When times are good it’s easy to feel like entrepreneurship is the only path for you, but what about the times when your hit with multiple crises at once? We wondered if all entrepreneurs have moments when they wonder whether they should have gone with (or stuck to) a more standard job where they worked for someone else.

Natalie Weldon

Become a full-time business owner has been a long time coming for me, and yes. I am so much happier! The first year of college was the year I realized I wanted to pursue a different path and become a successful business owner. Not incredibly good timing. I pushed back that feeling and continued on to get my Bachelor’s Degree and work in the corporate world for 6 years.  Read more>>

Dora Gabriela Espino

Being a business owner has its ups and downs. Being a business owner in an artistic industry is even more of a roller coaster. Earlier this year my family was experiencing what felt like set back after set back. My daughter became ill and was in and out of the hospital for a couple weeks. Shortly after that my husband was taken into surgery that required someone to take care of him for a couple weeks after. In moments like that there’s pros and cons. I have the flexibility to make my own schedule, so I moved some things around to cater to the unexpected moments life was throwing. Read more>>

Latoya Lee

Honestly, yes, I’m happier as a business owner, but it’s not without its challenges. Being a business owner I realized that the freedom and autonomy I have as a business owner far outweigh the challenges. I love being able to create a vision and bring it to life, to connect with my clients and make them feel beautiful. As a business owner, I’ve learned to embrace the uncertainty and trust that I have the resilience and creativity to navigate any obstacle that comes my way. Read more>>

David Scott

I feel like if anybody as a business owner should be happy doing what they do cause at the end of the day it’s all about satisfying the customer, that’s what builds your business. Read more>>

Ruilin Shi

Happy or not, I will definitely be more in line with what my parents expect of me. Art student in China is a symbol of bad student, choose take art university exam just because you can enter better university using lower grade. This is just a microcosm of China’s abnormal education system. Even if I get good grades, I choose art just because of my personal interest, and this mark will stay with me. Even though my parents agreed to let me take painting training and take the art college entrance exam when I was in high school out of respect for their children, they never understood anything about my career. Read more>>

Thomas Martinez Pilnik

Since I left college in 2016, I’ve had countless “regular” jobs. From a marketing strategist at a major Ad Agency, to an event planner at large universities, I’ve covered quite a range of careers. I even thought I wanted to lean into my path in Higher Education and graduated with a Master’s in Education from USC in 2020. It was then, however, that I decided that I would never have a job again. Read more>>