“This College Dropout Sold An 8-Figure Business, What She Says First-Time Entrepreneurs Need To Know”
Jon Levy via Forbes.com
Oct 26, 2017
Shortly after coming to America at the age of 18, Dr. Sabrina Kay became a single mom and had to drop out of college. To make matters worse, as a recent Korean immigrant, she didn’t speak a word of English. Yet, in less than a decade, she founded Art Institute of Hollywood, grew it to one of the Big Four design colleges in California, and sold it for 8-figures, all while still in her 30s. She had more than enough to retire, but doubled down and went back to school.
While attending the Wharton School, she bought and became Chancellor of Fremont College, with a mission to provide educational programs that meet the demands of busy adults like herself. I recently interviewed Dr. Kay, and she shared the main influences on her own success and tips for first-time entrepreneurs.
1. Focus on one thing.
If you’re shooting for your first home run, choose one thing and go all in. “Don’t chase after every shiny thing in front of you. Choose what you are most passionate about and what you do best,” she says. “We falter due to the abundance of choices rather than lack of opportunities.”
Instead of viewing her lack of options as a poor immigrant and single mom as a barrier, she attributes it to her success, saying, “It was easy to focus and just work because I had no other options.” Focus on building a great company. Many young founders spend too much time and effort chasing after capital too early, and they lose sight of why they started the business in the first place.
2. Forget work-life balance.
According to Dr. Kay, “Work-life balance is like a unicorn--it’s a myth.” Don’t expect to have work-life balance, at least for the first five to seven years. “You can't be the best at anything, whether it is athletics, music, poetry, dancing, or running a business, without being completely obsessed.”
Are you willing to clock in the time and make those sacrifices? For her first venture, Dr. Kay put in 14 or more hours a day, seven days a week, for the span of 10 years. That is the level of dedication it takes to build a home run company as a first-time entrepreneur.
3. Learn just-in-time when you need it.
Education doesn’t end when you graduate from a university. You need to learn at every stage in life. There are more available resources to leverage today than ever, from podcasts to books, magazines, and interviews with industry experts.
“If you’re not absorbing every piece of information you can, you are at a loss. Get excited that you’re not good at something, and run forward to master it." While brushing your teeth, walking to your car, driving, listen to an audiobook or podcast. Take notes. Have your daily to-do list and highlight one main priority.
Identify your own gap and know what to learn when you need it. Dr. Kay refers to this as “just-in-time learning”, a model that Fremont College implements. Instead of getting a degree in four consecutive years, students learn by earning degrees seven months at a time, only focusing on topics they need when they need them.
4. Choose your friends carefully.
Extensive research has proven that our friends and network have a huge impact on our success, emotions, and quality of life. Curate those around you as sources of learning and not just enjoyment. Your friends can be mentors, people with expertise and intelligence. Dr. Kay recommends connecting with those that have knowledge you can learn from and a character that you aspire to.
The mentors she cites as instrumental to her own success include Ambassador Frank Baxter and Kathy Baxter who taught her to be a philanthropist and a generous friend. She also says that Andrew and Peggy Cherng, founders of Panda Express and Panda Restaurant Group, taught her to be humble and continuously transform and inspire others.
5. Express gratitude.
Entrepreneurship comes with many peaks and valleys. “When you hit the bottom, crying all night thinking that you may go bankrupt the next day, you still need to be in front of your team and tell them that, together, you are building a company that will change the world.”
Gratitude keeps you grounded and lets you be that inspiration everyone wants to march after. “Without gratitude, you may give up at the 11th hour,” says Dr. Kay. Each morning, she starts with love and kindness meditations and every night, she ends the day by writing in her gratitude journal. The routine is a reminder of how precious life is, and no matter how much you’ve accomplished, there is always more that can be done.
Starting your own business is one of the hardest things you can do. Hitting a home run with that business is even harder. If you can survive all of the heart-wrenching struggles and highs and lows that come with being a first-time entrepreneur, you can be a true leader and endure the toughest of situations.