You may be unfamiliar with Miki Agrawal, but chances are you’ve heard of Thinx period panties at least once within the past six months.
Her novel, Do Cool Sh*t: Quit Your Day Job, Start Your Own Business, and Live Happily Ever After, caught my eye while I was ascending the escalators up to the top floor of the Austin Convention Center for my first SXSW panel. Agrawal’s professional yet personable tone and meaty business insight was just what I needed to inspire me for the week.
Relentless in the pursuit of her dreams and never shying away from hard work, Agrawal was able to network her way to success. Her first company, a farm-to-table pizza joint named WILD, was inspired by a trip to France. The difference between hormone-free French cheese, which didn’t cause her lactose intolerance to flare up, and American cheese, which always caused her lactose intolerance to flare up, was enough to spark this bright idea. From there, she went on to open two more locations and used the space to start healthy initiatives within the community.
While her personal stories about starting her own companies are interwoven throughout the pages of this novel, she uses them as teaching tools to show readers the importance of a “mutual benefit” mindset. MB is the process in which you understand why your idea or business is beneficial to someone who can in turn be a benefit to you. According to Agrawal, the best way to win attention or score the support of a benefactor is through showing them how you can be of benefit to them.
For people looking to change their professional lives and incorporate more of what they love into their income-earning job, this how-to book is like a bible. Every chapter has new ideas and thoughts on what it takes to make it as your own businesswoman, with much of the focus around how you present your ideas and the kind of people you surround yourself with. In the final chapters she dives into personal matters and how to win in the arenas of love, health and mental well-being.
Her chapters, which are short, sweet and to the point, shed light on the question, “How can I get people on board with my passion project?” and offer great insight to young professionals looking to improve their communication and interpersonal skills in the matters of business.
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