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.

Sharelle Wilbert

I am totally happy as a business owner. There’s nothing like being your own boss, making your own schedule and rules. Plus, when you love what you do it doesn’t feel like work. I worked in customer service for many years and I was never really happy working a 9-5, I always felt like something was missing… and it was my passion. Early on I knew Photography was my happy place. I was always the one as a kid taking family pictures… Read more>>

McKenna Ashcroft

I absolutely love being a business owner. It comes with it’s struggles but also comes with so many good things. I am so thankful for my business because I now have an 8-month-old daughter and because I run my own business I am able to work on my own time. I stay home with her during the week and work during nap time on my laptop and schedule sessions on the weekends when my husband is off work and able to be with her. This has been the biggest blessing for me and for our family. Read more>>

All Black

My Happiness was never going to come from what job I had or whatever sort of business model I was operating. Happiness is found internally. However to answer the question, I do find that I experience far more moments of joy and happiness running my business than I had experience in previous moments but that was all a refection upon me and my current ability to exercise happiness and willfully produce more of that which makes me happy no which job I had was going to determine such. Read more>>

Amy Deters

The last time I was an employee for someone else was 2011, so 11 years now. I loved the job that I had and loved my boss. However, my real calling was being a stay at home mom though. I had been at that job for 5 years when I finally quit to stay home with our 1st child. But just because I stayed home doesn’t mean I didn’t work. We still needed the income that I was making at that job, but it just didn’t make sense to put our daughter in day care because that would have taken my entire paycheck after all was said and done. Read more>>

Sarah Medina

I am so happy owning my own business. Yes I’ve thought about just having a regular job and it makes me feel trapped, controlled, and honestly really sad. The last time I had the thought of just having a regular 9-5 was mid last year when I had my lowest income month. As a business owner, you are in control of everything. Nobody hands you a paycheck every week, nobody guarantees you work, you need to provide the work yourself. Read more>>

Kenna Crouch

My business is not a brick and mortar location at the moment, but it is my own self and the techniques I have to offer the world in person and online. I have always been happy being mobile in my business, spinning many different plates with many different groups of people. Ultimately, always coming back to my own self vs. a boss is incredibly self-empowering, and it can also be quite challenging having to make all the final says. Read more>>

Tayler Jones

I always had aspirations of making a difference in the world, so I knew that my career path and road to success would be “unconventional.” My creative pursuits and passion to connect and impact lives couldn’t fit inside a cubicle or 9 to 5. I feel that I have the best of both worlds. I have been a theatre artist and educator for more than ten years. I have a Bachelor’s degree in theatre performance and a Master’s in Applied Drama/Theatre for the Young. Read more>>

Simaria Solis

I think all business owners have the question run through their mind “What am I doing?” In some ways it seems so much easier to just punch in punch out and make a pay check. The problem with most business owners and entreprenuers is that isn’t fulfilling. We dream of making a difference, we dream of limitless potential, we can’t sit still, and we can’t regurgitate whatever corporate buzzword that’s being thrown around as “this fiscal years vision” Read more>>

Alieska Robles

I ask myself this question almost every day. I can only speak for my experience from my very small creative studio. Being a business owner provides great satisfaction and the opportunity to work on projects that are meaningful to me and those around me. However, I often wonder if having a regular job would clear some of the worries and frustrations of working for yourself while offering a better division of work time versus personal time. Read more>>

Madison Stahl

As with most things, being a business owner has its ups and downs. They say it takes a certain type of person to be a successful business owner, and I would agree. Read more>>

Sedrick Montano

Being My Own Boss Gives You Freedom To create and push things far as they could go. My whole face is tattooed so getting a regular job was never in the cards for me. I had to pave my own way and be successful on my own. When I was about 24 I had applied for an insurance job , I dressed in buisness attire and the people looked at me like I was a criminal. Being your own boss gives you the freedom to not only judge others but put your self in shoes other people have been , giving people more options and things too look forward to Read more>>

Julian Jones

The unexpected truth behind the curtain of becoming a business owner is finding out that even though you own a company, it also means it’s up to you to take care of everything. I’ve found this to be a love/hate relationship. I’m sure most business owners know what I mean. There is a sense of thrill, freedom, and creativity in trailblazing and shaping the culture and future of your own business. Read more>>

Akeem Reed

Being a business owner is probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It makes life more unpredictable than it already is, as an entrepreneur we mainly study things going on in the marketplace we look at trends, changes and work to create new ways to better serve our clients and expand our reach in the market. I don’t think too much about having a job, I have been an entrepreneur for twelve years and haven’t had a job since, Read more>>

Daniela Segura

Being my own boss has helped me develop different aspects of my work and personal life very well; Since being able to manage my times is one of the things I love about being my own boss. My last job during business hours was in a bank and it was difficult to be able to share my time for other activities, but the good part is that I learned many other things that I could apply in my social media business. Read more>>

Lindsay Lucas

I came from the corporate world and while it tends to get a bad rap in the entrepreneurial space, that wasn’t my experience. I actually loved what I did and who I worked with. I simply loved my freedom more. I realized early on I wasn’t built to build someone else’s dream for them. I was built to live out my own dreams and that looked like building businesses to serve others and starting a family in the mix. Read more>>

Teju Aluko

I have much more joy as a business owner and I believe that’s a greater state of mind. I’m really big on emotions and feelings in all aspects: home, business, life, all of it; and, although joy does feel better when I’m happy, joy can also share space with other emotions I feel like sadness, fear, anger and unhappiness. Happiness can’t. And in my experience that’s an important concept to understand as a business owner, because sometimes happiness is rooted in circumstance. Read more>>

Victoria Todd

I am very grateful to be a business owner. It pushes you into purpose, allows you to do what you live, and strengthen you in every single way. I have worked regular jobs and that’s where I learned my structure. Every job I worked at, my focus was to gain knowledge and experience. I paid attention to how they operated, the systems the had in place, how to excel in customer service skills, and what it requires to stay on top. Read more>>

Shameka McBoat

Yes, I am very happy as a business owner, and I never wish to go back or even entertain the idea of returning to a traditional job. I decided to pursue an artistic career because transforming life into art through photography is my passion. I love getting to know my clients and building lasting relationships with them. Read more>>

Taylor Gervais

Like with everything in life, there are pros and cons to being a business owner. For me, the pros far outweigh the cons but it’s not for everybody. Of course, there are always moments that arise when you feel like throwing in the towel. I’m sure every small business owner has dreamed of a 9-5 where you can clock out and leave work behind at least once in their life. Read more>>

Hayden Gross

Absolutely. Being a business owner is something I always saw myself doing. Although I work more hours a week, I enjoy the flexibility that comes with being a business owner. I have worked regular jobs in the past, and some of them were enjoyable. However, In past occupations, I lacked a passionate drive. I wasn’t where I wanted to be, and I knew the only thing that would fix that would be to start my own business. Read more>>

Ursula Valencia

Owning a business is hard but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve worked for several different companies in my life and I always felt like I was building someone else’s dream with no time to build my own. Now that I own The Posh Unicorn, every bit of my time, energy, blood, sweat and tears goes directly toward building my own dream and that is so satisfying! Read more>>

Renee Santagata

A few years after moving to Texas I remember feeling very frustrated with the tattoo industry, I repeatedly worked at street shops and as fun as it could be at times I felt very worn down by the long hours, having to be there weather is was busy or not and just doing what ever came into the shop. I have always pushed to do anime tattoos in some way but the popularity just hadn’t hit yet. I started to feel like after 8 years maybe this industry wasn’t for me anymore and genuinely felt unhappy about my job. Read more>>