This Entrepreneur Was Stuck . . . Until She Learned This Breakthrough Secret (Steal This Strategy!)

Hello fellow entrepreneurs! Today’s true story is about an entrepreneur who found great success, but only later in life, and only after finding a missing ingredient. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this quick tale.

Now this is one amazing entrepreneur. Started small, local success, and then …

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After she graduated from college, Martha Kostyra got a job at a brokerage house in Manhattan trading stocks. She quickly showed a knack for the business, standing out in the male-dominated office that was still the norm at the time.

Unfortunately, not long after she began, the market took a big hit and Kostyra had to rethink things. She decided to leave Wall Street, move back home to New England, and start her own small business – a catering company.

Her own venture

It turned out that she was gifted at this as well.

Her business grew steadily as she seemed to really have a knack for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. Known locally for her stylish parties and perfectly crafted tablescapes, she was talented but still largely unknown.

As her business grew, Kostyra’s life evolved as well, including a child and a divorce.

She wanted more.

As luck would have it, one evening while catering a dinner party in New York, she met a publisher who was intrigued by the idea of having Martha write a book. Being 41 at the time, she was both surprised and thrilled with the idea and a year later, in midlife, she had a nice little small business and a book to her name.

The book, “Entertaining,” was filled with ideas on how to make events beautiful and memorable. It brought her some local recognition . . . but that’s about all.

That moment . . . .

Then Martha Kostyra met Sharon Patrick and everything changed.

Sharon’s strategic mind, honed by her Harvard MBA, saw the untapped potential in Martha’s eye for beauty, obvious talent, and budding brand. Sharon knew how to grow companies and had the financial know-how to structure a business from the ground up.

In Martha, she saw great potential for the two of them.

So Martha and Sharon teamed up and built a business and brand that soon ventured into the big time - magazines, retail, even television; the whole being greater than the sum of the parts and all. Martha was the creative visionary and Sharon ran the nuts-and-bolts.

Today they run a billion dollar business.

And the name of that lifestyle empire that two middle-aged entrepreneurs bet on?

Martha Stewart Omnimedia.

The Takeaway:

In the great movie Rocky, Rocky Balboa explains his relationship with girlfriend Adrienne this way: “We fill gaps. She’s got gaps, I got gaps, we fill gaps.”

We all have gaps. The great entrepreneurs know what theirs are and look to surround themselves with people who fills their gaps. That’s exactly what Martha did.

Below are some great resources to help you do just that.

Steal This Strategy!

Nonprofit: SCORE: This is an incredible resource. Connect with a seasoned mentor who can help guide you through your entrepreneurial journey. SCORE offers free, confidential mentoring for small business owners across the U.S. Find your new teammate here.

Book: The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber - Learn why too many small businesses struggle, and discover the power of systems and partnerships in building a more fun, easier, more profitable business.

YouTube Channel: Startup Grind - Check out these interviews with business leaders on how they found the right partners, scaling from small businesses to household names.

Website: CoFoundersLab - Here’s where you can find a partner. CoFoundersLab is a networking platform that connects entrepreneurs with the right co-founders and business partners. Sweet!

Podcast: How I Built This by Guy Raz - In this great podcast, Raz interviews entrepreneurs about the breakthrough partnerships and strategies that helped build iconic brands. 

Bonus! Entertaining, by Martha Stewart.

Thank You!

A special thanks to all of you who are checking out our new newsletter - much appreciated. It will be coming to your inbox a few evenings a week. What we hope is to send you to bed inspired. Notes is both a work of love, and a work in progress, and so if you have any feedback you would like to share, please do. You can shoot Steve an email at [email protected].