Invisible No More: How The Student Least Likely to Succeed Became a CEO and Global Authority on Anti-Corruption
Hello, friends! 👋🏾👋🏼👋 Hopefully, your week has been off to a great start. Let’s build on that momentum. You can start by subscribing to Generation Si!
Now, I want to share with you the story of Susana Sierra. She's a Latina who went from being virtually invisible as a student to becoming an authority in a male-dominated industry. From her experiences, you’ll learn the following:
🌴 How bad grades don’t seal your fate
🌴 Why being good at just one thing can be enough of a confidence boost to change your future
🌴 How it's possible to find a niche, create a product and then find many ways to demonstrate and expand your authority on the subject.
🌴 Ladies and gentlemen, this is Susana Sierra, the CEO and co-founder of BH Compliance.
CHALLENGE PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS OF YOU
I had to ask.
After all, I don’t meet too many women fighting corruption in companies.
Isn’t it dangerous? Is Susana Sierra, the CEO of BH Compliance, ever afraid?
“I talk a lot without being afraid. But then my family, especially my husband, told me, be careful. Be careful about what you’re saying.”
Then, again, Sierra has never really done what people expected.
Heck, she says she was pretty much invisible for most of her childhood in Chile.
“I think that I did a lot of things, maybe to prove [to] the world, to prove even [to] my family or my friends or my teachers, that I can do something. Because I spent the first 15 years of my life without being noticed.”
THE TIP JAR (tips provided courtesy of Susana Sierra)
STARTING OUT: “Do something that is solving a real problem.” Sierra says you should focus on something where you have a “competitive advantage.”
“Don’t be afraid of failing because you need to fail, sometimes, to really get to the point and to do something really different.”
STEEPED IN SKILLS (mid-career): “They can’t put all the eggs in the same basket…” Sierra says that’s because a person at this stage already has responsibilities (kids, spouse, house, expenses, etc.), so there’s more at stake.
So, Sierra recommends, at this stage, you “try to move on when you have something in hand. Something that you are sure is going to work. Try to prove your product… when you still have [a] salary.”
“They have a lot of experience, so they really have a competitive advantage to do something that differentiates them [from] others. And that is also very important for investors, for example, that are looking for companies to invest [in].”
STARTING OVER: “It’s never ‘starting over.’”
“I think you need to know yourself very well… These are my advantages. These are… the things that I don’t do too [well].”
If you choose to have a business partner, “you need to look for people that can be a complement of you.”
“When you have a family, this is not just about you. This is about your family… You are involving them in that. And it’s very important to talk with them. Because, if not, it’s like you are walking [into] a divorce.”
I’LL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN: “When I opened the company in the U.S., I spent a lot of years analyzing the market.”
Sierra thinks she waited too long to make the move because she was afraid. She says it was “because it’s a really big market.”
Looking back, she thinks she should have made the jump “maybe three [or] four years ago, not just last year.”
BEST ADVICE FROM “LA CASA”/BEST “HOUSE” ADVICE: “If I need to choose one, it’s ‘dream big.’”
She says her dad inspired her to dream big, especially when she started her company. Sierra says, “He [was] the one always pushing me to do more.”
ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
“I was, like, at the end of the classroom, just alone with really bad grades. But nobody really tried to do something different.”
That was until the eighth grade when a math teacher recognized Sierra’s potential in math and gave her the confidence she'd been searching for her whole life.
EVEN IF IT’S JUST ONE AREA WHERE YOU EXCEL, SEIZE ON IT FOR MAXIMUM MOMENTUM
At first, Sierra kept doing poorly in all the other courses. Except math.
And that was the difference.
Because once she believed she was good at something, even just that one subject, things started changing.
Sierra would tell herself, “Okay, now I have math. And, then, I start[ed] doing great in other courses.”
She was able to turn things around and ended up graduating college with an MBA.
Then, she was offered a job at a well-known, multinational corporation.
Susana Sierra, CEO & Co-founder of BH Compliance
CORPORATE LIFE = STABILITY & RELATIVE PREDICTABILITY
ENTREPRENEURSHIP = INSTABILITY & UNPREDICTABILITY
Everyone around her told her, “Oh, you are very lucky because you [got] this job. And they have all your life prepared.”
They actually did.
Her first day on the job, she was assigned a mentor of sorts who mapped out her future at the company. “You need to go to marketing first. Then to sales. Then to product. And, then, after that, you can be a manager and then a director… Then, you can go to another country and then come back.”
To most people, what could be better? It was job security.
To Sierra, not much could be worse.
She said to herself, “I don’t want this.”
She didn’t want a life of predictability.
“BORING” CAN, SOMETIMES, BE WORTH A SECOND LOOK
When her father told her about a new law requiring companies to have compliance programs to prevent corruption, she told her dad, “This is so boring.”
But she agreed to write a business plan on it, anyway.
Reaction from companies was less than enthusiastic when she pitched the product, especially from the many family-owned businesses in Chile.
Business owners would tell her, “This law is not for me because I’m not corrupt”.
“I don’t need to do anything because we are good people.”
“We are very ethical.”
And that’s when she fell in love with anti-corruption.
BECOME AN EXPERT IN SOMETHING & THEN FIND EVERY AVENUE FOR EXPANDING YOUR INFLUENCE
Sierra was determined to change minds.
And she did.
But the first four years, she says revenues were "really bad." So much so that her business partner decided to leave the company.
Still, she persevered.
Eventually, she gained traction and then the sales followed.
Sierra didn’t just start the company helping owners comply with regulations to fight bribery and other corruption.
Susana with the BH Compliance team
She spread her reach.
She also created a university certification program for anti-corruption in Chile and Peru.
Sierra started doing seminars, which have now turned into webinars.
And she also co-wrote a book about corruption and bad business practices. The book is called "Corrupción A La Carta: Las Malas Practicas Sobre La Mesa."
Susana co-authored a book on corruption and bad business practices
EMBRACE FEAR - SOMETIMES, EVEN SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE FEEL AFRAID
And then she decided she wanted to come to the United States.
Sierra admits she spent way too many years doing market research, instead of just jumping into the U.S. market.
YOUR DECISIONS MAY NOT MAKE SENSE TO OTHERS & THAT’S OK
Again, people told her she was crazy. Some people in Chile even told her, “How are you doing this to your family? How are you moving them, if they are [doing well] here?”
Susana makes the move to Florida with her family
And that’s precisely why Sierra did it.
“Because everything was so perfect and comfortable.”
She needed a challenge, an adrenaline rush.
WE “ALL” STRUGGLE AT TIMES
It hasn’t been easy.
Especially for someone used to media attention and sales just rolling in from her reputation in the field.
Susana making a name for herself in the media/Courtesy: RPP Noticias
Sierra thought she’d be ringing up sales in the first month.
She’s now gone almost eight months without making a sale in the U.S.
STRUGGLE = GROWTH
But that hasn’t gotten her down.
“I had the time to really understand the product, modify the product. I didn’t really think, before coming here, that I was going to need to modify the product for this market.”
She added more technology to the product, including blockchain.
“And now I’m ready to start selling…. Now, I need to knock [on] doors again. And I’m really excited about that.”
From becoming a world authority on anti-corruption to being named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum to being a panelist for the IV CEO Summit of the Americas, this is how a girl found her way.
Susana serving as a panelist at the IV CEO Summit of the Americas/Courtesy: CEO Summit of the Americas
KEEP ‘EM GUESSING!
Even now, she says former classmates in her WhatsApp chat group are amazed.
“They still can’t believe it. And they say, 'Why you? Because you were the bad one in school.'”
And, so, Susana Sierra wonders what would’ve happened if that one math teacher hadn’t believed that she could be good at something.
INDUSTRY: Compliance (Anti-corruption)
STARTED BUSINESS:
2011 (in Chile)
2021 (in U.S.)
LATINO/HISPANIC CONNECTION:
Born in Chile
Parents were born in Chile
EDUCATION:
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – Master’s degree in Business Administration
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – Bachelor’s degree in Business
DREAM JOB AS A KID: “I wanted to be an actress. But I don’t know why because I was very shy…”
BIGGEST GOAL YET: “Make companies… understand they have a role in preventing corruption.”
Sierra then talked about ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria. The criteria represent a set of standards companies follow in demonstrating they act responsibly.
She says, “All the companies are getting stuck [on] the "E" [in ESG] because [of the] environment and climate change and everything. But I think the "G" should be the first letter… because companies need to start with governance…"
Sierra believes that if companies started with the "G", they'd be more focused on their values, purpose and anti-corruption practices. Then, she says, "We could have a really different world."
Susana expanding her reach as a guest speaker/Courtesy: CEO Summit of the Americas
NO NEED TO GO IT ALONE
HELP ON THE OUTSIDE...because we can all use a helping hand:
BUSINESS FUNDING – THE LATEST OPTIONS AVAILABLE
Many companies took advantage of COVID-related funding. If you’re wondering what other types of business funding programs are available, this FREE webinar will guide you on options ranging from SBA (Small Business Administration) loans to factoring. Here are more details:
U.S. SBA
“Post-COVID Business Funding”
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
12:00 p.m. EDT – 12:45 p.m. EDT
Virtual Webinar
FREE
WORKING ON THE INSIDE...because we know our culture has a hard time asking for help:
DOES SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP GO WITH YOUR CHARACTER?
I thought this webinar would be good for those of you trying to decide if becoming a small business owner is a good fit for your type of mindset and skillset. This workshop looks at the personal characteristics and thinking of successful entrepreneurs. Details are below:
SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) Orlando
“Should I Own a Small Business?”
Saturday, July 16, 2022
9:30 a.m. EDT – 11:30 a.m. EDT
Online Webinar
FREE
https://orlando.score.org/event/should-i-own-small-business-18
INSPIRATION FOR THIS ISSUE:
It seems such a cliché that one person can make a difference.
But it’s true.
I think of how many kids give up on themselves because they, like Susana Sierra, go unnoticed.
Her math teacher really turned her life around.
At first, she admits she clung to that one thing she was told she could do well – math.
But that was enough to unleash her potential.
Susana mentioned to me that this feeling of “being invisible” can happen in different stages of your life.
She’s right.
Few people have a linear career.
At any stage, a person can have a “breakthrough” after many years of a dry spell.
Frequently, it’s set into motion because someone else actually took the time to care. They went deeper and recognized the, perhaps, not-so-obvious talent or contribution that someone else made.
And then they stuck their neck out to make other people aware of it.
In other words, they helped a fellow human being.
I really believe we have all been helped by someone else.
Who have you helped elevate lately?
As Susana Sierra has shown us, it can completely change the trajectory of someone’s life.
It changed her life.
Susana participated in the Endeavor Miami ScaleUp Program for her business
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