From Door-to-Door Sales to Multi-Million Dollar Success with Cameron Bawden

From Door-to-Door Sales to Multi-Million Dollar Success with Cameron Bawden

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Welcome back to The Daily Mastermind. George Wright III here with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education.

Today, I have an incredible entrepreneur with me, someone who has built a thriving business from the ground up. But before we dive in, remember—the whole purpose of this podcast is to help you evolve and create the life you were meant to live. Whether it’s your mindset, body, money, or business, we’re here to provide real-life strategies and insights to help you succeed.

And today, we’ve got a perfect example of that with Cameron Bawden.

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Meet Cameron Bawden: From Door-to-Door Sales to Multi-Million Dollar Business

I want to give you a little background on Cameron because this guy has built an absolute beast of a company.

He founded Green Mango Pest Control in 2010, and over the past 14 years, he’s grown it into a powerhouse. Last year alone, his company hit $24 million in revenue. But that’s not all—he’s expanded into multiple industries, launching a cleaning company, an auto glass company, and more.

He’s an entrepreneur with real skills, real passion, and a wealth of knowledge to share. So, Cameron, welcome to the show, brother!

Hey man, appreciate you having me on. I love it.

Yeah, man. It’s great to finally connect. We were just talking about how crazy our schedules are and how busy things get. I actually just left sunny Scottsdale to come up to the cold Utah market, and I’m already itching to get back. But thank God for technology, right? So, let’s jump in.

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The Early Struggles and Breakthroughs of Green Mango Pest Control

Tell me a little bit about your background. Give us the quick version, and then we’ll dive into the specifics. What made you decide to get into this industry? And when did you realize this was what you wanted to do to build something big?

Oh man, so I was like a lot of guys. I served a mission for my church in Edmonton, Canada. And for me, it was just like, God knew He needed to put me there because I’m a very high-paced person. I like to be busy. But nine months of my two-year mission, I was stuck in the smallest town ever, freezing cold. It was just like, "Hey Cameron, chill."

But when I got home, like a lot of missionaries, I got recruited to do door-to-door sales. I started working for another pest control company and quickly realized, "Hey, there’s money in this." A friend of mine said, "I want to start this company called Green Mango Pest Control."

And I remember thinking, "Man, that name is so dumb." Green Mango? Flat black trucks? But eventually, he talked me into it. We pooled the last money we had—it took five grand to put a rig on a truck. We had one little single-cab truck, and I’ll never forget our first night knocking doors.

I had never knocked a door in my life, but my partner had done three summers of it. He was like, "Let’s go get our first customer!" We were amped up. Truck ready, licenses in hand… and we bagel. Nothing. No sales.

Brutal. That’s got to be the worst feeling.

Yeah, man. We woke up the next day, and we reminded ourselves of what Todd Pedersen (founder of Vivint) says: "Life responds to effort."

I knew nothing about business or pest control, but the effort was there. We started knocking doors again, and slowly but surely, we became one of the largest companies in Arizona. Today, we have over 100 trucks on the road and $24 million in revenue. And it all comes down to one thing—effort. Showing up every single day.

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The Power of Persistence and the Right Partnership

Man, I love that. And we’ll unpack that more, but let me ask you something—what kept you going? Because let’s be real, most people don’t stick it out when they’re struggling like that. Was it having a partner? A bigger vision? Not wanting to work for someone else? What kept you grinding when the results weren’t showing up?

I’ll give the credit to my business partner. He was either too dumb to understand we didn’t have the talent or just that convicted. From day one, he was saying, "We WILL have the biggest pest control company. We WILL dominate the market. We WILL be the best."

And I bought into that. His conviction was so strong that even on our worst days, he stayed optimistic.

There was a moment, three years into the company, where I was in a backyard spraying a customer’s house, on a three-way call with my dad (who had invested $200,000 in the company) and my partner, Dusty. And I was telling my dad, "I’m so sorry. If someone offers $200K, we’ll hand them the business because I don’t know how people make money in pest control."

But nobody would buy us. So, we just kept showing up. And somehow, we figured it out.

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Transitioning from Worker to Leader: The Growth of Green Mango

That’s powerful, man. So, at what point did you shift from being the guy knocking doors and doing everything to actually leading a company? And was that a tough transition?

It wasn’t until year five. Honestly, I’m embarrassed about that, but also proud. So many people want to skip straight to making millions, but you have to understand every aspect of your business first.

For the first five years, Dusty and I did everything. We were the technicians, the billing department, the routing managers, customer service, HR… everything.

But by year five, we were driving ourselves insane. We finally said, "We need to hire managers."

That was the first big shift. But what threw me off was suddenly going from working 16-18 hour days to 8-hour days. It felt weird. I felt lazy. So, what did I do? I started five more companies in 18 months. Worst financial decision ever, but the best business learning experience.

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The Importance of Processes, Leadership, and Learning in Business Expansion

Let’s talk about leadership for a second. When you brought in that layer of leadership—managers, department heads—did that have a major impact on your growth?

Oh, it was everything.

Even today, I feel burned out sometimes, and that’s a sign that I need to hire more people. If you don’t build the right leadership team, you’ll never scale.

What’s more important—people or processes?

Processes.

Really?

Yeah. You can train good people through solid processes, but even an A-player will struggle in a company with no structure.

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Overcoming Burnout and Finding Balance

Last question before we wrap up. Burnout is real, especially for high-level entrepreneurs. What do you do when you hit that wall?

In 2018, I hired a success and life balance coach. Changed my life.

Burnout usually comes from being too attached to an outcome. I have a five-year plan to hit $50 million in revenue, but our Q1 was horrible. That made me start thinking, "Man, should I just sell this thing?"

My coach helped me step back and realize: "You have everything you need. Why are you so attached to this goal?"

It’s about shifting focus. When you’re too focused on the outcome, you lose sight of the progress.

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Final Thoughts and How to Connect with Cameron

Guys, if you’re listening, Cameron dropped some serious wisdom today. I’m going to put links in the show notes, but Cameron, where’s the best place for people to connect with you?

Yeah, hit me up on Instagram: @cbawden. Or check out my podcast, Flying High with Cam.

Awesome, man. Listen, if you got value from this episode, share it with someone. That’s how we grow our community.

Remember, it’s never too late to start living the life you were meant to live. Take action. Plan properly. And keep grinding.

This has been The Daily Mastermind. Have an amazing day!