Defining Moments - An Entrepreneur's Experience
My adventure into entrepreneurship started in my early twenties as a stay at home mom completing supportive tasks for my then significant other. I don't remember having heard the term entrepreneur before that time. I knew what a business owner was, kind of. The idea of a career in business was not even remotely appealing to me while in high school. I favored my creative talent over what I saw as a boring, distorting, depressing, suit bound behavior restricting nightmare. In my mind I was set to become an epic fashion designer and everything else that went into making that happen was just going to magically appear and fall into place. Ha! not quite. My journey to where I am now, an experienced entrepreneur set on supporting and inspiring others on the same path, took a lot of time and experience.
I wish I could point to one defining moment where I was like, "Ah! that's it I'm going to be an entrepreneur!" It didn't happen like that for me, what does come to my mind in this moment is, 3rd grade. My classmates and I were exposed to a question. What do you want to be when you grow up? I was secretly blindsided by this question and didn't know how to respond immediately. I wasn't raised in a home environment where topics like that grew into conversations. To be honest, as perceptive as I was as a child, I was more likely thinking about how the next month would go given my household was below the poverty line. Thankfully, our teacher at the time recognized the lack of a response from her students as an opportunity for the class and turned the question into a project.
Who I wanted to be as an adult simply seemed a thing too far from my reality back then, but after doing a bit of directed research I landed on becoming a fashion designer. I remained set on becoming a fashion designer and eventually went to college to study the profession however, throughout my early life I discovered I had multiple talents and interests with a desire to explore them all. I was discourage from being interested in too many things and was instead directed to pick one among many. Looking back, I can completely understand why well meaning older adults would guide a younger adult to focus on one path but I don't think it was the best advice for someone like me.
Entrepreneurship if presented in the right way is a highly viable option for individuals who have varied talents and interests. If the concept of entrepreneurship had been as well known then as it is today and offered to me as a solution to my urge to pursue multiple interests I like to think I would have chosen it as a career path instead. I eventually found my way to entrepreneurship though I didn't know what it was exactly. I was more familiar early on with the concepts of having a side hustle or being a business owner.
My first revenue generating activities were side hustles, things I already knew how to do, so hairstyling and dressmaking. It took me few years worth of experience to clean my lenses and have a different and more favorable attitude towards business, to see it as a foundation for support and growth. I eventually decided it was in my best interest to pursue business. My experiences as a hairstylist, dressmaker and as a supportive partner for an actual business owner allowed me to see my own potential and the value of a business degree. The growing dominance of the internet provided me access to information along with the coursework I completed at my local community college. It was thanks to both that I came to know what an entrepreneur was, that it was what I wanted and how I came to know it as a thing distinct from a side hustle and business ownership.
Entrepreneurship for me includes a side hustle and business ownership but isn't necessarily defined by either. Entrepreneurship offers a unique kind of freedom to try for a best fit, to repetitively create, execute and harvest or sell a product or service based business and therefore free yourself up to engage a whole new venture. Entrepreneurship is also supportive of vital try and fail cycles in a way a side hustle and business ownership are not. These features are what make entrepreneurship, being an entrepreneur, so appealing to me and why I will always be an entrepreneur to some degree whether its in a role with an employer, supporting others on their business journey or diving in to my own business venture.
Our Privacy Policy describes Our Policies and Procedures on the collection, use, sale, and disclosure of Your information. Your engagement, Use, and navigation of Our Website means You understand and agree with Our Privacy Policy.