The Walkabout to Cadet Affect

Atlanta – Exploration

Reflecting on my time in Atlanta and after observing the depth of the city’s diverse history, art, and business landscape, I understand why ATL has significantly and consistently contributed to the culture of the United States. The city is bustling with opportunity. I was a 5-min bike ride to the Beltline, which loops the downtown area and a 10-min ride to the birth home of Martin Luther King. After multiple bike rides, I realized how many businesses are headquartered or have major hubs in the region. The startup community is no excepction to the rule.

Since Atlanta was a new city for me, I socialized by playing pickup soccer and focusing on the art of networking at tech, marketing, and startup events at Atlanta Tech Village. I attended Salesforce’s Worldtour and even popped over to Las Vegas for Oracle CloudWorld. I scoured my network, Eventbrite, Meetup, and Luma for ranging experiences with solopreneurs at AI startups to business leaders with decades of enterprise tech acumen.

By the end of Autumn, I remember thinking to myself, “wow, this is exactly why I did this trip.” I felt energized by the startup ecosystem; I marveled at iterating an idea, adding value, developing teams, and building community. Additionally, Atlanta was a great reminder of the importance of networking. In the founder and startup world, it is the lifeblood for leads, knowledge sharing, team building, and partnerships.

Outside of my 9 to 5 and networking events, I biked the Beltline through East Atlanta, Grant Park, Auburn Ave, Inman and Piedmont Park. When friends and family visited we tasted Atlanta’s rich food scene from Caribbean to BBQ, attended live music, and watched sporting events from the high school to professional level.

San Diego – The Turning Point

San Diego was an instant paradise; I lived in a tiny home on the southern tip of the San Diego Bay and 5 blocks from Imperial Beach. My daily routine would start with a bike ride under a palm tree-lined blue sky to an outdoor gym along the beach boardwalk. Afterward, I split my day into thirds: professional skill courses, the job hunt, and engaging the San Diegan culture. I completed relevant Hubspot certifications, applied to endless job postings, and attended networking events hosted by Startup SD and UCSD’s Innovation & Design Lab. Even though I was not getting immediate career opportunities, I knew if I remained disciplined, did the right things, and expanded my network, I would certainly uncover opportunities.

After a few months of attending networking events, I started to receive more leads for my skillset, Growth Marketing, than job interviews. Flok is an incredible startup I met during this networking fury. The Flok app is an in-person event networking tool with a comprehensive user interface and dedicated team. I think the idea of authentically connecting people where they already are is hyper-valuable, especially for events, sales, venues, and transient professionals, like myself. By the end of my time in San Diego, I started working on a few gig website projects, joined the Flok team, and became a regular at Chicano Park Futsal.

Seattle: Entrepreneurship and Productive Routines

Establishing new productive routines was a key skill I programmed in Seattle. I focused on building an alliance of partners, started pitching leads weekly, and developed marketing roadmaps for startups. Around this time, I established my commitment to pursuing a passion project, ORIGINAL UGLY, a streetwear apparel brand and design house based in Denver, CO. The brand is bold and authentic, produces high-quality and unique designs, and caters to local and global communities. Additionally, I gave time to the board of my family-run non-profit and Dental clinic based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti serving over 100 patients a day. Fondation Max Cadet has provided the Haitian community with preventive dental care, surgeries, and education for over 30 years. All this is to say, Seattle visualized what my entrepreneurial life could look like, opening my eyes to pursue passions and collaborating with business owners.

The last Friday I was in Washington, I stopped by my favorite place and favorite coffee shop in Seattle, KEXP, an all-in-one cafe, radio station, record store, and workspace. I attended a panel for ambitious artists transforming their craft into a full-time career, everything from creating an LLC to taxes to anecdotal advice. This panel had elegant timing as it foreshadowed what was to come in Toronto and beyond.

Toronto: Transforming Vision Into Reality

Toronto was controlled chaos, in the best way possible. I balanced interviews and pitches, client work, networked, and explored the multi-cultural neighborhoods. I describe Toronto as a European New York City with immersive cuisine, cafes, and entertainment.

During the third week of my stay, I attended Collision, a global tech startup conference in Toronto. I attended sessions with marketing experts and was surrounded by burgeoning startups from AI to e-commerce. The pool of talent and companies teeming with passion was fascinating and formally introduced me to Cadet Affect’s target market, tech startups.

As the clock wound down in Canada, my vision of how I started my trip came full circle; my diligence in expanding my skillset, diversifying my experiences, and meeting innovative founders was the impetus I needed to enter the world of entrepreneurship. On my last Friday in Toronto, I decided to commit to building a full-scale Fractional Marketing Leadership business and a partner community serving startups.