My Mentors
As Stonyfield My Mentors
As Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg put it, "The most undervalued asset in entrepreneurship is determination," and I had finally made the determination to pursue the education necessary to under gird my future business plans.
David is not the only successful businessperson I know, but he is the most ethical. Many of the others I grew up with achieved their success by capitalizing on their charisma, their image, or their style. Like my mentor David, however, I knew that I wanted to succeed and be judged based on my character, integrity, and substance. I recognized through my friendship with David that true leadership requires character, and that developing and maintaining character takes grit and persistence. David taught me that gaining success in a capitalistic society is not a right but a responsibility and that it is possible to possess a tough-minded business sense and great humanity simultaneously.
During all the years that I witnessed David's ascent in the business world, he never stopped working to achieve success, and I have adopted the same drive. Everyone has dreams, but I have learned to do the groundwork that will make my dreams into realities. I am multilingual, speaking English and Farsi, and I am in the process of learning additional languages-Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, and German-that will allow me to communicate with an even wider audience. Like David, I do whatever I can to stay at the top and remain competitive, and although life is not perfect, I rarely take "no" for an answer. My optimism and the fire in my belly have fueled my drive to press for success, even in uncharted waters.Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg put it, "The most undervalued asset in entrepreneurship is determination," and I had finally made the determination to pursue the education necessary to under gird my future business plans.
David is not the only successful businessperson I know, but he is the most ethical. Many of the others I grew up with achieved their success by capitalizing on their charisma, their image, or their style. Like my mentor David, however, I knew that I wanted to succeed and be judged based on my character, integrity, and substance. I recognized through my friendship with David that true leadership requires character, and that developing and maintaining character takes grit and persistence. David taught me that gaining success in a capitalistic society is not a right but a responsibility and that it is possible to possess a tough-minded business sense and great humanity simultaneously.
During all the years that I witnessed David's ascent in the business world, he never stopped working to achieve success, and I have adopted the same drive. Everyone has dreams, but I have learned to do the groundwork that will make my dreams into realities. I am multilingual, speaking English and Farsi, and I am in the process of learning additional languages-Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, and German-that will allow me to communicate with an even wider audience. Like David, I do whatever I can to stay at the top and remain competitive, and although life is not perfect, I rarely take "no" for an answer. My optimism and the fire in my belly have fueled my drive to press for success, even in uncharted waters.