Building a Personal Brand Rooted in Purpose and Advocacy with Dr. Camille Hammond

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Description

Dr. Camille T.C. Hammond is a physician, public health advocate, and co-founder and CEO of the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation. Her work grew from a deeply personal experience with infertility, including six unsuccessful rounds of IVF before her mother offered to carry and ultimately gave birth to her triplets. That journey gave Camille an understanding of infertility that extended beyond her medical training and eventually reshaped both her career and her personal brand.

Camille shares how she moved beyond defining her impact solely through practicing clinical medicine and embraced the work she felt called to do. Through the Cade Foundation, she helps families facing infertility through grants for fertility treatment and adoption, reproductive and maternal health education, and advocacy focused on expanding access to care. As Camille explains, her personal brand had to “grow up” alongside her purpose.

In this episode of Branding Room Only, Paula T. Edgar talks with Dr. Camille Hammond about the shame that can surround infertility, what people should understand about their fertility while they still have options, and why state and local advocacy matters to reproductive and maternal health outcomes. Camille’s story demonstrates what can happen when you remain open to a different path and allow your expertise, lived experience, and purpose to shape your personal brand and the impact you make.

Chapters

1:13 – How Dr. Hammond defines personal brand, plus her motto and hype song

2:43 – Why Dr. Hammond appreciates growing up in Richmond, VA

4:08 – How Dr. Hammond’s fertility journey led to the creation of the Cade Foundation

8:55 – How Dr. Hammond’s mother helped bring her triplets into the world

12:39 – The reality TV family Dr. Hammond credits with changing the conversation around infertility

13:35 – The three-part strategy behind the Cade Foundation’s work

17:14 – Why reproductive health advocacy often begins at the state and local level

18:38 – How the foundation’s summits support reproductive and maternal health

22:34 – Why Dr. Hammond says her personal brand had to “grow up” after leaving clinical medicine

24:46 – Dr. Hammond’s advice for pivoting toward work that feels deeply personal

27:19 – What Dr. Hammond wants girls to know about fertility and the graduation gift she’s giving her daughter

29:59 – Dr. Hammond’s candid fertility advice for people in their thirties

32:00 – What Dr. Hammond does for fun, what she’ll never do for money, and the joy she brings into a room

Connect With Dr. Camille Hammond

Dr. Camille T.C. Hammond is a physician, public health advocate, and co-founder and CEO of the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting families facing infertility through education, advocacy, and financial assistance. Drawing on both her medical training and personal experience with infertility, she has helped expand access to family-building resources and elevate reproductive and maternal health issues for families across the country.

Dr. Hammond completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Richmond, medical school at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and residency and fellowship at Johns Hopkins and the National Cancer Institute (respectively). In addition to her work with the foundation, she’s actively engaged in social, civic, community, and philanthropic efforts throughout the nation.

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Transcript

Paula Edgar: Welcome to Branding Room Only, the podcast where your personal brand gets a front row seat. I'm Paula Edgar and if you're here, it's because you know your brand isn't just about what you do. It's about how people experience you. In each episode, you'll hear stories, strategies and lessons from leaders and influencers who built their brands and made their mark. And I'll share the tools you need to do the same. Let's go. Hi, everybody. It's Paula back in the Branding Room and I'm excited about my guest today. Let me tell you about her. Dr. Camille T.C. Hammond is a physician, public health advocate and co-founder and CEO of the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting families facing infertility through education, advocacy and financial assistance. Drawing on both her medical training and personal experience with infertility, Dr. Hammond has helped expand access to family building resources and elevate reproductive and maternal health issues, for families across the country. Dr. Hammond, welcome to the branding room. Dr. Camille Hammond: Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. Excited to share and listen and learn and all the good things. Paula Edgar: Well, let's get into it. So I ask everybody, what does personal brand mean to you? How would you define it? Dr. Camille Hammond: The way I represent myself to the larger community, the world, how the world sees me, but also how I want them to see me. Paula Edgar: Love that. How would you describe yourself in three words or short phrases? Dr. Camille Hammond: Grateful, athletic, although my husband may not agree with that one. And inquisitive. Paula Edgar: I love that. Do you have a favorite quote or motto that you're thinking about right now? Dr. Camille Hammond: Oh, how about, we could wait, but why? Paula Edgar: Oh, I love that. I love that. Okay. What about this? When the world is about to get full Dr. Camille Hammond, what song is playing in your head? What's your hype song? Dr. Camille Hammond: Probably something from Beyonce. I don't know, Crazy or like right now, the new one is the new song about morning dew. I don't know, it would be some Sasha Fierce song with heavy beats and where I felt like I could walk in and whip my hair a little bit and just put my shoulders back. Paula Edgar: That part, we can't go wrong with the Beyonce discography. So I'm with it. It's all good. Dr. Camille Hammond: That’s right. Strut into the room. Paula Edgar: So tell me… That's right. You got to strut no matter what. I'm looking at my cowboy polo sash right now. Dr. Camille Hammond: Yes. Paula Edgar: So tell me, where did you grow up and how do you think that shaped you? Dr. Camille Hammond: I grew up in Richmond, Virginia. It was, well, on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia. It was a quiet town. I would consider it a quiet town. And it felt very slow. But right now, as things have sped up, as me being an adult and raising my family, I appreciate growing up in a place, where everything wasn't available at all times, where I had to wait, where stores closed down and we actually went in person to stores. Yeah, I am grateful that I grew up in Richmond. I didn't choose to raise my family there, but I'm still grateful that my parents made that decision. And I think I had a great, great childhood. I definitely felt very loved and supported. And, you know, they told me from the beginning, I could do anything that I wanted to do. And I believed them. And so here I am, you know, walking and what I feel is my purpose, because my parents told me as a child, you could do whatever you want to do. Paula Edgar: I love that. I have a similar, a similar story. And then my parents told me I can do whatever I want, but then they were like, you know, you're not better than anybody. And I was like, really? What I meant was, I think I know I'm special, but I didn't know how to voice it then, but it's all good. So tell me about your career path and how your personal fertility experience ultimately led to the creation of the foundation, the Cade Foundation. Dr. Camille Hammond: So I'm a physician. I went to University of Maryland Medical School. I was diagnosed with endometriosis, stage four, when I was a freshman in college. So I knew that my family building journey, whenever I was ready for it, may be a little non-traditional. My doctors had already warned me, it may be hard for you to get pregnant. And if you get pregnant, you're probably going to need to hurry up and get pregnant again as soon as you deliver, because endometriosis can cause infertility. And so when I met my husband, that was something that I discussed with him, I think on our second date, or it might've even been the first date. Paula Edgar: Wow. Dr. Camille Hammond: Because I just… I wanted him to know, anybody who's interested in going down this road, you need to know what you're dealing with, so that no buyer's remorse. And he was all in, of course. And you know, we've been together for 28 years, going on 29 years actually. Paula Edgar: Wow, wow. Dr. Camille Hammond: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but anyway, so I went to medical school at the University of Maryland. And because of my history of endometriosis, I gravitated toward spaces where I could do work in reproductive health. I wasn't interested in being an OB/GYN, but I was interested in researching fertility outcomes and educating people who had diseases that made it more likely that they would have infertility, that they would at least know about family building options. They would know about freezing their eggs and sperm, if they had cancer, or they would know about just looking into what their hormones look like and you know, getting an idea about what their options would be, if they had some other diseases. So I ended up working in cancer research for a few years after I finished my fellowship. I did my fellowship in cancer prevention and control at the National Cancer Institute, my residency at Johns Hopkins in general preventive medicine and I worked in cancer research for a few years. But I always found my way back to looking at reproductive health outcomes, whether it was on the front end, making sure that people were prepared, or on the back end, providing support for people who may not have been informed, but also just letting them know that they could still build families. And after a few years, decided, my husband and I co-founded Cade Foundation, when we were medical students. He was at Hopkins, I was at Maryland. And then after a few years of working, decided that I could go out and see if I could make it a full-time business, where this was something that I did as my job. And he would continue to do what he was doing in orthopedics and basically fund everything. And just decided that this work was important. And as a family, we move forward. And so I've continued to work and lead Cade full-time, since 2007, 2008. And we're at the point now where we've given out about $2.5 million in grants for fertility treatment or adoption and done hundreds of education-focused programs. We've got a number, we've got actually 15 coming up, just in September. Paula Edgar: Wow. Dr. Camille Hammond: All in states that have very poor reproductive and maternal health outcomes, so Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina. And have gotten into advocacy over the past few years, to increase access to care through health care mandates, imposed by elected officials. I think sometimes that's the easiest, most efficient way, even though it's not necessarily the most direct way. But when there's a mandate that a certain coverage, certain health care procedures covered, everybody automatically gets access to it, without having to come out of pocket. Paula Edgar: That is powerful work. And I love that, that you took a passion that was personal to you and took it all the way through to being able to support other people. So I knew about you before I met you, because I met your daughter. We have the wonderful experience of both having two girls who are making a choice to change the world at Spelman College and they keep friends. That's right, exactly. So I got a chance to meet your daughter, who is one of three and she told me the story of her birth. And so I want you to share that your mom carried your triplets and delivered your triplets. Talk to me about that journey. Dr. Camille Hammond: She did. My mom was 55. She was 54 when this started, after six unsuccessful rounds of IVF. We were told you're young and healthy, but you don't have any more insurance and you definitely don't have any more money. And so what do you want to do? Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. And we were devastated and talked to my parents who were some of the only people that knew that we were actually trying to get pregnant, because I had a lot of shame personally, around being infertile and not being able to carry a child. And my mom and dad said, hey, we saw this show on 60 Minutes about a woman who carried a baby for her daughter. And we think this is something your mom could do. And my parents were healthy, but they were a little older. My mom and dad were 54. And my husband and I thanked them, but said no. But they were persistent. And they, I say, really had faith for all of us, had faith enough to believe for all of us. So after a number of conversations and lots of prayer and conversation, we decided to see if her doctors thought she could even get pregnant. And they said, well, she's healthy, but we can't guarantee much beyond that. I mean, again, when I grew up in Richmond, it felt like a small town. So none of them had even heard of this woman who is menopausal, who has already gone through the change of life carrying a baby. Today, we hear stories like this all the time through the news and social media, but back in those days, in the 90ies, was it 90s, no, the 2000s, late 90s or early 2000s, that was something that was reserved for royalty and rock stars and maybe a couple of movie stars. But we moved forward and my mom was able to conceive my triplets. And on December 28, 2004, they came screaming into the world, announcing that they had arrived and nothing has been the same. Paula Edgar: What a blessing on so many different fronts. I think that, number one, shout out to your mom and dad for being wonderful parents and literally living up to what they told you, which is that you can do anything and with their help. Dr. Camille Hammond: Yeah. Paula Edgar: And I think that that's a beautiful, beautiful thing. I want to pull back to something that you said, because I know that it's an experience of many of my listeners and I want to make sure that we point to that. You talked about some of the shame around infertility and I really want to double down on the fact that it is a physical experience and nothing to be ashamed of. But, you know, but societally, there's this perception that, you know, you're a woman, you need to, one, want kids and two, have them. And I love that your story led to not only you having kids through non-traditional methods, but traditional in a really weird way. And then also you support other people on their journey as well. I think that it's really powerful in terms of that. Dr. Camille Hammond: Thank you. Paula Edgar: And so, I want to hear how does the Cade Family, the Cade Foundation, I should say, work with connecting folks and getting access? Tell me what the process is. How does that work? Dr. Camille Hammond: I want to go back to something you said… Paula Edgar: Oh, sure, please. Dr. Camille Hammond: … about shame. We were going through this pre-Kardashian. So everybody knows, keeping up with the Kardashians, like them, love them, whatever. Paula Edgar: Yeah. Dr. Camille Hammond: They definitely normalized in pop culture, the conversation around reproductive health… Paula Edgar: Yeah. Dr. Camille Hammond: … and made it not so taboo to say, hey, I'm struggling. I need help. I'm going to just get help. I'm just going to do this and I'm going to make this decision. If money is not an object, if that is not kind of a barrier, I'm going to get the help that I need. And I appreciate that they introduced it and they made it mainstream. Paula Edgar: Yeah. Dr. Camille Hammond: So that is something that I will always be grateful for. So moving on, you said, you asked about how we serve people through Cade. Paula Edgar: Yeah. Dr. Camille Hammond: So Cade has three important program foci. Number one, philanthropy. We give out grants, up to $10,000 each, for fertility treatment and domestic adoption. You have to have infertility and we use the updated October 2023 definition of infertility, which is much more inclusive. Basically, anyone who has a need for fertility treatment would be included, okay. That's number one. Number two, we do education. So we've got a series of reproductive and maternal health summits planned for a number of states, where we'll have watch parties in cities throughout the state, where we talk about reproductive and maternal health outcomes in that state. So we want you to know in Texas what the likelihood of maternal death is in Texas and how many children were conceived using IVF in Texas and what endometriosis coverage is available by law in Texas. So we do that and then we encourage people to engage in their right to petition their elected officials. So after they've learned about the state of reproductive and maternal health in their state, we give them a chance to write to their elected official and to tell them in their own words what they want that elected official to do. So if there was a bill that was introduced that didn't pass, does it need to be reintroduced? Does it need to be modified? We want you to talk to the person that represents you at the state seat so that they've heard from their constituent and then you can hold them accountable. We've got an election in November. If they're not doing the things that you want them to do, then you can make a different choice in November. And if they are doing the things that you want them to do, regardless of the party, if they are doing the things that you want them to do, regarding reproductive and maternal health and you think, you know what, you're doing a good job, then you can choose to keep them. But this is just a part of exercising our rights. First Bill of Rights, you know, number one amendment to the Bill of Rights, right to petition your elected official. So we do that. Paula Edgar: I love the education and the advocacy and also the philanthropy, the sort of triad of it, because it's a sort of wraparound, in terms of making sure that this stays top of mind. And I think really a testament to, again, that when we have personal experiences that drive our work, it's a very different thing than it is when you're coming from a different space. Not that that can't be good advocacy, but I think I know so many women who have had experiences with infertility in one way or the other. And I recall, speaking of the choice to change the world, girl, before I got pregnant with my daughter, my doctor said, you know, you have ovarian cysts. It's going to be harder for you to have a baby, so you should start trying now. And I was in law school. And then I got pregnant the next month. And I was like, oh, no. You said to start trying now, not that it was going to happen. And so I would make jokes with him that I was going to name the baby after him, no matter if it was a boy or a girl, because he was going to be the godfather. Dr. Camille Hammond: That’s funny. Paula Edgar: But, you know, it's important to have that self-advocacy and information as you're going through this. And I love that you're thinking about it on the state level, because I'm not sure. You know, I live in New York City. We have not the greatest numbers here, in New York City, in terms of maternal outcomes, et cetera. And you think, oh, we're East Coast, we're New York, we're a big city. But still, women are impacted by their health care options and the treatment that they received. So. Dr. Camille Hammond: Absolutely. I think sometimes people think… They only think about politics when it comes to a presidential election. I like the guy or I don't like the guy at the top and it's his job to do all the things that I care about. But what people don't realize is so much of what you have access to and the things that benefit you or harm you in your regular, everyday, walking life, that's done at the state level. Paula Edgar: Yeah. Dr. Camille Hammond: And also at the local city or council level. So those are actually the places where you ought to start, if you want change, because those elected officials, those lawmakers are more likely to be able to create laws and enforce policies that do actually change your life, or impact you, impact your quality of life. Paula Edgar: Yeah, I mean, that's an important point. You know, we know that at election times, people don't come out the way they're supposed to for midterms or for local. But to your point, that is where the advocacy should be beginning, because you are able to hold them accountable more. Dr. Camille Hammond: Absolutely. Paula Edgar: Speaking of advocacy, what advocacy do you think is needed right now to improve reproductive and maternal health and particularly for Black families and other communities that experience disparities? Dr. Camille Hammond: I feel like you have set it up, you’ve set the… because this is perfect. So we do this at the Reproductive and Maternal Health Summits. We talk about the laws that are on the books and then we talk about the laws that were introduced that didn't pass. Every state has a different legislative season. Some meet year round, some meet every other year, some meet only once a year for a certain number of months. So, you know, the rules for Tennessee are different from the rules for Maryland. But we go into the states and we talk to people about the bills that were introduced during the previous cycle, or the previous two cycles, that impact access to high-quality fertility and maternal health health care. And then we look at those, the bills that we think were good that may be introduced, if there's someone who's willing to sponsor or co-sponsor. And then we get people to use their own words, to write to their elected official and let them know what they think. We share about all the laws. So if they choose to talk about one of the ones that we think is a good one, that's fine. But if they say, no, I really want to talk about this other thing, we share all the information so that they are able to communicate directly with their lawmaker about what they want. Paula Edgar: It's empowering, you know, through education, but also through, you know, this podcast is about people's experiences and the personal piece. That's why I keep bringing it back to it about when you bring the things that have happened to you into what you do. And I love that for you, the advocacy for individuals as well, who are having that experience. So tell me more about the summits, you know, what are you hoping to accomplish through them? And who do you think should participate in the summits? Dr. Camille Hammond: Oh, I think that everybody who has a need for any information or support for reproductive or maternal health should come. Number one, this is not a woman issue. It's a person issue. When you're looking at infertility, for instance, roughly half of infertility is male factor. One-third is female, one-third is male, one-third is both or unknown. So, you know, the myth that family building is a woman's issue, it's just that, it's a myth. So I want everybody in the room, in particular, I want the people who are at great risk for poor outcomes. So there is also a myth that Black people are super fertile and that, you know, there are all of these children that are being born and that is just not the case. The data would suggest that infertility rates are higher in the Black community. And when you look at not just family building, but endometriosis, fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome, some of the diseases that cause infertility, but that are problematic, even if you're not trying to have a baby, we are undertreated and our outcomes are less desirable than all of the other groups. So I think I would like everyone who is available and interested to come out, but in particular, the people from communities that are at greatest risk for poor outcomes, because we talk about local resources that you can take advantage of that have been shown to improve outcomes. And they're free, they're open to everyone, they're open to the public, they're online and in person, so there's no barrier to attendance as long as you have a phone and access to somebody's Wi-Fi, you could benefit. Paula Edgar: Oh, that's wonderful to hear that it's able to be accessed online as well, too. So how do you think your personal brand has evolved as you have gone from physician to advocate to nonprofit leader to author to publisher, wife and mother, all those things? Dr. Camille Hammond: I guess it's become more defined. For a while I tried to figure out, who am I if I'm not practicing medicine? Because I spent all this time training and that was such a central part of how I defined myself. I am a physician and I'm still a physician, but I don't see patients. And I think that I had to evolve to the point where I could accept that there are lots of ways to improve quality of life for people. And I do feel like I am walking in my purpose in this space. So it was the ego in me that said, hey, are you really making a difference if you're not seeing people in a white coat and practicing clinical medicine. But I think after I really looked at and got comfortable with the fact that this is where I'm supposed to be, because this is what gets me up in the morning, this is what makes me work, when I'm tired and when I'm frustrated, I love what I do. I definitely feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. So my personal brand had to grow up, to realize that this thing that I'm doing that started off as me just wanting to give back a little bit. This is definitely one of the reasons why I'm here. I mean, I feel like we have lots of reasons why we're here, but yeah, my brand had to grow up with me. And I'm grateful for what I do, not just who I am, but also what I'm able to do. Those are different things. Paula Edgar: And the foundation is named after whom? Dr. Camille Hammond: My mom. My mom, so that we hopefully, for some families, because we aren't able to help everyone unfortunately, we just don't have the money, but we're able to help them with the gift of parenthood, the same way that my mom and dad were able to help my husband and me. Paula Edgar: I love that. So when you think about the shift you just mentioned, going from having a title and having to think about experiences, when you think about moving from one thing to the other, what advice would you have for somebody who is trying to build their brand and shifting something to connect it to their work and connect it to their deeply personal experiences? Is there anything that you would recommend or that you would suggest, based on your own experience, somebody who's trying to pivot into something that's deeply personal? Dr. Camille Hammond: I think that it is hard feeling like I've spent time and money training to do something that may not really give me a lot of joy and may not make me feel fulfilled. Not that your job has to be the only thing that makes you feel fulfilled, but you need to do something that makes you at least want to get out of bed. Otherwise, you could stay in bed. It's humbling to see this… There may be something else that actually I feel much better and happier about and I feel like I'm making a bigger impact. And be gentle. I would say be gentle and kind with yourself. If there are things that you are naturally interested in, areas where you naturally gravitate, even if it's not in the thing that you trained for and that you thought you would do, ever since you were a little person, you know, be open to change. Paula Edgar: That's a perfect, perfect soundbite and perfect, I think, advice for folks. You know, my listeners know that I went to law school after my mother… My mother was killed in 9-11. And I went to law school, because I really wanted to help the world, because the lawyers who had been around us helped us and I said, okay, I'm going to go to law school. And then I realized it wasn't what I was passionate about, but I loved law and I loved lawyering, but not doing the thing. And so part of us even being here, this podcast is me saying, I want you to take the lessons that I've learned from my mother about how to show up and what to do and where the passion lies, in a much broader space, than when I was practicing. So you have now two people who are in front of you, or you're listening to, who have been able to make that pivot, based on something deeply personal to them. And so if that's what you're thinking about right now, remember that, first of all, just start. And second of all, they can't take back the license. Well, I guess they could. But the point is, you'll still have the training that you did. Dr. Camille Hammond: Exactly, exactly. Paula Edgar: Yes, that part. Dr. Camille Hammond: So I want to talk to you about the experience of parenting and we both have girls, right? And so my question for you is, what would you want to teach the girls, both of ours and all the other ones, about what they need to know, when we're thinking about when it comes to fertility, now, at their young age? Dr. Camille Hammond: That you can do anything, but you can't do anything, you can't do it all at the same time. And there is an expiration date on your ability to do certain things. So if you want to be a mom, number one, you don't have to be a mom. So you get to choose whether or not and when you want to be a mom, but you're not able to conceive forever. And one thing that I've always told my daughter is we were going to, as a graduation gift, freeze her eggs. Paula Edgar: Wow. Dr. Camille Hammond: So that she has time… Paula Edgar: And choices. Dr. Camille Hammond: … to think about what she wants to do with her life, without the pressure of, but I need to hurry up and meet somebody and have a baby, because I don't want to end up, you know, without that option. I don't want to end up without that. So that's something we've talked about, ever since she was little and she's now a senior in college and she knows. I know. That's a gift that we're going to be giving her as soon as she graduates. She's going to go through a fertility preservation cycle, unfortunately. Paula Edgar: Not going to update my gift. Dr. Camille Hammond: Think about it. Paula Edgar: Wow, wow. Dr. Camille Hammond: Think about it. Paula Edgar: Yeah. Dr. Camille Hammond: Because, you know, who knows? I mean, she's definitely not in a point right now where she's thinking about that, but neither was I. Paula Edgar: Yeah. Dr. Camille Hammond: And wow, how time evolved. And I can say right now, I don't have any friends who waited, who did not have some type of fertility challenge. I don't have any friends who waited that did not have fertility challenges. I mean, I can say it three or four or five times, I don't have one friend, and I'm a pretty social person. A hundred percent of the people who are close and connected with me had some sort of fertility challenge. So you can assume everybody in my family has babies, we don't have problems. Well, how old were they when they were having the babies? 16, 17, 18? Paula Edgar: Right, right, right. Dr. Camille Hammond: Not 40. Paula Edgar: Yeah. Yeah. I was… the next thing I was going to say to you is like that's that young age right there. But the people who are in their 30s and maybe who have waited is the directive that what they should be doing right now is going immediately to figure out what their options are. Dr. Camille Hammond: Absolutely. It takes very little time, very little money, very little effort to talk to a fertility specialist, to get some lab work performed, to see where you are. And if you say, if you're in a good position, great, there's nothing to do. But if it looks like your fertility may be waning, then you may be, if you're financially able to, you freeze some eggs, because the eggs don't expire. I mean, you know, they stay fresh, so that if you're 40 or 42 or 45, when you're ready to use them, you've got 30 year old eggs instead of 45 year old eggs, because the difference is significant. The quality of the egg and the likelihood that that egg would result in a healthy pregnancy is very different at 45. Women were not made to have babies throughout our life cycle. And so if you are in a position to do so, freeze, preserve your fertility, just so that you can feel like you did, you tried, you know. So that's one thing. But I would also encourage people to not make family building choices out of pressure or fear. Paula Edgar: That's a good point. Dr. Camille Hammond: Yeah, so this is not where you go and you just decide, I'm with this person and it's the time. Let me go ahead and have a baby. That's a lifetime. Make sure you're with the right person. Paula Edgar: Oh, that's the word right there, because my goodness, parenting is not easy. Dr. Camille Hammond: That's right. That’s right. Paula Edgar: That is where right there… Well, I knew I was going to enjoy this conversation and I knew it was going to go quickly and I want to make sure I'm respecting your time. But I have three questions I have to ask you still. One is what about the fun stuff? What do you do for fun? Dr. Camille Hammond: Oh, I like to watch movies. My husband and I are big time movie watchers and then talk about them, because watching them is just kind of like uh, but talking about them. It's just something to think about. I love to read books. I'd love to go to concerts, live music. There's nothing like a live performance, just shows, whether it's music or acting. I love it all. I love dancing. I love eating. I mean, I love all the things, all the -ings. Paula Edgar: We're basically best friends right now. Because I was like, she said everything I want her to say. Dr. Camille Hammond: Yes, yes. Paula Edgar: Okay. The next question is this, what is the authentic aspect of your personal brand that you will never compromise on? Dr. Camille Hammond: I would not endorse a person, a place, or a thing for money that I thought would do harm to the community that I serve. I'm not going to say something is good, just so that I could get paid. I don't need the money. Can I use the money? Everybody can use money, but I will never have a need that will make me compromise and put people at risk, just so I can make a dollar. Paula Edgar: Okay, so the podcast is called Branding Room Only, because it's a play on the term standing room only, because I'm clever. So my question for you is this. Dr. Camille Hammond: Yes, I love a clever queen, as someone would say. Paula Edgar: Clever, clever. What is your magic? What is the thing about you that would have a room full of people, no seats left, standing room only to experience about you? Dr. Camille Hammond: I have a lot of joy and I bring it with me and I share it. Paula Edgar: Oh, I love that. Dr. Camille Hammond: So I think if you want some joy, come hang out. It's here. Paula Edgar: I love that. Dr. Camille Hammond: It's free and it's abundant. Paula Edgar: I love that. Well, you have brought me joy. Tell the people how they can find out more about you and support the Cade Foundation, please. Dr. Camille Hammond: Please visit us online at cadefoundation.org. We've got the Reproductive and Maternal Health Summits coming up, as well as a number of other programs that may be of interest. And I'd love to meet you. And if you have a need for financial support, we do have the Family Building Grants, which will provide up to $10,000 for fertility treatment or adoption. And we have another deadline approaching. We have another cohort September 1. So there's still plenty of time. If someone hears about it and wants to apply, apply today. Paula Edgar: How often do the cohorts happen? Dr. Camille Hammond: Usually it's February 1st and July 1st, but we had a third cohort. Cade turned 21 this year, so we're acting up and trying to do big things. Paula Edgar: Love that. Dr. Camille Hammond: This is a year to celebrate and we're doing that by offering hopefully more grants than we've ever in a single year and offering more, as far as our education programming and certainly doing more through our advocacy. So we're doing the most, because we're turning 21 and this is what you're supposed to do, right? Paula Edgar: When you turn 21, you turn up. But that is right. Dr. Camille Hammond: You turn up, that's what we're doing. We turn it up. Paula Edgar: Everybody listening, send this to everyone who is thinking about, thought about, might want to think about infertility, fertility and also advocacy and education. And share this with as many people as possible, because things don't get better until you do things differently. Dr. Camille Hammond: That’s right. Paula Edgar: Everybody, stand by your brand and talk to you soon. That's it for this episode. I appreciate you hanging out with me on Branding Room Only. Now, please do me a quick favor. Head over to ratethispodcast.com/branding, so more people can join this conversation. And make sure to stop by paulaedgar.com/events to see what's next. Whether I'm live, online or in person, I'd love to see you there. See you next time in the Branding Room. And until then, stand tall, shine bright, and always stand by your brand.