Three years ago, during our Series A, I was talking to a lot of people I didn’t know and a lot of people who didn’t know me. And I turned down everyone who wanted to invest with a board seat as a prerequisite.
This is highly unusual; Everyone will tell you when you’re raising money that you can’t say no until you’ve already achieved great success.
But my goal, which I have achieved since then, was to build the fastest-growing American whiskey brand in history. No one had done what I wanted to do, so I knew it wasn’t going to happen on someone’s advice.
When that process resumed with subsequent funding round, I had lunch with one of my investors, Helen Johnson-Leopold, to see if she felt I needed to add a formal board. It was a powerful woman-to-woman moment. When I shared with him how I’d build Nearest Uncle, he said, “No board.”
“The only reason you leave is that there’s no one to slow you down,” she said. “You’ll know when it’s time to add aboard.”
I am not a royal leader; It’s important for me to be democratic with my team, and I often seek advice, especially from my phenomenal group of mentors. I also spend a lot of time with investors, building my trust in myself, and being open and transparent with what I’m doing and I believe it’s helping the company grow. But there’s a difference between taking advice and being forced to take advice, and that’s the piece I should avoid.
Every time I walked away with the money, the company still grew, which gave me the confidence to say no more often. Now, in my industry, in the investment community, and in my company, I am known to say no with zero regret and absolute confidence. The more success I get, the fewer questions I will get.
I know saying no is not always easy; Often when I do, I can feel my back or neck tightening. Rest assured, some time passes and you get relief again.
My ability to set these boundaries has had a profound effect on the way I allocate my time. I’ve been running a company that has experienced triple-digit growth rates for 11 consecutive quarters and employee growth rates of over 1,000 percent for three consecutive years. Everything that pops up on my calendar should be deemed HBU: the highest and best use of my time. And HBU, for me, goes back to this: Is this activity inviting me to grow my brand or company? If the answer is no, then the answer is no.
Each leader of my team, when requesting my time, includes a variation: “That’s why I believe it’s HBU for you.” By having them go through this process and determine whether the activity or request is a priority, naturally eliminates unproductive calls, meetings, and incidents.
A big part of being able to say no is letting go. Early in my career, I was a control freak. I came to the conclusion that if I want to do something right, I have to do it myself. I was proud to work 18 hours a day. The more mature I became as a leader, the more foolish I concluded from that point of view. I have a different rule now: If someone else can, I allow them. In this context, the most important thing I had to learn to say no was to myself.
Often, if I say no, it turns people off because women are generally not known to do this. In fact, I’ve often heard other women repeat the old adage that you can catch more flies with honey. Well, I’m not interested in flies, or in the things they are often attracted to.
While this may seem counterintuitive, I have found that people most respect those who are prepared to give them a well-reasoned, even, at times, correct yes. for. So don’t say without fear. Say no and let the chips fall where they can. You know your goal and what you need to do to achieve it, and only you are responsible for achieving it.
