Cameron Herold

Interviewed by: Rick Gray

For over 20 years, Cameron Herold has been coaching, speaking to, and helping entrepreneurs on five continents build their companies. He started BackPocket COO to be able to coach and mentor young, fun companies, and help them make their dreams happen. He also happens to be a Dad who has some outstanding ideas for parents.

Cameron Herold is one of the country's most innovative business leaders and was a leading force behind one of the most successful new business ventures of the last decade, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. He was Chief Operating Officer for nearly seven years and his innovative business leadership helped enable the company build a presence in 46 states, 9 provinces, and 4 countries while being ranked the “2nd Best Company to Work for in Canada” by Canadian Business Magazine and “the #1 Company in BC to Work for” twice by BC Business Magazine. During his tenure, numerous MBA programs studied the company, including the prestigious programs at Queen’s University and Harvard.

Cameron helped the leading edge company grow from $2 million to $105 million in revenue in six years with no debt or outside shareholders, an awesome achievement by any standard.

Overall, he’s accumulated 20 years of real life experience since starting his first real company at 21. His successes (and yes, the occasional failure) have given him insights into tried-and-true systems that work.

Cameron has been an integral part of the sale, branding and integration of 450+ franchise locations with three franchisors. He’s worked on the development and deployment of e-commerce and Internet strategies, negotiation of corporate acquisitions and development of numerous strategic partnerships.

His work has helped companies be featured in the Associated Press, Bloomberg, USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Fortune, as well as TV shows like Donny Deutsch, Oprah, and Dr. Phil.

Building a successful brand and hyper-growth business isn’t about personality or luck. It’s about having the right systems. Cameron can give you the framework and proven solutions that will accelerate your revenue, build your profitability, and help you avoid costly problems. It really is like having a COO right in your back pocket!

Cameron’s Unique Ability is “to lead & energize people by using quick, intuitive alternatives to build plans that reverse engineer their dreams.”

I regularly read Cameron’s blog and find it informative, entertaining and easy to read. He is a 7 figure a year entrepreneur who has a fantastic outlook on life and creative solutions to business problems. In his interview for Dadsworld, I especially enjoyed his take on how to raise your children to be successful entrepreneurs: “Instead of Allowance - which is more like a salary for doing work - get your kids to negotiate each week, or for each task individually. The skill of negotiating is one that can be learned so that it then becomes innate. “ Great idea!

Cameron's Interview:

What's it like to live in Beautiful British Columbia?
Awesome. Great people. Great fresh air. Lots of outdoor stuff to do - and natural beauty. And I never have to worry about watering our lawn - the rain takes care of that ;)

What is your profession and how did you get out of the trading time for money trap?
I coach & mentor CEOs from around the world. And I do paid speaking events globally as well. I got out of the trading time for money trap by creating a series of DVDs that companies buy so their employees can quickly learn how to grow their company faster & more efficiently too.

What is your education level and how much importance do you put on traditional education?
Bachelors Degree in Law with a Minor in Business.
I put NO value on traditional education. Everything I use today came from connections, and working in jobs where I either learned skills to build companies or where I met more great connections I'd work with or learn from later.

I know you are a passionate man, so what are your hobbies/interests?
Golf, Tennis, my Kids, Skiing, Burning Man, Red Wine, Cooking, Music & Reading...

What do you drive?
Saab 9.5 - it's my second one. LOVE it - and SO happy GM sold Saab instead of shutting them down.

What are you reading and what books do you recommend to others?
STOP reading business books already. Read for fun. Atlas Shrugged is a MUST read. As is Endurance about Ernest Shackleton.

What music are you listening to?
Lots from the 70s. Lots of Grateful Dead again. And Psy-Trance stuff when I need to get manic and crank out work.

What's the last movie you saw? How would you rate it?
The Hurt Locker - AWESOME - 4 Stars.

What do you think makes a good parent?
One who is REALLY connected to their kids, and wants their kids to know their connection to family, community and themselves. One who is present daily - not just at Christmas pagents...

How long have you been married?
10 years this July.

Kids names and ages?
Aidan 8.5 and Connor 6.

Describe your favorite family vacation?
Every year we take 3 weeks and go to our family cottage on Georgian Bay (part of Lake Huron). I leave my laptop & iPhone at home - so I completely unplug. We play lots of tennis, play in the lake, and our kids get to play with their cousins the WHOLE time because my brother & sister bring their families up at the same time. It's awesome.

Your thoughts on being a Dad?
wow - I'm thrilled, I'm tired, I love it, I want my life back, it fills me with laughter & frustration etc. - what did Dickens say "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...." And actually at the end of the day - it's the greatest thing ever. Only thing that could compare might be - being a mom ;)

How do you juggle family and work in today's fast paced world?
I put family stuff in my calendar first. I try hard to work around it. And I raise my prices consistently when I find I'm getting to busy...

What's your favorite thing to do with your children?
Cuddle. They are still young - but I love cuddling & tickling them. Feeling how gentle they are - and how connected we are. It's wonderful - and I know I've only got a few years left to enjoy it...

What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be dads?
Trust your gut. You'll figure it out as you go.
Control your anger - most of it is your own frustration bottled up about other things - don't unleash it at the kids - do it at the gym instead.
Start now...

What lessons have you learned from your own dad?
My dad was & is awesome. He was always present. Most dads missed their kids games. My dad was at all our games - and he was at practices a lot too. He played with us. He laughed with us. He got us involved.

How do you define your role in your family?
Haven't really thought of that - We co-parent. And I believe in 'parenting' too - so ya I am my kids friend. My i'm their parent first.

What are your major challenges as a Dad?
I think there would be two:
1). That I can take my frustration & business stress out on the kids. I can snap with them and get angry too quickly when in reality what they are doing is a small stress overall.
2). I miss having my own time, my own life, and feel like I miss out a little bit on things I want to be doing for myself. So it's that balancing act.

How do you think the mainstream media portrays Dads? Do you think that portrayal is accurate? What, if anything, would you tell the media about involved Dads?
To be honest I don't read much main stream media at all - but my perception is that they think we are all workaholics, and are no engaged in either our kids lives or in household chores etc. I think we've actually come a LONG way since our parents generation.

Thoughts on how a parent can raise their child to be a successful entrepreneur like you?
I'm actually doing a TEDx talk about this. Lots of little lessons - but I promised them I'd tell them first live ;) So this will have to wait - but a few tips would be:

  •   Instead of Allowance - which is more like a salary for doing work - get your kids to negotiate each week, or for each task individually. The skill of negotiating is one that can be learned so that it then becomes innate.

  •   Set them up to do little business ventures - even one little project or venture each quarter - even picking toys that they no longer want and teaching them to sell them online.

  •   Instead of Reading them stories each night - have them Tell stories 2-3 nights per week. Give them items, or themes and make them make up the story. Get them to describe everything they can. It teaches them to sell, and to sell benefits etc. My kids are getting great at this...

  •   Set them each up with two piggy banks - 50 percent of ALL the money they ever collect, earn or are given goes into each bank. Bank 1 = Toys - and they can buy what they want with their money. Bank 2 = House Account - build the habits with them VERY young to save and not always spend....

You'll all have to wait for the rest....

In your blog you talk about your ability to think "outside the box" and come up with fantastic solutions for business people. You have said you are amazed at how easily the ideas come to you. How did you discover your strength in this area, and then go about making a career out of those strengths?
I've always known that I can see the smart systems companies use. And I have the ability to just store those ideas in the back of my mind for future use. Then when someone talks to me about their business the ideas rise to the surface naturally and almost 'intuitively'.

Everyone has skills of their own that they minimize and think - well that's so easy - who'd pay for that. That's EXACTLY what people will pay for. It's easy for you - but it's NOT at all easy for everyone else.

What's your website?
www.BackPocketCOO.com and that's where people can get the DVDs to help them grow their companies too.



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