How I Became an Entrepreneur

Today, I am the leader of a successful business development group that helps entrepreneurs find their way through entrepreneurship. How did I get here? In order to understand where I've gone it is important to know where I came from.

Childhood Dreams
As a child I saw myself as a wife, mother, and teacher. As a student I could see myself standing in front of the classroom conducting the class, and would often contemplate how I would have handled the students that day. Or, how I will talk to my students in the future. The same went to the attention I paid to mothers. My dream was to become a MOM. The girls around me were talking of careers, and liberation. That was crazy talk. To me the very essence of being a woman meant teaching and caring for children. My mother shared and encouraged the same vision with one exception "Don't become a teacher" she would say "there are so many of them and most are out of work. The job for you is Accountant. People always need an accountant and while your children are small you can do it part-time to keep up your skills and bring some spending money in the door.". This made perfect sense. However, there was still a nagging voice compelling me to watch the teacher carefully and plan for my future teaching career. I tried to explain to myself that the world didn't need anymore teachers and accounting was the path I was now choosing. That little nagging voice wouldn't go away.

I am 17, a senior in high school. Time to pick a college and major in accounting, we visit some wonderful accounting colleges; I even fill out the applications. Until one day I just can't fight it anymore "Mom I don't want to be an accountant, I want to teach! I know there are too many teachers in the world, but I will major in Math with an education minor. That way if I can't get a teaching job, I will be qualified for something else." (Math was my favorite subject in school). "Oh and one other thing, I want to attend a State College." I applied to and got accepted to Fitchburg State College.

At Fitchburg State I am surrounded by elementary education majors, I found myself distracted by them, jealous. I found that I suddenly forgot how to do Math, I wasn't able to pay attention in class, and not able to complete assignments. "Mom, Dad I don't want to be a Math major, I have signed up for elementary ed classes for the Fall."

Married with Children
One would have thought that I was on the right path to make my dreams come true. I was doing just fine until another distraction came my way. You are probably thinking at this point that I am just a spoiled brat who needs some discipline in my life. You may be correct, or maybe I wasn't supposed to go about things the ordinary way. The distraction was the opportunity to become a wife and mother. I met the man of my dreams and he swept me off my feet.

June 1991 I marry Michael, August 1992 my daughter is born, August 1993 my son is born. This my friends is bliss. Could life get any better? I am living the dream, I relished in motherhood. Cooking, cleaning, afternoons at the park, story times, Birthday parties, you name it, I loved it. I loved it all. Until February 1998 when I had a life-changing conversation in a local Wal-Mart.

The Entrepreneur
There was a woman whom I'd seen many times (library, park, etc...) we'd never spoken more than 2 words to one another until today. I congratulated her on her new baby, and asked how the twins had handled the transition. She then blurted out "My husband died a month ago". She looked so empty and hopeless. I couldn't get her out of my mind. The only thing that separated her and I is the fact that my husband is alive.

My husband just opened a new business 8 months prior. That night I shared my experience with him and told him that I wanted to learn about everything in his business. I didn't need a paycheck, but I had to know all about the business just in case I ever had to take his place. Now this was a very hasty decision that was made in fear, but this decision has taken me on the journey of a lifetime. I didn't know it at the time but this was the beginning of Maria the entrepreneur. The beginning of bringing to life all the dreams I had as a child (I will get into more detail in future postings). It was the decision that helped me to understand and create the definition of an entrepreneur as I see it.

I told you this Blog would come with a workout. Below are some questions to ask yourself

1. As a child, what did you identify yourself as?


2. When someone asked you "What do you want to be when you grow up?" What did you answer?


3. Did you stay true to your childhood dream? If so how did you create and follow that path? If not, when and why did it change?

Definition of an Entrepreneur

Somebody asked me once to give them the definition of an entrepreneur. The answer was simple. An entrepreneur is someone who has the passion and courage to turn a concept that gives them joy into a business and is willing to take the necessary actions to achieve their desired goals.

An entrepreneur can be anyone who has a dream, concept, passion or desire to better themselves, their way of life, or the world around them. The word entrepreneur means different things to different people. To some it means unemployed, to others it means wealth, and then there are those who just aren't sure.

The intention of this blog is to pick apart the definition of the entrepreneur, using case studies, and my own real life experiences to enhance your experience as an entrepreneur. This is a blog for entrepreneurs and those considering taking the plunge to entrepreneurship. This isn't meant to be a data dump. For those of you who are interested I will have exercises that you can go through to determine if you are on the right path. There will be questions to ask yourself. Don't worry I won't ask you to do anything I haven't been willing to do myself. This blog comes with a workout.

I have had the pleasure to work with dozens of entrepreneurs, and I can share some amazing stories, strategies, and tips on how to implement these strategies in your own entrepreneurial life. This is an opportunity to hear from the ones who have come before you, the ones that have been there and done that. But it has been my experience that unless you start implementing and taking action yourself this will just be more information for you to talk about around the water cooler. Success stories and tips are a great resource, but they are just a resource. The most important thing to remember is "take action" and utilize these tips and techniques to fit your style. If you try to copy or adopt another's philosophy it will be the equivalent of wearing someone else's shoes. They may fit, but you know they aren't yours and as a result people will start to wonder why you are walking funny.