Exclusive Interview with Rich Woman's Kim Kiyosaki

From Rags to Riches

You may have heard of Kim Kiyosaki from one of her numerous speaking engagements, investment events or television appearances.

Or perhaps, you know of her through her famous husband, Robert Kiyosaki? He’s the well-known entrepreneur, investor and author of the “Rich Dad” books.

Before you jump to any conclusions, know that Kim married Robert prior to his fame and fortune. In fact, she was a very successful advertising executive operating a top, Honolulu magazine and the owner of a clothing company with national distribution.

Then, Kim hit hard times when she sold everything she had to build a company teaching entrepreneurial business with Robert in Southern California. Within two months, they lost all their money and even had to sleep in their old, beat-up car. But enough was enough. Kim took action and grew the business to eleven offices in seven countries, reaching tens of thousands of seminar attendees.

In 1989, Kim created a real estate company, which now buys, sells and manages millions of dollars in property. Today, Kim is a self-made millionaire, sought-after speaker, television and radio talk show guest, the host of a PBS “Rich Woman” show, and a columnist for WomanEntrepreneur.com. Using a lifetime of business, real estate and investing experience, she is passionate about providing financial education to women through her international brand, Rich Woman, www.richwoman.com. 

I recently caught up with Kim for an interview, and here’s what she had to say:

What is the biggest obstacle you had to overcome to become the successful entrepreneur, speaker and philosopher you are today, and how did you overcome that obstacle?

When I look back on the biggest mistakes I’ve made, they seem to come down to the same common denominator… not trusting myself. I didn’t trust my gut.

Let’s say you’re looking to hire someone, and his or her résumé is great, and everything looks good, but there is this little blip in your mind – a little red flag that goes off, and something is not right there. You think, it must be me. Look at how good the résumé of this person is! It must be me. And sure enough, down the road, you find that this person is stealing money from the company…

Whether it’s business or investing, whenever I get to that point, and I see this red flag, I’m now paying attention to it… so the obstacle was not paying attention to it.

And part of this came from also thinking that people were a lot smarter than I was. That people, because they had the credentials, knew more than I did. I guess this is an obstacle I think a lot of entrepreneurs face because the “people” part is the hardest part of growing your business. Business would be easy if it wasn’t for people.

If you’re starting your entrepreneurial endeavor, you’ve got to have the passion and the drive, and you’ve got to be totally in love with what you’re doing. As you grow, it’s up to you to keep that entrepreneurial spirit alive.

And another obstacle I had to overcome was the fear of public speaking. Just to get up on stage was terrifying to me. But I trained and got coaching. If you know you need to do something as an entrepreneur in order to succeed, you do it.  

Many people are afraid to pursue their business dreams in today’s economy. What tips do you have to help them overcome their fears?

Because of the economy, now could be the best time to start a business. Because so many people are afraid, there’s more money. You look at the statistics on the Great Depression, and more millionaires/billionaires were made at that time, rather than the high time, so it’s the down economy where you can really spot some great opportunities and take advantage of them.

To overcome fears, start with a little bit of education. You’ve got to learn what it takes to start a business You’ve got to have a great product, but if you don’t understand marketing, sales, cash flow, internal systems of a business, and how to manage people, your business probably will not succeed.

If I were starting out today, I would take some workshops or classes from entrepreneurs to learn what it takes to start a business and then start. Just take a step.

When you talk to women across the country, what are the main issues you see that they are having right now?

I see fear, lack of knowledge, and not having a supportive partner. The statistics show that if you start a business, and your spouse or partner does not support your endeavors, your chance of success is zero.

There is nothing worse than a bad relationship. Entrepreneurs must have the support of their partner. And it can just be verbal support. They don’t have to be involved in the business, but just knowing that their partner supports what they’re doing is important.

Do you have some insights you would like to share on successful time-management?

My time management is not very good. I’m not disciplined in that respect so I surround myself with detailed people, and I trick myself.

For example, I have another book coming out, and in order to finish it on time, we’ve announced a publish date to Publisher’s Weekly, and our distributor is online selling it to bookstores. I’m committed to it. And there are people counting on me to deliver, so I have to deliver.

With time management, it’s so easy for women to get distracted with all the things they’ve got going on. But at some point, whatever is most important, you’ve got to carve out that time. It’s also really helpful to have coaches. My coaches help me stay accountable and on time. They are really valuable, and we have coaches for a lot of different part of our lives.

What is the best piece of business advice you ever received and why?

This goes along the same line as coaches. Make sure you have people smarter than you around. If I am the smartest person, then I’m in trouble because I always have to come up with the ideas. And the job of an entrepreneur is not to solve problems, it is to create problems so that the rest of your team can solve the problems.

Really good entrepreneurs have very creative and competent people around them who can solve problems. And this brings out the brilliance in these people because no one is telling them what to do. They can create and take ownership. This creates an exciting environment.

The other piece of advice around people is to choose your partners wisely. If you’re going to bring a partner into your business, somebody once told me two things:

Number one, never bring on a partner that needs the money because then he or she will be doing it for the money. And the decisions that they make about the business will be what’s going to give them the most money instead of what’s best for the business.

The second thing is, never make a partner of somebody where you can buy his or her services in the marketplace. A partner should bring something unique to your business that is very difficult to find elsewhere. If you can buy it in the marketplace, then buy it. A lot of people start a business because they don’t have the money and partner with others who really shouldn’t be partners.

What tips do you have for reaching goals and getting through the tough times in life?

Goals are huge for me. Every year, Robert and I sit down and we do our goals. And we do them together as a couple, and then we have our individual goals.

They’re really important because the goals are what drive me and keep me on task. We’ve been through a lot of tough times in the last few years. And Donald Trump once told me that the bottom line is that you can tell how successful a person will be by how they respond to adversity.

So if you go through a time, look at it and ask:

• What did I learn from this?

• How we can do it better?

• How can I grow my business as a result of this?

Figure out what you learned, and take the learning into the next successful endeavor.

I think adversity is probably one of the best teachers. I hate making the big mistakes. I hate having to go through the tough times. But all those tough times make you who you are. It builds your character.

Kim, thanks so much for taking the time to share your inspiration, insights and tips!

To get a copy of Kim’s book, “Rich Woman – A Book on Investing for Women” (one of the top 50 best-selling personal finance books of all time), check out her “Guide to Phenomenal Success” (GPS) system for reaching goals, and learn how to be more financially savvy, visit www.richwoman.com.

And if you need assistance boosting sales, awareness and credibility with small business public relations and SEO copywriting, please write to me here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.