Advice for Entrepreneurs: Featuring Holly Mandel

HOLLY MANDEL: What comes to mind that I hope will be useful is about the nature of being an entrepreneur. We are a strange breed! We have one foot in the dreaming/creating world and one in the management/practical world. We know how to take lofty ideas and turn them into things. It's clearly not for everyone, but if you have the entrepreneur gene, nothing less will do.

I think the biggest lessons about what it takes to be an entrepreneur came when I realized I had to stop making my business ideas take a back seat to the job that was paying my bills. I was freelancing a lot and working in commercials as an actor. I was making a good living—not amazing—but there wasn’t much wiggle room. It sort of felt like I was living check to check, which was okay, but nothing was being built, and I wasn’t creating something.

I remember when it was time to sign up for the next round of producing projects, sign up for the next round of classes to teach, and all of that. And I just had a knowing that if I didn’t get off that treadmill right then, it would never change. I knew I had to take both a leap of faith and push myself into extreme action if I was going to transition into a new world. That world was not going to knock on my door and present itself.

It was scary, and there were a few months when rent went on credit cards and bills didn’t get paid. I didn’t like the feeling at all—there was a lot of stress. However, stress causes evolution. No one really evolves when everything is copacetic and comfy. Somewhere in me, I knew I needed to keep going, and I believed in my corporate business. It’s like I forced myself into a position where I had to go for it—pedal to the metal. It gave me the fuel to call people I knew and ask for advice or connections. I cold-called and emailed, worked endlessly on my website, and learned how to make it do what I wanted so I could tweak it as I learned.

So, I guess the inspiration I hope to share is that you might have to make it happen—and not wait for it to. Because it won’t. It needs you to dive in and commit. I remember when I wanted very badly to live and work in both NYC and LA. I had work, friends, and opportunities in both places, and instead of choosing one over the other, I kept saying, "I’m trying to be bi-coastal." Then that same knowing in me told me I needed to start telling people, "I’m bi-coastal." Just that shift was all I needed—it literally started happening. People saw me as someone who was bi-coastal, and it just never went back.

Same with any business or endeavor I’ve started. I go all in, and then the magic begins to happen.