I got bit by the entrepreneurial bug way back at the age of 27. Or, rather, I got bit by the “anti-employment” bug.
My second biggest epiphany in life hit me in the parking lot of my condo complex, which was on a hill overlooking the city of Denver and all the Plains east of us. Incredible view! But I digress.
See, my version of The American Dream had just recently been unknowingly crushed out of existence, while I was on the Interstate heading for my new life.
This had all been preset. I’d paid thousands in job coaching, resume creation, job searching, and flights back and forth from NY to build my new world’s foundation before I actually quit my old job, tore up roots, and drove all my stuff 2,000 miles west.
My head was in a good spot
I got to Denver and picked a place to live, that day. (Forgot that step in all the preplanning excitement.) Filled my new condo with all my goods. Had dinner and relaxed for a night. Called the new job the next day to learn that they’d lost the biggest contract they had and for the first time in 27 years, had to close the plant.
Awesome.
I was dead in the water
So, I got a very crappy job to hold the fort until I could come up with a better plan. What happened next is too long and convoluted to share. Suffice to say, I ended up doing an incredibly painful job that left my back broke, my fingers lacerated, and my mind stressed beyond all belief each and every day.
One of these days was the day that had me looking out over the city from my condo parking lot, talking to myself in a state of rage and disgust.
I cannot keep doing this. I will fail at keeping a job. Any job. This is not how I want to live.
I’m fucked.
Epiphanies – real ones – change everything and are not to be argued with
I realized I was in a jam. I could no longer bullshit my way through a job I hated and I had hated every job I’d ever held in my life.
Oh, I was proud of the work I did, had made many great friends and incredible memories, and I always strove to be one of the best. But there was no lasting satisfaction in it for me. And the foreseeable future never showed any change that fostered hope in my heart.
“So, how about we see what being our own boss is all about?” I said to myself.
Fast forward to today. I am 44, as of this writing, and starting to reap the rewards of never having given up on my dream of owning a business. It’s taken me 17 years to finally get my head above the waters of Entrepreneurial Pond but it was worth the struggle, disillusionment, expenditures, frustration, embarrassments, and loneliness that can come with an endeavor such as this.
Wanna know what finally gave me the boost I’d always needed?
Partners
I landed a partner without even knowing I needed one. We got so good at what we were doing that we brought in another partner for another company. We were forced to build this second company, no less. It was the only way to keep that particular vision moving forward.
So, the “village” mentioned in the title? Like me, maybe you’ve been trying to make it on your own and it seems to be taking too damn long. Maybe you need a partner. The babies that some of us are trying to raise are too huge, complex, and unwieldy to be raised by ourselves, alone. Sometimes we need help. Think about it.
