What advice would you give to your younger self at the beginning of your career?

Lee

“Embrace a mindset of lifelong learning and try to cultivate a genuine curiosity. It’s so important to ask questions and remain open to learning from everyone you encounter, whether they are interns, colleagues, or mentors. Each interaction and connection presents an opportunity for growth and improvement. Oh, and also, don’t worry so much. It will all work out in the end.”

Régine Biscoe Lee
Principal
RBL & Associates

Artero

“Surround yourself with people that you want to be like. You find yourself in situations where you’re hanging around people your age and they’re kind of just floating around and don’t know what they’re doing in regard to their careers, or you can surround yourself with those people who are established and can add a lot of value to your career.”

James Artero
General manager
International Sports Center

Borja

“Do not be prideful. Follow through with your education for your own self-worth, not because you are pressured to. Take advantages of all opportunities presented to you, even if it means leaving home and gaining experience in the United States or other countries.”

Rena Borja
Realtor, Buena Vista Realty
Retired Controller, GHURA & Port Authority of Guam
Retired Financial Analyst, IBM

Crisostomo

“There will always be more office work than you can accomplish in a day. Focus on spending more time with customers and employees.  These are the real drivers of the business.”

Robbi Crisostomo
General manager of Cycles Plus LLC
Vice president and general manager of Harley-Davidson of Guam

Cruz

“Scared money don’t make money; 100% of the bad decisions I’ve made or opportunities I’ve lost have been because I was overthinking. I’d say, when times get tough is when your faith will be tested the most, but best believe that God will help see you through.”

Joaquin Cruz
El Capitan
Shut Up & Fish Guam Inc.

Seid

“First, I would tell myself to value relationships. As you grow you realize that business success becomes more likely to happen when you have trust and long-term relationships. If I were to start again, I would make sure some of the very quality people that I had met, I would have worked harder to preserve those relationships … Everybody has value, and every relationship is special and when you put them together you have a constellation (that can) help guide you to your destination.

Second, take notes. Don’t rely on your own memory. Notes help you remember what you did or said and why. Your notes can help you see, or realize, the constellation of people and ideas that maybe you didn’t see in the middle of that meeting. You can go back to your notes and see clearly now that you’ve had some time to think about the discussion in the context of other discussions.

You have to be OK with saying no. You have to remember; everybody has value yes but not everyone shares your values and your vision. Learn to read who is real and who is not, and then make a decision. And when you do be kind and be nice, but you have to be able to say no when it’s important. Say no and move on.”

Alan R. Seid
Chairman and CEO
Mid Corp., and owner and chairman of Pacific Gateway