By Amilya Antonetti
I’m often asked in interviews what I think my greatest strength is. People are usually surprised when I answer that I believe it is my willingness to accept the help of people who have gone father than I... and my passion to guide those just getting started.
Fourteen years after the birth of my son (the inspiration behind Soapworks), I have been granted so many amazing opportunities to meet and work with some of the most influential entrepreneurs of our time and touch the lives of tens of thousands of people through my products as well as my speaking and books. Yet each day I get out of bed with the same humble perspective as I did the day I first heard my newborn gasp for breath, and knew I needed to do something. My firm belief is that has been the key to my own success and may be the missing piece to the success of many other entrepreneurs.
Along my entrepreneurial path public relations was a vital key to the success of my business. When I started my company I hardly had the money to pay employees let alone do a professional advertising campaign. However, the willingness of the media to allow a mom with baby in tow to appear on TV and radio and tell her story, in spite of the controversy I created with some of the largest consumer products companies in the world was one of the biggest reasons for the ground swell of consumer activism I created and the popularity of Soapworks.
Flash forward years later after the growth or Soapworks and my choices to sell the company, have another child and entrepreneurially rethink my future in the process. It was May of this past year and I got a call for the producers of the Big Idea who wanted me to tell my story of founding Soapworks for a segment on finding millions in your kids. To be frank I was at first hesitant because I was focused on my newborn and not talking about my old company, but having been a fan of Donny’s for years and the sincerity of the producers, made it easy for me to quickly make the decision to fly across the country, baby in tow to be on the show on short notice.
On the red eye to New York I reviewed my countless highlights and dogeared pages of Donny’s book, “Often Wrong Never in Doubt” and reminded myself of some of the many lessons I pulled from it and the inspiration it offered me at the time when I was saying goodbye to Soapworks. I thought about my own journey again and realized the universe was opening up again offering me an opportunity to jump.
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