Last Updated on December 4, 2020
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About Edward Gorbis
I was born in Ukraine as the Soviet Union was collapsing and immigrated to the U.S. when I was just 4 years old. The immigrant hustle and mentality are in my blood and DNA. My parents came to the U.S. with $200 and a couple of suitcases. We certainly didn’t live an affluent lifestyle, but my parents taught and instilled in me discipline, a tireless work ethic, strong values, communication skills, and drive to unleash my full potential in this country. I cherish everything they have afforded me, and it’s my mission moving forward to pass this energy and momentum forward to other leaders I partner with in my practice.
And over the last 10 years, I started my career in civil engineering and pivoted to project management and sales leadership. Most recently, I was a Senior Sales Director at WeWork, and then, I fully launched into my own leadership coaching practice – Career Meets World.
About Career Meets World
Career Meets World is a coaching practice to help aspiring, emerging, and first-time leaders unleash their full leadership potential by tapping into their mindset, people management skills, and executive presence.
After working in corporate for the last 10 years, I knew that I loved to help people, and upon seeing 31 different flavors of leadership across engineering, SaaS, and real estate companies, I knew I specifically want to team up with rising leaders to ensure they are set up for success.
So early in 2020, I launched Career Meets World, left my job in the middle of the pandemic, and am pursuing this ambition full time. My mission is to cultivate a more compassionate, intentional, productive, and thoughtful leadership culture, and I am excited to partner with individuals and companies to support these up-and-coming leaders.
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How Did You Get Your First Several Customers Or Users? How Many Users Or Customers Do You Have Now?
I acquired my first several customers through existing relationships I’ve had with individuals I have managed previously. Furthermore, I also partnered with my existing network to drive the potential list of customers I could support in their leadership journey.
How Does Your Company Grow And Acquire New Customers?
Growth is predominantly through word of mouth and leveraging my network. I am grateful for all the people in my life that support my growth. Additionally, I am starting to entertain speaking engagements to further attract new customers.
What Actionable Tips And Tricks Do You Have For New Founders Who Are Looking To Get Their First Thousand Users Or Dollars?
That first $1,000 will make you feel like you could do anything and your business idea feels validated. If you crave this feeling, then I have 3 simple recommendations for you.
First, get hyper-specific with your ideal client. Who is it you want and are going to serve with your business? Where do they spend time in the physical or virtual world? What are the buying patterns? What is their ideal price point?
Second, leverage your existing network and people who trust you. Go to the people who trust you, tell them about your business, and ask if they could connect you with other people who could be a potential buyer from you. This does not imply that your friends, family, or extended network are the ones who validate your business (although it never hurts!).
Third, be authentic. When you start a business, you’re most likely starting it because you want to sell a product or service that will benefit people. The only way you can genuinely get your first sales is to be honest and transparent about who you are and why you’re selling this product or service. When you’re aligned with what you’re doing, you’ll be able to covey your messaging with conviction and high energy.
By implementing these 3 strategies, you will be in powerful mental state and in a perfect position to identify and land your first few clients to help you generate north of $1000 or obtain your first thousand users.
What Is Something You’ve Learned That Would Not Be Obvious To Somebody Who Hasn’t Worked In Your Space Before?
Entrepreneurship is certainly a dynamic experience. There are moments when everything feels in alignment and flow and other moments when it feels like everything is against you. And in the service-based industry where I serve clients through coaching, it requires tremendous creativity and patience to land your first clients and gain the momentum you’re seeking. It took countless iterations and creative thinking to identify the ideal client and the right messaging to land my first few clients.
What’s The Craziest Thing That’s Happened To You (Good Or Bad) On Your Founder Journey?
The craziest thing that’s happened for me on this journey of entrepreneurship is experiencing the roller-coaster of joy and defeat and learning to live in the excitement of creating. For example, I launched the Career Meets World podcast in June, and I wasn’t seeing as much traction as I was hoping. The goal of the podcast is to share the untold stories of successful people and provide relatable career advice to motivated professionals. I was fortunate to bring on incredible guests from Facebook, WeWork, Google, and SoftBank. It felt deflating to put in so much time and energy and only see 50 downloads per episode.
And then in early September, I noticed people started sharing the podcast on LinkedIn and Instagram, and all of the sudden, the podcast engagement ballooned from there. It now has over 15,000 downloads and we’ve released 30 episodes.
It can certainly be defeating and through some crazy luck, I was able to reach the intended audience and provide the value out into the community.
And now, I’m realizing the importance of setting large goals. In 2021, the aim will be to reach 100,000 downloads across 20 countries!
What Are Your Favorite Books?
Multipliers by Liz Wiseman, Start With Why by Simon Sinek, Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff
One of my favorite books is Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman. A mentor of mine gifted this book to me, and since then, I have gifted it to everyone I have ever managed or coached. It has influenced the way I operate as a leader and how others can strive to lead their teams and their communities. The premise of the book is that multipliers are leaders who are genius makers and bring out the intelligence in others. They build collective, viral intelligence in organizations.
Anything You’d Like To Plug?
https://www.careermeetsworld.com/
Recommended posts:
- Scaling A Digital Strategy Company With Christina Hager
- Building A Marketplace With Serial Entrepreneur Jon Lincoln
- Launching A Fitness Startup In The Middle Of a Pandemic With Tee Major
- Growing A Dog Business With Lisa Bast
Book summaries, notes, interviews, and more!
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