Linda Rottenberg, New York Times best-selling author and CEO and co-founder of the nonprofit Endeavor, has been called the Entrepreneur Whisperer. Through Endeavor, Rottenberg has mentored and supported high-impact entrepreneurs all over the world. That is to say, she knows a thing or two about how to succeed in an ever-changing market. She shared some of her hard-earned knowledge during her 2014 Chicago Ideas Week talk, “A Roadmap for Dreammaking.” We’ve compiled some of our favorite bits of wisdom and advice below.

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1. Don’t get bogged down in jargon.

“Entrepreneur is just a fancy way of saying you’re a doer.”

2. Entrepreneurship doesn’t require a uniform…

“I started getting these strange calls: Fortune 500 managers wanted to be more entrepreneurial, parents at drop off wanted help with work transitions. And I would say, ‘You can do it! You don’t need a hoodie to be an entrepreneur!’”

3. You don’t have to quit your day job to start a company.

“Sara Blakely of Spanx—many of us are familiar with her products—she actually sold fax machines for two years while [Spanx] was taking off. Phil Knight of Nike, the ‘Just Do It’ guy, spent a decade doing other people’s taxes.”

4. Embrace unexpected chaos.

“[Barbe-Nicole’s] 1811 vintage is said to be the first truly modern champagne. But just as she perfects the process, the Russians come invading. When all the experienced wine owners shutter their doors, Barbe-Nicole spots a marketing opportunity. She resolves to get the Russian army wasted. She gets her bottles into Moscow, into St. Petersburg, and Czar Alexander declares he will drink only the widow. Veuve is the French for widow, and Barbe-Nicole’s late husband was Francois Clicquot.”

5. You don’t need to bet the farm to start a company.

“Half of the Inc. 500 companies –the fastest growing companies in the United States—started with under 5,000 dollars.”

6. Modern leadership isn’t about being perfect.

“My vision for leadership was about being tough, projecting strength and being awesome. But my actual journey was about breaking down walls, managing a growing org and young twins at home, exposing my vulnerability.”

7. Being called crazy is a compliment.

“Not only was every dreamer I know called nuts at one point, but I was known as ‘La Chica Loca’ for about a decade.”