What Jamie Kern Lima Hopes Women Entrepreneurs Learn From His New Book

As part of Forbes Ask the expert, deputy editor at Forbes and ForbesWomen editor-in-chief Maggie McGrath spoke to Jamie Kern Lima, the founder of IT Cosmetics, registered on Forbes List of the richest self-taught women and author of the new book, Believe it.

“It’s been a long process,” Lima shared of his experience writing his book. “I wrote every word myself 80,000 words, for every entrepreneur, for every person dealing with everything on the other side, the side of running a business that a lot of people don’t talk about, that is like our own self-doubt. How do we deal with rejection? And how are we resilient when others literally look at us and tell us that we are not going to make it? Or that we are not enough? business? and believe this is my first time sharing all the stories behind the stories of what you do on your own journey? when they read the book i hope everyone thinks it is feels less alone, more enough, more motivated to deal with rejection and push through and step into the possibility of all their own dreams. So I’m excited. It feels good that it’s out there!

Key points of their conversation

Manage fear and comparison: The topic of questioning themselves and not caring what other people think was a theme in their conversation and one Lima focuses in his book.

In Believe it, Lima shares an anecdote about being in a gift shop in New York City when a friend of hers spotted, “… this poster-sized photo of a squirrel with giant balls. She shouted through the store, “It’s us! Jamie, it’s us. We’re like that squirrel. Fearless. We’ve got big balls like that squirrel.”

Lima explained, “The squirrel is inside this book. This squirrel has helped me make some of the most important business decisions to get there.”

She shared that her entrepreneurial journey has gone through what it means to face the comparison and the competition. After years of rejection and repeated ‘no’ repetitions, when she finally got a ‘yes’ and her business started to grow, not everyone was happy or supportive about it. . “I sometimes think that in life, friends or our own family see our success through the prism of their own fear,” said Lima. “It sucks when people are not nice and they don’t support us. And they make you feel like you don’t belong or are excluded. You can be the toughest entrepreneur in the world, but that still hurts your feelings. “

Lima added that when it comes to competition, the only person we should compete with is the person we are born capable of becoming. You need to stay true to this line of authenticity in your business because the biggest threat to your business is not what the competition is doing. That’s if you let it influence your own decisions. She encourages you to stay true to yourself and be the squirrel, fearlessly!

The Importance of Trusting Your Authentic Self: “I believe when you learn to get along and trust yourself, that’s one of the most critical things to be successful,” said Lima. “A big part of” believe it, is how to do this? I just think I had to take the journey to learn to believe my own success was real and possible. “

She went on to say that for every entrepreneur who has an idea, protecting it is essential. If it’s genuine to you, and your brand DNA is original, no one can bother you if they can try to copy you whatever they want.

Own your power: In their conversation, McGrath revealed that when Forbes came out with the list of richest self-taught women, Lima was initially reluctant to adopt this title. She asked Lima if she could talk about the importance of women owning their power, even if it’s in the uncomfortable realm of talking about wealth and money.

“As women, many of us have learned to love playing little, to call it humility and humility,” said Lima. “We learn to bond on issues like, ‘Oh, my pants don’t fit. My house is a mess. I’m a mess. We have learned to dim our light to gain belonging. I realized I was dimming my light and calling it to be humble and think it was the right thing to do. And so that was a big change of mind for me. And I talked about it a lot in the book, especially as women. “

Go from underestimated to unstoppable

On the Believe it Website, it says, “If you’ve ever doubted yourself or felt truly underrated, this book will inspire a new kind of belief and confidence in you and your dream. Now that the book is out, Lima shared that she was starting to hear from people, especially women and entrepreneurs who let her know that intention resonates. “I hope by the end of the book they have found themselves to take root,” Lima said. “That’s what makes me cry, that’s why I wrote this book.”