Mrs. Loida Lewis addressed young participants and entrepreneurs at the International Young Leaders Assembly at the United Nations on August 29.
Mrs. Lewis is a woman of many titles and descriptions: female, Filipino, attorney, successful, entrepreneur, widow of the late Reginald Lewis of TLC Beatrice International Holdings, former CEO and Chair of TLC Beatrice International Holdings, just to name a few. She is also a social change agent, philanthropist and mother.
To the young entrepreneurs, she offered practical and slightly unconventional advice for successful entrepreneurship.
- Inner Disposition
- Intelligent Money Management
- Wisdom or discernment
INNER DISPOSITION
She told the audience, “You create your own heaven or hell by your own mental attitude and code of conduct.” She told the participants that they need honesty, integrity, reliability and trustworthiness as a leader and entrepreneur.
At the same time, she encouraged participants to take charge of their situations and aim for big possibilities. “If you can think it, it can happen,” she said.
INTELLIGENT MONEY MANAGEMENT
Simply put, Mrs. Lewis told participants, “You need to know how to count.” She said one needs to be able to calculate net balance and be responsible with funds. A person who makes $1,000 but spends $1200 doesn’t know how to count. Living beyond one’s means, Mrs. Lewis warned, often leads to debt and failure.
She also encouraged youth participants to plan for the future, save 10%, and also tithe to one’s church or favorite charity. Sharing the wealth that has been granted, she said, is a form of humility and responsibility for others.
WISDOM AND DISCERNMENT
Wisdom, she told the audience point blank, comes from God, a Higher Power. She urged participants to “develop your relationship with the higher being everyday” through prayer and meditation, in the same consistency as one would invests in relationships with friends and families.
Mrs. Lewis, told IYLA participants, “We are the arms and feet of God, we have to do the work.” As she often says in her motivational talks and interviews, “To whom much is given, much is required.”
Mrs. Lewis emphasized the need for personal responsibility and moral responsibility towards others. Success, pointed out, is not a simple measure of net worth, but about the legacy that we leave behind
