120: Trusting Your Gut & Taking The Entrepreneurial Leap

Trusting Your Gut & Taking The Entrepreneurial Leap

Welcome to Innovation City—powered by Venture Cafe—where Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson, Co-Founders of SLAM! Agency, interview innovators, creators, and disruptors to discover how business is changing in the modern world.

Created and produced by SLAM! Agency in cooperation with Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami, Innovation City gives you an inside look at how rapidly business and culture are changing thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community. Venture Cafe is the largest combined gathering of entrepreneurs and innovators anywhere in the world. Events are held every Thursday in St. Louis, Miami, and other leading innovation cities around the globe.

Today’s episode is the last of 3 special shows where we are taking a look back at some of the most prominent themes from our 2019 guest interviews and highlighting them in 3 different episodes. In this episode, we are talking about facing your fears and taking the steps forward to face them head on and accomplish your goals. Today’s featured guests include:

• Adam Hoffman, CEO of Qstodian
• Junior Lara, Host of Auténtico Podcast
• Lisa Hu, Founder & CEO of Lux and Nyx
• Alejandro Cornejo, Leadership Development Trainer at Emerson

Some key points from Adam at Qstodian:

• The importance of listening to the marketplace
• Taking learning curves as they come
• Any failed venture is a learning moment
• People who are dedicated, hard working, & willing to solve problems are the most attractive when looking to hire
• Working through the hard times to come out stronger and more successful
• Listen or watch Adam’s full episode here

Some key points from Junior at Auténtico Podcast:

• Be very intentional about everything you do
• Using the podcast to help latino entrepreneurs scale their businesses
• His podcast about failing forward and making the most of your mistakes
• Wanting to bring value to the latino listeners and showing the impact his guests have
• Pushing through negativity to continue focusing on your goals
• Listen or watch Junior’s full episode here

Some key points from Lisa at Lux and Nyx:

• Documenting her first year startup journey
• Her on-the-go lifestyle led her to create a bag that could keep up with her
• Her biggest challenge in leaving the corporate world was the fear of the unknown
• Her internal struggle to explore her passion or to stay on her steady corporate path
• The importance of creating a business plan
• Understanding that the true cost of a startup is about 2-3X more what you might plan it to cost
• The demands of being a full time entrepreneur
• The importance of networking and marketing when you’re selling a new product
• Finding a balance of getting the word out but not being annoying about it
• Give your passions all that you can
• Be prepared for both positive and negative feedback
• You will know when it’s time to go after your passion when you can’t stop thinking about it
• Listen or watch Lisa’s full episode here

Some key points from Alejandro at Emerson:

• The importance of goal setting
• Anticipating roadblocks and staying motivated
• Alejandro says to “do something that moves you”
• Getting excited about what you do everyday
• Every person you meet is an opportunity for mentorship and learning
• Looking at the world with less of a judgemental eye and more of an observational one
• Learn how to handle feedback from anyone
• Development happens first with awareness and then practice
• Keeping a gratitude journal and writing what you’re grateful for everyday or every week
• Finding someone who you can be vulnerable with and confide in when you need it
• The importance of exposing yourself to other communities
• Understanding how you think/work best and leverage that to be the most productive
• Listen or watch Alejandro’s full episode here