I’m a giver. I give until it hurts. It can be my time or money.
It’s not a negotiation where I need recognition in trade.
It’s what my father and supporters like former @Revolution Studios head and President of the @Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Tom Sherak, taught me. (Boy, I miss that guy.)
What is hard for me, though, is to ask for help.
As an entrepreneur, you learn to become self-sufficient.
One of my mentors has been challenging me to find opportunities to change that behavior.
This week, I helped an entertainment industry executive analyze an investment in a sports business.
I could have charged a few thousand dollars for the work and it would have been worth every penny.
I decided not to and instead asked for help.
Because I have been caring for my parents, I had to put the publishing effort for a book I wrote, @You’re Our Only Hope: Why You Need to Look in the Mirror to Save the World, aside.
Another supporter of mine, a Harvard professor, is helping me figure out a literary agent representation.
Part of his challenge to me was to make a dream list of people who would endorse my book and get them.
It’s an ‘impossible’ list of famous or notable people I don’t know but admire, like @Questlove from @the Roots or Dr. @Michael Eric Dyson, the academic, author, and political commentator.
I let the executive know I wasn’t going to charge her and instead asked for her help.
I shared part of the book and my impossible list.
She, too, had taken care of her mother who had dementia and we had an instant connection.
She is helping make some key introductions to some notable people in the entertainment space.
Here’s to asking for help!!
How have you asked for help? Discuss in the comments.
