Stacey Abrams is probably best known for her unsuccessful 2018 bid to become the first female and first African-American governor of Georgia. But in her new book on entrepreneurship and business, Abrams is clearly ready to assert herself as not only a groundbreaking politician, but also as a savvy entrepreneur and small business advocate.

Abrams recently joined my podcast, Brown Ambition, with her longtime business partner and co-author Lara Hodgson to share insights from their experience launching several successful (and some not so successful) ventures together.

Read more: Influencers with Andy Serwer: Stacey Abrams & Lara Hodgson

Here are a few gems I gleaned from reading their book, "Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back," and from our extensive chat.

Don’t be too paranoid to share your business ideas with others — just do it wisely

It’s far too easy to feel overly protective of a new business idea, especially in the early stages. But Abrams and Hodgson emphasized the risk of being too secretive when trying to seek outside guidance.

“Most of us, when we come up with an idea, it's very much like an infant and our tendency is to protect it … but what that means is you never include others that can help you,” Hodgson said. “What we realized is that, you know, most people are very busy, and they're not just sitting around looking for your idea to go do because coming up with the idea is just the first step. The hard part is then marshaling the resources and actually executing. So don't assume that someone else can do that easier than you.”

Abrams, who graduated from Yale Law and worked as a tax attorney before segueing into politics, was a stickler for asking anyone with whom they shared business details to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

“Make sure that you protect yourself by ensuring that anyone who gets your information knows they're not supposed to share it,” Abrams advised. “When you are sharing, it should always be because there's something you can gain from the conversation, from the investigation, but never do it just to say, 'look how cool I am.' Because you will be someone cool with nothing.”

Be honest with your investors and let go of guilt

Abrams and Hodgson shared candid details about the failure of their joint venture Nourish, a special type of bottled water they invented for toddlers and infants. When they had trouble raising funds through venture capital and financial firms, they turned to friends, family, and associates.

Knowing they weren’t going to be able to deliver dividends to their early investors left them racked with guilt, they said. But because they had been so transparent with investors about their progress, the challenges they were facing, and the likelihood of future success, they didn’t burn as many bridges as might have been expected.