The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘big breaks’

Big Breaks + Mentoring + Hard Work = Success?

I am reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success and it got me thinking about interviews that I have conducted, so I decided to explore an idea. I have only read a third of the book so far, but when you ask most people about Outliers, they’ll mention 10,000 hours to become an expert at a craft. But from what I have read so far, hard work doesn’t equal success, you also need opportunities and talent.

I have taken five of The Invisible Mentor interviews that I have published on the blog, and extracted the responses to big breaks, mentor influence, and steps to success. As you read the responses, what ideas and thoughts come to mind? Are there ways you can create your own opportunities if you haven’t had your big break as yet?

Name: Patty DeDominic

Big Break: Thirty years ago, one of our neighbours in business brought us a request for proposal to do business with the local government and they said they were not going to bid on the small contract, and asked us we would like to bid on it, that was a big break for us. That got us started with government contracting and opened up a new world of a certain type of customer, which over the years I did many millions of dollars worth of business with the government – the city, county, state, national government.

Mentor Influence: y father being a very successful business person, and my mother being a wonderful homemaker, and active community volunteer. They mentored me, and taught me the value in volunteer work, always trying to line your head and your heart and making sure that your values are not compromised by making a living. I had other business mentors, from early bosses and friends who helped and advised me on buying real estate. When I married my husband 25 years ago, he was more experienced than I in different kinds of businesses so he helped to mentor me in regard to some of the systems he used when he worked for multinational corporations so I’ve been very fortunate to receive many coaching opportunities and mentors along the way.

Steps to Success: There were many: I had to study, I had mentors, I had to believe that I could do it, I had to experiment and practice, make mistakes and learn. So those are the steps – it’s conceive, believe, receive, and achieve. Being grateful is an important part of being successful. I think you must be grateful for the things you have that you have been given.

Name: Kamel Hothi

Big Break: I would say my biggest break was from my line manager going back three lines ago, a gentleman by the name of Arif Mushtaq. He was parachuted in from another company into Lloyds Bank. I encountered him when I was setting up the effort for the Ethnic Minority Network, and he was the one who sponsored the event. It was great to meet Arif. When we started discussing the event and he heard some of my views and ideas he really encouraged me to take a risk. He had faith, he saw something in me that I suppose other people didn’t see, so that encouraged me to take a risk from the position. Yes I could have lost my job. He gave me a blank sheet of paper and said he would support me, and to be honest, that empowerment was the best gift I have ever had. It increased my confidence and since then I have never looked back, so I’m really grateful to Arif.

Mentor’s Influence: I have had a number of mentors I would say, and some were good and some were bad. Most were not what you call formal mentors in the beginning, but certainly people who you admire who you see can add value in different ways. My mother was a huge mentor to me, she helped me to shape my personal life, helped me to focus on the core things to look at, how to overcome when things are not quite going right. And at work, Arif Mushraq was a huge mentor to me, he helped me, and he understood what other people thought were weaknesses, were strengths and he had a real influence on my career.

Steps to Success: For me, it was really understanding the psyche of what’s in it for me. That’s very cynical, selfish thinking, but that’s how people tend to live in the corporate world. It’s using that thinking and putting it into my strategy. When we were building the Asian strategy, it was very much what’s in it for them, what’s the business case, what would they achieve, would they pay attention? So once you can show them what the case looks like and get their juices flowing, then it’s mapping that out and how it can be realized. That’s what I would say is what I have done in my field.

Name: Runa Magnusdottir

Big Break: I’ve had so many! I’ve been so fortunate to have so many big breaks. There has always been a woman who stood behind me, who helped me. If I go back in time, when I was about 20 years old, the private secretary for the Minister of Culture and Education in Iceland who was a woman, gave me a huge break. She appointed me to help out with computerizing the ministry. That was a huge break. Another huge break was when my mother asked me to join her company which I later bought. And that was definitely a huge break in my life. And I can name so many that have come to me and it has always been women who gave it to me.

Mentor’s Influence: The idea behind mentors in Iceland is a fairly new thing so I had to think outside the box when it came to mentors. I would say overall in my life my biggest mentors were my parents. In my adulthood, and how they did it was feeding me with information, and talking openly about life and that the thing I think mentors in my mind has influenced me is to be open and to listen to other people’s views that has been my biggest learning point from mentors.

Steps to Success: The steps I took to succeed in my field were to do a lot of personal development, and find out what was important to me. I think it’s important for everyone to find their purpose.

Name: Nadja Piatka

Big Break: My first big break was getting the account for McDonald’s, and that was selling my low fat muffins to them. And I got to be good friends with the CEO and he grew to be a really great mentor to me. But it was starting as someone coming to them in a regional office with my idea, my low fat muffins, and finally getting to head office. It was a process, but it was through believing and having the best product out there and not thinking that what I was doing was impossible. Though later, the CEO of McDonald’s said that generally it’s a slam door policy and I had a better chance of winning the lottery.

Mentor’s Influence: I really believe in mentors, whether you are a mentor or mentoree. We grow and we really need to have other people’s experiences. I have always belonged to a group of women called the Equinox, and it’s just a cluster of women that we formed in Calgary. We are businesswomen who meet once a month, have dinner and share our challenges, our successes, anything that we can talk about freely and confidentially amongst ourselves. That was such a beneficial experience that when I moved to the United States, to western New York, I formed a group of women. We call ourselves the Equinox and continue to meet once a month for dinner and just share our experiences, our businesses, personal, whatever there is to talk about. We take turns to tell everyone how we are doing and it’s a great thing to do because sometimes when you are an entrepreneur it can be a solitary occupation. The mentors I have gathered around me or mentor to, have been really great. Also, I find in my consulting business it allows me to mentor, and again I feel there is so much for you to learn from everyone around you.

Steps to Success: Because I didn’t have the resources to go the easier route, the first step was to start small in my kitchen. I would get up in the morning at 4 o’clock and start baking and I would sell to little coffee shops in the city I lived in.

After I was on the Oprah show people contacted me because they had this product, this idea, and they would give it to friends and family for free and everybody loved it. But when you are giving things away for free you don’t have a neutral or unbiased focus group. You have to test the market with your product, and have people who are willing to buy it, and buying it more than once, then you have a product that the market will sustain.

If you’re just depending on friends and family, if they like it, it really isn’t a true sense of what the market will do in this very competitive business that we’re in. And every business has to have the ability to rise above everyone else’s, so what I did was tested it in the field with smaller shops, and then grew from there. That is one of the ways that I would recommend to people is to find out if the market will sustain their products.

A lot of people have an idea, they have a product that they want to get out to the market and they spend an awful amount of money on the packaging. By the time you have something that you haven’t even sold, I see people have put hundreds of thousand of dollars into a product before they have even sold one dollar of it. There are ways to do that without such a huge investment with your product and I try to advise people that there are ways to do that. There are many steps to be successful in your field and one of the biggest steps is controlling and having a handle on how much money you’re spending. I’ve seen people run out of money before they made one sale.

Name: Annemie Ress

Big Break: I have never really planned anything and things usually just happen, but the biggest opportunity I had was being asked if I wanted to work in Switzerland by a professor I was studying with, and saying, “Yes, that would be great,” not thinking for one second that I’d get the job. He obviously had more confidence in me than I did in myself and the next thing I knew I was on a plane and working in Switzerland. That’s my biggest break, having someone have faith in me. I had no international experience, I was South African, and had never worked abroad, but had someone believe in me and that has opened doors for me to work globally.

Mentor’s Influence: My mentors have taught me the amazing power of powerful questions, and how you don’t necessarily need to guide by telling, but that wonderful things can happen if you’re open to asking questions and always thinking that you don’t have all the answers but that by asking powerful questions in a given circumstance you can unlock many possibilities.

Steps to Success: Relationships and sponsorships and being authentic. It’s about building meaningful relationships with key opinion makers and stakeholders at all levels in your organizations. It could be with the person who brings you your coffee in the mornings, if you work in that type of environment. Or it could be with the security guard who is at the entrance when you come in to work, or the president of the corporation. But it’s not just about the relationships, it’s also about celebrating the uniqueness in the other person and really connecting with them authentically. In my environment that’s the one thing I’ve tried consistently to do because it builds trust, integrity and respect and that stands you well in both good and bad times.

From what you have  read, does Big Breaks + Mentoring + Hard Work = Success? Tomorrow we will look at five men.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Further Reading

Patty DeDominic Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Kamel Hothi Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Runa Magnusdottir Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Nadja Piatka Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Annemie Ress Interview (Part I) (Part II)

Name: Tina Brillinger, President & CEO

Company Name: Global Food Safety Resource Centre Inc.

Website: http://www.globalfoodsafetyresource.com

Avil Beckford: In a couple of sentences, tell me a little bit about yourself.

Tina Brillinger: I was the first baby born in Vancouver, British Columbia on Christmas Day in 1962, although I was raised in Ontario. At the age of five I was adopted into a family living in Richmond Hill who were franchisors of Mister Transmission, a business my father founded it in 1962, now approaching its 50^th anniversary. Growing up in a family business offered a unique perspective on the challenges of operating a business; the commitment and dedication that was required of my father, mother, and later my brother, to grow it into a national business, taught me invaluable lessons, which I reflect back on as I endeavour to grow my new business.

At the age of 13, I left home to attend an all-girls (international) boarding school for five years, called Trafalgar Castle School, formerly Ontario Ladies’ College. Attending Trafalgar was a privilege; the school is housed in the oldest castle in Canada and is steeped in history and tradition. It was during my time at Trafalgar that my core values evolved. Living with 100 girls from diverse cultures and religions, I was instilled with respect and tolerance for others’ differences and it set the foundation for a lifetime of learning.

During my time there, I developed as a leader, where I became Head Prefect and with a friend, began publishing Castle Chronicles, the school’s first newspaper. Following graduation, I attended George Brown College for Food & Beverage Management, enjoying a career in foodservice for 13 years. After marrying, I was blessed with two children. To make a full-time commitment to raising them, I shelved my career and drove school and transit buses for 10 years.

During the later years, I returned to school to study Magazine Journalism at Ryerson, followed by Pre-press Graphics and Web Design from Durham College. Following this, I enjoyed a successful career in Advertising Sales and Marketing with Metroland Media Group, eventually moving from region newspapers and magazines to trade publications.

The pinnacle of my career, prior to launching my own business, was becoming Publisher of trade magazines. It was during my tenure as Publisher of Food Safety and Quality Canada where I saw a need for online food safety resources to help businesses meet both the regulatory and industry compliance standards that are necessary for food businesses involved with global supply chains. Entrepreneurial by nature, I decided to launch a website to address the needs of food businesses worldwide and incorporated in September 2009.

Avil Beckford: What’s a typical day like for you?

Tina Brillinger: I typically start my day around 7:30 a.m. This usually involves responding to emails, making client calls and working with my team to develop my website: Global Food Safety Resource (GFSR) in a variety of ways; content, editorial and marketing products for targeted distribution. Client calls, proposals and reviewing taped interviews, along with managing the business itself. Each day is different, offering its unique sets of challenges and rewards. In the evening, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, taking in a game of golf, walking my dog or a night out for a movie.

Avil Beckford: How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

Tina Brillinger: I believe each of us has been given a unique set of gifts; how we use them can have a positive impact on others and the world at large. I am a driven individual with a passion for helping others and a strong sense and vision about what I’d like to accomplish in my life and through my business. My nature has always been altruistic and the one area I feel strongly about is that all individuals, regardless of their circumstances and geography, should have basic equal rights to safe drinking water and food. It’s astonishing and disturbing that millions of people fall ill from foodborne illness every year, while many millions more die just from unsafe drinking water. I’m motivated to do my part, through my business, Global Food Safety Resource (GFSR). We provide accessible, online information and solutions, for food businesses acting in global supply chains, so they can take steps to ensure their products are safe for consumers.

On another note, I grew up in an environment where women in business were frowned upon. Gender should never be seen as a deficit and deterrent for women who wish to be involved in business. If given the chance, women of all ages can make lasting contributions to the world – operating a business topical to food safety is my chance to make a difference.

Avil Beckford: If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you now know, what would you do differently?

Tina Brillinger: I would have invested more time researching the human and capital investment required for operating a website with a global scope. At this stage, I thought there might be three to five individuals involved, I never imagined it would take the energy and commitment of 12 others beside myself. I would have borrowed more money to finance my business start-up, instead of investing so much of my own personal resources. I would be more discerning about who became involved with my business. It’s critical to find the ‘right people’ who can deliver results instead of hiring well-meaning friends, when objectives aren’t met, things can turn ugly resulting in a waste of precious time and capital.

Avil Beckford: What’s the most important discovery you’ve made in the past year? It could be a discovery about yourself or a business one. 

Tina Brillinger: Just because I have a running dialogue in my head that moves at lightening speed doesn’t mean everyone is operating on the same track as me or with the same kind of urgency. I have discovered that I need to talk less, and listen more, and be clearer about my expectations from the outset.

Avil Beckford: What are three threats to your business, your success and how are you handling them?

Tina Brillinger:

1. Cash flow; a wise man told me that the reason many businesses fail in the first 1-3 years of business, is that they are undercapitalized. For our business to succeed we need to work smarter and harder at achieving our desired ROI; finding new creative ways to maximize conversions of online sales for increased profit margins.
2. Competition from other established publishers in my niche category, attempting to copy my ideas by expanding their existing print publications to online, offering similar resources. I have the advantage of not being tied to an existing publication, which provides more leeway to expand online and grow my business globally.
3. Burnout; the continuous demands of the business does not allow me to have much down time. I have stopped working 18-hour days, shutting down my computer and phone to take some valuable time away from my business to spend with friends, family or enjoying golf. I recognize it’s not a healthy lifestyle to be working all the time. I am delegating more, taking more downtime and getting more exercise to help better deal with the demands of a web-based business.

Avil Beckford: What’s unique about the service you provide?

Tina Brillinger: We offer a complete end-to-end source of trusted food safety resources; interactive information and network of pre-qualified food safety experts, validated by a 3^rd party, ensuring our members feel confident in the expertise and solutions they find on our website. We are geared to food businesses within global supply chains, and in many case those who export, who need to meet regulatory compliance or industry standards, to continue operating. No one else offers free access to resources of this kind on a global scale.

Avil Beckford: Describe a major challenge that you have had in life and how you resolved it. What lessons did you learn in the process?

Tina Brillinger: At the age of three, I was placed into foster care for two years and was later adopted at the age of five with my younger sister. My entire identity was changed to reflect that of my adoptive family; name, heritage. I learned to adapt at a young age, but had a major challenge with a need to reconcile my identity. For nearly 25 years, I lived with a constant internal conflict, conscious I was living a double life. I was an easy target for others who played on my insecurities. My challenge was to reconcile my identity of who I was, with who I had become. I pursued this for 12 years, by confronting the Children’s Aid and their closed door policies of sealing birth and family records and keeping them from adult adoptees.

I launched a personal campaign for allowing adoptees access to open records and information when they reach the age of 18. With many others fighting for the same right, the policies were eventually changed and allowed me to access records and search for family members through a registry.

At the age of 30, I came face-to-face with my past, reuniting with 53 members of my birth family, including two siblings, who were mere “intimate strangers”. Through this process I was able to reconcile my identity, eliminating the burden of self-doubt and confusion I carried for years. Going through this process took a great deal of determination and courage, with all the pieces of the puzzle solved, I was able to reclaim myself and birth-name, which contributed to a feeling of ‘oneness and inner security’. Going through this process eliminated any self-doubt I had, contributing to a greater sense of awareness of myself and others, allowing me to be confident about my place in the world.

Facing fears about yourself is one of the greatest challenges a person can have, reconciling these issues can help make you a stronger and happier individual. I believe in the saying “the truth shall set you free.” For me, no truer words have been said.

Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Tina Brillinger: After leaving my position as a publisher, a colleague gave me an opportunity to shadow him within the industry providing access to important individuals with a strong foothold in the food industry. This opportunity provided me with an intensive learning curve, allowing me to gain a better understanding of the needs of the industry, while expanding my network of contacts.

Avil Beckford: Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Tina Brillinger: I was a naïve new mother and made the mistake of entrusting my infant son to a caregiver who was unbeknownst to me, was battling a drug addiction compounded by mental illness. I hired this caregiver based on the recommendations of others. I did not properly validate her credentials and experience, nor did I do a background check. Three weeks after she began caring for my son, he was taken to an undisclosed location, without my consent. For nearly eight hours, I agonized over his whereabouts, checking all the local haunts, fearing the absolute worst. Eight hours passed before I got a lead on where he might be. I found the caregiver, incoherent and passed out at a party. After a full search of the property, I found my son alive and relatively unscathed but abandoned in a wooded area backing onto the property. This abuse of trust was devastating to me as a mother, and changed the course of my life dramatically. Feeling a huge sense of failure as a mother, I immediately ended my career in foodservice, dedicating my life to the raising of my family.

For more than 10 years, my career aspirations were put on the back burner, while I took a job driving school and transit buses, a position which allowed me to care for my children both at work and home. It was not the most glamorous job, but it was an important one as it allowed me the freedom to be with my children while earning a living. I have never regretted that decision….my son’s first word was bus!

Through this ordeal, I learned that you should never entrust your children to the care of someone unfamiliar to you unless proper credentials and references are provided AND verified.  I learned to be confident in following my instincts, over the word of others; I had a sense that something was wrong or amiss with my son and with a sense of urgency acted on them. Had I not followed my instinct, who knows what the outcome might have been?

Avil Beckford: What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life? 

Tina Brillinger: The toughest decision I ever made was to end my 13-year marriage and obtain full support of my two young children. It was the final act to end a relationship with an abusive, alcoholic husband. In the words of my young son it felt like we got a “get out of jail free card”.  Fully supporting two children took a great deal of time and effort, but it turned out to be the best decision of my life. We were able to move on, solidify our family and enjoy a life free of fear and abuse. Four years later I met a wonderful man and his two sons, eventually re-marrying. The children are now grown, responsible young adults, making their way in the world and I feel blessed to have a husband who supports me in all that I do, and a partner that I enjoy sharing my life with.

Avil Beckford: What are three events that helped to shape your life? 

Tina Brillinger: 

1. The loss of my family at a very young age and subsequently being adopted into another family, which provided the stability that I needed to grow.
2. Attending Trafalgar Castle School, formerly Ontario Ladies’ College, as a boarder for five years. I learned to work with others in the spirit of cooperation and tolerance; developed a strong moral compass with an appreciation of social values; developed a great appreciation of education as the foundation for a life well-lived; it enabled me to connect with people(s) from all parts of the globe.
3. Becoming mother of two: my son Ian (24) and daughter (21).

Avil Beckford: What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Tina Brillinger: Starting my own business. It represents the culmination of long-held dreams and combines with passion for food and publishing and an altruistic desire to make a difference in the world.

Avil Beckford: How did mentors influence your life?

Tina Brillinger: I have been blessed with many mentors in my life:

My Mother whose unabashed common sense, and intelligence, has been the backbone of our family businesses and large extended family. In light of the recent passing of both my father and eldest brother, my mom became Chairman at the age of 75. In the past year and a half, it has become very evident how much of role my mom has played in our family businesses, making gains and key decisions that will impact our family for generations.

My Father taught me that you could come from nothing, work hard against insurmountable odds and with luck, fortitude and perseverance, succeed at anything you set your mind to, like becoming a millionaire.

My Aunt and friend, Wendy has been an inspiration to me on many fronts. After managing a farm and raising a family of three she went back to school to get her B.A. in Social Work. Though she didn’t work in this field in a paid position, her life has largely been dominated by doing community “social work”. With her own unique wisdom and compassion, combined with her boundless energy, Wendy has provided me, and countless others nurture their belief in themselves.

My husband Randy; is President of his own company, Canadian Fire Protection Services Ltd. Randy launched his company in his early forties. Randy’s positive attitude and “magic of thinking big” philosophy has showed me it’s never too late follow your dream and his unwavering support of me to launch my website has been critical to my success. Randy’s street-wise and sage advice helps me to navigate the twist and turns of operating my own business.

Avil Beckford: What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Tina Brillinger: When others try to knock or drag you down, keep fighting, and if you hit the ground, pick yourself up and keep moving. Don’t let them get the better of you.

Avil Beckford: An invisible mentor is a unique leader you can learn from by observing them from a distance. In that capacity, what is one piece of advice that you would give to others?

Tina Brillinger: I really believe the cliché “The world is your oyster,” because there are so many opportunities that are like hidden gems out there, just waiting to be found. Opportunities can present themselves in a variety of big and little ways even in the most dire and desperate situations, it’s all in how we view things. When a door closes in business be creative; talk with someone outside your network of contacts, do a brainstorming session to generate ideas, try something different, “outside the box.” By opening yourself up to new opportunities, you will begin to see them more clearly. 

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

C. Hope Clark – Your Invisible Mentor This Week

As usual, the interview is packed with lots of solid information for you to use. Hope is a writer and has an ezine, FundsforWriters, which she distributes weekly. For Part One of the interview, there are five great ideas that I have pulled out, after you have read the interview, what are your five great ideas?

5 Great Ideas from C. Hope Clark’s Interview

1. The more consistent and productive you are, the more motivated you get
2. Rushing anything before it’s ready is fool’s folly
3. With a serious well thought out plan and mindset, you can stop the train wreck you’re on and head in a different direction
4. Do the best you can at the job you are given and people will respect you
5. Stay hungry, to improve all aspects of your life

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I write nonfiction for others and fiction for me. I hope one day to cross the bridge where each works for the other side. I adore the outdoors. When I lived three years in Phoenix, one of the first things I did upon returning to my beloved South was to hug a tree. Seriously. I’m married to a retired federal agent, and security/safety is huge in my house. I have two sons, two stepsons, a grandson and granddaughter (Yea, tell me I look too young. I love hearing that – that’s just the photography, trust me. You should see me in person. The years have left their mark here and there.) When I built my house, I told the contractor he had two main goals – place my writing room so it had the best view of the lake . . . and build my husband’s walk-in-safe exactly as he wanted. I said safety was key already, didn’t I? We live on the banks of Lake Murray in South Carolina.

What’s a typical day like for you?

Sleep until 9-10 AM. I’m a night person. Hubby fixes my breakfast. A few chores, maybe emails for an hour or two (I receive 300-400 per day), then something outdoors, if possible, especially if the day is nice. I have to get my daily dose of Vitamin D. I at least feed and greet my chickens – one rooster, 14 hens and a couple of babies. By 5-6 pm, I’m back at the computer working on FundsforWriters. Break for dinner, maybe a mystery/cop show or two with hubby (I adore mysteries), then back to the computer – by then writing on the novel until 2 AM. I love writing in the middle of the night, when no one is looking and I can think with the world silent, leaving me to my thoughts.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

I don’t get caught up in this “muse” business. Neither do I believe in writer’s block. Motivation, to me, is nothing more than being consistent. The more consistent and productive I am, the more motivated I get. So on those days when I’m dragging, I continue to drag my behind to the computer and work. The results are just as satisfying as when I’m positive and perky. Frankly, once you write something to completion, you really can’t tell what you wrote on a good day and what you wrote on a sluggish day. So the point it to just show up.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

Not marry my first husband? LOL. Seriously. I would take my efforts at writing more seriously. It’s probably normal for younger people to second guess their abilities, but I would have written more, sooner, and younger. I would have traveled this writing road harder with more purpose, because only after you’ve traveled it long and hard do you improve. It’s not a skill set you’re born with, regardless of what people think. All the great writers spent their lives putting words on paper in quiet rooms for years before anyone knew their names. And they took their writing seriously early in their lives.

What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

That self-publishing is a serious option with the explosion of ebooks. I’m normally NOT an advocate of self-publishing. I still tell new writers to avoid it until they’ve walked that long road I mentioned earlier . . . until they understand the publishing business. If they haven’t done either, then they need to leave the publishing business to the professionals and stick to traditional publishing. On a personal note, I’ve discovered/decided that my children need to struggle and fall on their knees so they can learn how to pick themselves up and become stronger people. I think every parent makes that discovery . . . or else they spend their lives in misery watching what they can’t control.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

I’d like to say print-on-demand, but I think that predates five years. It was the first step in shaking the foundations of the big publishing houses because it put smaller presses on a more equal standing. But recently it’s been Amazon. I’ve learned you either hate or love Amazon, but you can’t deny that they stay on point in developing the reading world. They have single-handedly, in my opinion, thrust ebooks into the forefront of the writing business. Yes, there are others who followed, but if Amazon hadn’t jumped in in a big way, the others wouldn’t have done as much. Amazon gave ebooks dignity.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Three threats, in my opinion:

1. My age. Some may say I’m still young, others not so much, but I constantly feel I’m in a race with time to publish. That said, however, I clash with myself about the concern, because rushing anything before it’s ready is a fool’s folly.
2. The phenomenal changes occurring with social media. I study the changes and do lots of reading in attempt to keep up.
3. Peace of mind. I’ve worked hard to become very happy with my lot in life. At the same time I am competitive. So I have this constant struggle to live a simple life without overindulging in my career. I love my life, and I don’t want to sabotage it with the extreme busy-ness so many others seem to get lost in.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

Frankly, I not so sure. LOL What I do know is that when I’m honest with my readers, they respond positively. They also like my conversational tone. I like to write in first-person, as if having coffee with a friend. But as with a close friend, I also speak frankly with a bit of a scolding edge, just enough so that the person realizes I’m saying this in a constructive manner. Readers adore that tone even more! But something else that makes a difference is the fact I am consistent. Every Friday, the newsletters go out. I meet deadlines. I try to research the material used, and keep it fresh. For ten years I’ve missed two deadlines: one when traveling in Europe, the other when moving my household cross-country. I believe readers appreciate it when I keep their interests first.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

Respect others. Respect their interest, their level in their own professional (whether newbie or seasoned), their questions, their efforts, even their time. I respond to all emails . . . all.

Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it.

I worked 25 years with a federal agency, ultimately reaching the rank of second in the state. However, I had the challenge of being the only woman amongst my peers most of the time. I hated the animosity, the vying for power. While I was good at it, it took a toll on me. So I created a three-year plan to get my finances in order and request an early retirement (dropping my income about sixty percent) so I could write for a living. I’d already been writing part-time and earning a few dollars at it. FundsforWriters was only a couple years old, but Writer’s Digest had already recognized it in its 101 Best Websites for Writers. That recognition was jaw-dropping to me and served as a tremendous catalyst. With a family on board with my decision to leave the bureaucracy, I leaped into writing and FundsforWriters. Even told the kids that I’d fund their college as long as I could, but if things got tight, they had to find ways to take up the slack. I’m proud to say that FundsforWriters covered both sons’ college tuition.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

With a serious, well-thought out plan and mindset, you can stop the train wreck you’re on and head in a different direction.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

That’s hard. I’ve never relied upon others and rarely sought advice. I’m a believer in doing lots of research and making informed decisions, rather than relying upon someone else. I will say that my current husband taught me to take chances and added a whole new dimension to my world.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Being a fairly competitive individual, in my old life (pre-writing) I dared to step too far in my efforts to make a name for myself. I had to step-back (reassigned to another office) and analyze myself. I sought to identify the mistakes while holding onto the standards I believed in. A peer taught me this: Do the best you can at the job you are given and people will respect you – even in the midst of controversy. Best advice I ever received. I not only weathered that point in my life, but I also rose above it, achieving a promotion I never expected. We have to be honest with ourselves in order to improve.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

Divorce. The second time around, my husband (also divorced) and I entered into our relationship with plans on how to avoid repeating history. Respect is huge in this house, as it should be.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Again, the divorce. It kicked me on my butt even though I initiated it. Suddenly life was so far off-track I never thought it’d return to any sense of normalcy. But I told myself to take it one day at a time and that a year from now life would be better. And it was. I know today not to panic when life takes a negative detour.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

1. Meeting my husband…shaped me on so many levels.
2. Becoming a mother…made me think outside of myself.
3. Daring to leave the nine-to-five to court my own self-employment.

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Outside of family, reaching ten years of history with FundsforWriters, each year being recognized by Writer’s Digest Magazine. I flaunt that everywhere.

How did mentors influence your life?

Mentors gave me self-esteem, made me study my own strengths and capitalize on them.

What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Be true to yourself and respect others. Stay hungry to improve in all aspects of your life.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Be true to yourself and respect others. How could I give any other advice when it’s been so good for me? When it isn’t all about you, you touch more people, make more sales, become more successful, fill-in-the-blank. It’s just a potent formula.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

On Wednesday and Thursday we present an interview with Duke Redbird, First Nations Ojibwe Elder. It is my intention to bring to you a diversity of interviews so that we may all learn and grow. It’s amazing how much we can learn from others if we are open. Interviewees who are different from us can direct our thinking in new directions. For example, when talking about disappointments in life, Duke says that if the glass is half-full he simply gets a smaller glass, so now that glass is full. I wouldn’t have thought of that. We are socialized to choose between half-full and half-empty so it doesn’t occur to us that we can add another choice and that is to get a smaller vessel. What are your thoughts?

Tell me a little bit about yourself. Tell me a little bit about your company and where the idea for your business came from?

I am a First Nations Ojibwe Elder from Saugeen, a small reserve located in Ontario. I was born in 1939 so I’m 70 years old and will be 71 in March. I lived my entire life between the sacred and the profane, and I see the sacred as anything that has been created by the creator and nature, and the profane as anything that has been created by human beings. So when I am in the sacred I try not to profane it, and when I am in the profane, like I am today, I try to bring something sacred to it, so that’s my rule and prime directive.

What’s a typical day like for you?

I mentor faculty and students at the Ontario College of Art and Design, I am also a mentor for students at the University of Toronto, I am doing a totem impact project at York University, and I work on my film and television projects.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

Motivation is just waking up in the morning and realizing that you are alive and have things to do. We are here for a purpose and we have to fulfill that function whatever we find it to be. It is sort of like Joseph Campbell says about following your bliss.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

I would never have touched alcohol or cigarettes in my youth. In my youth, holding your liquor and smoking appeared to be social badges of maturity. Though I quit drinking 25 years ago, and I no longer smoke, those were very poor choices. I wish I had had a mentor to steer me in another direction.

What’s the most important business (or other) discovery you’ve made in the past year?

The most important discovery that I made was to recognize the shift of consciousness that’s taking place around the planet, and it’s taking place with all the discourse that’s going on about developing more spiritual context to engage the world that we live in. It’s like a quantum leap has taken place in a new kind of reality. It’s no longer about money and power, it’s about self preservation, and romance is becoming integrated into those ideas.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

Technologies are constantly improving. We are on the cusp of a whole new technological society, and it has to do with things like making a movie on your cell phone and being able to project in on a screen, 3-D on your laptop. Now we have floating keyboards and you don’t even need a keyboard in front of you, just a little projector projecting one on your table, or some empty space, and it works on your computer. Whenever we come up with a new technology we have no idea how it will affect us as human beings.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Can’t think of any.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

There is nothing particularly unique about the service that I provide, except that I am engaged in broadcasting as an Arts and Entertainment reporter, and I act as a mentor elder and advisor to students.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

I think the fact that television is becoming planned and not as creative as it once was. I look at old programs, what we called the Golden Age of television and classical TV and things have gone downhill in terms of what we call infotainment, it’s information and entertainment combined, but it’s not real news.

Describe a major business (or other) challenge you had and how you resolved it.

Every decision that one makes is a challenge to get it right, and I saw most of the challenges that I faced on the basis of discovering whether they were wise decisions. I realize that the past is over, it’s gone and so one shouldn’t dwell on the past. You face a challenge based on the information you have at the moment, and then you try to solve it on the basis of wisdom, and how they might affect  your condition, your health, your attitude and personality, all those things.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

Most of what we consider to be civilized activities are nonsense, and so we have to make our way through a maze of bad decisions that people are making on our behalf.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Moses Znaimer gave me the opportunity to work in television, and York University gave me a lot of help when I went to university. I have had so many it’s from a series of people.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

To tell you the truth I cannot think of a big failure, nothing comes to mind.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

I cannot think of a disappointment. I would view something as a disappointment if I wanted to do something and was stopped. That hasn’t happened to me. I was having a discussion with Ron LeBlanc and he asked me if the glass was half full or half empty. When a glass is half full, I simply reduce the size of the glass, and it becomes  full so you do not become disappointed if you have that approach to life.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

A few years ago I decided to go and live in the North, and I actually bought a business in the Algonquin Park area. For all intents and purposes I made up my mind to live up there permanently, and one of the hardest decisions I had to make was when I realized that it was impossible, and that I would have to come back to the city [Toronto] to fulfill the obligations that I had, my art and my career, and so that was difficult.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Being born, being orphaned at nine months, and going through non-Native American foster homes as a child. These people were taking in orphaned children as a business and not for compassionate reasons. Going through that experience as a child, I realized that I was a commodity and not a person, and that I represented an income. These things defined my personality, character and how I approach life. Another event is when I chose to celebrate my culture and also get involved on social and political levels to establish a more equitable life for First Nations people.

What nuggets of wisdom have you gleaned from Duke’s interview? How might you apply his responses to your situation.

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.