on the rise
story by bailey hemphill • photo by bill sitzmann
Zealous Melon
Brandon Blakemore (left) and Käj Jorgensen (right) breathe, sleep, and possibly eat their tech consulting startup Zealous Melon.
THE GREAT “PEAR” OF BRANDON BLAKEMORE AND KÄJ JORGENSEN
W
ITH JUST ONE LOOK at Zealous
Melon’s hip basement headquarters, the fruit theme becomes apparent. The walls and the furniture, like the business’ logo, are bright orange and green. “Our office could pass for a frozen yogurt place,” laughs Käj Jorgensen, one of Zealous Melon’s two founders. That’s exactly the type of fun yet relaxed atmosphere Jorgensen and co-founder Brandon Blakemore want for their technology training and consulting company. Blakemore and Jorgensen, both Omaha natives, met while working for Apple. Blakemore
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B2B Omaha Magazine • Winter 2014
was a senior at University of Nebraska-Omaha and worked as a trainer, technician, and business specialist. Jorgensen had just graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan and primarily taught consumers (specifically those unfamiliar with Apple technology) how to use computers, iPhones, and iPads. After six years with Apple, they both decided they wanted to start their own business. “We saw needs that weren’t being met,” Blakemore says. “Apple is very good at selling their products, but they’re not good with helping people implement those products into the workplace
or their daily lives.” Blakemore and Jorgensen quit on the same day, even handing in their two weeks notices together. That was when Zealous Melon was born—or, at least, that was when the idea of what would become Zealous Melon was born. Although they knew what they wanted to do, they struggled with a company name. “Eventually, [my sister] Lauren came up with it using a name generator,” says Blakemore. “The generator suggested ‘Jealous Melon.’ We liked ‘Melon’ because we wanted something with fruit—like Apple— but not ‘Jealous.’ So we switched ‘Jealous’ to OmahaMagazine.com