3 Lessons From The Tropical Rainforest: El Yunque National Forest

Saludos from San Juan, Puerto Rico! I wanted to share some lessons I learned from hiking the only tropical rainforest in North America, El Yunque.

But first, why are we here?

At SHANKX , we have a deep appreciation for the value of mentorship and its impact on personal and professional growth. Just last year, Shankar received mentorship from notable leaders in the industry, such as Codie A. Sanchez , Shanee Moret , and John Lee . We have also expanded our horizons with a new venture in real estate, aligning with our belief in diversification.

To remain available to our team and clients, Shankar prefers not to travel during the work week as much as possible. He is a firm believer in capitalizing on the weekend, and since we arrived before the real estate conference, which will help us get closer to our goal, we made the decision to go to El Yunque.

Early this morning, Shankar Poncelet and I embarked on a journey to the mist-covered rainforest filled with towering bamboo trees, exotic parrot songs, and plants that totally showcase the biodiversity of Puerto Rico. In fact, this mystical place inspired the movie Avatar, (yes, we saw the trees where the Navi’i “plugged in!”), and through our forest journey, I realized that it holds lessons on strategic planning and thinking…but I’ll dive more into that next week!

Lesson 1: Step where others have trodden

In the rainforest, our guide pointed to the path of where to walk, but more than that, I observed the footprints where she had stepped. I quickly realized I needed to follow close after her if I was going to save time and avoid carving my own path at my own risk. In the same way, in our pursuit of success, it's crucial to learn from others who have gone before us. Find those footprints and follow their path, but make sure to carve your own path when it makes sense. Falling down a hole or landing in a puddle unnecessarily is not something you must always do!

Lesson 2: Don't make nature your enemy

As beautiful and mystical as it is, the rainforest can be a harsh environment with mud, rain, and rocks, but our guide told us to embrace it. I noticed the ones who did not step in the mud would often wind up in the mud anyway, and it was a lot easier to hike when you just did not fight nature.

There will be challenges and obstacles in our lives, but instead of fighting against them, we should embrace them and work with them to reach our goals. That may mean you need to switch things up after testing to realize that something doesn’t work anymore. Maybe the market has shifted, or demand has changed. Instead of trying to create demand where there is none or vying for attention from a market that isn't compatible with the products or services you offer, why not adapt and move to where demand is?

Lesson 3: Change with change

El Yunque Rainforest is a beautiful place with waterfalls cascading down cliffs and flowing rivers. But it’s also a rainforest and unsurprisingly, it rained. Our guide had to change our strategy for hiking back when it started raining. We had to go with the flow, not fight nature, and change with change.

In life, there are circumstances we cannot change. In these cases, it's essential to change course with that change. Be flexible and adaptable in your approach, always looking for new strategies to reach your goals. Sometimes that may mean you have to pivot your entire business, but that’s resilience.

Lastly, if you’ve been following me on LinkedIn every day, you’ll know that on February 4th I paid tribute to my mother, Elizabeth, and reflected on her impact on my life. I hope that this newsletter has been helpful in your personal and professional journey and that you find value in the insights shared. I hope you’ve enjoyed my 28-day highlight of Black women C-suite and leaders so far, and I hope you’ve enjoyed my highlights and lessons from the rainforest.

Until next time, make your mark!

Saludos,

Antréa