We asked two San Franciscan entrepreneurs, Lisa Sugar, the founder of PopSugar, and Kara Goldin, the founder of Hint Water, to share their top career advice. Here is what they have to say.
Lisa Sugar discusses how she started PopSugar in her book Power Your Happy.
Start small. “It’s really important to figure out how to carve out a little bit of your time each day to do what it is that’s making you happier. If you are somebody who likes to cook and you have this day job that’s taking up all of your time, how do you at least allow yourself to make that fun breakfast that’s going to make you happy for the rest of the day?”
Find your support system. “The all-star team can be anyone from your mom or your sister to your best friend to people that you don’t know in real life. Beyoncé is on my all-star team. Just listening to her music can change my mind-set if I had a really crappy day.”
Work hard. Play nice. “People need to realize that the “overnight millionaire” thing doesn’t happen that often, so you really need to bust your ass and, at the same time, not be an ass.”
Photo Credit: Drew Altizer Photography
After starting Hint, Kara launched TheKaraNetwork.com, where she shares video interviews with entrepreneurs and her tips for being a successful CEO. Below is a distillation of her expert advice.
Always trust yourself. “If you’ve got an idea that you really want to go do and you believe that you’re smart, then you’ve got to trust yourself.”
Believe in yourself. “You’ve got to believe that you’ve worked really hard to get to whatever point you are and that you’ve done your best. Believing in yourself is sort of the first barrier to overcome.”
Experience isn’t everything. “Just because somebody has worked at a big soda company for 20 years doesn’t mean they necessarily know how to create or do things differently, not only from a brand perspective, but also from a distribution perspective. The most important thing for me is to bring in people who can think differently about things.”
