Good morning,
She’d spent countless hours on primetime television, written books, traveled around the globe, and gathered plenty of accolades--but Soledad O’Brien had no idea how to run a business.
In 2013, the longtime broadcast journalist left CNN to launch Soledad O’Brien Productions, a documentary and branded-content production agency. She quickly learned that her journalistic storytelling skillset wasn’t exactly useful in her new role as a CEO. It didn’t help her create budgets or organize the structure of her brand-new startup. On Day 1, someone asked her how many square feet she needed for her office. Speechless, she didn’t have an answer.
Her solution: Reach out to as many other business owners as humanly possible. Over the course of many lunches, she gained a real-world crash course in how to run all different types of companies--small, big, new, old, and everything in between. “I was amazed at the number of entrepreneurs and small-business owners who would literally take out a napkin and draw a map for me of ‘This is how I structure my company,’” O’Brien tells Inc.
Now, she says, her goal is to be that mentor figure for anyone who asks--which is why she’s appearing on today’s virtual mainstage at the Inc. 5000 Vision Conference. Her session starts at 2:30 pm Eastern, and you can tune in for free, no strings attached. Go ahead and sign up, because you won’t want to miss it. |
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