Building a successful business requires more than just hard work and determination – it requires guidance from those who have walked the path before. Rita Kim, an emerging business leader, understands that surrounding yourself with the right mentors can make all the difference between stagnation and growth. Through her own entrepreneurial journey, she has discovered that investing in mentorship and maintaining strong business relationships are crucial elements for sustainable success.
Building the Right Support System
For Rita, having supportive friends isn’t enough when it comes to business growth. “I cannot stress enough how important it is to be surrounded by the right community, the people that will support you and want to see you become successful,” she explains. “As much as I love my friends, we don’t have the same vision. We don’t speak the same language. We can hang out and be each other’s mental emotional support, but when it comes to business, I think it’s very important for us to have the right guidance.” Money matters make this guidance especially crucial. “Unfortunately, money is the one thing that causes people to have emotional fluctuation a lot of the time,” Rita notes. “You get stressed so easily or you get happy so easily, so it is something that you need to have the right guidance for.”
Rita believes in the contagious nature of success and positive energy. “I would pay everything, honestly, because I like the experience. It’s not just about them telling me ABC and I write down ABC,” she shares. “Energy and passion are very contagious. If you’re around people who always say ‘yes, can do that’ or ‘yes, let’s do this next year,’ you kind of get caught up in it.” She contrasts this with the impact of negativity: “If you’re around people that say ‘too scary, what about next year? What if the economy is going down?’ A lot of nay-sayers say negative things, and it kind of makes you lose that fire.”
Taking Action on Advice
What sets successful mentorship apart is the implementation of guidance received. “The one thing you want them to do is to go out and implement it,” Rita emphasizes. “I always keep in mind that I’m not just here to absorb this and then leave it at that. I need to go out there because the next time I meet them, I’ll be like, ‘Hey, I did this.'” This accountability drives her forward: “That passion, that motivation, or even that mental push. I want to prove to them that I can do this.”
Exposure to successful business leaders has helped Rita develop her own problem-solving abilities. “Even if I talk to them and they give me a strategy or tell me what they do, I may not use the same strategy, but for some reason when challenges come up in my situation, I get creative,” she explains. “Because I have been exposed to this group of people who know so much, who have gone through all these challenges, I feel like my brain sort of evolves and steps up as well.”
The Importance of Celebrating Small Wins
Rita’s mentors have taught her the value of acknowledging progress. “You just got to keep pushing in the efforts and celebrate every little win of the day,” she shares. One of her business coaches introduced her to a three-tier reward system, ranging from free activities to more substantial rewards over $200. “If we don’t label it as a reward, it becomes a job we have to do,” Rita explains. “But if you say I’ve done this meeting and this is my reward, I can go to the beach and put my feet in the sand and enjoy the wave. Then your brain goes ‘ding, dopamine hits,’ and it will sort of push you to do more.”
Rita lives by the principle of “massive and immediate action” (MAIA), taught by her business coach Aaron Sansoni. “That is something I am living by at the moment,” she says. “If somebody gives me an idea or by watching TV or going on a trip, I came up with an idea – MAIA, massive and immediate action.” This mindset has become a defining characteristic of her approach to business. “That’s actually what sets me apart from my circle as well,” she reflects. “Without massive and immediate action, then it’s really fruitless. It’s really a waste of time.”
Through her ongoing commitment to mentorship and self-improvement, Rita continues to expand her business acumen while maintaining focus on implementation and growth. Her experience shows that success often comes not just from what you know, but from who you learn from and how quickly you act on that knowledge. To follow Rita Kim’s entrepreneurial journey and insights on business mentorship, connect with her on her website.
