Galit Ventura-Rozen, president of Galit Empowering U, is dedicated to empowering women. Her aim is to help them achieve work-life balance and overcome internal obstacles that keep them from living their lives with purpose and achieving business success. She also works with women interested in sharing their expertise through public speaking.
Do you have any recent news to share?
I recently added public speaking mentoring to my company’s offerings. I am speaking publicly more and more to promote myself and I’m being hired to speak for companies and at conventions. I found there is a need for people who are interested in public speaking and becoming experts in their fields but don’t know where to start.
What is Women of Global Change and how did you get involved?
Women of Global Change is a national nonprofit organization with seven U.S. chapters devoted to bringing community leaders together to support one another in business and to support the community through charitable projects and fundraising. I was so impressed by the organization and its founder because their mission aligns with mine — empowering women and giving back through philanthropy in my community. I contacted the founder and asked whether I could open a chapter in Las Vegas; she said yes. Our first event was in January.
What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
You must recognize the characteristics of a successful person’s mindset. Among them: Be open to learning, know you must fail to succeed, understand that obstacles are part of the path to success. Own your mistakes and work through the obstacles you place in your own way.
How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
I have worked for myself since I was 21 years old. I was married at 24 and had three children by age 31. As a lifetime entrepreneur, I built my businesses around my family life. I never allowed my business to be a priority over my family and it still flourished. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur because I wanted flexibility. Balance is something I teach my clients from Day One, and my children have seen that. We have family vacations regularly, we eat dinner together every night and we have had so much quality time. Now, my kids are 13, 17, and 20, and I can say with confidence that I never missed a Mother’s Day breakfast at school, a school play or even a sick day staying home with them. My children have seen they do not have to choose to be employees when they graduate from college; they can also choose to become entrepreneurs.
We live in a society where people are brought up to believe that to succeed as a business owner, they must make the business their lives. That is not true.
What is the best business advice you’ve received?
My father was and is an amazing role model — he came to America with minimal resources and education and built success as an entrepreneur. The best advice he ever gave me (and he gave me a multitude of wonderful advice) is: “There is no need to reinvent the wheel.” When you consider starting a business, do your homework, see what concepts and methods work for other businesses and weed through what does and doesn’t work for you. Then build on those ideas in your unique style and way.
What motivates you?
My children are my reason for everything I do and succeed at. I want to be a true role model to them so they can believe in a world with no limitations. I show them the good and the bad of the business world — you must see both and learn from both.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who aren’t really living, who stay in their comfort zone because it’s safe. Then, they wake up one day and look back and regret all the things they didn’t do or try because they feared the uncomfortable. I teach my clients that we have only one life, so we need to make it everything they ever desire and want.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I see my company as a global empowerment business with multiple mentors in different fields offering virtual classes, training and programs in business, public speaking and more. I see a movement that helps women, and men, overcome their personal obstacles to live their lives the way they choose, as entrepreneurs doing what they love every day.
If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
I love Las Vegas and would not want to live anywhere else. I have lived here for 30 years and went to high school here. I have seen Las Vegas grow so much and it still feels like a small town. I love that I can meet someone new every few days in this business and they know 10 people that I know. I love that I can live out in the suburbs and raise my children in wonderful schools, in an amazing family community, and then spend my date nights watching any concert that ever existed only a few miles away. Music is my passion and I have seen hundreds of concerts.
My second-favorite place is San Diego. I love the ocean and visit at least once a month to disconnect. I tend to do most of my writing and creating overlooking the green golf courses or sitting on the beach.
If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be?
Indira Gandhi. As the only female prime minister of India, she embodies everything I believe is my purpose in my business. She broke through the stigmatized idea that only men can be prime ministers in India and her morals and values stood strong in everything she accomplished. She paved the way for women all over the world to lead within their own beliefs and values. My favorite quote of hers is “Have a bias toward action — let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.”
What is something that people might not know about you?
When I was 7 years old, I lost my voice. I saw multiple doctors and finally was told I had a nodule on one of my vocal cords and that I’d need to wait until I was 16 to have it removed surgically. I spent years in speech therapy to try to find my voice. I was made fun of.
After years of speech therapy, we found my voice. It’s not the voice that I was born with, but finally no more whisper voice. The nodule is still there and I have over the years embraced who I am and have gone from a timid girl who was nervous about speaking in front of a crowd to becoming a paid public speaker inspiring others from the stage. At 16, I went back to the doctor and declined the surgery. I said my voice is what has made me who I am and I wouldn’t change it for the world.