You don’t need to be “born” an entrepreneur

Not long ago my sister asked me when I knew I was born to be an entrepreneur.

My first reaction was, are you kidding me?

I was NOT born to be an entrepreneur!

There was never an innate driving force in me as a 5 yr old, wanting to sell lemonade at my home-made lemonade stand. I hated doing door to door sales as part of school fundraisers… people genuinely terrified me!

Never growing up did I ever consider myself a leader, and I certainly didn’t think I was nearly as smart as any of my peers! I always felt terrified that one day someone would figure out that I was really an impostor, and had no idea what was really going on.

In design school, I sat back and carefully observed my peers. I shook every time I had to present my work in critiques, or speak in front of a group. I wondered how so many of my friends and peers knew so much about art history, culture, politics, and other things I didn’t know much about.

Why did they seem so comfortable talking in front of others?
Where were they exposed to all of these ideas (High School!?)?
How did some of them know how to manage/organize a freelance project?
How did they know how much to charge, or how to talk to a client?
How were they SO ambitious as to be talking about starting design companies right after graduating, without any studio experience??

I was overwhelmed by the idea, and thought of myself as a bit of a sheep, just happy to find any kind of job after graduation.

My sister was intrigued. As she is just starting her own business, and is overwhelmed by all the information she’s suddenly being exposed to, she was beginning to feel as though she was missing some key “gene,” that entrepreneurship was something some people had or didn’t!

This is what I believe:

Some people have a “knack” for business.

They were either born with some really advantageous genes or characteristics that have made them pre-disposed to being really good in business, and/or they were blessed in their early years with life experiences and exposure to ideas and concepts that have given them a delightful advantage in the business world. I respect and admire these people!

I am not one of those people. I wasn’t born knowing what to do, I wasn’t exposed to business thinking in my younger years, and I certainly wasn’t keen on figuring it out (back then, anyway).

I believe the reason I’ve been able to start and run a successful business, is because of GRIT.

“…perseverance and passion for long term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in and day out. Not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years.”
– Angela Duckworth

Research shows that grit is equally— if not more so—important than talent!

You don’t need to be ” born an entrepreneur” to succeed in business. But you’ve got to be willing to learn, hustle, grow, stretch, and get really uncomfortable.

When I decided to take the plunge from being employed to being self-employed (and eventually to running a business), it wasn’t an overnight decision, and it certainly wasn’t an obvious decision.

It was a huge risk, and there was no safety net when I jumped (I was probably 20k in student debt when I left my job to go full-time freelance!). But I was 100% determined to succeed, whatever the cost. This meant a lot of free and favour work, late week nights, and working on weekends. I don’t regret any of it, of course, as it’s all part of the journey that has led me to precisely this point in my life and business.

Don’t beat yourself up because you think you’re missing “something” that every other entrepreneur seems to have. The truth is, we’re all experimenting, and figuring it out as we go.

I have no idea if grit is something people “have” or they don’t, or if you can train yourself to get “grittier,” but I believe my grit comes from my a** being on the line. No backup plan. No one to pay the rent if you can’t it. Jenny Shih has a great post on how putting your a** on the line can be the key to making things happen in your business.

If you’re determined enough to put it all on the line because you believe in something so strongly, you might just have what it takes to run a business.

Tools you can learn. Experience will come.

What you really need is curiosity, passion, mindset, and grit. (And my personal belief? A desire to leave the world a better place than you found it)

If I can do it, I know anyone can.

Curious. Were you “born” to be an entrepreneur”? Or did you figure it out along the way like I did? 😉