On Tuesday, The Daily and Sole Commerce hosted a panel discussion at the Javits Center titled “What It’s Like to Walk in My Shoes,” with entrepreneurs Nicky Hilton, Tina Craig, and Aliza Licht. Here are a few of their choicest pearls of wisdom.
(Hannah Turner-Harts)
1. Aliza Licht on interning: “A lot of people have trouble doing things like getting people’s lunches or coffee; those sort of menial tasks that make you wonder, why am I doing this? Why am I here? But we all know those are the dues you pay to sort of make your way up.”
2. Nicky Hilton on her life mantra: “‘If it scares you do it.’ Even something like this. I would never have done something like this a few years ago; public speaking scared me. Even when my husband is asking for business advice I say, ‘If it scares you, go for it!'”
Nicky Hilton (Hannah Turner-Harts)
3. Tina Craig on how she decides what projects to work on: “If it doesn’t make you crazy, like teenage love, don’t do it. If you do, you’ll just be doing it for the wrong reasons — like because you think you have to or your parents want you to, or you think it will make you look good, or look good on your resume. I really believe that true success comes from doing something you truly love.”
4. Tina Craig on how motherhood changed her approach to work: “Being a mother taught me discipline. Because when you’re not a mother, you could just work all day long, then go out, have cocktails, come back, do another email to China, you know? So it was really the discipline of setting time to work and setting time and for my son when he comes home, because you fall into that trap when you work for yourself, like, I’ll just do it, you know, at five o’clock after dinner, but that time is really sacred time with your child. And so that was to me finding that being more thoughtful about my time and just being more disciplined.”
5. Tina Craig on simplicity: “Simplifying your life doesn’t mean dumbing it down. Simplicity is actually the ultimate luxury. Think about it, if I tell you this one product can replace six others and you put it on your face and when you’re done, you can just go to sleep, that’s luxury. Don’t settle for anything less.”
Tina Craig (Hannah Turner-Harts)
6. Tina Craig on failure: “Failure is not an option for me, so I choose to see every failure as a learning experience and keep going.”
7. Tina Craig on what she wishes she had known when she started out: “It’s okay to say no. It actually makes them want you. So just relax. Also, don’t compare yourself to everybody else. Do what works for you, stay in your lane, and stay focused.”
8. Nicky Hilton on the best piece of business advice she ever received: “Surround yourself with good people who know what they’re doing.”
(Hannah Turner-Harts)
9. Tina Craig on how small businesses can best to connect with influencers: “DM. What drives me crazy is when a brand will leave a comment going, ‘I don’t know how to find you. Can you please give me your email?’ As if I’m going to leave my email in the comments, especially when there’s an email link on my website. And when you do email, make sure your message stands out. Use words like ‘opportunity’ or ‘collaboration’ in the subject line in all caps to grab my attention.”
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