8 Columbus Entrepreneurs Share Their Best Career Advice

The Columbus Young Professionals Club recently hosted a panel of local entrepreneurs to talk about “Unleashing Your Inner Entrepreneur” at Franklin University’s Ross Auditorium. The monthly morning networking event series brings together young professionals and creatives from around the city to learn from their peers and from local experts.

So we reached out to a few of their event panelists – and a handful of additional successful Columbus entrepreneurs – to answer the question: “What’s the best career advice you ever received?” Here is what they had to say!

“Ask for help.”

– Zachary Traxler, CEO & Founder at Traxler Printing

“Take care of your customers, employees, and community, and your business will thrive.”

– Adam Malone, Partner and VP of Market Supply at DOmedia

“Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from crossing the start line. And trust your instincts. Always.”

– Heather Whaling, Founder/President at Geben Communication

“The secret to growth is surrounding yourself with people you admire and want to learn from. Figure out where those people hang out, get your face in that room, and continue to put your face in that room. Eventually, those people will expect you to be in the same rooms they are, you’ll continue to get invited to these rooms, and you’ll become part of the crowd.”

– Jay Clouse, Founder of Unreal Collective

“If you feel scared, ask yourself ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ And when you play that worst-case-scenario out, it’s usually not that bad. So don’t be scared.”

– Nils Root, Owner of Bookbag Video

“Treat people well, enthusiasm and passion wins, strategy is important but execution matters more, we win as a team.”

– Ben Blanquera, Vice President of Delivery and Experience at Columbus Collaboratory

“Enter your career humble and hungry. Commit to a growth mindset and challenge yourself to self-reflect on how you can improve continuously. Learn how to mimic it before you master it, and then you can make it your own. Figure out how to manage up.”

– Jerry P. Tsai, Vice President at Acceptd Inc.

“Just Google it.”

– Claire Coder, Founder & CEO at Aunt Flow