My journey as an entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship runs in my veins 🙂
When I was growing up, my parents always worked from home. They had their offices in a building next to our house so I spent time hanging around while they worked and playing with whatever office supplies they would let me scribble on, cut up or punch holes in.
My parents were both entrepreneurs, my mother, an independent real estate agent, and my father, the owner of small computer parts manufacturing business. To me, working from home as a business owner seemed quite natural and it was really nice to have both my parents there when I got home from school.
Even though I loved having them there and watching how they worked, it didn’t lead me directly into entrepreneurship right out of the gate. You see, I also witnessed how they struggled in business. Not because they didn’t have wonderful skills but because of outside circumstances and a few business decisions that didn’t pan out.
In fact, when I was in my teens, my parents went through bankruptcy. I wasn’t told all the details but I could see how it affected them and our family. I think subconsciously, that was the moment when my fear of being a business owner must have been born.
The derailed entrepreneur.
Even though I loved photography from a very early age, the voices in my head came up with all sorts of excuses as to why I could never make money as a professional photographer. So, instead of majoring in photography in college, I started off in psychology and then ended up in business school, majoring in accounting and finance.
I was drawn to accounting because I figured that everyone needs a bean counter and I’d always be able to find a job.
That turned out to be true, of course. Over the course of my career, I did find it relatively easy to stay employed but I just didn’t LOVE my work. For a time, I thought it was just because I didn’t really like the company I worked for or that my boss was a jerk.
I would often complain to my father about what was going on at work. While he would patiently listen to the problems I was having, he would often say to me, “Don’t you know you won’t be truly happy until you are working for yourself?”
Of course, I didn’t listen because I never thought I was cut out for entrepreneurship. I thought it was for serious risk takers and super creative people who come up with brand new gadgets that folks line up days in advance to buy.
While I did start my photography business, on the side, with the idea that “someday” I’d do it full-time, it never really felt like the “right” time to quit my day job.
Making the jump into a full-time entrepreneur.
But you know what? The universe has a way of guiding you towards what you need most. For me, that guidance came in the form of burnout at a job that was sucking away all my time, energy, and soul.
There was nothing I could do but quit that job and throw myself into the business I had been nurturing on the side for so many years.
Hard for me to believe but that was over 3 years ago! Fast forward to today and I can hardly believe that I’m doing the very thing I told my father I’d never do.
And… I LOVE IT!!!
I only wish my dad was still around so he could say to me, “I told you so!”
How about you? I’d love to hear what your “entrepreneur story” is. Let’s chat I’m all ears! 😉
About Melissa
Melissa Henry, CEO of Melissa Demple Photography, helps speakers, authors, and entrepreneurs become KNOWN. Walk away feeling like a rock star with powerful clarity on your personal brand, including unique images that wow your target audience and help you sell out your programs, books and win those coveted keynote spots!
Quoted in Forbes and Entrepreneur and featured in Thrive Global as well as on podcasts such as The Rita Made Me Do It Show, No Fat Cats, and Two Girls Talking, Melissa understands the challenges of standing out in the crowded marketplace and will make sure you & your business do too!
With extensive expertise in consulting and over a decade building her own brand, Melissa provides an extraordinary experience for purpose-driven entrepreneurs who want to become known as experts, thought leaders, and seven-figure business owners.
