CONSULTING EXPERIENCE
Kalon is a corporate communications and branding director with specific experience in media, finance, crypto, entertainment, major league sports, and Fortune 500 consulting environments.
After attending Southern Methodist University, Kalon honed his craft swimming with sharks like Mark Cuban, collaborating with media moguls like Harvey Levin, and directing a diverse portfolio of consulting, marketing, and public relations campaigns for partners including Viacom, Willis Towers Watson, and the NFLPA.
As a former on-air news producer, FORBES contributor, and retail investor, Kalon developed a unique market perspective that helps inform his innovative and often contrarian analysis of the variables that shape our culture and economy.
Kalon's firm grasp of the American zeitgeist equips his partners with the strategy and conviction necessary to act, invest, and create with confidence. As a result, Kalon was hired by Financial Finesse in 2016 to lead a series of critical growth initiatives, communications campaigns, and strategic partnerships that collectively helped empower the small private company to successfully challenge industry giants like Ayco, Prudential, and Fidelity.
After living and working in Los Angeles for eight years, Kalon returned to Austin in 2020 to launch two new initiatives; AROMER Alternative Investments and IRLyfe Creations.
INVENTOR & INVESTOR
Kalon announced the launch of IRLyfe Creations and his partnership with DEN Property Group during SXSW 2022.
As a diverse creative and design firm, IRLyfe is uniquely focused on cultivating bold and modern brands undeterred by cancel culture. We crave collaboration, embrace eccentricity, and seek partners who share our curiosity for living, creating, and investing beyond the mundane.
Kalon merged his passion for real estate & blockchain technology by partnering with DEN Property Group to deliver DEN X IRL. The partnership empowers clients to explore buying and selling real estate with crypto and introduced Austin's first NFT gallery + blockchain education space.
A hybrid of education x entertainment, the IRL Crypto DEN is designed to help clients learn how to create a crypto wallet, buy and sell NFT's, or simply explore the metaverse in a beautiful gallery environment.
In an effort to help solve the retirement savings crisis, Kalon invented and published the AROMER Alternative Retirement Investment Strategy in 2019.
AROMER makes retirement a reality for all by sanctioning a third-party 401(k) contribution as a mutually beneficial investment vehicle. AROMER is on a Mission to Make Every American a Millionaire in Retirement.™
Kalon is an early VC investor in Austin based tech firm Virtuix, creator of Omni. Backed by Mark Cuban and other notable investors, the Omni is an omni-directional treadmill that lets players walk and run in 360 degrees inside video games and other virtual worlds.
AUTHOR
In addition to serving as a Forbes and New York Times Best Selling contributor, Kalon recently published the crypto themed children's book, "Doge Goes To The Moon."
Forbes, What Golf Taught Me About Financial Planners
The Book, A Mysterious Interactive Reading Experience
Society of Actuaries, "AROMER: How to Fix the Retirement Crisis Tomorrow"
PHILANTHROPIST
While working for BASE Projects, a VC incubator dedicated to developing concepts rooted in social entrepreneurship, Kalon witnessed the power of "one for one" business pioneers like TOMS Shoes, Giveback Homes, and Bombas.
As a result, Kalon parlayed his entrepreneurial spirit and love for animals into the "50/50 Pledge," which donates 50% of profits from all affiliated projects to Kalon's various charities of choice: Austin Pets Alive, Citizens For Animal Protection, Storybook Rescues, and Community First Village.
LEARN MORE
"The art of storytelling is crucial to cultivate a successful brand. A good story well told can humanize a company, inspire change, and ultimately connect with consumers in a way no shoe or car ever could."
Kalon McMahon, FORBES 2017