretty central to any trips I plan.
I love vintage, but more specifically vintage clothing. One of my fave things to do on a Saturday is to trawl second-hand stores and flea markets. This love has evolved over time into a passion for ethical fashion. Years ago, I became obsessed with learning all there was to know about the impact of fast fashion and supply chains. Did you know that the fashion industry is responsible for 8% of carbon emissions on earth and contributes substantially to modern slavery?!
Approximately 40 million modern slaves exist globally today, out of which, 71% are girls and women, while one-fourth are children. Anyways, I digress — I started writing a blog about it in 2016, which eventually evolved into an ethical clothing brand.
You’re the Content and Social Media Manager for Guild of Guardians — What exactly does your role entail? And what does a day in the life at Guild of Guardians look like for you?
While my title is very social and content-focused, I wear a lot of different hats in the marketing team. First and foremost, I am responsible for the content strategy and content production across all of our social channels to promote community engagement, retention and growth!
But I’ve had the opportunity to drive many marketing initiatives, including the development and execution of both the pre-alpha demo and the recent surprise demo. The ideation and production of our recent pre-registration videos (which I LOVED working on). Our very first paid ads campaign that’s just gone live. PR, partnerships, influencer marketing and the upcoming referral program! There’s loads of other stuff I do on a daily basis, but we’re so fast moving at GOG; every day brings a brand new and exciting challenge!
You have over 10 years of experience across a variety of industries such as FinTech, MedTech, FemTech and Blockchain; what is something unique you have found working at Guild of Guardians?
There is so much uniqueness to working at Guild of Guardians! And this might be predictable to say, but number one would be the Guild of Guardians community. I’ve never encountered such a passionate, engaged and positive community in my entire career. The community is what inspires and motivates me.
I also have to give a shout-out to the amazing Guild of Guardians team. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such talented, accomplished and passionate humans. We’re all working towards the same goal with equal emotional investment and passion. Every day is wild, the industry moves so fast, and sometimes it feels chaotic, but it’s organised chaos that I might actually be addicted to.
You are an entrepreneur at heart; what drives this passion?
I always want to be doing work that is making a positive difference in the world. I launched a small vintage clothing brand, called ‘Thrift Be With You’ in 2020 during the thick of Covid. For every item purchased, we plant a tree right here in Australia. While it’s a teeny tiny side hustle that may not make much of an impact in this world, I firmly believe all businesses, big and small, have a social and political responsibility to make the world a better place. But unfortunately, that just isn’t our current reality.
Web3 and blockchain tie deeply into this value. I am obsessed with technology that enables revolutionary products. Products and initiatives that challenge outdated conventions. That’s the stuff that really rocks my world!
What is something you have learnt working across such a diverse range of industries?
Marketing is cool because it allows you to chop and change and work across a wide range of industries and audiences! I’ve been incredibly lucky to work across new, innovative tech in some of the coolest cities in the world. But while I’ve worked across a wide range of industries and different audiences, the standout learning for me is that marketing is all about storytelling. Storytelling is intrinsic to the human experience, and while yes, we’re all consumers, we are human beings above all else!
Why have you chosen to focus your career on Blockchain and Gaming?
Web3 and blockchain are the inevitable next step in our technological evolution. I genuinely believe that blockchain, crypto, NFT gaming, and all the obvious things that come with Web3, are an opportunity to bridge the gaps that exist in this world, i.e. the generational wealth gap and the gap between first and third-world countries. It’s the ultimate equaliser. While nothing is perfect, and it never will be, Web3 has the ability to help break down racial and gender bias. In Web3, you can be whoever the heck you want. Your physical, social, and cultural circumstances have less of an impact on your future.
Do you have any projects away from Guild of Guardians that you would like to share?
Besides Thrift Be With You, which I have already harped on about, no. I’m pretty hard-focused on Guild of Guardians right now! But maybe I’ll just use this answer to share a powerful quote by Anna Lappe, which is applicable to pretty much everything in the capitalistic world we live in…
“Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.”
TLDR — DYOR and take the time to understand supply chains and what you’re really supporting as a consumer.
With regards to social media, what is the biggest thing we want to achieve?
Offt, great question! Well, we’re incredibly transparent about our mission here at Guild of Guardians. We want to onboard hundreds of millions of gamers into digital ownership via NFTs, by building the world’s most popular, FUN and accessible mobile RPG, where players can turn their passion for gaming into real assets.
At the moment, we are focussing on expanding to the more mainstream platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. TikTok especially! We’re just getting started, but our goal of onboarding hundreds of millions of gamers means it is critical that we build our online presence and target more mainstream audiences.
While I’m not personally down with the cool kids of TikTok, I understand that we’re in the golden age of the TikTok algorithm. We’re testing the waters with different content, and while I’m sure we’ll make many mistakes along the way, I am determined to get to 1 million followers…soon?
What trends do you foresee happening in social media in the next few years?
Centralised social media platforms like Facebook have characterised Web2. We’re going to see the development and adoption of more and more decentralised Web3 social channels and the integration of Web3 concepts across Web2 platforms. It’s already happening. Cough cough Meta. Which I refuse to actually call Meta.
Why is social media so important in making Guild of Guardians one of the biggest mobile games?
Accessibility and reach. I’ve already touched on this, but we have BIG ambitions, and social media, whether it’s in the Web2 or Web3 space, is all about community. And we all know, COMMUNITY IS KING!
What excites you about working at Guild of Guardians?
Being part of a project that has the potential to irreversibly transform the game industry, is pretty damn exciting! I genuinely believe we are in the process of shaping history.
Where can we follow you?
You can follow me on Twitter at @kahliatilly.
It’s unlikely, but if vintage and ethical fashion is your jam, check out Thrift Be With You on Instagram! LFGOGGGG!
We hope you enjoyed getting to know our Social Media and Content Manager, Kahlia Grant. Stay tuned for the next edition to learn more about the people behind the game, Guild of Guardians.
Until next time.
