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.

Boyce Watkins

I am very happy as a business owner. As a black man, freedom is very important to me. White culture was never something I hated, it was just foreign to me. So, whenever I ended up working in white organizations, I felt powerless, stressed out and unheard. Read more>>

Tania Conde

As a business owner, I would say that I am happier than ever before. Not only do I have control over how my business operates and the money it produces, but I also get to make a real difference in people’s lives. However, there are still days when I feel overwhelmed and stressed out from all the responsibility that comes with running a business and taking care of my personal life at the same time. Read more>>

Alex Leffall

I’m very happy as a business owner! Owning a business is not easy, and I’ve only been in the industry for a couple of years. But when you invest more time, money, education and hard work into your business, it becomes easier over time and greatly rewarding. It’s not bad having a regular job, for a regular job can help you fund your business until you can quit and go full time. Even when you do go full time, you still have to market yourself and get clients to hire you. Read more>>

Tammi Camp

To be honest, everyday isn’t a good day. Owning your own business is not an easy road to take. It requires a lot of dedication, sleepless nights, early wake up calls and many late nights. There are amazing highs, but quite often intense lows as well. A lot of time can be missed with family and friends as you build your career, your business, and work towards goals. Read more>>

April Fried

I love being a business owner, but I couldn’t have done with without making the big mistakes working for others businesses first. Working primarily in the beauty industry and learning to wear quite a few different hats was hugely advantageous, taking various corporate training programs, learning and sales practices, seeing policies put into place, were instrumental in knowing exactly what I did and mostly, what didn’t want for my own business. Read more>>

Shelby Lewis

I am the happiest person as a business owner. Sure, sometimes I look at my friends with cush salaried jobs who clock in, clock out, and enjoy their weekends. But, truthfully? If you care about your job, you always take some of it home, so I’d rather it be my own creation if I’m going to dwell on it after hours. I like being on tap with my responsibilities and it seems to stress me out less just handling tasks as they’re thrown at me rather than saying ‘I’ll do that tomorrow’. Read more>>

Brandi Lopez

Growing up I knew I never wanted to work a regular 9-5 job. I always knew I wanted to have a job that allows me to express myself with art. I never imagined that I could be my own boss and make a living doing the thing I love. Before starting my business I studied really hard to become a real estate agent. I spent hours and hours of studying, I passed my license test and found a great company to work with. Read more>>

Lara Brown

When the pandemic happened, a lot of small businesses suddenly grew and thrived because everyone was doing a lot more shopping online. I know hundreds of small business owners whose businesses grew exponentially during the first 2 years. As a life/business coach and a handmade seller, my businesses thrived during this time. However, there was a big shift once 2022 arrived. Read more>>

Codi Robinson Soto

As a business owner, I have never been happier.I am a wellness coach and hair care formulator. This means that I help people to become more aware of their own health. I also make products for them to use in their daily lives. I love this because it allows me to be creative and it allows me to work from home. Read more>>

Jill Rarig

I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur and business owner. My opportunity came in 2020. I received a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis and knew I would never be happy in a corporate job again. My health and the happiness of my family and myself was now priority number 1. I knew I would go back to work once the children were in school. So to prepare I started my business online. I was able to establish my online presence and get my ducks in a row. In August 2022 I opened my brick & mortar fashion boutique. I am the happiest with work I’ve ever been and can’t even imagine the alternative. Read more>>

Laura Compton

The short answer, is YES. I love being a business owner. But I absolutely think about what it would be like to go back to the corporate world. I spent 8 years in corporate before leaning in full time to my business. I learned a ton, but always wanted to build my own business and create my own schedule. I grew up with a father who worked a regular 9-5, and a mother who was a small business owner. I saw her work SO hard, but she always had the flexibility to spend time with me as a child. Read more>>

Angie Masciantonio

I am very much happier as a business owner. The last time I had truly contemplated going back to a regular job was when my business, much like many other small businesses, struggled to make much progress during COVID-19 and ultimately crumbled. Although it’s not back to its high numbers, I currently work a part time job to help rebuild evange. And being able to compare both a regular job and a self run business makes me appreciate all the dedication and effort and things that I get to learn from running Evange compared to working a regular job. The community and customer relationships I build through Evange are much more rewarding. Read more>>

Ross Cooper

Many people have a dream of having their own business, but dreaming of having your own business and having the drive to manage your own business are two very different aspects. Read more>>

Marissa Moultrie

I am absolutely happier as a business owner, but there are days when the reality of being my own boss hits me HARD. Many people dream of being their own boss, but it takes a particular type of person to make it happen successfully. I truly believe that being a business owner is one of the hardest jobs in the world. I know many entrepreneurs who work 12+ hours a day, myself included; especially at the beginning of my business when I started scaling into an agency. Read more>>

Meghan Frisch

I am far happier as a small business owner than when I had a 9-5 job. Once I began working for myself, it became clear that a regular job is not right for me. Even though I work longer hours and make far less money, my anxiety has never been lower and my energy has never been higher. I do something that fills my cup everyday, and I can structure my days in a way that works for me. Read more>>

Katie Rhodes

I was the first person in my immediate family to graduate from college, growing up in a low income household with parents working multiple jobs to make ends meet. I watched as my parents worked themselves to the bone at unfulfilling jobs but continued to struggle regardless. I felt hopeless to break this cycle and create my own path until I established TogaNola. Becoming an entrepreneur gave me a sense of independence, purpose and empowerment. It gave me the confidence to pursue other non-traditional goals for a female. Read more>>

Kristin Frade

I am extremely happy as a business owner. I haven’t had the thought of going back to a 9-5 in a long, long time. Independence (or flexibility) is one of my top motivators. The ability to pop into my own calendar and mark it as out of office without asking for permission is gold to me. I can make the important events for my kids work, travel when I want to (and decide to work or not work while I do), and truly create my own schedule. Now, the potential downside of being an entrepreneur is that it’s often difficult to “shut it off”, but it’s doable. This is something I’ve been working very hard on. It’s also not solely tied to being a business owner, though. Read more>>

Ammie Williams

The running joke for business owners is that you quit a 9-5 in order to work 24-7. Unfortunately, it’s true. The feeling of never being off, guilt at taking rest or time away from the business, and the lack of boundaries between personal and professional is exhausting. At the time of writing, I’m coming out of an extremely successful holiday season where I worked more than I didn’t, often clocking in 14-16 hour days and even a couple all nighters to get orders out the door. I am tired, I am cranky, and I gave up my holiday to make the money that I did. Read more>>

Sharron Giambenini

Short answer: Yes. But, it took a while to get here. Before I started my shop in 2019, I was just bouncing from one job to another trying to figure out exactly how I wanted my life to look like. My husband is Italian and his sister works in the fashion industry, so we luckily were always being sent these stunning pieces from iconic brands like Versace, Roberto Cavalli, and Genny. We would get not only clothes and shoes but accessories too – I started adding stuff to my Poshmark that I didn’t want and to my surprise sold incredibly fast, I was excited that I was making money with something that I loved – Fashion. Read more>>