Cameron Cegale graduated from USC (University of South Carolina) with a degree in international business and Spanish. She had a successful career with P&G for nearly 7 years before acknowledging that her life was unbalanced and that she needed a change.
Cameron (and her team) started work on AdKaddy in December of 2017. The first beta app launched to the App Store for testing in the Fall of 2018. Finally in Spring of 2019, we launched our full live version.
AdKaddy is making inbox FOMO a thing of the past by creating the first platform dedicated to the consumer-brand relationship – a place where consumers show up with the primary purpose of consuming advertising. They provide you a new consumer email address to manage your consumer life and keep up with the brands you love. The app is seamlessly organized by brand. Each brand landing page parses emails by marketing, shipping, and receipts. It is your personally curated magazine, if you will.
Takeaways
- Cameron talks about how she got fired from her corporate job. Even though she was forced to leave, she says that in hindsight it was totally a blessing. She was able to prioritize her life, and it was one of the best things that have ever happened to her.
- She talks about how building an app was FULL of challenges. She said there was a challenge between what she had in the bank vs. what she needed to create it. You have to be really particular and know where you want your money to go to actually turn a profit.
- Cameron said that networking was a key to getting the app off the ground. They used these friends and family to stay self funded and not go into debt, using people who were passionate about their business venture, giving them a small part of equity vs paying them outright. It kept them self funded until they were able to turn a profit!
- You can’t be so afraid of launching perfectly- if you do, you’ll NEVER START! You have to take messy action, and adapt as things happen in your business.
Highlights
- (1:41) A little more about Cameron, her story, and how she got started as an entrepreneur.
- (3:06) What made Cameron want to leave corporate.
- (4:04) What is AdKaddy and what does she do for the app?
- (5:14) What made her come up with this idea, and how did she get it off the ground?
- (7:22) Challenges in developing an app.
- (9:11) Her biggest struggle when building the app.
- (10:46) How have they gotten visibility for their app?
- (11:20) How to connect with a brand who you want to partner with?
- (12:13) Mistakes made while growing her business.
- (14:30) One of the best books Cameron has read.
- (15:42) What does it mean to Cameron to make an impact?
- (16:35) What’s next for AdKaddy?
- (17:20) Where can you connect with Cameron and AdKaddy?
Quotes
“What I felt like was total job security in the corporate world, was in fact not the case”
“We really believe that people want to keep up with brands they love”
“I don’t think you always have to compensate people with money in the beginning”
“Never say no to a conversation”
Resources
Connect with Cameron:
Download the App:
Watch Full Episode:
