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Insider Tips from the Pocket Mentor: Be a Learner

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Vince Reardon, author of The Pocket Mentor: Insider Tips from America’s Most Successful People, is back to share more great advice. Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned the importance of being yourself, having compassion, and being for others. This week, Vince explores the third most talked about piece of advice in his book: be a learner.

The people in my book love to leap out of bed in the morning, learn something new, then share it with others. A number of these people encouraged him to explore the world, that life is a mystery to be explored. It was invigorating to hear these people repeating these things over and over again.

In this week’s Insider Tips from the Pocket Mentor, Vince shares an example of how one person he met embodies how to truly be a learner. That person is Dr. Victoria Hale, founder of two nonprofits, One World Health and Medicines 360.

What’s unique about Hale is that she was working at Genentech and dreamed of creating the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company. The words “non profit” and “pharmaceutical company” don’t usually go together, but she had a dream of founding such a company. In order to be successful, she had to learn a lot.

Hale took a 2-year sabbatical and studied the issue of global health. She asked, “where is there a need for an organization like mine?” She discovered that there is a huge demand in the developing world to combat infectious diseases.

Once she discovered the area in which her business would focus, she had to learn how to raise money for the organization. She was lucky enough to receive a small grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to start her company.

From there she learned how to run an organization. She found a mentor who was interested in her vision and he agreed to mentor her and help her become a CEO.

Finally, she had to learn how to effectively spend the $1 million she raised from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. She partnered with doctors and researchers in India and she has since gotten drugs approved and in circulation. After learning of her success, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation granted her an additional $150 million for One World Health.

Hale is just one great example of how being a learner can lead to great successes. Watch the video to hear more about her journey.


Stay tuned to Insider Tips from the Pocket Mentor each week to hear more about varying topics from the variety of people in Vince’s book, The Pocket Mentor: Insider Tips from America’s Most Successful People.

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