Lisa Holland

Determination and support from the people that care about me. Those are the two main things. Determination and the support I get from people around me. It's been everything.

The best career advice I ever received came from my very first job when I was 15 years old. The person interviewing me asked how many hours I wanted, and I said, oh, it doesn't matter. I'm a very 'oh, it doesn't matter, it's okay' person. And they said, it does matter. You know, what works for you? I said, oh my god, like, no one's ever asked me that before. Even as an adult, I don't put myself first, you know, what works for me, right? It was a very big learning experience for me. When he asked if I wanted 100 hours, I laughed because I was so young, I was like, no, I don't know how many hours are in the work week. And he said, I'm hiring you for your honesty and your willingness. With those two things, whatever you decide to do, you're gonna be good. I just carried that my whole life, like, okay, I may not be perfect, I may not have all the answers, but my willingness is there, which is my determination as well. And I'm genuine, honest, kind of like, I may not be this, but I certainly can be, you know, without being too prideful, or I know everything. I just carried that with me my whole life. To keep yourself, keep that willingness out there, and just be brave, and believe in yourself, and if you don't have all the answers, that's okay, you know? You're gonna figure it out because your willingness.

Don't let fear take over. Really fight through it and realize it was a gift. Whatever was given to you, the idea, the creative thought, you know, to follow it through the best you can every day, and to not give in to that call of fear, because it's loud in my head every single day. Just to tame it down, follow it through, it came to you for a reason, and do your best every day. That's all you can do. That's my biggest thing right now, is to overcome the fear. Once you do that and you calm down those thoughts, the next day, whatever it was, it's not as bad as it was in the moment. I got to learn to phrase this a little bit better, because it is absolutely just happening to me right now. But to believe in yourself, right? And to overcome that voice of fear. There's a voice of reason that's different. But not that, you know, how am I gonna do this? You know, who am I to think that I can do this? You're doing it. You're already doing it. Keep doing it. And listen, even at the end of the day or the year, you can look back and say, I did it. I took the chance, I was brave. Maybe it didn't go exactly the way I wanted to, but you're in it, and maybe something else grew out of it. That's the loudest thing in my head right now about being an entrepreneur.

So the challenges right now, for me, it's definitely maybe my knowledge of how to market to technology. I think if I knew that better, I would be more advanced, I know, you know? But I'm learning the hard way, and I am learning, and there's something about that that's been a gift for me. So I think the more you know about the current marketing, especially if you're in the business of selling a product, the better off you're going to be. That's without a doubt. What has been a benefit to me has been the interaction with people, the joy it's created, them connecting with the product, and listen, I'm not recreating the wheel, it's a gift box of chocolates. But it's got a funny meaning to it. It's got a... people are... my table, they were so drawn to just, like, the facts, right? Which were loud and clear, being like, do you feel this? This, this, and that? Well, come on over. I got a truffle, and nothing in my candy truffle is... got anything in it besides the natural, you know, natural things that we get from chocolate and cocoa, cacao, but which is a known science fact that makes you feel good, right? But there's nothing else in there. There's... I also looked at that route in the beginning, and that is a whole other... as soon as you put, this has something in it to relieve something, you get put in a different category with, you know, the FDA. So, I just wanted to keep it simple. I'm not looking to... I'm not a doctor or scientist. I wanted to just bring joy, and here you go, here's some delicious chocolate with some funny sayings you're going to hope this brightens your day.

I think integrity. I could take some shortcuts, and it would have made my life a lot easier, to be honest. But I knew in the long run, that you face that. So, do it right the first time, the best that you can. It's not going to be perfect. But you know that your intention was to do it the best way you possibly could. That is in anything, in a relationship, in work. But there is a little bit of, like, you know, put on that brave front and just force yourself through it, but the other side is people know, you know, and they'll figure you out, so you better, and especially coming from hospitality and experience, making great experiences for people, you have to want to see that joy for them at the end of the tunnel, and get them to there. And you have to be genuine about that. A lot of things are work, and you just do it because it's your job, but there's certain jobs that are hard to fake, you know? And I think if anything where you're dealing with people's feelings, you know, they waited their whole life for this event, you know. Doing the best you can in the right way, when no one's looking, you know? So, I think... and that, to me, has gotten me through all my jobs, for better or for worse, almost to the point of, I think, sometimes people are... they don't want you to do that, because you make them look bad. That, I've encountered a lot in corporate, and that's why I wasn't a fan.