Meet Camila Hargett, MBA

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Camila Hargett, MBA. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Camila below.

Camila, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

There have been many moments in my career where I walked into a room and realized immediately that I didn’t look, sound, or come from the same background as anyone else there. Instead of shrinking, I learned to treat those moments as invitations. Invitations to lead differently, to think differently, and to show up fully as myself.
Three things have helped me succeed in those situations:
1. I learned to trust my perspective.
Being different isn’t a disadvantage; it’s an advantage. I see blind spots others miss. I connect dots others overlook. My background gives me a range of insight that makes my decisions stronger and my strategy sharper. I stopped trying to fit the room and started letting my perspective add value to the room.
2. I lead with clarity and competence.
When you’re visibly “the only one,” people often pay closer attention, sometimes with curiosity, sometimes with doubt. I let my work speak first. I communicate clearly, execute precisely, and bring structure to complex situations. Over time, people stop noticing what makes me different and start noticing what makes me indispensable.
3. I center myself in my mission, not other people’s expectations.
When you operate from purpose, you stop needing permission to be in the room. You’re not there to validate yourself, you’re there to build, to elevate, and to make decisions that move the business forward. That mindset shift gave me confidence that doesn’t rely on external validation.
Being “the only one” has taught me to walk into every room aware, but never intimidated. I don’t dilute myself to blend in, and I don’t amplify myself to stand out. I simply bring the strongest, clearest version of who I am, and I let that be enough.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m the founder of Sezhel®, a business intelligence and operational strategy firm designed to help companies build, scale, and operate with clarity. What sets my work apart is the way I blend strategy, analytics, and operational leadership into one cohesive approach. I’m not just advising from the sidelines, I step into a business and help architect the systems, workflows, technology, and financial structures that allow it to grow with confidence.
Sezhel® offers three levels of services, each built around where a business is in its growth journey:
Level 1: Business Essentials Launchpad
For early-stage founders who want to “build it right from day one.”
We handle foundational setup, entity formation, business structure, introductory systems, websites, SEO, CRM basics, bookkeeping intros, and more. It’s a smart, simple path to legitimacy and early stability.
Level 2: Growth & Profit Strategy Suite
For businesses earning $500K+ and ready to scale.
This is where we combine strategy, CRM development, workflow automation, advisor collaboration, funnels, and high-ROI marketing to increase profitability and operational maturity.
Level 3: Enterprise Command Center
For established companies generating $5M+ that need enterprise-level systems, analytics, multi-entity integration, and global or national expansion planning.
This includes advanced automations, intelligent pipelines, compliance infrastructure, executive dashboards, and even white-label CRM enablement for agencies and partners.
These three tiers are the public-facing side of Sezhel®, the programs we design, refine, and promote.
Alongside them, I also take on a very small number of private, invitation-only VIP contracts as a Fractional COO. These engagements are not marketed or advertised; they come directly to me through referrals, partnerships, or past work. Because of the depth, responsibility, and strategic leadership required, I limit myself to only three of these VIP engagements per year. This ensures I can be fully present, deeply integrated, and genuinely transformational inside the companies I partner with. It’s a level of trust and access I don’t take lightly.
What excites me most about my work is witnessing the moment a business finally operates with clarity when systems align, teams feel supported, and decision-making becomes efficient instead of overwhelming. Whether I’m helping a startup form correctly or guiding a multi-million-dollar organization through enterprise-scale systemization, my mission remains the same: to give businesses the structure and intelligence they need to grow on purpose, not by accident.
This year, Sezhel® is expanding deeper into BI-driven systems, white-label CRM enablement for agencies, and large organizational architecture projects. At the same time, I’m continuing my selectively chosen fractional COO engagements, quietly, intentionally, and only with founders whose vision aligns with mine.
Ultimately, Sezhel® is about high-integrity growth, operational clarity, and the power of building with intention. I’m grateful that I get to partner with businesses at every stage of that journey.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

When I look back at my journey, I can trace everything I’ve built… every company I’ve supported, every system I’ve designed, every room I’ve walked into where I was the only one who looked like me, back to three things: my ability to see the truth clearly, my instinct for building structure where there is none, and my commitment to understanding people at their core.
These weren’t skills I picked from a list. They were forged through experience, through missteps, through standing in places where I didn’t have a blueprint or a mentor. They came from being in situations where I had to decide whether I was going to shrink or lead. I chose to lead.

The first skill that shaped me was clarity.
I learned early that confusion wastes time, energy, and money. Three things I refuse to waste. So I taught myself to see the whole picture, even when everyone else was zoomed in. I learned to translate chaos into something that makes sense. Today, that clarity is why founders trust me with their most complicated challenges. They know I’ll tell them the truth, not what’s comfortable, and that I’ll see the path forward long before the noise settles.

The second is my obsession with building structure.
Some people are dreamers. Some are doers. I’m a builder.
Give me a messy operation, a multi-entity organization, a financial model that’s held together by hope, I don’t flinch. I create order, I design systems, I make things run. Not theoretically. Not someday. Immediately. That instinct has carried me into boardrooms and behind the scenes of companies that needed more than advice, they needed someone who could architect a better way.

And the third is emotional intelligence.
Not the surface-level “good communication” people talk about.
I mean the kind of emotional intelligence that comes from navigating rooms where you’re underestimated before you even speak, and turning that into fuel. The kind of EQ that lets you read an entire team before the meeting even starts. The kind that helps you make decisions that honor the people and the mission at the same time.

If someone early in their journey asked me how to develop these qualities, I’d tell them this:
Learn to sit with yourself long enough to understand what you actually want.
Learn to slow down long enough to think clearly.
And learn to build with intention instead of hustling without direction.
My career didn’t grow because I chased every opportunity.
It grew because I built the skills that allowed me to choose the right opportunities.
Those three qualities; clarity, structure, and emotional intelligence are the reason I only accept a handful of VIP engagements each year. When a company brings me in, they’re not just getting my time. They’re getting the full weight of how I think, how I build, how I lead, and how I elevate.
And that level of partnership only works when the foundation is strong—on both sides.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I’m always open to collaboration, but I’ve learned that the most meaningful partnerships aren’t found through volume, they’re found through alignment. I’m drawn to founders, executives, and organizations that value clarity, structure, and purposeful growth. People who understand the weight of what they’re building and want an operator who can match that energy with execution, not just advice.
In the upcoming year, I’m especially excited to expand into international business ventures. It’s something I’ve been equipped to do for a long time, culturally, strategically, and operationally, but I intentionally waited. As a mother of two boys under 10, I knew international work often requires more travel, more time zones, and more flexibility. Earlier in my career, I chose to prioritize a rhythm that protected their stability and kept me close to home.
Now that my boys are older, and at an age where travel feels more like an adventure than an interruption, I’m finally ready to step into the global opportunities I once put on pause. And I’m excited about it. There’s something powerful about expanding your work at the same time your children are expanding their world, too.
But here’s the truth:
Any international deal I take on must be worth everything it asks of me.
That’s the blessing and the boundary.
I’m looking to partner with people who understand that leadership doesn’t have to look one way, that strength can be strategic and maternal, that excellence and presence can coexist. My ideal collaborators are visionary, structured, and ready for deep operational transformation. They’re building something bigger than themselves, something that deserves the kind of intentionality I bring.
Whether it’s a global expansion, a multi-market systems overhaul, or a cross-border operational buildout, I’m ready to bring my expertise into new arenas with the same precision and depth my clients know me for. The right partnerships always find their way, and I’m excited to see what this next chapter brings.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sezhel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sezhelc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sezhel/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hargettcc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Sezhelc
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sezhelc

Image Credits

Camila’s Phone