Living Entrepreneurship Blog / Babson Entrepreneurs

Takeaways from the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs

The following post is from Fifi Shi ’18, a Butler Venture Accelerator team member.

As the kickoff event Babson’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, an induction ceremony was held November 12 for the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs, the world’s first entrepreneurship hall of fame. Two new entrepreneurship were honored for their outstanding business accomplishments and their contributions towards society. This year’s inductees were Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Founder & CEO of the International Culinary Center and Doug Rauch, Past President of Trader Joe’s, Founder of Daily Table, and CEO of Conscious Capitalism.

Doug Rauch, 2015 ADE Honoree

Doug Rauch, 2015 ADE Honoree

Dorothy Cann Hamilton, 2015 ADE Honoree

Dorothy Cann Hamilton, 2015 ADE Honoree

The two inductees shared their wisdom and lesson learned throughout their entrepreneurial journeys during the ceremony. Here are some highlights:

  • You need to love what you are doing or everything will not work.
  • Always ready for luck and size it. Don’t forget to appreciate the luck you’ve got when you are successful.
  • We have to stretch ourselves outside our comfort zone and try to adapt ourselves to trend.
  • Team is really important. The purpose of the team is to keep good leaders together.
  • You need to learn how to use your network.
  • Trust yourself and don’t stop trying.
  • Learn from failures and understand why you are failing.
  • Constantly learn new knowledge and share with your team.

These were some enlightening thoughts we learned from the two inductees. After listening to their stories, we received these tips on how should we face the challenges in the future. Next step? Find something you really LOVE to do, find a great team and try to take action.