Book Review
For all those woman entrepreneurs who are battling with the challenge of how to deal with the naysayers in life and business, Cynthia Nelson’s book, I Didn't Get Here by Taking NO for An Answer, is one to both inspire and learn from. This is an autobiographical story of Cynthia’s journey as an entrepreneur and her mindset of overcoming adversity and turning "no" into "yes." She shares her personal story of being told "no" many times but never letting it define her or limit her potential. She illustrates the importance of controlling one's own thoughts and energy, and not waiting for others to validate their dreams. At the end of the day, Cynthia encourages women to create their own "yes" and take control of their lives.
In I Didn't Get Here by Taking NO for An Answer, Cynthia Nelson takes readers on her own personal journey to becoming an entrepreneur, and it is not the conventional story. She starts by sharing how she dealt with all the people who told her her NO, and how she needed to discover her own Why in life. Like many women entrepreneurs, it led to a journey of finding and developing her gift, and using that gift as the starting point for a journey into business. She shares how she overcame her own fears about becoming an entrepreneur, and did it anyway, building her team of fellow women supporters along the way. Above all, Cynthia shares how she learned, both in life and business, to not take NO for an answer, and to keep persevering until she achieved her goal.
Author Quotes
“To all the women out there who’ve been told, “No, you can’t do it. No, you’re not good enough.”, you can do anything you want. If I can do it, you can too!”
“My success as an entrepreneur came after 24 years of failures, a couple of successes, and bucket loads of grit.”
“My dream was one of financial independence and early retirement. Business owner was not in the dream. Entrepreneur was not in the dream. In fact, entrepreneur was not even a word back then.”
About the author
Cynthia Nelson is a seasoned executive search professional with over 20 years of experience. She is the founder and president of NexGen Search Solutions, a boutique executive search firm that specializes in finding the right people for the right roles using a proprietary model that Cynthia developed that delivers top tier candidates consistently at half the cost of traditional search companies. Cynthia is known for her ability to understand her clients' needs and identify the best candidates to meet those needs. She is also skilled at building relationships and creating a positive experience for both her clients and candidates. Cynthia has placed hundreds of executives in a variety of industries, including technology, finance, healthcare, and consumer products. In addition to her work in executive search, Cynthia is also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She is a member of the National Association of Female Executives and the Society for Human Resource Management. She is also a frequent speaker on the topic of diversity and inclusion. Cynthia is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a degree in history.
Why LoA loves it…
Cynthia Nelson is a great example of a woman entrepreneur who has had to learn from experience and the school of hard knocks about how to succeed in life and business, despite all the NOs and those who have doubted her. In this highly personal book, she shares how she became an entrepreneur, how she overcame all the challenges along the way, and harnessed all the doubt to forge her own path. Today, she knows how to get what she wants and needs for her clients and for her own business. She will always find a way over, under, around or through any obstacle or person who stands in her way. She simply does not take no for an answer. Instead, she questions, listens, learns, empathizes and funds the tunnel that will get the job done. There are some great lessons to learn in Cynthia’s book for any woman entrepreneur who needs to get over and around all the NOs they hear in their own lives and businesses. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa