Being a business owner isn’t easy. There are amazing highs, but the lows are often quite intense as well. Somedays it feels like the problems never stop – regardless of how much success you achieve. The problems just grow, evolve, morph. So we asked business owners if they sometimes wonder what it would be like to just have a regular job and have shared some of the highlights below.

Andrea Miles | Attorney at Law

Stepping out and running my law practice has been the best decision I have ever made. I am much happier as a solo practitioner than I ever was as an associate in a law firm. Being a business owner has its ups and downs. You have really good days and months, but you also have bad days and months. When you’re on your own, you have to take the good with the bad and make sure you remain positive because it can be tough to maintain a business and your mental health. I’d be lying if I said I have never fought the urge to close my doors and run back to the safety net of being an employee. I have had to talk myself out of closing my doors on numerous occasions. Read more>>

James Darby | Real Estate and Mortgage Broker

I really like running my business. It has thought me so much. The hardest lesson for me was to realize that I need other people to run it and grow. There is a group of people that have joined my business in the last few years and are helping me grow it in different ways. I could never do all these on my own. My business was founded on good and truth. I asked God to bless it and help me drive it daily and I believe he has a lot of energy and love invested in my business.. i am not perfect and my team and customers know this as I tell them that I am only human. But we do our best. Read more>>

Diana Olmeda | President & CEO

Starting my company at 25 and being a mom to 2 children had its own challenges. I was breaking into a field I was not very familiar with, there weren’t many other companies like mine and it was a fairly new and specialized industry. Over the years I have met obstacles head-on, learned from them, grown and gained much experience. There’s nothing quite like being your own boss, but along with that comes a greater responsibility and an on-call job that you are dedicated to 24/7. Read more>>

Lisa Conway | Hair Salon Owner & Stylist

From my experience, any business owner will tell you, it’s the passion for what we do that gets us up each morning. I have a real love for the work I do, the people I work alongside, the clients I spend my days with, and the role that Vantage Salon plays in our local community. For me, being a business owner comes with a sense of purpose, autonomy, and yes, happiness. It also includes long hours, stress, and taking on multiple roles. I don’t spend much time thinking about what it would be like to have a “regular” job – every job comes with it’s own challenges. I didn’t start this journey thinking it was going to be an easy ride and I wouldn’t trade either the good or bad days for anything else. Read more>>

Jason Brown | CEO, Texas Muscle Activation and Elixir Muscle Recovery Centers

I’ve always been told that business owners make up the 1%. I never knew what that meant or why until I started my own business with no experience, no capital, no clue what I was doing. The one thing I did know at the time was that I could not continue making someone else money off the knowledge and experience I gained in my profession. That was many years ago when I decided to go off on my own and it has been a journey to say the least. So many great things come along with owning your own business, but there are those days that periodically find their way into my mind thinking “wouldn’t it be nice to just be done at 5pm, get that steady paycheck, and have my weekends back.” Read more>>

Louie Ortiz | Entrepreneur, Nationally Featured TV and Media Personality, Business Mentor

I am extremely happy as a business owner now of multiple businesses and could not image having a regular job. When I was young I did have a two part time jobs, one at a pet store and then one working as a paralegal for blind attorney. While I enjoyed aspects of both jobs, I realized I was happier running a business having more control of time, the potential to make more income, and creating a future of my own design. As I grew and matured, I realized I wanted to make a positive lasting impact on peoples lives and I feel I can accomplish this on a larger scale through business. I also want to help others see that there are other ways to create income and not just trading your time for money. Read more>>

Laura Heymann | Creative Director & Brand Strategist

In July 2020, only a few months into the pandemic (the one everyone thought would only last a couple weeks, remember?), I celebrated being in business for myself for 10 years. June 30, 2010 was the last day I was gainfully employed full-time. The very next day, July 1, 2010, marked day one of me doubling-down on whether I could sustain my growing freelance design side-hustle as a full-time business and work from home to have more creative freedom (and more freedom in general). I wanted to be more accessible to my children, who were at the time 11 and almost 15. Read more>>

Richard Villasana | CEO

I’m the founder of the international nonprofit, Forever Homes for Foster Kids, based in San Diego. I love the work that I do through my charity, reuniting immigrant U.S. foster children with their relatives so that these children have a permanent, forever home with family. In my corporate life, I was a leading authority on international marketing in Latin America. I represented dozens of U.S. manufacturers of medical products throughout Latin America, especially Mexico. Read more>>

Alexandre Carneiro | Fitness Expert & Gym Owner

If one is to define happiness as a state of mind which brings joy and content, than the answer is yes, being a business owner does make me happy. However, too many people these days seek becoming their own CEO or “Founder” of a business to impress others instead of truly understanding what being a business owner is. In my opinion, a business owner has to be the first one there and the last one to leave. He/She will be doing most of the work initially and work long hours to build their business and most likely will still fail and perfecting the business they own several times. Read more>>

Vivian Gomez | Facilitator

Yes, I am absolutely happier being a business owner! I don’t really think about myself as a 9 to 5 person and could not imagine return to that now. The last time I held a “job” I was 23 years old. I would say that probably in the first year when I started my first company, Proedge Group back in 1996 (when I was 24) was when it crossed my mind. We were still building the company and did not have a lot of clients, surely not enough to sustain all 3 partners. I remember being in our small office space that we had rented, alone day after day with no phone ringing and no one knocking at the door. Read more>>

Stephanie D. McKenzie | Speaker-Teacher, Author, & Coach

In August, I returned to full-time entrepreneurship because I was not being fulfilled by my work as a college professor. While I loved teaching my students, I felt that I was not being celebrated or treated fairly apart from my classroom experiences, and that was reason enough to begin to put together an exit strategy. I have been an entrepreneur and small business owner since the age of nine or ten; however, it had been 11 years since I had to rely solely on my efforts to sustain and support me. Read more>>

Sofia del Rivero | Artist & Owner of Art Box

I realize how lucky I am to love what I do on a daily basis. I get to hang out with kids and make them happy, all while having access to a studio full of art supplies I can use to make amazing creations and get messy – truly all of my favorite things rolled into one! However, naturally, when you’ve had your dream job for so long, there are times when you have to wonder if at some point, you will have to wake up from that dream. I often wonder what my day would look like if I worked a 9-5 office job, if I wore business attire every day rather than a messy apron and sneakers, or if I had to prepare presentations for meetings with clients rather than teach a painting class to a classroom full of students. Read more>>

Thomas Nelson | REALTOR®

While there are days I do wonder if I’m truly happier as a business owner versus having a regular job, I ultimately have to say yes I am! I have worked for other people as a teenager, but never as an adult, so it’s been 34 years of “1099” entrepreneurship vs. having 4 jobs where I was a “w2” employee. I formally worked as a grocery clerk for Safeway, a delivery man, sheet metal worker and a bookstore clerk all between ages of 15 and 20. I had a paper route as a kid and I had a part-time caddy job at the local golf course, but those were both casual employment. Read more>>

Samuel Obara | Sr. Partner and Kaizen Consultant

Oh the headaches of being a business owner… When I was an employee life was so much simpler. My transition into running a business was smooth since before I started Honsha.ORG, I started doing sporadic consulting to help a few companies in the Silicon Valley in California. I was doing that while I was a corporate director for a company in San Jose, CA. Today Honsha.ORG is a consulting firm focused on operational excellence and on improving a range of aspects in a client, from better delivery to higher quality to lower cost and so on. Read more>>

Krissie Simek | Wedding Planner and Designer

This is an amazing question and being a business owner has always been a dream and the goal for what I hoped to achieve. Although a “regular job” can prove to have a more consistent financial stability, benefits and a day-to-day typical agenda, it simply doesn’t complete the overall design for the life and career I aspire to have. I find so much passion and delight for celebrating couples and their milestone wedding days, developing and growing my team and enhancing my business, all while taking control of my schedule for a work-life balance. Read more>>

Chanellé Harris | Mixed Media Artist (Photographer/Graphic Designer)

As a business owner, I find more happiness, fulfillment and contentment in pursuing my dreams of creativity. Being an entrepreneur is not always an easy venture. I was confronted with numerous challenges during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic i.e., canceled or delayed projects which affected my financial stability. As a result, anxiety and doubt reared its ugly head, and I started searching for various regular jobs. My heart was not in this search at all, but I thought this is what I was supposed to do. Although I felt defeated, I knew God has had a special assignment for me allowing my passion and talent to produce a more than sizable profit. Read more>>

Katrina Margell-Fleisher | Marketing & Media Professional

As with most things, there are pros and cons to being a business owner. You have to be creative, think outside the box, and put in long hours, even if it means eschewing the illusion of financial security. Finding a workable work/life balance can be a challenge; some people are prone to overwork, others to not work enough. It certainly isn’t for everyone, but overall, I’m much happier working for myself. I’ve done so for a decade now, and it is difficult to imagine myself at a typical job. Read more>>

Beth Lewis | Family therapist and Owner Private Practice

I am an avid coffee drinker. And one morning many many moons ago, maybe 17 years ago, when I was a new mother, I remember standing in my kitchen in my then Dallas home, contemporary in style, a recurring theme in my love of design, with a freshly poured cup of joe. As my new baby girl lay deep in her morning nap sleep, I stood in that kitchen, with my freshly poured coffee, realizing profoundly in that moment, that I would spend the rest of my career working for myself. Read more>>

Kirsten Lee | child and family photographer

Such a great question!! Yes, I’m happy as a business owner. Do I wonder about having a regular job? Sometimes. Let me share why… Before I started my own business, I was a special education teacher in the public school system. It was a job I LOVED and went to graduate school for. I didn’t leave my teaching job to start my business but to say home with my two small children at the time. It was a gift and privilege to be able to stay home with them. Did I think I would start a business as a result of leaving my full time job? Not at the time! I had alway had a love for art! Read more>>

Heather Kirchhofer | Photographer

I am very happy as a business owner. Before owning my own business, I worked in the corporate world, the retail world, and managed another photographer’s studio all while also freelancing when I had the time. Having experienced all of these work environments has given me so much gratitude and appreciation for what I am able to do now. I was not thriving in the corporate world. I knew it wasn’t the place for me longterm. Being able to create my schedule, work around when I know I’m at my best, not when it’s beneficial to someone else, has really helped my creativity grow. Creativity really isn’t something you can just turn on when you need to. Read more>>

Olivia Newell | Salon Owner | Hair & Makeup Artist | L’Oreal Educator

I find myself wearing many different hats per say. I am a business owner, wife, mom, mentor, educator, artist, and an avid advocate for mental health awareness. With complete transparency, I acknowledge that it is beyond difficult, near impossible sometimes, to be 100% at all my roles. I love my job as a salon owner and hairstylist, it truly brings me such joy and allows an outlet for my creativity. Seeing my staff learn, grow, and absolutely thrive not only in the industry but as individuals in the world reminds me of my “why”. I show up and put my best effort in all that I do. Read more>>

Keith Mullin | Product Developer

I worked in corporate jobs for 12 years. During this career phase, I had some great experiences, worked with some amazing people and learned a lot. During those years of working corporate, I did my ‘side hustle’ of starting a business. During lunch, I would FedEx product prototypes to clients and I spent many vacations going to industry conventions to grow my venture. Over time and by continuous effort, it paid off. Make Ideas grew enough where I was able to quit corporate employment. Read more>>

David Bruno | Muscular & Orthopedic Massage Therapist

I am unbelievably happy being a private business owner! During covid like most people, I wasn’t out of work so to speak, but I struggled constantly and slowly, doing my best to keep my head above the water. Being a therapist puts me in a high risk environment. This means people instantly stopped coming, despite their need for well being or other bodily injuries. So for over a year “many” people simply walked around in pain out of fear of covid and quarantine. This was extra tough, but thanks to my prior business planning, which helped me get through the toughest of those times. Read more>>

Courtney Roth | Soft tissue extraordinaire

Yes, I am thrilled to be a small business owner. At the start of the pandemic in March of 2020, when the whole world shut down I went into a funk because I was no longer able to work. It wasn’t just about my financial stability, I realized that my clients brought me much more than a way to sustain myself financially. The personal connection I have with many of these people, as well as my sense of purpose in life, was hanging in the balance. My work was much more meaningful to me than I had realized. The pandemic unveiled a. Realization that being a bodyworker and helping people gives me personal freedom and purpose! What a perfect combination for a fullfiling life. Read more>>

Jason Odio | Hospitality Entrepreneur

This is something I think about often; what is it all for? Owning businesses can be very demanding especially in the hospitality industry. When friends and family are enjoying weekends and holidays is when we are the busiest. There are also times when you work the most and make the least which could be challenging mentally and physically. But when it does work and things come together there is an unexplainable reward. I also remind myself that hanging out at a place you love, most of the time with people you love is way better than being stuck in a cubical. Read more>>

Jerry Jurden | President, Champion Custom Pools

I certainly used to be. There is a freedom in being a business owner that you can’t get working for someone else. You can come and go when you want. You don’t have to earn vacation or sick days off. How much you earn is entirely up to you and how you run and manage your business. On the other hand, that freedom can quickly be traded for feeling imprisoned and trapped by your business if things aren’t going well and it’s up to you to right the ship. Right now with labor and materials costs going up and good labor extremely difficult to find, it has been challenging making any type of profit, even with PPP loans. There were a bunch of TikTok’s going around recently where people said they were tired of working the 9-5 grind, so they started their own business. Read more>>

Nancy Castillo | Bakery Owner

Small business owners often face the challenge of work/life balance. It’s not that we miss having a regular job, we miss the set schedules and the seperation of our professional lives from our personal ones. All of this changes when you own a small business. Friendships change, personal lives change even more, and even with a strong team around you, your home life feels invaded 24/7. In a regular job, you can take up issues with HR and managers. In your own small business, you are all of these departments and more. It hurts not be to aware of every problem as they eventually accumulate into giant issues. Read more>>

Marina Vogel | Hairstylist & Salon Owner

I love owning my own business. I opened my first hair salon when I was only 21 years old. I had a salon in germany for over 8 years. I thought if I can do it in germany, I can do it in the US. And even more sucessful. Sometimes I really wonder how life would be just working for someone, like a 9-5 job. But I don’t think I would like it. I love working overtime but only if it goes into my own pocket. I would get bored working for someone else. I like the responsibility as a business owner. I like to motivate my employees and when I see more happy clients & my income is raising, it’s such a great feeling. Read more>>

Joseph Welch | Real Estate Photographer

I am very happy as a business owner. I can’t imagine living life any other way. I do not think about what it would be like to have a regular job. If I ever did so, I may think about it theoretically but not in a longing way. I highly encourage people who are unhappy with their job to make every and all effort to build their own business. Being a business owner seems natural to me – as in the days of old where the majority of people worked for themselves, whether it be the butcher, the cobbler, the farmer or doctor. Despite the struggles that small business owners face there really is no other way to go. Read more>>

For me it’s not so much wondering what it would be like to have a regular job, because I’ve had several. For me it’s about the fact that my path keeps leading me back to the creative field rather than advancing me in a more traditional career. One of my first jobs was in a CD store, back when those were a thing, which gave me exposure to that kind of field (I mean, it was just retail, but we would occasionally have musicians come in). Later I was a House Manager at various theatres around town, which put me in touch with other creatives on a regular basis. Read more>>

Louboutin Kendoll | Graphic Designer/ Entrepreneur

I really love being an Artist. But as a Graphic Designer as well as any Artist you have times when business slows complete down. When this happens, I sometimes begin to doubt myself. I start to wonder if being an artist and doing what I love is worth it, or if I should get a regular job. Every once in a while I’ll pick up a regular part-time job to test it out, but I always end up feeling out of place like it’s not for me. At that job is when I remember my worth and my fire returns. Because at that moment, I realize that I’m so much more than punching into someone’s clock and doing things I hate just to make ends meet. Read more>>

Michael Litten | The Last DJ

After an almost 40 year career in disease care, it was a blessing beyond measure to be provided the opportunity to host Ride The Vibe. As The Last DJ, I get to play what I want to play and say what I want to say, how coooooooooool running is that. While I had a tremendous ride working for both Fortune 500 companies and start ups nothing beats working for yourself and following your passion, which in my case is music. As a music addict, nothing assuages my jones more than hosting Ride The Vibe. Read more>>

Jordan Suess | Recording & Touring Artist

I knew when I was a 6 year old what I wanted to be when I grew up. A rapper. In 1994 being from Wyoming people ridiculed me as well as my parents. They just told me to keep at it and I did. By 16 I was performing my own original songs and by 19 was co owner of a record label. I have played my music in 43 states and have sold over 100,000 records. Goes to show what hard work and dedication will do. It was rough at times, but always worth it. I literally make a living doing what I love which only brings me complete happiness Read more>>

Samantha Anderson | Event Artist and Private Instructor

There are plenty of times where I ask myself this question. To put plainly though, I am much better off as an artist on my own! Every time I’ve thought about this, I just have to think back to when I worked at a movie theater or even at the San Diego Zoo as an artist. With all of the time it took to travel back and forth, the extra gas money it took, and even simply getting scheduled when you didn’t want to work, were sick, or needed to get off but couldn’t, it’s so nice knowing these things are not a hassle anymore. Not only do I get to set my own schedule, but I also get to work whenever I want or need to. Read more>>