Last night I attended an event thrown by Urban Girl Squad, and hosted by In Good Company. The event was called, “Be Your Own Boss: Intro to Entrepreneurship” now typically a title like this would make me sigh and then delete… I don’t really dream of being my own boss or making boatloads of money but I DO dream of contributing to this world in a way that is right for me and I haven’t been able to find an avenue to do that and honestly I would NEVER think to start my own business to create this opportunity for myself and others. There are many reasons for this but mostly because when I think of an entrepreneur I imagine someone super savvy about being on the next great thing, a go getter/busy-body, a very driven for success kind of person, someone who knows a lot about a lot of things especially money and these things are not what I imagine myself to be.
Gawsh, I’m so sorry this is a lot more text than I like to write (and I’m going to write more) but I really wanted to convey the kind of characteristics I thought were necessary to be a an entrepreneur and how this archetype that I created really made a very effective wall in my head and stymied any ambitions I could have to create something for myself to do.
Anyhow, I recently thought about something that I feel should exist and I don’t think truly does exist in the way I want it to ( I know super vague, but I’m still bashful about my ambitions) and in my head I said, “I wish SOMEONE would make this happen,” because honestly again I didn’t have the ability to think any more forward than this or any more ambitious than this. But that something stuck with me because I really think it to be a wonderful something and then when I received this invite and read that I could learn:
I thought, “Oh(!) could I be an entrepreneur? Why don’t I just make the thing I want to exist exist?!’ and I also thought, “If this event is totally wrong for me I’m 5 feet and can hide well in a crowd.” OK even with this tempered interest and escape route I still asked a very dear friend to come with me because if I’m honest with myself I was not confident.
But I am now INSPIRED because of these two women:
credit: ingoodcompany.com
well, really these 2 women (Adelaide Lancaster and Amy Abrams) AND the room full of women who also attended the event. Mmm, I know that inspired is not confident or decided, but it truly is a big big step for me. Adelaide Amy and the women who attended really dispelled a lot of myths I had about entrepreneurs and they were very candid about what they feel can make a person a successful AND happy business owner.
There’s so much I could say about what I gained from this experience but I really only want to touch on 2 very important things I took away. 1) There are plenty of business owners who would never describe themselves as any of those things I thought of in my head, In Good Company described their clients as thoughtful creative women who had an idea and felt they were the best people to accomplish it and that’s all they needed in their pocket to pursue their business ideas 2) What I found most interesting is one of In Good Company’s tenets: sharing your idea can actually be helpful in major ways whether that’s feedback, recommendations, or even just encouragement; sharing your idea is worthwhile, especially to those you trust.
So at the end of the event we broke up into small groups to discuss what we wanted to do with our ideas in the next couple of months and what they encourage is research and baby steps. I really keep my thoughts pretty close to me because I’m totally fearful of judgment, but I relayed my idea to these strangers in my small group and 2 things happened that really really struck me: 1) None of them seemed like they wanted to take the idea and run AND they thought it was awesome and 2) Talking about it helped ME! Really! I swear!!! Just the act of having to articulate my intentions were so helpful to ME! So my takeaway was really profound and when I got home I talked to the bf and told him everything, which I hadn’t shared with even him ever and he goes, “wow you sound inspired and that sounds like YOU…awesome!” this morning when I woke up I knew I wanted to share it with you, internet because I am so warm in the heart about these women.
Now all this doesn’t mean I’m opening a business tomorrow or even if I’m sure if I will ever. But(!) that wall I created in my head made with all these ideas of who entrepreneurs are and all the reasons why that would never be me, has definitely been broken down some and I can see on the other side might be an entrepreneur!
