Kelly Young

This March, Herd Strategies is celebrating Women’s History Month by highlighting women who share stories, uplifting and amplifying the experiences of themselves and of others. Kelly Young, co-host of the podcast Badassery Life, uses her platform to help other women experience the strength that comes from expressing their unique perspectives.

Passionate about helping those facing homelessness in Indianapolis, empowering women and supporting the LGBTQ community, Kelly Young’s career has encompassed many means of storytelling. After graduating from Ball State University, Kelly worked in top Indianapolis public relations agencies, including Borshoff, Hetrick, and Caldwell VanRiper. She then founded Baise Communications, providing industry expertise and thought leadership for over a decade. Kelly is currently the public relations director and spokesperson for AES Indiana, where she is responsible for increasing AES Indiana’s engagement with the media and telling the story of how the company is accelerating the future of energy and providing customers with reliability, affordability, and sustainability. In her free time, she serves on the Horizon House and Dress for Success Indy boards and invests in her passion project: the Badassery Life podcast. 

Kelly was inspired to launch a podcast that amplified women's voices due to the lack of platforms that celebrated women and told their stories. “So many women have stories that go unheard and untold. I want to change that!” she said. “Storytelling is a great gift to have. My hope with every story I tell is that it leaves an impression on the person reading or listening to it.”

While Kelly identified the importance of women’s stories being told, she emphasized that it is doubly as crucial for women to learn and have the opportunities to share their own stories. “Women tend to be humble. We don't brag about ourselves. We don't often talk broadly about our successes. We don't celebrate and share our badassery lives, and we absolutely should,” she noted. “Women have really incredible stories to share and it's important that we own our stories and we share them with others.” Hearing narratives from ordinary women doing extraordinary things allows others to learn from their experiences and gain inspiration.

Through her podcast, Kelly shared that she has connected with so many amazing women in the community and learned so much from them. “My favorite interviews have been the ones where the guest doesn't believe she's a badass and by the end, she has inspired not only me but also herself,” she shared. Kelly has found inspiration from women from all walks of life, from social activists, moms, entrepreneurs, athletes, survivors and mentors. “Each woman has a unique and beautiful story about how they are living out their Badassery Life and I'm just honored to help tell and celebrate their stories.”

Kelly’s advice to other women storytellers is to not put so much pressure on themselves to have everything together. “No one has it ‘figured out,’ and no one ever will,” she said. “See yourself how others see you – they don't see the mess behind the beauty!”

To keep up with Kelly, follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn. Learn more about Badassery Life through Instagram, Facebook or the website.