Forty Under 40: Cameron Magee

Cameron Magee is the builder of his company. He’s building avad3’s client base. He’s adding to and building his team and each team member’s personal development, and he’s creating “a place we all want to work” while thinking about office expansion, new processes and procedures.

Originally from Bentonville, Magee graduated from Henderson State University in 2012 with a secondary education degree, planning to be a high school history teacher. However, with an audio/visual apprenticeship at his church during high school, he saw the need for good audio/visual event production. So, during college, he started avad3 in his dorm room. After graduation, Magee took a year before teaching to focus on the company. He’s never looked back.

The company grew quickly after its inception, crossing $1 million in revenue in 2016. However, revenue went to nearly zero for six months during the pandemic. Since then, avad3 has “doubled, then doubled again” compared to 2019 numbers. The company is well positioned “to grow in headcount, revenue, client base, national reach, vendors, community impact and profitability by 10 times compared to the pre-pandemic size,” Magee said.

Magee’s success comes from listening carefully to clients and delivering their requests. In addition to local clients, including Walmart and the University of Arkansas, avad3 provides event production for national conferences and associations across the country. Repeat business is critical to Magee’s business model, and his mantra is “Don’t start over with a new A/V team.” He encourages clients to use avad3 again wherever their next conference is.

Off work, Magee volunteers through Grace Point Church because “no one’s more plugged into the needs of the community than the church.” He also enjoys downtime with his wife and their two sons.