Kash (1)

Kash Shaikh

Founder & CEO, Besomebody, Inc.

If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, it’s not a big enough idea. That’s the bar that Kash has championed, channeled and raised throughout his life.

 

After more than a decade of building some of the world’s biggest and most engaging brands, Kash has focused his life on his personal passion: #besomebody. Kash began sharing the “#besomebody” hashtag on Twitter in late 2009 during his travels to more than 40 countries around the world on behalf of Procter & Gamble & GoPro. #Besomebody organically became a borderless badge of passion through Kash’s powerful, personal writing and storytelling on social media and the #besomebody blog.

 

Over the years, it’s grown from one man’s mantra, to a passionate community, to the fastest growing Motivational Movement in the world and today is the World’s Platform for Passion. Kash and the #besomebody team are pioneering a new economic model – the Passion Economy – by connecting people based on shared passions and enabling people to live their passions through new forms of experiences and education.

 

Prior to re-centering his life fully on #besomebody, Kash became one of the most respected Brand Builders and Social Marketers in the world. He began his career at Procter & Gamble, where he spent a decade delivering award-winning Marketing, Communications, and Digital leadership for many of P&G’s billion dollar brands. At P&G he led some of the most successful Marketing programs in company history, including the Tide “Loads of Hope” and Downy “Touch of Comfort” Cause Marketing programs. His last assignment at P&G was focused on creating the Communications and Digital strategy for P&G’s biggest brands in Developing Markets (Asia, Africa, Middle East and Latin America), in which he spent 2+ years visiting more than 40 countries.

 

In 2012, Kash joined GoPro – makers of mountable, wearable HD cameras – to lead and create their Global Communications & Social Marketing organization. Kash helped the company grow from niche start-up to the #1 camera company in the world, producing some of the most engaging video and photo content on the planet. GoPro tripled in size during his tenure, growing to a $2.5 Billion valuation as he led the launch of the new HERO3 camera – the most powerful wearable camera in history.

 

In 2013, Kash made the decision to go “ALL IN” on building the #besomebody Movement and platform through inspirational content and community events (today, #besomebody content and events reach more than 10 million people in 180 countries). In 2014, Kash and his team launched the award-winning #besomebody iPhone App – the world’s first Experience Marketplace that enabled people to book lessons to learn everything from painting and pottery, to martial arts and motocross. After reaching tens of thousands of active users across the country and garnering positive reviews from USA Today, Entreprenuer, Tech Crunch, Venture Beat, the Austin-American Statesman, and dozens of other media and tech outlets, Kash sold the app to Denver-based activity platform, Utivity. As part of the deal, Besomebody, Inc. retained all rights to the #besomebody brand, trademarks and community.

 

In 2017, Kash pivoted the company to focus on Besomebody Paths. Besomebody Paths give people hands-on skills training for great jobs. By reverse-engineering the traditional educational and employment model, Kash and the team are designing a new way to give people the access and skills necessary to get jobs they are passionate about. Besomebody does this by partnering with leading employers in high-growth industries to understand the skills needed for their open jobs. Then, they create a hands-on training curriculum based on those skills, and bring on industry experts to teach them. Finally, Besomebody opens up those Paths to qualified Candidates who are passionate about that industry and who pass through a thorough assessment screening. Besomebody Paths are 10x less expensive and 20x faster than traditional alternatives like community colleges and for-profit schools. And, most importantly, when Candidates graduate they are GUARANTEED a job with the partner employer. Kash believes these Paths can help address both the student debt crisis and the skilled worker crisis, enabling more Americans to get jobs. Besomebody Paths are currently being piloted in several cities across the United States with select employers like Kroger, Hilton and University Dental.

 

Kash was named one of PR Week’s “Ten Rising Stars in PR” in 2006 and honored as PR Week’s “40 under 40” the following year. In 2008, he was profiled as one of the “20 Emerging Leaders in PR,” and in 2009 was named “Marketer of the Year” by Brandweek Magazine. In 2012, Kash named one of the top 50 Twitter Users in Silicon Valley. Kash and Besomebody, Inc. were awarded the “General Motors Rising Star” Award for best new company by the Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2015.

 

Kash is a dog lover who spends much of his time with his American Bully, “Love.” He’s also run a marathon, flown a fighter jet and thrown down with Mark Cuban on Shark Tank.

#besomebody.