Maren Kate went from bar tender, to CEO of her own investor-funded startup in just a few short years. Last month, Tony Hsieh invested two million in her company, Zirtual.
I first met Maren when she joined the Internet Business Mastery Academy in 2009. Listening to Internet Business Mastery and reading The Four-Hour Workweek planted a fire in her to make big things happen and create her ideal lifestyle.
Well, I’d say she has done exactly that. I have no doubt she’s just getting started.
Maren is an excellent example of how to set your sights on what you want in life and stop and nothing until you get it. I’ve watched her journey with fascination as she has demonstrated numerous important qualities for attaining your desired lifestyle.
Let’s look at top tips and key insights from her story.
Don’t Wait for Everything to Line Up to Get Started
If there is one thing that Maren has done best it is to take relentless bold action. The lights will never all be green. So just hit the gas pedal and start going.
Be Willing to Fail
When Maren jumped into business, she felt the fear of failure that we all face. But she asked the key question: “What is the worse thing that can happen?”
If she crashed and burned, she would just go back to bar tending while she started the next thing. She was willing to do whatever it takes to make it work.
If You Realize You Aren’t On the Right Track, Jump to a New Track
Maren’s online path went something like this.
- Selling stuff on E-Bay
- Teaching others to sell on E-Bay
- Consulting businesses on social media
- Hiring virtual assistants to do the social media work for others
- Creating Zirtual to match busy professionals with virtual assistant help
There was no way for Maren to know what her ideal situation was going to be. It was an evolution over time. She discovered her current success one step at a time. By taking action, she learned more about herself. She learned new skills. New opportunities presented herself. NONE of that would have happened had she not just taken action again and again.
Surround Yourself with a Strong Team
Maren has always surrounded herself with the mentors and team members she needed to let her focus on her strengths.
In fact, she’s hired team members for us before. Our current lead tech and project manager came to us thanks to Maren.
Only YOU Can Choose Your Ideal Vision
When Maren decided she wanted to go the silicon valley startup route, she sent me an e-mail asking for a letter of reference to help her get into the Founder’s Institute.
I’ll admit that before I wrote the letter I had a moment where I thought about writing, “Are you sure you want to go that route?” Thankfully, I just wrote the letter and sent it along.
Just because it’s not what I want to do or teach, it doesn’t mean it’s not a great way to go for someone else. Be what you want. Do what you want.
I’m thrilled that we played even a small part in her story, but in the end she knew what she wanted and made that happen. You don’t need to be like anyone else.
Congratulations!
Most of all, we want to give Maren a huge congratulations. She deserves all the success she is enjoying. She’s worked hard for it.
Thank you for inspiring us all with your story.
If you want to follow Maren’s ongoing story, you’ll find her at EscapingThe9to5.com.
One of our most popular success story interviews was with Maren. Listen to it here.
Photo Credit: Ron Davis @ PhotographerandModel.com
Congrats from facebook:
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Congrats Maren!! That’s fabulous. Her blog was one of the first I stumbled across a few years ago that showed me there’s a “different way”. Now, a few years later, I too am an Academy member. Hopefully, I can have just a fraction of Maren’s success.
Great job!
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