Letter from the editor
Focus Hard on Your Community
How do you define your community?
In general when I think of community, I think
of my neighbors and the city I live in. However,
the community I am referring to is your business
world. The people you know that might be
potential collaborators or really good business
besties. You might not know them in person, but
they are your go-tos when you have a question or
need advice. You are also their go-tos when they
need a serious expert to chime in.
This is the community you really need to nurture.
Focus hard on giving them real value and
developing real relationships. They will become
your biggest assets and allies. There is really no
need to ever get wrapped up in the competition.
An amazing business women I met recently, told
me that she didn’t set out to get the whole pie. She
only needed one little sliver of it. There was plenty
of pie for the rest of us. This amazing business
women is the owner of multi-million dollar
company and has a brand that is known world
wide.
I absolutely love and cherish her words of advice. I can still see the expression on her face. I can still feel
the passion of her words as she explained this to me.
We are all in this together. No one is your competition. Instead, view that person as a potential
collaboration. This is even greater for those of you who are rocking the solopreneurship. You need a
community of trusted individuals that can assist you along the way. It takes a village to raise a child and
it takes and even bigger village to birth a successful business.
I also firmly believe that a community is much more than a virtual world. Typed out emails back and
forth can sometimes lack the necessary connections we are longing for. Find some people to join your
community that are close to home.
I was recently invited to a party for a friend who is leaving for an extended period of time to travel
through Europe. I ate food and drank wine in a small hotel conference room. There was nothing over the
top fancy or frilly about it. It was just genuine and real. It really hit home the need for even the tiniest of
concrete and true interactions. You need real and loving people in your life. Love that community just as
hard.
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