 Hello and welcome. My name is Karen Enstrom and I am the Director for the Global Entrepreneurship Program in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs here at the U.S. Department of State. And today, I'll be your moderator for this second program in our Diversity in Business series, Tools for Success. A few weeks ago, the U.S. government and the Republic of India co-hosted the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, India, from November 28th to the 30th. The summit brought together some of the world's most dynamic entrepreneurs, investors, and entrepreneurial ecosystem builders. The theme was, women first, prosperity for all. And the agenda was filled with masterclasses and breakout sessions on a wide range of topics from proud funding and access to finance to networking and scaling your business. I was lucky enough to attend the summit, as were my fellow panelists joining me today. For those who were not able to attend, we wanted to bring the Global Entrepreneurs Summit to you today and talk about some of the topics and takeaways from the summit. Sitting next to me is Rahama Wright, founder and CEO of Shea Yelene Health and Beauty, a social impact company she created after serving in the Peace Corps in Mali. Rahama was a featured speaker at this year's summit, as well as last year's, and is ready to share her insights and tips with all of you today. Also joining us virtually is Susan Shadokowicz, president and CEO of Nathan Associates, a private international consulting firm. Susan was also a featured speaker at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit this year and brings a wealth of experience to this discussion. Additionally, we have other entrepreneurs with us today, and you'll find them in the Facebook comments section. Look there for Curvan Lethem, founder and CEO of AeroPro, an online platform that encourages the development and affordable housing by connecting developers with a network of credible lenders and financing programs. Curvan has over 10 years of experience in commercial banking and real estate development. He also participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit last month. Letisha Gaska is also online. She is the executive director of the Failure Institute, the first think tank devoted to studying business failure and the reasons behind such failures. And last but not least, we have Kadabari Shatish, who will be online. She is the founder of the Women Entrepreneurship Development Organization, which supports women's financial empowerment. Curvan, Letisha and Kadabari represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise and will be adding their thoughts to the conversation and helping to answer your questions throughout the program. Others participating in this chat include a group assembled at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, India. We will introduce them shortly and are happy to have their voices in this conversation as well. Lastly, we want to recognize all of our viewers and viewing groups around the world that are gathering to watch. We want to hear your voices too. We will be answering your questions throughout the program, so please write them in the comments for this video and we will try to answer as many of them as possible. So I'd like to start the conversation by reporting the responses to a poll we shared on social media over the past couple weeks. We asked people what topic they wanted this panel to talk about today. How to grow your business received the highest response. We want to cover several topics today, but we will give priority to our most in-demand topic and start off the conversation with that. So, Rahama, perhaps I can turn to you first. What were your biggest takeaways from the summit about this topic? And perhaps you can share some of your own tips and advice on how entrepreneurs can grow their business. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much, Karen. First of all, let me congratulate you, the U.S. government and the Indian government, for hosting a fantastic summit. I thought it was an amazing opportunity for entrepreneurs to come together, meet each other, and it was a great platform to talk about conversations around scaling your business, conversations around how to grow your business. So in terms of the tips I have for this specific, very interesting question, I would say it falls into three buckets. So what's your product and service? What's the process that you get your product and service to your customer? And then who are the people who are helping you? Who are the people who aren't on your team? Who are your advisors? Who are your investors? And so people, process, product, or service. And I think that in order for any business to be successful in scaling and growing, the entrepreneur, the business owner, really needs to look at these three areas and identify the issues, the challenges they have in each area, and then figure out the appropriate solutions. And so for me, for example, with my company, with Shailene, we create a body care product that we bring to the U.S. market. So our product is natural organic products are in terms of our process, we ethically source to bring those products to market. And then the people around us, we have investors who help us in terms of funding our idea. And then the people who buy our products, we work with Whole Foods Markets and other retail chains. So to really figuring out and identifying, you know, what is your process to bring your product or service to market? Who are the people around you? And are you serving a specific need? And Susan, if I can turn to you, do you have thoughts to share? Hi, Karen. Thanks for including me and letting me be part of continuing the GES discussion going forward. I think that there was so much time and effort committed to this topic at GES. And we've heard some of the issues now in terms of people process and technology. But I think there are also a few other key elements that should be considered. First, it's so important to have a vision, a plan and targets. It's really critical that you're continuously tracking those and honestly assessing how you're doing against those. And that third, you need to focus on both the hard and the soft topics. Those must be viewed in alignment. They have to stay in alignment for maximum benefit. I'd also add that flexibility is key. You need to ensure that your product, your offering continues to meet the demand of the market and that you're adjusting on a continuous basis as needed. The last thing I'll say is it's also important to know when not to grow your business, to understand if you should take a breath and focus on internal delivery or operational or other issues. You can't always be in growth mode. Smart strategic growth is what we're trying to go after. Thanks. Excellent. Thanks, Susan. Thanks, Rahama. While we were at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit last month, we asked a few of the attendees there what entrepreneurship means to them in three words. And here's what they had to say. In three words, entrepreneurship to me is purposeful, impactful, and creative. Okay, collaborative, strong, and brave. In three words, okay, strong, focused, and with a lot of integrity. Fearless, passionate, and eager. In three words, brave, risky, and joyful people. Great answers. In fact, you might have recognized Rahama in the first part of that video. For all our Facebook viewers, let us know what entrepreneurship means to you in three words in the comments section. And now let's go to our viewing group at the U.S. Consulate, Chennai, India for a question. Welcome, Chennai. Do you have a question for Rahama or Susan? Yes. So U.S. Consulate Chennai hosted a GES event at IIT Madras on November 28th to amplify the summit in Hyderabad. What we learned is women entrepreneurs are interested in learning how to pitch their products and services. Do you have any top tips for this? Thanks for the question, Chennai. I believe the question was, women entrepreneurs are interested in any sort of tips for women entrepreneurs and focus on that. Perhaps if I can turn to Rahama first. Yeah. So I've been through the shark tank, pitching my products, pitching my idea. And I would say one very important tip is know your audience that you're pitching to. Know who's going to be in the room. Do some background research on those individuals so that you can really create a targeted pitch. The other thing is understand your numbers. Oftentimes, whether you're pitching to a buyer or pitching to an investor, pitching to a partner, you really want to be able to understand the financial model that you're working with and understand how that model will be successful financially. And the other thing is have fun with your pitch. You know, smile, maybe, you know, practice, practice, practice. I always practice in the mirror and try to make it fun. You know, sometimes we get so nervous when it comes to pitching that we forget when you go into that room and you pitch your product or your service, you really are trying to connect with that person or with the individuals who'll be listening to your pitch. Excellent. And now if we can go to a few questions from our online audience, we have Esmar from Nigeria asks, how does one combine public and community service with entrepreneurship? Susan, can I turn to you perhaps to answer that question? Absolutely, Karen. I think the bottom, it's a great question, first of all, because we're always trying to balance the corporate social responsibility with the commitment to our own stakeholders and shareholders. I think there are several ways to do it. In some cases, you can build that idea of community service and support into the company right from the beginning and have it become a foundation of how the company operates. That could be in terms of volunteering, giving back, sponsoring scholarships. In other cases, some entrepreneurs have certain targets for themselves that they want to meet and accomplish first. I think the most important point in all of this is to find the model that works best for you and for your company, recognizing that it will change over time. Excellent. And our American Center in Moscow asks, could you please talk about the importance of time management in business? I think you've already touched on that slightly, but maybe you could elaborate, right, Hama? Yeah, in terms of time management, it's really important. And for me, I live by my calendar. I always schedule everything and ensure that it goes on my calendar because if it doesn't go on my calendar, it won't happen because I'm juggling so much and balancing so much that I will likely forget. So I think that one fantastic way of time management is put it on a calendar and set reminders for yourself and also have really appropriate deadlines for any project or tasks that you're working on. And I think everyone on my team were all on the calendar. Yeah. Good approach. And we also have a question. What are some strategies for finding potential investors? Susan, can I throw that one your way? Yeah, I mean, this is such a big topic. And one that was really addressed at length and in depth at GES. I think first, you have to do your homework. There's no way around the fact that there's a huge amount of opportunities out there, an equal amount of competition. So do your homework, understand what the range of options are in terms of investment, understand the profile of the different investors, which of those potential investors is most likely to provide funds for your business type for your market for your geography. Then I also can't highlight enough the importance of networking and mentoring. Again, another major topic of GES. Find people surround yourself with people, get honest feedback from people who really have the knowledge and experience that you're seeking and ask very specific questions for concrete benefits when you engage with them. Can I follow up on that question? What are some of the specific questions that you might ask a potential mentor? Susan? Specifically in terms of investing, or in general, I think the very important starting point is to make sure that the potential mentor understands what your goals are. So it's important to articulate what your goals are, what you're looking for as part of the relationship. And then first and foremost, ask if the mentor thinks he or she can provide support. The other areas I think that you can focus on with the mentor are either in terms of operations or in terms of business development and growth. Or the third bucket would be the financial corporate structure. In each of those, I think it's very important to identify several key areas for focus. And I think the best approach would be to have a combination of short, medium and long term topics and issues and goals that you can discuss with your mentor. Excellent. Karen, can I add really quickly? Please. I also think that it's important for entrepreneurs to know the different types of funding opportunities which Susan kind of alluded to. You know, what's an angel investor? What's a private equity firm? What's their venture capitalist firm? Are there other models of getting access to funding outside of equity? You know, and is crowd funding more appropriate for you at your current business size and in terms of your growth? And the last thing is that people give money to people. You cannot underestimate the power of cultivating and creating the right relationships to get to the funding that you need. And so I would really encourage entrepreneurs before you go for a funding round, actually create like an advisory group of individuals who will help you with that process. You know, you really need to have have in place advice around the accounting advice around the legal ramifications. And so create an advisory board specifically to help you with fundraising, because you're not going to know all the different things. And it's one of those things where you want to make sure you have the right people around you who can guide that process and you know, don't do it alone. Well, as a follow on to that, so why is networking important? Networking is important because it one allows you to connect with people. It allows you to put yourself in an environment where you can learn from others. And it gives you access to individuals who could potentially join your mission, join your business or vice versa. I think it's really important when it comes to networking. People shouldn't only look at how what can I get out of this, but also what can I give? And I think that again, anything when you're trying to be successful at business, it all goes back to people. So putting yourself in environments, particularly like the Global Entrepreneurship Summit is a huge platform for networking. Putting yourself in a room with individuals you might never meet because, you know, they live in India or they, you know, live in Brazil. But there could be some collaborations you can have with those individuals. So networking is really important because it gives you access to the people who can help you get to the goal that you're trying to achieve or that you can help other people get to the goal that they're trying to achieve. Excellent. One of the other questions that we've received is how can I make my business more attractive to potential investors, including those based in other countries? Can I turn to Susan, but maybe, Rahama, if you have anything to add, Susan, first? Yeah, absolutely. I think first and foremost, right, as I think we've all been alluding to, you need to make sure that what you're trying to sell overseas translates, right? It's even more important on an international stage to understand what's working over there. What are the key trends? What are the legal and regulatory activities? Do those facilitate or constrain what you're trying to do? So that's one part of it is, again, more than ever do your research. But here is where the mentoring and the networking, I think, are so important because you have to understand the competitive environment. You have to understand, you know, what else is happening around you. And the last thing that I would add in that is know your own strengths and limitations. If you're not used to dealing with international business, get help early on. The key is to ask questions and get the right answers before you make the mistake, right? So ask early questions, make sure you get the right answers, and then come up with a very thoughtful plan on how you translate and export what you want to do. Rahama, anything to add? The only thing I would add is, you know, it's not about you. It's about the need that you're filling with your business idea. So any successful business is providing a solution, whether it's a product or a service. And so really at the core of your business model is who's your customer. So if you're trying to answer this question, how do I make my product or my service more attractive, whether it's to investors or to your customers, the question becomes, what are you trying to solve? And so really start there and really zone in and identify what problem issue you're solving. And from there you can figure out how to make it attractive and how to connect it to that customer. And I think that that's so important. People want to scale and grow businesses, but oftentimes they're not looking at it from the lens of their customer. What are you providing to them? No, exactly. Good point. This question I'm going to turn to you, Rahama. What's the biggest mistake to avoid when working with a mentor or when networking? When working with a mentor, I think that at least from the experiences I've had mentoring others is not having a clear sense of what your ask is. And I think that this is when you've already established, of course, a mentor or mentee relationship. And I think sometimes the mentee can put the mentor in a position of solve all my problems for me. And oftentimes the most successful mentor-mentee relationships I've had are ones where the mentee has done the work, done the initial work of researching, of understanding some of the issues and challenges that they're dealing with, and they come with a specific ask in terms of like, I've tried this, it hasn't worked, can you help me with this? And I think that takes off the pressure of the mentor having to figure out all the issues, solutions, and it actually creates focus within the relationship so that the mentee is actually progressing forward, but also being an active part of figuring out the solutions and the answers to the issues that they're dealing with. I mean, some people come to me and are like, oh, I want to create a skincare business. How do I do it? And it's like, well, there are so many different issues and challenges. What have you tried and what's not working and how can I help you with that? Right. It helps you give that added value. Exactly. Makes it more important. Yes. We have another question. Rosa Parks Library in Sowetta asks, how do you upscale from a small business to a big business? Susan, can I ask you for your thoughts? Yeah, absolutely. The first thing is very carefully. Because that is definitely a tipping point. And that's sadly where a lot of a lot of businesses fail. And a lot of times, I believe they fail because they really aren't answering. They're not asking themselves the right question. They're not answering the questions honestly. And they're not really looking at the issue from a full perspective. So I think that the key to remember is not only is what you're scaling, what you're selling scalable, right? But can you maintain the quality if you scale? Can you maintain the rigor of your back office processes? So I think the bottom line here is if you're going to scale, you need a very specific plan where you think out what is the jump that you're going to have to make from one side to the other? And how do you plan for that? And the last point I'd say is that I think people underestimate the amount of time that it's going to take to make that leap because the back office activities, not only the accounting and the invoicing, but just the technology, the communications are critically very important. And last but not least, you have to say to yourself, are you and your team the right people to go from a small business to a larger one? Or do you need to bring in more help? Is specifically that for the advisors, the mentors to make sure you make the move smoothly? Excellent. Again, great questions, great answers. And now what we'd like to do is maybe flip things around a bit and ask our audience a question. The theme of this Facebook live series is diversity in business. So we want to know what does inclusion and diversity in business mean to you? Let us know by writing your thoughts in the comments section and we'll read out a few of your answers later in the program. And while we're waiting for your answers to come in, I want to ask Brahama to talk briefly about how she has made her business a success and also how she's made it more inclusive and a diverse business and the benefits of actually taking that approach. No, no, absolutely. So I started Shailene after serving in the Peace Corps and during my time in the Peace Corps, I started learning about this product called Shea Butter. And so the foundation of my business model is looking at how to help women in small rural villages in northern Ghana bring high quality Shea products to the US market. And we start by taking these seeds, helping women transform these seeds into a product and go through the entire supply and value chain where we're helping these women benefit from the upside of the market. And so the entire model is looking at including women in the supply chain in a way where they're able to generate living wages, take better care of themselves and their families. And so creating an inclusive business model is not only important to a company like Shailene, but it's important to all companies. Every business model should look at how are you including everyone? Because when you have diversity in your model, it actually allows you to be more stable. It allows you to make greater impact, and it just allows you to create better products. And so I really encourage businesses to leverage a few of the resources that I've leveraged, which include being certified as a women and minority owned business. And so there are certification programs that are here in the US, but there are also international certification programs as well. That's a really great way to start so that you can access larger companies. So for example, on my panel, Walmart, there is a representative from Walmart on my panel. So they're looking at ways of diversifying their supply chain and by working with certified businesses, it gives them that credibility that they're investing in ways in their supply chain that supporting diversity and inclusion. The other thing is you have to understand the quality standards, international quality standards for your product or your service and ensure that you're creating something that will actually fit in a model that can grow. And then the last thing that I would say is seek out partnerships because you can't do it alone. And so I've been really successful because, yes, I want to work with women in rural villages, but how am I doing that? I live in the United States. And so I have to have partnerships. And those partnerships include working with cooperative groups and working with a team in Ghana to help me achieve that mission. And so again, to create these supply chains and ways that are adding greater value for everyone, you really need to look at how you're developing a model that allows you to leverage working with large companies, creating those effective partnerships and really understanding the quality controls that you need to be able to to scale and grow. Excellent. And I assume those were the messages that you delivered during your presentation at the summit. Yes. No, excellent. For those of you just joining us, I'm here with globally recognized entrepreneurs, Rahama Wright and Susan Shadakowicz, who are online today to answer your questions about access to finance, networking, mentorship, scaling your business and much more. Let's now go back to our viewing group in India, Chennai. Do you have another question for Rahama or Susan Chennai? We wanted to circle back to the discussion on mentorship. And the question is, how can one identify a mentor and then develop an effective mentor-mentee relationship? So if I understand the question was about mentorship and how do you identify a mentor and establish an effective mentor-mentee relationship? Rahama, can I turn to you first? Sure, absolutely. In terms of identifying the right mentor for your idea, for your business, for whatever you're trying to do, I think networking obviously is one area of doing that. Another way is if you've already gone through college and graduated university, look at the alumni network that you belong to. There might be low-hanging fruit in terms of finding linkages in common with someone who would want to mentor you or someone who's already done what you're trying to do. And because you have that connection, because you belong to the same alumni network, it's an easy ask. The other thing is what are some of the associations you belong to? You know, there are women's groups, there are organizations for, you know, there are even associations for some of the products and services that are out there. So maybe that's another area where you can find someone who can mentor you. And then, of course, there's this resource called LinkedIn. And if you're utilizing LinkedIn, that's another area where you can potentially find someone to mentor you. But I think the most effective strategy I've used is leveraging warm introductions from people that I already know in my circle. Because oftentimes mentors can be very busy. And it can be hard to grab their attention, especially if they're at a level where they've become wildly successful. And so sometimes if you already have a connection to that person and you get a warm introduction, that might be the easiest way to actually create to start the initial relationship. And I would also say in order to have a successful relationship with a mentor, it takes time. And sometimes, you know, because we need so much and we're trying to grow and we want to be successful quickly, we overlook the step of you have to cultivate the relationship and sometimes not having an ask right away is the best way to cultivate a relationship. And so in the successful relationships where I've been mentored, I've often started with actually volunteering on a project with a potential mentor. And from there, the relationship has grown into a mentor-mentee relationship. Excellent. And if I can, I'd like to go back to our online viewers for some more questions now. Let's see. We have Afeesha Beckles from Sportive, sorry, Port of Spain asks, do you have any advice for breaking into a saturated market? Susan, can I ask you to take this one? Yeah, sure. I think the first question would be why? Right? Why are you breaking into a saturated market? And the answer to that question will lead to perhaps, what are the hooks that you're going to use to achieve it? Is it because you have a different solution? Is it because the current providers aren't really giving a new demographic what they're looking for? So figure out exactly why you want to enter that market. Once you figure that out, then you can take a few very specific steps, right? Do some test marketing as to validate what your hypothesis was before you invest a huge amount of time or resources. Think about was your assumption right? The second is network, make sure that as you're getting feedback from your testing that you're running that by people in the field, stakeholders, academics, others who have a full perspective of that market and what the trend is going to be. And I think that's the last part is think about is the saturated market a point in time or a long term likelihood? And then you can adjust how much time and effort you invest as well. Excellent. We have another question from Rosa Parks Library in Soweto. Could you please share three business lessons you learn during the first 100 days of launching your business? And Raham, I'm going to send this one to you your way. So I think the first 100 days is too short of a timeline because a lot of things about business, everything takes time. So 100 days is just even though it's an excellent question, it's just not enough time, you know, that's three months about three months. But I will say in the first three years of creating Shailene, some of the lessons that I've learned is you will be rejected a lot. And you really have to develop a very thick, thick skin to being rejected. And I think people don't know the volume of rejections that they'll face when they're starting something new or starting something different. And so you have to become you have to become comfortable with that. The other thing is the financial model piece. It's so important to a business model. And I honestly did not have a financial model my first three years because I was focused on like, this is a great idea everyone should be buying Shea butter from women in Africa. And then I didn't know how much it was going to cost. I didn't know how much profit I was going to make. There were so many different questions that I really hadn't thought through. And if I had, it would have actually propelled me for success a lot earlier in my journey. And so really understanding what your financial model is is important before you even put up a website. I think people gravitate towards the marketing side. You know, what's my packaging going to look like? What's my logo going to look like? What's you know, what are those things going to look like? I would say don't start there. Instead start with what's my financial model? How am I actually going to make money in this business? That's important. And then of course, lastly, and we've talked about this to no end, the people. Who are the people who will be on your team? Who are going to support this? And when I say team, when you initially start, you're not going to have the money to pay people to work for you, right? And so who are going to be your advisors? Who are going to be the people who can help guide you through that process? I mean, we've talked about mentors, etc. But I really, I outside of mentors, I strongly encourage having like a group of advisors like an advisory council to help you when you're first starting out your business. Oh, actually, this is sort of a follow on question to that. A dish survey asks, how can you make your staff more efficient? You've talked about an advisory, advisory council, but what about your own staff? Staff management has actually been one of my biggest challenges, because I'm not a micro manager. And I tend to be like, Okay, here's the big vision. Let's just make it happen. And so that's why earlier I talked about process. It's so important to have a process within your company that creates the culture that allows people to be empowered in your business to want to excel and to want to do well. And I think one of the things I've learned over, you know, managing people over the last five years is that it's really important to have a process in place that allows people to communicate well. And this is where the time management, the calendars, the deadlines, but also communicating what their needs are, communicating what projects that they're excited about, communicating that things they're not so excited about. And one of the things I try to do with my team is really figuring out, I have been fortunate enough to start a business that I get so excited about every day to come to, what do they get excited about? Because if it's not with my company, I really want them to find that for themselves. And so I think some of the things that we've done is, you know, personality quizzes, like different different things that engage them more on the personal level. So because if you're working eight hours at an office, you also want to make sure that people have that creativity and that freedom to allow their personalities to grow. And then, of course, making sure that people know what the target is. You know, what is the goal we're trying to achieve? And how every day are we working towards achieving that? In small chunks so that people understand that they're moving towards success. And then gratitude, making sure that people feel like they're being appreciated for their work. And then, of course, compensating them in a way that makes them feel good as well when you can. And then when you're earlier in your business, some of the ways of compensating really high-performing individuals is to give them shares within your company. Excellent. Susan, if I can turn to you, this is sort of also related to what Rahama was talking about. But our American Coroner and Menguang asked, how do you stay motivated if my business model does not succeed as expected? That's a great question. And I think a lot of what Rahama has talked about in some of her other answers plays into this, right? I think, first of all, whether it's the first hundred days or three years of your business, things are not going to go according to plan, no matter how well you plan, right? So I think people's expectations, yourself, your teams, your stakeholders have to recognize that you are ready for these setbacks. You are ready for changes in the timeline and that in fact, you are going to use that productively. And what I have found is that when things are going well, it's easy. It's during these difficult, challenging times that you can really define the culture of the organization. You can define what your brand is as a leader. And you could use the time to point fingers or you could turn, use the time to assess what's not working. How do you recalibrate? What else do you need to do to make it successful? Those are the times when you create bonds with staff and with team members that make all the difference in the world. So it's very important to recognize this is a marathon. It's not a sprint. And as a result, you've got to take those times when you slow down and get back on the track. And I think another point you made earlier is flexibility. Very important as you're looking at all these issues. From the American Cultural Center in Algeria, they would like to ask, we'd like to know if the panelists think that everyone has the potential to become an entrepreneur. Susan? I think it depends on exactly how you define entrepreneur. You know, if you define it in very narrow terms, that's true, perhaps, but if you really look at the challenges and the rigor and the commitment and the passion and the knowledge that's necessary to become an effective entrepreneur, I'm not sure it is everyone. But that doesn't mean that not everyone can't play a role in an entrepreneurial and, you know, activity. So support the people who know how to launch a business. Be on a board. Volunteer for these organizations. I think the whole idea of that entrepreneurship is that you can't do it alone. And if you want to be part of something as exciting as an entrepreneurial activity, then find out where you fit and play that role and help the people that are really leading. Excellent. A question from our US consulate in Mumbai. And Rahama, this is right up your lane. How can you grow your personal brand and business using social media? Oh, that's a great question. In terms of personal brand and leveraging social media to grow it, one of the most important things is being authentic and being willing to share your story. And I think that that is something I've used not only for me, but also for for Shailene, telling the stories of the women that we work with. And I think that that's how people really connect in social media is to be real and honest. I share my entrepreneurship woes and some of the challenges I've had. And I find that normally when I post and I'm honest about the journey, that's where people connect. And they're like, oh, yeah, this happened to me as well. Or so I think it's really important to be authentic and be willing to share your story. And then it depends also on the platform that you're using. So Instagram, for example, is very visual. So you want to make sure that when you're posting on Instagram, you're using really high quality photos as a complement to the story telling that you're making. Excellent. And another question. Susan, I'll turn to you for this. How do you build a strong and diverse team? I think that Rahama had a few comments earlier, but perhaps if you can add some thoughts. What an important question. I would say that there are some very specific things that you can and should do. I think number one is to define diverse from all angles. It's not just diversity and gender or ethnic background. It's a diversification in thinking and experience and being able to move very specifically towards creating a leadership team, for example, where together you're so much stronger than you are individually. So look at what your needs are. Identify people who can fill those needs, but bring with them true diversity of thought. And then incentivize those people not just from a financial perspective, but from a creating a culture in which it's clear that people need to use their voice. It's OK to have disagreements. It's OK to work together to find a new and different solution that pulls together individuals' thinking. So it's not just bringing the right people around the table, but then creating an environment and a culture in which people can really challenge each other in, of course, a positive and professional and respectful way, but who can use the diversity to come up with the best possible approach, solution, and thinking. Thank you. We have a question from the Rosa Parks American Center in Corner, sorry, in Burundi. What are the biggest mistakes while running a company that you advise startups to avoid? Rahama? I think one of the biggest mistakes is not paying attention. I think sometimes we get so focused on the big vision that we forget there are so many different steps to achieving that vision. And we might not be paying attention to what's happening, paying attention to what's happening in the marketplace, paying attention to what's happening on your team, paying attention to what's happening with other stakeholders and partners that you are working with. And that's where we run up against some pitfalls. And some of the things that I started doing because I wouldn't pay attention because sometimes there's just so much work. There's not enough time and you're kind of just go, go, go. I've made it a priority to take time to review, to take time to look at the strategy that we poured over and developed over X amount of hours. Well, how are we meeting our goals against this strategy? And sometimes people do it on a quarterly basis, a biannual basis. I'm taking time to look at it on a monthly basis. And so it's really paying attention, paying attention to what you set yourself to accomplish and ensuring that you are working towards that. We have another question from Rosa Parks Library in Soweto. The question is, how can you succeed in business without business training? Susan? Well, so I think there are certain areas where obviously you need business training. You individually don't necessarily have to have that. If you believe as certainly I do that the most effective firms are run by really well integrated leadership teams that compliment each other, you don't have to have the details of every particular area. You don't have to be the accountant. You don't have to be the IT specialist. You don't have to be the comms expert, but you need to make sure you have people on the team that can provide that. The other thing I'll say is be honest with yourself and understand what's common sense, what's good judgment versus what is specific enough where you need to get outside help. You don't want to look at legal or contractual issues or some financial issues if you don't know what you're looking at, if you're not asking the right questions. But again, team members, advisors, boards, networks, mentors, associations, there's so many assets and resources out there that can help you build the gap. Rahama is nodding, so I assume you agree? Yeah, I do agree. And I also think that there are a specific skill set. There are not the technical know-how that Susan has so rightly talked about. Some of the things that entrepreneurs and business owners need to deal with is how do you handle rejection? How do you handle things when they're not going your way? How do you handle failure or perceived failure? How do you deal with those things? And I think that if you have the ability, the fortitude, the persistence and the patience to kind of go through the ups and downs of what it means to be an entrepreneur and a business owner, anyone can be successful at it. But I think we often don't talk about kind of the emotional, some of the psychological impacts of being a business owner and how you have to develop some fortitude and resilience. And I think that in addition to some of the hard core technical skills of accounting, legal, all of those things, you also need to have a certain ability to be able to deal with those issues in order to be successful. Things won't work out the way you think they will. Sort of the tough skin that you talked about before. Exactly. Our US consulate, Mabayas, what is a good strategy to approach a sponsor if you want to enter an international market? Susan, can I start with you? Sure. I think, again, you wanna be able to start the conversation by showing that you've done some homework, right? You wanna be able to show that you've done the research, you've done the analysis, you've put in time. So it was, as Rahama said before, you're not saying, tell me what to do here, right? What you're trying to do is focus on a particular question, identify what your proposition is, where you believe you want to go, why you believe you wanna go there, what you've done, and then get very good feedback. Ask them to give you their review, but then ask them also to round out your perspective. What else am I not seeing that I need to know? Who else should I be speaking with? Have you seen other companies who have failed? Can you share some of those lessons learned with me? And again, it's recognizing that you can't fall in love with a business assumption. Sometimes what you wanna do is not going to make sense. And then the most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders know how to pivot and move in a different direction. Excellent, thank you. The American Center in Monrovia asks, what are the steps you take in starting a business without a lot of resources? Yeah, that was exactly how I started. In my early 20s, I always say I had no business starting a business because I wasn't formally educated, I didn't know anything about starting a business. And so the first step without a lot of resources, if you have access to the internet and have access to search engine tools, that's a resource that you can start with. And I actually built my business on Google, meaning any question I had, I would literally put the question into Google and start reading and researching. And then I would reach out to people. And so you have to imagine, I had to go through the entire process of learning how to work with chemists, learning how to work with ingredients suppliers, learning how to work with designers and packaging experts. And so all of that, I started learning by just doing online research. So I would say that's the first thing when you don't have a huge budget because I didn't have a huge budget. And I had just returned from volunteering and so I hadn't been working. And so that's where you start. The second way is, and we've touched upon this, is networking, putting yourself out there. And so I would talk to anyone who would give me any time of day about this idea I had and about my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer. And I go to a pretty socially active church here in the DC area. And church members just started calling me Shea Butter because that's the only thing I would talk about. And I think that's another resource. It's just share your idea with other people. And then from there you start getting introductions and from there you start getting access to resources. And then there are a host of free resources within your community, within your countries. I mean, the American Embassy is a great place to start. Thank you. Yeah, it really is. And start looking at free resources that you can take advantage of. I leverage resources with the Small Business Administration. They have a program called SCORE where they connect entrepreneurs, small business owners to retired executives. And so really there are actually a host of a lot of free resources that you can start with. And honestly for the international audience that's tuning in, start with the Embassy and start with some of the programs in your country that's really supporting entrepreneurship. I mean we just came from India where the government is really making some serious investments in entrepreneurship. Reach out to your local representatives and say, hey, I participated in this summit. I'm really interested or I've heard about this summit. What are some of the resources that you have for entrepreneurs in my country? And actually if I can also ask you, I think this is sort of related. Our American Corner Westoria Library asks, a strategy for developing a loyal customer base. What was your experience? So for me, and Susan talked about this too, which is you really have to understand who your customer is and what you're bringing to market. I actually consider myself being part of a very saturated market. Everyone has a shade product. What makes me different? And so really identifying two key areas of difference, points of differentiation and really zoning in on those key areas and making sure I'm adding value with my customer. And then customer service. You have to be able to deliver your product in a way that's providing excellent service. And so people can reach out to me. People remember. Yeah, people remember. People definitely remember. And this also touches upon the question about getting into an international market. Don't even consider an international market if you don't know who your customer is. Who is your customer? Is your customer the distributor? Is your customer the retailer? Is your customer direct to consumer? Answer that question first before you even try to approach a market. Excellent. Great questions, great answers. And now I want to read off a few of the responses to the question I asked earlier in the program. I asked you, our viewers, what does inclusion and diversity in business mean to you? The viewing group at US Embassy Monrovia in Liberia wrote a lot of words to describe entrepreneurship. Brave, trustworthy, innovative, purposeful, focused, successful, passionate, I like that. Promising, knowledgeable, determined, builder, self-marketing, and enduring. Well, that's a good one. In the short time we have left, Rahama and Susan, do you have anything to add to those responses? Susan, do you want to start? Sure, I think so many of them were captured in that. You know, I think fundamentally, right, an entrepreneur does have to be resilient. The entrepreneur has to be committed. The entrepreneur has to trust his or her instincts, right? But also the entrepreneur wants to have an impact. Whether that is on a community, a market, their family, right, an entrepreneur wants to leave a legacy, they want to create something, they want to do something. And I think that passion, that vision, and that ability to translate it into something sustainable and enduring, that's the profile, that's the sweet spot of an entrepreneur. And that's what I think makes entrepreneurs so exciting to deal with, so exciting to engage with. But it's also why, as Rahama said, you also have to be prepared for those down moments. But that's where the resiliency and the fortitude really come together. And Rahama? Yeah, I mean, I think everyone has said exactly what I would have said, and I really resonate with the passion piece. Because if you don't have passion for what you're doing during those hard times, it's very easy to give up. And so, you know, having passion around your business idea is the fuel of the energy that you're going to get to withstand those hard times. And I also think too that, you know, it's exciting to be an entrepreneur and have fun with it. You know, sometimes I think we get lost in kind of the challenges and the issues, which are very real, but have fun with it. To me, an entrepreneur is an artist. You know, you are creating something that people yet haven't seen it, but it's in your head, it's in your mind. And so, to go through that creation, just have fun with it. You know, it's, for me, this is the rest of my life. It's not a stopping point. Whether I continue with Shailene forever, I will always be an entrepreneur. I will always want to work with entrepreneurs. I will always want to help entrepreneurs. So just have fun with it. You'll always be passionate. Ha ha ha. Let's now go back to our viewing group in India, Chennai. Do you have one last question for Susan or Rahama? Chennai? I'd like to know, how do you optimize your human capital in the initial days of business? Rahama, I think you heard the question, how to optimize your human capital? Yeah, for me, it's kind of what I touched upon before, which is telling everyone about Shailene in terms of being open about the idea I had, the vision I have. And the more people you talk to, the closer you'll get to finding someone who can help you get to the next level in your business. Excellent. And Susan, anything to add? Yeah, I would just add that, you know, make, again, create that culture where your human capital, your people are part of the solution, right? And get, encourage them, empower them to take ownership. It's amazing what a team can accomplish if they do feel like they are supposed to lean forward and move out. And so that's the force multiplier, is great people in allowing them to do what they do best. Excellent. Chenai, thanks for that great question. It looks like we're almost out of time. Thank you to our panelists, Rahama Wright and Susan Shadakowitz, for coming to our studio to talk about their experience at that Global Entrepreneurship Summit and giving viewers a chance to ask questions. Thank you as well to our chat space experts, Curvan Letham, Letitia Gaska, and Kadambari Satish, who were on Facebook this whole time helping answer your viewer questions as well. And a special thanks to our viewing group, Chenai, for your participation, and a big thank you to all of our online viewers, including those watching with viewing groups around the world, at Embassy Monrovia, Liberia, American Corner, Asmara Atreya, American Center, Moscow, Russia, American Center West Storia in South Africa, American Center Mungwang in South Africa, Rosa Parks Library in Sawayta in South Africa, American Cultural Center Algiers, Algeria, and the US Consulate Mumbai, India. Thanks to you all. And to continue the conversation, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter at econ.state and at state.drl. And for more great resources, go to gistnetwork.org. This is the US Department of State's Global Innovation through Science and Technology Initiative, or GIST, which empowers young innovators through networking, skills building, mentoring, and access to financing to develop startup solutions that address economic and development challenges. And if you're looking for even more useful resources, you can also visit the GS2017.org site for the summit. Simply click on GS2017 Resources, the dropdown, and select Entrepreneurship Resources. And again, thanks for joining us and enjoy the rest of your day.