Strategist. Educator. Ecosystem Builder.
Molly McKinley, founder
I started my career in a high-tech PR firm in San Francisco, where I spent nearly eight years helping companies like Adobe earn the kind of credibility you can't buy — the kind that comes from what other people say about you, not what you say about yourself. That experience imprinted something in me that has shaped every chapter since: the businesses that win long-term aren't the loudest. They're the ones that earn trust through what's true about them, amplified strategically.
I carried that conviction through two decades of brand strategy, marketing, and thought leadership across proptech, real estate, fintech, and tech. I've worked with startups trying to break through and established companies trying to stay relevant. The common thread was never company size. It was the gap between what a business actually is and what the world sees when it goes looking. I've always been the person who closes that gap.
Now the landscape has shifted in a way that makes everything I've done feel like preparation. AI systems are becoming the new editorial gatekeepers — recommending, summarizing, and deciding who gets found. And the signals they rely on are the same ones good PR has always built: third-party credibility, consistent expertise, a body of work that corroborates who you claim to be. I started Redtail Creative to help purpose-driven businesses build that kind of authority. The work spans PR, thought leadership, brand strategy, and AI visibility — but the question underneath hasn't changed since my first day at A&R Partners: does the world see you the way you deserve to be seen?
I also teach. At Meredith College in Raleigh, I serve as Entrepreneur-in-Residence, where I teach courses on entrepreneurship, innovation, and social impact. Working with the next generation of women business leaders is the most meaningful work I do. What I bring to the classroom isn't theory — it's what I'm learning in real time from building businesses, making mistakes, and watching what actually works when you lead with both values and strategy. My students teach me as much as I teach them.
I wrote The Intentional Business: A Path to Purpose & Prosperity because I needed to put the philosophy into words — the conviction that building from truth isn't just more ethical, it's more effective. I'm currently writing Trust & Authority, which explores what happens when human intelligence, artificial intelligence, and something deeper converge in how we build and recognize genuine expertise.
3x Inman Marketing All-Star (2023, 2024, 2025). Top 100 Influencer in Real Estate. RISMEDIA 2022 Newsmaker Award. NGLCC Certified Business Enterprise. 25V Diversity Fund Board of Advisors. More than 25 years of experience in PR, brand strategy, and marketing across real estate, proptech, fintech, and tech — from global companies like Adobe to early-stage startups finding their footing.
If your expertise is real but your visibility doesn't match it, that's the problem I solve. Whether you're an established company trying to stay relevant in an AI-driven landscape or a founder figuring out how to earn the kind of authority that compounds over time — I'd like to help.
There is another way to do business.
Where purpose drives profit.
Heart-Head Alignment helps you stop choosing between your values and your revenue. At Redtail Creative, we show purpose-driven entrepreneurs how to turn their mission into their competitive advantage.
what
is
an intentional business?
Knowing the why of your business, making decisions from your values, and immersing yourself in the needs of your ideal customer are at the heart of The Intentional Business, writes Redtail Creative co-founder, Molly McKinley in her latest book.
Molly charts a path to purpose and prosperity by weaving together nature’s principles of connection, the wisdom of archetypes, and how to raise the vibration of your company by doing the right things at the right time to attract the right customers. We call it intentional marketing, the soul of Redtail Creative.