Today we’d like to introduce you to Cameron Greene.
Cameron, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2011, I was a junior in college and started my social media account, Srat Hard For Life (@srathardforlife) on Twitter. It was one of the first sorority anonymous accounts. If you told me at the time I would have over 250K followers across Srat Hard For Life’s social media channels today, I probably would have laughed. In 2012, I expanded Srat Hard For life onto Pinterest. In 2011 and 2012, I focused on a lot of gifting exchanges with companies that were geared toward college kids. I started my unofficial social media business and called the company Cameron Ann Greene. My followers really started to grow after I graduated college in 2012 and moved to Birmingham, Alabama for my first job out of college where I worked as a Leadership Development Associate at Advantage Sales & Marketing (ASM), the largest marketing and sales broker in the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry. In early 2013, I started getting emails from companies in Asia with offers for sponsored campaigns. It was around this same time when I found out due to budget cuts that the promotion I was offered after my Leadership Development Program would no longer be available.
At the time, I decided to move back to Atlanta and take a pay cut to stay with the company where I worked as an hourly retail sales manager in training. I hardly had money to pay my bills, so on a whim, I accepted my first paid collaboration on Pinterest with one of the companies that emailed me in Asia. I actually had to borrow money from my parents at the time, so I thought this was a great time to start my official social media company on the side as a way to not only pay my parents back but to help support myself as I was looking for a more permanent job. I immediately started reaching out to companies nationwide and worldwide as I felt there was a need for social media promotion assistance and account management. I started working for MarketSource in October 2013 as an Inside Sales Representative on their Nexeo Solutions Team, where I was in charge of selling plastic pellets to molders throughout the Midwest. On November 18, 2013, at the age of 23, I opened Social Media Solutions, LLC for business.
In 2014, I expanded Srat Hard For Life onto Instagram and Facebook. In October 2014, I officially set up a Srat Hard For Life blog and added 3 of my friends as contributors. I wanted to be different from other blogs and have a blog with multiple bloggers, who had different tastes and styles with the hopes that each reader would be able to relate to one or more bloggers on my team. From October 2013 until March 2015, I worked a 9-5 job while working my social media business the other hours of the day. In March 2015, I was doing well enough to where I was able to work full time at Social Media Solutions. In 2015, I got my first big break with Shopbop, Kendra Scott, and Lulus.com. In 2015, I created my food Instagram account Peach Ya To It (@peachyatoit). In 2017, I diversified my business by adding content creation (photography) after getting a few requests for this service. By the time 2018 rolled around, I had expanded into almost every industry.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
With any business, there are ups and downs, and I’ve definitely had my fair share of them. However, my advice to other women starting their journey is to stay positive, to keep hustling, and to be kind. Just because someone tells you no, doesn’t mean that they won’t be back to use your services later. Definitely, don’t ever burn a bridge in business — this is one of the core values that my dad and mom, who are successful entrepreneurs have taught me. Keep throwing darts at a dartboard because the more darts you throw with opportunities something is bound to stick. I’ve seen so many people give up when the going gets tough, which was a shame because if only they realized and could see the potential in themselves for how close they were to making it.
We’d love to hear more about Social Media Solutions, Srat Hard For Life (@srathardforlife), and Peach Ya To It (@peachyatoit).
At Social Media Solutions, we specialize in social media: account management, content creation (photography), consulting, and engagement.
What sets me apart is that I really understand the in’s and out’s of social media from algorithms, social media bots, alerting social media platforms of glitches (they didn’t even know about), and helping people resolve social media problems. I also know how to make social media relatable to an outsider looking in when I effectively tell a company’s story. A lot of people may do “social media” for a living but most people who do haven’t grown an account with a large following from the ground up, understand how to create an engaging post, or utilize photography correctly. In 2016, I appeared on CBS 46 Atlanta as a social media expert, where I discussed how social media bots played a role in the 2016 Presidential Election. In 2017, I appeared as a social media expert witness in a criminal court hearing at the Superior Court of Fulton County.
Which women have inspired you in your life?
I’d have to say both my mom and dad. I know this question asks about women, but in all honesty, just saying my mom wouldn’t feel right. My mom and dad ran a successful residential interior design business that they owned for over 30 years and just both recently retired. Prior to the housing market crashing in 2009, they had 26 interior designers and 3 kitchen designers — making their company the largest residential interior design firm in Atlanta. My parents inspired me to start my own business because throughout my life they’ve taught me the key fundamentals for being an entrepreneur: never give up, stay positive, keep hustling, always keep learning, be kind, and stay humble. I’ve seen my parents work really hard over the years, but they always find the time to do the things they love. They’ve shared their passions with me of fashion, food, travel, fitness, and philanthropy all of which have played an important role in my life as it will with my children one day. They’ve shaped me into the person I am today and for that, I owe them everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.srathardforlife.com
- Email: socialmediasolutionsllc@gmail.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/srathardforlife/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/srathardforlife
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/srathardforlife
- Other: www.socialmediasolutionsllc.com
Image Credit:
Cameron Greene
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