The Mentors

Reading Rainbow ran on PBS for 23 years and as the host of the show our guest LeVar Burton developed an immense appreciation for the importance of access to literature for young children. While his initial entrepreneurial skills were developed as a working actor, leading him to land roles in shows like Star Trek and Roots, after Reading Rainbow went off the air in 2006 he decided to buy its rights and made it his mission to leave an impact on future generations through reading.

We sat down with LeVar and Alicia Levi, the CEO of Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), a non-profit founded in 1966 that has 400,000 volunteers nationwide working to bring books and literacy resources to millions of people. We start by discussing how they think about risk taking and failure, and the best frame of mind to move past obstacles that paralyze you. LeVar tells us how Skybrary, the company he started in 2012, ultimately took off when the Kickstarter they launched raised their goal of $1 million in 11 hours instead of the planned 35 days.

We also learn how their massive new partnership came about, starting from a chance PSA that LeVar did for the non-profit in Los Angeles, and why investing into building your relationships can have life changing consequences.

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This week we got to interview LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow and Star Trek fame. That episode is being released on Wednesday, but we thought you might want to know exactly how we got him on our show. 

In this episode we discuss the importance of building strong relationships and delivering on your promises to help you get the types of opportunities you're looking for.

We also talk about why taking risks and being willing to face rejection becomes an invaluable skill in this whole process

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Ever wonder what it takes to plan and run an 8,000 person conference? While attending SXSW EDU this week, Vadim got a chance to speak with the founder of the conference, Ron Reed. 

This episode covers the origin story of the education conference and how Ron saw a big opportunity to build a community for people interested in improving education. In our conversation Ron explains why the original event was double the expected size, and talks about how the conversation has changed over the years around education. We also dive into what it takes to plan and run a conference of this magnitude, which grew to about 8,000 attendees in 2019. 

Vadim also had a chance to watch the keynote address from renown author and New York Times columnist David Brooks, and found out how Ron was able to get David to speak at this year’s event. 

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This weekend we set an audacious goal for ourselves of writing, recording, and filming an entire parody music video for all of you by the time this episode was published. The only problem is that when we met to work on it, we started hitting roadblocks pretty much right away.

In this edition of The 5 Minute Pick Me Up, we discuss how we were able to use reframing to figure out why we weren't making any progress on our work, and to change our perspective in a way that led to the most productive 12 hours we've had in a long time. 

Please enjoy the product of our work session, our second parody titled "Friends Now", a story about why networking is important, sang to the tune of "These Days" by Rudimental.

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This week we have a returning guest, Olga Nesterova owner of DANCECLASS, who was one of the first guests on this show. If you want to hear her origin story, check out Episode 6: World Champion Dancer Olga Nesterova, from the UN to the NBA Playoffs Halftime Show. 

Listeners of this show can get 50% off of Olga's most popular 2 For 1 Deal Group Class by going to www.danceclass.today/deals and using the code THEMENTORS. 

In this episode we discuss a major change that she made in her business this past summer after running it for almost 4 years. Olga talks about how she identified a more lucrative opportunity, selling dance classes to other corporations, and how she learned how to sell to big companies in New York City. In less than 6 months, this part of her business is already generating half of her revenues.

She also talks about why companies find these classes so valuable, helping her provide a differentiated offering. Many corporations care about the wellness of their employees, providing activities like yoga classes, but learning how to dance at work is still a novel idea. Turns out it's not only fun for employees, but acts as a great social activity that helps employees get to know each other better, and makes them more productive at their jobs.

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If you only feel satisfied when you think you're working on something big enough, you're likely missing lucrative opportunities. It's okay to dream big, but being preoccupied with whether or not you're solving a big enough problem means you're not actually executing. 

In this episode we talk about Sergei's old boss, Andrew Yang, and how he was able to become a millionaire after he stopped chasing big ideas that couldn't be turned into sustainable businesses. This initial success later helped him work on even more audacious pursuits, like creating a national non-profit with Venture for America, and now running for President of The United States in the 2020 election. 

If you want to hear us dive deeper into these topics, listen to Episode 68: How To Think Big While Starting Small With Praful Mathur and Episode 7: Becoming Unstuck – How To Finally Get Started.

https://mnt.rs/thinkbig

https://mnt.rs/unstuck

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What would happen if you learned to push just a little more to get your way? Most of us give up the minute someone tells us that something is non-negotiable, but in our experience very few things actually are.

To illustrate this point, we decided to tell you three different stories. The first two are about scenarios where we were able to negotiate something even when it seemed impossible to do so, including a medical bill and a software license fee that was set in stone. The third is about Sergei's old boss, and how he was able to negotiate a bonus payout for all of his employees, virtually pulling money out of thin air. 

Through these examples and more we've learned that almost anything can be negotiated as long as you take the time to ask the right questions and continue to dig, establish leverage, and focus on retaining the relationship with the person you're speaking with. For every rule, you can find an exception.

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You don't have to have a revolutionary business idea to be a successful entrepreneur. It's more important to find a way to provide value for a specific group of people in a differentiated way, and figure out how to reach those people consistently. 

This week's 5 Minute Pick Me Up is about a 17 year old entrepreneur who built a significant revenue generating business while still in high school

Sergei met this founder, who's now a Freshman at NYU, and discussed how he built his local chore service business from a one man operation, to a multi city service with an army of contractors. 

We discuss how he went from a small idea to identifying a bigger opportunity that he's working to scale into a big business.

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Bullying affects 20% of high school students and 25% of middle school students (stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). It's a serious problem, especially with the advent of cyberbullying, and like many immigrants, when we came to the United States we fell victim to a lot of it. Please see resources below if this is something that affects you or your family.  

In this week's episode, however, we wanted to highlight how getting bullied made us stronger in business. Most of us face some kind of adversity, and our ability to learn to overcome difficult situations, events, and people help us navigate life's unpredictable nature. In business, these skills and strengths can pay huge dividends. 

In this episode we discuss five main lessons that we learned from being bullied at a young age. Learning to trust others, but verifying their intentions, developing a thick skin, developing an ability to push for what you want, working with difficult personalities, and learning how do diffuse situations. We also try to provide specific stories wherever we can.

Here are some resources for those affected by bullying. 

https://www.stopbullying.gov/get-help-now/index.html

https://antibullyingsoftware.com/anti-bullying-hotlines-in-the-us-and-canada/

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Most people are in a constant search for a formula for success, eager to find out how someone else was able to gain wealth or fame to see if they can do the same. But successful individuals have one thing in common. Instead of spending all of their time searching for a formula, they create their own path, focusing on what makes them unique. 

In this episode we discuss the importance of being your unique and authentic self in becoming successful, and why your effort is better spent staying true to yourself rather than following someone else's path. We tell the story of Howie Mandel and how his unique personality made him one of the most famous comedians of the 80s. 

We also decided to follow our own advice this week, by doing something that we love - writing music. Listen to our parody of Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" where we sing about Episode 15 - How to Get the Attention of Important People in a song called [Important] Folks Like You. 

"Folks Like You" Lyrics: 

Spent 24 hours

I've got more outreach to do

I spent the weekend

Writing emails, to you. 

We spent the late night

To get that subject line right, click it?

But now it's all good baby

That open rate grows steady, 

Will you respond?

Cuz folks like you

Will only respond if you

Have got a good reason to

The value is clear to you, yeah yeah

Folks like you

Don't beat around the bush

That's why i'm direct with you

Need a contact like you, yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Need a contact like you, yeah yeah 

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