Inspiring Conversations with Cameo Hanlon of Bender Extender

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cameo Hanlon.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m going to focus this story around the Bender Extender part of things! For context I have a business degree from the University of Alberta, and I played varsity basketball all throughout college, and I currently own Bender Extender, and Best Marketing Co. I’ve lived in Scottsdale for about 3 years now, and we launched Bender Extender out of Scottsdale officially in December of 2024.

After running my marketing company, Best Marketing Co., for about three years and being exposed to hundreds of companies and products, I found myself with the itch to launch a product of my own. I didn’t know what I wanted it to be, I just knew that I’d encountered so many brands that I felt could have been fundamentally built to be more “marketable” so I wanted to start something completely from scratch, and apply everything I had learned from my years of running the marketing company into a brand.

Fast forward to the summer of 2024, and I found myself joking in a group chat with three friends of mine about mixing up some “Bender Extenders” (Pedialyte and Pink Whitney – a drink I had coined when I was in college) for the trip we were about to go on. Thankfully, one of my now co-founders asked “Cameo – is that a thing?” If not.. maybe it should be”, which prompted a few google searches and then a group decision to create Bender Extender hangover support. Since we wanted to get started ASAP, we decided not to take investors, and instead, I funded the launch from my Marketing Company, and we were off to the races.

Since my background is in marketing, I took great joy in creating of all of the branding, website, packaging designs, social media, you name during the conception of Bender Extender. I knew that there were a TON of hangover supplements on the market, but I felt that there was a major gap in a brand that was relatable, fun, and functional. The majority of the alternatives on the market at the time were brands who’s messaging was either heavily scientific, or boring and corporate, and I thought to myself “why isn’t something positioning themselves smack dab in the middle of partying?”

The vision was for Bender Extender to be a nod to the late 1980s and early 1990s with it’s “Saved By the Bell” inspired packaging, so bright you physically couldn’t ignore it in a retail setting, and as energetic and ridiculous as partying itself. I want to create a product that is synonymous with good times itself, that eventually becomes truly integrated into party culture.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No!

Finding a manufacturer that would do as small of a production run as we could afford was challenging

Scrounging together enough money to market effectively with no real marketing budget to be heard of has been one of the biggest challenges

Honestly theres a laundry list of things that have gone wrong from packaging errors, to denied applications and everything in between, but that just comes with the territory.

But honestly, I’d rather fight an uphill battle when truly applying myself to a startup, then to experience smooth sailing in any other alternative.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Bender Extender?
Bender Extender is a company that was built to embody the energy and ridiculousness of partying itself. Right now, our primary product is a natural hangover pill, that is taken prior to drinking for a better morning-after. Inspired by one of our co-founders’ secret college cocktail of pink Whitney and Pedialyte she coined as the “Bender Extender”, our brand was born as an exciting and relatable alternative to most of the scientific, corporate-coded, stuffy hangover remedies you see on the market today.

We’re firm believers that enjoying a few drinks shouldn’t have to come at the cost of the next day, and we’re committed to making sure all of our customers – old and young are able to live this out too.

On top of our direct-to-consumer hangover support, we also offer “Branded Benders”, where companies can order Bender Extender Hangover pills with their colors and logos. featured on the packaging. The reason we offer this program is that we were tired of seeing companies spend thousands of dollars on branded giveaway swag that was immediately thrown in the trash, and wanted to offer a useful alternative that guests would actually use.

Overall, we are proud to be a majority female-owned company (65% percent of our shares held by women), be 100% bootstrapped (we’ve taken $0 of outside funding to date), and building a brand that is not only magnetic and inviting, but also genuinely helpful.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Of course my parents – not only are they overly supportive in every aspect of my life, but they immediately got on board with Bender Extender, and respected just how much of a legitimate business operation it was despite the subject matter.

So, SO, many organizations and businesses in the area that have let us be a part of their event, purchased product, or given us invaluable advice in times were we were so green and needed the leg up. The support from businesses has been incredible, and it is so encouraging to have so many entrepreneurs in a community I only recently moved to be the first to volunteer a favour or make an intro for us.

Our customers and early adopters of bender extender, who took a chance and spent their cash on a product they had never heard of. Those people are the real MVP’s and we can’t thank them enough for their support!

Pricing:

• Bender Extender retails for less than $4 a Serving on our website (benderextender.com)
• we have wedding bender extenders (white and gold) available at wholesale pricing for anyone who wants to make sure their guests are taken care of at the open bar.
• We offfer our branded bender program starting at just $3.75/unit with a MOQ of 500 units.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://benderextender.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebenderextender
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benderextender/
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cameo-hanlon

Image Credits
Our photographer – Dictionary Photography
Bender Extender – most pics that aren’t professional were just taken on our iPhones