Founder & Principal Operator
Every Chapter Gave Me a Different Seat at the Table
Kayla Lester
Founder, Kinser Commerce Group
Indiana, United States
“My career has always been rooted in retail, eCommerce, and a genuine curiosity about what makes brands truly grow.”
Apparel Merchandising @ Indiana University • Former Fortune 50 Retail Buyer • Amazon Brand Owner
I studied Apparel Merchandising at Indiana University and began my career in the motorsports industry, working in product development and sourcing. It was there that I first learned what it really takes to bring a product from an idea to the hands of a customer—and how many decisions happen behind the scenes to make that possible.
From there, my career took me through marketing and eCommerce, corporate retail and buying for a Fortune 50 retailer, building and selling through my own business on Amazon, and eventually managing brands from the agency side.
Working in corporate retail taught me how buyers evaluate products, how decisions are made at scale, and what brands need to do to stand out. Building my own Amazon business gave me an entirely different perspective—I experienced firsthand the weight of being the business owner, managing inventory, advertising, cash flow, and profitability.
Together, those experiences shaped why I created Kinser Commerce Group. I saw too many brands receiving fragmented advice—one partner focused on ads, another on content, another on Seller Central—with no one stepping back to understand how everything connected.
At KCG, we take a connected, hands-on approach to growth. We look at the whole business and bring marketplace strategy, advertising, content, and operations together so each part supports the next.
“Behind every brand is a person or a team who has put a tremendous amount of time, energy, and belief into building something meaningful. I never lose sight of that.”
— Kayla Lester