Health and wellness is at the top of mind for many people. In fact, a survey found that 51% of Americans vowed to make health and wellness a top priority for 2020. However, according to the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, only 3% of Americans have all four healthy lifestyle characteristics, including being active, eating a healthy diet, being a non-smoker, and having a healthy body-fat percentage. It is clear that many neglect these lifestyle habits, which can translate over to professional life. Randal Gindi, a serial entrepreneur and investor from New York, believes that managing one’s health is vital to professional success.
After graduating from New York University with his Bachelor’s degree, Randal Gindi worked for his father’s retail business doing merchandising, buying, customer service, and marketing. Five years later when the business was sold, Mr. Gindi partnered with his brother to open a health and beauty aids store.
After getting a firm grasp on the retail industry, Randal Gindi pivoted his direction and began investing in a business that ran events for independent retailers looking to showcase their products. With his help, the business was eventually sold and Mr. Gindi moved on to pursue a business venture in mining as the owner and founder of Castle Peak. Due to a financial crisis in the European market, the funds unfortunately dried up, causing Randal to pivot once again. He invested in a cosmetics company in 2015 that continues to operate well. Today, Randal Gindi works with his brother to buy, own, and sell real estate. Randal is also the founder of Wallner Media Group, an entertainment and film production company.
Despite his wealth of experience and hectic schedule, Randal Gindi pursues a healthy work-life balance. He ensures he has dinner with his family every night and makes time to exercise.
What does it take to become a successful entrepreneur?
While I don’t believe there is necessarily a recipe for success, I do think that not everyone is destined to become an entrepreneur. Really, I believe it takes a willingness to both work hard and see it through whether your business will be successful or not. There are a lot of reasons why many new businesses fail within their first five years in business, but I personally think that one of the reasons is that new entrepreneurs are afraid to put in the work and get their hands dirty so they throw in the towel early instead of pivoting to see it through. It’s not going to be smooth sailing when you’re running a business, especially right at the onset. So, you have to be willing to deal with the hard situations, to be patient, and to try to see them through. But if your business does fail, pick yourself up and move on. Collecting experience is key.
Why is it important for businesses to have an online presence?
The marketing landscape for all businesses is changing. If you don’t have an online presence, you have nothing. People won’t know your business exists and if they do, unless they are a longstanding client, they won’t have total confidence in you. It is important to have an online presence to remain competitive and to cater to both your existing client base and new clients.
What is the key to managing multiple businesses at once?
Make sure that you hire people that you trust to oversee the day-to-day of each business for you. That way, you can sort of oversee everything going on without having to be multiple places at the same time. Once you have those people in charge, make sure you have daily or weekly check-ins with them to ensure everything is running smoothly and you can lend your expertise where necessary.
Why is it important to make health and wellness a priority?
In my mind, if you don’t have your health you have nothing. You can’t put forward the adequate amount of work if you don’t have a healthy body and mind. All in all, by making the time to make health and wellness a priority, you’ll be more well-rounded and it helps set you up for success in all other areas of your life.
How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?
For me personally, I make time for exercise and to have dinner with my family every night. It helps me set boundaries and find that divide between work and life. Now for many people, they are working from home instead of working in the office so those lines are becoming more blurred. Stick to the rituals you had before the pandemic. I still make time for the things that are important to me while dedicating the adequate time for work.
What keeps you motivated?
At the end of the day, everything that I do, I do for my family. Being able to support them and care for them keeps me motivated. And sticking to my routine of having dinner as a family every night is motivation for me to work hard and accomplish enough during the day so that I can see them and switch off my work email to give them my undivided attention.
What are the biggest challenges facing new entrepreneurs?
I think the most obvious answer is that new entrepreneurs lack experience. Experience helps you build your career and you learn a lot in the process. When you walk away from one business, you take a lesson with you in the process that will guide you for the future. If you’re a new entrepreneur with a lack of experience in the business world, you haven’t learned those lessons. In that regard, I think the solution is to find a mentor that you trust who has gained that experience so that they can provide helpful advice.
What advice do you have for up and coming entrepreneurs?
First of all, always be yourself. Follow your own path and don’t live for other people. This also goes hand in hand with my next point, do what makes you happy and follow your passion. I believe that if you’re passionate about your work, it won’t seem like work and that in turn helps you avoid a burnout and pursue a healthy work-life balance.