About Me

 Hello all,

My name is Camila and I am a 2nd-year student at LBCC, transferring to Western Oregon University in the Fall with a major in Accounting. I am not originally from Oregon but have spent 6 years here so far, and view the state as my second home. My first home is Northern California where I was born and partially raised, but I have lived in Missouri, Canada, and now, Oregon. Many often ask me what I'd consider my favorite place to have lived, and I can never choose. Every place was wonderful and worth a visit or two. Growing up, I had an admiration for all animals, particularly dogs, lizards, and livestock. My father and his side of the family own a ranch with goats, sheep, cows, dogs (for protection against coyotes and mountain lions), and a pony. When I'm able to visit home, I devote much of my time to tending to the animals and hoping I can catch a live birth of a new kid or calf. Otherwise, I am usually visiting my favorite spots to eat or asking my grandparents about their pasts. I have a rather odd obsession with hearing stories from people's lives and how they were affected by various world events that have occurred during their life. This stems from a strong curiosity about history and amazement that I know someone who lived through events I can only read about. To supplement this curiosity, I like to listen to various podcasts on NPR such as Snap Judgement, This American Life, Radiolab, and PlanetMoney. I began listening to Snap Judgement at a young age and even had the opportunity to meet Glynn Washington, the host of Snap Judgement. If you, the reader, have listened to Snap Judgement, he is just as animated and entertaining in person as he is on the show. This aside, I also like to catch up on shows and movies, knit, cook, and spend time outdoors through swimming, biking, or hiking. Additionally, I consider myself an avid traveler. My travels include Isreal, France, China, and Argentina. Hopefully, I may be able to visit Japan in the future.  < Some goats and kids from the ranch.

This course is required for my major at WOU, but that fact alone was not my main motive for enrolling in this course. My mother got her MBA a few years ago, and she cited her marketing courses as some of the most exciting of the program. I observed the work she completed for her courses and it all seemed engaging and interesting. However, my first experience with marketing began when I founded a small, fake card company as a child. I've always preferred making my own cards and was inspired to brand them by the restaurant entrepreneurs that my mother and stepdad were friends with in St. Louis. From there, I came up with the idea for "Camila Cards". I would dream of ways to advertise them and what they should be known for, what would make them stand out from others. I decided that I needed a good motto and came up with: "The fun is in the card." Ever since then, I have been branding my cards with that company name and motto on the back. While I don't think I'll ever take the idea on seriously, the "company" has certainly changed with the times. In the beginning, the cards would be littered with stripes and colors. Now, I make them from cardstock with simple origami objects or animals on the front. I hope to acquire the skills necessary to market anything from products to myself, to the point where I could successfully market this card company idea to anyone.

    < An example of the branding on my cards.