By Olivia Preston and Janice Cardoso Gomes
We can have countless external life responsibilities that can limit our focus and time when building a brand. Whether you’re working a full-time job, a mother or hindered by a lack of motivation, you can still set time aside to grow, says Milentina Marcus. She believes that even five minutes of focus can affect your business in the long haul and says time was imperative to her career and it should be to yours.
“It took me more than 10 years to build myself as a powerful, confident, successful woman. And if I could do it, any woman can do it.”
How did your childhood growing up in Romania influence you into becoming the woman you are today?
Romania, is an ex-communist country, and for my first 11 years, I lived under that regime. I was old enough to understand the limitations of freedom – limitations on the freedom of expression , limitations to travel wherever we wanted. As a young child, I lived with the simplest restrictions, from food to clothes. We were limited in the number of loaves of bread and eggs to buy every week. I have seen my parents stand in line for hours just to buy basic goods. All these limitations made me develop a wish for freedom and abundance in my life and to help other people achieve this abundance.
Under the communist regime, connections with people outside of Romania were almost forbidden or strictly controlled by authorities. After my graduation, I chose to work for an American Corporate company, where I came in contact with people all over the world, and I became passionate about discovering different cultures and nations.
Because of my childhood in Romania under the communist regime, living a life without any limitations became my motto.
How did your experience working in global purchasing and supply chains help you when you started your health and wellness business?
They are two different domains. First of all, I would like to mention to the women reading this article to have the courage to follow their intuition even if this means starting from zero in a different area.
In my corporate job, I was used to getting new projects and working on them until completion. So, I considered my new business to be like a new project, tying in my project management skills. I analysed what resources I need, who are the people I needed to enrol in this new project, what goals I have, etc.
Working globally in my corporate role helped me develop a big vision. And as an entrepreneur, to have a vision and to articulate it, to enrol other people in your vision is vital. Since I started my business, I have had a vision of creating a global business because I was already used to thinking at that level.
Transitioning from the corporate world to a career in entrepreneurship, what does your role entail?
I help people from all over the world, especially women, to have more energy and better health, to look better, and to feel better with our pure stabilised Aloe Vera gel-based products. I help those that are passionate about health and wellness by making them partners, helping them build their own global business with the systems we have already created.
I coach them on how to build their personal brand and how to promote their products on all their social media platforms. I then teach them how to build their customer database and extend their business in different countries, how to duplicate the business model, and create a passive income stream.
And for the leaders with established businesses and teams from our organisation, I have created an exclusive 6 figure Mastermind to help them achieve a 6 figure yearly income.
You juggled your business and your full-time job, what was this experience like? Do you have any advice for women who are doing the same?
It was not easy, but it was worth all the effort. It was my single option to work for my freedom since the beginning, and I saw my business as my chance to become free. 
For 2 years, I worked in parallel with my corporate job. There were many days when I worked ten hours at my full-time job and only a few minutes for my business. But, I’ve decided to work on my business every day in order to keep myself connected to it.
My first major step was to change the story I was telling myself from I DO NOT HAVE TIME to I have 24 hours in a day like any human being on this earth, so I will discover how successful people handle their time.
I became passionate about maximising my output. I started to learn the power of 5 minutes. It seems like so little time, but we do not realise that with proper planning we can do so many things with 5 and 15min time blocks. We could be calling a customer or a potential partner or answering messages. It was difficult to accommodate one hour in my agenda to watch a product training, but it was easier to split it into four 15min blocks and introduce them in my agenda for that day.
We have unutilised time during the day e.g. when you’re in traffic you can make some calls, when you are waiting to enter a meeting, you can schedule to answer your messages. My advice is to have a list of things you have to do in your business and when you find yourself with some time to spare, you can fall back on this list. Before, I was wasting my valuable minutes because I had too many things to do and no list to prioritise my tasks.
How did it feel to win an award from the John Maxwell Team?
3 years ago, I was awarded by John Maxwell Team Romania in the category Equip Others in their Annual Certification event.
For me, this recognition was a big surprise. I was not expecting somebody to give me any recognition for what I love to do. Working with people and helping their personal and business growth filled me with joy.
My husband travelled to the USA to the global John Maxwell Team event and I remember waking up in the morning and all my Facebook messages were full because my husband was posting about how proud he was that the Romanian awards were also announced on the stage in Orlando in front of 3000 people in the room.
The biggest leadership organisation in the world recognised my work and it made me feel more confident in what I was doing and confirmed to me that I was on the right path. This also motivated my mission to equip people to live their dream life with better health, more energy, more time, freedom, security, and independence.
How did you discover your passion for empowering and coaching women?
Many people see me as a powerful, confident, successful woman, but I was not always like that. I underestimated myself so many times and this affected me in my personal and professional life. I undervalued myself. I was scared. So many times I acted with fear and I suffered in a toxic relationship because of my confusion. Until I said IT IS ENOUGH and I fought to get out of that relationship. Afterwards, It took me more than 10 years to build myself as a powerful, confident, successful woman. And if I could do it, any woman can do it.
I’ve decided to help other women to transform themselves because with guidance they can do it in a shorter period. I discovered that it brings me so much joy when I see the women I work with becoming confident, powerful, financially independent, and becoming an inspiration to other women.
What do you wish you had known before starting your own business?
To have more courage to fail. I’ve played it quite safely, and this helped me to take small steps. You should know that you can play bigger. Also, set up a proper support team.
How has your career helped you to coach?
Since working in my corporate job, I have coached people before. I was that kind of manager who empowered the people from my department. I gave them my trust and my belief in their potential and I developed a culture in my team that I am not offering full solutions. I let them come to our discussions with their own idea of a solution and we started to brainstorm it together to improve and create the best possible version.
What would you say to someone who is considering getting a business coach?
There is no shortcut to success, except to learn it from somebody who is at the level you want to achieve. It helps you save time, money, and energy on your way to your goal.
Before starting a business, especially like the one I am doing, a smart decision is to look for somebody who is doing the work, not just the talk. Look at their business and training system. If you are looking for global expansion, look and find somebody who is doing it. If you are looking to have an online business look to learn from somebody who has built a brand and works actively online on many platforms.
We are not looking for perfection, we are looking for progress. Ask WHAT’S NEXT? What’s the next level in your personal life, in your relations, in your finances, in your business. Always look to progress.
I am led by the idea of ‘How far can I get in my business and my life?’
If you want to save time, energy, and money, have somebody to guide you, and don’t forget to celebrate each small win on your way to greatness.
