By Erin Daniels, The KNOW Women
Just as we fuel our bodies with food, it is just as important to fuel our minds with information for continued growth. Being self-motivated to continuously learn about our career and industry, our hobbies and passions, and the world around us, allows us to constantly develop and self-improve. Being a life-long learner results in developing new skill-sets, staying up-to-date with technology, and fostering innovation and creativity. In addition, furthering our education allows us to be better leaders, mentors, and entrepreneurs. When we learn for ourselves, we are able to help others at a greater capacity.
We asked our high-achieving KNOW women across North America about how they prioritize continuously learning, invest in future generations of female leaders, and choose career-changing mentors. Follow along on our four-part mini-series to see how these driven women are staying educated and using it to help the future women in business.
Who do you find to be the mentor you look to as your career grows? What is the best advice they have given you?
When choosing a mentor, I look for successful businesswomen with thriving, heart-centered businesses who also know how to balance a busy company with their abundant home life and self-care practices. They also need to be someone who has achieved profit and net income levels that I would like to achieve. The best advice I’ve received is to look at the bigger picture for your business so that you can map out how you’ll get there.
– Lindsay Sullivan, The Small Business Photographer
Many of my mentors do not even know they are mentoring me. I find ways to spend additional time with people who are living their personal, professional, or community life in a way that I admire, in order to learn from what they share. People are far more accessible than most folks think, just volunteer to help with with a project of shared interest or invite them to coffee or lunch to chat.
– Jen McDonald, Merchant Insurance Solutions
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The biggest mentor I’ve had in my business is one of my clients who has known me for a few years. Her advice to me has always been, “Relationships are the most important part of your business. Without those, you can’t grow.”
-Jennifer Lawrence, Jenerosity Partners
My mentor is an individual who is in a similar role as my but several years ahead of where I’m at. I look to her as an inspiration and she helps me to thing bigger and grow faster. The best advice she has given me is to identify my ideal client and only accept prospects who fit that mold.
– Alison Stine, Stine Wealth Management
I don’t have a specific mentor at the moment, but I always listen to my Dad. My Dad is great at making me feel like I can accomplish anything. I love how he is so proud of all I achieve. He was the first person I really watched and paid attention to as he grew his business and went out on an extremely scary limb when I was a senior in high school.
– Suzi Freeman, The Suicide Prevention Project
My mother. Her resilience, intelligence, confidence, and selflessness inspire me personally and professionally. The best advice she ever gave me was: “if you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
Katie Berkey, Esq., AICP, Becker & Poliakoff
