“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so that you can live the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

This is one of my all time favorite quotes. I absolutely love it as I have found so much truth to those words since starting Everyday Helper. On the days that are more challenging, I often will remind myself of this quote to keep myself focused.

I’m always amazed when someone will make a comment like “Oh lucky you, you get to work for yourself. You have it made.” While yes, I certainly do, it doesn’t come easy. There are many perks to owning your own business, but that doesn’t mean that it is an easy endeavor. If it was easy then everyone would be doing it, right?

There is no doubt that I love what I do and that I’m very passionate about my work. I live and breathe this business and it is constantly on my mind. Owning and growing a business doesn’t just happen. It requires work and a lot of it. There’s so much to learn and a lot of behind the scenes work to take care of. But is it worth it? YES! I wouldn’t trade a single late night or stressful day for anything. And like the above quote, I’m learning those words to be so true.

I had a profound realization this week. This realization really shows just how much I’ve changed since starting Everyday Helper. I even surprised myself with this one!

I grew up loving the business world, so it’s no surprise that I would love the idea of owning my own business enough to make it a reality. And while I dreamed of being a business owner as a child, that vision always seemed too far out of reach for me until one day I just decided I had nothing to lose and went for it.

My senior year of high school I decided that I wanted to pursue a more realistic career path such a business management. I worked a job during high school that had many management positions and I became interested in a management career path. I like a good challenge and to me that’s what management for a corporation is. It’s a challenge to see how many promotions you can receive and how high up the ladder you can move. I knew that was the career I wanted and so I went on to college working towards that goal.

I graduated from Kirkwood Community College with my Associate’s Degree in Business Management. I was ready to start a career of climbing that management ladder. I didn’t care how many long hours I’d have to put in or how many tasks I’d have to complete. I was ready to commit myself to a management career. I had my eye on the prize, the biggest office in the building, and lots of authority.

Then life happened. And with that, my perspective changed. While I’ll always love the business and management world, I decided that I no longer wanted to work towards climbing the management ladder for some corporation that would essentially own me in the process. Life is too short and I wanted to find balance. A way to live my life, and to still have a career I’d enjoy. As you can guess, that’s how Everyday Helper began. I turned my passion into a business with the purpose of making a difference and helping others. I saw a need for such a service and so I went for it. In turn, I’ve received success and I’m blessed to be able to make a career out of doing this.

So what’s this realization I had this week?

I realized just how passionate about my work and my business that I am. I am at the point where if someone were to offer me that dream management job that I use to want so bad and would have given anything for, I no longer desire such. I never thought I’d say that. Never. Ever. But life happens, and we change accordingly. I realized that no longer do I desire a career based solely off of striving for power and money. Quite honestly, neither of those are my goals anymore. I don’t want to spend my life letting a career consume me while chasing money and power. I want to spend my life helping others, making a difference, doing meaningful work, and truly living. I crave more a simplistic lifestyle now.

While it may not always be easy running a business, it is so worth it. All the stress and chaos seem to take the back seat when you are doing what you love and enjoying life. The first few years are always the hardest like the above quote states, but I’m embracing these years because soon I will be living a life that many can’t.

And so today I leave my old business management career goals in the past and close that chapter of my life. There’s no second guessing this decision anymore. It’s time to use that energy instead to focus on building the new and begin climbing my own newly defined career ladder.  

I’m ready. Challenge accepted.