Jane Milovanova

I attribute my success to the compound effect and not giving up. In the beginning of building the association, I just kept doing the work even though I felt no results and was so overwhelmed. I invested more than $200,000 from my own money to keep it up and find the right business model, the right product, the right offer to make women really involved. The biggest challenge was just to keep it up, even when no one supported me and the result wasn't great at the beginning. I just kept going, and eventually it worked out. Now, even if something is not good in the beginning, I'm like, okay, I'll try again. This mindset of persistence through the compound effect is what has made the difference for me.

The best career advice I ever received came from a great friend of mine, Marina de Vibeva, who is the founder of DVC Collective, a big venture fund. She told me that everything is a compound effect. This advice really stuck with me because at one point when I was already ready to give up on my association, I didn't give up because of this wisdom. Understanding that success builds over time through consistent effort, even when you don't see immediate results, has been probably the most important lesson in my career.

My advice to young women entering this industry is to trust your intuition and your heart. If there's something you want to do, but there are a lot of things stopping you like consequences, circumstances, lack of support, or just not knowing how to do things, you still need to try to do it. If you already have it in your heart, this is something you have to try because it could be the greatest dream come true for you. Follow your heart and follow your dreams, and just try the first easy steps, because after that, usually another door opens and you can achieve extremely amazing things. Don't let obstacles prevent you from pursuing what you're passionate about.

The biggest challenge in the community and association field is the compound effect. In the beginning, you just do, do, do, and you feel no results. Sometimes you feel so overwhelmed that you're trying to do a good thing, but you don't get a response right away. The challenge is not to give up and push through the deadline. I invested more than $200,000 from my own money in the beginning just to keep it up and start the association working, to find out the right business model, the right product, the right offer to make women really involved. I wanted to create a unique space where there's a lot of topics discussed, not just another chat where you join and there's nothing happening. We now do 20 events per month with lots of different activities. The biggest challenge was just to keep it up, even when no one supported me and the result wasn't great at the beginning and it didn't generate any money. But I just kept going, and eventually it worked out.

For me, work and personal life are not divided. It's one thing. This is a great sister value. I live by what I do. This is my mission. The mission of my association is to elevate the mindfulness of humanity through the hearts of women. I'm very dedicated to this mission and I want to empower women. My personal life is greatly involved in my work, and my work is greatly involved in my personal life. They are completely integrated because this is not just what I do, it's who I am and what I'm passionate about.