The New Builders. Seth Levine
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FOREWORD: OWN YOUR FIERCE POWER
Wow, what an innovative concept. I love this.”
“I've never heard of anything like this before. It's so creative…so thoughtful.”
“It's genius. I believe in it and I believe in YOU.”
Beautiful words, right? Ego building. Pride boosting. Words every budding entrepreneur wants to hear.
Wrong.
Because after all of that praise comes… Nothing.
Welcome to my world. OUR world. I don't invite you in to garner pity. But I thank you for RSVPing to the plain, hard truth – the truth that I and so many have to endure. Yet still we rise and rise again because we believe – no, scratch that – we KNOW that what we have to offer society can truly change the world.
But how do you change the world when someone won't even lend you the change from their pocket?
There are many kinds of beauty in the world, many kinds of entrepreneurs, and many kinds of power. I'm a New Builder. I'm a Black woman, with decades of experience across industries, launching new businesses and working on new next‐level ideas.
But just like it is for many New Builders, the struggle to raise money is real. I have watched my White, male peers raise serious capital with ease, with ideas that are far less developed. And I know what you may be thinking – but just because my name may appear on billboards doesn't mean business boards respect my business acumen. And nor should they. Celebrity does not automatically equal a sharp business mind. But mine is. And so are the minds of so many New Builders, yet we struggle to be taken seriously because we don't fit that mold of what an entrepreneur “ought” to look like.
Entrepreneurship, for me, is not just about financial success. It's about leaving something that lasts beyond my time on Earth. A true legacy. From expanding the definition of beauty to teaching personal branding at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, I believe my profit must have a purpose. My companies reach people around the world and delight, entertain, and educate them in out‐of‐the‐box ways. We are obsessed with storytelling, and everything we do must have some funny, some fierce, and lots of heart, whether it's a worldwide television franchise or a tasty food product.
You've been reading my words for a bit now, so speaking of food, I think you deserve a treat. What about a scoop of ice cream? And what if I hid a yummy, chunkalicious, Surprise in it?
Okay, while you enjoy your ice cream, let's get back to business.
Becoming an Entrepreneur
When I was a model, I answered to the people behind the camera. But I always wanted more than that. I wanted control. Every single day of my modeling career, I encountered prejudice because I was Black or because I was curvy. People said I couldn't do this runway show, or couldn't be on that cover, or star in that campaign. I heard a lot of “no” and “you can't” and even “you'll never.”
Oh, it hurt. Bad. I cried. Lots. But I'm happy to say, it didn't break me. The tears turned to hunger – a famished feeling in my tummy to show naysayers that I could and I would. (I can hear the “models don't eat” jokes running in your head right now, but I was the rare one who lived off of barbecued ribs and coffee ice cream milkshakes. And I was carrying about 30 pounds more body weight than my colleagues. Oh yeah.) I was also eager to show people that my skills expanded way past runway walking and magazine posing. And yes, when I spoke those aspirations aloud, the “nos” from the powers‐that‐be flowed again.
But I'm writing this Foreword, so we all know that those “heck, nos” turned into some “hell, yeses.” Without struggle there is no progress, said Frederick Douglass. And without progress, there is no power. Entrepreneurship is a way to create and hold onto your own power. Your fierce power.
Power Moves
I have messed up a lot through all this. And learned plenty of what‐the‐heck‐was‐I‐thinking lessons that I now excitedly pass along to others. One of my favorite things to do is mentor young entrepreneurs over a hearty lunch while I teach them how to draw strategic mind maps to chart the path to their B.F.O.G.s – their Big Fierce Outrageous Goals.
Here's a bit of what I tell them:
Different is better than better. Tiny improvements on someone else's product or service ain't gonna get you far. What about your business is unique? And don't force a unique narrative when you know you're derivative. VCs and PEs see straight through that… and you.
Hone your personal brand. People don't just invest in companies, they invest in people. What's your personal origin story? What do you stand for? How are you letting the world know that? You're competing with so many others for capital, community, customers, and team members. The clearer you are about how you want to present to the world, the more ownership you have of your own narrative and the more attractive you become to attract others.
Find some shoulders…to cry on. Entrepreneurship is no joke. Wins, losses, setbacks, unpredictable craziness…. You need someone you can just be vulnerable with. You also need that someone who shakes you and says, “Okay, enough with the wallowing in self‐pity. Get your butt up. Get your funky butt in the shower. And then get back at it!” This “E‐life” is damn hard sometimes, but don't easily give up or stop trying. Life has no mercy on you when you stop stepping up. And if you're not experiencing failure in your work life or business, you're playing it way too safe. Shake it up and take a risk…and yes, a shower, too.
Make freezing‐cold calls. Reach out to people who inspire you. Keep it short and to the point. Compliment them on something recent they've accomplished and give it context on how it has inspired you. You just may get a mentor out of it. That's how I established a meaningful relationship with somebody we lost this year, Tony Hsieh. I was obsessed with his book, Delivering Happiness, and picked up the phone. That cold call turned into a rewarding mentoring and business friendship. I miss him. We all do.
Reward people who disagree with you. One thing that terrifies me is a yes person. Where everything I think up is perfect and flawless and they would never dare disagree with me. Yikes! Just writing about this type of person feels like a horror movie to me. In meetings, I often insist on hearing dissenting voices. About 50 percent of the time, there's a nugget (or a boulder) of truth that positively influences some of my decisions.
Turn up your mic. Reach out. Speak up. Make yourself heard and seen. Don't sit there and say, “I'm going to work really, really hard and one day they're going to notice.” Because they won't. They're not thinking of you. Make them.
Hope you enjoyed my tips. Oh … how's that ice cream tasting? Magnificent? Wonderful. It's from my new business, SMiZE Cream. And yeah, you heard me say this already, but the “nos” thrown my capital‐raise‐way were dizzying.
I pitched my ice cream business to this one investor, and even though I felt beaten down by all the passes, I pitched with all of my heart and soul. I shared how we are not just an ice cream company but that we are in the business of goal setting and goal getting and teaching others how to be the same. That we don't just scoop an amazing‐tasting super‐premium frozen treat, but that we are an IP company with a suite of revenue streams that don't just bring in the bucks but delight customers to the max and help them make their dreams come true, too.
“Wow, what an innovative concept. I love this.”
“I've