The State of Global Entrepreneurship with Stasia Mitchell

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot. podcast network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Goal Digger podcast. Today, we'll be breaking down the state of global entrepreneurship. To drop these value bombs, I brought Stasha Mitchell into EO Fire Studios. As an advisor, CEOs, owners, and entrepreneurs, Stasha leads EY's Entrepreneurship Strategy at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year programs in over 60 countries with responsibility for the development of long-lasting relationships with winners, alumni, their investors, and the whole entrepreneur ecosystem.

0:37In today's foundation, we'll talk about the general sentiment amongst entrepreneurs now, the challenges entrepreneurs are facing, how entrepreneurs are showing resilience, how they should be thinking about the future, how important AI is, and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Stasha and our sponsors. Hustle & Flowchart, hosted by Joe Feer, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Join Joe as he discusses systems, mindset tweaks, reframes, and strategies to help you build a business that gives you freedom and fuel for your life.

1:10A recent episode on using AI for effortless content creation is a must listen. Listen to Hustle and Flowchart wherever you get your podcasts. Stasha, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Hello, Fire Nation. and something I believe that most people disagree with. The best formula or method is grace, patience, and you do need a little bit of luck. I do love that. And Stasha actually asked me what my answer to this would be before the pre-interview started. And I said, you know what? I'm not going to tell you that answer, but I will say that I really do believe that luck plays a massive role.

1:59Now, again, my definition of luck is where effort meets opportunity. So you're putting in the effort, you're putting in the work, and opportunity happens to come because of that effort and work. You're in the right place at the right time, and yes, boom, you can get lucky as a result. But it's a lot easier to get lucky if you buy a million lottery tickets as opposed to one. So that's why I love when people get up every day and they put in the reps and they put in the work. So that is a huge thing I'm a believer in as well. And we're talking about the state of global entrepreneurship. Stasha is a fantastic person to talk about this with, because from what you've experienced firsthand, I want to know the general sentiments amongst entrepreneurs right now, Stasha.

2:40Oh, yeah. I mean, I think right now, and I've talked to the majority of our entrepreneurs joining us as country winners, you know, they're representing their countries, but I would say they're experiencing a time of more like more than ever right there's more technology um ai medical innovation um just expanding concepts of what's possible so they're they're really being drowned by i want to say more even a little bit of noise and there's this this general sentiment to focus on the now, right? How can you really hone in and take advantage where more and less fade out and you can make a difference in the now?

3:26And it's funny, I just had a forum meeting where we talked about control, right? What do we really control? And I think in the now, you have ultimate control of your time and your energy and your money. Fire Nation, I know that a lot of people get into entrepreneurship in the first place for control, for freedom to choose over what they want to do every single day. A lot of people say, John, what's your definition of success? And I honestly say, hey, it's waking up every day and having the ability to say, I want to do this. I'm allowed or I get to do that. Whatever's on my schedule, on my calendar is because I chose to put it there.

4:09I wanted to put it there. And I have control over that. I have the freedom to choose. Now, we talk a lot about the positives and the exciting things and the things that are currently working in entrepreneurship. Stasia, what specifically are some of the challenges that entrepreneurs are facing right now? Gosh, 70 % of the world is going through political changes. Obviously, there are global and national conflicts and economic conditions, a changing workforce of man and machine. And so I think, you know, the challenges are and we just did a survey, in fact, that, you know, stubborn inflation, let's call it, you know, almost half of the entrepreneurs are fearful of inflation and how it's going to infect their business.

5:06as they want to advance in the exciting worlds of AI. They're still worried about, okay, what do I do, again, with the human side of my business and upscaling and training the workforce that's in place and, you know, the regulatory and legal issues around that. I also think the challenges are realizing that you have to take care of yourself as an entrepreneur, because your mind, body and spirit has to be able to go the distance. Right. And this is what that piece that patience part I was talking about. How can you take care of yourself so you can navigate these ever changing conditions? And then, you know, your energy, your authentic purpose, your impact transcends to your team, which ultimately ultimately transcends to your customer.

6:03So I think entrepreneurs are always used to navigating challenges. It's just unique environment today, right? Where it's just a lot's coming at them. Now, challenges are going to happen. I mean, that's just a reality of life. We're going to face challenges, obstacles, and struggles. And in fact, that's where a lot of opportunity comes is by entrepreneurs being able to identify what are the challenges, what are the struggles, what are the obstacles that my potential clients, customers, individuals are going to face or are facing, but it's not being solved by other people? How can I come in and be that person who's solving these challenges, these struggles, these obstacles better than anybody else, or nobody else is solving them.

6:44So I'm becoming the only solution to a real problem in this world. Because I love saying, hey, how do you become the number one solution to a real problem in this world? It has to be real. It can't just be a problem. People are like, yeah, it'd be nice if this was a solution or there's a solution to this. No, I want people to be like, I need, I must have a solution to this because that's a painful problem that they're having. But this all comes back to resilience and being able to bounce back from challenges, struggles, obstacles, challenges that we're going to face as entrepreneurs. How are entrepreneurs today showing resilience?

7:23The way you show resilience is kind of what I was talking about, which is, you know, making sure you're, you're, you are healthy and well, and that your authentic purpose and ambition and intention can translate, right? And, and you say, you know, you want to be the only solution, but no one does it alone, right? It's, it's, it's very rare that it's a solo situation. And I would say the other way to show resilience is to be open about the, you know, you have a network or community of fellow entrepreneurs. I know I do that I can go to to say, hey, I need ideas and thoughts around this, you know, coming kind of with the pieces and parts.

8:06So I think that open and honesty and seeking, you know, that constant curiosity that entrepreneurs have of how things are being done, the possibilities around it, you know, the seeking of different ideas and solutions that could transcend things in a whole different direction that you may want to experiment in. Because, I mean, you know what it's like. You can get you can get very stuck in a story or a solution that you are married to. And unless you open for diverse thought or diverse thinking, you'll stay stuck in that. So, gosh, I think I answered your question in a marriottive way. But I think it's, you know, make sure your mind, body and soul are in a good place where you can stay curious.

8:51You can connect and really utilize those, you know, great relationships that you have in your network to help you through the tough times because they're going to come. Right. There's a comic strip, John, that shows the journey of an entrepreneur. And literally the level is and I won't cuss on your on this wonderful podcast, but it's F.O.F. Like you're literally living in this period. Right. Of, you know, that that trail. So, you know, you got to rely on others. Fire Nation, I'm loving this message. And also it kind of brings me back to this book that I read a long time ago that's called Anti-Fragile.

9:29And it's all about how do you create a persona of yourself as an entrepreneur where you're not fragile, where you're anti-fragile, where you have resilience to things that are going to happen to you because things are going to happen to you, both good and bad, become anti-fragile. And we have so much more to talk about around this topic when we get back from thinking hours. sponsors. Every entrepreneur knows that growing a business is hard. Trying to figure out which software to use, when, and for what purpose can be frustrating. You've got your email marketing system, your payment software, your CRM, your content tools, your email tools, your tools to retool your tools.

10:06It's chaos. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a single platform to handle all the tough work of growing a business? Great news, Fire Nation. HubSpot is the customer platform for marketing, sales, service, and most importantly, growth. They've got something to help everyone on your team excel, including more personalized campaigns and improved workflows to help your marketing team generate better leads, revamp pipeline management so your sales team can build better relationships and close more deals, and service teams that can scale everything they do, all while serving your customers better with tools like HubSpot's AI chatbot and KnowledgeBase.

10:38Stop spending more time managing tools than connecting with prospects and customers. HubSpot's customer platform is a smoother, more effective way to grow. Suddenly, work feels like no work at all. That's the power of HubSpot. Visit HubSpot.com to learn more. Sasha, we're back and I now want to talk about the future because it's important to learn from the past, take great lessons from those who have come before us. Like I love saying we're all standing up on the shoulders of giants. It's really important also to keep your finger on the pulse on what's happening right now in the moment, in the present.

11:12But how do entrepreneurs feel about the future? Entrepreneurs, I would say, are positive about the future. I think they know that what their long-term value that they're offering and really wanting to drive and differentiate and impact in the world is extremely meaningful, right? So they're fueled by so much passion that you have to have a level of optimism or believe that there are cracks where the light shines through. And I think the business opportunities I mentioned, I know that there's geostrategic situations happening along with digital and tech, but they do create opportunities for scaling, for growth.

11:57And I got to tell you, in our community of entrepreneurs, more and more do we have people traveling to different countries to meet with fellow entrepreneurs to make these connections, right, to create or pave the path for future growth, future scaling. And then as well as just learn from, you know, the best of the best. There's certain countries and cultures that do things extremely well. And they, those learnings, you know, they stick with you. In fact, you know, our India winner this year, if you were to go into his office, John, you would actually sit down because he has no office furniture.

12:35He combines spirituality and culture in such a way that is transformative. So I think, you know, we are boundless as entrepreneurs. We know that there are amazing growth opportunities and learning opportunities that will transcend us and move us into the future. I mean, one thing that I would love to talk about, because I mean, it is right now, but it's just so the future as well. I mean, you just see so many people talking about it, integrating it, implementing it, and that's AI. So how do you view artificial intelligence right now? How important is it? AI is the engine, right? I think artificial intelligence has proven to be completely transformative.

13:19I mean, it's been operating in businesses for a while. In fact, our 2019 world winner, his business was an AI. So we saw these trends coming and we're seeing him touch in many different parts of the organization. organization, including, you know, HR, finance, and then as you're mentioning, the innovative side of the business, how can we improve better customer experiences, etc. So I think it'll be the engine, but there'll be additional R &D or innovations to come connected to it. I also want to talk about leadership, because so many people that listen to Entrepreneurs on Fire They're leaders.

14:05They're running businesses. They are entrepreneurs. They are small business owners. They are side hustlers. But they're doing something where they're leading men, women, other entrepreneurs. What advice do you have for the leaders of today? Look at the transformative leader model. You know, are you in a good place with yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, that you feel super locked in to the purpose and the impact you want to make, you know, that entrepreneurial spirit? Because, as I mentioned, it transcends beyond you. Right. And that has to be authentic. uh you know and then i again just going back to you know having grace and patience uh because not every you know story is you start a business and six months later you know you're you've you've reached the peak right it's an ever-evolving um uh organism or or situation so So be kind to yourself and focus on your health so that you, you know, entrepreneurship has no age.

15:14You can, it's limitless. One of our entrepreneurs in our program is 89 years old. And it's just, it's phenomenal. But you got to be healthy to make that long journey. So at Fire Nation, I'm really looking forward to ending on a high note here because we've talked about leadership, about AI, the future, resilience, challenges, the general sentiments. Stasha, what do you really want to make sure Fire Nation gets from our conversation today? Take the mic, take a step back, take a deep breath, and really share with us what you want to make sure our listeners get from our chat today. I hope this is a rally call for entrepreneurs and for entrepreneurs to support entrepreneurs.

15:57I love founders who become funders, mentors, but this is the time that we really need to rise up together and create opportunities for more entrepreneurship. Fire Nation, you're the average. Of the five people you spend the most time with, you've been hanging out with Stasha and JLD today, so keep up the heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Just type Stasha, S-T-A-S-I-A in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up. And Stasha, what is your call to action for our listeners today? Where do you want them to go to connect with you, any CTA that you might have?

16:36LinkedIn would be great, but also join my Entrepreneur of the Year program. It's here to support and recognize the journeys that entrepreneurs are making, the impact that they're having in the world. It's a platform for us to elevate you and your brand. So it's the best way to connect with me. And I hope to see you all there. Stasha, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value of Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Awesome. Thank you, John. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Stasha for sponsoring today's episode.

17:15and Fire Nation, are you ready to rock your very own podcast? Check out our free podcasting course where I will teach you how to create and launch your podcast for free, freepodcastcourse.com. I will catch you there or on the flippity-flip side. Hustle and Flowchart, hosted by Joe Feer, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Join Joe as he discusses systems, mindset tweaks, reframes, and strategies to help you build a business that gives you freedom and fuel for your life. A recent episode on using AI for effortless content creation is a must listen.

17:47Listen to Hustle and Flowchart wherever you get your podcasts.