Meaning of Success - Interview with Milana
How do you define success in your own life?
Freedom to do what I choose, when and where I choose.
What was the turning point in your life that began your success? In other words, when did things begin working for you?
When I realized that the world puts a huge value on knowledge and expertise, not on time.
What was the toughest personal challenges you have had to overcome, and how did you overcome them?
My mom and I in Las Vegas First Time, 2009
Most people think it’s immigrating to another country. However, I had very little to do with it. My parents made the decision and I followed them. Of course, the challenges came when we actually arrived - language, culture, and financial barriers lasted for a couple of years.
I had three main challenges after that.
Changing my career from music to computers. After spending the first 20 years of my life in music, it was a tough and painful decision to make. But computer programming promised to be a solid and reliable career, so I went for it.
Quitting my job to start my business was another big one. After struggling to find good day care for my one-year-old at the time, I finally took a plunge and gave my notice. My family couldn’t believe it, I would wake up in cold sweat for the first few weeks, but I knew somehow everything would work out. It just had to.
Realizing that I can’t do it all and building a team. Three years into my business building venture, I had more ideas than I could handle on my own. I knew I needed to hire someone, but that required a big mind shift: hiring someone to do what I could do myself? Impossible! Today I have 7-9 people on my team depending on the time of year, and love being able to delegate and outsource many projects and tasks.
What is the best piece of advice you can offer someone who is struggling to achieve success in any area of their lives?
Choose one idea, one strategy, one mentor, focus on it for a year, tune everything else and everybody else out. That’s how I’ve been able to get ahead and build a business without any previous experience.
Who or what inspires you?
I love personal brands. It’s such a noisy world, everybody is an expert, everybody has something to sell. But when I see someone who used their personal story to create a compelling brand in their niche, built a product line for their customers, and was able to rise above this noise in the market, I feel inspired.
My favorite people who have inspired me are Michael Gerber, Seth Godin, and Nido Qubein
Lifestyle, Mindset, What I am up to | Milana | September 12, 2009
