We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amelia Castellanos . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amelia below.
Hi Amelia, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience can be traced back to the wellspring of inspiration and strength that flows through the stories of two remarkable individuals who left this world way too soon.
It begins with my late father, whose own journey from a humble small-town upbringing was marked by an unrelenting desire to transcend his circumstances and create a brighter future. His unwavering determination to build a better life for his family, particularly his only daughter, instilled in me from a very early age a profound sense of possibility.
I watched him struggle, strive, and thrive – it was in those moments of adversity and perseverance that my own resolve took root.
Fast-forward to my 20s, my career in fashion was just getting started and I was introduced to the woman who would completely alter my life’s path.
Over the course of 15 years working closely with my late mentor, I was fortunate to be a witness to her abundant confidence and indomitable spirit. Her unyielding commitment to her craft, the countless hurdles she surmounted, and the grace with which she faced adversity became an invaluable lesson for me.
Through these two profound influences, my resilience emerged as a synthesis of familial legacy and mentorship, a tapestry woven from the threads of my late father’s dreams and my late mentor’s enduring example of embracing the female power within, creating the resilient, determined person I strive to be each and every day.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am happy to report that after a decade plus of hustle and grind I am now self-employed, working for my own consulting business established in Q1 of this year and for the first time in a long time, I am really stoked about the future.
If you asked me two years ago if I saw myself in the near future, creating an LLC and taking the leap to fly solo, my answer would have been, highly unlikely. However, life has its ways of forcing you to pivot, throwing a big ass curve ball straight at you traveling over 100 miles an hour, and in these moments it’s sink or swim.
So, when my long-time mentor and chosen family passed away suddenty at the start of the year I instincively sprung into action mode and in the coming months I would finally give myself the approval I’d been searching for all along, the confidence and sense of accomplishment I had longed for. She gave me that. My mentor, my business partner, my friend, my family – she fanned the flame inside of me she knew existed and my only regret is that she wasn’t here to see me fuel that fire on my own, just as she had shaped me to do.
Now the Founder of Buffaloe Digital, a consulting firm focused on revolutioniziing the post-click approach to ad optimization, my professional endevaours are now hyper-focused on emerging marketing channels, i.e. SMS marketing along with a 360 degree appraoch to digital adverstisng that integrates the online optimization tactics required to funnel prospects through the marketing funnel with little to no friction with the goal of increasing conversion.
With a background in Journalism, Electronic Media, and Fashion Marketing, I am the digital brand strategist who partners with enterprise-level companies on the right way to get results from their digital activations and marketing campaigns.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Coming from someone who made a point to seize all of the opportunities presented to me, thus putting my foot in the door with an end goal to come out better on the other side, the three most important qualities for success in all aspects of your life, in my opinion, and as advice to folks early in on their journey would be as follows.
1. Integrity
An unwavering commitment to integrity, when consistently strived for, speaks volumes about your character as a person and will get you noticed by those who are meant to help you grow.
This pursuit for me was inspired by my father’s sage advice and stands as a testament to the steadfast moral compass and the high ethical standards I hold dear and that other people acknowledge and recognize.
2. Dedication
Your dedication to any goal you set for yourself or the solution you commit to identifying is a hallmark of your character and this quality is respected and appreciated by your peers.
The fulfilled feeling I experience, when I know I’ve given 110%, is a testament to my unshakeable determination and tireless work ethic and allows me to showcase my ability to tackle challenges with relentless commitment and achieve the results I strive for.
3. Curiosity
An insatiable curiosity for knowledge is a beacon that continuously guides you towards broader horizons and a world of endless possibilities. Not only does this quality attract others, it welcomes innovators.
With an open heart and mind, I embrace the opportunity to learn, and in doing so, I have discovered the transformative power of intellectual exploration in shaping your perspective and fueling your personal growth. My commitment to expanding my understanding amplifies my thirst for wisdom and the profound impact it has on my life’s journey both personally and professionally.
How would you describe your ideal client?
What does an ideal client look like in my line of work? I chose this question because now that I am working for myself, I discovered very quickly that in a client/consultant (and or freelancer) relationship, you can only control so much percentage of a project.
Your efficiency, your profitability, and your scale are not only dependent on you and your execution, but also very much dependent on your client’s efficiency, profitability, and execution. This means you need to have a clear picture of where you want to be financially within your consulting business so you can outline a number of routes to the next phase.
But, the one you ultimately choose is based on those clients that fit your model best, which sadly isn’t always the ones that pay the most. And that’s where the need for balancing the scales between money and happiness presents itself.
Because when you are a solo operation you do not have a team to lean on. You do not have co-workers to vent to. You have to be very aware of what ratio of work/life you require to feel balanced and being able to maintain that level is very much a direct result of the type of client you take on. So if I could give only one piece of advice to someone starting out on their own for the first time, it would be to really reflect on this before you start pitching/onboarding new clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.buffaloedigital.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliabuffaloe/
