We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cameron Matthews a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Cameron, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?
The most innovative thing I’ve done in my career would definitely be what I’m currently doing as an entrepreneur, producing customizable virtual event experiences that are immersive, entertaining and effective. I still love live, in person events and nothing can replicate the energy of a live audience, however the pandemic challenged many of us to pivot and embrace the virtual platform. What started out as requests for virtual trivia nights and holiday parties has evolved into consumer facing experiences for my clients that invite the audience to be a part of the fun and excitement of a product/service as opposed to sitting through a traditional webinar. A majority of my business has been producing virtual events for travel agencies that bring a destination to the consumer from the comfort of their own home, and with the help of green screen and livestream technology, allow them to sample the vacation experience in an immersive way. This is the future of sales for any business as it’s far more cost effective for my clients and it can reach a global audience…something that would be far more expensive to produce as an in person event.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’ve been an entertainer for over 25 years where a majority of that time was spent at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts. After the big Disney layoff as a result of the pandemic, I wanted to continue my passion for performing and emceeing live events and, if possible, be in charge for the first time in my life. So I created Cameron Matthews Entertainment LLC after a request to produce a virtual holiday event for a travel agency owner. Since its success, I have produced multiple immersive virtual experiences and gone on to host several live events, some that have helped my clients grow their businesses by six figures. I’m having the time of my life and certainly owe a lot to the many wonderful opportunities throughout my career that, without knowing it, have prepared me for this stage of my career. Now, in addition to events, I’ve been able to add more offerings and services that include video marketing production, performance coaching, and motivational speaker. As I’m growing and evolving, I’ve grown to realize how important it is to continue to dabble and experiment with things that spark your interest. Two years ago I never would have dreamed that I’d build a production studio in my house and teach myself how to bring a new kind of virtual experience to clients looking to grow their businesses and, at the same time, be able to achieve my dreams of becoming an on camera travel host like Samantha Brown & interviewing celebrities on stage like Jimmy Fallon. I live my life like the improvisational actor I’ve become over the years and that is to follow the first rule of improve “Yes, and…”. An acceptance principle, I do my best to fully embrace circumstances presented to me (whether I like it or not), and instead of denying or shying away from them, say “Yes” to it “and” add my offering to move forward. Cameron Matthews Entertainment LLC is my offering to the year 2020.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I have learned in the last two years that no company is 100% loyal to you no matter how many decades you have been with them. Performing at Disney was my very first job at 16 and lasted over 23 years up until the pandemic. During that time as a contracted actor, I did my best year after year to become more valuable as an employee with the hope that it would guarantee me another year of employment. I also had developed relationships in other departments of the company that would hopefully be a landing place for me after my acting career at Disney ended. Unfortunately, the years of adding value mattered little during a global crisis and not only did I lose my job, but my fallback plans as well. Ultimately I’ve learned to never again put all of my eggs in one basket, something that continues to motivate me to diversify my services as a business owner. All in all, nothing learned is ever wasted, and all of those years pushing myself to grow as a valuable employee has revealed itself to be incredibly more valuable as an entrepreneur today..
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients has been referrals and word of mouth. I believe that there are only two things we can control in this life; our work ethic and our attitude. My approach throughout my career has always been to give 150% of myself on and off the stage, balancing professionalism with fun. Success in the acting world and being given new opportunites/projects has often been described as a business of knowing who you know. Similarly that is something that has carried over into my LLC, do great work and word will get around.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CameronMatthews.com
- Instagram: @CamActor
- Facebook: @CamActor
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-matthews-9657a177/
- Twitter: @CamActor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRv7HcA7-Bg7ROw1G5kw_QA