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Rising Star
Just be yourself. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. I’ve made many friends, inspirations & mentors whilst working/networking and the one thing they all have in common is their desire to connect with likeminded people who are motivated and passionate about similar things. The only piece of advice I can give you is to be confident and fearless. One thing I found out quite quickly is that my peers were so much better at speaking and approaching people (expanding their network) because they pretty much grew up like that (private education and having a greater grasp of the corporate world through friends and family). I’m from a cultural background where you only speak to adults when you are spoken to, that coupled with state schooling and not having many successful people around me (let alone anyone in consulting apart from junior university alumni) stunted my growth. It’s going to take some time so don’t get yourself down about it not working right away, understand you are pretty much starting from scratch.
Eagerness will maybe get you a first meeting but not a sustained relationship/mentorship. Be observant, be authentic, be valuable. Won’t happen overnight but just work on your craft and have clear goals.
I grew up lower income / middle class. At this point I’ve worked in finance (with traders and bankers), consulting and fintech. Wealthy people don’t really have a type, I know leaders in consulting who curse more in regular conversation than others I know that work at an auto mechanic shop. Which is the antithesis of the stereotype wealthy/educated people. Its best to connect with people at the individual level by reaching out, finding common ground and building rapport. Finding people will come organically as your career progresses, and it’s pretty easy to see who matters in the business and who is a cog. Lastly, although there is merit behind wealthy people being more well spoken, the only “rich person” characteristic I struggled with at the beginning with talking about fine dining and traveling (since I had no experience with that). And many build their entire personality around these two activities.
Find leaders with humble roots. I wouldn’t mind helping other poor kids navigate the jungle because I remember the struggle and how hard it is. It’s a shared connection and most successful people who had to earn it remember well what that was like. Our parents didn’t teach us the correct table setting, which side the bread goes on, or take us to Europe for vacations. Embrace that as a very emotional connection.
I got lucky and was able to get a role at a startup and moved into the Chief of Staff role working directly with the CEO and investors and company leadership
26 and still trying to figure this out
Pro
Join a club
Join a club. I met a lot of executives when I was in the Porsche club when I had my 911. I also met tons of very wealthy people in real estate groups that I would present topics in and they would build friendships with me over time. So for me luxury cars and real estate is how I made a bunch of new friends who also became my mentors
Chief
Something really funny
I grew up in the Puget Sound nowhere near wealthy and used to play "Magic the Gathering" as a kid, sometimes I went to tournaments and a lot of adult Microsoft millionaires played that game. Not sure if that's still a thing 🤣
Chief
- Identify managers and leaders who you admire and communicate with them on a regular basis. Make sure to note the qualities you admire in them and operate with authenticity, valuable and willingness to do the work.
- Have clear goals and objectives on not just what title you want to achieve but also what sort leader/person you want to be.
- Establish a diverse mentorship council and meet with them on a regular basis. Learn from their experience and take their perspective on challenges.
Try rotary clubs
I never heard about this, thank you!
Pro
People are generally most invested in mentoring people they can see themselves in. It doesn’t have to be about class, but as someone who doesn’t come from wealth myself, I’ve been most successful getting support from leaders with a humble background and down to earth style who appreciate the extra grit and perspective that folks from less privileged backgrounds often bring to the table
Attend local career and free business events and evenings. Eventbrite is a good source for such.
I worked my way up.
I would suggest looking not so much at the CEO but rather the top performers that are 5-10 years ahead of you and where you want to be.
Put your kid in an expensive private school. The friends group I have from that is lasting a lifetime. This takes decades, by the way.