We recently connected with Cameo Roberson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cameo, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

An important lesson I had while working in Corporate America that has helped me as a business owner is the importance of having a network. The ability to have a group of professionals around you when life happens and jobs make decisions without asking you first.

It was the summer of 2011 and I was sitting in the parking lot dealing with the frustration of just being laid off. I had been at this wealth management company for a few years and didn’t see it coming. A flashing thought consumed me, how am I going to find a new job and who can I call? Overwhelm set in and I felt defeated, both sad and mad at myself. It dawned on me that I hadn’t done any real work building my network. The embarrassment of it felt like a weight on my shoulders. The reality was I had 5 people in my network at that time and none of them were professional contacts in my industry.

I picked myself up from that milestone moment and decided to do something different. This experience taught me a few valuable lessons. 1) The value in building your network (well before you need them), 2) How to humble yourself and ask for help and 3) What steps are needed to start building stronger professional relationships. This decision has helped me build a robust network that continues to support me and my business today. I’ve met wonderful people and it’s enriched my life to have these people in my network. The real value is the relationships built and how we can be there for one another to provide support. My phone is now full of people I can call on.

Cameo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

At a recent business party (celebrating 5.5 years in business), a friend gave me a gift that really sums up what I do. On the outside of the hot/cold thermos reads “Chaos Coordinator” Someone who solves problems you never knew existed in ways that will blow your mind. See also: ninja; rockstar; legend. When I saw it, I said, YES , that’s me.

My company Atlas Park Consulting is a Fractional COO and Business Strategy Agency. We work with busy CEOs who are overwhelmed, overworked. These 6-7 figure revenue generating companies are growing and the day-to-day operations are starting to get unmanageable. They’ve added team members, new clients and leadership wants a better way to manage it all. They’re looking for a solution to improve how they find clients, deliver a great experience and keep clients for the long term. Proper use of technology and having teams that know what to do, when to do it and why is important to them.

The clients we work with are responsible for bringing in new business and delivering service in a manner that fits the clients expectations. The operational breaks these companies face are in their sales process, onboarding of new clients, not serving existing clients well. These challenges can cut off a businesses ability to create sustainable growth. We work with clients who have these issues to help restore operational balance and clearer paths to profits.

I’m a native of the SF Bay Area, entrepreneurship has always been something I was interested in. From elementary school, through college it was a dream I never forgot, but timing wasn’t always on my side. It was until I experienced a series of layoffs the business bug became real. I finally reached a point where I realized that the services I could offer would come from the experiences I had from the jobs I worked at.

I fell into the wealth management industry after learning about an opportunity at a company my brother was working for. With student loans due 3 months after graduation and no other job prospects in sight, I started my journey as an Operations Associate. It was a great opportunity for me. What’s unique about my consulting firm today is that one of my target clients (I have several) are: wealth management firms. Since I spent so much time working at these firms, I learned what goes into starting, growing and scaling these companies. It was a niche I developed directly from my corporate experience.

I’m most proud of the fact of the risks I took in launching my company. Effectively, I chose myself. When prior companies had laid me off, I didn’t allow their decision to affect my self worth. Now the experience itself wasn’t fun, but I always leaned back on the fact that I’m worth it. I had to believe that and I continue to hold onto that truth today.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my client base has been the relationships I’ve built. The people in my community often refer new business and opportunities for me. I’ve recently built an Ambassador program for all my networking partners to say thank you. Relationship building is a strategy that stands the test of time. It’s the one that’s authentic to me and allows me to return the favor when needed.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As a business owner, I’ve had to pivot so many times. It comes with the territory! Most recently, I had to pivot my marketing strategy to attract larger companies. In 2023, I was using social media to get the word out about my business, but my social posts weren’t resonating with my audience. I had low engagement and little new leads, so I decided to analyze my messaging pillars at the time. On social I was talking a lot of about technology and different tools, but when I looked at what my best clients were struggling with, tech was just the tip of the iceberg. Digging deeper, I found new pain points that changed the things I talked about in social. Those pain points were all around how to improve the client experience. Pivots come with being a business owner, the key here is to fail fast and lean into new strategies that make sense for where you’re going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://atlasparkco.com/
• Instagram: atlasparkco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameoroberson/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/atlasparkco

Image Credits

Shot By Rakiya
https://shotbyrakiya.com/