Alexandra Fine is the CEO of a multimillion-dollar business, but most mornings, she doesn’t feel successful.
Fine launched sexual wellness brand Dame in 2014, when she was 26.She and her co-founder Janet Lieberman, an MIT-educated mechanical engineer, wanted to design vibrators that would help bridge “Happiness Gap”.“
While Fine never dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur, she did know she wanted to spend her career talking about sex. In 2011, she earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Columbia University and aspired to become a sex therapist.
But after volunteering for Planned Parenthood and the Red Cross, Fine realized she didn’t just want to hear about people’s problems with their sex lives—she wanted to give them the tools to help them in the bedroom happier.
Fast forward 10 years and Dame has raised over $15 million in funding and sold over 1.6 million units, According to the data From Pitchbook and Dame. Dame debuted the chic vibrator at Target earlier this year.
However, Fine, 35, said she was not satisfied with her achievement. “I don’t really feel successful,” she said. “I always think I can do more, or be better at certain things.”
Fine added that success is an often misunderstood concept, with many thinking it’s all about “money, control and power”.
During her decade-long career as an entrepreneur and current CEO, Fine has discovered that certain beliefs about success are not only wrong, but can damage your career and self-esteem.
Fine says you should ignore these three biggest myths about success:
successful people work long hours
“Executive coaches and millionaires are always talking about one thing we can control is how much time we put in at work: if you put in twice as much time, you’re more likely to be successful because you’ve worked two as many times as your competitors. I think that’s crazy – logically there is some truth to that statement, but it’s never been my experience.
For me, the success of a week at Dame has nothing to do with how many hours of work I put in, it has to do with the intention and energy I put into those hours. Your intentions, focus, and attitude will always have a greater impact on your success than your timeline. “
Successful people wake up before 6 a.m.
“In my opinion, whoever comes up with the phrase ‘the early bird gets the worm’ is dead wrong.
I love reading about the habits of successful people, and one thing that always amazes me is the variety of their responses. The main image of success is the CEO of a tech company waking up to meditate and run a mile before 6am. But if you look at the day-to-day lives of other accomplished professionals such as artists, musicians, and other creatives, many of them say they sleep in!
Or, they work their best outside of the traditional 9-5 schedule and wake up late as a result. Sometimes success means doing nothing until 1pm, if that’s when your mind is most alert. ”
Successful people only need one breakthrough
“Most people think that being an entrepreneur is all about having a great idea. To start something new you need to have a great idea, but more importantly how scalable the idea is, how to market it, and your backup What is the plan in case things don’t go well.
You’ll make more money if you think beyond just one good idea. I won’t sugarcoat it, being an entrepreneur can be very tough, and very intense. There are highs and lows.
But I think everyone should at least try to be an entrepreneur in their career because you can learn a lot – even if you realize it’s not for you, figuring out what you don’t want from your job is still A wonderful, rewarding experience. Profession. “
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