371 MINISODE Cameron Cegala: It’s Your Time

Women Innovating Networking Growing Scaling – that’s WINGS … I’m Melinda Wittstock, my mission is to help women soar to success in business and in life – without tradeoff or apology, stepping into the light to have a transformational impact on the world. So on this mentoring Minisode of Wings of Inspired Business … we talk about being in control of your own time, your own creativity, your own destiny. So many women feel the need to fill our calendars to breaking point, where there is no time left for ourselves – so we talk about boundaries, when to say no and how to respect your own time.  Plus why your value is in your uniqueness, and why the best approach is a “Blended Life” – that is a life without tradeoffs or guilt, a life of abundance in ALL areas.

Here with us today to provide her insights and inspiration is …

Cameron Cegala.

Cameron is the Co-founder of AdKAddy. It’s a mobile app that gives you a new consumer email address and platform so you can keep up with the brands you love- without all that clutter in your inbox. The app sorts incoming emails first by marketing, receipts, and shipping for each individual brand.

Cameron Cegala is here in just a moment…

And first …

And if this is something you think you don’t have time for …you probably are exactly the person who needs to make time. Because you’ll get further in those 4 days than you will in 4 months plus we’ll show you how to turn time from a scarce resource into a limitless one – we call it “return on time” … so you to have all the time you need for business, love, parenting, friends and fun. Wingsexperiences.com/apply

And now to the inspiring Cameron Cegala.

Cameron made the leap from corporate to startup as the co-founder of AdKAddy, a mobile app created to help consumers keep their personal inboxes simple and free of brand clutter.

Before her leap into startups, Cameron worked in sales and marketing at Proctor and Gamble and elsewhere to develop brand distribution strategies that provided the greatest value for both customers and brands. Her unique talent for understanding the needs of both sides in the customer-brand relationship was what fueled Cameron’s passion to develop a better way for brands to interact with their customers… without resorting to interruptive advertising.

The “aha” revelation came to her in 2018: When it comes to reaching customers, the problem isn’t advertising itself; the problem is with the interruption of advertising. So Cameron set out to dispel the myth of “bad advertising.” If there were a way for consumers to back their personal inboxes and keep their personal emails personal, those people might be more willing to actively engage with communications from the brands they love.

Melinda Wittstock:       Cameron, welcome to Wings.

Cameron Cegala:          Thank you for having me on the show, Melinda.

Melinda Wittstock:       I’m excited to talk to you and I always start these Minisodes, as everyone knows, with what is inspiring you right now.

Cameron Cegala:          Oh, there are so many things and people who inspire me, but I would say that the two major things that are inspiring both my day to day as well as my total vision for the future are really first, independence, and what I mean by that is this sense of freedom to be able to self-run and really be in control of my own destiny and most importantly, being in control of my own time. Then the second thing that’s really inspiring me is this deep desire to really be different. To be unique. I really do believe we all, in some way, are seeking uniqueness. Looking for things that express the idiosyncrasies of our personalities and this ultimately is something that really drives me, both personally and professionally.

Melinda Wittstock:       Cameron, I love that and particularly the concept of time, because women, we tend to fall under the trap of thinking that we have to do it all and we put everyone else ahead of ourselves and we end up with no time for ourselves. And so how do you go about that? Like literally timepiece, to make sure that time is working for you.

Cameron Cegala:          Definitely. So first and foremost, I learned how to use my know, which I think is really difficult for women in particular. Being able to just say yes or no to something without feeling like I need to have an excuse, because I think that we can tend to fill our schedules every moment of every day with something, because we have a really hard time telling people no. Then secondly, I’m really blessed to be in a situation with work where my time is flexible and I really own my own schedule and can fill things in as I want to fill them in. I know not everybody is in that situation, but I think ultimately if you can try to really prioritize what’s important to you and if things don’t fall into those top priorities, then really feel empowered to say no to things.

Melinda Wittstock:       I love that. So we all have challenges in our businesses, right? The entrepreneurial roller coaster. What are some of yours?

Cameron Cegala:          Well, there are certainly a lot of challenges for a start up, absolutely, but the largest and most overarching challenge for me is simply being a youngish female in tech and in startup, so quadruple whammy, I suppose. I’m not always asked to, quote un-quote, sit at the table, as Sheryl Sandberg would say. Men still ultimately really run this world. I believe the latest statistic is that only 5% of leadership positions in tech are held by women, which is crazy.

Melinda Wittstock:       I know and I’m a tech entrepreneur too, I kind of got used to being the only woman in the room, which is really frustrating. I would love to be able to hire female developers. Anyone out there? Female developers, please? Yeah.

Cameron Cegala:          Exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:       And so how do you go about creating your own seat at that table?

Cameron Cegala:          Sure. I think it’s just believing in what you bring to the table. Oftentimes, you know, I find myself feeling like I’m out of my league often and I think getting comfortable with that and knowing that I have particular strengths and I have a plethora of things that I bring to the table that my male counterparts don’t necessarily bring to the table, but being willing to insist that I sit at the table and insist that I am able to contribute with those things.

Melinda Wittstock:       I love it. Okay, so what are your go-to pieces of advice for women in startups, female founders, women in business that you’ve learned along your way?

Cameron Cegala:          Great question. There are so many things I could say to that, but a few that I live by, first is to the best of your ability and given your particular circumstances, is to create a blended life. So one where there doesn’t have to be this complete division and separation between personal and professional life, really being able to bring those two things together as much as possible.

Melinda Wittstock:       Yeah, that’s so important. Especially, I mean, you know, going back to time. I think we can easily create businesses that don’t actually work for us.

Cameron Cegala:          Absolutely.

Melinda Wittstock:       I like the type of businesses that support us in having abundance in all areas of our lives and-

Cameron Cegala:          I love that word, abundant. It’s the best.

Melinda Wittstock:       It’s so important. I mean, why else have a startup unless you can architect it to really suit and create the life that you actually want to lead?

Cameron Cegala:          Exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:       So I love that and what’s the second one?

Cameron Cegala:          So second I would say, referring back to what I just said, is put yourself in situations where you feel out of your league. Do it often and really relish in it and learn from it.

Melinda Wittstock:       Yeah, so you learn more when you’re not the smartest person in the room. I know that in my own businesses, they didn’t really take off until I surrounded myself with the right coaches and mentors and actually really invested time and money in my own success. Actually, I have a pretty big personal development budget.

Cameron Cegala:          Yes. It’s so important. It’s so important.

Melinda Wittstock:       And so number three.

Cameron Cegala:          Third, I would say simply that remember that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Ultimately, adjust your priorities and focus on what really matters to you. To your point, if you’re in a startup, why would you be in a startup if it’s not fitting into your life personally and professionally.

Melinda Wittstock:       Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yes, yes, yes. We can easily live lives of should’s, which is like living other people’s agendas rather than creating our own. That’s such good advice. So Cameron, how can people find you and how can they work with you and support your company AdKaddy?

Cameron Cegala:          Absolutely. So AdKaddy, and it’s A-d-k-a-d-d-y. That sometimes gets people. Is available today in the App Store and also Google Play. You can also find us, of course, at www.adkaddy.com or any social media platform @adkaddy. You are more than welcome to connect with me on LinkedIn or via any of those platforms as well.

Melinda Wittstock:       Fantastic. Cameron, thank you for putting on your wings and flying with us.

Cameron Cegala:          Thank you so much, Melinda.

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