I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. Nope, not me.
The truth is, growing up I didn’t really know any entrepreneurs. At least I didn’t think I did. Looking back on it, my grandma (who I lived with for the first 7 years of my life) and my grandfather were both entrepreneurs. My grandfather was a farmer who owned hundreds of acres of land as well as his own carpentry business and my grandma was a seamstress, farmer and what ever else she needed to be. Yes, I know there are distinctions made between self-employment and entrepreneurship but for the purpose of this post, my grandparents were entrepreneurs. 🙂
Growing up on a small island (Grenada), you were taught to go to school and get a good job so that you could make a better life for yourself and your family. Let me preface this by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it was just my reality at the time, so being an entrepreneur was not something that I had really set out to do.
READ ALSO: How My Education Laid The Foundation for My Entrepreneurial Journey
When I was a little girl I recall wanting to be a pharmacist for some time. I remember quickly changing my mind because science wasn’t really my thing. Then, I was SURE that I wanted to be an Accountant because I had an aunt who was a CPA, and it seemed like something I would love, so Accounting it was. 🙂
READ ALSO: My One word for 2016 – Implement
Actually, after I graduated from community college I worked as an Accounting Assistant for some time and it was ok, but I knew that I didn’t really want to make a career out of it. In 2000, I migrated to the US for undergrad studies and subsequently graduate school. Even then, I was focused on finishing those degrees (Business Computer Information Systems & eBusiness) and landing a great job so that I could take care of myself, help my family, travel, and of course pay those student loans. After grad school I worked in Finance and IT for a few years.
Fast forward to 2011 when I started this blog (on a whim). It was a transitional time in my life and after doing it for about 2 years and realizing that I could make it work, I recall telling my husband that I knew that I did not want to work for anyone else. So what changed? For one, my eyes became REALLY opened to the possibilities. My mindset changed a lot and I decided to just go for it.
On Sunday I shared this post on social media…..
I love figuring stuff out. It’s like a fun challenge for me.
When I was younger, I made all kinds of plans about how I wanted my life to be.As I got older, I “figured out” that that’s not how God works.
Not even my best plans could have taken me where God’s plans have. For that I’m grateful. I thank God that I “figured out” to trust him for everything.
I had no idea I would choose the entrepreneur life, but I know for sure that God chose it for me. I marvel at how God had this planned all along. He knew I would start Ven & Rose, he knew I would share my knowledge and expertise with others through services, speaking and more. He knew, I just had to catch up 🙂
READ ALSO: The importance of celebrating your wins
On the Panel at Dallas Startup Week discussing why video branded content is the “new black.”
Being an entrepreneur is literally the hardest, scariest thing I have ever done, but I would not change any of it for the world.
Earlier this year, I shared my story of how I’m chasing free and taking steps to live the life I want, with my friend Siobhan of BeFreeProject. You can read more of my story and the entire interview HERE.
YOUR TURN: Are you currently doing the job you thought you would be doing?
I don’t ordinarily comment but I gotta tell appreciate it for the post on this one :D.
Có ôm th Long á 🙂
Love this and love you Vashti! I can totally relate to so much of what you talked about. I thought I wanted to be a Chiropractor then a HR Administrator…and here I am lol Congrats on “figuring it out” 🙂
Aww..love you too Christine. LOL..thanks girl so happy I did 🙂
Whew, great post! I love your testimony and encouragement with trusting God. I’m trying daily to walk by faith while pursuing what’s best for my life.
Thank you so much 🙂
Your story is so amazing! I’m a blogger as well. I find that I love to write and share my story with others. It is also making me face some of my own fears.
It definitely does. Thanks Katherine.
I’m kind of doing what I thought I would be doing when I was younger but maybe not as fully as I should be. Changes are afoot though!
Awesome. All the best to you Patranila.
I don’t recall having a dream job or career growing up. I never thought about being an entrepreneur although my mom had a 9 to 5 and her own thing on the side. My sister ran her own show in her early 20’s and continues to do so twenty years later. The examples were there but I never thought about it for myself.
I didn’t either, I just wanted a job lol. But I’m so happy things turned out this way.
Man, I can’t think of a time that I didn’t want to be an entrepreneur. That was my imaginary play as a kid. Weird, I know. I tried jobs, but the whole idea of it made me feel like I was suffocating. I love seeing all the great things that you are doing with your blog and your brand. Great work!
LOL…we used to play “shop” but that was it. Thanks Eva 🙂