Tia May

I definitely attribute my success to my drive to talk to every single person I come across. Networking has gotten me everything that I've achieved to this point. If I get the opportunity to go interview somebody or to go to an event, I do. I'd say I attend at least 40 to 50 events a year, and when I go to events, I am all over the place talking to everybody, getting my name out there, and talking about my purpose. A lot of people when I first started this told me, oh, you don't need to tell people what you're working on, you need to kind of work in silence. And I'm like, well, how is anybody gonna know what I'm trying to accomplish if I don't talk about it? So networking and putting myself out there has been everything.

The best advice I've received, and it's something I've heard so many times rather than from one specific person, is that you are who you surround yourself with, or surround yourself with who you want to be. Over the last three or four years, I've really been altering my circle of people to include those who are very positive and influential and doing a lot of the things that I want to be doing. I've surrounded myself with people who are very successful, not just monetarily but with how much they're accomplishing their goals and just being very driven. I have so many people that I've surrounded myself with as mentors, and I think that's made all the difference.

I would say the best way to do it is to dive into whatever field you're wanting to be part of, because that's made everything so much easier for me. When I dove into the automotive community very heavily, I built a lot of connections and got to know a lot of people. Now I have a lot of resources for places to throw events, to get the word out, and people to kind of show me the way. I have a lot of mentors and support because of that. So just getting involved in whatever community it is that you're wanting to be part of is the most important thing you can do.

The biggest challenge is always funding. I'm not the type of person who likes asking people for money, so my biggest challenge is getting past the fear of putting myself out there to ask for funding. Another major challenge is just getting in the room with the right people and presenting myself in a way that looks professional enough to have these bigger companies take me seriously. It's about building that credibility and confidence to approach larger sponsors and convince them to support the program.