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Press
11/23/2001
A Passion for Business Nothing to Sneeze at
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UP CLOSE: P. CADE MCDONALD
Christine Van Dusen - Staff
Sunday, September 23, 2001
As five air purifiers hum, P. Cade McDonald waxes philosophic about the oft-ignored dust mite. That old pillow you keep on your bed? Chances are 10 percent of it now "ain't pillow," he says. "It's dust mites, dust mite waste and other stuff."
Yuck. Seems a strange topic to be of such great interest to a guy who worked on dot-com initial public offerings for four years before going to work for start-up eGulliver, an Internet travel company that went under in April.
He assures you his fascination with dust mites and their allergens is not so odd. McDonald has suffered from chronic sinus infections, spurred by allergies, since childhood.
"I've always been searching for solutions," he says.
Now he's offering some. After jumping ship from eGulliver as it was sinking, McDonald decided to open a brick-and-mortar retailer called Achoo Allergy & Air Products. The 2-month-old Buckhead store sells vacuum cleaners, pillowcases and air filtration systems, among other things.
Making the transition from a big company to a dot-com to a traditional retailer hasn't been easy. But McDonald is confident his passion for the products will lead to profit. Maybe he'll eventually franchise, or maybe he'll offer consulting. For now he says he's focusing on his Roswell Road store.
McDonald recently sat down for an interview with Christine Van Dusen of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
--- E-mail Christine Van Dusen at cvandusen@ajc.com
Q: Was it difficult to leave the dot-com?
A: That was a really tough time. It was right around the turn of the year. The stock market was abysmal. Prospects seemed bleak. Investment banks were a little in limbo as to hiring decisions. I explored some opportunities on that front, and I didn't really feel like there was a fit. I really didn't think I had the desire.
Q: So you decided to start a business. How was this different from your previous professional experiences?
A: At a dot-com, we weren't spending our own money. At Achoo Allergy, this bagel comes out of our bottom line. That, to me, makes a huge difference. At [the investment bank] I was never involved in the bottom line. It was always a transactional-based situation: do a deal, get paid, worry about the next deal. Here, it's more about doing all the little things right and building a business.
Q: What challenges have you encountered?
A: I now understand why entrepreneurs are the way they are. We have to worry about the phones, and we have to worry about the rent, and we have to worry about the build-out, and we have to worry about the vendors. ... I think I learned this from some of my friends at eGulliver: If you want something done the exact way you want it done, do it yourself. ... This is my baby. First day we opened, I was neurotic. Well, I probably still am.
Whatever you think it's going to cost, get real. Whatever you think you're going to do in revenue, get real.
Q: Why is this business a good fit for you?
A: I used to discount it when people would say they were passionate about things in business, but I think that's the driving force behind what we do here. I think that if I didn't care about it as much as I do, I wouldn't be doing this.
I was sick my whole life. Another catalyst is that my girlfriend has two cats. They pre-dated me in the relationship. I'm violently allergic, so we had to research solutions --- how are we going to have dinner together at her house? That's when I started researching everything.
Q: Seems like, after doing the research, it would be easy to get paranoid about things like dust mites and rat feces. Are you now painfully aware that allergens are everywhere?
A: It's my job.
Personal: Born on Nov. 27, 1973, in Gainesville
Education: University of Georgia, bachelor's degree in international business; Emory University, master's of business administration
Professional background: J.C. Bradford & Co., Atlanta, December 1996 to April 2000; eGulliver, Atlanta, May 2000 to December 2000; achoo! ALLERGY & Air Products, June 4 to present.
Hobbies: Golf, golf, golf.
Favorite movies: "Searching for Bobby Fischer," "Sneakers." "I'm dying to see 'American Pie 2.' "
Favorite books: "I'm currently reading 'In Cold Blood,' by Truman Capote. I also like business books --- 'The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy' (by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko) and 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' (by Dale Carnegie)."
Person I admire most: "My grandfather, a former pilot and entrepreneur."
What I'd be doing if I weren't in my current job: "Working as a pilot. Every time I've flown in an airplane I've been jealous of the two people up front. They have a fun job."
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