Published: Thursday, June 5th, 2025.
Appx. 3 Minute Read.
Lessons Learned from the Stories.
When I was about 7 years old, I started working. These were called weekly "volun-told" chores. A year later, I became the co-founder of my first lemonade stand along with my older sister and one of our cousins. No matter if the sun was shining or if a storm was brewing, we were out there... because people still may want lemonade right before a storm… right? At 10 years old, my dad allowed me to start working for him at his office filing documents for $5/hour.
Fast forward to age 14, I began another startup with two other friends- this time as a neighborhood landscaping company dragging our equipment to customer houses only for them to be surprised at our age. My business acumen and employment experiences continued to "diversify" as I gained employment at places like Kroger, Jack In The Box, Texas Roadhouse, my university's recreation center, Payless Shoes and more.
Life started to become more serious for me in college as I attended on an academic scholarship. After graduating with honors, I began my new assignment as an educator where I taught and coached for 10 years in the DFW. Like you, I’ve found that purpose leads to producing impact.
Life as an entrepreneur is no different. Often times, we think entrepreneurs are people who "found a way out the matrix" or "escaped the rat race" and while that may be true for one out of many, the reality for the common entrepreneur is quite the opposite yet the opportunity to maximize our impact is great.
Owning a business is like a two-sided coin where you’ll also need to count the cost of the journey. On one side you'll work tirelessly on group projects, and do so alone as a "solo-preneur." You'll find that despite your countless hours of hard work, hard work doesn't equate to income, so a combination of loving family-support and delivering for door dash and uber eats it is because you still need a flexible schedule to continue the mission.
But on the other side of that coin... you'll find people who support the mission and want to see you thrive… you’ll find that the reason why you started… fuels why you continue. So now we’re here… discovering a new layer to what doing business always requires.
A humility that accepts risk. Know that putting yourself out there is required but also yields itself to countless rejections, emotional hurdles to overcome, but also a "yes" that fuels you for the road ahead.
Patience often ushers in opportunity. People need time to learn your company, what you stand for, and your credibility. As humans, we are pre-dispositioned to be skeptical, hesitant, and reluctant to change— even if this change is for the better and “way better than what was used last year”. The unknown can be uncomfortable. This is Consumer Psychology 101.
Serving others is the foundation. Business requires serving others and like anything, if you're called to it… God will see you through it. A quality product is one that stakeholders find value in due to it benefitting their day to day life.
In our pursuit of providing for our families, no matter if you’re an employee or an entrepreneur, we’re more alike than we are different. We’re all going through life experiences. My encouragement is this, if you are seeking employment... as tough as it is— keep going. If you are at a point in life that requires a pivot... as tough as it is— keep going. If you are an entrepreneur introducing yourself to the market... as tough as it is— keep going.
The Story of Business.
Appx. 3 Minute Read.
Lessons Learned from the Stories.
When I was about 7 years old, I started working. These were called weekly "volun-told" chores. A year later, I became the co-founder of my first lemonade stand along with my older sister and one of our cousins. No matter if the sun was shining or if a storm was brewing, we were out there... because people still may want lemonade right before a storm… right? At 10 years old, my dad allowed me to start working for him at his office filing documents for $5/hour.
Fast forward to age 14, I began another startup with two other friends- this time as a neighborhood landscaping company dragging our equipment to customer houses only for them to be surprised at our age. My business acumen and employment experiences continued to "diversify" as I gained employment to work with at places like Kroger, Jack In The Box, Texas Roadhouse, my university's recreation center, and more.
Life started to become more serious for me in college as I attended on an academic scholarship. After graduating with honors, I began my new assignment as an educator where I taught and coached for 10 years in the DFW. Like you, I’ve found that purpose leads to producing impact.
Life as an entrepreneur is no different. Often times, we think entrepreneurs are people who "found a way out the matrix" or "escaped the rat race" and while that may be true for one out of many, the reality for the common entrepreneur is quite the opposite yet the opportunity to maximize our impact is great.
Owning a business is like a two-sided coin where you’ll also need to count the cost of the journey. On one side you'll work tirelessly on group projects, and do so alone as a "solo-preneur." You'll find that despite your countless hours of hard work, hard work doesn't equate to income, so a combination of loving family-support and delivering for door dash and uber eats it is because you still need a flexible schedule to continue the mission.
But on the other side of that coin... you'll find people who support the mission and want to see you thrive… you’ll find that the reason why you started… fuels why you continue. So now we’re here… discovering a new layer to what doing business always requires.
A humility that accepts risk. Know that putting yourself out there is required but also yields itself to countless rejections, emotional hurdles to overcome, but also a "yes" that fuels you for the road ahead.
Patience often ushers in opportunity. People need time to learn your company, what you stand for, and your credibility. As humans, we are pre-dispositioned to be skeptical, hesitant, and reluctant to change— even if this change is for the better and “way better than what was used last year”. The unknown can be uncomfortable. This is Consumer Psychology 101.
Serving others is the foundation. Business requires serving others and like anything, if you're called to it… God will see you through it. A quality product is one that stakeholders find value in due to it benefitting their day to day life.
In our pursuit of providing for our families, no matter if you’re an employee or an entrepreneur, we’re more alike than we are different. We’re all going through life experiences. My encouragement is this, if you are seeking employment... as tough as it is— keep going. If you are at a point in life that requires a pivot... as tough as it is— keep going. If you are an entrepreneur introducing yourself to the market... as tough as it is— keep going.
The Story of Business.
Published: Thursday, June 5th, 2025.
