Every aspect takes a village of people. There is nothing I do on my own, ever.
For both business life and personal life, I have mentors and advisors I reach out to for guidance and advice and I also serve as an advisor for others.
When I was pregnant it was all the research on the stroller, the bottles, the bedding that I’d look to those who had been there before me to weigh in on. In turn, I’d give that advice to the next person who asked. Then there was the preschool research, the elementary school research, onward to college.
The same is true for work as well.
While I’m not a big fan of unsolicited advice, I am a HUGE fan of advice I ask for. And my advisors are plenty:
- My cousin, who inspired me to launch this business 17 years ago
- My dad who was an entrepreneur long before I knew that word
- My friend Mara, who is a wizard of words no matter if I need her help on a personal email or a response to a client with a challenging question
- My team who I rely on literally daily to give me advice about a project, a tactic an idea
- All the places I network:
Each of these organizations offer not just events and networking, but true advisory boards I have created for people I call and say, “Can we have coffee?” “Can I ask you something?” “What do you think of this?”
Likewise, when asked, I’m happy to give advice or guidance to all my colleagues and friends in these groups, I’m happy to oblige.
If you don’t yet have a mentor or a group of advisors, it’s time you get one. No one knows what they are doing all on their own. Without seeking out or accepting advice from those who have been there before, you’re setting yourself up to reinvent the wheel, wasting time, effort, energy and likely money getting to the result you could have reached by asking a few questions.
And one more thought here – don’t be afraid of your competitors. Don’t shy away from asking someone who’s already doing what you do… more than likely they are happy to help out with some valuable guidance they learned along the way.
by 
