Entrepreneur Kim Perell on Overcoming Fear After Her First Set of Twins Were Born at 24 Weeks

Award-winning entrepreneur Kim Perell knows all about overcoming fear, but nothing prepared her for almost losing her first set of twins when they were born at just 24 weeks.

In an interview with PEOPLE about her latest book Jump, the entrepreneur discusses her seven year IVF journey before she and her husband, John, a stunt pilot, turned to surrogacy. It was supposed to be the answer to her "biggest goal in life": motherhood. Instead, the arrival of their babies took a terrifying turn, she says.

"We struggled for so many years. Then, when it finally happened, our children were born at 24 weeks. We didn't think they were going to survive," says Perell, 44.

In her book, she explains that a "sudden infection" resulted in the twins' arrival three-and-a-half months early. Their babies, daughter Elle and son John, only weighed one pound each. John had a brain bleed and staph infection, while his sister underwent open-heart surgery, Perell writes.

For the next 14 weeks, Perell and her husband lived in fear that their babies would die. Eventually, the twins gained strength and are now healthy 7 year olds.

Perell says the support of their family and friends got them through that dark time, when she felt "helpless."

"It's scary going through it alone. It's scary there's nothing you can do," she tells PEOPLE. "Just having a really strong support system has been so helpful in every part of my journey, both personally and professionally."

She continues: "It's been a rollercoaster all the way on every side, right? I always say, 'The worst thing and the best thing will always happen to me, but nothing in the middle.' "

Perell opens up about her biggest achievements and failures in Jump, an inspirational guide to help readers overcome their fears and achieve their goals in business and life. Perell sold her last company for $235 million and is one of the top female angel investors in the U.S., but her professional career began with a "devastating" bust.

When Perell was 22, she had just secured a great job at a tech startup in Los Angeles and encouraged some friends to join her company, according to Jump. While Perell had put her "heart" into running the digital ad sales team, the company was "bleeding money." She soon had to fire her friends, before she was fired herself, Perell writes.

"I believed it was going to be a huge success, and my dream became my nightmare. It was embarrassing," Perell tells PEOPLE. "I felt like such a failure. Many of my friends wouldn't talk to me for years. It was such an emotionally devastating point in my life. And, honestly, I never wanted to be there again. I'd hit rock bottom."

Since then, Perell has sold not one, but two of her companies for millions of dollars and is currently the founder and CEO of 100.co, which helps create better consumer brands through the use of Artificial Intelligence.

"It's a life changing feeling," says Perell of reaching the top of her field. Now, she hopes to help other entrepreneurs.

"That's why I invested in so many companies, over 100 to date now, and why I wrote the book," Perell says. "I honestly have had such a rollercoaster ride myself. If I can help anyone skip some of those terrible hard times and just help accelerate their way to success, that's what I want to do."

While she continues to pursue her professional goals, Perell is also focused on raising her family. She and her husband welcomed a second set of twins through surrogacy. Their sons, Bill and Jack, are now 2 years old.

"It had been such a terrible pregnancy the first time, just going through that rollercoaster. We were hoping the second time would be easier," says Perell of their second surrogacy journey. "We actually only ... put one embryo in, but it split and we had identical twins. We couldn't even believe it happened again ... It's just a blessing."

Just like she encourages fellow entrepreneurs to work through their fears, Perell had to navigate her own when planning to welcome her younger children.

"We just had so much fear... Because in any position in life you worry, 'Is that going to happen again?' It's just constantly on your mind," she says. "But we loved it more than we feared it. It was something we wanted so badly."

Perell says she wants to raise her kids so they'll approach life with "kindness" and perseverance.

"To my four children, John, Elle, Bill, and Jack," she writes in the book's dedication. "I hope you always choose to jump rather than stand still."

Jump is on sale now.