Meet Cameron Royster

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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

We recently connected with Cameron Royster and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cameron , thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Despite all the challenges and obstacles in my journey, I knew I wanted to create something meaningful that stood the test of time. So there I was, 4 hours away from home stuck in a dorm room that definitely wasn’t the cleanest. My freshman year was an adjustment due to it being a new environment with no friends. My second semester I got bored with college and I wasn’t much of a big partier. Although I was contemplating if college was the best choice for me weighing other options and avenues that I could take, deep down inside I felt that I was there for a significant reason. Between going to classes, the gym, and hanging out a little bit. I was racking my brain trying to figure out constructive ways to pass the time and spark my interest. After thinking for some time, I came to the conclusion that with the amount of “free” time that I was given, I could use it to invest in myself as best as possible so that it would benefit me substantially in the future. I chose to read books that sparked my interest to eliminate my boredom at first, but then I started becoming a voracious reader which led me to read pretty much anything. I made it my mission to use the limited time that I had in school to improve and sharpen myself, mentally, emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially so much that I would be a 360-degree transformation when I graduated from when I entered college.

I got my business idea from one of the first books that I read called ‘The Odyssey” by Homer. Essentially, it’s about how the main character Odysseus is on an odyssey coming from the battle of Troy, which along the way he runs into numerous challenges, adversaries, and temptations. Odysseus has a wife and son who dwell in their hometown Ithaca, they miss him dearly and they impatiently wait for his return. Ithaca is more than just a place or home to Odysseus as he pushes through a chaotic 10-year journey, it represents a feeling of belonging, security, comfort, trust, connection, and identity. I knew this concept would mesh perfectly with the subject of Beauty, because beauty is a way for people to explore, cultivate, share, and connect their inner “Ithaca” with one another through the means of hair, cosmetics, etc. Essentially, the purpose of the idea from the book is to help inspire people to create, share, connect, and evolve.

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?

My name is Cameron Royster also referred to as “Cam” or “DC” and was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. I come from an athletic background playing sports year-round such as basketball, baseball, football, etc. Also, musically I’ve played the piano and clarinet for a certain period of time. Participating in many different activities and events as a youngster helped me hone my skillsets as well as open my mind up to different ways of thinking and seeing the world. A passion for serving others in the community and trying to make an impact is something that has been a deep mission of mine. I’ve always had a feeling and urge to create something significant to serve others but just didn’t know what I would sell and how I would do it. As time went on throughout college and my few years of being in the workforce, with only having retail, customer service, and technical support experience I came to the idea of selling hair. Having read the book “The Odyssey” and it invoking a certain meaning and concept within my mind, I thought of ways that could forge the idea of beauty, hair, a journey, identity, trials, tribulations, happiness, pain, suffering, belongingness, and comfort into one business concept.

After looking through the dictionary to find a word that best conveys what my hair business’s mission is about, I was led to the prefix “omni-” which means all, everywhere, or universally. This prefix is one of the only expressions that symbolizes and embodies Life and everything in it. Omni is the embodiment of unity, connection, and a bond that every living organism is capable of feeling. The second part “Ithaca” has its origins from the author named Homer who wrote the book called “The Odyssey”. Ithaca was the destination and home of Odysseus where his son and wife lived.

An Odyssey is defined as a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune. It could also mean an intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest. Life is very much an Odyssey for us, and throughout it, we are faced with various types of obstacles, temptations, and battles. Experiencing challenging situations causes us to discover our true identity and what lies at the core of each human being. We also realize the unique beauty within our emotions, expressions, interactions, thoughts, and everyday lives which encourages us to become more of a personalized creator of what beauty is and the numerous ways we can share and evolve through it.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When first starting my hair business I was faced with a lot of doubt, discomfort, rejection, uncertainty, very limited funds, lack of knowledge, lack of supplies, and no connections. Additionally, being a male in a female-dominated industry was, and still is a challenge. Before actually selling hair extensions, I sold packs of synthetic hair which is fake hair used to braid/crochet women’s hair. Riding around locally to different hair salons walking in with everybody just looking at me and wondering to themselves “Why is he trying to sell that small amount of hair to a hair salon that has an abundance of hair already” was nerve-wracking, uncomfortable, and even embarrassing. Some actually ended up buying but most didn’t. Ultimately, I ended up not being able to make a profit. So I switched to hair extensions commonly referred to as hair bundles. This time, I took the e-commerce approach and created a website and social media platforms to help me market. Along this process, I was, and still am learning the many different terms and details about the hair extension industry and learning how to effectively market the hair to my target audience. Many times, I contemplated if this was worth it, should I sell another product, will this be profitable, am I wasting time, and money, etc. However, I kept going and putting in the hours not allowing myself to let discouragement triumph. Going about a year without making a single sale was frustrating and of course discouraging. I knew that if I kept posting and collaborating with strategic influencers then my first sale was bound to come, and it did. Before getting my first sale and even after, I encountered a lot of rejection. Also, having to use what little bit of funds I got from my paycheck to sample and test hair myself and send samples to hairstylists and influencers to market gets very tight. Currently, I’m focusing on scaling and becoming more profitable. My message to the reader would be that there are no shortcuts to success, but with hard work, perseverance, resilience, consistency, faith, and sacrifice you are bound to succeed at any task. Your current situation is not your final destination no matter how far off you may think you are. So Keep Pushing!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy for building my clientele would be email marketing and social media collaborations. These have provided me the benefit of an extended reach to my target audience. Especially through the videos of women installing, styling, and reviewing the hair which get a significant amount of reach and engagement. As we know, the most common means of marketing in today’s time would be consumer to consumer because people really do buy from other people.

Contact Info:

Website: https://omnithaca.com/
Instagram: omni.reservoir
Other: Tiktok account: @Omnithaca
Transform Your Life, Transform Your Body Ebook guide link: https://payhip.com/Omnithaca

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Meet Cameron Royster

Meet Cameron Royster

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Hi Cameron , thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

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?

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

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