Today we’d like to introduce you to Camille Genise. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Camille is a passionate entrepreneur, community builder, leader, and advocate for other founders and creatives of color. After six years in academia and nearly four years in corporate America, Camille embarked on her entrepreneurial journey to embrace her natural gift as an idea creator and co-founded FELOH, a social media and marketplace platform for beauty enthusiasts and rising beauty brands.
In 2018, Camille quit her full-time job and moved home to Cleveland, Ohio, to fully commit to her entrepreneurial journey. Through her efforts to get FELOH off the ground, Camille experienced firsthand inequities in access to early startup capital and networks to grow the company. She understood that all first-time founders were on a tremendous learning curve, and the best way to support them is through community and capital.
In late 2021, Camille accepted a role as an Entrepreneur in Residence at JumpStart Inc., where she mentors and coaches over 20 minority early-stage tech founders using the lessons she learned along her journey. Through her work at JumpStart, Camille also created a community pitch competition called Pitch Cypher to help early founders share their business with the community and win non-dilutive grant funding.
In 2022, Camille took her passion for community building to the next level and co-founded Tastemakers United, a Cleveland-based nonprofit devoted to building community for Millennial and Gen Z BIPOC entrepreneurs, innovators, and creatives through collaborative curated event experiences. Throughout the Tastemaker’s launch year, Camille led the organization to amass over 1,800 community members consisting of tech founders, small business owners, artists, and creatives.
In 2022, Camille was also elected to serve as a founding executive director of FutureLAND, an annul multi-day tech and innovation conference designed to uplift Cleveland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In this capacity, Camille helped coordinate conference logistics, source speakers, execute artistic activations, and attract over 2,000 attendees in its inaugural year. Camille enjoys speaking with young entrepreneurs and welcomes opportunities to share motivational learnings through panels, podcasts, and interviews. In Camille’s downtime, she enjoys spending time in nature, going on hikes, reading, rollerblading, and supporting local arts and cultural events.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In 2018, I quit a toxic corporate job to pursue my inner vision. I used nearly all of my savings to invest in my startup, moved back to Cleveland with my parents, accumulated nearly 40k in debt funding the business and sustaining myself.
I eventually took on a retail job making $12/hr. Just to pay credit card bills. During this time, I experienced heartbreak from ending friendships and relationships. I was financially, mentally, and emotionally devastated. I dealt with bouts of depression, chronic anxiety, and self-loathing. I felt so terribly lonely and misunderstood.
But that pit in life deconstructed everything I thought I knew to allow the space to go within spiritually to evolve. The future was so unclear; the past was so painful; I had no choice but to live in the moment, be present, and find joy in the smallest kernels of life.
My life fell apart, and it forced me to stop running in place. So, I walked, step by step in the direction of my heart 💜.
I evolved so much spiritually that within a few years, my internal reality began to externalize. I committed myself to serve my inner visions, which are divinely guided from my high self, my connection to the divine.
How do you define success?
To me, success is uplifting consciousness by sharing my authentic light so that others may recognize their own divinity. Success is becoming the testimony that lights the way for others pursuing their inner visions. Success is inspiring at least one person to take their big ideas seriously and to stay the course of their heart.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.feloh.com | www.tastemakersunited.org
- Instagram: camille.genise
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camille-genise-68906518a/
