Silicon Valley Meets Silicon Prairie
Samantha Masson Acquires CareerBum.com
When hearing career coach Samantha Masson’s plans for her knew purchase, CareerBum.com, one is both impressed and somewhat anxious. Her ambition for the Nebraska-born job search board is vastly further reaching than its current local presence. What is now a humble, rural-servicing website, may one day be a national employment engine, and Masson is moving quickly. She doesn’t even let a little thing like distance get in the way, with 1,500 miles between CareerBum’s home in Grand Island and her life in San Francisco; but the beauty of owning an online company makes it a whole lot easier.
Now, there’s not much in common between the Bay Area and Nebraska, but that divide is leveled when it comes to the need for effective job search tools. Launched in 2013, CareerBum.com was created to help rural communities attract the right talent to fill much-needed jobs. Masson was attracted to the perfect fit between her life as a career coach and the simple message of CareerBum: “give people what they need to get where they need and enjoy the process while doing it”, she says.
"Give people what they need to get where they need and enjoy the process while doing it."
- Samantha Masson
Masson, whose innate ability to reach people is what led her into career coaching. She is a natural at sales and networking. Her determined approach and endless enthusiasm for her work and CareerBum’s potential is palpable. It helps that she not only has experience in sales, hospitality and community relations, but she genuinely has a “passion for helping people and enjoying seeing people reach their goals.” Since 2011, Masson has worked with around ten clients at a time to give them a singular experience in the job search arena. Even though she’s had success, she still wanted to branch out and own a business so that she could “take something [she’s] really good at and expand upon it.”
Knowing what it’s like to apply for jobs, Masson “put her experience, talents and knowledge into one basket and used it to find the right business,” and CareerBum more than delivered. It’s now become a launching pad for Masson to put her many ideas into practice, such as the staggering goal of doing business in all 50 states and potentially beyond. She’s even toying with taking CareerBum.com on the road in an RV, “but that’s just an idea right now.” Masson’s expertise in networking will be put to good use when she works with chambers of commerce to introduce CareerBum into a new area. There’s also the unique notion of working with small business licensing to give each new business registered information on CareerBum and how it can work to their advantage. Masson really takes to heart “making a difference in each community for both job seekers and employers.” After all, CareerBum.com is more than just another online business. Its aim is to be a job search lifestyle.
While CareerBum is still in its infancy with Masson, she soon hopes to graduate from central Nebraska to a regional presence, and will then start her 50 state conquest with California, which she hopes to have saturated by the middle of 2017. Masson plans to use her experience with career fairs to start working with college campuses by helping recent graduates hone their job search and résumé building skills. The younger crowd also means perfecting a social media presence, which Masson considers crucial to success. “It’s a matter of spreading the word, doing a great job with social media, press releases, and getting into newspapers and chambers of commerce” to keep growing, she says.
CareerBum.com is more than just another online business. Its aim is to be a job search lifestyle.
Travel is a major bonus of CareerBum (and also a factor in its purchase), but she is more than comfortable with the less exciting side of business and is adept with cold calling. Masson, who “loves meeting new people and making new friends,” is prepped for the marathon networking she’ll need to do so that CareerBum.com can mix with the big boys of the job search world. It’ll be a long haul, and while CareerBum consumes much of her thoughts, so far she’s “really loving it…and it’s brought so much joy” to her. Masson hopes to share that joy with as many as possible, working to improve the stress both job seekers and employers feel in today’s market. So, get ready. CareerBum.com will soon be coming to your town, and with it Masson’s contagious enthusiasm.
The Firm Deal Review
Business Location: Central Nebraska
Buyer Location: San Francisco, California
Growth Plan: Grow from regional to national
Industry: Online job search site
Website: careerbum.com
Purchase Type: Asset agreement