Put Your Worst Foot Forward

<p><span style=color: rgba(26 26 26 1)>It takes perseverance passion and the support of many to create a life-changing mentoring program that matches successful seasoned entrepreneurs with eager-but-green business owners willing to share what keeps them up at night.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(26 26 26 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(26 26 26 1)>But that's exactly what Barnett C. Helzberg Jr. did a quarter century ago after selling his business to Warren Buffett. He launched and then led the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program (HEMP) in Kansas City. Today hundreds of Kansas City businesses have benefited from his wisdom and HEMP's overall mission of fostering bold spirited entrepreneurism. Not surprisingly HEMP has also emerged as a national model for business mentoring.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(26 26 26 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(26 26 26 1)>In </span><em style=color: rgba(26 26 26 1)>Put Your Worst Foot Forward</em><span style=color: rgba(26 26 26 1)> Helzberg openly shares the challenges successes and failures that accompanied HEMP's growth. It's a dramatic story of ups and downs. It also provides lessons to other business communities in how they too can foster the magic of mentoring in their cities and towns.  </span></p>