On this episode of The Small Business Radio Show…
Segment 1 with Ed Hajim starts at 0:00.
I am always amazed about the resiliency of people in their lives and their companies.
At the age of 3, Ed Hajim is kidnapped by his father, driven cross-country, and told his mother is dead. He presses his face against the car window, watches the miles pass and wonders where life will take him. In a memoir filled with human drama, wisdom and timeless life lessons, “On The Road Less Travelled: An Unlikely Journey from the Orphanage to the Boardroom” tells the improbable story of how Hajim bounced from foster homes to orphanages, in a daily struggle to survive, to living the American dream as an accomplished Wall Street executive and model family man with great moral fiber and the means to give back to a world that seemed intent on rejecting him.
Ed served as a senior executive at such firms as E.F. Hutton, Lehman Brothers, Furman Selz and other financial institutions, regularly transforming fledgling operations into profitable growth machines. In 2008, after 20 years as a trustee of the University of Rochester, Hajim began an eight-year tenure as chairman of the university’s board. Upon assuming that office he gave the school $30 million—the largest single donation in its history—to support scholarships and endow the Edmund A. Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. In 2015, he received the Horatio Alger Award, given to Americans who exemplify the values of initiative, leadership, and commitment to excellence and who have succeeded despite personal adversities.
We talked about:
- Overcoming adversity and resilience in the face of challenges.
- The impact of childhood trauma, including being kidnapped and living in foster care.
- The role of mentorship in personal and professional development.
- The importance of taking responsibility for one’s life choices.
Segment 2 with Kendryah Smith starts at 18:48.
When it comes to digital marketing, what statistics do I need to be looking at?
Kendryah Smith, known as Marketing Minded Mama, is the CEO and co-founder of Re.Direct, a pioneering platform that empowers individuals to create and grow successful online businesses. With a background in digital marketing and e-commerce, Kendryah transformed her own side hustle into a thriving enterprise while raising three young children.
Here is what we talked about:
- The concept of “life design” and its application in education.
- The significance of not adopting a victim mentality.
- Strategies for success in digital marketing and entrepreneurship.
- The importance of authenticity and trust in building a business.
- Insights on creating effective content and utilizing social media for marketing.
