A Look Back on Our First Group Webinar

We had everything planned for our first webinar, which would consist of four participants from around the country and one local mentor to lead the conversation. Those present were Becca Saulsberry, a sophomore at CU Boulder who has been taking steps towards starting her own company, Ben Green, a student at Washington University in St. Louis attempting to start his own entrepreneurial student group on campus, Ariel Kirkwood, a talented web developer in Philadelphia who has recently started his own individual development company, and Lukas Matthews, a Denver native who is starting his own consulting company.

The key guest was Rustin Coburn, a very successful entrepreneur who has started numerous companies around the country. Currently, he is an associate at Super Top Secret, and the Owner and Founder at Bellwether, a popular whiskey/coffee bar, barber shop, and retail store in Denver, recently rated one of Business Insider’s Coolest Companies.

Rustin shared with us how he and his friends started a clothing brand that was gaining traction in the early 2000's. They were selling an impressive amount of product and their brand was sold in popular retail stores around the world. Just when everything was truly taking off, the company took a hard financial hit due to the stock market crash in 2008. Rustin had personally signed for everything and after a falling out with his close friends and employees, he took on the debt himself and filed for personal bankruptcy. From that, he further explained how he picked himself back up and starting rebuilding his career from nothing.

After everyone had time to reflect on Rustin’s story, we immediately started diving into questions, and to our relief, everyone was extremely engaged. It seemed like everyone had come prepared to share their concerns and to better themselves rather than just listening. The feedback we got from Rustin about how he overcame failure was extremely valuable and relatable. Here are the main take-aways from our conversation:

1. When you fail, it is important to let go of all blame and do your best to move on. Learn from your failures and use these lessons as tools for success in the future.
2. When building a career or your own company, have the discipline to stick with it. People want instant gratification, but making something great truly takes time. Every step forward you take is a victory, no matter how small. Every step back is also a victory, as long as you learn from it.
3. When you are thinking about a worst-case scenario, take comfort in knowing that it will almost never be as bad as you think.

The rest of the conversation was spent on personal networking, since it seemed that it was something everyone had experienced barriers with when trying to authenticate their own professionalism. We touched on numerous topics, such as knowing when it is appropriate to reach out to someone for help and having a “give first” attitude when adding people to your network. The best piece of advice Rustin shared with the group was on how to build your own personal foundation, which will reveal who is best suited for your network and provide you with a number of quality-over-quantity relationships. Here are the key take-aways from our conversation about personal networking:

1. Spend the time building your personal foundation. This will make your network building process more natural and ensure that you can identify those who can seriously contribute to your network rather than having a network of numbers.
2. Networking is trail and error. The key is to just go out and do it. The more people you try to meet, the more valuable people you’ll be able to bring into your network. Don’t worry when a strong relationship doesn’t form every time.
3. The purpose of a network is not only to have people to ask for help. It is a community where you can share your doubts, fears, questions and successes. Your network will help you nurture these feelings and help you reflect on them to improve the potential of your success.
4. Write things down. This is the best way to organize your thoughts and be able see them in some kind of order. This includes documenting people’s contact information, when you last spoke, ways that you can help them, and more. Plus, it helps you relax when you are feeling stressed.

Rustin helped everyone understand a few new ways to foster a strong relationship with a mentor:

1. Ask good questions
2. Be a good listener
3. Give first. Offer to help before asking for something. Do not expect anything in return.
4. Be considerate of the relationships between yourself and those in your network. Know when it is acceptable to be casual and when it is necessary to be professional.

Webinar One was a huge success and it was easy to see that everyone left with a lot to reflect on in order to improve their professional and personal identities. We received fantastic feedback and left with a bunch of new ideas on how to improve for Webinar Two.

Ways to get involved:

1. Sign up for a Webinar in the future. Follow us on Facebook and Subscribe through our Website to stay up-to-date on future webinars.
2. Bummed you missed Rustin’s webinar? Listen to the podcast!

Cheers!

Written by Nathan Moses, Co-Founder and CCO of Eyesight Collective