'How Long Until I'm the CEO?'
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| Cameron C. Taylor |
While attending BYU, he listened to a lecture series where entrepreneurs explained their businesses and he was intrigued. He already had a side business and was making some money, so the thought of being an entrepreneur made him excited. The MBA program that he was enrolled in required him to sign an agreement that he would not have any side businesses or a job. That wasn't going to work for him, so he gave up the MBA and took a leap of faith.
He had no idea what he was going to do. Cameron admits that he is a natural visionary, “I've always had that sense … trying to envision what it will look like.” He knew he'd always been comfortable with sales, so he started a sales training and development company. One of his first big clients breached the contract and did not pay for tens of thousands of dollars of product.
“I had nothing, and all that was funded on credit cards,” he said. He didn't have the cash flow to save that business, so he had to walk away. He moved in with his brother and decided to start over.
At this point, he knew he needed to get a job. He had debt and no income. He had a wife and new expenses. Looking for a job, he went six months without any offers. “I graduated from the top of my class at business school,” he explained, “and no one wanted me.”
It was during this time where he said he started asking God for something different. He realized that he wasn't asking the right question when he was asking for God to help him find a job. Now he always asks, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” He realizes now that not getting a job was a blessing but it didn't feel like it at the time. The answer that God gave him was to start a business doing a lecture series on leadership and entrepreneurship for BYU.
He'd had some experience at the university and some contacts, so he pitched it and he was surprised when it was approved. One of the entrepreneurs that lectured during the series approached Cameron to implement an idea. The entrepreneur agreed to put up the money if Cameron would come and build the business. He believes he was guided and said, “when I tried to do what I wanted to do I can't get a $6/hr job, but when I do what God wants me to do it happens.” He and his partner built this company from negative cash flow the first year to multi-million dollar business where he was winning awards and getting recognition.
There were times that first year that he wondered if it was going to work. “I even looked at the job boards,” he said, “then I thought, 'I don't want a job.'” Even to this day, he has nightmares about working for someone else. He attributes his success to taking his guidance from God. His practice was to take his first hour of the day to meditate and pray. He says this is the secret to success
During this journey he has always felt led to write books. “I love that writing and creating of materials,” he says. He wrote a book when he was 23 and he also was a ghostwriter for another author. This experience was the foundation for writing the book, Does Your Bag Have Holes? 24 Truths That Lead to Financial and Spiritual Freedom. That was the beginning of his authoring and publishing multiple books, and he continues to write today. “Writing is a part of my ministry, it's part of my charitable efforts. I knew we were going to be giving a lot of these away.” Because of this, he started his own publishing company. It is his venue to share and teach
When giving advice to others who are thinking about going into business he encourages people to turn to God and see yourself as He sees you. He believes that even though he didn't always believe in himself, God did and he can put his faith and trust there. “This is where the confidence comes from,” he says.
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