Photo Courtesy of Junebug Weddings

It’s somewhat difficult to remember what it was like when I made the big leap into entrepreneurialism.  It was 2004 when I left my job to start mmm… paper, my wedding invitation company.  Lately, I’ve been trying to remember what that felt like.  I’ve been meeting so many new business owners and I want to put myself in their shoes.  I do remember it being scary and exciting all at the same time.  But, I’m trying to remember what was going on at the core of who I was at that point in my life.  How did it all evolve?

I find it difficult to remember what I felt when “Making the Big Leap” because as a business owner, the scariness and the riskiness never go away.  These things just change from year to year.  I’ve learned to live with the nerves.  And, the butterflies fire me up every day to do exciting things.

In hindsight, it’s ironic that I ended up as a business owner who lives every day with risk.  I used to be much more “practical” when I was young.  When I started college in 1993 I purposefully chose a career in accounting because it was sensible and stable.  In my heart, I wanted to be a filmmaker, but I thought the instability of that industry would drive me crazy.  In my junior year in college, I went through a huge heart-churning break-up that made me reassess a lot of my decisions.  I learned two powerful lessons that year that guide a lot of my current day decisions:

  • Life is not “stable”.  And, that’s OK!  Nothing is a given.  Don’t take anything or anyone for granted.
  • Be present.   Embrace everything that you have today.  Enjoy the ride.

That break-up was the best thing that could’ve happened to me because I stopped being scared of uncertainty.  In fact, I learned to enjoy it.  It’s when I first started to question my very “practical” career choice.  I continued on and got my degree in accounting, but I knew deep down that it was truly not for me.  I went through a few careers turns until one day I came to the realization that I had to do what I had to do.  I had to start my business.

It was then that I felt very powerful knowing that:

  • I would never starve.
    This seems silly, but I think I always was scared of not making money as a business owner.  Once I realized that I was in charge of my earning potential, I felt very powerful.  No matter what happened, it was up to me to earn my income… and for that reason I knew I would not go without.  That was a very strong realization.
  • I could always go “back” but I only had one chance to go forward.
    If push came to shove and I did not make a success of my business, or did not enjoy business ownership, I could go back to “the workforce”.  It might take me time to find a job, but I would not be unemployed (or starving) for a lifetime.  This still holds true today.
  • I could go in any direction as long as I was open to the journey.
    As a small business owner, I knew that I would start my stationery business but that it would somehow lead to many wonderful paths. I wasn’t sure of those paths, but I was looking forward to the journey. (Wow – was I right!)  I co-founded Get Hitched Give Hope in 2008 and last year, Sage Wedding Pros. What’s next?!
  • People do not regret action, they regret inaction.
    Look back on your life… do you regret the choices you made, or the ones you did not make?  I regret not having done a semester abroad in college.  I don’t regret any of the good or bad decisions I made in life.

So, I left my job in 2004 and started my business.  Big Leap taken?  Check.  But it didn’t stop there.  I swear to god I sweated bullets over the decision to pay for my first online ad in 2005.  $100/month was a lot to a little guy like me.  And, then I did it.  And, boy am I glad.  That ad brought in 70% of my sales that year.  Next risk was paying for a booth at The Seattle Wedding Show in 2006.  WOW. It was scary to part with $750 for my teeny-tiny booth.  That booth brought in 40% of my sales in 2006.

You see where I’m going with this?  The scariness doesn’t go away.  You just get better at dealing with it.  And, you actually start to thrive on it.  Once you make the big leap, every day is a series of little jumps.